Lewis: July 7, 1805
On a warm, cloudy Sunday, the party struggled to dry the bark of an iron-frame boat, which was plagued by blowflies. Lacking tents, the men used sails for shelter and dressed leather for clothing, though it rotted quickly when wet. Hunters returned with only modest game—three buffalo, two antelope, four deer, three wolves, and one elk—as buffalo had moved downriver. York fell ill and was treated with tartar emetic, recovering by evening. A brief thunderstorm hit at 4 PM, delaying further work. Mosquitoes were intensely bothersome.
Sunday July 7th 1805. The weather warm and cloudy therefore unfavourable
for many operations; I keep small fires under the boat; the blowing flies
are innumerable about it; the moisture retained by the bark prevents it
from drying as fast as it otherwise would. we dispatched two other hunters
to kill Elk or buffaloe for their skins to cover our baggage. we have no
tents; the men are therefore obliged to have recourse to the sails for
shelter from the weather and we have not more skins than are sufficient to
cover our baggage when stoed away in bulk on land. many of the men are
engaged in dressing leather to cloath themselves. their leather cloathes
soon become rotton as they are much exposed to the water and frequently
wet. Capt. Clarks black man York is very unwell today and he gave him a
doze of tartar emettic which operated very well and he was much better in
the evening. this is a discription of medecine that I nevr have recourse
to in my practice except in cases of the intermittent fever. this evening
the hunters returned with the canoes and brought thre buffaloe skins only
and two Antelope 4 deer and three wolf skins; they reported that the
buffaloe had gone further down the river. the two hunters whom we sent out
from hence returned also without having killed anything except one Elk. I
set one of the party at work to make me some sacks of the wolf skins, to
transport my Instruments when occasion requirs their being carried any
distance by land.we had a light shower of rain about 4 P.M.
attended with some thunder and lightning. one beaver caught this morning.
the musquetoes are excessively troublesome to us. I have prepared my
composition which I should have put on this evening but the rain prevented
me.
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Sunday July 7th 1805. The weather was warm and cloudy, and therefore unfavorable for many operations. I am keeping small fires under the boat; the blowflies are innumerable around it, and the moisture retained by the bark prevents it from drying as fast as it otherwise would. We dispatched two other hunters to kill elk or buffalo for their skins to cover our baggage. We have no tents, so the men are obliged to use the sails for shelter from the weather, and we have no more skins than are sufficient to cover our baggage when stowed away in bulk on land. Many of the men are engaged in dressing leather to clothe themselves. Their leather clothes soon become rotten, as they are much exposed to the water and frequently wet.
Capt. Clark's black man York is very unwell today, and he gave him a dose of tartar emetic, which worked very well, and York was much better in the evening. This is a kind of medicine that I never resort to in my practice except in cases of intermittent fever.
This evening the hunters returned with the canoes and brought only three buffalo skins, two antelope, four deer, and three wolf skins. They reported that the buffalo had gone further down the river. The two hunters whom we had sent out from here also returned without having killed anything except one elk. I set one of the party to work to make me some sacks out of the wolf skins, to transport my instruments whenever they need to be carried any distance by land.
We had a light shower of rain about 4 P.M., attended with some thunder and lightning. One beaver was caught this morning. The mosquitoes are excessively troublesome to us. I had prepared my composition, which I would have put on this evening, but the rain prevented me.
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