APRIL 14

the mineral appearances of salts, coal and sulpher, together with birnt hills & pumicestone still continue.— while we remained at the entrance of the little Missouri, we saw several pieces of pumice stone floating down that stream, a considerable quanty of which had lodged against a point of drift wood a little above it's entrance. Capt. Clark walked on shore this morning, and on his return informed me that he had passed through the timbered bottoms on the N. side of the river, and had extended his walk several miles back on the hills; in the bottom lands he had met with several uninhabited Indian lodges built with the boughs of the Elm, and in the plains he met with the remains of two large encampments of a recent date, which from the appearance of some hoops of small kegs, seen near them we concluded that they must have been the camps of the Assinniboins, as no other nation who visit this part of the missouri ever indulge themselves with spirituous liquor. of this article the Assinniboins are pationately fond, and we are informed that it forms their principal inducement to furnish the British establishments on the Assinniboin river with the dryed and pounded meat and grease which they do. they also supply those establishments with a small quantity of fur, consisting principally of the large and small wolves and the small fox skins. these they barter for small kegs of rum which they generally transport to their camps at a distance from the establishments, where they revel with their friends and relations as long as they possess the means of intoxication, their women and children are equally indulged on those occations and are all seen drunk together. so far is a state of intoxication from being a cause of reproach
among them, that with the men, it is a matter of exultation that their skill and industry as hunters has enabled them to get drunk frequently. in their customs, habits, and dispositions these people very much resemble the Siouxs from whom they have descended. The principal inducement with the British fur companies, for continuing their establishments on the Assinniboin river, is the Buffaloe meat and grease they procure from the Assinniboins,

The Assinniboins have so recently left this neighbourhood, that the game is scarce and very shy. the river continues wide, and not more rapid than the Ohio in an averge state of it's current. the bottoms are wide and low, the moister parts containing some timber; the upland is extreemly broken,

while the party halted to take dinner today Capt. Clark killed a buffaloe bull; it was meagre, and we therefore took the marrow bones and a small proportion of the meat only. near the place we dined on the Lard. side, there was a large village of burrowing squirrels. I have remarked that these anamals generally celect a South Easterly exposure for their residence, tho' they are sometimes found in the level plains.—

passed an Island, this was the highest point to which any whiteman had ever ascended; except two Frenchmen who having lost their way had straggled a few miles further, tho' to what place precisely I could not learn.— I walked on shore above this creek and killed an Elk, which was so poor that it was unfit for uce; I therefore left it, and joined the party at their encampment on the Stard shore a little after dark. on my arrival Capt. Clark informed me that he had
seen two white bear pass over the hills shortly after I fired, and that they appeared to run nearly from the place where I shot. the lard.

the river from the rapids as high as the commencement of the narrows is from ½ to ¾ of a mile in width, and possesses scarcely any current. the bed is principally rock except at the entrance of Labuish's river which heads in Mount hood and like the quicksand river brings down from thence vast bodies of sand. the mountains through which
the river pases nearly to the sepulchre rock, are high broken, rocky, partially covered with fir white cedar, and in many places exhibit very romantic seenes. some handsome cascades are seen on either hand tumbling from the stupendious rocks of the mountains into the river.

near the border of the river I observed today the long leafed pine. this pine increases in quantity as you ascend the
river and about the sepulchre rock where the lower country commnces it superceedes the fir altogether. throughout the whole course of this river from the rapids as high as the Chilluckkittequaws, we find the trunks of many large pine
trees sanding erect as they grew at present in 30 feet water; they are much doated and none of them vegetating; at the
lowest tide of the river many of these trees are in ten feet water.

certain it is that those large pine trees never grew in that position, nor can I account for this phenomenon except it be that the passage of the river through the narrow pass at the rapids has been obstructed by the rocks which have fallen from the hills into that channel within the last 20 years; the appearance of the hills at that place justify this opinion,
they appear constantly to be falling in, and the apparent state of the decayed trees would seem to fix the era of their decline about the time mentioned.

at 1 P. M. we arrived at a large village situated in a narrow bottom on the N. side a little above the entrance of canoe creek. their houses are reather detatched and extent for several miles. they are about 20 in number. These people call themselves We-ock-sock, Wil-la-cum. they differ but litte in appeance dress &c. from those of the rapids. Their men have some leging and mockersons among them. these are in the stile of Chopunnish. they have some good horses of which we saw ten or a douzen.

these are the fist horses we have met with since we left this neighbourhood last fall, in short the country below this place will not permit the uce of this valuable animal except in the Columbian vally and there the present inhabitants have no uce for them as they reside immediately on the river and the country is too thickly timbered to admit them to run the game with horses if they had them.

we halted at this village and dined. purchased five dogssome roots, shappalell, filberds and dryed burries of the inhabitants.

here I observed several habitations entirely under grownd; they were sunk about 8 feet deep and covered with strong timber and several feet of earth in a conic form. these habitations were evacuated at present. they are about 16 feet in diameter, nearly circular, and are entered through a hole at the top which appears to answer the double purpose of a chimney and a door. from this entrance you decend to the floor by a ladder.

the present habitations of these people were on the surface of the ground and do not differ from those of the tribes of the rapids. their language is the same with that of the Chilluckkittesquaws. these people appeared very friendly.

some of them informed us that they had lately returned from a war excurtion against the snake indians who inhabit the upper part of the Multnomah river to the S. E. of them. they call them To-wan-nah'-hi'-ooks. that they had been
fortunate in their expedition and had taken from their enimies most of the horses which we saw in their possession.

after dinner we pursued our voyage; Capt. Clark walked on shore with Charbono. I ascended the river about six miles
at which place the river washed the base of high clifts on the Lard. side, here we halted a few minutes and were joined by Capt. C. and Charbono and proceeded on to the entrance of a small run