The wind had been so unfavorable to our progress for several days past, and seeing but little prospect of a favourable chang; knowing that the river was crooked, from the report of the hunters who were out yesterday, and beleiving that we were at no very great distance from the Yellow stone River; I determined, in order as mush as possible to avoid detention, to proceed by land with a few men [four men, to include Ordway, Drouillard and Joseph Field] to the entrance of that river and make the necessary observations to determine it's position, which I hoped to effect by the time that Capt Clark could arrive with the party; accordingly I set out at 11 OCk. on the Lard. side, accompanyed by four men. we proceeded about four miles, when falling in with some buffaloe I killed a yearling calf, which was in good order; we soon cooked and made a hearty meal of a part of it, and renewed our march our rout lay along the foot of the river hills. when we had proceeded about four miles, I ascended the hills from whence I had a most pleasing view of the country, perticularly of the wide and fertile vallies formed by the missouri and the yellowstone rivers, which occasionally unmasked by the wood on their borders disclose their meanderings for many miles in their passage through these delightfull tracts of country. I could not discover the junction of the rivers immediately, they being concealed by the woods, however, sensible that it could not be distant I determined to encamp on the bank of the Yellow stone river which made it's appearance about 2 miles South of me.

the whol face of the country was covered with herds of Buffaloe, Elk & Antelopes; deer are also abundant, but keep themselves more concealed in the woodland. the buffaloe Elk and Antelope are so gentle that we pass near them while feeding, without apearing to excite any alarm among them, and when we attract their attention, they frequently approach us more nearly to discover what we are, and in some instances pursue us a considerable distance apparenly with that view.— in our way to the place I had determined to encamp, we met with two large herds of buffaloe, of which we killed three cows and a calf. two of the former, wer but lean, we therefore took their tongues and a part of their marrow-bones only. I then proceeded to the place of our encampment with two of the men, taking with us the Calf and marrowbones, while the other two remained, with orders to dress the cow that was in tolerable order, and hang the meat out of the reach of the wolves, a precaution indispensible to it's safe keeping, even for a night.

we gave two medals of the small size to their two principal Cheifs who were pointed out to us by our Chopunnish fellow traveller and were acknowledged by the nation. we exposed a few old clothes my dirk [a long, straight-bladed knife of a type carried by Scottish highlanders] and Capt. C's swoard to barter for horses but were unsuccessfull these articles constitute at present our principal stock in trade. the Pish-quit-pahs insisted much on our remaining with them all
night, but sudry reasons conspired to urge our noncomplyance with their wishes.

we passed one house or reather lodge of the Metcowwees about a mile above our encampment of the 20th of October last. the Pish-quit-pahs, may be considered hunters as well as fishermen as they spend the fall and winter months in that occupation. they are generally pleasently featured of statue and well proportioned. both women and men ride extreemly well. their bridle is usually a hair rope tyed with both ends to the under jaw of the horse, and their saddle consists of a pad of dressed skin stuffed with goats hair with wooden stirups. almost all the horses which I have seen in possession of the Indians have soar backs.

the Pishquitpah women for the most part dress with short shirts which reach to their knees long legings and mockersons, they also use large robes; they brade their hair as before discribed but the heads of neither male nor female of this tribe are so much flattened as the nations lower down on this river.

at 4 P. M. we set out accompanyed by eighteen or twenty of their young men on horseback. we continued our rout about nine miles where finding as many willows as would answer our purposes for fuel we encamped for the evening.

the country we passed through was much as that of yesterday. the river hills are about 250 feet high and generally abrupt and craggey in many places faced with a perpendicular and solid rock. this rock is black and hard. [The hard, black rock is basalt of the middle-upper Miocene Saddle Mountains Basalt Member of the Yakima Basalt Subgroup of the Columbia River Basalt Group] leve plains extend themselves from the tops of the river hills to a great distance on either side of the river. the soil is not as fertile as about the falls, tho' it produces a low grass on which the horses
feed very conveniently.

it astonished me to seed the order of their horses at this season of the year when I knew that they had wintered on the dry grass of the plains and at the same time road with greater severity than is common among ourselves. I did not see a single horses which could be deemed poor and many of them were as fat as seals. their horses are generally good.

this evining after we had encamped, we traded for two horses with nearly the same articles we had offered at the
village; these nags Capt. C. and myself intend riding ourselves; haveing now a sufficiency to transport with ease all
our baggage and the packs of the men.—

we killed six ducks in the course of the day; one of them was of a speceis which I had never before seen [The
northern shoveler, Anas clypeata] I therefore had the most material parts of it reserved as a specimine, the leggs are yellow and feet webbed as those of the duckandmallard. saw many common lizzards [brown lizard, the western fence lizard], several rattlesnakes [Northern Pacific rattlesnake, Crotalus viridus oreganus] killed by the party, they are the same as those common to the U' States. the horned Lizzard [pigmy horned lizard, Phrynosoma douglassi douglassi]
is also common.—

had the fiddle played at the request of the natives and some of the men danced. we passed five lodges of the Wallâh wollâhs at the distance of 4 miles above the Pishquitpahs.—