May 9th Thursday 1805 a fine Day wind from the East we proceeded on verry well the Countrey much the appearance which it had yesterday the bottom & high land rich black earth, Timber not so abondant as below, we passed the mouth of a river (or the appearance of a river) on the Lard. Side the bend of which as far as we went up it or could See from a high hill is as large as that of the Missouri at this place which is near half a mile this river did not Contain one drop of running water, about a mile below this river a large Creeke joins the river L. S. which is also Dry- Those dry Streams which are also verry wide, I think is the Conveyance of the melted Snow, & heavy rains which is Probable fall in from the high mountanious Countrey which is Said to be between this river & the Yellow Stone river—I walked on Shore the fore part of this day, & observed Great quantities of the Shining Stone which we view as quarts, I killed 2 Bucks & a Buffalow, Capt Lewis also killed one which verry good meat, I saw emunerable herds of buffalow, & goats to day in every derection—The Missouri keeps its width which is nearly as wide as near its mouth, great number of Sand bars, the water not So muddy & Sand finer & in Smaller perpotion. Capt. Lewis killed 4 pleaver different from any I have ever before Seen, larger & have white breast & the underfeathers of the wings are white &c.
[Lewis, May 9, 1805]
May 9th 1805. I killed four plover this evening of a different kind from any I have yet seen. it resembles the grey or whistling plover more than any other of this family of birds, tho it is much larger. it is about the size of the yellow leged plover common to the U States, and called the jack curlooe by some. the legs are of a greenish brown; the toes, three and one high at the heel unconnected with a webb, the breast and belly of a brownish white; the head neck upper part of the body and coverts of the wings are of a dove colured brown which when the bird is at rest is the predomanent colour. the tale has 12 feathers of the same length of which the two in the center are black with transverse bars of yellowish bron, the others are a brownish white. the large feathers of the wings are white tiped with black. the eyes are black with a small ring of dark yellowish brown—the beak is black, 21/2 inches long, cilindrical, streight, and roundly or blountly pointed. the notes of this bird are louder and more various than of any other species which I have seen.-
[Lewis, May 10, 1805]
Friday May 10th 1805. Set out at sunrise and proceeded but a short distance ere the wind became so violent that we were obliged to come too, which we did on the Lard. side in a suddon or short bend of the river where we were in a great measure sheltered from the effects of the wind. the wind continued violent all day, the clouds were thick and black, had a slight sprinkle of rain several times in the course of the day. we sent out several hunters to scower the country, to this we were induced not so much from the want of provision as to discover the Indians whome we had reasons to believe were in the neighbourhood, from the circumstance of one of their dogs comeing to us this morning shortly after we landed; we still beleive ourselves in the country usually hunted by the Assinniboins, and as they are a vicious illy disposed nation we think it best to be on our guard, accordingly we inspected the arms and accoutrements the party and found them all in good order. The hunters returned this evening having seen no tents or Indians nor any fresh sign of them; they killed two Mule deer, one common fallow or longtailed deer, 2 Buffaloe and 5 beaver, and saw several deer of the Mule kind of immence size, and also three of the Bighorned anamals. from the appearance of the Mule deer and the bighorned anamals we beleive ourselves fast approaching a hilly or mountainous country; we have rarely found the mule deer in any except a rough country; they prefer the open grounds and are seldom found in the woodlands near the river; when they are met with in the woodlands or river bottoms and are pursued, they invariably run to the hills or open country as the Elk do. the contrary happens with the common deer ther are several esscential differences between the Mule and common deer as well in form as in habits. they are fully a third larger in general, and the male is particularly large; I think there is somewhat greater disparity of size between the male and female of this speceis than there is between the male and female fallow deer; I am convinced I have seen a buck of this species twice the volume of a buck of any other species. the ears are peculiarly large; I measured those of a large buck which I found to be eleven inches long and 31/2 in width at the widest part; they are not so delicately formed, their hair in winter is thicker longer and of a much darker grey, in summer the hair is still coarser longer and of a paleer red, more like that of the Elk; in winter they also have a considerable quantity of a very fine wool intermixed with the hair and lying next to the skin as the Antelope has. the long hair which grows on the outer sides of the 1st joint of the hinder legs, and which in the common deer do not usually occupy more than 2 inches in them occupys from 6 to eight; their horns also differ, these in the common deer consist of two main beams from which one or more points project the beam graduly deminishing as the points procede from it, with the mule deer the horns consist of two beams which at the distance of 4 or 6 inches from the head divide themselves each into two equal branches which again either divide into two other equal branches or terminate in a smaller, and two equal ones; having either 2 4 or 6 points on a beam; the horn is not so rough about the base as the common deer and are invariably of a much darker colour. the most striking difference of all, is the white rump and tale. from the root of the tail as a center there is a circular spot perfectly white, of abot 3 inches radius, which occupys a part of the rump and extremitys of the buttocks and joins the white of the belley underneath; the tail which is usually from 8 to 9 inches long, for the first 4 or 5 inches from it's upper extremity is covered with short white hairs, much shorter indeed than the hairs of the body; from hence for about one inch further the hair is still white but gradually becomes longer, the tail then terminates in a tissue of black hair of about 3 Inches long. from this black hair of the tail they have obtained among the French engages the appelation of the black taled deer, but this I conceive by no means characteristic of the anamal as much the larger portion of the tail is white. the year and the tail of this anamal when compared with those of the common (leer, so well comported with those of the mule when compared with the horse, that we have by way of distinction adapted the appellation of the mule deer which I think much more appropriate. on the inner corner of each eye there is a drane or large recepicle which seems to answer as a drane to the eye which gives it the appearance of weeping, this in the common deer of the atlantic states is scarcely perceptable but becomes more conspicuous in the fallow deer, and still more so in the Elk; this recepticle in the Elk is larger than in any of the pecora order with which I am acquainted.
Boils and imposthumes have been very common with the party Bratton is now unable to work with one on his hand; soar eyes continue also to be common to all of us in a greater or less degree. for the imposthume I use emmolient poltices, and for soar eyes a solution of white vitriol and the sugar of lead in the proportion of 2 grs. of the former and one of the latter to each ounce of water.