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Show [ 17 4 J I 1·52 stra led in of thcmselres, and the others w:re br~ught in by Indians who h~i~i'ck~d I hem up or' Snak,e rivor, about s•xty mtles bela~ the fo~·t, trav. elling a)~qg tbe emigrant road in full march 1?r the Lower ColurnbJa. The Iead~i· of this adventUious party. wa~ Fran~o1s. . n... ~ our 1.,,, baro~r..n etricalobseivatJone were made· ddu nng t1h e d·a y, and·, af·t er _l rtur e of the J>arty for Fort Hall, we occup1e ourse ,·es In contmuwg uepa · · t d · 1 th t · O\Jf litt~e preparatioo~:, anq in becomlD.g acquam e. Wit 1 e. coun ry tn th~ vicini~y. The bottoms along the nver were timbered w~th scver:al k . d~ ol willow hawthorn and fine cottonwood trees (popu,tus canadensts) tn ~ • , , f' . h . I b 'ith remarki.ibly lar~e leaves, and sixty eet In erg H y measurement. '1\' We fonued now b'U t a small family. With Mr. Pre uso and myself, Ca~· SOI}~Bernier, and Basil Lajeuncss~,. h~d be~n selected for the boat :xpedttion- the {irt~t ever attempted on tlus 1ntenor sea~ ~nd llndeau? With Derqsier, al')d Jacob, ( th.e colored m~~,) ~vere to be left ~~ ch~rge of t~le c~mp. We were favored wrth most delrghtful weather: J o-.rught there was a br,lli,apt sllnset of golden orang;e and green, whtch left the western sky cl~QJ ~nd beautifully pure; but clouds in the east made me lose an ?cculta· tion. The summer frog~ were singjn~ around us, and the evemng was very plea~ant, with a temp~rature of (W0- a night of a more southem au· tuqw. For our supper we had yampah~ the most agre.eably llavore.d of l~e n?.Pts, seaso.neci by a small fat duel\, whtch had cor~e m the way of Jacobs ri~e. f\round our fire to-night were many speculat10ns ~n what to-morrow woy\~ bring forth, and in our busy conjectures we fanc1ed that we should fiqq ,every one of the large islands a tangled wilderness of .trees ~nd shr~tb· btlfl<, te.euliQg with game of every description that .the ne1ghbonng. reg10n alfqr~~d, aJld which the foot Qf a white m~n or Indlan had .nev~r v•?lated Fre~mefilfly, during the day, clouds had rested on the summits of thetr l?fty mount~ins, and we believed that we should fiud clear stJ·eams and spnngs of(~~~~ 'Vater; aud we indulged in anticipiltions of the luxurious r~pasts wi\h 'Y.h.ich we were to indemnify ourselves for past privations. Nelther, in o4r <H$cu~sions, were the whirlpool and other mysterious dan~ers forgot· ten, wh~dl Indian and bunter's stories attributed to this unexpl?red lake. Th~ IJ?Cfl had discovered that, instead of being strongly sewed ( ltke that of the precedin~ year, which had so triumphantly rode the caiions of the. Up· P~l Gr~at PJatte,) our present boat was only pasted together in a vel'} msecure Wfln~ler, the m~ker having been allowed so little time in the construe· tioq1 th~t he was obliged to crowd the bbor of two months into S~\'eral dqys, 'fhe in ecurity of the boat was sensibly felt by us; ancl, mrng.lcd with the enthusiasm and exciternent thflt we all felt at the prospect. ot. an u~Q.~~tak!ng whicb had never ueforo been accomplished, was a certaw .llll· pr~~~iQn of d~nger, sutllcient to give a serious charaf·ter to our conve~·satro.n. The m~rnentary \'iew which l1ad been had of the lake the day befo~·e, 115 g~e\lt ~x~ent and rugged islands, dimly seen amidst the dark waters rn. the 0Q~c\lnty of the sudden storm, were well calculated to heigh.ten the tdea o( UQ<,\efioed danger with which the lake was generally assoctated. , S~pk.mber 8.-A cairn, cle?r· day, wi1h a sunl'i~e tempe.ratore ~f ~I d In VIew of our present enterpnse, a part oJ the equipment of the boat La be eo made to consist in three air· tight bags, about 1 h ree feet I on~· and ca: pable. each of con~aining tive gallons. These had been filled w1th water !h~ mght before, and W(lre now pla~ed in the boat with onr blankets and mbsatrorlul~leetnetrs. , c0nsistiug of a sextant, telescope ' spy glas~ , thermometer, and I 153 [ 174 ] I '¥ e left the camp at sunrise, and had a very pJqasant voyage down th river in which there was generally eight or len feet of water, deepening: as. we n'earcd th ~ •uouth in the latter part of the day. J n the course of the . morning we discovered that two of the cylinders leaked so rn~1ch a.' to requir c one man con tan tJy at the bellows, to keep them suffic1 ntly fuJI of Clir to iupport the boat. Although we ltad made a very early start, we loitered so much on the way-stopping erery now and then, and floating silentlv along, to ,g;et a shot at a ~oo~e or a duck-that it was late in the day when ~·e reached the outlet. The 1 iv r here divided into several branches, filled with lluvinls, and o very shallow that it wns with ditliculty we could get tlle boat along, being obliged to get out aod wade. We encamped on a low point amon~ rushes and youno· willows, where there was a quantity of drift wood, which served for our fires. The evenif:lg was mild and clear· we made a plea .. ant bed of the young willows; nnd geese and ducks enou:h had been killed for an abundant supper at ni~ht, and for breakfast the n~xt morning. The stillness of the night was enlivened by millions of water low!. Latitude (by ouservation) 41° 11 1 .26" ; and longitude 112° ]) I 30", September 9.-The day was clear and calm; the thermometer at sunrise at 49°. As is usual with the trappc~·s on the eve of any enterprise, our people had made dreams, and th eirs happe ned to be a bad one-one which al· ways preceded evil-~ud consequently they looked very gloomy this morning; but we hurried through our breakfast, in ordm· .t? make an e~dy start, and have Hll che day before us for our adventure. I he cbanneltn a short distance became so ~h<1llow that our narip;ation W<:tS at an end, being me.rely a sheet of soft mud, with a few inches of water, and sometimes n~ne at all , forming the low-water shore of the lake. All this pl~\ce wa absoLutely co\'ered with flocks of screamin1T plorer. VVe took oft our· clothes, and, getting overuoard, COOIOlenced d~alrging the boat-making, by this opera• tion, a very curiou~ trail, aud a very disag;reeable smell iu stirring up tl~e mud, as we ~ank above the knee at every step. The water here was sblll fresh, with only au insipid and disagreeable taste, probably derived from the bed of fetid mud. After proceeding in this way about a mile, we came to a small black ridge on the bottom, beyond which the water became suddenly salt beo·innirw gradually to deer.~cn, and the bottom was sandy aud firm. It w,a s at 'lr emarrk-. able division, separating the fresnl water o f't he n.v ers from the briny water of the lake, which was entirely satru.rated with common salt. l)ushing our little vt:s~el across the nano~ boundary, we sprang on board aud at lcncrtl1 were niloat on the Wf\ter oi the unknown sea. ' l"lo • We did not teer lor the UlOllntainous i .. lallds, but darected our course to-wards a lower ouc which it had been decided we should first visit, the summit of which,,.~ formed like the crater at the upper end of Bear rivor ralley. So long as we could touch the bottom with our paddles, we ~re~e rery g:.ly; !Jut gradually, as the water deepenC'?, we bec.ame more Still Ul our frail battcau of gum cloth distended with a1r, at~d wtth pasted seams. Although the day was very calm, there was a constdera?le swe~l on the lake ; and there were white palchcs of foam on the surface, wh~eh wer_e slo~ty movi11g to the southward, indica~ing the .set of a cur.Tent 10 that d•rectt. on, and recalling the recollection of the whtrlpool .stones. The water continued to deepen as we advaJ)ced ; the lake becormng almost transparen. tly clear, of an extremely beautH'ul bright· green color ; an~ the spray,, whlch was thrown into the boat and over our clothes, was dtrectly con .. |
