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Show [ 174 J 192 b. t of my 1' ustructions had been entirely fulfilled in having connected oo uJrr Cr econnoissan' cc wi· th the surveys? f C' ap tam. W1'l lc ~~ s,· ,a n d a I though · 1t won ld ll'a vc been aan recable and sattsfactoryr to telr rmuatc her·e al·sfio our Judcr astronowical observations, I was not, 10r sue 1 a reason, JUStt ed to n1ake a delay in waiting for favorable wc~thcr. Near sunset of the lOth, the b~ats left. the fort, and ?llcamped after mnkiua 011 Jy a few miles. Onr !lot1ll~ consisted of a M:.tek111aw ~urge and three c 0 anocs-ouc of them that 111 whtch ~ve had descended the rtv~r; an~ a party j11 all of 20 men. One of the cmtgran ts, Mr. n.nruct~ of M1ssotm, who bad left his family und properly at tl1e Daile , avru.lcd l11mself of the opportnnity afforded by the retnrn of our boats to brltlg them down to Vanconver. This g<'ntleman, as well as tl~ e M<~ssrs. Applegate, and oth~rs of the emigrants whom I 'aw, possc-.sccl 111t ·IIIgencc and : har act~r, w.Jth the moral unu iutr.llectnal stamma, us ~cit as the ~ntcrpnsc, winch gtve solidity and rcspcclability to .the fonnda~IOll of co l~n 1es. . Novernber 11.-Thc mornlllg wa. rmny and m1sty. We dttl not move with the practi~ed celerity of my owt~ camp; and it was near 9 o'clock wheu onr motley crew had finished thetr .brca] fast and were ready to start. Once ailoat, however, they worked sleaully and well, and we aclvanccd.at a good rate up tlw river; and in the af'teruo~n a breeze sprnug np, whtch enabled ns to add a sail to the oars. At cvcmng we encamped ou a warrnlool{ iua beach on the rio-!Jt ba11k, at tho foot of the high river hill, immediately at tile lo~vcr end of Cape IIom. 011 t.hc opposite shore is said lobe a si;1gnlar ho le in the monntai11, [rom which the ~t!dians believe come~ the Willd producitJg these gales. Itts called tl1e Devil~ hoi~~ ; aud the Iudtans, 1 wlls told, ha vc been re. ol ving to send down one of theu· sl t vcs to explore the n~aion below. At dark, the wind shifted into its stormy quarter, gradu-ally inoc real:-ina to a gale from the southwest; nnd the sky becomt.n g cIe ar, .] obtaiued a g~od ob~ervation of an emersion of the first satellite; the 1:esult of which, being an absolute observation, I have adopted for the longttude of the place. Novembn· 12. - Tho wind during the night had increased to s.o much violence, that the broad river this morning was angry a(}d wlnte; the waves breaking with considerable force agn inst this rocky wall of the cape. Our old Iroquois pilot was unwilling to risk tltc boats around the pomt, and I was not disposed to hazard the stores of our voyage fvr tile delay of a day. Further observations were obtained during tlJe d.ay, giving for the latitude of the place 45° 33' 09' ' ; and the longitude, obtained from the satellite, is 122° 6' 15". Novemlter 13.-We had a day of disagreeable and cold rain; and, la~e in the afternoon, began to approach the rapids of the casca~es. Ther.c IS here a hicrh timbered island on the left shore below which, Ill descendmg, I had re ~a r ked i u a blulf on the river the 'cxtrc m i ties of trunks of tree; appear1ug to be imbedded in the rock. Landing here this afternoon,st found in the lower part of the e carpmcnt a stratum of coal and ~ore f tre~s, imbedded between strata of altered clay containing the remams 0 vegetables, the leaves of which indicate that the plants were dicotylcdono~s. Among these, the stems of some of the ferns arc not mineralized, but J?lerf .Y charred, retaining still their verretable structure and substance; and 111 t us cou d1. t1. on a port1. 0n also of the t> trees remain. The indurate d appe arandc'e an d compactness of the strata as well perhap~ as the mm· era 1I·Z od con ht· t1· 0n of the coal, are probably d' ue to ign' eous ac"ti'o n. Some portw· us 0 ft e 193 [ 174 ] coal rcciscly resemble in aspect the cannel coal of ~ngland, a~d, with the acco~panying fossils, have been referred to the tertiary formatiOn . . These strata appear to rest upon .a 1nass of agalomcrate.d rock, bemg but a few feet above the wat~r of the nvcr ~ and over them 1s the escarpm.ent of perhaps eighty feet, ~·ismg gradually 111 the rear .towards the mouuta.tns. The wet and cold evcnmg, and u?ar appro~ch ~f n1ght, prevented me fron1 making any other than a very sltght cxa1nmatwn. . The current was now very swift, and \Ve were obhg~d to cordelle the boat along the left shore, where the bani~ was cover~d w 1th 1argc m~sses of rocks. Night overtook us at the upper end of the.Island, a short du~t~nce below the cascades and we halted ou the open pOint. In the mean time, the lighter canoes, 'paddled altogether by Indians, .had passed ahead, and were out of sight. With thcn1 .was the !od&'e., whtch w~s the only shelter we had with most of the beddwg aud provisiOns. W c shouted, and fired guns; but all to no purpose, as it '~as impos.siblc f~r the1n to hear abo~e the roar of the river; and we rernau1ed all111ght :vithont sheller, th~ ra1~ pouring down all the time. The old voyageurs d1d not appear to m1nd 1t much. but covered themselves up as well as they coul , and lay do,vn on the s~nd beach, where they remained quiet until mb~'uing. The r.est of us spent a rather miserable night; and, to add to our dtscomfort, the ln?essant rain extinguished our fires; and we were glad when at last dayhght appeared, and we again ernbarked. Crossing to the right bank, we co'rdelled the b?at alo~g the shore, there being no longer any usc for the pad<.lles, a?d put mto a httlc bay below. the upper rapids. Here we found the lodge p1t~hed, and ab?ut twenty Indt~ns sitting around a blazing fire within, makmg a ~~~unous breakfast w1th salmon bread butter sugar coflce and other provisiOns. In the forest, on the edg'e of the' high ' bluil' o' verloo'k ing the n. vcr, I.S . an I n d.1 an grave yard , consisting of a collection of tombs, in each of which were the ~cattercd boHes of many skeletons. The tombs were made of boards, wh1ch .were ornamented with many figures of men and a~imals ?f the nat.ural s1ze-: from their appeara11ce, constituting the arn10nal dev1ce by wluch, amon5 Indians, the chiefs arc usually known. . . The masses of rock displayed along the shores of the ravme 111 th.e neighborhood of th~ cascades are clearly volcanic products. Between thts cove, which I called Grave-yard bay, and another s~ot ?f sm~oth \Vater above, on the right, called Luders bay, sheltered by a JUttmg p~mt of h~ge rocky masses at the foot of the cascades, the shore along the 1nte_.enmg rapids is lined with precipices of distinct strata of red and variously colored lavas, in inclined positions. . The masses of rock forming the point at LUders ~ay consist of a porous trap, or basalt-a volcanic product of a modern pcrwd. The rocks belong to agglomerated masses, which form the immediate ground of the cascades, and have been already mentioned as constituting a bed ?f cemented conglomerate rocks appearing at various places along the nver: !Jere t~ey are scattered along the shores, and through th~ bed of. the nver, we~nng the character of convulsion which forms the Impressive and prominent feature of the river at this place. . Wherever we came in contact with the rocks of these mountams, we foun~ t~em volcanic, which is probably the character .of the range; and at thts tune, two of the great snowy conos, Mount Regnwr and St. Helens, 'Were in action. On the 23d of the preceding November, St. fleleus had 13 |