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Show [ 174 J 190 verdure of the ~pring. To a professional farmer, however, it docs tlot offer 1nany places of suliicicnt cxtcut to be VGinablo for ngriculturc; n.ncl after passing a few miles below the Dalles, I had scarcely ~een a place 011 the south shore whore wagons could get to the river. The beauty or the scenery was hcirrhtoncd by the continuance of very dclio-htful weather re. scmbliug tllc Indiau sun11uer of tho Atlantic. A few miles below the ~ascades we pas, ed a siugnlar isolated hill; and in the course of the next ·ix tnilcs occurred five very pretty falls from tlw ht>ights on the left bank one of them being of' a very pictnresqne character; and towards snnsc~ we r~o.che~ a retuarlw blc poiu~ of rock~, distingui~lwcl, on account of pr~vailing high wmds, and the delay 1t frequet1tly occaswns to the cauoc nn.vtgation by the name of Cape !lorn. It borders the river in a high wall of rock' which cotllCS boldly down into deep water; and in violent gales down th~ river, and from the opposite J10rc, which is the prcvailiug direction of strong winds, the water is dashed against it with considerable violence. It appears to Ii.nm a serious ob tacle to canoe travelling; and I was informed by Mr. Perkins, that in a vnyage up the river he had been detallled two weeks at this place, and was fitwlly o bligcu to ret nrn to Vancouver. The winds of this reo·ion de crvc a particular study. They blow in currents, which show them to be govenJC<.l by fixed laws; and it is a problem how far they lllay come from the 1nouutains, or from the ocean through the breaks in the mountains whiclllct out the river. The hills here had lost sormcthiug of their rocky appearance, and had already begun to decline. As the sun went down, we ~eurchcd aloug the river for an iuviting spot; and, finditlo· a clean rocky beach, where some large dry trees were lying on the grou11d, we ran our boat to tht' shore; and, after another comfortable supper, ploughed our wuy alonf{ the rivcrin darkncs · .. Heavy clouds covercc.l the sky this eveniJJg, and the wind bcga11 to sweep m g n s~s nmong tho tree's, n.s it' bad weather wore cotlling. A we adva.uced, tl1c lulls on both side~ grew constautly lower; on the rirrht, re· tr~atmg fron.1 _the shore. aud forming a sonwwbat extc11sivc bottom of inter· mu~glcu prmnc aod wooded lutld. ln 1110 co urse or a few hours, and op· P.oslte to a ~mall stream coming iu from the north, calleu the 1'ca Pra~tie nver, th~ l11ghlatHls on the left decline<.] to tile plains, and throe or fi1m nulcs below disappeared entirely 011 both sit.les aud tiH· river entered the low couat.ry. Tho river hatl gwclually cxpa ud ~d; and when we cmcrgad fro~1 the Jngland.s, the oppo:-.ite shores wer<> so di~Lant as to appear iudtstinct lll the unccrtamty of the light. About 10 o'clocl our pilots halted, appareutly to confer about th~ conrs<'; and, :1 fter n. little hcsilatiou, pulll'd directly across an opeu expansion of the river, whoro tltc wa vcs were somewhat rough for a eanoc, the wiud blowillg very fresh. Mnch to onr st tqHisc, a few min· u~es aftorw~rcls we ran agrouud. Backing oil' our boat, we nw.d.c ~cpented tnals at vanons places to cross what appeared to be a poillt of sluftwg sand bars, wher? we hu~l aucmpted to shorten the way by a cut-o!f. Final ly, one of ~u.r lndmus got 111to the water, auc.l waded ahout until he fonml a channel su.fficlCntly ~cep, thronglt which we wound alono- after him, and in a few nun~tes agam entered the deep \Vater below. As we paddled rapidly down the .nver, we heard the noise of a saw mill at ·work on the right bauk; and, lettmg ~nr boat !loat q.11ietly down, we listened with pleasure to the unu~ual so.unds' anca before tn1dnight encamped on the hank of the river, about a mile above F~rt Vancouver. Our tine dry wr.ntlwr had given place to a dark cloudy mght. At midnigltt It brgau to min; and we Cound ourselves 191 [ 174 J suddenly in the gloomy and humid scuson, wh~t·h, iu the narro~ rc.gion lyiug bctwcc·u the Paci fie and the Cascade rnonnta~n s, and for a coustdct able distaucc alo11g the const, :supplies tlte placn of wtnter .. I the morui11 o- the first object that attracted n1y attcntton was the barque Col:~n1bia, lyiug ~t anchor near the landing. , he was ~bout to. start on h?r vo a e to Bnglaud, and was now reudy for sea; bemg detamc~ ouly ~n w~ti~g the arrival of the express batte.ans, which descend the Col,mnbia and its north fork with the ovcrtauc.l mad fn.n~ Canada. aud I~udson s l~ay, which had been delayeu beyond t~10ir u.sual lime. 1 unmedwtely wa.ttcd upon Dr . .I.VlcLaughlin, the cxccuttve o{IJCer of the IIuds.on Bay COf!1J><lny in the territory west of the Roci_'Y monntai11s, who r.ecctvcd •.n~ Wi~h the courtesy and hospitality for whtch he has ?eon e~unently d1stmgmshcd, and which makes a forcible a11d delightful 1mpresswn 01.1 a tra~eller from the lono- wilderness from which we had issued. I was Immtdmtely supplied b~ him with t be necessary .store~ a11d provi::;ions to r~fit and ~npp?rt my party in our contemplated wmtcr JOUr.ucy to th~, tales, anc.l a~. o With a Mackiua w boat anc.l en noes, n1annccl with Canudw.n and Iroquois vo~agcurs and Indians, for their transportation .to .tho Dalla~ of the Colnmb1a. In addition to this efflcient kindness in furm ·htng tnc w1th these. necessary snpplies, I receivrd from hin1 a warm aud grati~y.ing sympu tl~y Ill the suffering which his great expericuce led hitn t~ anttctpatc fo.r us 111 our h~meward journey, and a letter of recommeudatton and cre~1t for auy. olftcers of the Iludsou Bay Company into whose posts we m1ght be dnven by unexpected misfortune. . . Of course, the future supplies for my p~rty were patd for, b1lls o.u the Government of the Ullited States being readily tal~cu? bt~t every llospttable attention was extended to 1ne and I accepted an IllV llatloll to take a room in the fort, "and to 1nalce 1n:1J·~·r·lj at home while 1 sta£d." ~ I found many American 01nigrants at th r. fort; others had already crossed the river itJto their land of promise-the Walahmcttc v~lley. Others were daily arriving; aud all of tllctn hod been furuisheJ .w 1th shelter, ?o f~u us it could be niT'orcleJ by tho buildiugs connected w1th the cstabh, hmct~t. Necessary clothiug and provisions (tlte latter to be a~te rw ard~ r?tnr~10d 111 ldnd from the produce of their labor) were ulso furmshed. Ttn.s. fnendly assistauce was of' very great value to the ctnigrants, ~hose f~nnltes were otherwise expo,cd to much snllcring in the w~ntcr raws wl1tch haclnow commenced, nt the same time that they were 111 want of all the common necessaries of life. Those who hn.d taken a water con veyaucc at til Nez Perce fort continued to arrive afely, w·ith no other accidcut than has been al~eady mentioned. Tile party which had passe.d ov?r the Casradc mountams were reported to have lost a nnn1bcr of thou anunal ; and tho~e who had driven their slock down the Colmubia had brought them safely 111, atHl fou~Hl for them a ready and. very profLtablc n1arket, and wcrr alrrady propostng to return to the~ tates in tile spring for another snppl y. In the space of two days our preparations had been conJpletcd, :u~d ~ve Were ready to set out on our return. It would have been very. grat1fymg to have gone down to the Pacific, and, solely in the interest aucl 111 the love of geography, to have seen the ocean on the western as well as ou the eastern side o.f the coutincnt, so as to give a sati~factory ?omplctones to ~he geograplucal picture which had been formed lll our nunds; but the rm~1y sen~on had now regularly set iu, nud the air was filled with fog:s and ratn, wiuch left no beauty in any scenery. and ob~ trncled observauons. The |