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Show Lewi.s and Cla1•ke's Expedition oval figure, the bowl being in the sam~ situation with the stem. A smaH piece of burnt clay is placed in the hotlom of the bowl to separate the tobacco from the end of the stem, and is of au irregularly round figure, not fitting the tube perfectly close, in order that the smol\e may pass with facility. The tobacco is of the same kind with that used Lly the Minnetarees, l\{andans and Ricaras of the Missouri. The Shoshonees do uot. cultivate this plant, but obtain it from the Rocky mountain Indians, and some of the bands of their own nation who live further south. The ceremony of smoking being concluded, captain Lewis explained to the chief the purposes of his visit, and as by this time all the women and children of the camp had gathered around the lodge to indulge in a view of the first white men they had ever seen, he distributed among them the remainder of the small articles he had brought with him. It was now late in the afterno.on, and our party had tasted no food since the night before. On apprising the chief of this circumstance, he said that he had nothing but berries to eat, and presented some cakes made of serviceberry and chokecherries which had been dried in the sun. On these captain Lewis made a hearty meal, and then wall\ed down towards the river: he found it a rapid clear stream forty yards wide and three feet deep; the banks were low and abrupt, like those of the upper part of the Missouri, and the bed formed of loose , stones and gt·avel. Its course, as far as he could observe H. was a little to the north of west, and was bounded on each side by a range of high mountains. of which those on the east are the lowest and most distant from the river. The chief informed him that this stream discharged itself at the distance of half a day's march, into another of twice its size, coming from the southwest; but added, on further inquiry, that there was scarcely more timber be· low the junction of those rivers than in this neighbourhood, and that the river was rocky, rapid, an<l so closely confined between high mountains, that it was impossible to pass down Up the .Missouri. i67 it, either by land or water to the great lake, where as he had understoood the w bite men lived. 1,his information was far from being satisfactory; for there was no timber here that would answer the purpose of building canoes, intleed not more than just sufficient for fuel, and even that nonsisted of the nat~row-leafed cottonwood, the red and the narrow-leafed willow, the chokecherry, serviceberry and a few currant bushes such as are common on the Missouri. The prospect of going on by land is more pleasant; for there are great numbers of horses feeding in every direction round the camp, which will enable us to transport our sto1·es if necessary over the mountains. Captain Lewis returned from the river to his lodge, and on his way an Indian invited him into his bower and gave him a small morsel of boiled antelope and a piece of fresh salmon roasted. This was the first salmon he had seen, a.nd perfectly satisfied him that he was now on the waters of the Pacific. On reaching this lodge, he resumed his conversation with the chief, after wl1ich he was entertained witb a dance by the Indians. It now proved, as our party had feared, that the men whom they had fi••st met this morning had returned to the camp and spread the alarm that their enemies, the Minnetarees of fort de P•·airie, whom they call Pahkees, were advancing on them. The warriors instantly armed themselves and were coming down in expectation of an attack, when they were agreeably surprised by meeting our party. The greater part of them were armed with bows and arrows, and shields, but a few had smaJl fusils, such as are furnished by the northwest company traders, and which they had obtained from the Indians on the Yellowstone, with whom they are now at peace. They had reason to dread the approach of' the Pahkces, who bad attacked them in the course of this s1wing and totally defeated them. On this occasion twenty of theh· warr·io1•s were either· killed or made prisoners, and they lost their whole camp except the leathern. lodge which they had fitted up for us, ... |