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Show 10 .£e1.vis and Clcu·lu~' s Expedition and bas a small island in it on the ri~ht side. Aftet· cro smg by land we halted fm· dinuct·, and whilst we were catin were visited uy tive Indians, who ~amc Ull the river on foot in gr·eat hasi~: we t•rccivcd them ldndly, smoked with them, and gave them a piece of tobacco to smoke with thcit• tribe: on receiving the present they set out to return, aml continu(•d running as fast as they could while t hry rcmainet1 in sight. rrhei•· curiosity had bc~n cxcitt·d by the aceount9 of our two chirf , who had gone on in order to a{Jprise the tribes of our approada and of nut· ft·irnt\Jy dispositions towards them. After dinuea· we l'cloadrd f he canoes and proceeded: we soon passed a rat•id op{)Osite to tbe upper point uf a sandy island on tiH· lt•l't, which has a smaller island ncar it. At three miles is a gravC'lly bat• ha the l'ivcr: foua· mile~ beyond fhis the Kimoo('nim <'mpties itself int.o the Colum· bia, ami at it!; mouth ha.: an iHlaiHI just Ut'low a small•·avid. We halted above the poiut ol' juudiun on the Kimoocnirn to confer with tht' Iudiaus. who laa<l coll<'ded in gTeaf num bcrs to J'ccdn• us. Ou lantliu ~ "(' \l ca·e met by our two chiefs, to Whose good Ofil(' ('S \H' \H'l'C itH1c•bted for this l'C ceJJtion, and also the two J ndian!:l "ho had 1•asscd us a fe\\ days since on hot·scbaek; one of whom appeared to be a man of influence, and harangued the Indians on our m·rival. Af ter smoking with the Indians, we formed a camp at thepoint whet·c the two rivers unite, neat· to 'vhicb we found some d1·iftwood, and we•·e SUJ)plied by our two old chiefs with the stalks of willows and some small bushes fot· fuel. We had scarcely iixed the cam(l and got the fit·es prepared, when a ebicf came from the Indian camp about a quarter of a mile up the Columbia, at the head or nearly two bundl'ed men: they formed a regula•· procession, IWCJ,ing time to the noise, rathet• the music of their· drums, which they accompanied 't ith their· voices. As they advanced they formed a semicit·clc round us. and contiuued singing for some time: we then smoked with them all, and communicated, as well as we could by signs, our friendly intentions towa1·ds all Up t1le .Missouri. 11 klations, and our joy at finding oursclv<>s surrounded by our hildr·en: we then proceedc(l to distribute presents to them, giving the princi}lal chief a large medal, a shirt and hand· ket·chief; to the srcond d1ief, a mrdal of a smaller size, and t o a thirtl cl1ief who came down fa·om some of the upper viHages, a small medal and a haudl~crehief. This cercmO· ny being coucludcd they left us; but in the course of' the afternoon several of tht•m rct.ur·ned and t'cmaiued with us till a late hotu•. Af'ter they ltad dispersed we lll'occeded to purchase provisions, and were enabled Co collect srvcn dogs, to which some of the Indians added snmtl pa·csents of fish, and one of them gave us twenty pounds of fat d1·ied horse· Jlesh. 'I'hursda.y, Octobrr 1 7. ' l' h<- •lay being faia· we were oc-cupied in makiug the nrcessaa·y ob c t·,·ations f'ot· determining our longitude, and obta iued '" me•·itliau nlt itude, ft·om which it aJlpcat'ed that we wea·c in )a( itutlu -i.G 0 15' 13" 9'"· 'V e also measured the two a·iv<"l'!; hy angll·::~, attd foull(l that at the junction the Columbia is nine huudt·ctl and sixty yards wide. and Lewis's rivet· five hundr·ed and seventy-five; but ~oon after they unite, the fot·mer "idens to the Rpace of ft·ona one to three miles, including the islamls. }"a·om the 11oint of j unction the counh·y is a continued plain, which is low near the water, f1·om which it rises gt·adnally, and the only cle' Vation to be seen is a range of high country running ft·om the northeast towards t11e south west, wlu.·re it joins a range of mountains from the southwest. and is on tho OJlllositc side about two miles ft·om the Columhia. 'J'here is tha·ough this plain no tree and scat·ccly any sha·ub, except a few willow bushes; and c'Vcn of small<>r plants there is not much more than the prickly pear, which is in gt·ca.t abundance, and is even more thoa·ny and troublesome than any we have yet seen. During this time tlac Jll'in<'.ipal rhid' came down witb several of his wat·riors and smol~cd with us; we were also visited by several men and women. who oflea~ed •·logs and tish for sale, but as the fish WHS out of sca'!on, aotl at prP'lP"t. |