June i8, 1904.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
499 
LroUing where the trail would • permit, without being 
molested, although the. groups of Moros were, still on 
the liills as we passed through Alimi Gra's country, and 
no doubt would liave jumped us had they dared. 
This trip was the first of many we had afterwards, until 
the dry season came on, when the ducks all left for other 
parts, though why I never could figure out. There cer- 
tainly remained water enough for them, as in that coun- 
try the only difference between the rainy and dry season 
is that during the former it rains all the time, and during 
the latter it lets up once in a while and only rains most 
of it. However, they all left for some reason, but we 
didn't miss them much, for by that time we had learned 
our way around, and foimd plenty of other game. There 
were jacksnipe, plover of several kinds, and deer and 
wild pigs, world without end. There was also a pretty 
little black quail about the size of an English sparrow, 
that was very abundant, but too small to shoot, and along 
the edge of the jungle were wild chickens, which afforded 
good sport early in the morning and in the late afternoon. 
During the middle of the day they remained in the forest 
where it was cool, and didn't move about. The Moros, 
being Mohammedans, are forbidden by their religion to 
touch pork in any form, and therefore never kill a pig, 
with the result that the country was simply overrun with 
pigs. We found them delicious eating, as they feed 
mostly on grain and wild fruits, their flesh resembling 
venison more than pork. The deer were the ordinary 
barking variety common to the Philippines, and were very 
plentiful also. They made an always welcome addition 
to our not too varied bill of fare. The wild pigs and 
the deer cause great damage to the crops, and during the 
time when the rice and sweet potatoes are ripening the 
Moros keep men in the fields night and day to scare them 
away. They attain this end by shouting, and after our 
arrival by pounding on the empty hardtack cans they 
picked up about camp, which not only scared the deer and 
pigs, but made it almost impossible to sleep if you were 
anywhere in the vicinity of a rice or "camote" field. 
After we started in going after the ducks, we were rather 
forced into doing more or less hunting. The other 
Dattos and Sultans living in the neighborhood of camp 
became jealous. They went to the commanding officer 
and said that they were just as good friends to the Amer- 
icans as was Datto Grande, and they couldn't see why 
we should go down to his place to shoot all the time 
and never come to see them. So to keep them from feel- 
ing hurt, we visited their places, and finding game plenti- 
ful and a warm v/elcome, we went again and again. 
I was at Camp Yicars about a year, having been with 
the first American column that entered the Lake Lanao 
country, which, up to that time, the Moros had kept in- 
violate, and while there met with many experiences, 
pleasant and otherwise. The Moros of that section are a 
highly interesting people, with many strange and curious 
manners and customs. They are superstitious to a de- 
gree, believe in all kinds of witchcraft and magic, and 
lor the most part are unspoiled by contact with the whites. 
They are great warriors, and successfully kept the 
Spaniards out of their country for over 300 years, and 
though the Spaniards tried time and again to obtain a 
foothold, they never succeeded in so doing. They gave us 
a hard fight before we established ourselves, and even to- 
day there are about the lake Sultans and Dattcs who 
would resist to the death the passage of troops or any 
Americans through their territory. I hope one day to 
be sent back to help complete the work of civilizing, or 
rather modernizing, them, so ably begun by Captain John 
J. Pershing, isth Cavalry, now on the general staif of 
the army, for during my stay among them I found many 
things to admire and respect, and became very muc'.i at- 
tached to them. Ahmi Commissakio. 
Trails of the Pathfinders.— X. 
Lewis and C.atk (Continoed). 
They had now passed Milk River, and the Dry 
Fork, and the journal says: "The game is now in 
great quantities, particularly the elk and buffalo, which 
last are so gentle that the men are obliged to drive 
them out of the way with sticks and stones." Bears 
were abundant, and almost every day one was killed. 
About the middle of May they came near losing one 
of the canoes containing papers, instruments and 
medicines, for careless work by the steersman caused 
it to be overturned. She was righted and brought 
safely to shore, with only a trifling loss. _ 
They were now approaching the mountains, and the 
spring storms, which here last until the middle of 
July, troubled them somewhat with abundant rains 
and by obscuring the view. On the 20th they reached 
the mouth of the Musselshell, and pushing on, in a 
short time found themselves among the bad lands of 
the Upper Missouri. They were now obliged to "cor- 
dell," a number of the men walking on the shore with 
a tow-line, while others kept the boat off the shore. 
This was slow and difficult work, and was made more 
dangerous by the fact that their elk skin ropes were 
getting old and rotten, and were likely to break at a 
critical time. On May 29 some buffalo ran through 
the camp, and caused much confusion and alarm, no 
one knowing exactly what had happened until after 
it was all over. When they passed the mouth of the 
Judith River they found traces of a large camp of 
Indians, a hundred and twenty-six fires, made, as they 
conjectured, by "The Minnetari of Fort de Prairie." 
Here, too, they passed precipices about 120 feet high, 
below which lay scattered the remains of at least a 
hundred carcasses of buffalo. The method by which 
the buffalo are driven over the cliffs by the Upper Mis- 
souri tribes is described; and at this place we are 
told that the wolves which had "been feasting on these 
carcasses were very fat, and so gentle that one of 
them was killed with a spontoon or halberd. They 
were now among some of the most impressive bad 
lands of the Missouri River, and the extraordinary 
effects of erosion by air and water made the explorers 
wonder. The journal says: 
"These hills and river cliffs exhibit a most extraor- 
dinary and romantic appearance. They rise in most 
places nearly perpendicular from the river, to the 
!j eight of between two and three hundred feet, and 
are formed of very white sandstone; so soft as to 
yield readilv to the action of water, but in the upper 
part of which lie imbedded two or three thin hori- 
zontal strata of white freestone unaffected by the rain, 
and on the top is a dark, rich loam, which forms a 
gradually ascending plain, from a mile to a mile and 
a half in extent, when the hills again rise abruptly to 
the height of about three hundred feet more. In 
trickling down the cliffs water has worn the soft 
sandstone into a thousand grotesque figures, among 
which, with a little fancy, may be discerned elegant 
ranges of freestone buildings, with columns variously 
sculptured, and supporting long and elegant galleries, 
while the parapets are adorned with statuary. On a 
nearer approach, they represent every form of ele- 
gant ruins; columns, some with pedestals and capitals 
entire; others mutilated and prostrate, and some rising 
pyramidally over each other till they terminate in a 
sharp point. These are varied by niches,, alcoves and 
the customary appearence of desolated magnificence. 
The delusion is increased by the number of martins 
which have built their globular nests in the niches and 
hover over these columns as in our country they are 
accustomed to frequent large stone structures. 
"As we advance there seems no end to the vision- 
ary enchantment which surrounds us. In the midst of 
this fantastic scenery are vast ranges of walls, which 
seem the productions of art, so regular is the work- 
manship. They rise perpendicularly from the river, 
sometimes to the height of one hundred feet, varying 
in thickness from one to twelve feet, being equally 
broad at the top as below. The stones, of which they 
are formed are black, thick and durable, and com- 
posed of a large portion - of earth, intermixed and 
cemented with a small quantity of sand and a con- 
siderable proportion of talc or quartz. These stones 
are almost invariably regular parallelopipeds of un- 
usual sizes in the wall, but equally deep,_ and laid 
regularly in ranges over each other like bricks, each 
breaking and covering the interstices of the two on 
which it rests.. But, though the perpendicular inter- 
stices be destroyed, the horizontal one extends entirely 
through the whole work. The stones, too, are pro- 
portioned to the thickness of the wall in which they 
arc employed, being largest in the thickest walls. The 
thinner walls are composed of a single depth of the 
parallelopiped, v.'hile the thicker ones consist of two 
or more depths. These walls pass the river at several 
places, rising from the v/ater's edge much above the 
sandstone bluffs, which they seem to penetrate; thence 
they cross in a straight line, on either side of the 
river, the plains over which they tower to the height 
of from ten to seventy feet, until they lose themselves 
in the second range of hills. Sometimes they run 
parallel in several ranges near to each other; some- 
times intersect each other at right angles, and have 
the appearance of walls of ancient houses or gar- 
dens." 
Captains Lewis and Clark were much puzzled at 
this point to know which of the rivers before them 
was the main Missouri. The Minnetari had told 
them that the main Missouri headed close to the 
Columbia River, and it was this main stream that 
they wished to follow up, in order that they might 
strike Columbia waters, and thus continue their way 
toward the west. The choice of the wrong branch 
might take them a very long distance out of their 
way, and they would be forced to return to this point, 
losing a season for traveling, and also, perhaps, dis- 
heartening the men so much as to take away much or 
all of their enthusiasm. Accordingly, two land par- 
ties set out. one under Captain Lewis and one under 
Captain Clark. Captain Lewis followed up the Mis- 
souri River, and himself became convinced that it 
was not the main stream, and that it would not be 
wise to follow it up. The remainder of his party, 
however, believed it to be the true Missouri. Captain 
C!ark, who had followed up the stream, had seen 
; uihing to give him much notion as to whether it was 
or -rds not the principal river. After long considera- 
tion, and getting from the interpreters and French- 
men all that they knew on the subject, they deter- 
mined to make a cache at this point, and that a party 
should ascend the southern branch by land until they 
should reach either the falls of the Missouri or the 
mountains. This plan was carried out. The heavy 
baggage, together with some provisions, salt, powder 
and tools, were cached; one of the boats was hidden; 
and Captain Lewis, with four men, started June 11 to 
follow up the southern stream. 
On the 13th they came to a beautiful plain, where 
the buft'alo were in greater numbers than they had 
ever been seen, and a little later Captain Lewis came 
upon the great falls of the Missouri. This most 
cheering discovery gave them the information that 
they desired, and the next day an effort was made to 
find a place where the canoes might be portaged be- 
yond the falls. This was not found; and a consider- 
able journey up and down the river showed to the 
explorers the great number of falls found at this 
place. Game was very numerous, and buffalo were 
killed, and the meat prepared; and a messenger 
was sent back to the main party to tell what had been 
discovered. On one of the days in this neighborhood 
Captain Lewis, having carelessly left his rifle unloaded, 
was chased for a considerable distance by a bear, and 
finally took refuge in the river. The next day he was 
threatened by three buffalo bulls, which came up to 
within a hundred yards of him on the full charge, and 
then stopped; and the next day, in the morning, he 
found a rattlesnake coiled up on a tree trunk close to 
where he had been sleeping. There seems to have 
been excitement enough in the neighborhood of the 
Great Falls. It was found necessary here to leave be- 
hind their boats, and the travelers made an effort to 
supply their place b)^ a homely cart, the wheels of 
which were made from the trunk of a large cotton- 
wood tree. 
For a good while now the party had been traveling most 
of the time on foot, over rough country, covered with 
prickly pears, and the ground rough with hard points of 
earth," where the buft'alo had trodden during the recent 
rains. Their foot-gear was worn out, and the feet of 
many of the men were sore. All were becoming weak 
from exertion and the fatigues they were constantly under- 
going. However, the enormous abundance of game kept 
them from suffering from hunger. Two or three weeks 
were spent in the neighborhood of the Great Falls, pre- 
paring for their onward journey. Provisions had to be 
secured by killing buffalo and drying their meat. They 
had to prepare a skin boat for going up the river, and for 
various explorations and measurements in the neighbor- 
hood, but the attempt was unsuccessful. The iron frame 
had been brought from the East, but wood for flooring 
and gunwales was hardly to be had. They were obliged 
to give up the boat, strip the covering from it, and cache 
the pieces. 
While they were in this neighborhood, they were much 
annoyed by the white bears, which constantly visited their 
camp during the night. Their dog kept them advised of 
the approach of the animals, but it was annoying to be 
obliged to sleep with their arms by their sides and to ex- 
pect to be wakened up at any moment. The daring of 
the bears was great; once some of the hunters, seeing a 
place where they thought it likely that a bear might be 
found, climbed into a tree, shouted, and a bear instantly 
rushed toward them. It came to the tree and stopped 
and looked at them, when one of the men shot it. It 
proved to be the largest bear they had seen. 
Captain Clark, journeying with Chaboneau, the inter- 
preter, his wife and child, and the negro servant, York, 
took shelter one day under a steep rock in a deep ravine, 
to be out of the rain and wind!v A heavy shower came up, 
and before they knew it, a tremendous torrent came roll- 
ing down the ravine, so that they narrowly escaped losing 
their lives. Captain Clark pulled the Indian wbman up 
out of the water, which, before he could climb the bank, 
was up to his waist. The guns and some instruments 
were lost in the flood. 
The question of • transportation was finally solved by 
their making two small canoes from cottonwood trees, 
and they pushed on up the Missouri. A small party went 
ahead on foot, examining the country. Game was fairly 
numerous, and near the l3earborn River they saw a "large 
herd of the big horned animals." Indian camps were occa- 
sionally seen, and it was noted that in some places pme 
trees had been stripped of their bark, which, the Indian 
woman told them, was done by the Snakes in the spring, 
in order to obtain the soft parts of the wood and the bark 
for their food.. 
The river here was deep, and with only a moderate cur- 
rent, and they were obliged to employ the tow rope, cor- 
delHng their vessel along the shore. Geese and cranes 
were breeding along the river ; the young geese perfectly 
feathered and as large as the old ones, while the cranes 
were as large as turkeys. The land party followed for' 
much of the distance an Indian trail, which led in the 
general direction they wished to go. 
They had now reached the Three Forks of the Missouri, 
which were duly named, as we know them to-day, Jeffer- 
son, Madison, and Gallatin. They were in the country of 
the Snake Indians, whom they were in daily hope of meet- 
ing, feeling sure that through the medium of Chaboneau's 
wife they would be able to establish satisfactory relations 
with them. Captain Clark still kept ahead of the party, 
on foot, to learn the courses and practicability of the dif- 
ferent streams for the canoes, and left notes at differ- 
ent points, with instructions for the boats. One of these 
notes, left on a green pole stuck up in the mud, failed to 
be received because a beaver cut down the pole after it 
had been planted, and the consequence was that the canoes 
proceeded for a considerable distance up the wrong fork, 
and were obliged to return. Reaching the Beaverhead, 
the Snake woman pointed out the place where she had 
been captured five years before. On August 9, Captain 
Lewis, with three men, set out, determined to find some 
Indians before returning to the party, and the rest of the 
expedition kept on up the main fork of the Jefferson, as' 
best they could. On August 11, Captain Lewis had the 
pleasure of seeing a man on horseback approaching him. 
The man's appearance was different from that of any In- 
dian seen before, and Captain Lewis was convinced that 
he was a Shoshoni. When the two men were about a 
mile apart the Indian stopped, and Captain Lewis sig- 
nalled to him with his blanket, making the sign of friend- 
ship, and attempted to approach him. The Indian was 
suspicious, and unfortunately the two men who were fol- 
lowing Captain Lewis did not observe the latter's sign to 
wait, and so, though the Indian permitted the white man 
to come to within a hundred yards of him, he finally 
turned his horse and rode off into the willows. They fol- 
lowed the track of the Indian as well as they could until 
night, and the next morning continued the search. By 
this time their food was nearly gone. They kept on up 
the stream until it had grown to be a rivulet so small _ that 
Captain Lewis could stand over it with one foot on either 
bank. 
Keeping on to the west, they reached the divide between 
the Atlantic and Pacific waters, and the next day came 
upon a woman, a man, and some dogs, but they, although 
they watched him carefully, declined to await his near ap- 
proach, but disappeared. A little bit later they came on 
three Indians, an old and a young woman and a little girl. 
The young woman escaped by running, but the other two, 
being too near to get away, sat dowii on the ground and 
seemed 'to be awaiting death. Captain Lewis made them 
presents, and after a little conversation by signs, they all 
set out for the camp. Before they had gone far they met 
a troop of about sixty warriors, rushing down upon them 
at full speed. Captain Lewis put down his gun and went 
forward with a flag. The leading Indians spoke to the 
women, who explained that the party were white men, 
and showed, with the utmost pride, the presents that they 
had received. The warriors received them with the 
greatest friendliness, and they all smoked together on the 
best of terms, and subsequently proceeded to the camp, 
where they were received with the utmost hospitality. 
The Indians had abundant fresh meat and salmon. Most 
of them were armed with bows, but a few had guns, which 
they had obtained from the Northwest Company. They 
had many horses, and hunted antelope on horseback, sur- 
rounding the antelope and driving them from point to 
point, until the antelope were worn out and the horses 
v^^ere foaming, with sweat. Many of the antelope broke 
through and got away, so that, as the journal says, "forty 
or fifty hunters will sometimes be engaged for half a day 
