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Show 516 l\1tu·ch ..,8 3U '\ptH 8 ll This evening we saw many ~wan passmg to th(. north as if on a long fli~ht; ' egC'tation is not by several day~ a~ forward herl.! as at fort Clatsop when we left that place; the river rising fast; the water is turbid; the tide only swells the water a little, it docs uot stop the cunent; it is now within two feet of its gt·catest height. The l!rasi is ab~ut six teen inches high in the river i.) bottoms; the frog~ al'c now abundant. l'rom the best opiuion I coulcl fo~·m of the state of the Columbia on the first or April, it wa about nine feel higher than when we descended it in the beginning of N oYcmhet· last. The cot tom" oocl has put forth its leaves and bcjjins to assunH~ a g reen appearance at a distance; the sweet willow has nol yet burst its bud, while the leaves of the red and broad-leafed willow an: of some size; it appears to me to be the mos t back ward in vegetating of all the willows; the nanow-lcal'ed willow is not found below tide-water on this river. The male flowers of the cottonwood arc fallin g; the gooscb<'rry has cast the petals of its flowers, and its leaves have obtained their· full size; the elder which is remarkably large, has began to bloom, some of its flowrcts have expanded thcit· corollas; the service-berries, choke-cherries, the growth which resembles the beach, the small birch and gray willow have put forth their leaves. The vining honeysuckle has put forLh shoots of &evcral inches; the dog-toothed violet is in bloom, as is also both the species of the mountain- holly, the stra\vbcrry, the bca:' s-c1aw, the cowslip, the ' 'iolct, common stritred, and the wild cress or tongue grass. The geese arc yet jn large flocks and do not yet appear to have rnated; what I have heretofore termed the broad -leafed ash, is now in bloom; JJ.ppendix. 517 the fringe ~ree has cast the corolla and its leaves hc.lve nearly obtained their· full size; the s;accacommis is in bloom. 12 The <luckinmallard, which breed in the neighbourhood, is now laying its eggs; vegetation is rapid ly progressing in the bottoms, thou gh the snow of yesterday und to-day !'Caches within a mile of the base of the mountajns at the rapids of the Columbia. lo At the Rock-fort camp saw the prait·ic la:·k, a ~pecics of the peawcc t, the blue-ct·csted fisher, the pat·ty-coloured cot·vu s, and th bbck pheasant; a species of hyacinth, natirc of this place, bloomed to-day; it was not in bloom yesterday. 26 The last evening was cloudy; it continued to threaten rain all nig·ht, but without raining; the wind blew hard all night, the a ir cold, as it is inva riably when it sets from the westerly q uarler. ~lay Having left the rivet· we could no longer observe lts state, it is now declining, though it has not been n.s high this season by five feet as it appears to have been the last spt·ing; the Indians inform us that it will rise hi~her in this month, which I pt·esumc is caused by the snows of the mountain!i. 3 The mountains on our right seem to hn.ve had 4m increase of snow last evening. I 0 It began to rain and hail about sunset this evening, which ·' as shortly after succeeded by snow; it continued to fall without intermission until 7 A. M. and lay 8 inches deep on the plain where we were; the ai1· was very keen; a sudden transition tJ1is day; yesterday the face of the country had every appeat·ancc of summer; after nine A.M. the sun shone, but was frequently obscured by clouds which gave us light showers of snow; in the after part of the day the snow melted considerably, hut there was too ~·t·c-at a |