Lewis: January 22, 1806
The party sent to retrieve meat returned in the evening with poor-quality game, and hunter Reubin Fields stayed behind with Shannon and Labuish. The recent salt supply has run out, and no word has come from the other two hunting parties working toward Point Adams and the prairies. Lewis spent much of the day describing three local species of fern, focusing especially on one whose horizontal root the natives roast and eat. He detailed its growth habit, foliage, and dough-like edible interior, noting its pungent flavor.
Thursday January 22nd 1806. The party sent for the meat this morning
returned with it in the Evening; it was in very inferior order, in short
the animals were poor. Reubin Fields also remained with the other hunters
Shannon & Labuish our late supply of salt is out. we have not yet
heared a sentence from the other two parties of hunter’s who are below us
towards Point Adams and the Praries.
There are three species of fern in this neighbourhood the root one of
which the natves eat; this grows very abundant in the open uplands and
praries where the latter are not sandy and consist of deep loose rich
black lome. the root is horizontal sometimes a little deverging or
obliquely descending, frequently dividing itself as it procedes into two
equal branches and shooting up a number of stems; it lies about 4 Inces
beneath the surface of the earth. the root is celindric, with few or no
radicles and from the size of a goose quill to that of a man’s finger; the
center of the root is divided into two equal parts by a strong flat &
white ligament like a piece of thin tape on either side of this there is a
white substance which when the root is roasted in the embers is much like
wheat dough and not very unlike it in flavour, though it has also a
pungency which becomes more visible after you have chewed it some little
time; this pungency was disagreeable to me, but the natives eat it very
voraciously and I have no doubt but it is a very nutricious food. the bark
of the root is black, somewhat rough, thin and brittle, it easily
seperates in flakes from the part which is eaten as dose also the internal
liggament. this root perennil. in rich lands this plant rises to the hight
of from 4 to five feet. the stem is smooth celindric, slightly groved on
one side erect about half it’s hight on the 2 first branches thence
reclining backwards from the grooved side; it puts forth it’s branches
which are in reallyty long footstalks by pares from one side only and near
the edges of the groove, these larger footstalks are also grooved
cilindric and gradually tapering towards the extremity, puting forth
alternate footstalks on either side of the grove near it’s edge; these
lesser footstalks the same in form as the first put forth from forty to
fifty alternate pinate leaves which are sessile, horizontal, multipartite
for half their length from the point of insertion and terminating in a
long shaped apex, and are also revolute with the upper disk smoth and the
lower slightly cottanny. these alternate leaves after proceeding half the
length of the footstalk cease to be partite and assume the tongue like
form altogether. this plant produces no flower or fruit whatever, is of a
fine green colour in summer and a beautiful) plant. the top is annual and
is of course dead at present.-
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Thursday, January 22nd, 1806. The party sent for the meat this morning returned with it in the evening; it was in very inferior condition—in short, the animals were poor. Reubin Fields also remained with the other hunters, Shannon and Labuish. Our recent supply of salt is out. We have not yet heard a word from the other two parties of hunters who are below us toward Point Adams and the prairies.
There are three species of fern in this neighborhood, the root of one of which the natives eat. This one grows very abundantly in the open uplands and prairies where these are not sandy and consist of deep, loose, rich, black loam. The root is horizontal, sometimes a little diverging or obliquely descending, frequently dividing itself as it proceeds into two equal branches and shooting up a number of stems; it lies about 4 inches beneath the surface of the earth. The root is cylindrical, with few or no rootlets, and ranges from the size of a goose quill to that of a man's finger. The center of the root is divided into two equal parts by a strong, flat, white ligament like a piece of thin tape. On either side of this there is a white substance which, when the root is roasted in the embers, is much like wheat dough and not very unlike it in flavor, though it also has a pungency which becomes more noticeable after you have chewed it for a little time. This pungency was disagreeable to me, but the natives eat it very voraciously, and I have no doubt that it is a very nutritious food. The bark of the root is black, somewhat rough, thin, and brittle; it easily separates in flakes from the part which is eaten, as does also the internal ligament. This root is perennial. In rich lands this plant rises to a height of from 4 to 5 feet. The stem is smooth, cylindrical, slightly grooved on one side, erect for about half its height to the first two branches, then reclining backward from the grooved side. It puts forth its branches—which are in reality long footstalks—in pairs from one side only and near the edges of the groove. These larger footstalks are also grooved, cylindrical, and gradually tapering toward the extremity, putting forth alternate footstalks on either side of the groove near its edge. These lesser footstalks, the same in form as the first, put forth from forty to fifty alternate pinnate leaves, which are sessile, horizontal, multipartite for half their length from the point of insertion, and terminating in a long-shaped apex; they are also revolute, with the upper surface smooth and the lower slightly downy. These alternate leaves, after proceeding half the length of the footstalk, cease to be partite and assume the tongue-like form altogether. This plant produces no flower or fruit whatever, is of a fine green color in summer, and is a beautiful plant. The top is annual and is, of course, dead at present.
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