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Show [ 174 J 186 atex Chutes,) a considerable tributary to the Columbia. We had heard on reachiu(T the Nez Perce fort, a repetition of the account in regard to 'the unsettleu character of the Colu!llbia Indiaus at the present time; and to our li1 tie party they l1ad at various points manifested a . not very friendly dispositiou, in several attempts to steal onr horses. At th1s place I expected to find a badlv disposed band, \Vho had plundered a party of 14 emiarant • . b men a fr.w days before, and taken away their horses; and accordingly we made the uecessary pH~parations for our security, but happily met with 110 dil11culty. The river was high, divided iuto several arms, \Vith a rocky island at its outlet into the Columbia, which at this place it rivalled in size, and ap. parent! y deserved its highly characteristic name, which is rccei ved from one of its mauy falls some forty miles up the river. It entered the Colum. bia with a roar of falls and rapids, and is probably a favorite fishing station among the Indians, with whom both banks of the river were populous; bnt they scarcely pai6l any attention to us. The ford was very ditlicult at this time, and, had they entertained any bad intentions, they were ofl'ereda good opportunity to carry them out, as I drove directly into the river, and duriug the crossing the howitzer was occasional! y several feet under water, and a number of the men appeared to be more often below than above. Our guide was well acquainted with the ford, and \Ve succeeded iu getting every thing safe over to the left bank. VV e delayed here only a short time to p11t the gun in order, and, ascending a long mountain hill, left both rivers, and resurned our route again among the interior hills. The ro~• r of the Falls of the Colurnhia is heard from the heights, where we halted a few moments to enjoy a fine view of the river below. In the sea~n of high w~ter it would he a very interesting object to visit, in order to w1tues::> what 1s related of the annual submer(Tino- of the fall under the waters which back up from the basin below co~stiYnting a areat natural lock at this pla~e. ~ut time had become an ~bject of serious c~nsideration; and the Falls, m theu· present state, had been seen and described by many. . After a day's joumey of 17 miles, we encamped among the hills on a little clear stream, where, as usual, the Indians immediately gathered round us. Among them was a very old man almost blind from ao-e with long .1 l . J . ' b ' anu very w Hte 1a1r. I happened oC my own accord to give this old man a pr?~ent of t?bacco, and was struck with the impression which my un· prop1tmte~ notice .made on the Indians, who appeared in a remarkable man· ner acq_uamted With the real value of goods, and to understand the equiva· lents of .trade. At evening, one of them spoke a few words to his peopl~, and, tcll1ng me that we need entertain no uneasiness in regard to our ant· mals, as t~onc of them would be disturbed, they went all quietly away. In the ~norn.wg, wheu they a~ain came to the camp, 1 oxpressed to tltem the gratdicatwn we felt at thcu· reasonable conduct makin(T them a present of som: large knives and a few smaller articles. ' b f'!ovember 4.-The road continued among the hills and reaching an emmence, we saw before us in a liltlc green valley ~atered by a clear str;:~' a tol~rably I.arge valley, through which the tr~il passed. omp~nson Wlth the Indians of the Rocky mountains and the great eastern plam, these are disagreeably dirty in their habits Their huts were crowde~ with half-naked women and children, and the .atmosphere within any ~hmg. but pleasant to persons who had jnst been riding in the fresh mornmg au. We were somewhat amnse~.d ·witll the scanty dress of one 187 [ 174 J woman, who, in cotrnnon with the others, .rushed out of. the huts on our arrival, and who, in default of other covenng, used a chilLI for~ fig leaf. The road in about half an hour passed ncar nn elevated pomt, from which we overlooked the valley of the Colnmbia for mau y rniles, and saw in the distance several houses surrounded by fields, which a chief, w.lw h~d accompanied us fron1 the village, pointed out to ns as the Method1st mis-sionary sta tiou. . . In a few miles we descended to the nvcr, which we reached at one of its remarkably interesting features, known as the Dalles of the Columbia. The whole volume of the river at this placo passed between the walls of a chasm, which has the appearance of haviug been rent through the basaltic stratu wllicl1 form the valley rock of the region. At the narrowest place we found the breadth, by measurement, 58 yards, and the a vcragc height of the walls above the water 25 feet; forming a trough between the rocks-whellce the name, probably applied by a Canadian voyageur. The mass of water, in the present low stata of the river, passed swiftly between, deep and black, and curled into many small whirlpools and counter. currents, bnt unbroken by foam, and so still that scarcely the sound of a npple was heard. The rock, for a considerable distance from the river, ~as worn over a large portion of its surface in to circular holes n n.d well-like cavities, by the abrasion of the river, which, at the season of lugh waters, is spread out over rhe adjoining bottoms. In the recent passage through this chasm, an unfortunate event had occurred to ~1r. Applegate's party, in the loss of one of their boats, which had been carried under water iu the midst of the Dalles, and two of Mr. Applegate's children and one man drowned. This misfortune was attributed only to want of skill in the steersman, as at this season there is uo impediment to navigation; although the place is entirely impassable at high water, when boats puss safely over the great falls above, Hl the submerged state in which they then find themselves. The basalt here is precisely the same as that which constitute~ the rock of the valle~r higher up the Colurubia, being very compact, w1th a few round cavities. We pas ·ed rapidly three or four miles down the level valley, and encamped near the ntission. The character of the forest growth here changed, and we found oursel vcs, with pleasure, again among oaks and other forest trees of the ast to which we had long been strangers; and the hospitable and kind reccpti~u with which we were welcomed among our country people at tho mission aided the momentary illu ion of home. Two good-looking wooden dwelling houses, and a large schoolhouse, with stables, barn and aardeu and laroe cleared fields between the houses and the river bank' on w5 hich w' ere scati:tl ered the wooden huts of an In d1' an village, gave to thd valley the cheerful and busy air of civilization, and had ln onr eyes an appearance of abundant and enviable comfort. . Our l~ud journey found here its western termination. . The d~lay myolveu 111 getting our camp to the right bank of the Colmub1a, and 1.n openIng a road through the coutiuuous forest to Vancouver, rendered a JOUrney along the ri vcr impracticable · and on this side tho tlf'ual road across the mountain required strong an'd fresh animals, there being an intcr.val of tl~rcc days in which they could obtain no food. I therefore wrote tmmedw. tely t~ ~Ir. Fitzpatrick, directing bim to ahandon the carts at the Walahwalah rn1sswuary station, and, as soon as the necessary pack saudlcs could |
