OCR Text |
Show 8~ Lewi.q a:rul Clru·Jee':J Expeditio1t., &c. very temptation to part with it, but at length couhl not re .. !ist the offer of a belt of blue beads which Chaboncau's wife w'ore round her waist. During our absence the camp bad b een visited by many Indians, and the men w. ho had bren 1 • employed in hunting killed several deer, anu a variety of wild fowls. Thursday 21. The morning was cloudy, aml from noon till night it rained. The wind too was high from the soutbeast. and the sea so rough that the water reacbell our camp. Most of tbe Chinnooks returned home, but we were visited in the course of the day by people of diflerent bands in tl1e neighbourhood, among whom are the Chiltz, a nation resi· ding on the seacoast near Point Lewis, and the Clatsops, who live immediately O}lposite on the south side of the Columbia. A chief from the grand rapid also came to see us~ and we gave him a medal. To each of our visiters we made a present of a small piece of 1·iband, and purchased some cranberries and some articles of their manufaeture, such as mats, and household furniture, for all which we paid high pricei!. After we bad been relieved f1·om these Indians, we ,vere surprised at a. visit of a different kind; an old woman who is the wife of a Chinnook chief, came with six youn~; women. her daughters and nieces, and having delibci·ately encamped near us, proceeded to cultivate an intimacy be~ tween our men and her fair wards. CHAPTER IV. Extnv~tgant passiOn of the natives for blue beads, which constitute amongst them the oirculnting medium of the country-the party still in search of a suitn ble place for winter quarters-still suffering f1·om the constant deluges of rain-are visited by the Indians, with whom they traffic hut little, on account of the extt·avugant prices thCJ ask. fv1· c ' cry ax'ticle-retnrn of callt.ai n Lewl ~. who rcp01·ts that he has found a suitable plnce for winte1· c1uarten-thc rni1\ btill continues- they prepare to form an encsmpmen1 on a poiut of highland on the banks of the river Nutcl-captain Cl:u·ke goes with n party to lind a place suitable for the manufacture of suit-he is ho9pit::~bly entc1·tained by t he Clatsops-this tribe addicted to the vice of gambling-sickness of sorue of the party, occasioned by tl1e incess11nt rnins-tl1cy form, notwitlatandiug, u perrnanent encampment for their winter quarters. Friday 22. IT rained during the 'v hole night, aml aho.ut. daylight a tremendous gale of wind rose from the S. S. E. and continued dul'ing the whole day \Vith great violence. 'fhc sea runs so high that the water comes into our camp, which the rain prevents us ft·om leaYing. We purchased from the old S(}Uaw for armbands and rings, a few wapJlatoo l'OOtS, On which we subsisted. rfhey are nearly equal in flaVOUr to the lt·ish potatoe, and affot·d a very gootl substitute for bread. rrhe bad weather has driven srvm·al Indians to our camp, but they are still under the tet•t•ors of the tht·eat which we made on fit·st seeing them, and now behave with the gt·catest decency. Saturday 28. 1"he rain continued Uu·ough tho nigh t, hut tho morning was calm and cloudy. The hunters wrrc sent out and ldlled three deer, four brant, and three ducks. Towards evening seven Clatsops came over in a canoe with two 2kins of the sea-otter. 'ro this article thry aua.ch an cxtt• avagant value, and their dmnamls fot• it were so high tiwt we Wet•e fearful of rcthu·ing onr small stock of mct·chantli8c, |