History of the expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark, to the sources of the Missouri, thence across the Rocky mountains and down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean : performed during the years 1804-5-6 by order of the government of the United States; Volume 2

Page 70

CHAPTER Y . · 1 d -' l ' A pt~ -111 Clurkc oo A party , \Ca eu ,y .. n .. I., in quest of a'~ hale driven on the ~horc of the Paeilic to obtain some of the oil-they pass CIA.lsop rive t·, which is clcscl'ill(•d-t h e pen·1 ous nnt urc of tl1is J·aunt, nnd the grnndcut· of the sccucry dc~cri l><'d- I .1' I f cvtt·nc•inl" whnle oil-the life of one or captnin lark '1 nutnn mol c o ·' · • ., K Jll\1'~ presencd 1,y the kimlnes~ of :m ln<linn womun-n ~h cwl nccouut of the .Chiu nooks, of the Clutsop11, Killamuch, the Luckto n ~, ami nn cnumt:ratton u s'everal other tribes-the mann ·r of sepulchre nnwur; tlac l'hinnooks, Clat !fops, &c.-dcsct·iption of theit· wcapo11s of wnr ami huntiug-thcit· mode u{ building ltouscs-thcit· mnnul'ucturcs, and cooke t·y-tltt·it· moue of makin6 C!l nocs-thcil' grcnt dexterity in man:tgin~; thnl vehick. Tuesday, r. TuEm·; , .. as a f•·ost this JUOJ'Uing. We l'OSl' early. and taking eight pounds of Jlcsh, which wct·e all th(, 1·emains of the elk, proceeded up the south f01·k of the e~·eel• . At the distance of two miles we fouud a pine t•·cc, whicL. bad been fcll<.·d by one of ou1· ~altmakers. ami on which we crossed the dcel)CSt part of the crcdi, a.nd waded tlll'ough tbe rest. \Vc then went over au open ridgy prai1·ic, tlu·ct (1uartcrs of' a mile, to the scaiJeach; al'tct· following which lot three miles, we came to the mouth ora IJea.utiful riHH', with a bold, rapid C"Uncut, eighty-five yards wjde, a.nd thr c feet t.lc<'p, in its shallowest crossings. On its northeast sitle a1·e the remains of an old village of CJatsops, iuhabited !Jy onl)· a single family, who appca1·cd mi ·c•·ahly poo1· and dit·ty. 'Vc g:ne a man two iish-hooks, to fcl'l'Y lhc pal'ty over the rive•·, whi(·h, ft·om the tl'ihc on it · bauks, we called Clat sop a·i ve~·. The ct·eek, which we had pas~ ed on a tree, app•·oaclaes this rivet• witlaiu aiJout an hundred )'artls, am\ by mmms ol' '" }Wrta~e, ::,upplit's a communication wilh the villages nt·ar Point AtlamH. After going on for two mH('s, we foum\ the sahumkers encamped neat· four houses of ' Lewis and Cla1'1~c's Expediliou, &c. 109 ClatsotlS ond Kilh\mucks, who, though poot·, dit·ty, and <·o­vered with fleas, seemed kind ancl well disposed. 'V e JlCJ'­suadcd a young Indian, by a present of' a file, and a {n'omisc or sorno other :u-titdcs, to guide us to the spot where the wbale lay. He lc~d us fot· two and a. hair miles oY<'t' 010 round slippery stones at the root of a hi~h hill proj<.'(\f.ing into tho sea, arul then sucltlt•nly stopping, mul uttl'ring the wo1·d poshaek o•· bnd, CX}llaincd by signs that we could no longer follow the coast, hut must cross the monntain. This promised to be a most laborious undc•a·fakin~. fot· t.hc side is nearly perpcndicnhu·, and the top lost in cloutls. Ile. laow ever, follow<'d au JndiaupaC h which wound alon~ as muc·h as 1)ossiblc, but still the a scent was !70 stceJ,, that at Oil<' Jllace we ()11}w ourscl ves fo•· ahout an hundred feet IJy means of bushes anc.l roots. At length, an('}' two llOlli'S labour, we reached tho top ol't.hc mountain, whcr·c we looked down with astonish­ment on the procligious heihht or ten 01' twelve hundred feet, which we had asernded. J mm(·diatcly belo~ us, in the face of this (li'Ccipicc, is a sl t•a.tum of white earth, used, as our guide informed us, as a paint by the neighbouring Indians. It obviously contains argile, and resembles the earth of which the I~"r<~nch porcelainc is made, though whethcl' it contains silex or magnesia, or in what proportions, we could not observe. W <' wcr·e here met by fourteen Indians, load­ed with oil and blubber, the spoils of the whale, which they were carrying in very heavy IJm·dcns, over this rough moun­tain. On lmtvin .. them, we proceeded ovet~ a bad road tiJl night,'' h.eu we encamped on a small run: we were all much nttigued, but tlw wcathet· was I•leasant, and, for tho first time since out· al'l'ival het·e, au entir·c day has passed with­out raiu. In the morning, \Vednesday, 8, we set out early aud Jlrocec•led to the top of tbe mountain, the highest point of wltich is an open spot L'aciog the ocean. It is sitnatod about thit·ty miles south­east of cape Oi::;all[lointment, and JH'qjeets nearly two and a half miles inco the sea. Here oue of the most delightful