September 28, 1833
The morning was somewhat better. At 9:15 we departed. A light, cool wind was blowing; the sky was mostly blue. The ash woodlands displayed a rich, fiery chrome-yellow. At 10:15 we reached the rugged, devastated-looking mountain chain that extends to Fort Union. Dark clouds gathered again. One saw here big, completely round stone spheres, like cannon balls, peering forth from the rugged, devastated hilly banks; they occur in several places along the Missouri. At 12:30, the forest lay to our right where someone had shot the first buffalo from our keelboat and I had shot the great horned owl, which I could not bring down from the tree. The wind became very raw and unpleasant. We had to go through very many long bends of the river. At three o’clock we found ourselves at the place where, on the voyage up, we had missed the two swimming deer. The kingfishers were numerous. A large flight of blackbirds on the right bank. At many bends of the river, the strong wind was completely contrary and delayed us very much; it stirred up heavy waves on the river. Many magpies, left and right in the willow thickets. On the sandbar to the right some avocets (Recurvirostra americana) were fishing with their peculiar beaks, which they dip into the water, fishing against the current or snatching worms. Up to now we had not seen this interesting bird anywhere. Farther on, a fox appeared on the sandbar to the right. When dusk fell we continued on; the moon rose early, and the evening became calm and beautiful. At one o’clock that night, we stopped at a sandbar. We were cold and chilled to the bone. We slept until dawn on the right bank but posted guards as usual. On