Thursday 14.  Last night the snow fell three inches deep; the day was, however, fine.  Four men were despatched with sleds and three horses to bring up the meat which had been collected by the hunters.  They returned however, with intelligence that about twenty-one miles below the fort a party of upwards of one hundred men, whom they supposed to be Sioux, rushed on them, cut the traces of the sleds, and carried off two of the horses, the third being given up by intercession of an Indian who seemed to possess some authority over them; they also took away two of the men’s knifes, and a tomahawk, which last however they returned.  We sent up to the Mandans to inform them of it, and to know whether any of them would join a party which intended to pursue the robbers in the morning.  About twelve o’clock two of their chiefs came down and said that all their young men were out hunting, and that there were few guns in the village.  Several Indians however, armed some with bows and arrows, some with spears and battle-axes, and two with fusils, accompanied captain Lewis, who set out,

Friday 15, at sunrise with twenty-four men.  The morning was fine and cool, the thermometer being at 16 degrees below 0.  In the course of the day one of the Mandan chiefs returned from captain Lewis’s party, his eye-sight having become so bad that he could not proceed.  At this season of the year the reflexion from the ice and snow is so intense as to occasion almost total blindness.  This complaint is very common, and the general remedy is to sweat the part affected by holding the face over a hot stone, and receiving the fumes from snow thrown on it.  A large red fox was killed to-day.

Saturday 16.  The morning was warm, mercury at 32 degrees above 0, the weather cloudy:  several of the Indians who went with captain Lewis returned, as did also one of our men, whose feet had been frostbitten.

Sunday 17.  The weather continued as yesterday, though in the afternoon it became fair.  Shotawhorora and his son came to see us, with about thirty pounds of dried buffaloe meat and some tallow.

Monday 18.  The morning was cloudy with some snow, but in the latter part of the day it cleared up.  Mr. M’Kenzie who had spent yesterday at the fort now left us.  Our stock of meat is exhausted, so that we must confine ourselves to vegetable diet, at least till the return of the party:  for this, however, we are at no loss, since both on this and the following day,

Tuesday 19, our blacksmith got large quantities of corn from the Indians who came in great numbers to see us.  The weather was fair and warm, the wind from the south.