The voyagers were now drifting down the Columbia River, and they found
the way impeded by many rapids, some of them very dangerous. But their
skill in the handling of their canoes seems to have been equal to the
occasion, although they were sometimes compelled to go around the more
difficult rapids, making a short land portage. When they had travelled
about forty miles down the river, they landed opposite an island on
which were twenty-four houses of Indians; the people, known as the
Pishquitpahs, were engaged in drying fish. No sooner had the white men
landed than the Indians, to the number of one hundred, came across the
stream bringing with them some firewood, a most welcome present in that
treeless country. The visitors were entertained with presents and a long
smoke at the pipe of peace. So pleased were they with the music of two
violins played by Cruzatte and Gibson, of the exploring party, that they
remained by the fire of the white men all night. The news of the arrival
of the white strangers soon spread, and next morning about two hundred
more of the Indians assembled to gaze on them. Later in the day, having
gotten away from their numerous inquisitive visitors, the explorers
passed down-stream and landed on a small island to examine a curious
vault, in which were placed the remains of the dead of the tribe. The
journal says:--
“This place, in which the dead are deposited, is a building about sixty
feet long and twelve feet wide, formed by placing in the ground poles
or forks six feet high, across which a long pole is extended the whole
length of the structure; against this ridge-pole are placed broad boards
and pieces of canoes, in a slanting direction, so as to form a shed.
It stands cast and west, and neither of the extremities is closed.
On entering the western end we observed a number of bodies wrapped
carefully in leather robes, and arranged in rows on boards, which were
then covered with a mat. This was the part destined for those who had
recently died; a little further on, bones half decayed were scattered
about, and in the centre of the building was a large pile of them heaped
promiscuously on each other. At the eastern extremity was a mat, on
which twenty-one skulls were placed in a circular form; the mode of
interment being first to wrap the body in robes, then as it decays to
throw the bones into the heap, and place the skulls together. From
the different boards and pieces of canoes which form the vault were
suspended, on the inside, fishing-nets, baskets, wooden bowls, robes,
skins, trenchers, and trinkets of various kinds, obviously intended
as offerings of affection to deceased relatives. On the outside of the
vault were the skeletons of several horses, and great quantities of
their bones were in the neighborhood, which induced us to believe that
these animals were most probably sacrificed at the funeral rites of
their masters.”
Just below this stand the party met Indians who traded with tribes
living near the great falls of the Columbia. That place they designated
as “Tum-tum,” a word that signifies the throbbing of the heart. One of
these Indians had a sailor’s jacket, and others had a blue blanket and
a scarlet blanket. These articles had found their way up the river from
white traders on the seashore.
On the twenty-first of October the explorers discovered a considerable
stream which appeared to rise in the southeast and empty into the
Columbia on the left. To this stream they gave the name of Lepage
for Bastien Lepage, one of the voyageurs accompanying the party. The
watercourse, however, is now known as John Day’s River. John Day was
a mighty hunter and backwoodsman from Kentucky who went across the
continent, six years later, with a party bound for Astoria, on the
Columbia. From the rapids below the John Day River the Lewis and Clark
party caught their first sight of Mount Hood, a famous peak of the
Cascade range of mountains, looming up in the southwest, eleven thousand
two hundred and twenty-five feet high. Next day they passed the mouth
of another river entering the Columbia from the south and called by
the Indians the Towahnahiooks, but known to modern geography as the Des
Chutes, one of the largest southern tributaries of the Columbia. Five
miles below the mouth of this stream the party camped. Near them was a
party of Indians engaged in drying and packing salmon. Their method of
doing this is thus described:--
“The manner of doing this is by first opening the fish and exposing it
to the sun on scaffolds. When it is sufficiently dried it is pounded
between two stones till it is pulverized, and is then placed in a
basket about two feet long and one in diameter, neatly made of grass and
rushes, and lined with the skin of a salmon stretched and dried for the
purpose. Here the fish are pressed down as hard as possible, and the top
is covered with fish-skins, which are secured by cords through the holes
of the basket. These baskets are then placed in some dry situation, the
corded part upward, seven being usually placed as close as they can be
put together, and five on the top of these. The whole is then wrapped
up in mats, and made fast by cords, over which mats are again thrown.
Twelve of these baskets, each of which contains from ninety to one
hundred pounds, form a stack, which is left exposed till it is sent to
market. The fish thus preserved keep sound and sweet for several years,
and great quantities, they inform us, are sent to the Indians who live
below the falls, whence it finds its way to the whites who visit the
mouth of the Columbia. We observe, both near the lodges and on the rocks
in the river, great numbers of stacks of these pounded fish. Besides
fish, these people supplied us with filberts and berries, and we
purchased a dog for supper; but it was with much difficulty that we were
able to buy wood enough to cook it.”
On the twenty-third the voyagers made the descent of the great falls
which had so long been an object of dread to them. The whole height of
the falls is thirty-seven feet, eight inches, in a distance of twelve
hundred yards. A portage of four hundred and fifty yards was made around
the first fall, which is twenty feet high, and perpendicular. By means
of lines the canoes were let down the rapids below. At the season of
high water the falls become mere rapids up which the salmon can pass. On
this point the journal says:--
“From the marks everywhere perceivable at the falls, it is obvious that
in high floods, which must be in the spring, the water below the falls
rises nearly to a level with that above them. Of this rise, which is
occasioned by some obstructions which we do not as yet know, the salmon
must avail themselves to pass up the river in such multitudes that this
fish is almost the only one caught in great abundance above the falls;
but below that place we observe the salmon-trout, and the heads of
a species of trout smaller than the salmon-trout, which is in great
quantities, and which they are now burying, to be used as their winter
food. A hole of any size being dug, the sides and bottom are lined with
straw, over which skins are laid; on these the fish, after being well
dried, are laid, covered with other skins, and the hole is closed with a
layer of earth twelve or fifteen inches deep. . . .
“We saw no game except a sea-otter, which was shot in the narrow channel
as we were coming down, but we could not get it. Having, therefore,
scarcely any provisions, we purchased eight small fat dogs: a food
to which we were compelled to have recourse, as the Indians were very
unwilling to sell us any of their good fish, which they reserved for the
market below. Fortunately, however, habit had completely overcome the
repugnance which we felt at first at eating this animal, and the dog, if
not a favorite dish, was always an acceptable one. The meridian altitude
of to-day gave 45'0 42’ 57.3” north as the latitude of our camp.
“On the beach, near the Indian huts, we observed two canoes of a
different shape and size from any which we had hitherto seen. One of
these we got by giving our smallest canoe a hatchet, and a few trinkets
to the owner, who said he had obtained it from a white man below the
falls in exchange for a horse. These canoes were very beautifully made:
wide in the middle, and tapering towards each end, with curious figures
carved on the bow. They were thin, but, being strengthened by crossbars
about an inch in diameter, tied with strong pieces of bark through
holes in the sides, were able to bear very heavy burdens, and seemed
calculated to live in the roughest water.”
At this point the officers of the expedition observed signs of
uneasiness in the two friendly Indian chiefs who had thus far
accompanied them. They also heard rumors that the warlike Indians below
them were meditating an attack as the party went down. The journal
says:--
“Being at all times ready for any attempt of that sort, we were
not under greater apprehensions than usual at this intelligence. We
therefore only re-examined our arms, and increased the ammunition to one
hundred rounds. Our chiefs, who had not the same motives of confidence,
were by no means so much at their ease, and when at night they saw the
Indians leave us earlier than usual, their suspicions of an intended
attack were confirmed, and they were very much alarmed.
“The Indians approached us with apparent caution, and behaved with more
than usual reserve. Our two chiefs, by whom these circumstances were not
observed, now told us that they wished to return home; that they could
be no longer of any service to us; that they could not understand the
language of the people below the falls; that those people formed a
different nation from their own; that the two people had been at war
with each other; and that as the Indians had expressed a resolution to
attack us, they would certainly kill them. We endeavored to quiet their
fears, and requested them to stay two nights longer, in which time we
would see the Indians below, and make a peace between the two nations.
They replied that they were anxious to return and see their horses.
We however insisted on their remaining with us, not only in hopes of
bringing about an accommodation between them and their enemies, but
because they might be able to detect any hostile designs against us,
and also assist us in passing the next falls, which are not far off, and
represented as very difficult. They at length agreed to stay with us two
nights longer.”
The explorers now arrived at the next fall of the Columbia. Here was a
quiet basin, on the margin of which were three Indian huts. The journal
tells the rest of the story:--
“At the extremity of this basin stood a high black rock, which, rising
perpendicularly from the right shore, seemed to run wholly across the
river: so totally, indeed, did it appear to stop the passage, that
we could not see where the water escaped, except that the current was
seemingly drawn with more than usual velocity to the left of the rock,
where was heard a great roaring. We landed at the huts of the Indians,
who went with us to the top of the rock, from which we had a view of
all the difficulties of the channel. We were now no longer at a loss to
account for the rising of the river at the falls; for this tremendous
rock was seen stretching across the river, to meet the high hills on
the left shore, leaving a channel of only forty-five yards wide, through
which the whole body of the Columbia pressed its way. The water, thus
forced into so narrow a passage, was thrown into whirls, and swelled and
boiled in every part with the wildest agitation. But the alternative
of carrying the boats over this high rock was almost impossible in our
present situation; and as the chief danger seemed to be, not from any
obstructions in the channel, but from the great waves and whirlpools, we
resolved to attempt the passage, in the hope of being able, by dexterous
steering, to descend in safety. This we undertook, and with great care
were able to get through, to the astonishment of the Indians in the
huts we had just passed, who now collected to see us from the top of the
rock. The channel continued thus confined for the space of about half a
mile, when the rock ceased. We passed a single Indian hut at the foot
of it, where the river again enlarges to the width of two hundred yards,
and at the distance of a mile and a half stopped to view a very bad
rapid; this is formed by two rocky islands which divide the channel, the
lower and larger of which is in the middle of the river. The appearance
of this place was so unpromising that we unloaded all the most valuable
articles, such as guns, ammunition, our papers, etc., and sent them by
land, with all the men that could not swim, to the extremity of these
rapids. We then descended with the canoes, two at a time; though the
canoes took in some water, we all went through safely; after which we
made two miles, stopped in a deep bend of the river toward the right,
and camped a little above a large village of twenty-one houses. Here
we landed; and as it was late before all the canoes joined us, we were
obliged to remain this evening, the difficulties of the navigation
having permitted us to make only six miles.”
They were then among the Echeloots, a tribe of the Upper Chinooks, now
nearly extinct. The white men were much interested in the houses of
these people, which, their journal set forth, were “the first wooden
buildings seen since leaving the Illinois country.” This is the manner
of their construction:--
“A large hole, twenty feet wide and thirty in length, was dug to the
depth of six feet; the sides of which were lined with split pieces of
timber rising just above the surface of the ground, and smoothed to the
same width by burning, or by being shaved with small iron axes. These
timbers were secured in their erect position by a pole stretched along
the side of the building near the eaves, and supported on a strong
post fixed at each corner. The timbers at the gable ends rose gradually
higher, the middle pieces being the broadest. At the top of these was a
sort of semicircle, made to receive a ridge-pole the whole length of the
house, propped by an additional post in the middle, and forming the top
of the roof. From this ridge-pole to the eaves of the house were placed
a number of small poles or rafters, secured at each end by fibres of the
cedar. On these poles, which were connected by small transverse bars
of wood, was laid a covering of white cedar, or arbor vitae, kept on by
strands of cedar fibres; but a small space along the whole length of
the ridge-pole was left uncovered, for the purpose of light, and of
permitting the smoke to pass out. The roof, thus formed, had a
descent about equal to that common among us, and near the eaves it was
perforated with a number of small holes, made, most probably, for the
discharge of arrows in case of an attack. The only entrance was by a
small door at the gable end, cut out of the middle piece of timber,
twenty-nine and a half inches high, fourteen inches broad, and reaching
only eighteen inches above the earth. Before this hole is hung a mat; on
pushing it aside and crawling through, the descent is by a small wooden
ladder, made in the form of those used among us. One-half of the inside
is used as a place of deposit for dried fish, of which large quantities
are stored away, and with a few baskets of berries form the only
family provisions; the other half, adjoining the door, remains for the
accommodation of the family. On each side are arranged near the walls
small beds of mats placed on little scaffolds or bedsteads, raised from
eighteen inches to three feet from the ground; and in the middle of the
vacant space is the fire, or sometimes two or three fires, when, as is
usually the case, the house contains three families.”
Houses very like these are built by the Ahts or Nootkas, a tribe of
Indians inhabiting parts of Vancouver Island and the adjacent mainland.
A Nootka calls his house an ourt.
The good offices of Lewis and Clark, who were always ready to make
peace between hostile tribes, were again successful here. The Echeloots
received the white men with much kindness, invited them to their houses,
and returned their visits after the explorers had camped. Lewis and
Clark told the Echeloot chiefs that the war was destroying them and
their industries, bringing want and privation upon them. The Indians
listened with attention to what was said, and after some talk they
agreed to make peace with their ancient enemies. Impressed with the
sincerity of this agreement, the captains of the expedition invested the
principal chief with a medal and some small articles of clothing.
The two faithful chiefs who had accompanied the white men from the
headwaters of the streams now bade farewell to their friends and allies,
the explorers. They bought horses of the Echeloots and returned to their
distant homes by land.
Game here became more abundant, and on the twenty-sixth of October the
journal records the fact that they received from the Indians a present
of deer-meat, and on that day their hunters found plenty of tracks of
elk and deer in the mountains, and they brought in five deer, four very
large gray squirrels, and a grouse. Besides these delicacies, one of
the men killed in the river a salmon-trout which was fried in bear’s oil
and, according to the journal, “furnished a dish of a very delightful
flavor,” doubtless a pleasing change from the diet of dog’s flesh with
which they had so recently been regaled.
Two of the Echeloot chiefs remained with the white men to guide them
on their way down the river. These were joined by seven others of their
tribe, to whom the explorers were kind and attentive. But the visitors
could not resist the temptation to pilfer from the goods exposed to dry
in the sun. Being checked in this sly business, they became ill-humored
and returned, angry, down the river.
The explorers noticed here that the Indians flattened the heads of
males as well as females. Higher up the river, only the women and female
children had flat heads. The custom of artificially flattening the heads
of both men and women, in infancy, was formerly practised by nearly all
the tribes of the Chinook family along the Columbia River. Various means
are used to accomplish this purpose, the most common and most cruel
being to bind a flat board on the forehead of an infant in such a way
that it presses on the skull and forces the forehead up on to the top of
the head. As a man whose head has been flattened in infancy grows older,
the deformity partly disappears; but the flatness of the head is always
regarded as a tribal badge of great merit.
“On the morning of the twenty-eighth,” says the journal, having dried
our goods, we were about setting out, when three canoes came from above
to visit us, and at the same time two others from below arrived for the
same purpose. Among these last was an Indian who wore his hair in a
que, and had on a round hat and a sailor’s jacket, which he said he had
obtained from the people below the great rapids, who bought them from
the whites. This interview detained us till nine o’clock, when we
proceeded down the river, which is now bordered with cliffs of loose
dark colored rocks about ninety feet high, with a thin covering of pines
and other small trees. At the distance of four miles we reached a small
village of eight houses under some high rocks on the right with a small
creek on the opposite side of the river.
“We landed and found the houses similar to those we had seen at the
great narrows; on entering one of them we saw a British musket, a
cutlass, and several brass tea-kettles, of which they seemed to be very
fond. There were figures of men, birds, and different animals, which
were cut and painted on the boards which form the sides of the room;
though the workmanship of these uncouth figures was very rough, they
were highly esteemed by the Indians as the finest frescos of more
civilized people. This tribe is called the Chilluckittequaw; their
language, though somewhat different from that of the Echeloots, has many
of the same words, and is sufficiently intelligible to the neighboring
Indians. We procured from them a vocabulary, and then, after buying five
small dogs, some dried berries, and a white bread or cake made of roots,
we left them. The wind, however, rose so high that we were obliged,
after going one mile, to land on the left side, opposite a rocky island,
and pass the day.”
On the same day the white chiefs visited one of the most prominent of
the native houses built along the river.
“This,” says the journal, “was the residence of the principal chief of
the Chilluckittequaw nation, who we found was the same between whom and
our two chiefs we had made a peace at the Echeloot village. He received
us, very kindly, and set before us pounded fish, filberts, nuts, the
berries of the sacacommis, and white bread made of roots. We gave, in
return, a bracelet of ribbon to each of the women of the house, with
which they were very much pleased. The chief had several articles, such
as scarlet and blue cloth, a sword, a jacket, and a hat, which must
have been procured from the whites, and on one side of the room were
two wide, split boards, placed together so as to make space for a rude
figure of a man cut and painted on them. On pointing to this, and asking
him what it meant, he said something, of which all that we understood
was ‘good,’ and then stepped up to the painting, and took out his bow
and quiver, which, with some other warlike instruments, were kept behind
it.
“He then directed his wife to hand him his medicine-bag, from which he
drew out fourteen forefingers, which he told us had belonged to the same
number of his enemies, whom he had killed in fighting with the nations
to the southeast, in which direction he pointed; alluding, no doubt, to
the Snake Indians, the common enemy of the tribes on the Columbia. This
bag is usually about two feet in length, and contains roots, pounded
dirt, etc., which only the Indians know how to appreciate. It is
suspended in the middle of the lodge; and it is considered as a species
of sacrilege for any one but the owner to touch it. It is an object of
religious fear; and, from its supposed sanctity, is the chief place for
depositing their medals and more valuable articles. They have likewise
small bags, which they preserve in their great medicine-bag, from
whence they are taken, and worn around their waists and necks as amulets
against any real or imaginary evils. This was the first time we had been
apprised that the Indians ever carried from the field any other trophy
than the scalp. These fingers were shown with great exultation; and,
after an harangue, which we were left to presume was in praise of his
exploits, the chief carefully replaced them among the valuable contents
of his red medicine-bag. The inhabitants of this village being part
of the same nation with those of the village we had passed above, the
language of the two was the same, and their houses were of similar form
and materials, and calculated to contain about thirty souls. They were
unusually hospitable and good-humored, so that we gave to the place the
name of the Friendly village. We breakfasted here; and after purchasing
twelve dogs, four sacks of fish, and a few dried berries, proceeded on
our journey. The hills as we passed were high, with steep, rocky sides,
with pine and white oak, and an undergrowth of shrubs scattered over
them.”
Leaving the Friendly village, the party went on their way down the
river. Four miles below they came to a small and rapid river which they
called the Cataract River, but which is now known as the Klikitat. The
rapids of the stream, according to the Indians, were so numerous that
salmon could not ascend it, and the Indians who lived along its banks
subsisted on what game they could kill with their bows and arrows and on
the berries which, in certain seasons, were plentiful. Again we notice
the purchase of dogs; this time only four were bought, and the party
proceeded on their way. That night, having travelled thirty-two miles,
they camped on the right bank of the river in what is now Skamania
County, Washington. Three huts were inhabited by a considerable number
of Indians, of whom the journal has this to say:--
“On our first arrival they seemed surprised, but not alarmed, and we
soon became intimate by means of smoking and our favorite entertainment
for the Indians, the violin. They gave us fruit, roots, and root-bread,
and we purchased from them three dogs. The houses of these people are
similar to those of the Indians above, and their language is the same;
their dress also, consisting of robes or skins of wolves, deer, elk,
and wildcat, is made nearly after the same model; their hair is worn in
plaits down each shoulder, and round their neck is put a strip of some
skin with the tail of the animal hanging down over the breast; like the
Indians above, they are fond of otter-skins, and give a great price for
them. We here saw the skin of a mountain sheep, which they say lives
among the rocks in the mountains; the skin was covered with white hair;
the wool was long, thick, and coarse, with long coarse hair on the top
of the neck and on the back, resembling somewhat the bristles of a goat.
Immediately behind the village is a pond, in which were great numbers of
small swan.”
The “mountain sheep” mentioned here are not the bighorn of which we have
heard something in the earlier part of this narrative, but a species
of wild goat found among the Cascade Mountains. The “wildcat” above
referred to is probably that variety of lynx known in Canada and most
of the Northern States and the Pacific as the _loup-cervier_, or
vulgarly, the “lucifee.”
On the last day of October, the next of the more difficult rapids being
near, Captain Clark went ahead to examine the “shoot,” as the explorers
called the place which we know as the chute. In the thick wood that
bordered the river he found an ancient burial-place which he thus
describes:--
“It consists of eight vaults made of pine or cedar boards closely
connected, about eight feet square and six in height; the top covered
with wide boards sloping a little, so as to convey off the rain. The
direction of all of these vaults is east and west, the door being on
the eastern side, partially stopped with wide boards decorated with rude
pictures of men and other animals. On entering he found in some of them
four dead bodies, carefully wrapped in skins, tied with cords of grass
and bark, lying on a mat, in a direction east and west. The other vaults
contained only bones, which were in some of them piled to the height
of four feet. On the tops of the vaults, and on poles attached to them,
bung brass kettles and frying-pans with holes in their bottoms, baskets,
bowls, sea-shells, skins, pieces of cloth, hair, bags of trinkets and
small bones--the offerings of friendship or affection, which have
been saved by a pious veneration from the ferocity of war, or the more
dangerous temptations of individual gain. The whole of the walls as well
as the door were decorated with strange figures cut and painted on them;
and besides were several wooden images of men, some so old and decayed
as to have almost lost their shape, which were all placed against the
sides of the vaults. These images, as well as those in the houses we
have lately seen, do not appear to be at all the objects of adoration;
in this place they were most probably intended as resemblances of those
whose decease they indicate; when we observe them in houses, they occupy
the most conspicuous part, but are treated more like ornaments than
objects of worship.”
The white men were visited at their camp by many Indians from the
villages farther up the stream. The journal says:--
“We had an opportunity of seeing to-day the hardihood of the Indians of
the neighboring village. One of the men shot a goose, which fell into
the river and was floating rapidly toward the great shoot, when an
Indian observing it plunged in after it. The whole mass of the waters of
the Columbia, just preparing to descend its narrow channel, carried the
animal down with great rapidity. The Indian followed it fearlessly
to within one hundred and fifty feet of the rocks, where he would
inevitably have been dashed to pieces; but seizing his prey he
turned round and swam ashore with great composure. We very willingly
relinquished our right to the bird in favor of the Indian who had thus
saved it at the imminent hazard of his life; he immediately set to work
and picked off about half the feathers, and then, without opening it,
ran a stick through it and carried it off to roast.”
With many hair’s-breadth escapes, the expedition now passed through the
rapids or “great shoot.” The river here is one hundred and fifty yards
wide and the rapids are confined to an area four hundred yards long,
crowded with islands and rocky ledges. They found the Indians living
along the banks of the stream to be kindly disposed; but they had
learned, by their intercourse with tribes living below, to set a high
value on their wares. They asked high prices for anything they had for
sale. The journal says:--
“We cannot learn precisely the nature of the trade carried on by the
Indians with the inhabitants below. But as their knowledge of the whites
seems to be very imperfect, and as the only articles which they carry to
market, such as pounded fish, bear-grass, and roots, cannot be an object
of much foreign traffic, their intercourse appears to be an intermediate
trade with the natives near the mouth of the Columbia. From them these
people obtain, in exchange for their fish, roots, and bear-grass, blue
and white beads, copper tea-kettles, brass armbands, some scarlet and
blue robes, and a few articles of old European clothing. But their great
object is to obtain beads, an article which holds the first place in
their ideas of relative value, and to procure which they will sacrifice
their last article of clothing or last mouthful of food. Independently
of their fondness for them as an ornament, these beads are the medium of
trade, by which they obtain from the Indians still higher up the river,
robes, skins, chappelel bread, bear-grass, etc. Those Indians in
turn employ them to procure from the Indians in the Rocky Mountains,
bear-grass, pachico-roots, robes, etc.
“These Indians are rather below the common size, with high cheek-bones;
their noses are pierced, and in full dress ornamented with a tapering
piece of white shell or wampum about two inches long. Their eyes are
exceedingly sore and weak; many of them have only a single eye, and
some are perfectly blind. Their teeth prematurely decay, and in frequent
instances are altogether worn away. Their general health, however, seems
to be good, the only disorder we have remarked being tumors in different
parts of the body.”
The more difficult rapid was passed on the second day of November, the
luggage being sent down by land and the empty canoes taken down with
great care. The journal of that date says:--
“The rapid we have just passed is the last of all the descents of the
Columbia. At this place the first tidewater commences, and the river
in consequence widens immediately below the rapid. As we descended we
reached, at the distance of one mile from the rapid, a creek under
a bluff on the left; at three miles is the lower point of Strawberry
Island. To this immediately succeed three small islands covered with
wood. In the meadow to the right, at some distance from the hills,
stands a perpendicular rock about eight hundred feet high and four
hundred yards around the base. This we called Beacon Rock. Just below is
an Indian village of nine houses, situated between two small creeks.
At this village the river widens to nearly a mile in extent; the low
grounds become wider, and they as well as the mountains on each side are
covered with pine, spruce-pine, cottonwood, a species of ash, and some
alder. After being so long accustomed to the dreary nakedness of the
country above, the change is as grateful to the eye as it is useful in
supplying us with fuel. Four miles from the village is a point of
land on the right, where the hills become lower, but are still thickly
timbered. The river is now about two miles wide, the current smooth and
gentle, and the effect of the tide has been sensible since leaving the
rapid. Six miles lower is a rock rising from the middle of the river to
the height of one hundred feet, and about eighty yards at its base.
We continued six miles further, and halted for the night under a high
projecting rock on the left side of the river, opposite the point of a
large meadow.
“The mountains, which, from the great shoot to this place, are high,
rugged, and thickly covered with timber, chiefly of the pine species,
here leave the river on each side; the river becomes two and one-half
miles in width; the low grounds are extensive and well supplied with
wood. The Indians whom we left at the portage passed us on their way
down the river, and seven others, who were descending in a canoe for the
purpose of trading below, camped with us. We had made from the foot of
the great shoot twenty-nine miles to-day. The ebb tide rose at our camp
about nine inches; the flood must rise much higher. We saw great numbers
of water-fowl, such as swan, geese, ducks of various kinds, gulls,
plovers, and the white and gray brant, of which last we killed
eighteen.”