Expeditions to the Interior.--Return of Messrs. John Stuart and D.
M'Kenzie.--Theft committed by the Natives.--War Party against the
Thieves.


On the 3d of January, 1814, two canoes laden with merchandise for the
interior, were despatched under the command of Mr. Alexander Stuart and
Mr. James Keith, with fifteen men under them. Two of the latter were
charged with letters for the posts (of the Northwest Company) east of
the mountains, containing instructions to the persons in superintendence
there, to have in readiness canoes and the requisite provisions for a
large party intending to go east the ensuing spring. I took this
opportunity of advising my friends in Canada of my intention to return
home that season. It was the third attempt I had made to send news of my
existence to my relatives and friends: the first two had miscarried and
this was doomed to meet the same fate.

Messrs. J. Stuart and M'Kenzie, who (as was seen in a previous chapter)
had been sent to notify the gentlemen in the interior of what had taken
place at Astoria, and to transfer the wintering posts to the Northwest
Company, returned to Fort George on the morning of the 6th. They stated
that they had left Messrs. Clarke and D. Stuart behind, with the loaded
canoes, and also that the party had been attacked by the natives above
the falls.

As they were descending the river toward evening, between the first and
second portages, they had espied a large number of Indians congregated
at no great distance in the prairie; which gave them some uneasiness. In
fact, some time after they had encamped, and when all the people (_tout
le monde_) were asleep, except Mr. Stuart, who was on guard, these
savages had stealthily approached the camp, and discharged some arrows,
one of which had penetrated the coverlet of one of the men, who was
lying near the baggage, and had pierced the cartilage of his ear; the
pain made him utter a sharp cry, which alarmed the whole camp and threw
it into an uproar. The natives perceiving it, fled to the woods, howling
and yelling like so many demons. In the morning our people picked up
eight arrows round the camp: they could yet hear the savages yell and
whoop in the woods: but, notwithstanding, the party reached the lower
end of the portage unmolested.

The audacity which these barbarians had displayed in attacking a party
of from forty to forty-five persons, made us suppose that they would,
much more probably, attack the party of Mr. Stuart, which was composed
of but seventeen men. Consequently, I received orders to get ready
forthwith a canoe and firearms, in order to proceed to their relief. The
whole was ready in the short space of two hours, and I embarked
immediately with a guide and eight men. Our instructions were to use all
possible diligence to overtake Messrs. Stewart and Keith, and to convey
them to the upper end of the last portage; or to return with the goods,
if we met too much resistance on the part of the natives. We travelled,
then, all that day, and all the night of the 6th, and on the 7th, till
evening. Finding ourselves then at a little distance from the rapids, I
came to a halt, to put the firearms in order, and let the men take some
repose. About midnight I caused them to re-embark, and ordered the men
to sing as they rowed, that the party whom we wished to overtake might
hear us as we passed, if perchance they were encamped on some one of the
islands of which the river is full in this part. In fact, we had hardly
proceeded five or six miles, when we were hailed by some one apparently
in the middle of the stream. We stopped rowing, and answered, and were
soon joined by our people of the expedition, who were all descending the
river in a canoe. They informed us that they had been attacked the
evening before, and that Mr. Stuart had been wounded. We turned about,
and all proceeded in company toward the fort. In the morning, when we
stopped to breakfast, Mr. Keith gave me the particulars of the affair of
the day preceding.

Having arrived at the foot of the rapids, they commenced the portage on
the south bank of the river, which is obstructed with boulders, over
which it was necessary to pass the effects. After they had hauled over
the two canoes, and a part of the goods, the natives approached in great
numbers, trying to carry off something unobserved. Mr. Stuart was at the
upper end of the portage (the portage being about six hundred yards in
length), and Mr. Keith accompanied the loaded men. An Indian seized a
bag containing articles of little value, and fled: Mr. Stuart, who saw
the act, pursued the thief, and after some resistance on the latter's
part, succeeded in making him relinquish his booty. Immediately he saw a
number of Indians armed with bows and arrows; approaching him: one of
them bent his bow and took aim; Mr. Stuart, on his part, levelled his
gun at the Indian, warning the latter not to shoot, and at the same
instant received an arrow, which pierced his left shoulder. He then
drew the trigger; but as it had rained all day, the gun missed fire, and
before he could re-prime, another arrow, better aimed than the first,
struck him in the left side and penetrated between two of his ribs, in
the region of the heart, and would have proved fatal, no doubt, but for
a stone-pipe he had fortunately in his side-pocket, and which was broken
by the arrow; at the same moment his gun was discharged, and the Indian
fell dead. Several others then rushed forward to avenge the death of
their compatriot; but two of the men came up with their loads and their
gun (for these portages were made arms in hand), and seeing what was
going forward, one of them threw his pack on the ground, fired on one of
the Indians and brought him down. He got up again, however, and picked
up his weapons, but the other man ran upon him, wrested from him his
war-club, and despatched him by repeated blows on the head with it. The
other savages, seeing the bulk of our people approaching the scene of
combat, retired and crossed the river. In the meantime, Mr. Stuart
extracted the arrows from his body, by the aid of one of the men: the
blood flowed in abundance from the wounds, and he saw that it would be
impossible for him to pursue his journey; he therefore gave orders for
the canoes and goods to be carried back to the lower end of the portage.
Presently they saw a great number of pirogues full of warriors coming
from the opposite side of the river. Our people then considered that
they could do nothing better than to get away as fast as possible; they
contrived to transport over one canoe, on which they all embarked,
abandoning the other and the goods, to the natives. While the barbarians
were plundering these effects, more precious in their estimation than
the apples of gold in the garden of the Hesperides, our party retired
and got out of sight. The retreat was, notwithstanding, so precipitate,
that they left behind an Indian from the Lake of the Two Mountains, who
was in the service of the Company as a hunter. This Indian had persisted
in concealing himself behind the rocks, meaning, he said, to kill some
of those thieves, and did not return in time for the embarkation. Mr.
Keith regretted this brave man's obstinacy, fearing, with good reason,
that he would be discovered and murdered by the natives. We rowed all
that day and night, and reached the factory on the 9th, at sunrise. Our
first care, after having announced the misfortune of our people, was to
dress the wounds of Mr. Stuart, which had been merely bound with a
wretched piece of cotton cloth.

The goods which had been abandoned, were of consequence to the Company,
inasmuch as they could not be replaced. It was dangerous, besides, to
leave the natives in possession of some fifty guns and a considerable
quantity of ammunition, which they might use against us.[S] The
partners, therefore, decided to fit out an expedition immediately to
chastise the robbers, or at least to endeavor to recover the goods. I
went, by their order, to find the principal chiefs of the neighboring
tribes, to explain to them what had taken place, and invite them to
join us, to which they willingly consented. Then, having got ready six
canoes, we re-embarked on the 10th, to the number of sixty-two men, all
armed from head to foot, and provided with a small brass field-piece.

[Footnote S: However, some cases of guns and kegs of powder were thrown
into the falls, before the party retreated.]

We soon reached the lower end of the first rapid: but the essential
thing was wanting to our little force; it was without provisions; our
first care then was to try to procure these. Having arrived opposite a
village, we perceived on the bank about thirty armed savages, who seemed
to await us firmly. As it was not our policy to seem bent on
hostilities, we landed on the opposite bank, and I crossed the river
with five or six men, to enter into parley with them, and try to obtain
provisions. I immediately became aware that the village was abandoned,
the women and children having fled to the woods, taking with them all
the articles of food. The young men, however, offered us dogs, of which
we purchased a score. Then we passed to a second village, where they
were already informed of our coming. Here we bought forty-five dogs and
a horse. With this stock we formed an encampment on an island called
_Strawberry island_.

Seeing ourselves now provided with food for several days, we informed
the natives touching the motives which had brought us, and announced to
them that we were determined to put them all to death and burn their
villages, if they did not bring back in two days the effects stolen on
the 7th. A party was detached to the rapids, where the attack on Mr.
Stuart had taken place. We found the villages all deserted. Crossing to
the north bank, we found a few natives, of whom we made inquiries
respecting the Nipissingue Indian, who had been left behind, but they
assured us that they had seen nothing of him.[T]

[Footnote T: This Indian returned some time after to the factory, but in
a pitiable condition. After the departure of the canoe, he had concealed
himself behind a rock, and so passed the night. At daybreak, fearing to
be discovered, he gained the woods and directed his steps toward the
fort, across a mountainous region. He arrived at length at the bank of a
little stream, which he was at first unable to cross. Hunger, in the
meantime, began to urge him; he might have appeased it with game, of
which he saw plenty, but unfortunately he had lost the flint of his gun.
At last, with a raft of sticks, he crossed the river, and arrived at a
village, the inhabitants of which disarmed him, and made him prisoner.
Our people hearing where he was, sent to seek him, and gave some
blankets for his ransom.]

Not having succeeded in recovering, above the rapids, any part of the
lost goods, the inhabitants all protesting that it was not they, but the
villages below, which had perpetrated the robbery, we descended the
river again, and re-encamped on _Strawberry island_. As the intention of
the partners was to intimidate the natives, without (if possible)
shedding blood, we made a display of our numbers, and from time to time
fired off our little field-piece, to let them see that we could reach
them from one side of the river to the other. The Indian _Coalpo_ and
his wife, who had accompanied us, advised us to make prisoner one of the
chiefs. We succeeded in this design, without incurring any danger.
Having invited one of the natives to come and smoke with us, he came
accordingly: a little after, came another; at last, one of the chiefs,
and he one of the most considered among them, also came. Being notified
secretly of his character by _Coalpo_, who was concealed in the tent,
we seized him forthwith, tied him to a stake, and placed a guard over
him with a naked sword, as if ready to cut his head off on the least
attempt being made by his people for his liberation. The other Indians
were then suffered to depart with the news for his tribe, that unless
the goods were brought to us in twenty-four hours, their chief would be
put to death. Our stratagem succeeded: soon after we heard wailing and
lamentation in the village, and they presently brought us part of the
guns, some brass kettles, and a variety of smaller articles, protesting
that this was all their share of the plunder. Keeping our chief as a
hostage, we passed to the other village, and succeeded in recovering the
rest of the guns, and about a third of the other goods.

Although they had been the aggressors, yet as they had had two men
killed and we had not lost any on our side, we thought it our duty to
conform to the usage of the country, and abandon to them the remainder
of the stolen effects, to cover, according to their expression, the
bodies of their two slain compatriots. Besides, we began to find
ourselves short of provisions, and it would not have been easy to get at
our enemies to punish them, if they had taken refuge in the woods,
according to their custom when they feel themselves the weaker party. So
we released our prisoner, and gave him a flag, telling him that when he
presented it unfurled, we should regard it as a sign of peace and
friendship: but if, when we were passing the portage, any one of the
natives should have the misfortune to come near the baggage, we would
kill him on the spot. We re-embarked on the 19th, and on the 22d reached
the fort, where we made a report of our martial expedition. We found Mr.
Stuart very ill of his wounds, especially of the one in the side, which
was so much swelled that we had every reason to think the arrow had been
poisoned.

If we did not do the savages as much harm as we might have done, it was
not from timidity but from humanity, and in order not to shed human
blood uselessly. For after all, what good would it have done us to have
slaughtered some of these barbarians, whose crime was not the effect of
depravity and wickedness, but of an ardent and irresistible desire to
ameliorate their condition? It must be allowed also that the interest,
well-understood, of the partners of the Northwest Company, was opposed
to too strongly marked acts of hostility on their part: it behooved them
exceedingly not to make irreconciliable enemies of the populations
neighboring on the portages of the Columbia, which they would so often
be obliged to pass and repass in future. It is also probable that the
other natives on the banks, as well as of the river as of the sea, would
not have seen with indifference, their countrymen too signally or too
rigorously punished by strangers; and that they would have made common
cause with the former to resist the latter, and perhaps even to drive
them from the country.

I must not omit to state that all the firearms surrendered by the
Indians on this occasion, were found loaded with ball, and primed, with
a little piece of cotton laid over the priming to keep the powder dry.
This shows how soon they would acquire the use of guns, and how careful
traders should be in intercourse with strange Indians, not to teach them
their use.




CHAPTER XVII.

Description of Tongue Point.--A Trip to the _Willamet_.--Arrival of
W. Hunt in the Brig Pedlar.--Narrative of the Loss of the Ship
Lark.--Preparations for crossing the Continent.


The new proprietors of our establishment, being dissatisfied with the
site we had chosen, came to the determination to change it; after
surveying both sides of the river, they found no better place than the
head-land which we had named Tongue point. This point, or to speak more
accurately, perhaps, this cape, extends about a quarter of a mile into
the river, being connected with the main-land by a low, narrow neck,
over which the Indians, in stormy weather, haul their canoes in passing
up and down the river; and terminating in an almost perpendicular rock,
of about 250 or 300 feet elevation. This bold summit was covered with a
dense forest of pine trees; the ascent from the lower neck was gradual
and easy; it abounded in springs of the finest water; on either side it
had a cove to shelter the boats necessary for a trading establishment.
This peninsula had truly the appearance of a huge tongue. Astoria had
been built nearer the ocean, but the advantages offered by Tongue point
more than compensated for its greater distance. Its soil, in the rainy
season, could be drained with little or no trouble; it was a better
position to guard against attacks on the part of the natives, and less
exposed to that of civilized enemies by sea or land in time of war.

All the hands who had returned from the interior, added to those who
were already at the Fort, consumed, in an incredibly short space of time
the small stock of provisions which had been conveyed by the Pacific Fur
Company to the Company of the Northwest. It became a matter of
necessity, therefore, to seek some spot where a part, at least, could be
sent to subsist. With these views I left the fort on the 7th February
with a number of men, belonging to the old concern, and who had refused
to enter the service of the new one, to proceed to the establishment on
the _Willamet_ river, under the charge of Mr. Alexander Henry, who had
with him a number of first-rate hunters. Leaving the Columbia to ascend
the _Willamet_, I found the banks on either side of that stream well
wooded, but low and swampy, until I reached the first falls; having
passed which, by making a portage, I commenced ascending a clear but
moderately deep channel, against a swift current. The banks on either
side were bordered with forest-trees, but behind that narrow belt,
diversified with prairie, the landscape was magnificent; the hills were
of moderate elevation, and rising in an amphitheatre. Deer and elk are
found here in great abundance; and the post in charge of Mr. Henry had
been established with a view of keeping constantly there a number of
hunters to prepare dried venison for the use of the factory. On our
arrival at the Columbia, considering the latitude, we had expected
severe winter weather, such as is experienced in the same latitudes
east; but we were soon undeceived; the mildness of the climate never
permitted us to transport fresh provisions from the Willamet to Astoria.
We had not a particle of salt; and the attempts we made to smoke or dry
the venison proved abortive.

Having left the men under my charge with Mr. Henry, I took leave of that
gentleman, and returned. At Oak point I found Messrs. Keith and Pillet
encamped, to pass there the season of sturgeon-fishing. They informed me
that I was to stay with them.

Accordingly I remained at Oak point the rest of the winter, occupied in
trading with the Indians spread all along the river for some 30 or 40
miles above, in order to supply the factory with provisions. I used to
take a boat with four or five men, visit every fishing station, trade
for as much fish as would load the boat, and send her down to the fort.
The surplus fish traded in the interval between the departure and return
of the boat, was cut up, salted and barrelled for future use. The salt
had been recently obtained from a quarter to be presently mentioned.

About the middle of March Messrs. Keith and Pillet both left me and
returned to the fort. Being now alone, I began seriously to reflect on
my position, and it was in this interval that I positively decided to
return to Canada. I made inquiries of the men sent up with the boats for
fish, concerning the preparations for departure, but whether they had
been enjoined secrecy, or were unwilling to communicate, I could learn
nothing of what was doing below.

At last I heard that on the 28th February a sail had appeared at the
mouth of the river. The gentlemen of the N.W. Company at first flattered
themselves that it was the vessel they had so long expected. They were
soon undeceived by a letter from Mr. Hunt, which was brought to the fort
by the Indians of _Baker's bay_. That gentleman had purchased at the
Marquesas islands a brig called _The Pedlar_: it was on that vessel that
he arrived, having for pilot Captain Northrop, formerly commander of
the ship _Lark_. The latter vessel had been outfitted by Mr. Astor, and
despatched from New York, in spite of the blockading squadron, with
supplies for the _ci-devant_ Pacific Fur Company; but unhappily she had
been assailed by a furious tempest and capsized in lat. 16 deg. N., and
three or four hundred miles from the Sandwich Islands. The mate who was
sick, was drowned in the cabin, and four of the crew perished at the
same time. The captain had the masts and rigging cut away, which caused
the vessel to right again, though full of water. One of the hands dived
down to the sail-maker's locker, and got out a small sail, which they
attached to the bowsprit. He dived a second time, and brought up a box
containing a dozen bottles of wine. For thirteen days they had no other
sustenance but the flesh of a small shark, which they had the good
fortune to take, and which they ate raw, and for drink, a gill of the
wine each man _per diem_. At last the trade winds carried them upon the
island of _Tahouraka_, where the vessel went to pieces on the reef. The
islanders saved the crew, and seized all the goods which floated on the
water. Mr. Hunt was then at _Wahoo_, and learned through some islanders
from _Morotoi_, that some Americans had been wrecked on the isle of
_Tahouraka_. He went immediately to take them off, and gave the pilotage
of his own vessel to Captain Northrop.

It may be imagined what was the surprise of Mr. Hunt when he saw Astoria
under the British flag, and passed into stranger hands. But the
misfortune was beyond remedy, and he was obliged to content himself with
taking on board all the Americans who were at the establishment, and who
had not entered the service of the Company of the Northwest. Messrs.
Halsey, Seton, and Farnham were among those who embarked. I shall have
occasion to inform the reader of the part each of them played, and how
they reached their homes.

When I heard that Mr. Hunt was in the river, and knowing that the
overland expedition was to set out early in April, I raised camp at Oak
point, and reached the fort on the 2d of that month. But the brig
_Pedlar_ had that very day got outside the river, after several
fruitless attempts, in one of which she narrowly missed being lost on
the bar.

I would gladly have gone in her, had I but arrived a day sooner. I
found, however, all things prepared for the departure of the canoes,
which was to take place on the 4th. I got ready the few articles I
possessed, and in spite of the very advantageous offers of the gentlemen
of the N.W. Company, and their reiterated persuasions, aided by the
crafty M'Dougal, to induce me to remain, at least one year more, I
persisted in my resolution to leave the country. The journey I was about
to undertake was a long one: it would be accompanied with great fatigues
and many privations, and even by some dangers; but I was used to
privations and fatigues; I had braved dangers of more than one sort; and
even had it been otherwise, the ardent desire of revisiting my country,
my relatives, and my friends, the hope of finding myself, in a few
months, in their midst, would have made me overlook every other
consideration.

I am about, then, to quit the banks of the river Columbia, and conduct
the reader through the mountain passes, over the plains, the forests,
and the lakes of our continent: but I ought first to give him at least
an idea of the manners and customs of the inhabitants, as well as of the
principal productions of the country that I now quit, after a sojourn of
three years. This is what I shall try to do in the following
chapters.[U]

[Footnote U: Some of my readers would, no doubt, desire some scientific
details on the botany and natural history of this country. That is, in
fact, what they ought to expect from a man who had travelled for his
pleasure, or to make discoveries: but the object of my travels was not
of this description; my occupations had no relation with science; and,
as I have said in my preface, I was not, and am not now, either a
naturalist or a botanist.]




CHAPTER XVIII.

Situation of the Columbia River.--Qualities of its Soil.--Climate,
&c.--Vegetable and Animal Productions of the Country.


The mouth of the Columbia river is situated in 46 deg. 19' north latitude,
and 125 deg. or 126 deg. of longitude west of the meridian of Greenwich. The
highest tides are very little over nine or ten feet, at its entrance,
and are felt up stream for a distance of twenty-five or thirty leagues.

During the three years I spent there, the cold never was much below the
freezing point; and I do not think the heat ever exceeded 76 deg.. Westerly
winds prevail from the early part of spring, and during a part of the
summer; that wind generally springs up with the flood tide, and tempers
the heat of the day. The northwest wind prevails during the latter part
of summer and commencement of autumn. This last is succeeded by a
southeast wind, which blows almost without intermission from the
beginning of October to the end of December, or commencement of January.
This interval is the rainy season, the most disagreeable of the year.
Fogs (so thick that sometimes for days no object is discernible for five
or six hundred yards from the beach), are also very prevalent.

The surface of the soil consists (in the valleys) of a layer of black
vegetable mould, about five or six inches thick at most; under this
layer is found another of gray and loose, but extremely cold earth;
below which is a bed of coarse sand and gravel, and next to that pebble
or hard rock. On the more elevated parts, the same black vegetable mould
is found, but much thinner, and under it is the trap rock. We found
along the seashore, south of Point Adams, a bank of earth white as
chalk, which we used for white-washing our walls. The natives also
brought us several specimens of blue, red and yellow earth or clay,
which they said was to be found at a great distance south; and also a
sort of shining earth, resembling lead ore.[V] We found no limestone,
although we burnt several kilns, but never could get one ounce of lime.

[Footnote V: Plumbago.]

We had brought with us from New York a variety of garden seeds, which
were put in the ground in the month of May, 1811, on a rich piece of
land laid out for the purpose on a sloping ground in front of our
establishment. The garden had a fine appearance in the month of August;
but although the plants were left in the ground until December, not one
of them came to maturity, with the exception of the radishes, the
turnips, and the potatoes. The turnips grew to a prodigious size; one of
the largest we had the curiosity to weigh and measure; its circumference
was thirty-three inches, its weight fifteen and a half pounds. The
radishes were in full blossom in the month of December, and were left in
the ground to perfect the seeds for the ensuing season, but they were
all destroyed by the ground mice, who hid themselves under the stumps
which we had not rooted out, and infested our garden. With all the care
we could bestow on them during the passage from New York, only twelve
potatoes were saved, and even these so shrivelled up, that we despaired
of raising any from the few sprouts that still gave signs of life.
Nevertheless we raised one hundred and ninety potatoes the first season,
and after sparing a few plants for our inland traders, we planted about
fifty or sixty hills, which produced five bushels the second year; about
two of these were planted, and gave us a welcome crop of fifty bushels
in the year 1813.

It would result from these facts, that the soil on the banks of the
river, as far as tide water, or for a distance of fifty or sixty miles,
is very little adapted for agriculture; at all events, vegetation is
very slow. It may be that the soil is not everywhere so cold as the spot
we selected for our garden, and some other positions might have given a
better reward for our labor: this supposition is rendered more than
probable when we take into consideration the great difference in the
indigenous vegetables of the country in different localities.

The forest trees most common at the mouth of the river and near our
establishment, were cedar, hemlock, white and red spruce, and alder.
There were a few dwarf white and gray ashes; and here and there a soft
maple. The alder grows also to a very large size; I measured some of
twelve to fifteen inches diameter; the wood was used by us in
preference, to make charcoal for the blacksmith's forge. But the largest
of all the trees that I saw in the country, was a white spruce: this
tree, which had lost its top branches, and bore evident marks of having
been struck by lightning, was a mere, straight trunk of about eighty to
one hundred feet in height; its bark whitened by age, made it very
conspicuous among the other trees with their brown bark and dark
foliage, like a huge column of white marble. It stood on the slope of a
hill immediately in the rear of our palisades. Seven of us placed
ourselves round its trunk, and we could not embrace it by extending our
arms and touching merely the tips of our fingers; we measured it
afterward in a more regular manner, and found it forty-two feet in
circumference. It kept the same size, or nearly the same, to the very
top.

We had it in contemplation at one time to construct a circular staircase
to its summit, and erect a platform thereon for an observatory, but more
necessary and pressing demands on our time made us abandon the project.

A short distance above Astoria, the oak and ash are plentiful, but
neither of these is of much value or beauty.

From the middle of June to the middle of October, we had abundance of
wild fruit; first, strawberries, almost white, small but very sweet;
then raspberries, both red and orange color. These grow on a bush
sometimes twelve feet in height: they are not sweet, but of a large
size.

The months of July and August furnish a small berry of an agreeable,
slightly acid flavor; this berry grows on a slender bush of some eight
to nine feet high, with small round leaves; they are in size like a wild
cherry: some are blue, while others are of a cherry red: the last being
smaller; they have no pits, or stones in them, but seeds, such as are to
be seen in currants.

I noticed in the month of August another berry growing in bunches or
grapes like the currant, on a bush very similar to the currant bush: the
leaves of this shrub resemble those of the laurel: they are very thick
and always green. The fruit is oblong, and disposed in two rows on the
stem: the extremity of the berry is open, having a little speck or tuft
like that of an apple. It is not of a particularly fine flavor, but it
is wholesome, and one may eat a quantity of it, without inconvenience.
The natives make great use of it; they prepare it for the winter by
bruising and drying it; after which it is moulded into cakes according
to fancy, and laid up for use. There is also a great abundance of
cranberries, which proved very useful as an antiscorbutic.

We found also the whortleberry, chokecherries, gooseberries, and black
currants with wild crab-apples: these last grow in clusters, are of
small size and very tart. On the upper part of the river are found
blackberries, hazel-nuts, acorns, &c. The country also possesses a great
variety of nutritive roots: the natives make great use of those which
have the virtue of curing or preventing the scurvy. We ate freely of
them with the same intention, and with the same success. One of these
roots, which much resembles a small onion, serves them, in some sort, in
place of cheese. Having gathered a sufficient quantity, they bake them
with red-hot stones, until the steam ceases to ooze from the layer of
grass and earth with which the roots are covered; then they pound them
into a paste, and make the paste into loaves, of five or six pounds
weight: the taste is not unlike liquorice, but not of so sickly a
sweetness. When we made our first voyage up the river the natives gave
us square biscuits, very well worked, and printed with different
figures. These are made of a white root, pounded, reduced to paste, and
dried in the sun. They call it _Chapaleel_: it is not very palatable;
nor very nutritive.

But the principal food of the natives of the Columbia is fish. The
salmon-fishery begins in July: that fish is here of an exquisite flavor,
but it is extremely fat and oily; which renders it unwholesome for those
who are not accustomed to it, and who eat too great a quantity: thus
several of our people were attacked with diarrhoea in a few days after
we began to make this fish our ordinary sustenance; but they found a
remedy in the raspberries of the country which have an astringent
property.

The months of August and September furnish excellent sturgeon. This fish
varies exceedingly in size; I have seen some eleven feet long; and we
took one that weighed, after the removal of the eggs and intestines,
three hundred and ninety pounds. We took out nine gallons of roe. The
sturgeon does not enter the river in so great quantities as the salmon.

In October and November we had salmon too, but of a quite different
species--lean, dry and insipid. It differs from the other sort in form
also; having very long teeth, and a hooked nose like the beak of a
parrot. Our men termed it in derision "seven bark salmon," because it
had almost no nutritive substance.

February brings a small fish about the size of a sardine. It has an
exquisite flavor, and is taken in immense quantities, by means of a
scoop net, which the Indians, seated in canoes, plunge into the schools:
but the season is short, not even lasting two weeks.

The principal quadrupeds of the country are the elk, the black and white
tailed deer; four species of bear, distinguished chiefly by the color of
the fur or _poil_, to wit, the black, brown, white and grisly bear; the
grisly bear is extremely ferocious; the white is found on the seashore
toward the north; the wolf, the panther, the catamount, the lynx, the
raccoon, the ground hog, opossum, mink, fisher, beaver, and the land and
sea otter.[W] The sea otter has the handsomest fur that is known; the
skin surpasses that of the land variety in size and in the beauty of the
_poil_; the most esteemed color is the silver gray, which is highly
prized in the Indies, and commands a great price.

[Footnote W: Horses are abundant up the river; but they are not
indigenous to the country. They will be spoken of in a future chapter.]

The most remarkable birds are the eagle, the turkey-buzzard, the hawk,
pelican, heron, gull, cormorant, crane, swan, and a great variety of
wild ducks and geese. The pigeon, woodcock, and pheasant, are found in
the forests as with us.




CHAPTER XIX.

Manners, Customs, Occupations, &c., of the Natives on the River
Columbia.


The natives inhabiting on the Columbia, from the mouth of that river to
the falls, that is to say, on a space extending about 250 miles from
east to west, are, generally speaking, of low stature, few of them
passing five feet six inches, and many not even five feet. They pluck
out the beard, in the manner of the other Indians of North America; but
a few of the old men only suffer a tuft to grow upon their chins. On
arriving among them we were exceedingly surprised to see that they had
almost all flattened heads. This configuration is not a natural
deformity, but an effect of art, caused by compression of the skull in
infancy. It shocks strangers extremely, especially at first sight;
nevertheless, among these barbarians it is an indispensable ornament:
and when we signified to them how much this mode of flattening the
forehead appeared to us to violate nature and good taste, they answered
that it was only slaves who had not their heads flattened. The slaves,
in fact, have the usual rounded head, and they are not permitted to
flatten the foreheads of their children, destined to bear the chains of
their sires. The natives of the Columbia procure these slaves from the
neighboring tribes, and from the interior, in exchange for beads and
furs. They treat them with humanity while their services are useful, but
as soon as they become incapable of labor, neglect them and suffer them
to perish of want. When dead, they throw their bodies, without ceremony,
under the stump of an old decayed tree, or drag them to the woods to be
devoured by the wolves and vultures.

The Indians of the Columbia are of a light copper color, active in body,
and, above all, excellent swimmers. They are addicted to theft, or
rather, they make no scruple of laying hands on whatever suits them in
the property of strangers, whenever they can find an opportunity. The
goods and effects of European manufacture are so precious in the eyes of
these barbarians, that they rarely resist the temptation of stealing
them.

These savages are not addicted to intemperance, unlike, in that respect
the other American Indians, if we must not also except the Patagonians,
who, like the Flatheads, regard intoxicating drinks as poisons, and
drunkenness as disgraceful. I will relate a fact in point: one of the
sons of the chief Comcomly being at the establishment one day, some of
the gentlemen amused themselves with making him drink wine, and he was
very soon drunk. He was sick in consequence, and remained in a state of
stupor for two days. The old chief came to reproach us, saying that we
had degraded his son by exposing him to the ridicule of the slaves, and
besought us not to induce him to take strong liquors in future.

The men go entirely naked, not concealing any part of their bodies. Only
in winter they throw over the shoulders a panther's skin, or else a
sort of mantle made of the skins of wood-rats sewed together. In rainy
weather I have seen them wear a mantle of rush mats, like a Roman toga,
or the vestment which a priest wears in celebrating mass; thus equipped,
and furnished with a conical hat made from fibrous roots and
impermeable, they may call themselves rain-proof. The women, in addition
to the mantle of skins, wear a petticoat made of the cedar bark, which
they attach round the girdle, and which reaches to the middle of the
thigh. It is a little longer behind than before, and is fabricated in
the following manner: They strip off the fine bark of the cedar, soak it
as one soaks hemp, and when it is drawn out into fibres, work it into a
fringe; then with a strong cord they bind the fringes together. With so
poor a vestment they contrive to satisfy the requirements of modesty;
when they stand it drapes them fairly enough; and when they squat down
in their manner, it falls between their legs, leaving nothing exposed
but the bare knees and thighs. Some of the younger women twist the
fibres of bark into small cords, knotted at the ends, and so form the
petticoat, disposed in a fringe, like the first, but more easily kept
clean and of better appearance.

Cleanliness is not a virtue among these females, who, in that respect,
resemble the other Indian women of the continent. They anoint the body
and dress the hair with fish oil, which does not diffuse an agreeable
perfume. Their hair (which both sexes wear long) is jet black; it is
badly combed, but parted in the middle, as is the custom of the sex
everywhere, and kept shining by the fish-oil before-mentioned.
Sometimes, in imitation of the men, they paint the whole body with a red
earth mixed with fish-oil. Their ornaments consist of bracelets of
brass, which they wear indifferently on the wrists and ankles; of
strings of beads of different colors (they give a preference to the
blue), and displayed in great profusion around the neck, and on the arms
and legs; and of white shells, called _Haiqua_, which are their ordinary
circulating medium. These shells are found beyond the straits of _Juan
de Fuca_, and are from one to four inches long, and about half an inch
in diameter: they are a little curved and naturally perforated: the
longest are most valued. The price of all commodities is reckoned in
these shells; a fathom string of the largest of them is worth about ten
beaver-skins.

Although a little less slaves than the greater part of the Indian women
elsewhere, the women on the Columbia are, nevertheless, charged with the
most painful labors; they fetch water and wood, and carry the goods in
their frequent changes of residence; they clean the fish and cut it up
for drying; they prepare the food and cook the fruits in their season.
Among their principal occupations is that of making rush mats, baskets
for gathering roots, and hats very ingeniously wrought. As they want
little clothing, they do not sew much, and the men have the needle in
hand oftener than they.

The men are not lazy, especially during the fishing season. Not being
hunters, and eating, consequently, little flesh-meat (although they are
fond of it), fish makes, as I have observed, their principal diet. They
profit, therefore, by the season when it is to be had, by taking as much
as they can; knowing that the intervals will be periods of famine and
abstinence, unless they provide sufficiently beforehand.

Their canoes are all made of cedar, and of a single trunk: we saw some
which were five feet wide at midships, and thirty feet in length; these
are the largest, and will carry from 25 to 30 men; the smallest will
carry but two or three. The bows terminate in a very elongated point,
running out four or five feet from the water line. It constitutes a
separate piece, very ingeniously attached, and serves to break the surf
in landing, or the wave on a rough sea. In landing they put the canoe
round, so as to strike the beach stern on. Their oars or paddles are
made of ash, and are about five feet long, with a broad blade, in the
shape of an inverted crescent, and a cross at the top, like the handle
of a crutch. The object of the crescent shape of the blade is to be able
to draw it, edge-wise, through the water without making any noise, when
they hunt the sea-otter, an animal which can only be caught when it is
lying asleep on the rocks, and which has the sense of hearing very
acute. All their canoes are painted red, and fancifully decorated.

Their houses, constructed of cedar, are remarkable for their form and
size: some of them are one hundred feet in length by thirty or forty
feet in width. They are constructed as follows: An oblong square of the
intended size of the building is dug out to the depth of two or three
feet; a double row of cedar posts is driven into the earth about ten
feet apart; between these the planks are laid, overlapping each other to
the requisite height. The roof is formed by a ridge-pole laid on taller
posts, notched to receive it, and is constructed with rafters and planks
laid clapboard-wise, and secured by cords for want of nails. When the
house is designed for several families, there is a door for each, and a
separate fireplace; the smoke escapes through an aperture formed by
removing one of the boards of the roof. The door is low, of an oval
shape, and is provided with a ladder, cut out of a log, to descend into
the lodge. The entrance is generally effected stern-foremost.

The kitchen utensils consist of plates of ash-wood, bowls of fibrous
roots, and a wooden kettle: with these they succeed in cooking their
fish and meat in less time than we take with the help of pots and
stewpans. See how they do it! Having heated a number of stones red-hot,
they plunge them, one by one, in the vessel which is to contain the food
to be prepared; as soon as the water boils, they put in the fish or
meat, with some more heated stones on top, and cover up the whole with