460 Expedition to the 



sions, the lower extending from the Mississippi to the con- 

 fluence of the Platte; and the upper, comprehending all above 

 that point. As might be expected, the influx of so large and 

 so peculiar a river as the Platte, gives a new character to 

 the Missouri below. It is more rapid, more difficult of na- 

 vigation, and the water more turbid than above. 



Among other plauts observed about our encampment, was 

 the wild liquorice, (glycyrhiza lepidota, N.) which is believed 

 to be the plant mentioned by Sir A. Mackenzie, which is 

 used as food by the savages of the northwest. The root is 

 large and long, spreading horizontally to a great distance. 

 In taste it bears a very slight resemblance to the liquorice of 

 the shops, but is bitter and nauseous. The leaves are fre- 

 quently covered with a viscid exudation. 



We were prevented from continuing our astronomical obser- 

 vations, in the afternoon, the weather becoming cloudy, and 

 at evening a thunder storm commenced, which continued 

 with short intermissions during the night. The lightning ex- 

 hibited an incessant glare, and peals of thunder which seem- 

 ed to shake the earth to its centre, followed each other in 

 rapid succession. 



On Monday 19th, we moved on, and ascending the Platte 

 about thirty miles, arrived in the evening at a place where 

 the hills on the north side close in, quite to the bed of 

 the river. On both sides they became more broken and 

 elevated, and on the north, they approached so near to the 

 bed of the Platte, that we were under the necessity of tra- 

 velling across them. We were glad, however, of any change 

 of scene. The monotony of a vast unbroken plain, like that 

 in which we had now travelled, nearly one hundred and 

 fifty miles, is little less tiresome to the eye, and fatiguing 

 to the spirit, than the dreary solitude of the ocean. 



With this change of the surface, some change is observed 

 in the vegetable products of the soil. Here we first saw a 



