THE MISSOURI RIVER JOURNALS 473 



Hills, that in time of extreme high water must be very 

 difficult of ascent. During these high winds it is very 

 hard to steer the boat, and also to land her. The settlers 

 on the Missouri side of the river appear to relish the 

 sight of a steamer greatly, for they all come to look at 

 this one as we pass the different settlements. The ther- 

 mometer has fallen sixteen degrees since two o'clock, 

 and it feels now very chilly. 



Saturday, May 6. High wind all night and cold this 

 morning, with the wind still blowing so hard that at half- 

 past seven we stopped on the western shore, under a range 

 of high hills, but on the weather side of them. We took 

 our guns and went off, but the wind was so high we saw 

 but little; I shot a Wild Pigeon and a Whippoorwill, 

 female, that gave me great trouble, as I never saw one so 

 remarkably wild before. Bell shot two Gray Squirrels 

 and several Vireos, and Sprague, a Kentucky Warbler. 

 Traces of Turkeys and of Deer were seen. We also saw 

 three White Pelicans, but no birds to be added to our 

 previous lot, and I have no wish to keep a strict account 

 of the number of the same species we daily see. It is 

 now half -past twelve ; the wind is still very high, but our 

 captain is anxious to try to proceed. We have cut some 

 green wood, and a considerable quantity of hickory for axe- 

 handles. In cutting down a tree we caught two young 

 Gray Squirrels. A Pewee Flycatcher, of some species or 

 other, was caught by the steward, who ran down the poor 

 thing, which was starved on account of the cold and 

 windy weather. Harris shot another of the new Finches, 

 a male also^ and I saw what I believe is the female, but 

 it flew upwards of 200 yards without stopping. Bell also 

 shot a small Vireo, which is in all probability a new spe- 

 cies^ (to me at least). We saw a Goshawk, a Marsh 



1 The surmise proved to be correct; for this is the now well-known 

 Bell's Vireo, Vireo bellii of Audubon : B. of Am. vii., 1844, p. 333, pi. 485. 

 — E.G. 



