journal; 
#60' 
Tuesday 25th. Sailed this morning with a slight breeze.?^ 
At ten, passed an old Mandan village; apd at some distance 
above, saw a great number of Mandan Indians on their march 
along the Prairie. They sometimes go on hunting parties by 
whole villages, which is the case at present; they are about five 
hundred in number, some on horseback, some on foot, their tents 
and baggage drawn by dogs. On these great hunting parties, 
the women are employed in preserving the hides, drying the 
meat, and making a provision to keep. Very little of the buffa- 
loe is lost, for after taking the marrow, they pound the bones, 
boil them, and preserve the oil. This evening the Mandan 
chief, She-he-ke, who was in the United States, came to us with 
his wife Hearing of our approach, he had set off for the pur- 
pose. Encamped on a prairie of a very rich soil. The coun¬ 
try is very fine op both sides of the river. There are some high 
hills. 
Wednesday 26th. In the course of the day, passed by the 
Mandan villages, with a favorable wind, and arrived late at night, 
at the fort of the company, 1640 miles from the mouth of the 
Missouri. 
We remained here until the sixth of July. Mr. Bradbury 
had already arrived. He describes the country at the distance 
of eight or ten miles from the river, as very handsome ; a conti¬ 
nued succession of meadows, with some wood along the water 
courses: on approaching the river, it becomes more broken and 
hilly. 
We made several excursions to the villages below, and to 
the interior of the country, but as they afford but little new, I 
shall not give any detail of them. In the neighborhood of the 
fort there are a number of clay hills, washed into the most curi¬ 
ous shapes, by the frequent rains, generally of a whitish color, 
though intermixed with strata of various hues. Sfome of them 
resemble clouds,being circular,and detached: at the first glance 
they look like buildings. On some of them there is a beautiful 
creeping vine, pr evergreen, which Mr. Bradbury informs me, 
is described by Michaux, as growing on the lakes. There are 
great quantities of petrified wood scattered about: I traced a 
