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Show THE JOUitNEY OUT, with the country, it contained many rich valleys, of co~siJerabie extent; and, from what we have been able to learn, from all the different sources of information with which we have been favored, it is our opinion, that that portion of count~·y la~ in? between Snake River and the main brunch of the Columbw, wdl1n the course . of tl.m e , be inhabited by a civilized people; as it doubtle. ss conta.L ns me good valleys·of land. The countl'y of the Spolunes, laymg so the Spokine Rive1·, is said to be good. That occupied by the ~:m· D Lion and Cal e:3pell Indians, contains many. Lakes and Marshes. Abput Fort Colville, on the upper Columbm, the Hudson's Bay Company cultivate the soil, with good success. Snake River, from where it leaves the Blue Mountains, to its junction, is clear of Falls and Rapids. · . From Dr. Whitman's Mission, we proceeded to Fort vValawala, situatecl on the East bunk of the Columbia, at the mouth of theWalawala River. Here we disposecl of our animals, procured canoes from the Indians, and huv ing obtained a pilot from them, we cast our frail barks, on th8 waters of the Columbia. The River, up and down from the Fort, us far as we could see, was broad and smooth, and we promised ourselves un agt·eeable passage: but we soon found that it was full of rock.,, whirlpools, and dangerous rapids; to follow through which, in safety, required the greatest exertion, watchfulness, and care. Our minds were constantly filled with anxiety and dread, and the wild munneL' in which our savage· guide warned us of approaching danger, had no ·'tendency to dispel our unpleasant feelings. On the first day after leaving the Fort,. one of our canoes, in whtch there were:three persons, one of whom was a lady, in passing through a narrow shoot in the Grand Rapids, struck a rock, upset, and filled instantly. The lady and her hus· band succeeded in gaining the rock; which was about three feet across the top, and just under the surface of the water. Our pilot succeeded in tal{ing them off in safety, and regained most of the· propert)'. We passed on to what is culled the Chutes, through many dangerous Rapids; to have accomplished which, would have been very impracticable, without skillful guidance. Here the River is wide, full of large rocks standing out of the water, and falls several feet. We were compelled to make a po1·tae1e of nearly 'l b a m1 e, ove1· the rocks and sand, carrying our canoes and baggage on our shoulders. Three miles below the Chutes, are the Little Dales; where the Rive1· !·unsthree hundred yards through a nar• row channel, between high rocks. Here we made another portage , WlTII ITS INCIDENTS. 35 of our baggage, and smallest canoe, and wi th some di~culty hired the Indians to run the others through the rugged Cun1cn. A few miles further, and we came to the Gt·eut Dales ; where we .were compelled to leave our snmllcst canoe, unu again make a portage of our baggage, a distance· of one and a half miles, ove r the rocks.-I~ Ie1·e, the whole Columbia runs through a Canion not more than seventy feet wide, whirling anu boil ing in a most fut·ious munnel', running with terrible velocity, ancl chafing agamst its rugged, rocky walis; and it requires the most dexterous management, which these wild navigators are musters of, to pass the dreadful chasm in safety. A single stroke amiss, '\H>Uld be inevitable de· struction. Three miles below the mouth of this Canion, am\ one hundred and twenty-five miles below Fort Walawnla, is the Wasco· pin Methodist Mission, at this time under the su porin tendence of Mr. Perkins, and situated half a mile from the South bank of the River. They hu ve a small Farm attuc hcd to the Mi' ion, undAr the superintendence of Mt·. Brewer. Both this nnd the Mission on the Walawalu Rivet·, though they are welllocutecl, for the purposes for which they arc intended, and conducted, perhaps, uccor· dine1 to the best J·ud crment of those who have cba1·ge of th em; have b 0 . pot yet, we believe, been productive of much, tf any, good. l~e r e we were obliged to re rm\ in rnot·e than n. day, on account of h1 gh wind, by which we were detain -d s veml day. on our p:1s age to the Cascade Falls. Frum the Mis ion to th FuJI.,, a distnnce of fifty miles, the River has scarcely uny cu rrent. Th"' M untai.ns are hio-h on either siuo, rocky, uud in rnany place3 covered wtth heav/:lforests of Pine; some of which, arc at least ton feet in diameter and three hundred fee t hig h. A sho rt distance below the Mission, we founcl the stump' of tree"', standing e rect, in ton or ftfte eu feet watc t·, us if a dum bud b8en thrown ucro.s::s the River, and the water bael~e d up ove r its natural shores. \Ve askeu the lmlians if thev knew how th ese stumps came to occupy their present position; .but none of them wero u!Jic to inG rm us. They have a tradition umong them, that long ago, the Columbia, in some part, ran under the gt·ound; and that, during. an eruption of M_olll:t St. Helens, the bt·idge fell in. Some such ctrcumstance as th1 s, Is the only way possib.lo, in which this anomaly can be accounted for, unless Cuptuin Fremont is correct, (which is certainl y, rxt remely doubtful:) in supposi!'!g them to be lund slides. For th ey at·o found no where below the Cascade Falls, although the character of the River, and its shores, is, above and below these Falls, |