# Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 5/Sketch of a Journey to North-Western Parts of the Continent of North America during the Years 1824-25-26-27, part 2

Continued from Chapter 1
SKETCH OF A JOURNEY TO NORTHWESTERN PARTS OF THE CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA DURING THE YEARS 1824-'25-'26-'27.
By David Douglas, F. L. S.
Reprinted from "The Companion to the Botanical Magazine," Volume II, London, 1836.
II.
SUMMER EXCURSIONS ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER.
Mature consideration of what I have been already able to effect in this country, and of the great amount that yet remains to be done, has satisfied me of the propriety of remaining here for another year, that I may explore it more satisfactorily. I feel that I should otherwise be neglectful of the interests of the Society which sends me, though I am so doubtful whether my determination will meet with the approbation of my employers (though not doubtful of the integrity of my motives), that I will cheerfully labour this season without any remuneration, if I am only allowed a small sum of money to supply myself with clothing. Thus I hope my conduct will be pardoned if not approved. Two considerations weigh much with me. Firstly, I involve the society in little or no expense; and, secondly, having been an invalid during the latter part of the seed-harvest, I have, of course, missed of procuring many things which it would be most desirable to possess, particularly of the vegetation of the Upper Country, towards the head waters of this river, and the boundless tracts that lie contiguous to the Rocky Mountains.
I could have crossed the Continent this season to ​Montreal, and would most gladly have done so, but for the considerations just mentioned. Should circumstances forbid my accomplishing this desirable object in the spring of next year (1827), I shall without further delay, embrace the earliest opportunity of returning to England by sea, but the length of time consumed by the voyage renders me unwilling to do this. The expected arrival in September of George Simpson, Esq., Governor of the Western Districts, gives me hope that I shall not be subjected to this unpleasant necessity.
During this spring and summer, therefore, my headquarters will be either Walla-wallah, the lowest, Spokan, the middle, or Kettle Falls, the highest, on the Columbia and its branches. At each of these places I shall make such a stay as seems desirable, and the extreme distance not much exceeding five hundred miles, frequent journeys between them can be effected without difficulty. A vessel may shortly be expected on this coast, and as I shall not return hither, probably before November, I mean to leave the whole of my collection ready packed, to be transmitted by her to England, reserving a package of seeds, which it is my intention to carry across the country to Hudson Bay.
March 1st to 20th.—This time was devoted to accomplishing the package into two boxes of the residue of my collection, and making preparations for my journey into the interior, and the continual rains which fell enabled me to work at this job the more assiduously. The kindness of Mr. McLoughlin enabled me to take thirty quires of paper, weighing 102 pounds, which with the rest of my other necessary articles, is far more than I could have ventured to expect, considering the labour and difficulty which attend the transportation of luggage over the portages, etc.
In company of John McLeod, Esq., a gentleman going ​to Hudson Bay, and Mr. Francis Ermetinger, who was bound for the interior, with two boats and fourteen men, I started from Fort Vancouver, on Monday, the 20th, at 4 o'clock at noon [?]. Owing to the rain and adverse wind, and a strong current against us, it was the evening of the next day before we reached the Grand Rapids. Here the scenery is grand beyond description. The high mountains are covered with Pines of several kinds, some of great magnitude, with their lofty wide-spreading branches loaded with snow; while a rainbow stretches over the vapour formed by the agitated waters, which rush with furious speed over the shattered rocks and through the deep channel of the stream, producing a melancholy though pleasing echo through the still and woody valley, where the vivid green of the Pine contrasts agreeably with the reflection of the snow.
On Thursday, the 23d, we proceeded on our voyage with a strong westerly wind, which enabled us to hoist a sail, and reached the lower part of the Great Falls at dusk, where we camped in a small cove, under a shelving rock. Fortunately, the night was fine and the moon bright, which was the more agreeable, as the wind would not allow of our tent being pitched. Here we were placed in a dangerous predicament, from the natives, who collected in unusually large numbers, and showed every disposition to be troublesome, because they did not receive so ample a supply of tobacco as they had expected. We were obliged to watch the whole night. Having a few of my small wax tapers, on which I lay a great value, still remaining, I lighted one, and sat down to write to Mr. Murray of Glasgow, and to arrange in paper some Mosses that I had collected the preceding evening. Daylight was a most gladsome sight, as may be imagined, after spending the hours of darkness surrounded by at least four hundred and fifty savages, whose manners announced anything but amicable ​feelings towards us. As no one in the brigade could converse with them much better than myself, little could be done by persuasion. However, discovering that two of the principal men understood the Chenook language which I am slightly acquainted with, I found this circumstance of some advantage. After taking a hurried and anxious breakfast on the rocks, we proceeded several miles up the river, and in the afternoon made the portage over the Great Falls, where Mr. McLeod was apprized that the Indians were lying in wait with the intention of attacking us and pillaging the boats. This warning proved too correct. No sooner had they received the customary present of tobacco than they became desirous of compelling us to encamp for the night, that they might the better effect their purpose. The first symptoms of hostile intentions which we observed, was their cunning trick of sprinkling water on the gun-barrels of our party; and, when the boats were ordered to be put into the water, they would not allow it to be done. As Mr. McLeod was laying his hand on the shoulders of one native to push him back, another fellow immediately drew from his quiver a bow and a handful of arrows, and presented it at Mr. McLeod. My position at the time, at the outside of the crowd, enabling me to perceive this manoeuvre, and no time being to be lost, I instantly slipped the cover off my gun, which was fortunately loaded with buckshot, and presenting it at him, I invited him to discharge his arrow, when I would return it with my own weapon. Just at this moment, a chief of the Kyemuse tribe, and three of his young men, who are the terror of all the other tribes west of the mountains, and the staunch friends of the white people (as they call us) stepped in among the party and settled the affair without any further trouble. This very friendly Indian, who is one of the finest figures of a man I have ever seen, standing six feet six inches high, then ​accompanied us several miles up the river to the spot where we intended to encamp for the night, and was liberally remunerated by Mr. McLeod for his courageous and timely interference and friendship. I being King George's chief, or the "Grass Man," as I am called, bored a hole through the only shilling which I possessed, and which had been in my pocket ever since I left London, and observing that the septum of his nose was perforated, I suspended the coin to it by a bit of brass wire, a ceremony which afterwards proved a seal of friendship between us. After smoking with us, our friend left us to return to the Indian village, promising that he would not allow us to be molested. As we could not, of course, think of sleeping that night, I employed myself in writing a letter to Doctor Hooker:
   LETTER TO DR. HOOKER.
   GREAT FALLS OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER, March 24, 1826.
   Dear Sir: From Dr. Scouler you must have obtained a good description of Northwest America, and be made acquainted with many of its treasures. He left me in fine spirits; and when we were together, not a day passed in which you were not spoken of. His departure I much regret; we bad always been friends and here our friendship increased. When botanizing along the shores of the Columbia River and in the adjoining woods, we would sometimes sit down to rest our limbs, and then the conversation often turned on Glasgow and Ben Lomond. If a favourite Moss caught his eye, and was eagerly grasped and transferred to the vasculum, the remark was pretty sure to follow, "How much would Dr. Hooker like to be with us." I felt very lonely during the first few weeks after Dr. Scouler had sailed.
   The upper country here appears such an interesting field, and so different from the vegetation that prevails along the coast, that I have determined to devote the whole of this year to exploring it; though somewhat doubtful whether I am justified in so doing, as my orders were strict from Mr. Sabine not to outstay the departure of the ship which leaves the mouth of the Columbia in 1826. I trust, however, that my arrangements will meet his approbation, or, at least, not incur bis displeasure. The probability is that I shall be enabled to reach the Rocky Mountains in August, when, with what I may previously obtain, I hope to have a most splendid collection.
   ​During the past winter, I have been continually picking up Musci and Jungermannire, and forming a collection of birds and other animals. My knowledge is somewhat limited in these families, so that I hardly dare to pronounce as to what may be new; but I take care to secure everything I can lay my hands upon. It would have been in my power to make my way to Montreal this season, and would have gladly embraced the opportunity of seeing such an extensive and interesting country as lies between; but to overlook the inviting prospect now before me was more than I could do. I rejoice to tell you of a new species of Pinus, the most princely of the genus, perhaps even the grandest specimen of vegetation. It attains the enormous height of from one hundred and seventy to two hundred and twenty feet, with a circumference of fifty feet, and cones from twelve to eighteen inches long! I possess one of the latter, measuring one foot five inches long, and ten inches round the thickest part. The trunk grows remarkably straight and destitute of branches till near the top, where they form a perfect umbel; the wood of fine quality, yielding a large quantity of resin. Growing trees of this Pinus, which have been partly burnt by the natives to save themselves the trouble of collecting fuel, a custom to which they are greatly addicted, produce a substance which, I am almost afraid to say, is sugar; but as some of it, together with the cones, will soon reach England, its real nature will then be correctly ascertained. This Pinus is found abundantly two degrees south of the Columbia River, in the country of the Umptqua tribe of Indians, who collect its seeds in autumn and pound them into a kind of cake, which they consider as a kind of luxury, using also the saccharine substance that I have described above, in the same way as civilized nations do sugar. I intend to bring home such an assemblage of specimens as will allow a correct figure to be taken of this tree, and also to try my success with a bag of its seeds.
   I hope to make some addition to the genus Phlox, and to obtain P. speciosa (Bot. Reg. t. 1351), if it be in existence. Of Liliaceous plants I am sure there must be a great variety.
   I heard of Captain Franklin's party from Cumberland Lake on the way to Bear Lake, their winter residence. Dr. Richardson did not write to me, as the party who brought me the news only spent a few minutes with them: I learn there is a Mr. Drummond attached to them as naturalist (whom I take to be Mr. D., of Forfar.) He is on the opposite side of the mountains at Peace River.
   There is here a Mr. McLeod, who spent the last five years at Fort Good Hope, on the Mackenzie River. He informs me that if the natives, to whom he is perfectly known, can be credited, there must exist a northwest passage. They describe a very large river that runs parallel with the Mackenzie, and falls into the sea near Icy Cape, at the mouth of which is an establishment on an island, where they go to ​trade; they say the people of it wear long beards, and are very wicked, having hanged several of the natives to the rigging. Considerable dependence may be placed on these statements, as Mr. McLeod showed me some Russian coins, combe, and articles of hardware, such as are very different from what can be obtained from the British Trading Company. But the most convincing proof, and which proves the difficulty of transportation or navigation, is their malleable iron pots of coarse workmanship, and containing four and six gallons each. The whole account seems plausible. Mr. McLeod assembled all the natives last year with the purpose of accompanying him thither, when he was obliged to depart for Hudson Bay. The sea is said to be open after July. In this gentleman there is an example of what may be done by perseverance, as in the short space of eleven months he visited the Polar Sea, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Perhaps not an individual alive has gone through such a succession of miseries and hardships. My intention is to endeavor crossing the Continent of America in the spring of next year (1827), failing which, to take the earliest opportunity of reaching England by sea. My store of clothes is very low, nearly reduced to what I have on my back, one pair of shoes, no stockings, two shirts, two handkerchiefs, my blanket and cloak: thus I adapt my costume to that of the country, as I could not carry more, without reducing myself to an inadequate supply of paper and such articles of natural history.
   P. S. At the Junction of the Spokan Hirer irith the Columbia, Lat. 47 1-2° N., Long. 119° West, April 13th.—Since writing the above, I have found Phlox speciosa of Pursh, a delightful plant, of which the description will require some alteration; and also a new species, equal to it in beauty and near P. setacea, with abundance of Purshia tridentata with yellow flowers. I can hardly sit down to write, not knowing what to gather first.
The next morning, the 25th, this disagreeable business being settled, we started at daylight, and continuing our upward course during the three next days, reached the Walla-wallah Establishment on the 2Sth, where I was received with much kindness by Mr. S. Black, the person in charge. The whole country between this place and the Great Falls is nearly destitute of timber, the largest shrub being Tigarea (Purshia of the Flora Boreali Americana) tridentata, which we use for fuel in boiling our little kettle. I also noticed several large species of Artemisia (A. arborea among them), that were new to me, and, indeed, the ​whole aspect of vegetation is quite dissimilar from that of the coast. To the southeast, at a distance of ninety miles, is seen a ridge of high snowy mountains, which, running in a southwesterly direction for three hundred miles, terminate near the ocean. There I might hope to find all or most of the plants of the Rocky Mountains, and Mr. Black has kindly commenced arrangements for my making a journey thither early in June, which will occupy fifteen to twenty days.
Thursday, the 30th.—We proceeded early this morning on our way, I walking generally on the bank of the river, as I found the cold very prejudicial to my stiff knee, which was the better for a little exercise. The country, too, was quite a plain, as far as the junction of Lewis and Clarke's River, which is a fine stream, from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty yards wide in many places, and very rapid, abounding, as well as many of its tributaries, with salmon. Its whole course, from its source in the Rocky Mountains till it joins the Columbia, is not less than fifteen hundred miles. The soil in this neighborhood is a light brown earth, which the wind frequently blows up in mounds or hills fifty feet high, whereon grow several species of Lupinus and Oenothera, with some singular bulbous-rooted plants, and occasional shrubs of the beautiful Purshia tridentata, which is the largest vegetable production seen here. The same aspect of country continues as far as the Priest's Rapid, which we reached on the 1st of April, where it becomes mountainous, with scarcely a vestige of herbage or verdure of any kind, except in the valleys. The rocks which bound the river are of limestone and very rugged, and this is considered one of the most dangerous parts of the whole river. During the time occupied in making the portage of nine miles, I wrote to my friend Doctor Scouler of Glasgow:
TO DR. SCOULER.
Priest's Rapid, on the Columbia River,
Lat. 48° N., Long. 117° W., April 3d, 1826.
My Dear Sir: By this time I hope you are once more in England, and that your long voyage has terminated to your satisfaction. Your friends would, no doubt, naturally entertain melancholy thoughts about you, owing to your absence having proved so much longer than was expected; and I know by experience how much you must have felt.
Since you left me there has been no person to join me in my walks, and for several weeks I felt very uncomfortable, being especially grieved at not having seen you before your departure, owing to a hurt that one of my legs received when packing my boxes, and which has troubled me, I am very sorry to say, almost ever since. Although in a state very unfit for enduring much exertion. I left Fort Vancouver on the 22d of October, for the purpose of seeing you in my way to Whitby's Harbor, near the Cheeheelie River. On the evening of the 23d I put ashore at Oak Point to procure a little food, when an Indian gave me your letter, in which you stated your expectation of remaining a few days longer, and as the ship had been seen on that day, I lost no time in hoi ling my kettle, and having re-embarked at 11 P. M.. I was in hopes of reaching the bay before daylight. Unfortunately, the wind was adverse, and my Indians being much fatigued, I did not arrive till 10 o'clock, when I heard, to my great disappointment, that you had left the river only one hour before. I found Tha-a-mu-u, or "the Beard," Concomly's brother, to whom you had spoken of me. He is an old man; at hid request I shaved him, that he might look more like one of King George's chiefs. He accompanied me all the way along the coast, and for sixty miles up the Cheeheelie River, where I crossed a tract of land, near Mount St. Helens, to the Cowalidsk River. which I descended to its junction with the Columbia. This was the most unfortunate trip I ever bad; the season being BO late, and my knee becoming more and more troublesome. I was under the necessity of laying by, as an invalid, for three days, on Cape Foulweather, in a hut made of pine branches and grass. Being unable to go abroad and shoot, I fared, of course, but scantily; some specimens of Procellaria, Larus, and one of Colymbus, which I killed, were spoiled by the excessive rain. The only plant I found, worthy of notice, was an Eriogonum, and I also procured the seeds of several kinds previously in my possession, among them Helonias tenax and a fine large-fruited species of Carex. This excursion took twenty-five days, and reduced me to such a state of weakness, that I could do little more for the season. During the winter, in the short intervals of fair weather, I crawled to the woods, in search for Mosses, but my knowledge of this ​tribe of plants is insufficient to enable me to determine accurately what they are. I lost no time in forming a collection of birds, as nothing could be done in Botany; my sight, however, which was always weak, is much impaired during the last few months; without pain or inflammation, a dimness has come on which is a great loss to me, especially with the use of the gun, which, as you know, I could handle to some advantage. I am in possession of a species of Pinus, the finest of the genus, and hope soon to have abundance of better specimens and ripe seeds. (Here follow the details, which are precisely similar to what Mr. D. had mentioned in his foregoing letter). This is unquestionably the most splendid specimen of American vegetation what would Dr. Hooker give to dine under its shade? As for Mr. Lambert, I hardly think he could eat at all if he saw it.
I possess another species of Mimulus, a fine plant, but not equal to yours. In the middle of this month I quitted the ocean, and might have crossed the Continent this season, but from what I had seen of the country lying toward -the head waters of the Columbia River, I could not think of forsaking such an inviting field, or departing so far from the interests of the Society by which I am employed. I expect to reach the mountains in August. How glad I shall be to join you in our usual trip of [to] Ben Lomond, where we shall have more time and a keener relish for talking over our journeys in Northwest America. Mr. McDonald is gone to Thompson's River, in the interior. Pardon the shortness of this note, as I have neither time nor convenience for writing no table nor desk : this is penned upon the top of my specimen board, under which are some exceedingly interesting things.
April 2d to 6th.—Continuing our journey without interruption, we reached the Establishment on the Oakanagan River, one of the northern branches of the Columbia, where we were kindly received by the Factor, Mr. Annance, but the ground being covered three or four feet deep with snow, nothing could be done in the way of Botany, and my attempts to secure specimens of the Wild Grouse of the country were also unsuccessful. I observed a beautiful yellow Lichen growing on the dead brushwood.
April 9th.—My companions and I resumed our route early this morning, sometimes walking and sometimes on horseback, where the portages are very long and rugged, and on Tuesday, the 11th, arrived at the Junction of the Spokan River with the Columbia, where we found John ​W. Dease, Esq., who, with fourteen men, was on his way to the Kettle Falls, ninety miles higher up the Columbia, the furthest of the three points, which I designed to make my headquarters for the summer and autumn. The great kindness and attention this gentleman showed me contributed no little to my comfort. He is brother to the person of the same name who is now accompanying Captain Franklin on his second Arctic land expedition.
This part of the Columbia is by far the most beautiful and varied I have yet seen; the plains are extensive, but studded with Pine trees, like an English lawn, with rising bluffs or little eminences clothed with small brushwood and rugged rocks sprinkled with Ferns, Mosses, and Lichens.
Two or three days were here devoted to drying my paper, which had got wet, arranging my plants, and writing to Mr. Sabine, my brother, and Mr. Munro, which notes I delivered to Mr. McLeod, who starts to-morrow, the 14th, for his long trip to Hudson Bay, and has most kindly engaged to convey my tin box of seeds and a few other articles which we will consign to Mr. McTavish. I also met Mr. John Wark here, from whom I received much attention last year. In a few days I intend proceeding to the Kettle Falls, where I shall make such a stay and such excursions as best promise to accomplish the objects of my employers.
Among the most interesting plants which I have just gathered, is one of a genus perfectly distinct from Lilium (though apparently the L. pudicum of Pursh), as its style is invariably three-cleft. It is abundant in light dry soil everywhere above the Falls. I shall try to preserve its bulbs, as it is highly ornamental. The natives eat the roots, both raw and roasted on the embers, and collect in July a large store of them, which they dry in the sun, and lay by for winter use. A lovely Dodecatheon is also plen​tiful here, growing with a white variety: when these pretty flowers are seen together, they lend a grace to the scanty herbage of American spring that agreeably calls to mind "the wee crimson-tipped flower" and "the faint primrose-beds" of my native land.
From Sunday, the 15th, to Wednesday, the 19th, I continued making several trips in the country contiguous to the Junction of the Spokan River, and this more for the sake of viewing the general aspect of the soil, and estimating its future productions, than for any object of natural history that I might now pick up, the season being too early in spring to afford much.
Wednesday, the 19th—On this day, at noon, I accompanied Mr. Dease, who with two boats and a party of fourteen men, was proceeding up the river to a new settlement, called Fort Colville, near the Kettle Falls, ninety miles further on. The whole distance is mountainous and rugged, becoming increasingly so as we approach the territory of the Rocky Mountains. Many kinds of Pine are seen on the banks, three species particularly—P. resinosa, a Pinus, very similar to P. taxifolia of the coast, and P. Larix, the latter more numerous than the others, and attaining a great size. I measured some, thirty feet in circumference; and several which had been leveled to the ground by the late storms, were one hundred and forty-five feet long, with wood perfectly clean and strong. A thick sward of grass covered the ground, interspersed with shrubs which at this early season it was impossible to determine. The hills are still partially clothed with snow, and while the days are warm, the cold is severe at night. The greatest elevation of the thermometer was 65 degrees, and its minimum 28 degrees, during the twenty-four hours; a striking difference! During this, voyage we met with several parts of the river, where the rapids obliged us to make long and difficult portages, sometimes three in a day. We generally started ​very early, breakfasting a little before noon, and continued our progress till dark, about 7 o'clock, when we camped for the night, and found our suppers of salmon and dried buffalo meat highly acceptable.
Saturday, the 22d.—Arrived this night at the Kettle Falls, where the whole stream is precipitated over a perpendicular ledge, twenty-four feet high, besides several smaller cascades, which shiver the water into the most picturesque snowy flakes and foam for the distance of one hundred and fifty yards, where a small oval rocky island, studded with a few shrubs and trees, separates the channel in two.
Here I spent between a fortnight and three weeks, making daily excursions, during which I obtained some interesting plants, and killed several birds that I had not before seen in the country. Among these was a pretty black species of Partridge, which at this season was not at all shy, and of which I secured three specimens; a small Pheasant, and a Curlew, apparently quite distant from the European species, being never seen near marshy places, but abundant in dry ground, where it lays its egg on the bare soil. The plants that pleased me best were Erythronium grandiflorum of Pursh (Bot. Reg. t. 1780), which is extremely beautiful, especially when seen growing, as is commonly the case, with the Dodecatheon mentioned before, and with a small species of Pulmonaria; also Claytonia lanceolata, of which the roots, though insipid, are eaten by the poor Indians, both raw and roasted; two species of Rosa, and a lovely evergreen shrub, probably a Clethra, which is abundant in the woods here, and I trust may yet be equally so in the shrubberies of Britain.
Tuesday, May 9th.—Having apparently exhausted all the objects of interest which the very early season of the ​year afforded in this vicinity, I quitted the Kettle Falls of the Columbia, and taking two horses loaded with my provisions, which consisted of dried buffalo meat, tea, and a little sugar, and with my blanket and paper (by the aid of these animals also hoping to get an occasional lift over the worst places of my route), I set out across the mountains, for the abandoned Establishment at Spokan, distant about one hundred and ten miles. My object was to see Mr. Jacques Raphael Finlay, a Canadian Sauteur, now resident here, who is possessed of extensive information as to the nature of the country, its animals, vegetable productions, etc. To him Mr. Dease kindly gave me a note of recommendation, and I had for my guides his two young sons. The melting of the snow, which swelled the mountain rivulets into angry torrents, rendered our way difficult and circuitious; often the meadows were so overflowed that the ground would not bear the horses, which became much fatigued by their exertions and frequent falls among the rocks. After traveling about twenty-seven miles we camped for the night, and starting by daylight of the next morning (Wednesday, 10th) reached at noon a small, but very rapid river, called by the Indians Barrière River, having traveled for seven hours without food. No natives being near to help us across in their canoes, my two young companions and I had the alternative of making a raft or swimming, and being all well accustomed to the water, we chose the latter. Unsaddling the horses, we drove them in, and they all crossed with safety and ease, except one poor animal, which getting entangled by its hind legs, among some brushwood at the bottom, struggled for a long time, till the impediment giving way, he finally relieved our anxiety by gaining the other side. I myself made two trips across, carrying my paper and gun the first time and my blanket and clothes the second;—the latter articles I was obliged to hold above water in ​both my hands, a difficult and tedious process, during which, as if to render my labour fruitless, it hailed heavily. When I landed my whole frame was so completely benumbed that we were under the necessity of stopping to kindle a lire, and to indulge my guides with a smoke, after which we proceeded. At night a severe pain between my shoulders and general chilliness kept me from sleeping. I rose, boiled my kettle, and made some tea, then dried my blanket, and substituted for my damp shirt a spare one, in which I had rolled by plants; but feeling no better, and being unfortunately without medicine, I started on foot at a little before 4, and driving the horses before me, got into a profuse perspiration which considerably relieved my suffering.
Near this spot was an Indian burying ground, certainly one of the most curious I had yet seen. All the property of the deceased was here deposited near their graves, their implements, garments, and gambling articles. Even the favourite horse of the deceased is not spared; it is customary to shoot the animal with a bow and arrow, and suspend his skin, with the hoofs and skull, just above the remains of his master. On the trees which are around the burying place, small bundles may be seen, tied up in the same manner as the provisions which they carry when traveling. I could not learn whether this was intended as food for the dead or propitiary offerings to the divinities. Within the grave the body is placed in a sitting posture, with the knees touching the chin, and the arms folded across the chest. It is difficult to gain any information on these subjects, as nothing seems to hurt the feelings of these people so much as alluding to their departed friends.
Thursday, the 11th. At 7 this morning we gained the summit of the last range of hills that lie between the Columbia and Spokan rivers, and beheld one of the most ​sublime views that could possibly be, of rugged moun- tains, deep valleys, and mountain rills. At noon reached the old Establishment, where Mr. Finlay received me most kindly, regretting at the same time that he had not a morsel of food to offer me, he and his family having been subsisting for several, at least six, weeks on the roots of Phalangium Quamash (Scilla esculenta, Bot. Mag. t. 2774), called by the natives all over the country, Camass, on those of Lewisia rediviva, (Bot. Misc. t. 70), and on a black Lichen (L. Jubatus), which grows on the pines. The mode of preparing the latter was as follows: After clearing it thoroughly from the dead twigs and pieces of bark to which it adheres, it is immersed in water, and steeped till it becomes perfectly soft, when it is placed between two layers of ignited stone, with the precaution of protecting it with grass and dead leaves, lest it should burn. The process of cooking takes a night, and before the Lichen cools, it is made into a cake much in the same way as the Phalangium Quamass, when it is considered fit for use. A cake of this kind, with a basin of water, was all that Mr. Finlay had to offer me. Great, therefore, was my pleasure at being able to requite his hospitality by giving him a share of the provisions with which Mr. Dease's liberality had supplied me, and which, though far from luxurious fare, was yet the best that he and his family had tasted for a long time. I had also some game in my saddle bags which I had killed by the way, and of which I gave him half. The principal object of my visit to Mr. Finlay was to get my gun repaired, and as he was the only person who could do it within a distance of eight hundred miles, and this article being a matter of perhaps vital importance to me, I hastened to inform him of my request, though my imperfect knowledge of French, the only language that he could speak, much limited our intercourse, and prevented my deriving from him all the information ​that I wished to obtain. Having taken a walk up the river in the afternoon, I found, upon my return at night, that Mr. Finlay had obligingly put my gun into good order, for which I presented him with a pound of tobacco, being the only article I had to give.
Two days were devoted to botanizing in this neighborhood, where I found three fine species of Ribes in flower: the R. aureum, which bears, as Mr. Finlay informs me, a very large and excellent yellow berry (he never saw it black or brown, though I afterward found this variety); a white-blossomed, apparently new species, whose snowy and fragrant long spikes of flowers are enough to recommend it for culture in England, even without considering its abundant produce of well-flavoured and black currants, which resemble those of our country, except in being rather more acid ; and another kind, with a green flower, that is succeeded by a small black gooseberry. Of all these, and many other plants, I engaged Mr. Finlay to collect specimens and seeds for me ; as well as of an interesting kind of Allium, which grows about forty miles distant, and of which the roots, that I saw, were as large as a nut, and particularly mild and well-tasted.
These species of the Ribes I afterwards found to be R. viscosissimum (Hook. Fl. Bor. Am., v. 1, t. 80), R. petiolare, and R. tenuiflorum, (Bot. Reg. t. 1274).
I also saw a new Pinus (P. ponderosa), and two kinds of Misseltoe, one large and growing on this Pine; and the other a smaller plant—(Arceubothrium Oxycedri, Hook. Fl. Bor. Am., v. 1, t. 99), parasitical on Pinus Banksiana, which is not rare here, though of smaller stature than it attains on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. A large bear, Ursus horribilis, was killed by Mr. Finlay, but it was too large to be preserved. Among the seeds I procured were those of Pentstemon Scouleri (Bot. Reg. t. 1277), Claytonia lanccolata, Erythronium grandiflorum (Bot. Reg. ​342 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. t. 1786), and Rubus Nutkanus (Dot. Reg. t. 1386, Bot. Mag. t. 3453). Saturday, the 13th. As I thought of bending my steps again toward the Columbia, Mr. Finlay offered that one of his sons should escort me, to which I agreed. Before quitting him, I made some inquiry about a sort of sheep found in this neighborhood, about the size of that de- scribed by Lewis and Clarke, but, instead of wool, having short, thick, coarse hair, of a brownish-grey color, whence its name of Mouton Gris, as it is called by the voyageurs, is derived. The horns of the male, weighing sometimes eighteen to twenty-four pounds, are dingy white, and form a sort of volute, those of the female bend back, curving outwards at the point, and are from ten inches to a foot long. The flesh is fine, equal to that of the domestic sheep. It inhabits the lofty mountains, and is seldom seen in any numbers except on those whose summits are covered with perpetual snow. Mr. Finlay gave me hopes that when he visited the high mountains farther up the country in au- tumn, he might be able, notwithstanding the shyness of these animals, and the inaccessible places to which they generally betake themselves when disturbed, to procure me a specimen of this highly interesting creature. To Mr. Finlay's sons I offered a small compensation if they would preserve for me the skins of different animals, showing them at the same time how this should be done. On my way back from Spokan River to the Columbia, I was obliged to take the same way of crossing the Bar- ri&re River as I had done when coming, and again suffered a good deal from the wetness of my clothes, as I had no change whatever with me. I however added Ribes viscosissimum of Pursh (Flora Boreali- Americana, tab. 76) to my collection, which pleased me much, and on the whole felt myself well rewarded for the toils of my excur- sion, by the many new plants I had gained, and by the ​JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 343 advantage of getting my gun properly repaired. For two days, however, after my return to the Establishment at the Kettle Falls, I was so indisposed as to keep my bed with fever and a violent pain between my shoulders, prob- ably occasioned by wet, cold, and fatigue. Friday, the 19th, to Thursday, the 25th. This time was spent in making several excursions; on one occasion I crossed the Columbia to Dease River, one of its most north- erly branches, and which had never before been entered by any European. Mr. Kitson, in a canoe with two In- dians, went on purpose to explore it, but after having proceeded ten miles, during which I walked along the banks, that I might better judge of its productions, the stream proved so rapid that we were obliged to give up further progress and return. This river seems, like most of the others, to have its source in the Rocky Mountains. Friday, the 26th. Started at daylight for a trip to the hills south of the Kettle Falls. The weather was warm, thermometer 86 degrees, and sitting down to rest awhile under- the shade of a large Thuja occidentalis, in a valley near a small spring, I fell asleep and never woke till late in the afternoon, when being twenty miles from home, I would have gladly have taken up my quarters there for the night, but that I feared Mr. McLoughlin, who expected me back, would be uneasy. I therefore returned with all speed over a mountainous and rugged way, and arrived near midnight, and found him on the point of sending two Indians to seek for me; his anxiety, however, lest any accident should have befallen me, was changed into hearty laughter when he heard of the manner in which I had been spending my time. The next week was devoted to collecting specimens of plants, preparatory to leaving this place for a journey to the plains below. Monday, June the -llh. Rose at half-past 2, and had all ​344 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. my articles given in charge to Mr. Dease, and my tent struck before 5, when I took some breakfast, and in com- pany with Mr. W. Kitson, bade farewell to the wild ro- mantic scenery of the Kettle Falls. The river is much swollen by the melting of the snow, being fourteen to six- teen feet above its usual level, where it is six hundred yards wide. As soon as our boats got into the current, they darted down the river with the velocity of an arrow just loosed from the bowstring. One half hour took us to Thompson's Rapids, the place where the striking appear- ance of the shattered rocks and water is noticed in my journal of our ascent. Here our boatman, Pierre L'Etang, observed that the water was in fine order for shooting of "jumping," as he called it, the Rapid. Good as this plan appeared to him, I must confess that my timidity would not allow me to remain in the boat. Although I am no coward either in the water or on. the water, and have gazed unmoved, and even with pleasure, on the wildest uproar and tumult of the stormy deep, yet to descend these cataracts by way of sport and where no necessity called for it, I could not resolve to do. Therefore Mr. Kitson and I got out and walked along the rocks. No language can convey an idea of the dexterity exhibited by the Canadian boatmen, who pass safely through rapids, whirlpools, and narrow channels, where by the strength of such an immense body of water forcing its way, the stream, as in the present instance, is lifted in the middle, to a perfect convexity. In such places, where you think the next moment must dash the frail skiff and its burden of human beings to destruction among the steep rocks, these fellows approach and pass over with astonishing coolness and skill, encouraging themselves and one an- other with a lively and exulting boat song. We reached the junction of the Spokan River the same afternoon, having in the short space of eight hours accomplished a ​JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 345 distance of ninety miles, which will give some idea of the rapidity of the current; forty miles lower still we en- camped at night opposite the Cinqpoil River, on the south side of the Columbia : and, soon after midday on Tuesday, arrived at the Oakanagan Establishment, where I found my old friend, Mr. Wark, with W. Conolly, Esq., M. Pam- brun, and a James Douglas, all of whom, with a party of men, were on their way from Western Caledonia to Fort Vancouver, with Mr. F. Ermetinger (brother of the gen- tleman of the same name who had accompanied me in the spring) coming from Thomson's River. The next day (Wednesday, 7th) I proceeded, with a bri- gade of six boats, towards Walla-wallah, at the junction of Lewis and Clarke's River, which I intend to make my head- quarters for six or eight weeks. Passed the Stony Islands, where I found Pentstcmon venustum (Bot. Reg. 1. 1309), and P. speciosum (Bot. Reg. t. 1270), a place in the river about half a mile long, exceedingly rugged and dangerous, at 4 o'clock, and shortly afterwards camped earlier than usual, two of our boats having been broken. This circumstance gave me some hours among the rocks on the banks of the river, which I spent to great advantage. Under some stones I discovered and killed a rattlesnake, three feet long. The thermometer had indicated 92 degrees in the shade at noon, and at night the heavens presented an entire sheet of lightning, unaccompanied either by thunder or rain. The next morning we started, as usual, very early, and breakfasted at the Priest's Rapid, on fresh salmon and buffalo tongue. Arrived at night at the Walla-wallah, where having had very little sleep since leaving Kettle Falls, I hoped to obtain some hours of repose, and accord- ingly stretched on the floor of the Indian Hall at that establishment, whence, however, I was shortly driven by the attacks of such an immense swarm of (leas as rendered repose impossible, and my attempts to procure it among ​346 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. the bushes were equally frustrated by the annoyance of two species of ants, one very black and large, three quar- ters of an inch long, and the other small and red. Thus I gladly hailed the approach of day, and as soon as I could see to make a pen wrote the following letter to Mr. Sabine, which I consigned to Mr. Conolly who was immediately about to proceed to Fort Vancouver, whence a ship was daily expected to sail for England : June 9th, 1826. DEAR SIR : As an unexpected opportunity of communicating with the coast has just presented itself, I thus embrace it, sending also the whole of my gleanings, amounting to upwards of one hundred species, distinct from those transmitted in the collection of 1825. Among them are six species of Kibes, two of which, I think, will prove new 5 B. Viscosissimum of Pursh (whose description will require some alter- ation), which is surpassed by few plants; and a fourth, very inter- esting, though less showy species; the others are It. aureum, and one belonging to the section Grossularia, with green flowers. A few days after I had the honor of writing to you, on the 12th of April, from the Spokan River (where it joins the Columbia), a letter which was sent across this great Continent, I started for the Kettle Falls, ninety miles farther up, where I remained until the 5th of this month, making ex- cursions in such directions as seemed calculated to afford the richest harvest; and although this has fallen somewhat short of my expecta- tions, I yet do not consider my time as having been thrown away, many of the species being new, and the rest but imperfectly known. About the 25th of this month (June) I propose making a journey to a ridge of snowy mountains, about one hundred and fifty miles distant from this place, in a southerly direction, which will occupy fifteen to eighteen days; and, after securing the result of this trip, will make a voyage up Lewis and Clarke's River as far as the Forks, remaining there ten or twelve days, as appears necessary, and returning overland in a northeasterly [westerly?] direction to my spring encampment on the Kettle Falls. Shortly afterwards I mean to accompany Mr. Wark, who is going on a trading excursion to the country contiguous to the Rocky Mountains, and not far distant from the Pass of Lewis and Clarke, thence gradually retracing my steps over the places I have already visited, or yet may visit, so as to reach the ocean, as I hope, about November. The difficulty which I find in conveying the different objects that it is desirable to collect becomes considerable, and often I am under the necessity of restricting myself as to the number of specimens, that I may obtain the greater variety of kinds. I have been fortunate in procuring two pairs of a very handsome ​JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 347 species of Ruck (rrouse, found only in mountainous grounds; and as none of this sort are found east of the mountains, I am in hopes it may prove new. A pair of Curlem, of singular habits, very unlike the rest of the tribe, which frequent dry soils, and roost in trees, with a small fitnnli rhuwant, are all that I have been able to get ready for adding to this collection. The birds are packed in a small box with three bundles of plants. Having so much to do I find it imi>os8ible to send, at this time, a copy of my journal, which I much regret. Among my plants are five splendid specimens of PenMcmon, only one, the /'. en rnii inn, of Pursh, is yet described; abundance of /'nrx/iia tri- (/< ntuta, both in flower and fruit; several species of Jtubiut and Lujri- nwa; and two kinds of I'runn*. all of these being different from what I sent last year from the coast. I am now in the finest place for the Large Grouse, and hope shortly to procure some. It always affords me the greatest pleasure to mention the kindness and assistance I receive from the persons in authority here. Thank God, I enjoy excellent health. There is nothing in the world could afford me greater pleasure than hearing from you and my other friends, and most sincerely do I hope that, in the course of autumn, this may come to pass. D. DOUGLAS. To Joseph Sabine, Esq., etc. I then wrote, and particularly begged the attention of my kind friends at Fort Vancouver, to the articles which I sent for conveyance in the next ship. Mr. Conolly, be- fore departing with Mr. Wark and the other gentlemen, handsomely presented me with twelve feet of tobacco, more than two pounds, to assist me in my travels during their absence. This article, being, as it were, the currency of this country, and particularly scarce, will enable me to procure guides and to obtain the cheerful performance of many little acts of service, and it is therefore almost in- valuable to me. In this neighborhood grow several beautiful kinds of Phlox and I'entstemon, also a fine species of Kriogonum (K. sphtrrocephalum) and of Malva. Having, as I before mentioned, taken almost no rest for five nights, I lay down shortly after dispatching my letters, but was scarcely composed when an Indian arrived with news that the expected ship had arrived in the river. He ​348 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. brought me a parcel and two letters ; the latter I eagerly grasped, and, hoping one was from Mr. Sabine, tore it open, when I found that it was in the writing of Mr. Goode ; the other was from my friend, Mr. William Booth. A note from Mr. McLoughlin, at Fort Vancouver, di- minished my fears lest there should be no more letters for me, by stating that feeling unwilling to confide to the In- dian such communications as appeared to come from the Horticultural Society, he had kept them until his own people should return. Never in my life did I feel in such a state of mind. An uneasy, melancholy, and yet pleasing sensation stole over me, accompanied with a passionate longing for the rest of my letters ; for though I do enjoy, in a measure, the lux- ury of hearing from home, yet there is no intelligence yet from my near relations and friends. It is singular, that seldom as the post goes and arrives in this uninhabited and remote land, I should still have heard from England within five hours of sending off my letters to that country. Till two hours after midnight I sat poring over these let- ters as if repeated reading could extract an additional or a different sense from them ; and when I did lie down, little as I had slept lately, I never closed my weary eyes. The next day found me considerably indisposed, and the intense heat confining me to the tent, I employed myself with re- pairing my shoes and shifting the papers of my plants. Up to Wednesday, the 14th, I remained here, chiefly employed in making short trips along the banks of the river, which was rendered so rough by a stormy westerly wind, that no canoe could go upon it, even to fish. Thus, no salmon having been caught for three or four days, I had nothing but a little boiled horse flesh to eat, and was glad to eat of this scanty fare with a roasted Arctomys 1 , or 1 A. trachyurus. ​JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 349 Ground Rat, a creature common in this country, where it burrows in the sand under bushes and lives on the fruit of Purshia tridentata, and the leaves of several species of Artemisia. I found the flesh somewhat rancid, or rather of a musky flavor, probably from the bitter strong-scented plants on which it feeds. The Indians of the Walla-wal- lah and Kyemuse tribes call this animal Limia. Thursday, June 15th. At 4 A. M. set off for a walk on some rocky grounds, near the river, having breakfasted on the same food as I had had for some previous days, but long before noon felt greatly exhausted, being unable to get so much as a drink of water. My eyes began also to distress me exceedingly ; the sand which blows into them, with the reflection of the sun from the ground, which in many places is quite bare, having made them so sore and inflamed that I can hardly distinguish clearly any object at twelve yards distance. Friday, 16th. The weather being pleasant, I began pre- paring for my great excursion to the mountains, and sent accordingly to the Indian camp, to bid my guide be ready at sunrise. During the night I was annoyed by the visit of a herd of ruts, which devoured every particle of seed I had collected, eat clean through a bundle of dried plants, and carried off my soap-brush and razor! As one was tak- ing away my inkstand which I had been using shortly be- fore, and which lay close to my pillow, I raised my gun, which, with my faithful dog, always is placed under my blanket at my side, with the muzzle to my feet, and hastily gave him the contents. When I saw how large and strong a creature this rat was, I ceased to wonder at the exploits of the herd in depriving me of my property. The body and tail together measured a foot and a half; the back is brown, the belly white; while the tail and enormous ears are each three quarters of an inch long, with whiskers three inches in length, and jet black. Unfortunately, the ​350 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. specimen was spoiled by the size of the shot, which, in my haste to secure the animal, and recover my inkstand, I did not take time to change; but a female of the same sort venturing to return some hours after, I handed it a smaller shot, which did not destroy the skin. It was in all respects like the other, except being a little smaller. I am informed that these rats abound in the Rocky Moun- tains, particularly to the north, near the Mackenzie and Peace rivers, where, during the winter, they destroy al- most everything that comes in their way. On Saturday, the 17th, my guide did not arrive on the camp until 8 A. M., and I was uncertain whether he would come at all. The horses were not brought from' the meadow, nor the provisions put up. Considerable time was lost in explaining to the man the nature of my jour- ney, which was thus effected. I told it to Mr. Black, in English, and he translated it in French to his Canadian interpreter, who again communicated it to the Indian in the language of the Kyemuse tribe, to which the latter belongs. As a proof of the fickle disposition and keen- ness at making a 'bargain of these people, he no sooner had ascertained the proposed route, and his future re- muneration, than he began stating difficulties, in preface to a list [of] present wants, among which were food for his family, who had been starving, as he assured us, for two months, owing to the failure of the salmon fishery ; then shoes for himself, and as his leggings were much worn, leather for new ones. Then followed a request for a stalk- ing-knife, a piece of tobacco, a strip of red cloth for an ornamental cap. This bargain occupied two hours, and was sealed by volumes of smoke from a large stone pipe. Mr. Black offered kindly to se.nd a boy, twelve years old, called the Young Wasp, the son of his own interpreter, with me, who, understanding a little French, might com municate my wishes to the guide, a proposal which I ​JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 351 thankfully accepted, but, some days after, I had reason to lYur the young rascal told the Indian the very reverse of what I bade him, for after we had, with great difficulty, gained the summit of the snowy mountains, after many days of severe labor, from Saturday, the 17th, to Wednes- day, the 21st, when I proposed to descend on the other side, my guide made serious objections to accompany me. All I could suggest through the medium of the boy, to remove his fears, seemed only to increase them : he as- sured me that the Snake Indians, with whom his tribe was at war, would steal our horses, and probably kill us ; and as it was imposssble either to force him to accom- pany me or to find my way alone, I was reluctantly com- pelled for the present to give up the idea of proceeding in that direction. I had not been long on the much-desired summit of this mountain, which is at least nine thousand feet above the level of the sea, and seven thousand five hundred feet above the platform of the mountainous country around, and the snows of which had certainly never been pressed by an European foot before, than my view of the sur- rounding scenery was closed by the sudden descent of a heavy, black cloud, which presently broke in thunder, lightening, hail, and wind. The heavens seemed as on fire with the glare, and the thunder echoed from the other peaks, accompanied with gusts of furious wind, which broke many of the stunted Pines, and unmerci- fully pelted me with the cutting hail. Glad was I to leave the summit which I had so much longed to gain, and to descend to my camp ere night arrived. I was much re- freshed during my weary walk, which the want of snow- shoes rendered, on the high parts, much more fatiguing, by eating the berries of Ribe* annum, which I found in great quantities, and of exquisite flavour, both yellow and black, the former most common, and the size of common ​352 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. currants. As I observe that this shrub only produces its fruit when growing in very dry sandy places, never where the soil is rich, and very sparingly if it is at all moist, it would be worth the while of cultivators at home to attend to this circumstance. As I had tasted nothing but these berries all day, I found a small basin of cold tea at night, with some dried salmon, particularly re- freshing. The storm continued unabated, by which my poor horses were so alarmed that it was necessary to tie them to some trees close to our camp ; but the chief disadvan- tage arose from its being impracticable to keep a fire lighted, and, as I was afraid to lie down in my soaked clothes, I stripped, and rolling myself in my blanket, soon fell asleep, but awoke about midnight, so benumbed with cold, that I found my knees refused to do their office. Having rubbed my limbs most vehemently with a very rough cloth, to restore animation, I succeeded at last in making a little fire, when some hot tea did me more good than anything else could have done. If ever, however, my zeal has been damped, it was on this occasion ; my guide, too, and interpreter, were so much disheartened by the difficulties of the way, the dreadful storm, and the want of provisions, that I finally consented to return, and regained the Columbia on the night of Saturday, the 24th, after an absence of nine days, during which time I had not seen a human face, save those of my two companions. I was, however, fully determined to resume my journey in this direction without much delay, the ground appear- ing very rich in objects of interest, among which, that which .had gratified me most, was a beautiful Paeonia (P. Brownii, the only individual of this genus in Amer- ica), with a flower that is dark purple outside, and yellow within, blooming on the very confines of perpetual snow, while it grows poor and small on the temperate parts of ​JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 353 the mountains, and wholly disappears on the plains below. A lovely Lupine (L. Sabini, Bot. Reg. t. 1485), with large spikes, twelve to eighteen inches long, of yellow flowers, covering whole tracts of the country for miles, and re- minding me of the "bonny broom," that enlivens the moors of my native land, gave me much pleasure. The specimens in my collection will show how desirable an acquisition this would be to our gardens. The crevices of the rocks were adorned in many places with a white- flowered Pedicularis, and a new Draba, while several species of Pentatemon fringed the mountain rivulets, and a yellow Ericgonum (E. sphtcrocephalum) sprang up in the crevices of granite rocks. Of Lupinaster macrocephalus (Trifolium megacephalum) (Pursh), which never grows be- low three thousand feet on the mountains, I am most anxious to obtain seeds ; also of Trifolium altissimum (Hook. Fl. Bor. Am., v. 1. t. 48.) Monday, 26t1i. Being more and more anxious of mak- ing a second journey to the same mountains, I sent again to my guide, and bade him prepare to accompany me ; on which he instantly began to plead that he had not re- covered from the fatigue of his former excursion, and finally refused to go. Perceiving that this statement was by no means true, at least to the extent that he wanted to make me believe, I was on the point of trying the effect of a little personal chastisement, in order to teach him, that since I was paying for his services I had a right to require them, when he made his escape without loss of time. I afterwards learned that the "Young Wasp," as the interpreter's son was called, had told the poor igno- rant being that I was a great Medicine J/an, which, among these poor people, is considered equivalent to possessing necromantic power, and having intercourse with evil spirits. Also, that if he accompanied me, and acted so as, in any way, to incur my displeasure, I should trans​354 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. form him into a grizzly Bear, and set him to run in the woods for the rest of his life, so that he would never see his wife again. It is not to be wondered that these fears acted powerfully on the Indian, and caused him to be- have in the way he did. Mr. Black afterwards furnished me with another guide, whom I took the more readily, as he was no smoker, and such a knave that nobody would dare to steal from him. It is, however, worthy of notice, that among these people confidence answers' best. An instance of dishonesty has hardly been ever known where property has been in- trusted to their hands. Another good point in their character is hospitality. A stranger can hardly imagine the kindness he will receive at their hands. If they have a hut they entreat you to enter it, or failing that, if the day is wet, one of brushwood is quickly made for your use, and whatever they possess in the way of food is set before you. On one occasion I was regaled with steaks cut from a Doe of the Long-Tailed Deer (Cervus leucurus), accompanied by an infusion of 2 sweetened with a small portion of sugar. The meat was laid on the clean foliage of Gualtheria Shallon, in lieu of a plate, and our tea was served in a large wooden dish, hewn out of a piece of solid timber. For spoons we had the horns of the Mountain Sheep, or Mouton Gris of the voyageurs, formerly mentioned. The garb of the Umptqua [Umatilla ?] tribe of Indians, of whom Centrenose (a native name) is the chief, consists of a shirt and trousers, made of the undressed skins of small deer. The richer individuals decorate this garb with shells, principally marine ones, thus showing their proximity to the sea. The females wear a petticoat made of the tissue of Thuja occidentalis, like that which is used The word is quite unintelligible in Mr. Douglas' Journal. ​JOURNAL AND LKTTEKS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 355 by the Chenook Indians, and above it a kind of gown of dressed leather, like the shirts of the men, but with wider sleeves. The children fled from me with indescribable fear, and, till assured of my amicable intentions, only one man and one woman could be seen, to whom I gave a few beads, brass rings, and a pipe of tobacco. Arrangements having finally been made, I set off, and, in three days, reached the snowy mountains, where I was on the whole disappointed, finding little that was different from what I had seen a fortnight before; and, after suf- fering severely from pain in my eyes, which rendered reading or writing very difficult, except in the morning, and haunted continually by the thought that our people, who were daily expected from the coast, would have ar- rived and brought my letters, I returned to my camp on the Walla-wallah on Monday, the 3d of July, and spent the rest of that week in botanizing in that neighborhood and packing my seeds, for which I had to make a box, and drying and securing my plants. On the following Sunday, the 9th, an opportunity hav- ing offered of sending to the coast, I wrote to Mr. Sabine, giving a short account of my proceedings since I had last addressed him, exactly a month previously ; but as this letter is only a repetition of what my journal 1ms just stated, it is unnecessary to copy it here. In hopes that by going two or three days' journey down the river, instead of prosecuting my researches for plants, in an opposite direction, I might meet the party who are expected from the coast, and thus earlier obtain possession of my much desired letters, I embarked at 10 A. M. of Monday, the 10th, and, the river being at its height, pro- ceeded for two or three hours at the rate of twelve miles an hour, when the great swell obliged us to put on shore. And as the same cause rendered it impossible to fish for salmon, a horse was killed, on whose flesh, with a draught ​356 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. of water I made my supper. After a cheerless night, during which the mosquitoes were excessively trouble- some, I proceeded about fifty miles the next day, when I breakfasted on similar fare. While doing this, an Indian, who stood by my side, managed to steal my knife, which had been further secured by a string tied to my jacket ; and as it was the only one I possessed, for all purposes, I offered a reward of tobacco to get it returned. This bribe being ineffectual, I commenced a search for its recovery, and found it concealed under the belt of one of the knaves. When detected, he claimed to be paid the recompense; but as I did not conceive him entitled to this, as he had not given it at first (nor given it at all indeed), I paid him certainly, and so handsomely, with my fists, that I will engage he does not forget the Man of Grass in a hurry. Having halted at night below the Great Falls of the Co- lumbia, I saw smoke rising, and thinking it might be Indians fishing, walked thither in quest of salmon. In- stead of their savage countenances I found, however, to my great delight, that it was the camp of the brigade from the sea. I can not describe the feeling which siezed me, when, after traveling some weeks together with Indians, I meet a person whom I have known before ; or if even they are strangers, yet the countenance of a Christian is at such times most delightful. In the present instance I had the additional happiness of finding myself in the society of those who had ever treated me with cordiality, and who now seemed to vie with one another in acts of kindness toward me. Observing my dejected and travel- worn plight, one fetched me some water to wash with, another handed me a clean shirt, and a third busied himself in making ready something more palatable than carrion, for my supper; while my old friends, Messrs. McDonald and Wark, handed me those best of .cordials, my letters from England. Two of these, from Mr. Sabine and my ​JOURNAL AND LETTERS OK DAVID DOUGLAS. 357 brother, were peculiarly gratifying. Those persons who have never been, like me, in such a remote corner of the globe, may perhaps think I should be ashamed of my own weakness on the present occasion ; but long as I had been kept in ignorance of everything respecting my dearest friends, my anxiety was not allayed by one perusal of my letters, and no less than four times during the night did I rise from my mat and read and re-read them, till, ere morning dawned, I had them, I am sure, all by heart. The first thing I did, after this sleepless night, was to write a few lines of acknowledgment to Mr. Sabine, and by sunrise I was again seated in the boat, on my return up the river, and with new spirits resumed my employ- ment of botanizing during the frequent portages that we made, previous to arriving at Walla- wallah on Saturday. Thence, on Monday, the 17th, I accompanied Messrs. Wark and McDonald, who were going by water, with a party of twenty-eight men, to the forks of Lewis and Clarke's River, about one hundred and fifty miles from the Columbia, and as the marches these gentlemen pro- posed to make would be short, I hoped to obtain most of the plants which grow on the banks of this stream. Tuesday, /<S'M, to Monday, 24th. Lewis and Clarke's River is a stream of considerable magnitude, in many places from two hundred and fifty to three hundred yards broad, very deep and rapid ; its general course is easterly [westerly?]. At twenty-five miles from its junction with the Columbia, the country near its banks changes from undulating and barren to lofty, rugged mountains, and not a blade of grass can be seen, except in the valleys and near springs, where a little vegetation survives the intense heat. We rose always at daybreak, and camped at 3 or 4 i. M., during which [?] interval, the thermometer commonly standing in the shade at 108 degrees of Fahrenheit, it was danger- ous to attempt traveling, unsheltered as we were by any ​358 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. screen from the scorching sun. In the cool of the even- ing we generally made fifteen or twenty miles more. Except that good water may always be obtained, there is nothing to render this country superior, in summer, to the burning deserts of Arabia. Salmon are caught in the river, and sometimes in great numbers, but they are neither so plentiful nor so good as in the Columbia ; we obtained occasionally a few from the Indians, to vary our standing dish of horse flesh, boiled, or roasted at the end of a stick; but such is the indolence of these people that they will almost rather starve than incur much labor in fishing. I found great relief from the burning heat by bathing every morning and evening, and, though the practice is certainly enfeebling, yet I doubt if I could at all have prosecuted my journey without it. Monday, 24th. Arrived at the forks of the river at dusk, where we found a camp 'of three different nations, upwards of six hundred men, able to bear arms: these were the Pierced-Nose Indians, the Chawhaptan and the Chamniemucks. The chiefs, or principal men of each tribe, came and stayed with us till late, when they pre- sented us with some favorite horses. Tuesday, 25th. Understanding from my companions that their stay here would be for a few days, I was desir- ous of making a trip to the mountains, distant about sixty miles, and part of the same ridge which I had visited, in a part much to the southeast, during spring. As, how- ever, no arrangement had yet been made with the natives, it was deemed imprudent for me to venture any distance from the camp ; but, on Wednesday a conference being held, which terminated amicably, and with all the pomp and circumstance of singing, dancing, haranguing, and smoking, the whole party being dressed in their best gar- ments, I took advantage of the conclusion of this novel and striking spectacle, to beg the services of one of Mr. ​JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 359 McDonald's men, named Coq de Lard, and with him to start on an exploring trip in the direction of the said mountains. My companion and friend (guide he could not be called, as he as equally a stranger to this country as myself,) traveled two days, when we reached the first ridge of hills. Here we parted, I leaving him to take care of the horses, and proceeding alone to the summit, whence I found nothing different, as to vegetation, from what I had seen before, but was much struck with a re- markable spring that rises on the summit, from a circular hollow in the earth, eleven feet in diameter; the water springs up to from nine inches to three feet and a half above the surface, gushing up and falling in sudden jets ; thence it flows in a stream down the mountain fifteen feet broad and two and a half feet deep, running with great rapidity, with a descent of a foot and a half in ten, and finally disappears in a small marsh. I could find no bot- tom to the spring at a depth of sixty feet. Surrounding this spring, which I named Munro's Fountain, is a beau- tiful thicket of a species of Ribes, growing twelve to fif- teen feet high, and bearing fine fruit, much like gooseber- ries, as large as a musket-ball, and of delicate and superior flavour. I hope it may be allowed to bear the specific name of R. Munroi (Dot. Heg. 1. 1300). The Pa-nia (P. Brownii), mentioned before, with Abronia vespertina, and a fine Xylosteum, and Ribes viscosifwimum, also grew here. On joining my guide we examined the state of our larder, and finding that provisions were low, and our appetites keen, we determined to regain our friends' camp, and traveling all night, arrived there at sunrise. Hardly, however, had I lain down to sleep, than I was rous.ed by the call to arms, which, to a Man of Grass and of Peace, is far from welcome. A misunderstanding having arisen between our interpreter and one of the Indian chiefs, the latter accused the former of not translating correctly, and words failing to express ​360 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. sufficiently his wrath, he seized the poor man of lan- guage, and tore off a handful of his long jet hair by the roots. On being remonstrated with for this violence, the Indian set off in a rage and summoned his followers, sev- enty-three in party, who came all armed, each with his gun cocked, and the arrow on the bowstring. As, how- ever, every individual of our camp had done all that was possible to accommodate matters, we took things coolly, and apparently careless of the result, stood, thirty-one in number, to our arms, and asked if they wished for war? They said "No ; we only want the interpreter to kill him, and, as he is no chief, this could not signify to us." But our reply was, that whether chief or not, each individual- in our camp, though he were only an Indian, was entitled to our protection ; and if they offered to molest him, they should see whether we had ever been in war before or not. The coolness, which we took care to show by our counte- nances as much as in our speech, had the desired effect, and they earnestly begged for the peace which we were certainly quite as glad to grant. Many speeches were made on the occasion, and, to judge by the gestures of these children of nature, and the effect which their ha- rangues produce, some of them must possess oratorical powers of no mean description. The affair ended, as usual, by an interchange of presents. Still, though friend- ship was restored, it would have been highly imprudent to venture myself away from the camp, and I spent the time, till the 31st of July, in arranging and securing what I had already collected, when I parted with Mr. McDonald, who descended the Columbia, and accompany ing Mr. Wark and two men, departed overland in a northeasterly [west- erly?] direction, towards Kettle Falls, on the Columbia, and reached the Spokan River on Thursday, the 3d of August, where I was kindly welcomed at the old establishment by my former host, Mr. Finlay. The next day I left him for ​JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 361 the Columbia, and came to a favorite fishing-place of the Indians, who were busily engaged in snaring salmon, in traps made of basket work and shaped like funnels. Here they had already caught one thousand seven hundred fish in one morning, having speared and thrown on shore that number, while many more remained within the snare awaiting their fate. The spear is pointed with bone, laced tight to a pointed piece of wood, which again is frequently fastened to a long staff with a cord. During the best part of the fishing season, from one thousand five hundred to two thousand salmon are caught on an average in the day. Again, as in the spring, I had to cross Barriere River by swimming, and on Cedar River, a small but rapid stream, that flows about nine miles farther [on?] into the Columbia, had a narrow escape from losing my horse, and receiving a severe hurt. The animal stuck in the bank, which is very steep and slippery, after crossing, and, in his struggles to get free, gave me a sharp blow and threw me head fore- most into the river; the force with which the poor beast did this, enabled him, however, to extricate himself from what he probably felt would otherwise have proved his grave, and I received no other injury than a terrible duck- ing, from the effects of which a walk of several miles en- aliled me to recover, with the loss, however, of all the seeds I had been collecting during this trip, and of my knapsack and notebook. After an absence of two months, I was kindly re-welcomed to the Kettle Falls, by Mr. Dease, on the evening of Saturday, the 5th of August. Several species of (Enotfiera, Tri folium, Artemisia, and a novel Eriogonum were added to my stores. August 7th to Tuesday, 15th. Continued collecting seeds, drying and packing plants, but learning from Mr. McLoughlin that the vessel at Fort Vancouver would not sail for England until the 1st of September, and that it is the last which will probably proceed thither direct for ​362 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. some years, and, as I have a collection of seeds ready to go, amounting to one hundred and twenty species, gleaned this year, I am very desirous of sending everything that I can muster by her. By some means or other I must endeavour to reach the ocean, carrying my collection to be despatched homeward. I therefore packed up a share of my paper and seeds, with what little linen I could spare, intending to leave the box at this place, whence it will be forwarded across the Rocky Mountains to Fort Edmonton, where I hope to find it early in June. Mr. Dease kindly took the trouble of speaking to the Little Wolf, a chief of the Oakanagan tribe of Indians, to con- duct me to Oakanagan, as the Columbia is now so full of rapids, cascades, and whirlpools, that I could not proceed by a canoe, unless I had six or eight men to manage it; nor is there, indeed, any boat here large enough for the purpose. 17th. Packed a bundle of dry plants in my trunk, among my little stock of clothing, consisting of a single shirt, one pair of stockings, a nightcap, and a pair of old mitts, together with an Indian bag of curious workman- ship, made of Indian Hemp, a species of Apocynum, He- lonias tenax, and Eagle's quills, used for carrying roots and other such articles. A party of twenty-one men and two females arrived, belonging to the Cootanie tribe, whose lands lie near the source of the Columbia, for the purpose of fishing. Between these and the tribes on the Colum- bia lakes, about sixty miles above this place, who are now similarly engaged at the Falls, an old quarrel exists, which causes much uneasiness to Mr. Dease and all our people. The parties met to-day stark naked, at our camp, painted, some red, some black, others white and yellow, all with their bows strung, while those who had guns and ammu- nition, brought their weapons charged and cocked. War caps, made of the Calumet Eagle's feathers, were the only ​JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 363 particle of clothing they had on. Just as one of these savages was discharging an arrow from his bow, aimed at a chief of the other party, Mr. Dease hit him such a blow on the nose as stunned him, and the arrow fortu- nately only grazed the skin of his adversary, passing along the rib opposite to his heart without doing him much injury. The whole day was spent in clamour and haranguing, and unable to foresee what the issue might be, we were prepared for the worst. Mr. Dease, however, succeeded in persuading them to make arrangements for peace, and begged this might be done without delay on the morrow, representing to them how little they had ever gained by their former wars, in which they had mutually butchered one another like dogs. Unluckily for me, my guide, tJie Wolf, is equally wanted by his party, whether to make war or peace, therefore I am obliged to wait for him. Friday, 18th. Hustle and uproar, terminating towards evening in a proposal of peace the next day ; and as this must be sealed by a feast, Hie Wolf can not be expected to stir till it is over. Mr. Dease, however, has kindly spoken to an Indian who is in the habit of going journeys for him, to guide me, as my time is becoming short, and I hope to start to-morrow early. Saturday, 10th. Set off this morning carrying only as provision a little dried meat, tea, and sugar, and a small tin pot. My gun being unluckily out of order, Mr. Wark kindly lent me a double-barreled rifle pistol, and perhaps, going alone and unprotected, it is best to carry nothing that can tempt these savages. Being ill off for clothing, Mr. Dease gave me a pair of leather trousers, made of deerskin, and a few pairs of shoes, which were highly ac- ceptable ; he also provided me with three of his best horses one to carry my luggage, one for my guide, and the other for myself. A single shirt and blanket were all ​364 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. that I carried, more than was on my back, and thus equipped I set out for Oakanagan, distant two hundred and fifty miles northwest of this place. It was very re- luctantly that I allowed myself to be dissuaded from ven- turing by water. I however hoped somewhat to shorten the journey, by cutting off the angle between the Colum- bia and Spokan River, especially as the path throughout was likely to be very mountainous and rugged. The heat being extreme, and the night beautifully clear moonlight. I traveled rather more by night than day, starting gen- erally at 2 A. M., and stopping to rest and lie down for a few hours about noonday. Unfortunately, my guide and I could not hold converse, neither knowing a syllable of the other's language. On the second day I arrived at some Indian lodges, just where I wanted to cross the Spokan River, and the people, who were fishing, assisted me in getting the horses over and carried me and all my property to the other side in a canoe, for which I rewarded them with a little tobacco. The country was almost invariably a trackless waste, with scarcely a particle of herbage remaining on the gravelly arid sandy soil. My meals generally consisted of dried salmon and a little tea, which I boiled and then sucked the infusion from the leaves; but for three days after passing the Spokan, I was much distressed for the want of drinkable water. Stagnant pools, often so impregnated with sulphur that not even the thirsty horses would touch it, were all we could find ; and when we did arrive at a tolerable spring, not a twig could be collected for fuel, and I vainly attempted to boil [jn] my little pan with grass, the stems of a large species of Triticwm, Glad should I have been of the shelter of a tent, but, though I carried one, the fatigue of pitching it under such a burning sun was more than I could encounter; and when the water proved such as I could not use, I took nothing, ​JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 365
thirst being much more frequent at this time than hunger with me. During this journey I passed by the stony chasm, which was once the bed of the Columbia Itiver, a truly wonderful spot, in some places eight or nine miles broad, and exhibiting such rocks in the channel as must have occasioned prodigiously grand cascades, with banks of perpendicular height, rising to one thousand five hun- dred and one thousand eight hundred feet in other places perfectly level, and diversified with what must have been fine islands. The rock everywhere appeared volcanic, and I picked up several pieces of vitrified lava. Two hun- dred miles, I am informed, does this deserted and dry bed "extend, communicating with the present channel of the Columbia at the Stony Islands, making a circular sweep of a degree and a half south, which is cut off by the straighter line of the river's present course. The plants peculiar to the rocky shores of the Columbia are to be seen here and in no intervening place. Here and there was a thick sward of grass which proved most acceptable to our weary beasts, for the springs were all so bitter and impreg- nated with sulphur (another symptom of volcanic agency), that it was seldom they would drink, and the haste with which they hurried to a small pool of better water was near proving fatal to one, for he stuck there so firmly that my ^tiide and I (enfeebled by fatigue) were too weak to extricate him, and I had loaded my pistol to put an end to his misery and struggles, when my guide, in a fit of ill temper, struck the creature severely on the nose that he reared, and the point of my penknife, with which, as a last hope, I goaded his side, induced him to make such a desperate bound as delivered him from the difliculty. W'uliii mlay, 2,1d. Last night was dreadfully hot, and the whole heavens in a bla/e with sheet lightning. Parched like a cinder with heat and thirst, I lay down and passed a few miserable hours in vainly trying to ob​366 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. tain some sleep. Happily, the road was less rugged, and at midday I found myself on the banks of the Columbia, opposite the Oakanagan Establishment, where an old man who was spearing salmon, helped us to cross the horses, and put me and my guide over in a small canoe. Here I found my kind friends, Messrs. McDonald and Ermet- inger, who supplied me with a change of linen and some comfortable food. Gladly would I have tarried here two or three days to rest and recruit myself, but my time was too precious ; and having communicated to these gentle- men my desire to push on immediately for the coast, that I might put my collections on board the ship which was to sail so shortly for England, they kindly made arrange- ments with some Indians to conduct me to the junction of Lewis and Clarke's River. Meanwhile, I wrote a few lines to Mr. Dease and sent them by the return of my guide, who had behaved entirely well, and who is to sta} 7 here two or three days to rest himself, and having picked up a few seeds, and changed my plant-papers, I went early to bed ; but the doors being left open, on account of the heat, and the windows, which are made of parchment instead of glass, not closing tightly, the mosquitoes found free access. Thus I was under the necessity of abandon- ing the house, and betook myself to a sort of gallery over the gate, where I obtained some sound sleep. Before leaving this place next morning, I took break- fast, and thankfully accepted a little tea and sugar, which, with a small portion of dried salmon, was all that my kind friends had to give. The stock of dried meat that I had received from Mr. Dease was not, however, quite ex- hausted, so that I considered myself pretty well off, par- ticularly when they kindly added a little tin shaving pot, the only cooking utensil they eould spare. Two miles and a half from this place a disaster deprived me of these gifts; in passing the canoe down a rapid, I took the pre​JOURNAL AND LKTTKRS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 367 caution to lift out my paper, plants, seeds, and blanket, and was carrying these along the shore, when a surge struck the canoe in the middle of the rapid, and swept every article out of it except the dried meat, which had fortunately got wedged into the narrow place at the bot- tom. The loss of the tea and sugar and the pot was a great one in my present situation, but still I deemed my- self happy in having saved the papers and seeds, though my collection of insects and my pistol were also gone. As I have described the appearance of this part of the Col- umbia on my ascent, I shall say but little of my return. The passage of the Stony Islands, which is considered a dangerous place, was facilitated by hiring an Indian who lived close by, and was better acquainted with this narrow channel (only twenty to thirty feet wide and excessively rapid) than my guide, and who thought himself well paid with a few crumbs of tobacco, and a smoke out of my own pipe. Two days after, having quitted the canoe, near the Priest's Rapid, and walked several miles along the shore, while my two Indians should accomplish this dillicult piece of navigation, I waited some time for their arrival, and feeling alarmed for their safety, returned a good way to look for them, when I found them seated comfortably on the shore, under a small cove, and treat- ing their friends to a share of the tobacco I had given them. At Walla-wallah I was too weak and reduced to partake of the fare which Mr. Black, the person in charge, kindly set before me, but only begging him to procure me a guide to convey me to the Great Falls, lay down on a heap of firewood, to be free from mosquitoes, and slept till morning. I paid my former guide with ten charges of ammunition, and gave him some tobacco (that univer- sal currency) to buy his provisions on the way home ; then taking a larger canoe, and two guides, set off on the morning of Saturday, the 20th, for Fort Vancouver. I ​368 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAAID DOUGLAS. had the good fortune to purchase a fresh salmon from a party of Indians soon after leaving Walla-wallah, and my acquaintance with the channel enabled me to drift se- curely at night over a part of the river, where the Indians of some neighboring lodges are in the habit of stopping and pillaging the boats which pass. The next day I ar- rived at the Great Falls, where I found from rive hundred to seven hundred Indians, but was sorry to learn that the Chief Pawquanawaha, who had been my last guide to the sea, was not at home; but as I am now en pays de con- naissance, and can speak the language tolerably well; I easily procured two others, one of whom I knew before. The Chiefess refreshed me with nuts and whortleberries, and I proceeded fifteen miles, where I camped for the night. A large party of seventy-three men came to smoke with me, and all seemed to behave decently, till I found that my tobacco box was gone, having been taken from the pocket of my jacket, which I had hung up to dry, being drenched in the canoe while descending the Falls. As soon as I discovered my loss I perched myself on a rock, and, in their own tongue, gave the Indians a furi- ous reprimand, applying to them all the epithets of abuse which I had often heard them bestow on another; and reminding them that though they saw me only a Blanket Man, I was more than that, I was the Grass Man, and therefore not at all afraid of them. I could not, how- ever, recover my box, but slept unmolested after all the bustle. On Tuesday, the 29th, I reached the Grand Rap- ids, but found the river so rough, from a high wind which raised the water in great waves, that I was obliged to halt, and betook myself to the lodge of Chamtalia, my old guide, who set before me a hearty meal of whortleberries and fresh salmon. He then spoke of accompanying me in a larger canoe and two Indians, to the sea ; but seeing that the kind fellow was busily employed at this time in ​JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 369 curing his salmon, I refused his services, and hired his brother and nephew instead. I hastened on, lest the wind, which had been rising for some days, should in- crease so as to delay my progress, and, by great exertion and starting before daylight, accomplished the desired object: and at noon of the last day of August, the day previous to that (the 1st of September) on which the ship was fixed to sail, landed at Point Vancouver, whence in poor plight, weary and travel-soilqd, glad at heart, though possessing nothing but a shirt, leather trousers, an old hat, having lost my jacket, neckerchief, and worn out my shoes, I made my way to the Fort, having traversed eight hundred miles of the Columbia Valley in twelve days, unattended by a single person except my Indian guides.