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Show us this morning on t.lu:•ir way homr; and soon after we wm·t: vi~ited IJy a party of fourteen ln(]ian!S on horseback, a1·mcd with bows and al·t·ows going on a Jnmting excm~siml. Th6 chief ~am<' is the drc1·~ and whenever the gl'ound will permit. thr favour·itc hunt is on IJOt'S(' bat'k; but in the woodlands, wJH'J'e this is impracticable, they make US(" Of a decoy. This cousist s of tlaf" skin of the head and Ul)J>Cr part of the neck of a d<·ra·, kept in its nattu·al shape by a f1·ame of small stid •. s on the inside. As soon as the hunt<~r perceives a drcJ· he conecals himself. and with his hand moves the decoy so as to l'C[ll't'St: llt a l' t•al dCCl' in the act or feeding, which b clone so naltu·ally tbat the game is seduced within reach or thei1· arrows. \Yr also exct·eiscd our horses by driving them togcthel', so as to a.c<·ust.om tlu~ m to ea.ch other, and incline them thr le ·s to seJmrate. 'l'he next mot·ning, J4'•·iday 16, an Indian returned with one of' them, which had -stt·ayed away in the night to a considerable distance, an instance of integrity and ldndncss by no means singular among the Chopunnish. Ilohastilpil}J, with tbe rest of thr natives left us to-day. 'l'hc hunte1·s who have as yet comr in, brought nothing. except a few 1•heasants, so that we still}Jlaee our· chid' reliance on the mush. made of roots (among these the cows and the quamash are the pl'incii>al) with which we usc a small onion, which grows in great abun4 dance, and which conects any bad dlccts they may have on the stomach. The cows and quamash, particularly, incline to produce flatulen cy, to obviate which we employ a kind or fennel, called by the Shoshonees, ycarhah, rcsem[)ling anni seed in Havour, and a very agreeable food. In the course ol' tlae day two othe1· hunters brought in a deer. 'l'he gmue they said was scarce; but they had wouod\!d three bear as white as sheep. '1'hc last hunters who had left us yesterday, a.lso came in to-night, with inl'ormatiou, ihat at the distance of five or six miles, they attem1>tcd to ttross Uollins·s creel~, on the other side, where game is most abundant, but that they could not foPc1 it with their horse~, on account of its tlc1>th, aml t!te rapidity of the am·rcnt. Saturdny, 17. It J'aincd durin~ tho ~"rcater· part of t!H~ nigl~t, and om· iliansy covering bring insufficient f'ot· OUt' JH'0- 1cction, we lay in ~he water most or t.he time. 'Vhat wa!-1 more unlucky, out· cht•onometer became \\d, anti, in conse< ptcnce, som<;what rusty, but hy car·p we hope to l'e s tot'C it. 'fhe rain <·outinucd ncady 1hc whole tlay, \vhile on t1JC high plains the snow is falling, and ah·emly two or th r•cc inches in depth. The ba•l weather confined us to the camp ancl kept the Indians ft•om us, so that foP the li•·st time since we left the nat•t·ows of the Columbia, a day has passed 'vithout our being vi sited by any of the native s. 'fhe country along the Hocky mountains for scvcwal hun ~ <lt•ed miles in length and about fifty wide, is a hig·h level plain; in all its 1mrts cxt•·cmely fet·til e. and in many places cover~ cd with a gt·owth of tall long-leafed pine. '~'hi s plain is ehicftyintcrt ·upted near the streams of wa.tCI', Wht'l'C tlac hills at•e stee11 and lofiJ; but the soil is good, being nuincum be red IJy much stone, and possess mol'c timber than the level countl·y. Un(]cr sheltex· of these hill s, the hol tom lands sl"il't the mal'· gin of the rivet·s, and though ua.l'l'OW :-mel coufiued, at·e still l'ct·tilc am\ rarciy inundated. Nearly the whol(~ ol' this wide 'iprNtd tract is covcrc.J with a profusion of gt·ass and plants, w1lich arc at this time as high as the knee. Amoug the e m·e a val'icty of esculent plan I·· and t'Oots, acqnit·cd without. much tlifTiculty, and yiclcling not only a nutritious, out a vr~·y agJ·ccahlc food. The aiL· is 1mre and dry, the climate quit.· as mild, if not milc1er, than the ~amc parallels of lal it u<le in the Atlantic states, and must uc ec1ually healthy, f'or all the tli sot•clcrs which we have witnessed, ma.y faidy fJe imJmted mot·c to the natm·c of the diet than to any intemperance of climate. This gcnet•al observation is or <·oursc to be qualific(], since in the sa.mc tract of' counh·y, the degrees of the combiRaiiou of l1cat and cold obey tU.c influence of sif.ua- |