THE MISSOURI RIVER JOURNALS ig 



and I observed none of that whiteness of skin among 

 them. There were numbers of men, women, and chil- 

 dren. We saw a crippled and evidently tame Wolf, and 

 two Indians, following us on the top of the hills. We 

 saw two Swans on a bar, and a female Elk, with her 

 young fawn, for a few minutes. I wished that we had 

 been ashore, as I know full well that the mother would 

 not leave her young; and the mother killed, the young 

 one would have been easily caught alive. We are now 

 stopping for the night, and our men are cutting wood. 

 We have done this, I believe, four times to-day, and have 

 run upward of sixty miles. At the last wood-cutting 

 place, a young leveret was started by the men, and after 

 a short race, the poor thing squatted, and was killed by 

 the stroke of a stick. It proved to be the young of Lepus 

 townsendii [L. campestris\, large enough to have left the 

 mother, and weighing rather more than a pound. It is a 

 very beautiful specimen. The eyes are very large, and 

 the iris pure amber color. Its hair is tightly, but beau- 

 tifully curled. Its measurements are as follows [^omitted]. 

 Bell will make a fine skin of it to-morrow morning. We 

 have had all sorts of stories related to us ; but Mr. Kipp, 

 who has been in the country for twenty-two years, is 

 evidently a person of truth, and I expect a good deal of 

 information from him. Our captain told us that on a 

 previous voyage some Indians asked him if, "when the 

 great Medicine" (meaning the steamer) "was tired, he 

 gave it whiskey." Mr. Sire laughed, and told them he 

 did. "How much.'" was the query. "A barrelful, to 

 be sure ! " The poor wretches at first actually believed 

 him, and went off contented, but were naturally angry 

 at beihg undeceived on a later occasion. I have now 

 some hope of finding a young of the Antelope alive at 

 Fort Union, as Mr. Kipp left one there about ten days 

 ago. I am now going to bed, though our axemen and 

 "charettes" are still going; and I hope I may not be 



