Clark: March 3, 1806
At Fort Clatsop, two canoes were damaged after the tide left them partly grounded, causing them to split under their own weight; they were dragged ashore. The sick men are slowly recovering, but La Page fell ill and Scott's Pills failed to work. With nothing else of note happening, the party is counting down the days until their April 1st departure. Clark devoted much of the entry to describing regional wildlife, including the speckled pheasant, small brown pheasant, crows, ravens, blackbirds, several hawks, and the large hooting owl, comparing them to eastern species.
Monday March 3rd 1806 Two of our Canoes have been lately injured very much
in consequence of the tide leaveing them partially on Shore. they Split by
this means with their own weight. we had them drawn out on Shore. our
convalessents are Slowly on the recovery. La page is taken Sick. gave him
Some of Scotts Pills which did not opperate. no movement of the party to
day worthey of notice. every thing moves on in the old way and we are
Counting the days which Seperate us from the 1st of April, & which
bind us to Fort Clatsop.-.-.
The Small Speckled Pheasant found in the Rocky Mountains, and differ from
the large black and white pheasant only in point of Size, and Somewhat in
colour. it is scercely half the Size of the other; assosiates in much
larger flocks and is also very gentle. the black is more predominate and
the dark brown feathers less frequent in this than the larger Species. the
mixture of white is also more general on every part of this bird. it is
considerably Smaller than our Pheasant and the body reather more round. in
other particulars they differ not at all, from the large black and white
Pheasant. this by way of distinction I have called the Speckled Pheasant.
the flesh of both these Species of party coloured Pheasant is of a dark
colour, and with the means we had of cooking them were only tolerably
flavoured tho these birds would be fine well cooked.
The small Brown Pheasant is an inhabitant of the Same Country and is of
the Size and Shape of the Speckled Pheasant, which it also resembles in
it’s economy and habits, the Stripe above the eye in this Species is
scercely preceptable and is when closely examined of a yellow or orrange
colour in Sted of the vermillion of the others. it’s colour is of a
uniform mixture of dark and yellowish brown with a Slight mixture of
brownish white on the breast belley and the feathers under the tail. the
whole Compound is not unlike that of the Common quaile only darker. this
is also booted to the toes. the flesh is tolerable and that of the breast
is as white as the Pheasant of the atlantic coast. the redish brown
Pheasant has been previously discribed.-.
The Crow Ravin and large Blackbird are the Same as those of our Country,
only that the Crow here is much Smaller, yet its note is the Same. I
observe no difference between the Hawk of this Coast and those of the
Atlantic. I have observed the large brown Hawk, the Small or Sparrow hawk,
and a hawk of an intermediate Size with a long tail and blewish coloured
wings, remarkably Swift in flight and very ferce. Sometimes called in the
Un. States the hen Hawk. those birds Seam to be common to every part of
this Country in greater or smaller numbers, and the Hawks, Crows, and
ravins build their nests in great numbers along the high &
inaxcessable clifts of the Columbia, and Lewis’s rivers when we passd
along them. we also met with the large hooting Owl under the Rocky
mountains on the Kooskooske R. it’s Colour reather deeper than with us,
but differ in no other respect from those of the U States.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Monday March 3rd 1806. Two of our canoes have been badly damaged lately because the tide left them partially on shore. They split by this means under their own weight. We had them drawn out on shore. Our convalescents are slowly recovering. Lapage is taken sick. I gave him some of Scott's Pills, which did not work. No movement of the party today worthy of notice. Everything moves on in the old way, and we are counting the days that separate us from the 1st of April, and which bind us to Fort Clatsop.
The small speckled pheasant is found in the Rocky Mountains, and differs from the large black and white pheasant only in size, and somewhat in color. It is scarcely half the size of the other; it associates in much larger flocks and is also very gentle. The black is more predominant and the dark brown feathers less frequent in this than in the larger species. The mixture of white is also more general over every part of this bird. It is considerably smaller than our pheasant, and the body rather more round. In other particulars they do not differ at all from the large black and white pheasant. This, by way of distinction, I have called the speckled pheasant. The flesh of both these species of parti-colored pheasant is of a dark color, and with the means we had of cooking them they were only tolerably flavored, though these birds would be fine if well cooked.
The small brown pheasant is an inhabitant of the same country and is of the size and shape of the speckled pheasant, which it also resembles in its habits and behavior. The stripe above the eye in this species is scarcely perceptible, and when closely examined is of a yellow or orange color instead of the vermilion of the others. Its color is a uniform mixture of dark and yellowish brown with a slight mixture of brownish white on the breast, belly, and the feathers under the tail. The whole combination is not unlike that of the common quail, only darker. This one is also feathered down to the toes. The flesh is tolerable, and that of the breast is as white as the pheasant of the Atlantic coast. The reddish brown pheasant has been previously described.
The crow, raven, and large blackbird are the same as those of our country, only that the crow here is much smaller, yet its call is the same. I observe no difference between the hawk of this coast and those of the Atlantic. I have observed the large brown hawk, the small or sparrow hawk, and a hawk of an intermediate size with a long tail and bluish-colored wings, remarkably swift in flight and very fierce. It is sometimes called in the United States the hen hawk. These birds seem to be common to every part of this country in greater or smaller numbers, and the hawks, crows, and ravens build their nests in great numbers along the high and inaccessible cliffs of the Columbia and Lewis's rivers, where we passed along them. We also met with the large hooting owl under the Rocky Mountains on the Kooskooske River. Its color is rather deeper than with us, but it differs in no other respect from those of the United States.
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