The Journals of Lewis & Clark: Clark, January 28, 1806

Updated May 14, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Clark, January 28, 1806

Thursday 28th January 1806

Drewyer and Baptiest Lapage Set out this morning on a hunting excurtion. about noon Howard & Werner returned with a Supply of Salt; the badness of the weather and the dificuelty of the road had detained them. they informed us that the Salt makers are Still much Stratened for provisions haveing killed two deer only in the last Six days; and that there are no Elk in their neighbourhood.

The party that was Sent up the Netul river for the Elk returned this evening with three of them only; The Elk had been killed just before the Snow fell which had Covered them and So altered the apparant face of the Countrey that the hunters Could not find them. The River on which Fort Clat Sop Stands we now call Netul, this being the name by which the Clatsops Call it.

The Cranberry of this neighbourhood is precisely the Same Common to the united States, and is the production of boggy or mashey grounds.-.

The light-brown berry, is the fruit of a tree, about the Size Shape and appearance in every respect with that in the united States called the wild Crab apple; the leaf is also presisely the Same as is also the bark in textue and colour. the berry grows in Clumps at the ends of the Smaller branches; each berry Supported by a Stem, and as maney as from 3 to 18 or 20 in a Clump. the berry is oval with one of its extremitis attatched to the peduncle, where it is in a Small degree Concave like the insersion of the Stem of the Crab apple. I know not whether this fruit Can properly be denomonated a berry, it is a pulpy pericarp, the outer coat of which is a thin Smothe, capsule with from three to four Cells, each containing a Seperate Single Seed in form and Colour like that of the wild Crab apple The wood of this tree is excessively hard when Seasoned. The nativs make great use of it to form their wedges of which they Split their boards of Pine for the purpose of building houses. those wedges they employ in common with those formed of the Elks horn, in Splitting their fire wood and in hollowing out their Canoes. I have Seen the nativs drive the wedges of this wood into a solid dry pine which it cleft without fractureing injuring the wedge in the Smallest degree. we have also found this wood useful) to us for ax handles, as well as glutt or wedges. The bark of this tree is chewed by our party in place of tobacco.

The fruit is exceedingly ascid and resembles the flavor of the wild Crab.