, 1890-04-27

low, passionate tones. meantime smoking
a rich, brown cob pipe loaded with dog
leg tobacco.
| often think yet of the hopeless look
on his face and wonder if, after all, dur
ing that terrible voyage, my gentle pres
ence socked a single ray OF sunshine into
his otherwise dark and cherries life
1t was a terrible storm. We did not
realize it fully at the time, but atteIward,
while on shore, rehtting and returnishIng
ourselves, we found out that it had been
a very severe gale, and that the sound
steamer UmatIlla had suffered consider
ably, and il 2 sound steamer would suffer
at such a time what could you expect Of
an unsound one? But we will let that
pass. ,
The mouth OF the Columbia is one Of
the most active and dangerous, II we ex-
cept that of Corporal Tanner, perhaps,
that | have ever met up with. Looking
into it on that Sabbath morning | judged
| the river to be about 1900 years OF age.
| And vet the teeth are very good. We
could see them distinctly.
At daybreak | rose. as Is my custom, to
examine the sun, and also to see the prac
teal joktr dusting off the coating of his
stomach by means OF a whlsk broom. and
10 our lGll AnG Hhdkkg bION vi NdpO 'Ao
appointment locmed up in the cold, gray
Of the early morning. The yellow waters
If the Columbia came down to salute the
deep blue Of the Pacific, and over the bar
the white breakers mingled their spray
with the threatening sky.
1t is a nasty place 10 ride over even
when you are feeling well, but if one
has been i'll and has not yet recovered
one almost wishes that the ship would go
to the bottom and not be too dilatory
about it either. So the practical joker
told me, for | WAS not i'll at all. | took
my meals frequently and ate them in his
room. At night | would, before going &c
bed. eat some crackers and Swiss cheese
by his bedside, while | read to him page
after page OF Robert Elsmere.' When
he reads this / fear sometimes that he
will almost hate me. And yet | am not
malicious myself. | love everybody. Al
most. And | try To make their lives
happier, il | can. | shed sunshine where.
ever | go, sometimes.
We rode along with a primary school OF
whales the last day. There must have
been II dozen Of them. A man who knew
everything, having been associated two uI
three weeks with the Rev. Joseph Cook
said they were right whales. | do not
know how he could tell, for you couldn't
see IL particle Of the whale except the
squirt OF water which marked his locality.
But some men are So able that at times il
mus; give them great physical pain.
lie tod me all about whales and every
thing else. | did not know that whales
were rights and lcits, but is seems that
they are. Whald oil Is not used in salad
dressing any more. The whale is a man.
NAL | would rather be a right whale
thau to be president. The female whale
does not lay eggs like the fish, but pro.
duces her young alive like the PIute In.
dian and other brutes. She nurses hei
own young. especially # help should be
scarce, and sometimes becomes the teld
of quite a family.
The father, however. is quite miRra,
tory and irresponsible to a degree. Whales
live to a great age and lead a very wet and
uneventful life. They are taken with
the harpOon.
The whalcr, while singing, accompa
MES himself on this instrument. My an
cestors were whalets and men Of un
d4unted courage, so they were otter
heard to say. They went into the whal
ing business at that time in the history
of the country when the pirate business
became so dull along the high seas. II
was a poor substitute, but it was the best
they could do. 1T they had lived a littl,
longer they could have gone into tn,
grand larceny publishing business or lob
bied at Washington against the copyrish
bill
The Columbia river sturgeon is also
large water fowl. frequently growing t
a great size. He atiains n weight of 60
pounds, and has u head that looks lik
that of Goliath of Gath after his tw
round set to with David.
| saw one of these surgeons lying oil
the dock at Kalama the other day. III,
was dead, and looked like a fat man
saw in the Paris morgue last summer
His head weighed 100 pounds-the stur
geon's head, | mean. And there isn't {
brain into it, either. The sturgeon give:
very little thought To his future. Or his
past for that matter.
An honest resident of Oregon told me
how the surgeons. during the high water,
got into his cellar and ate sixty bushels OF
his potatoes. At night they would also
come up stairs and bite the children.
They plagued him a good deal. Often
they would chase the cattle around the
yard and brighten his wife. They almost
ate him out of house and home; but in
the midst of their wild orgies in the
cellar they struck a jar of Pompadour
Yumhill butter, and death was swift and
noiDlass =