THE MISSOURI RIVER JOURNALS 



S3 



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dress of a Blackfoot warrior, ornamented with many tufts 

 of Indian hair from scalps, and also with a saddle. After 

 dinner, Harris, who felt poorly all morning, was better, 

 and we went to pay a visit at the Opposition fort. We 

 started in a wagon with an old horse called Peter, which 

 stands fire like a stump. In going, we found we could 

 approach the birds with comparative ease, and we had 

 the good fortune to shoot three of the new Larks. I 

 killed two, uid Harris one. When this species starts 

 from the ground, they fly in a succession of undula- 

 tions, which renders aim at them quite difficult; after 

 this, and in the same manner, they elevate themselves 

 to some considerable height, as if about to sing, and 

 presently pitch towards the ground, where they run pret- 

 tily, and at times stand still and quite erect for a few 

 minutes; we hope to discover their nests soon. Young 

 Meadow Larks, Red-shafted Woodpeckers, and the Red- 

 cheeked ditto, ^ are abundant. We reached Fort Mortimer 

 in due time; passed first between several sulky, half- 

 starved looking Indians, and came to the gate, where we 

 were received by the " bourgeois," ^ a young man by the 

 name of Collins, from Hopkinsville, Ky. We found the 

 place in a most miserable condition, and about to be car- 

 ried away by the falling in of the banks on account of the 

 great rise of water in the Yellowstone, that has actually 

 dammed the Missouri. The current ran directly across, 

 and the banks gave way at such a rate that the men had 

 been obliged already to tear up the front of the fort and 

 remove it to the rear. To-morrow they are to remove 

 the houses themselves, should they stand the coming 

 night, which appeared to me somewhat dubious. We 



* This passage shows that Audubon observed individuals of the hybrid 

 Woodpecker which he considered identical with Colaptes cafer, and also 

 otiiers which he regarded as belonging to the supposed new species — hia 

 C ayresii. — E. C. 



^ The usual title or designation of the chief trader or person in charge of 

 any establishment of a fur company. — E. C, 



