We killed in the course of
the day an elk, three geese, and a beaver. The beaver on this part of
the Missouri are in greater quantities, larger and fatter, and their fur
is more abundant and of a darker color, than any we have hitherto seen.
Their favorite food seems to be the bark of the cottonwood and willow,
as we have seen no other species of tree that has been touched by them,
and these they gnaw to the ground through a diameter of twenty inches."
And on the twenty-first of April the journal says:
"Last night there was a hard white frost, and this morning the weather
was cold, but clear and pleasant; in the course of the day, however, it
became cloudy and the wind rose. The country is of the same description
as within the few last days. We saw immense quantities of buffalo,
elk, deer, antelopes, geese, and some swans and ducks, out of which we
procured three deer and four buffalo calves, which last are equal in
flavor to the most delicious veal; also two beaver and an otter."
As the party advanced to the westward, following the crooked course
of the Missouri, they were very much afflicted with inflamed eyes,
occasioned by the fine, alkaline dust that blew so lightly that it
sometimes floated for miles, like clouds of smoke. The dust even
penetrated the works of one of their watches, although it was protected
by tight, double cases. In these later days, even the double windows of
the railway trains do not keep out this penetrating dust, which makes
one's skin dry and rough.
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