on the right side, under a cliff of rocks.  Here they were joined by the five men who had gone in quest of Crusatte.  They had been to the forks of the river, where the natives resort in great numbers for the purpose of gigging fish, of which they made our men a present of five fresh salmon.  In addition to this food, one deer was killed to-day.  The western branch of this river is much larger than the eastern, and after we passed the junction we found the river about one hundred yards in width, rapid and shoaly, but containing only a small quantity of timber.  As captain Lewis was the first white man who visited its waters, captain Clarke gave it the name of Lewis’s river.  The low grounds through which he had passed to-day were rich and wide, but at his camp this evening the hills begin to assume a formidable aspect.  The cliff under which he lay is of a reddish brown colour, the rocks which have fallen from it are a dark brown flintstone.  Near the place are gullies of white sandstone, and quantities of a fine sand, of a snowy whiteness:  the mountains on each side are high and rugged, with some pine trees scattered over them.

Thursday 22.  He soon began to perceive that the Indian accounts had not exaggerated:  at the distance of a mile he passed a small creek, and the points of four mountains, which were rocky, and so high that it seemed almost impossible to cross them with horses.  The road lay over the sharp fragments of rocks which had fallen from the mountains, and were strewed in heaps for miles together, yet the horses altogether unshod, travelled across them as fast as the men, and without detaining them a moment.  They passed two bold-running streams, and reached the entrance of a small river, where a few Indian families resided.  They had not been previously acquainted with the arrival of the whites, the guide was behind, and the wood so thick that we came upon them unobserved, till at a very short distance.  As soon as they saw us, the women and children fled in great consternation; the men offered us every thing they had, the fish on the scaffolds, the dried berries and the collars of elk’s tushes worn by the children.  We took only a small quantity of the food, and gave them in return some small articles which conduced very much to pacify them.  The guide now coming up, explained to them who we were, and the object of our visit, which seemed to relieve the fears, but still a number of the women and children did not recover from their fright, but cryed during our stay, which lasted about an hour.  The guide, whom we found a very intelligent friendly old man, informed us that up this river there was a road which led over the mountains to the Missouri.  On resuming his route, he went along the steep side of a mountain about three miles, and then reached the river near a small island, at the lower part of which he encamped; he here attempted to gig some fish, but could only obtain one small salmon.  The river is here shoal and rapid, with many rocks scattered