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Show [ 174 J 2-!2 necc sary time for hunting. At one of these orchard grounds, w~ encamped about noon to make an ~lfo1 t ~or Mr. P1 euss. O_ne m~n took h1 way along a spur lc:tding into the nver, m hop ' to cross h1s trail; and another took our own baclc Both" ere volunteers; and to the sucre sful man was prom. ised a pair of pistols-:-not as a reward, hut as_a token of g1atitude fora service which would free us all from much anx1ety. \tV e had among our few animals a hor se which was so much reduced that with travellin g, even the good ~ra~s could not save him; and, having notl;ing to cat, he was killed ~his a~ternoon. £lc was a good animal, and lwd made the journey round from l• ort lJ all. Dodccafltcon dent alum continued the characteristic plant in flower; and the nakl'd-looking slu ub already mentioned <'ontinued characterit~tic, begin. ning to put fotlh a small_" hite blossom. At cveninrr the mc1_1 returned, hav· ing srPn or heard uothtng of .Mr. Preuss; and I determllled to make a bard pu ;~h down the river the next morning, and get ahead of bim. ft1arch 4.-\Ve continued rapidly a l on~ on a broad plainly-bralen trail, the mer<: travcllin~ and breathing the delightful a ir being a positive enjoyment. Our road leu along a rid~e inclining to the riv('r, r~nd the air and the OJ)('ll g•ou11ds \\ etc fwgrant with flowerin~ shrub·; and in the course of th morning we issued on an open spur, by which we descended dirrctly to the ~t r<'am . If ere th(' river i~SU<' suduenly fron1 the mountain , which bithrrto had hemmed it closely in ; these uow become softer, ~nd change srn~ibly their charactrr ; and at thi~ point commencrs the most beautiful vallPJ in which \\e had ever travelled. \'Vc hurried to the river, on which we noticed a mall . ancl b(•ach, to whieh l\1r. Preuss would naturally have go11t. \Vc found no trace of him, but, i11 steau, were rrccnt tracks of bare· ~oott•d Indian ·, and litlk pile~ f musdc hells, and old fi1 es whrre they had roasted the fish. \Vf' tra\'cllcd on over the ri ver grounds, which were undulatin~, and covereJ with grass to the river brink. We halted to noon a f<. w mil< s beyond, always under the shade of the C\crgreclt oaks, which fonu<'d open groVl'S on the bottornr. Cont111uing our road in the aftf'rnoon , wr ascended to the uplands, where the. ri' cr pa !.~SCs ro11nd a point of great benuty, and ~OPS tltroug;h very re· mat kable dalles, in dl1raf· trr reflcmhlino· those of the Columbia river, and whi<'h you ''ill find mentioned on Uw t~ap annexed. Beyotul, we again dc ~ccndPd to the bottoms, where we lound an Indian villn~r, C'onsislin~of tw? or thr?e huts; we had come upon them suddenly, nnd th(> people _had ~vtdc~t)y JUSt run o~. The hnts were low and t~light, 111ade like beci11~CS In a pwtnre, live or IX feet high, and nrar each was a er.1te, formed of mterl. t<•ed branC'hes and grass, in size and hapc like avery large ho~she~d. Each of these rontainrd from six to nine bu~hel . These were filled wtth the lon~ acorns already mentioned, and in the huts were several neatly made bask<'ts,contailling quantities of the acorns roa ted. They were sweet and ~greeably flavored, and we upplied ourselves with about hnlf a L~tshcl, leavmg o?? of ?ur sh irts, a handkcrehief, and some smaller arr icle_s, tn ex· chanre. I ~\e nver again entered for a ::;pace among hills, and we follo,~ed a tr:r~ tl leadm~ ~cross. :1 hend through a handsome hollow brhind. H~re, while ~ngaged m lrywg to circumvent n deer, we di"scovercd some Jndt~ns on a 1~ 111 several hundred yards nhrad, and gave them a . hout, t~ whtch they t esponded by l<~lld and rapid talking and vehement gf'sti'!ulattOn, b~t made no ~top, hurrymg up the mountain as fast as their legs could earlY them. We passed on, and again encamped in a grassy grove. 243 [ 174 J The absence of Mr. Preusg gave me great eoncern; and, for n large re-ward, Derosier v?luntcered ~o go back ?n the trail. J directed htm to earch along the nver, travclltng upward for the space of a day and a half, !t'which time J expected he would meet Mr. Filzpatri<·k, whom I requested to aid in the search; at all _cven~s~ he was to go no f.1_rthcr, but return to this camp, where a cache ol pro\'tstons. w.1s mad~ for h11n. . Continuing the next day down the nvcr, we cllsrovcrcd three ~quaws tn ~little bottom, and sunourH.Ied them before they could make thetr c.,eapc. They had larn·e conical basket:;, which they wore ngaf.;ed in {jilin{~ with a small leafy pl~nt ( erodium cicnlarium) just uow be~innin~ to bloom, and covcrin•' the ground like a sw.Ard of gra ' ~ . ThPsr did not r11akc~ any lamcnt.Sions, but apprared very much impr csscd with our appearu ucc, speaking to us only i~ a whi per, Clnd o[i·ring us srn.~ller.ba~kd~ of th_e plant which they sign d!cd to u ' was p:ood to cat, maktn!,': ~~~ns also that rl wast~ be c•ool{ed by the fir c. \V e dn.:\\ out a little cClld hm sc meat, and the squaw· made signs to us that the men had got><.: out aft\' I' dl'<'t , :l nd that we could have some by wailin~ till they catle in . VVe ohscn·<'d that the horses ate with g1eat avidity the herb which they had h<'c•n r;athetin~; and here also, for the first time, '"c ::;aw Jndians eal the ·omnwn gra s~-onc of the squaw pulli11g several tufts, and eating it with apparent tcli-.,h. Seeing our surprise, she pointed to the horses : but we <'C>1tld not wdl understand what she me .~n t, except, perhaps, that what was I-:;<>od for the oue W<~R good for th<; other. We enc;unped in the even in ~ on the shore of the ri ,·cr, at a plac<· where the a so<•i.1ted hPautie of scen0ry made so strong an imptrssion on us tllat we have given it the name of the Beautiful Camp. Th(· undul ~ttin ~ rivC'r shote was shaded with the live oaks, whieh forruPcl a conlillllllll'!l ~~rove over the country, and the same grassy swat'd cxten led tn the <!dp;e of the water; and we made our fires ncar some lar~e ~ranile m:assc•s whirh were lying among the trees. \V chad seen several of thr' ;l(:or n caches durin~ the day; and here there were two whieh W('IC \'Cry larf!;n, ('nntaitting eac h, probably, ten bu hels. Towards evening we heard a weak :-.bout <t mon;.; the hills behind, and had the pl easurc to sec l\1 r. P r c u ·s d esc end i nr, tow <I I ds the camp. Lil e oursclvPs, he had travelled to-day Z5 miiPs, httt h.,d seen n~thin~; of Derosier. Knowin~, ou the day he vas lo!il , that I \\a det£ r· mtned 10 keep the river as mud1 ; s possible, he had no r thou~ht it IH ce~s~ ·y to follow the tmil very doscly, but walked on, ri~l1t n11d h•ft, t•c rt~ In to lind it somewhere alon~ the 1 ivcr, searchillt!, plat·e~ to ohl lin e;ood Vrews of the cou11Lry. Toward~ f.lunsct he din1hPd down IO\\ards fiH' river to look for the camr> · but findiutr no trail ('Oncluded that we\\ !'It' he hind, ' ' , b , ' and walked batk until night came on, wh( n, bcin~ \.('1') mut II (atihued, he collectt'd drift wood and made a laq~c fir£ i.liUOII~ I he t O('ks. ThP n<'xt day ltbccallle more seriou, and he eneamprd a~ai11 alone•, thitdiin~ that we mu~t have taken some other course. To ~o l><•rk would hav ~ been madness in It is weak <Hid starved <·ondition and onw:u d lo\\ ards the vali<'Y ~as his only hope, aiW,\)'S in cxpcdatio'n or l'O:tl'llin~ it SCJOil I J is prinCI~ al means of subsil3Lenrc wc~ rc a few rootR, \vhi1 h th<' huntt·r~ <'all bwcet ontons, havilll!; very little tast hut a good deal or llllfriment, ~rowinl! ~( n-er ·' \1 Y t·n rocky ground, and H'q' uiring a goofl deal of labor tog( t as he had onl! a pocket kuifc. Scarehin~ for thcsf', he foutHI a nt s~ f' l>i~ an ts, hluch he let run on his hand, and stripped th m ofT in hi~ mouth; these ad an agreeable acid taste. Ouc of his greatest privatious was the want |
