OCR Text |
Show iOZ his hat. These roots arc extremely grateful. sinee oUl· meat has become Slloiled, an<l we were desirous of put·cha~ sing the rf'maimler; but the chief would ~ot dispose of any more, as he was on his way to tratle wttb the Clatsops. 'J1hey remained with us however till the next day, Mou<lay, so. when they we1·e joined by four more oftheil' counh·ymcn, f1·om the 'Vahkiacum village. 'fhcse last. began by otfe1·ing us some roots; but as :'e hml now lr~rned that they always expect tht·ee or four ttmes as much m rc turn, as the real value of the articles, and are even dissatisfied with that, we declined suell dange1·ous presents. 1.'o. wartls evening the hunters brought in four elk, and after a long course of abstinener aud miserable tliet, we bad a most sumptuous supper of elk's tongues and marrow. Besides this agt·c("ahlc repast, the state of tlu~ wcathct· had been quito exhilirating. It had rained during the night, but in the 1norniug. though the high wind ctmtinucd, we enjoyed the fctircst and most pleasant wcathrr since our arrival; the sun having shone at intcrvali, and there being only three showers in tltc com·sc of the day. By sunset we ba\1 completed the fortification, and now announced to the Indians that every day at that l1our the gates would be closed, ami they must leave tho fort and not enter it till snnri. e. '.fhc Wahkiacums, who had remained with us, and who arc very forwar<l in their dcllortmcnt, complied VCI'Y l'('luctantJy with this ordct·; but being excluded fl'om our houses, formed a camp ncar us. Tuesday, 31. A..s if it \\ere imllOssiblc to have twenty· four hours of pleasant wca.1JlCr, the sky last evening clouded, and tlJC rain hegan and continu'cd tht·ough the day. In the morning thcJ·c rame down two canoes, one fl'om the 'Yah- 1 iacum village, the other contained three men and a squaw of the Skilloot nation. 'rhey brought wa1>patoo, aml shanataque roots, dried fish, mats matle of flags and rushes, tlress· ~d elk skins and tobacco; for which, pat·ticularly the skins, ~hey asked a very extravagant price. We purchased some ' . ' Up the JJlissotwi. 105 wappatoo, and a little tobacco, very murh like tlmt we had seen-among the Shoshon('cs, put up in small neat hags made of rushes. These we obtained in exchange fot• a few articles, amoug which fi~h-hooks arc the most estrcmetl. One of the Skilloots bt·ought a gun which WJtntcd some repair, and having put it in 01·dcr, we received from hibl a Jlrcscnt of about a peck of w~tppatoo; we then gave }aim a piece of sheep skin antl blue cloth, to cover the lock, and he very t.hankl'ully offered a further pt•esent of roots. There is, in fact, an obvious superiority in tlwse Skilloots over tlte 'Vahkiacums, who arc intru~ive, thievish, and impertinent. Out .. new l'egulations, howe vet·, and the aJlpcaranec or the sentinel, have jm{)rovcd the bl'laaviour of all our Indian visitcrs. Th<·y left the fort before sun-set, even without being ordered. Besides the fleas, we observe a number of insects in motion to-day. Snakes are yet to be seen; snails too, without f!Ovct·s. arc common. On th~ rivers, and along the shores of Mca·h\-ctbcr's bay, are many kinds of lar~e water fowls. but at this period they arc excessively wild. 'l'hc early part of the night was fair. 'Vedncsday, January 1,1806. 'Ve wcrcawakcdat an early llour, by a dist~hargc ofn voll~y of small arms, to !!alutc the new year. 'fhis is the only rnotle of doing honour to the tlay which ou1· situation pcrn1its, for thou~h wo have reason to be gayer than we w<-r~ at Chl'i~tmas, our only dain ... ties are the boilt~d elk and wa.ppatoo, enlivcm!cl by clr·aughts of pure water. 'Ve wtn-e visited by a ft•w <..:latiops, who oamc by water, bringing t•oots and be1Ties for !:mle. Among this nation we have obse1•vt·d a man about twenty-five year old, of a much lighter com11lcxion than tho Indians generally: his face was cvt·n fre<~kled, and his hair· long. and of a olour inclining to a·ed. He was in habits and manners per~ fcctly Indian; but, though he did not sp aka wot·d of Eng~ lisb, he seemed to undt•t·stand more than the oth•ws of his 11arty; and, as we could obtain no account of his origin. |