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Show Lt'Wts and Cla1•ke's Expedition :fishing in tltc S{)l'ing. summer anti fall, anti during t.l1c t·est of the year on the snows of a country whi('h affords no object to rcliC\'C the si~ht. Amon~ the Sokulks too, and indeed among all the tribes whose chief subsistence is fi h, we have obsct·vcd that bad teeth arc very general: some have the teeth, particularly those of the upper jaw, worn down t.o the gums, and many of both sexes, and even of middle age, have lost them almost entirely. This tlecay of the teeth is a circumstance very unusual among the Indians, either of the mountains or the plains, and seems peculiar to the inhabitants of the Columbia. We cannot avoid J•egarding as one principal cause of it, the manner in which they cat their food. The roots arc swallowed as they are dug from the ground, f1·equently nearly covered with a gritty sand: so little idea have they that this is offensive, that all the roots they offer us for sale arc in the same condition. A second and a pa·incipal cause may be their great usc of ihe dried salmon, ·the bad effects of which arc mosi probably increased by their mode of cooking it, which is simply to warm, and then swallow the rind, scales and flesh without any preparation. 'rhe So· kulks possess but few horses, the greater Jlal't of theit· labour ·s being pel·formed in canoes. rrhch· amusements arc similar to those of the Missouri Indians. In the course of the day ca}>tain Clarke, in a small canoe with two men, ascf'mlcd the Columbia. At the distance of five miles be passed an island in the middle of the river, at the head of which is a swall and not a dangerous rapid. On the left bank ofthe rivet• opposite to this river is a fishing place, consisting of three ma.t houses. H.erc were great quantities of salmon drying on scaffolds: and indeed f!·om the mouth of the river upwards he saw immense numbers of dead salmon strewed along the shore or floating on the surface of the water, which is so clcaa· that the salmon may be seen swimming in the water at the depth of fifteen or twenty feet. rrhe Indians who bad collected on the banks Up the .JU issotl'J'l. 15 "o view him, uow joinntl him in eightern canoe9, and ac~ omt>auied him up the rivt·r. A mile above tlu~ rapids he came to the lower point of u.n island where the cou••se of the river, whieh ha•l Jwcn f1•om its JllOuth uol'th 83° west, now became due wcsl. He }WOcecdfd in that dit·c.ction, when observing three houses or mats at a shot•t distance he landed to visit them. On (•ntet·ing one oft he houses he found it ct·owdcd with men. womE>n a.nd dtildt·cn, who immediately pa·ovided a mat for him to sit on, and oru• or the pat·ty undertook to prepare somcthin~ to caL He IJt·~;an by bringing in a.Jticcc of pine wood that had dt·irtNl down the river~ which he split into small I•ieces, with a wedge made of the elks' horn, hy means of a mallet of stone cua·iously carved. rl'he picccs were then laid on tllC fil't", and sevet·al round stones placed UJ>On them: ou1~ of the sc1uaws now brought a bucket of watm·, in which was a large salmon about half d•·icd, «tnd as the stones became heated, they were put into the bucket till the salmon was sufficiently boiled for usc. It was then tak(•n out, put on a platter of rushes neatly made, and laid before captain Clarke, and another was boiled fol' each or his men. During these prcpat·ations he smoked with those about him who would accept of tobacco, but very few were desis·ous of smoking, a custom which is not grncral among tlH'm, and chiefly used as a matter ol' form in great ceremonies. Aftcl' eating the fish, which was of an excellent flavour, captain Clarke set out, and at the distance of four miles from tLc last island, came to the lower point of another ncar the left shore, where he halted at two laq;c mat house:;. Ilea·e us at the three houses below, the inhabitants wct·c occupied in splitting and dry· ing salmon. rrhc multitudes of this fish at·e nlJnost inconceivaiJ1c. The water is so clear that tbey can rea•1ily be seen at the depth of fifteen or twenty feet, but at this season they float in such quantities down the stl•cam, and at·c drifted ashore, that the Indians have only to collect, split 'lDd dry them on the soa1folds. WberP they procure the |