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Show 36 Lewis and Cl(t1'1~c·s EXJICtlzLiou. t•ccxamincd our arms and increased the ammunition to one bundt·cd rounds. Oul' chiefs, who had not the same motiVf•s of conliclcncc, were by no means so much at their case, and ,vb~n at night they saw the Indians leave us cal'li01' than usual, theh· suspicions of an int.cndctl attack wet·c confit•m-. cd, and they were very much alarmed. rl'he next morning, Thursday ~lit•, the Indians aJlproached ns with apparent caution, and behavetl with more than usual reserve. Our two chiefs, by whom these circumstances were not unobserved, now told us that they wished to return home; that they could be no longer of any service to us, aml tllCY could not understand the language of the }lCOple below the falls; that those people formed a different nation from their own; that the two people had been at war with each othet·, and as the Indians had cxpt•csscd a resolution to attack us, they would ct>rtainly kill tlt<'m. 'Ve endeavoured to quiet their fears, and requested them to stay two ni~hts longer, in wJtich time 1 vc would see the Jndians below, and make a lleacc between tbe two nations. 'l'hey replied that they were anxious toretui'n and sec th •ir hot·scs; we however insisted on their remaining with us, not on1y in hopes of bringing about an ac~ commodation between tht'm and their enemies, but because tbcy might be able to detect any hostile designs against us, and also assist us in passing the next falls, which are not far oif, and re1n·cscnted as very difficult: tllcy at length, agreed to stay with us two nights longer. About nine o'clock we J.lrocceded, and on leaving our camtl ncar the lowtr fall, found the river about four hundred yar·ds wide, with a curt·cnt more rapid than usual, though with no pcrcclltiblc descent. At the dis-.ance of two and a half miles, the river widened into a large bend or basin on the right, at the beginning of which arc tht·ec huts of Indians. At the exti·cmity of this basin stands a high black rocli:, which, rising perpendicularly from tho 1·ight shot·e, seems to run wholly across the river; so totally indeed does it appear to stop the passage, that we could not see where the w~tt.cr esc.Ht.ped, except tl1at the current ap- Up the JttliRsou1·l. peared to be drawn with mm·c than usual veloeity to the left. of the rock, where wa a g•·eat J•oa•·ing. \Yt.· lauded at the huts ot' the Indians, "ho went with us to tltc top of this l'Ock, ft·om wllich we saw all the ditH<.~ullics of the channel. 'Vc ,vcrc no lougcr at a loss to ac<•ount i(H' tht• rising of the l'iver nt the falls, fo1· this tr·emcndous rock sta·ctches ~u·1·os~ the l'ivcr·. to meet the high hills of the lrft ·hm·c. h·a.ving a thanncl of only foi'ty-livc yar.ls wide, through whirh the \\hole lwdy of the Columbia must 1n·css its way. 'L'hc wah'l' thus fm·ced into so nat'l'OW a channel, i · tht·own into whirl..,. and swell and boils in every part with the wildest agitation. ]lut the alternative of cat•rying the boats over this hi~;h rod~ 'vas almost impossibl<' in our pl'Cscnt situation, and as the cbir.f' danger scl'nwd to be not from any rocks in the channel, but ft·om the great waves and whil'lpools, we resolved to tl'y the passage in our boats, in hopes of being able by dcxtcvous stccl'ing to c.scape. 'l'bis w& at.tem]ltcll, and with great care were afJlc to get through. to the astonishment of all the Jntlians of the huts we had just })asscd, who now collcctt'd to sec us f1·orn the top of the rock. 'rhe channel continues thus coniincd witllin a pace of about half a mile, when the rock ceased. We pastwd a. single Indian hut at the foot ol' it. where the river again enlarges itself to the witlth of two bumlrcd yards, antl at the distance of a mile and a half stopped to view a vcl'y bad rat,id; thls is formctl by t\\0 rocl<y islands which tlividc the dmunel, the lower a.ntl larger of which is in t.hc midlllc ol' the river. The ~lppf.>:u·ancc of rhis place was so unpromi~ing, that we unloaded all the ruo~t aluable a1'ticles, such as guns, ammuni tion, out· papt'l'!i, 1\.c. and sent them by land with all the men thateould not swim to the cxtrcmit,} of the rapids. 'Ve then dcsccmlctl with the canoes two at a time, and though the canoes tool{ in sonw '~ater, we all went through safely; after which '"e made two miles, and stoppecl in a deep bend of the rivc1· towal'ds the r·ight, and encamped a litt to above a large village of twenty-one |