themselves against the hail; but fortunately there was not much, and that of a small size; so that they felt no inconvenience except that of being exposed without shelter for an hour, and being drenched by the rain:  after it was over they proceeded to the fountain which is perhaps the largest in America.  It is situated in a pleasant level plain, about twenty-five yards from the river, into which it falls over some steep irregular rocks with a sudden ascent of about six feet in one part of its course.  The water boils up from among the rocks and with such force near the centre, that the surface seems higher there than the earth on the sides of the fountain, which is a handsome turf of fine green grass.  The water is extremely pure, cold and pleasant to the taste, not being impregnated with lime or any foreign substance.  It is perfectly transparent and continues its bluish cast for half a mile down the Missouri, notwithstanding the rapidity of the river.  After examining it for some time captain Lewis returned to the camp.

Sunday 30.  In the morning Captain Clarke sent the men to bring up the baggage left in the plains yesterday.  On their return the axletrees and carriages were repaired, and the baggage, conveyed on the shoulders of the party across Willow run which had fallen as low as three feet.  The carriages being then taken over, a load of baggage was carried to the six-mile stake, deposited there, and the carriages brought back.  Such is the state of the plains that this operation consumed the day.  Two men were sent to the falls to look for the articles lost yesterday; but they found nothing but the compass covered with mud and sand at the mouth of the ravine; the place at which captain Clarke had been caught by the storm, was filled with large rocks.  The men complain much of the bruises received yesterday from the hail.  A more than usual number of buffaloe appeared about the camp to-day, and furnished plenty of meat:  captain Clarke thought that at one view he must have seen at least ten thousand.  In the course of the day there was a heavy gust of wind from the southwest, after which the evening was fair.

At the Whitebear camp we had a heavy dew this morning, which is quite a remarkable occurrence.  The party continues to be occupied with the boat, the crossbars for which are now finished, and there remain only the strips to complete the wood work:  the skins necessary to cover it have already been prepared and they amount to twenty-eight elk skins and four buffaloe skins.  Among our game were two beaver, which we have had occasion to observe always are found wherever there is timber.  We also killed a large bat or goatsucker of which there are many in this neighbourhood, resembling in every respect those of the same species in the United States.  We have not seen the leather-winged bat for some time, nor are there any of the small goatsucker in this part of the Missouri.  We have not seen either that species of goatsucker or nighthawk called the whippoorwill, which is commonly confounded in the United States with the large goatsucker which we observe here; this last prepares no nest but lays its eggs in the open plains; they generally begin to sit on two eggs, and we believe raise only one brood in a season:  at the present moment they are just hatching their young.