initial commit of ebook 24816HEADmain

1 files changed, 6127 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/24816.txt b/24816.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fcd9084
--- /dev/null
+++ b/24816.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6127 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life at Puget Sound: With Sketches of
+Travel in Washington Territory, British Columbia, Oregon and California, by Caroline C. Leighton
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Life at Puget Sound: With Sketches of Travel in Washington Territory, British Columbia, Oregon and California
+
+Author: Caroline C. Leighton
+
+Release Date: March 13, 2008 [EBook #24816]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AT PUGET SOUND: SKETCHES OF TRAVEL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Bryan Ness, Greg Bergquist and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+LIFE AT PUGET SOUND
+
+WITH
+
+SKETCHES OF TRAVEL
+
+IN
+
+WASHINGTON TERRITORY, BRITISH COLUMBIA,
+OREGON, AND CALIFORNIA
+
+
+1865-1881
+
+BY
+
+CAROLINE C. LEIGHTON
+
+
+BOSTON
+LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS
+NEW YORK
+CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM
+1884
+
+
+
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1888,
+BY LEE AND SHEPARD.
+
+_All rights reserved._
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The following selections from observations and experiences during a
+residence of sixteen years on the Pacific Coast, while they do not claim
+to describe fully that portion of the country, nor to give any account
+of its great natural wealth and resources, yet indicate something of its
+characteristic features and attractions, more especially those of the
+Puget Sound region.
+
+This remote corner of our territory, hitherto almost unknown to the
+country at large, is rapidly coming into prominence, and is now made
+easy of access by the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The
+vast inland sea, popularly known as Puget Sound, ramifying in various
+directions, the wide-spreading and majestic forests, the ranges of
+snow-capped mountains on either side, the mild and equable climate, and
+the diversified resources of this favored region, excite the
+astonishment and admiration of all beholders. To the lovers of the grand
+and beautiful, unmarred as yet by any human interference, who appreciate
+the freedom from conventionalities which pertain to longer-settled
+portions of the globe, it presents an endless field for observation and
+enjoyment. There is already a steady stream of emigration to this new
+"land of promise," and every thing seems to indicate for it a vigorous
+growth and development, and a brilliant and substantial future.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER I.
+
+                                                                     PAGE
+
+  At Sea.--Mariguana Island.--Sea-Birds.--Shipwreck.--Life on
+  Roncador Reef.--The Rescue.--Isthmus of Panama.--Voyage to
+  San Francisco.--The New Baby.                                         1
+
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+
+  Port Angeles.--Indian "Hunter" and his Wife.--Sailor's
+  Funeral.--Incantation.--Indian Graves.--Chief Yeomans.--Mill
+  Settlements.--Port Gamble Trail.--Canoe Travel.--The
+  _Memaloost_.--Tommy and his Mother.--Olympic Range.--Ediz
+  Hook.--Mrs. S. and her Children.--Grand Indian
+  Wedding.--Crows and Indians.                                         18
+
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+
+  Indian Chief Seattle.--Frogs and Indians.--Spring Flowers
+  and Birds.--The Red _Tamahnous_.--The Little Pend
+  d'Oreille.--Indian Legend.--From Seattle to Fort
+  Colville.--Crossing the Columbia River Bar.--The River and
+  its Surroundings.--Its Former Magnitude.--The Grande
+  Coulee.--Early Explorers, Heceta, Meares, Vancouver,
+  Grey.--Curious Burial-Place.--Chinese
+  Miners.--Umatilla.--Walla Walla.--Sage-Brush and
+  Bunch-Grass.--Flowers in the Desert.--"Stick"
+  Indians.--Klickatats.--Spokane Indian.--Snakes.--Dead
+  Chiefs.--A Kamas-Field.--Basaltic Rocks.                             38
+
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+
+  Two Hundred Miles on the Upper Columbia.--Steamer
+  "Forty-Nine."--Navigation in a Canyon.--Pend d'Oreille River
+  and Lake.--Rock Paintings.--Tributaries of the Upper
+  Columbia.--Arrow Lakes.--Kettle
+  Falls.--Salmon-Catching.--Salmon-Dance.--Goose-Dance.                63
+
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+
+  Old Fort Colville.--Angus McDonald and his Indian
+  Family.--Canadian _Voyageurs_.--Father Joseph.--Hardships of
+  the Early Missionaries.--The Coeurs d'Alene and their
+  Superstitions.--The Catholic Ladder.--Sisters of Notre
+  Dame.--Skill of the Missionaries in instructing the
+  Indians.--Father de Smet and the Blackfeet.--A Native
+  Dance.--Spokanes.--Exclusiveness of the Coeurs
+  d'Alene.--Battle of Four Lakes.--The Yakima Chief and the
+  Road-Makers.                                                         75
+
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+
+  Colville to Seattle.--"Red."--"Ferrins."--"Broke Miners."--A
+  Rare Fellow-Traveller.--The Bell-Mare.--Pelouse
+  Fall.--Red-Fox Road.--Early Californians.--Frying-Pan
+  Incense.--Dragon-Flies.--Death of the Chief Seattle.                 93
+
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+
+  Port Angeles Village and the Indian Ranch.--A "Ship's
+  _Klootchman_."--Indian _Muck-a-Muck_.--Disposition of an Old
+  Indian Woman.--A Windy Trip to Victoria.--The Black
+  _Tamahnous_.--McDonald's in the Wilderness.--The Wild
+  Cowlitz.--Up the River during a Flood.--Indian
+  Boatmen.--Birch-Bark and Cedar Canoes.                              109
+
+
+  CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  Voyage to San Francisco.--Fog-Bound.--Port Angeles.--Passing
+  Cape Flattery in a Storm.--Off Shore.--The "Brontes."--The
+  Captain and his Men.--A Fair Wind.--San Francisco Bar.--The
+  City at Night.--Voyage to Astoria.--Crescent
+  City.--Iron-Bound Coast.--Mount St. Helen's.--Mount
+  Hood.--Cowlitz Valley and its Floods.--Monticello.                  124
+
+
+  CHAPTER IX.
+
+  Victoria.--Its Mountain Views, Rocks, and
+  Flowers.--Vancouver's Admiration of the Island.--San Juan
+  Islands.--Sir James Douglas.--Indian Wives.--Northern
+  Indians.--Indian Workmanship.--The Thunder-Bird.--Indian
+  Offerings to the Spirit of a Child.--Pioneers.--Crows and
+  Sea-Birds.                                                          137
+
+
+  CHAPTER X.
+
+  Puget Sound and Adjacent Waters.--Its Early
+  Explorers.--Towns, Harbors, and Channels.--Vancouver's
+  Nomenclature.--Juan de Fuca.--Mount Baker.--Chinese
+  "Wing."--Ancient Indian Women.--Pink Flowering Currant and
+  Humming-Birds.--"Ah Sing."                                          151
+
+
+  CHAPTER XI.
+
+  Rocky-mountain Region.--Railroad from Columbia River to
+  Puget Sound.--Mountain Changes.--Mixture of
+  Nationalities.--Journey to Coos Bay, Oregon.--Mountain
+  Canyon.--A Branch of the Coquille.--Empire City.--Myrtle
+  Grove.--Yaquina.--Genial Dwellers in the Woods.--Our Unknown
+  Neighbor.--Whales.--Pet Seal and Eagle.--A Mourning
+  Mother.--Visit from Yeomans.                                        165
+
+
+  CHAPTER XII.
+
+  Puget Sound to San Francisco.--A Model Vessel.--The
+  Captain's Relation to his Men.--Rough Water.--Beauty of the
+  Sea.--Golden-Gate Entrance.--San Francisco Streets.--Santa
+  Barbara.--Its Invalids.--Our Spanish Neighbors.--The
+  Mountains and the Bay.--Kelp.--Old Mission.--A Simoom.--The
+  Channel Islands.--A New Type of Chinamen.--An Old Spanish
+  House.                                                              182
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIII.
+
+  Our Aerie.--The Bay and the Hills.--The Little
+  Gnome.--Earthquake.--Temporary Residents.--The
+  Trade-Wind.--Seal-Rocks.--Farallon Islands.--Exhilarating
+  Air.--Approach of Summer.--Centennial
+  Procession.--Suicides.--Mission Dolores.--Father Pedro Font
+  and his Expedition.--The Mission Indians.--Chinese Feast of
+  the Dead.--Curious Weather.                                         199
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIV.
+
+  Quong.--His _Protege_.--His Peace-Offering.--The Chinese and
+  their Grandmothers.--Ancient Ideas.--Irish, French, and
+  Spanish Chinamen.--Chinese Ingenuity.--Hostility against the
+  Chinese.--Their Proclamations.--Discriminations against
+  them.--Their Evasion of the Law.--Their Perseverance against
+  all Obstacles.--Their Reverence for their Ancestors, and
+  Fear of the Dead.--Their Medical Knowledge.--Their Belief in
+  the Future.--Their Curious Festivals.--Indian Names for the
+  Months.--Resemblance between the Indians and
+  Chinese.--Their Superstitions.                                      220
+
+
+  CHAPTER XV.
+
+  Chun Fa's Funeral.--Alameda.--Gophers and Lizards.--Poison
+  Oak.--Sturdy Trees.--Baby Lizards.--Old Alameda.--Emperor
+  Norton.--California Generosity.--The Dead
+  Newsboy.--Anniversary of the Goddess Kum Fa.--Chinese Regard
+  for the Moon and Flowers.--A Shin Worshipper.                       242
+
+
+
+
+LIFE AT PUGET SOUND.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+     At Sea.--Mariguana Island.--Sea-Birds.--Shipwreck.--Life on
+     Roncador Reef.--The Rescue.--Isthmus of Panama.--Voyage to San
+     Francisco.--The New Baby.
+
+
+  ATLANTIC OCEAN, May 26, 1865.
+
+It is a great experience to feel the loneliness of the sea,--to see the
+whole circle of the heavens, and nothing under it but the rising and
+falling water, from morning till night, day after day.
+
+The first night we were out the porpoises came up at twilight, and
+sported round the vessel. I saw some sea-birds that seemed to be
+playing,--running and sliding on the green, glassy waves. In the wake of
+the vessel were most beautiful changing colors. Little Nelly S. sat with
+us to watch the phosphorescence. She said, "The stars in the sea call to
+me, with little fine voices, 'Nelly, Nelly, are you alive?'"
+
+
+  MAY 27, 1865.
+
+We have had our first sight of land,--Mariguana, a coral island, one of
+the Bahamas. Every one stood in silence to see it, it was so beautiful.
+The spray dashed so high, that, as it fell, we at first took it for
+streams and cascades. It was just at sunrise; and we cast longing looks
+at the soft green hills, bathed in light. Now it is gone, and we have
+only the wide ocean again. But a new color has appeared in the water,--a
+purplish pink, which looks very tropical; and there are blotches of
+yellow seaweed. Some of it caught in the wheel, and stopped it. The
+sailors drew it up, and gave it to the children to taste. It was like a
+little fruit, and they say the birds eat it.
+
+The sea is growing quite rough. I was thinking of being a little afraid,
+the vessel plunged so; but Mother Cary's chickens came out, and I
+thought I might as well consider myself as one of them, and not in any
+more danger than they are.
+
+
+  CARIBBEAN SEA, May 28, 1865.
+
+We have had a great experience of really rough weather. The spray dashed
+over the deck, and only the hardiest could keep up. Any one who tried to
+move was thrown off his feet. Preparations were made for divine service
+by lashing two boxes together in the middle of the deck, and spreading
+a flag over them. It was conducted by a Scotch Presbyterian minister. As
+he began his prayer, he received quite an addition to his congregation,
+in a flock of great birds, that appeared on my side of the vessel. They
+wheeled round, and settled down softly together. I do not know what they
+are, but suppose they are gulls of some kind. They have long, narrow
+wings, brown, with a little black, and snow-white underneath. I am half
+inclined to envy these wild, soulless creatures, that know no fear.
+
+
+  RONCADOR REEF, June 5, 1865.
+
+On Tuesday morning, May 30, between three and four o'clock, we were
+awakened by the sharp stroke of the engine-bell, a deep grinding sound,
+and the sudden stopping of the vessel. We knew that we had not arrived
+at our port of destination, and felt instinctively that something
+extraordinary had happened. For a moment all was silence; then inquiries
+arose from all sides, as to what was the matter. The engine seemed to be
+in a great state of commotion; and the vessel began to writhe with a
+heavy, laborious movement, as if attempting to free herself from the
+grasp of some monster. We dressed hastily, and went into the cabin,
+where we found a good many of the passengers, and learned that the
+vessel had struck on a coral-reef. We put on life-preservers, and sat
+waiting until daylight, expecting every moment the vessel would split.
+As soon as it was light enough, we went upon deck, and saw the sailors
+cut away the masts and smoke-stacks, which went over the side of the
+ship. The water dashed over the deck, so that we were obliged to go
+below. It seemed there as if we were under the ocean, with the water
+breaking over our heads. Chandeliers, glasses, and other movable
+articles were crashing together around us. The cabin was filled with
+people, quietly sitting, ready for they knew not what. But among all the
+seven hundred passengers there was no shrieking nor crying nor groaning,
+except from the little children, who were disturbed by the noise and
+discomfort. How well they met the expectation of death! Faces that I had
+passed as most ordinary, fascinated me by their quiet, firm mouths, and
+eyes so beautiful, I knew it must be the soul I saw looking through
+them. Some parties of Swedish emigrants took out their little
+prayer-books, and sat clasping each other's hands, and reading them. A
+missionary bound for Micronesia handed out his tracts in all directions,
+but no one took much notice of them. Generally, each one seemed to feel
+that he could meet death alone, and in his own way.
+
+In the afternoon a faint semblance of land was seen off on the horizon,
+and a boat was sent out to explore. It was gone a long time, and as
+night approached was anxiously looked for. Just about dark, it appeared
+in sight. As it drew near, we saw the men in it waving their hats, and
+heard them shouting, by which we knew they had succeeded in finding
+land. The men on the vessel gave a hearty response, but the women could
+not keep back their tears.
+
+That night the women and children were lowered with ropes, over the side
+of the vessel, into boats, and taken to a raft near by, hastily
+constructed on the rocks at the surface of the water, from loose spars,
+stateroom-doors, and such other available material as could be secured
+from the vessel. All night long we lay there, watching the dim outline
+of the ship, which still had the men on board, as she rose and fell with
+each wave,--the engine-bell tolling with every shock. The lights that
+hung from the side of the vessel increased the wild, funereal appearance
+of every thing about us. They continually advanced and receded, and
+seemed to motion us to follow them. There was a strange fascination
+about them, which I could not resist; and I watched them through the
+whole night.
+
+At daylight the next morning the ship's boats began to take us over to
+the island discovered the day before, which was slightly elevated above
+the surface of the water, and about four miles distant from the wreck.
+As we approached the shore, some new birds, unlike any I had seen
+before,--indolent-looking, quiet, and amiable,--flew out, and hovered
+over the boat, peering down at us, as if inquiring what strange
+creatures were about to invade their home. Probably they had never seen
+any human beings before. The sailors said they were "boobies;" and they
+certainly appeared very unsophisticated, and quite devoid of the wit and
+sprightliness of most birds.
+
+Only a few persons could be landed at a time, and I wandered about at
+first almost alone. It was two days before all the passengers were
+transferred. Every thing was so new and strange, that I felt as if I had
+been carried off to another planet; and it certainly was a great
+experience, to walk over a portion of the globe just as it was made, and
+wholly unaltered by man.
+
+I thought of an account of a wreck on this same water I had once read,
+in which the Caribbean was spoken of as the most beautiful though most
+treacherous of seas, and the intensity of color was mentioned. Such
+rose-color I never saw before as in the shells and mosses we find here,
+nor such lovely pale and green tints as the water all about us shows.
+
+We have been here on this bare reef six days, with the breakers all
+around us, and do not know whether we shall get off or not. We amuse
+ourselves every morning with looking at the pert little birds, as queer
+as the boobies, though quite different from them, that sit and nod to
+each other incessantly, and give each other little hits with their
+bills, as if these were their morning salutations,--a rough way of
+asking after each other's health.
+
+
+  SAN FRANCISCO, July 2, 1865.
+
+We are safely here at last, after forty-two days' passage,--longer than
+the children of Israel were in the wilderness. When we return it will be
+by a wagon-train, if the Pacific Railroad is not done.
+
+When we landed on Roncador Reef, we had no data for conjecturing where
+we were, except that we remembered passing the island of Jamaica at
+twilight on the evening preceding the wreck. We were afterwards
+informed that the vessel was seized by a strong current, and borne far
+away from her proper course. How gay we were that night, with our music
+and dancing, exhilarated all the more by the swiftness of the white,
+rushing water that drove us on to our fate!
+
+The heat on the island was so intense, that our greatest necessity was
+for some shelter from the sun. The only materials which the place
+furnished us were rocks of coral, with which we built up walls, over
+which were spread pieces of sail from the vessel. We lived in these
+lodges, in little companies. We sat together in ours in the daytime, and
+could not leave our shelter for a moment without feeling as if we were
+sunstruck. Every night we abandoned it, and slept out on the rocks; but
+the frequent little showers proved so uncomfortable that we were driven
+to great extremity to devise some covering. R.'s ingenuity proved equal
+to the emergency. He secured an opportunity to visit the vessel (which
+held together for some days) in one of the boats which were continually
+plying between her and the island, bringing over all available stores.
+All the mattresses and other bedding that could be secured had been
+distributed, mostly to the mothers and children. His penetrating eye
+detected the materials for a coverlet in the strips of painted canvas
+nailed to the deck. He managed without tools to tear off some pieces,
+and, by untwisting some tarred rope, to fasten them together; thus
+providing a quilt, which, if not comfortable, was at least waterproof,
+and served to draw over us when a shower came on. It was no protection,
+however, against the crabs, large and small, that used to crawl under
+it, and eat pieces out of our clothes, and even our boots, while we were
+asleep. These crabs were of the _hermit_ order. Each one, from the
+minutest to the largest, had taken possession of the empty shell of some
+other creature, exactly large enough for him, and walked about with it
+on his back, and drew himself snugly into it when molested. Every little
+crevice in the rocks had a white or speckled egg in it when we landed,
+and from these we made a few good meals. The one day the women spent on
+the island alone with the birds passed in the most friendly manner; but
+after the men and boys came, the larger ones abandoned us.
+
+We felt sorry not to bring away some of the beautiful shells which were
+plentiful there, and more gorgeous than any thing I ever saw before.
+While the living creature is in them, they are much brighter than after
+it is dead; and in the length of time it takes to bring them from
+tropical countries, they fade almost like flowers. Mrs. S. was so
+enterprising, and, I must say, so unaesthetic, as to try to concoct a
+meal from the occupants of some of the large conch-shells taken from the
+beach, cooking it for a considerable length of time in a large brass
+kettle, the only available utensil. Those who partook of it in our
+little group had cause to repent of their rashness; but we did not like
+to charge the injury to the lovely creatures which were sacrificed for
+this feast, preferring to "blame it on" to the brass kettle, as the
+California children would express it. The more cautious ones contented
+themselves with their two sea-biscuits and fragment of beef or pork per
+day, which were the regular rations served to each from the stores saved
+from the ship. Some surface water, found among the rocks, was carefully
+guarded, and sparingly dealt out.
+
+After we had been four or five days on the island, two of the ship's
+boats were sent out to seek assistance, manned by volunteer crews; one
+headed for Aspinwall, which was thought to be about two hundred and
+fifty miles distant, and the other to search for what was supposed to be
+the nearest land.
+
+Very early on the morning of the tenth day we heard the cry of "A
+sail!" We started up from our rocky beds, and stood, without daring to
+speak. There was a little upright shadow, about as large as a finger,
+against the sky. Every eye was turned to it, but no one yet dared to
+confirm it; and, even if it were a sail, those on board the vessel might
+not see our island, it was so low, or our flag of distress, as we had
+nothing on which to raise it very high. We stood for several minutes,
+without daring to look at each other with the consciousness that we were
+saved. We presently saw that there were two little schooners beating up
+against the wind, directly towards us, and that they carried the red
+English flag. They had been catching turtles on the Mosquito Coast. As
+soon as our boat reached them, they unloaded their turtles (which
+occupied them a day), with the exception of three large ones which they
+reserved for us, and then started at once.
+
+These small vessels were unequal to carrying away half the people on the
+island, and they had no arrangements for the comfort of passengers. A
+considerable number decided to embark on them, and commenced doing so;
+while the larger part of the company remained on the spot, to take their
+chance of escape in some other way, since communication with the world
+was now established.
+
+The next day we were all rejoiced by the appearance of two United States
+gunboats from Aspinwall, which point was reached by our other boat,
+after a rough experience; the waves having capsized her during the
+passage, and swallowed up the provisions and nautical instruments.
+
+It was then decided that all the company should be taken to Aspinwall by
+the United States vessels, and their boats and ours were at once put to
+service in transferring the people from the island; who, as they
+gathered up such fragments of their property as had been rescued from
+the wreck, and tied it up in bedquilts or blankets, shouldered their
+bundles, and moved slowly down to the point of departure,--their
+garments weather-stained and crab-eaten, some of them without shoes or
+hats, and all with much-bronzed faces,--presented a picturesque and
+beggarly appearance, in striking contrast to their aspect before the
+wreck.
+
+We were treated with the greatest kindness by every one connected with
+the gunboats. They took us in their arms, and carried us into the boats,
+and stood all night beside us, offering ice-water and wine. They greatly
+bewailed our misfortunes, and told us, that, when they heard of our
+condition, they put on every pound of steam the vessels would bear, in
+order to reach us as speedily as possible, fearing that some greater
+calamity might befall us,--that our supply of water might entirely fail,
+or that the trade-wind might change, and a storm bring the sea over the
+island. They told us, too, that we were very far off the track of
+vessels; and, if our boats had failed to bring succor, in all
+probability no one would ever have come there in search of us.
+
+The two schooners decided to remain a while, and wreck the vessel. As we
+steamed away from the reef, we passed her huge skeleton upon the rocks,
+the bell still hanging to the iron part of the frame.
+
+On the second day we reached Aspinwall, and disembarked. As we sat on
+the wharf, in little groups, on pieces of lumber or on our bundles,
+waiting for arrangements to be made for our transportation across the
+Isthmus, a black man, employed there, fixed his eye upon our
+dark-skinned Julia, and, approaching, asked if she "got free in the
+Linkum war." I told him that she did, and asked him where he came from.
+He said he was from Jamaica; and I said, "I suppose you have been free a
+long time?" to which he, replied, with great energy, "Before I was
+born, I was free," and repeated it again and again,--"before I was
+born."
+
+We found that Julia, to whom all things were new in the land of freedom,
+thought that the island where we spent so many days was a regular
+stopping-place on the way to California, and that the wreck was a
+legitimate mode of stopping; as one day she inquired if that was the way
+they always went to San Francisco, and said, if she had known travelling
+was so hard, she would not have started. This accounted for her
+equanimity, which surprised me, after the vessel struck the reef, as she
+sat quietly eating her cakes, while every thing was going to destruction
+around us, and the sea broke above our heads.
+
+In crossing the Isthmus of Panama, we were delighted with the neat
+appearance of the natives, whom we saw along the roadside, or sitting in
+their little huts near by, which were made of the trunks of the tall
+palm-trees, in columns, open at the side, and thatched with leaves.
+These people were clad in clean white garments, the women with muslins
+and laces drooping from their bare shoulders, and with bright flowers in
+their hair.
+
+On reaching Panama, the women there greeted us with great kindness and
+sympathy. One of them threw her arms around one of the first women of
+our party that she saw, and exclaimed, "Oh, we have thought so much
+about you! we were afraid you would die for want of water." It seemed
+strange that they should have cared so much, when a little while before
+they never knew of our existence. I felt as if I had hardly had a chance
+before in my life to know what mere humanity meant, apart from
+individual interest, and how strong a feeling it is. We realized still
+more the kindness of these "dear, dark-eyed sisters," when we opened the
+trunk of clothing which they sent on board the "America," the steamer
+that took us to San Francisco.
+
+The voyage up the Pacific coast was long and wearisome. For some days we
+felt seriously the ill effects of the island life and the tropic heat,
+and could only endure; until, one morning, we came up on deck, and there
+were the beautiful serrated hills of Old California. We had rounded Cape
+St. Lucas, and had a strong, exhilarating breeze from the coast, and
+began to be ourselves again.
+
+The monotony of our sea-life was broken by one event of special
+interest,--the addition of another human being to our large number. I
+must mention first,--for it seems as if they brought her,--that all one
+day we sailed in a cloud of beautiful gray-and-white gulls, flying
+incessantly over and around us, with their pretty orange bills and
+fringed wings and white fan-tails. They were very gentle and dove-like.
+They staid with us only that day. The last thing that I saw at night,
+far into the dark, was one flying after us; and, the next morning, we
+heard of the birth of the baby. She was christened in the cabin, the day
+after, by the Micronesian missionary, in the presence of a large
+company. A conch-shell from the reef served as the christening-basin.
+The American flag was festooned overhead; and, as far as possible, the
+cabin was put into festive array. She was named "Roncadora America,"
+from the reef, and the vessel on which she was born. The captain gave
+her some little garments he was carrying home to his own unborn baby,
+and the gold ties for her sleeves. When her name was pronounced, the
+ship's gun was fired; then the captain addressed the father, who held
+her, and presented him with a purse of fifty dollars from the
+passengers, ending in triumph with--
+
+          "And now, my friends, see Roncadora,
+          With freedom's banner floating o'er her."
+
+The father then uncovered her; she having made herself quite apparent
+before by wrestling with her little fists under the counterpane, and
+uttering a variety of wild and incomprehensible sounds. She proved a
+handsome baby, large and red, with a profusion of soft, dark hair.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+     Port Angeles.--Indian "Hunter" and his Wife.--Sailor's
+     Funeral.--Incantation.--Indian Graves.--Chief Yeomans.--Mill
+     Settlements.--Port Gamble Trail.--Canoe Travel.--The
+     _Memaloost_.--Tommy and his Mother. Olympic Range.--Ediz
+     Hook.--Mrs. S. and her Children.--Grand Indian Wedding.--Crows and
+     Indians.
+
+
+  PORT ANGELES, WASHINGTON TERRITORY,
+  July 20, 1865.
+
+We reached here day before yesterday, very early in the morning. We were
+called to the forward deck; and before us was a dark sea-wall of
+mountains, with misty ravines and silver peaks,--the Olympic Range, a
+fit home for the gods.
+
+A fine blue veil hung over the water, between us and the shore; and, the
+air being too heavy for the smoke of the Indian village to rise, it lay
+in great curved lines, like dim, rainbow-colored serpents, over sea and
+land.
+
+I thought it was the loveliest place I had ever seen. The old Spanish
+explorers must have thought so too, as they named it "Port of the
+Angels."
+
+We found that the path to our house was an Indian trail, winding about
+a mile up the bluff from the beach; the trees shutting overhead, and all
+about us a drooping white spirea, a most bridal-looking flower. Here and
+there, on some precipitous bank, was the red Indian-flame. Every once in
+a while, we came to a little opening looking down upon the sea; and the
+sound of it was always in our ears. At last we reached a partially
+cleared space, and there stood the house; behind it a mountain range,
+with snow filling all the ravines, and, below, the fulness and prime of
+summer. We are nearly at the foot of the hills, which send us down their
+snow-winds night and morning, and their ice-cold water. Between us and
+them are the fir-trees, two hundred and fifty and three hundred feet
+high; and all around, in the burnt land, a wilderness of bloom,--the
+purple fireweed, that grows taller than our heads, and in the richest
+luxuriance, of the same color as the Alpine rose,--a beautiful
+foreground for snowy hills.
+
+The house is not ready for us. We are obliged at present, for want of a
+chimney, to stop with our nearest neighbor. But we pay it frequent
+visits. Yesterday, as we sat there, we received a call from two Indians,
+in extreme undress. They walked in with perfect freedom, and sat down
+on the floor. We shall endeavor to procure from Victoria a dictionary of
+the Haidah, Chinook, and other Indian languages, by the aid of which we
+shall be able to receive such visitors in a more satisfactory manner. At
+present, we can only smile very much at them. Fortunately, on this
+occasion, our carpenter was present, who told us that the man was called
+"Hunter," which served as an introduction. Hunter took from the woman a
+white bag, in which was a young wild bird, and put it into my hands. The
+carpenter said that this Indian had done some work for him, bringing up
+lumber from the beach, etc., and had come for his pay; that he would not
+take a white man's word for a moment, but if, in making an agreement
+with him, a white man gave him a little bit of paper with _any thing_
+written on it, he was perfectly satisfied, and said, "You my _tilikum_
+[relation]--I wait."
+
+The neighbor with whom we are stopping says, that, the night before we
+came, a wildcat glared in at her as she sat at her window.
+
+It looks very wild here, the fir-trees are so shaggy. I think the bears
+yet live under them. Many of the trees are dead. When the setting sun
+lights up the bare, pointed trunks, the great troops of firs look like
+an army with spears of gold, climbing the hills.
+
+
+  JULY 30, 1865.
+
+To-day, as we were descending by the trail from the bluff to the beach,
+we saw a funeral procession slowly ascending the wagon-road. It came
+from the Sailors' Hospital. We waited until it passed. The cart
+containing the coffin was drawn by oxen, and followed by a little white
+dog and a few decrepit sailors. There was no sign of mourning, but a
+reverent look in their faces. The body had been wrapped in a flag by
+brotherly hands. The deep music of the surf followed them, and the dark
+fir-branches met overhead.
+
+In California, the poorest of people, by the competition of undertakers,
+are furnished, at low rates, with the use of silver-mounted hearses and
+nodding plumes, a shrouding of crape, and a long line of carriages. Even
+those who have really loved the one who is gone seem, in some
+incomprehensible way, to find a solace in these manifestations, and
+would have considered this sailor's solitary funeral the extreme of
+desolation. But Nature took him gently to her bosom; the soft sky and
+the fragrant earth seemed to be calling him home.
+
+We found by inquiry that it was the funeral of an entirely unknown
+sailor, who had not even any distant friends to whom he wished messages
+sent. His few possessions he left for the use of the children of the
+place, and quietly closed his eyes among strangers, returning peacefully
+to the unknown country whence he came.
+
+
+  AUGUST 2, 1865.
+
+We went this morning to an Indian _Tamahnous_ (incantation), to drive
+away the evil spirits from a sick man. He lay on a mat, surrounded by
+women, who beat on instruments made by stretching deer-skin over a
+frame, and accompanied the noise thus produced by a monotonous wail.
+Once in a while it became quite stirring, and the sick man seemed to be
+improved by it. Then an old man crept in stealthily, on all-fours, and,
+stealing up to him, put his mouth to the flesh, here and there,
+apparently sucking out the disease.
+
+
+  AUGUST 17, 1865.
+
+Hunter stopped to rest to-day on our door-steps. He had a haunch of
+elk-meat on his back, one end resting on his head, with a cushion of
+green fern-leaves. He called me "_Closhe tum-tum_" (Good Heart), and
+gave me a great many beautiful smiles.
+
+We find that there are a number of canoes suspended in the large
+fir-trees on some of our land, with the mummies of Indians in them.
+These are probably the bodies of chiefs, or persons of high rank. There
+is also a graveyard on the beach, which is gay with bright blankets,
+raised like flags, or spread out and nailed upon the roofs over the
+graves, and myriads of tin pans: we counted thirty on one grave. A
+looking-glass is one of the choicest of the decorations. On one we
+noticed an old trunk, and others were adorned with rusty guns.
+
+Last night there came a prolonged, heavy, booming sound, different from
+any thing we had heard before. In the morning we saw that there had been
+a great landslide on the mountain back of us, bringing down rocks and
+trees.
+
+
+  AUGUST 30, 1865.
+
+Yeomans, an old Indian chief, the _Tyee_ of the Flat-heads at Port
+Angeles, came to see us to-day. He pointed to himself, and said, "Me all
+the same white man;" explaining that he did not paint his face, nor
+drink whiskey. Mrs. S., at the light-house, said that she had frequently
+invited him to dinner, and that he handled his napkin with perfect
+propriety; although he is often to be seen sitting cross-legged on the
+sand, eating his meal of sea-urchins.
+
+He is very dramatic, and described to us by sounds only, without our
+understanding any of the words, how wild the water was at Cape Flattery,
+and how the ships were rocked about there. It was thrilling to hear the
+sounds of the winds as he represented them: I felt as if I were in the
+midst of a great storm.
+
+His little tribe appear to have great respect for his authority as a
+chief, and show a proper deference towards him. He is a mild and gentle
+ruler, and not overcome by the pride and dignity of his position. He is
+always ready to assist in dragging our boat on to the beach, and does
+not disdain the dime offered him in compensation for the service.
+
+His son, a grown man, no longer young, who introduced himself to us as
+"Mr. Yeomans's son," and who appears to have no other designation, is
+much more of a wild Indian than the old man. Sometimes I see him at
+night, going out with his _klootchman_ in their little canoe; she,
+crouched in her scarlet blanket at one end, holding the dark sail, and
+the great yellow moon shining on them.
+
+I used to wonder, when we first came here, what their interests were,
+and what they were thinking about all the time. Little by little we find
+out. To-night he came in to tell us that there was going to be a great
+_potlach_ at the coal-mines, where a large quantity of _iktas_ would be
+given away,--tin pans, guns, blankets, canoes, and money. How his eyes
+glistened as he described it! It seems that any one who aspires to be a
+chief must first give a _potlach_ to his tribe, at which he dispenses
+among them all his possessions.
+
+This afternoon, as I sat at my window, my attention was attracted by a
+little noise. I looked up; and there was a beautiful young Indian girl,
+holding up a basket of fruit, of the same color as her lips and cheeks.
+It was a delicious wild berry that grows here, known as the red
+huckleberry. Mrs. S. knew her, and told me that she was the daughter of
+the old chief, lately betrothed to a Cape Flattery Indian.
+
+
+  SEPTEMBER 20, 1865.
+
+Everywhere about Puget Sound and the adjoining waters are little arms of
+the sea running up into the land, like the fiords of Northern Europe.
+Many of them have large sawmills at the head. We have been travelling
+about, stopping here and there at the little settlements around the
+mills. We were everywhere most hospitably received. All strangers are
+welcomed as guests. Every thing seems so comfortable, and on such a
+liberal scale, that we never think of the people as poor, although the
+richest here have only bare wooden walls, and a few articles of
+furniture, often home-made. It seems, rather, as if we had moved two or
+three generations back, when no one had any thing better; or, as if we
+might perhaps be living in feudal times, these great mill-owners have
+such authority in the settlements. Some of them possess very large
+tracts of land, have hundreds of men in their employ, own steamboats and
+hotels, and have large stores of general merchandise, in connection with
+their mill-business. They sometimes provide amusements for the men,
+little dramatic entertainments, etc.,--to keep them from resorting to
+drink; and encourage them to send for their families, and to make
+gardens around their houses.
+
+The house where we stopped at Port Madison was very attractive. The
+maple-trees had been cut down to build it; but life is so vigorous here,
+that they grew up under the porch, and then, as they became taller, came
+outside, and curved up around it, so that it was a perfect nest. The
+maple here is not just like the Eastern tree, but has a larger, darker
+leaf. Inside, the rooms were large and low, with great fireplaces filled
+with flaming logs, that illuminated them brilliantly.
+
+We began our expedition round the Sound in a plunger,--the most
+atrocious little craft ever constructed. Its character is well expressed
+by its name. These boats are dangerous enough in steady hands; but, as
+they are exceedingly likely to be becalmed, the danger is very much
+increased from the temptation to drink that seems always to assail the
+captain and men in these wearisome delays.
+
+To avoid waiting two or three days at Port Madison for the steamer, we
+determined to cross to the next port by an Indian trail through the
+woods; though we were told that it was very rough travelling, and that
+no white woman had ever crossed there, and, also, that we might have to
+take circuitous routes to avoid fires. We started early in the morning,
+allowing the whole day for the journey. We passed through one of the
+burnt regions, where the trees were still standing, so gray and spectral
+that it was like a strange dream. Farther along we heard a prolonged,
+mournful sound, that we could not account for; but, in a little while,
+we came to where the bright flames were darting from the trunks and
+branches, and curling around them. The poor old trees were creaking and
+groaning, preparatory to falling. We were obliged, occasionally, to
+abandon the trail; or, rather, it abandoned us, being burnt through.
+Off the path, the underbrush was almost impassable; the vine-maple, with
+crooked stems and tangled branches, with coarse briers and vines, knit
+every thing together. It seemed more like a tropical than a northern
+forest, there were so many glossy evergreen leaves. We recognized among
+them the holly-leaf barberry (known also as the Oregon grape), one of
+the most beautiful of shrubs. Its pretty clusters of yellow flowers were
+withered, and its fruit not yet ripe. We found also the sallal,--the
+Indian's berry,--the salmon-colored raspberry, and the coral-red
+huckleberry. Occasionally we heard the scream of a hawk, or the whirring
+of great wings above our heads; but, for the most part, we tramped on in
+perfect silence. The woods were too dark and dense for small birds.
+
+It was curious to notice how much some of the little noises sounded like
+whispers, or like footsteps. There was hardly a chance that there could
+be any other human beings there besides ourselves. It recalled to me the
+Indian's dread of _skookums_ (spirits) in the deep woods. To him, the
+mere flutter of a leaf had a meaning; the sighing of the wind was
+intelligible language. So many generations of Indians had crossed that
+trail, and so few white people, I felt as if some subtile aroma of
+Indian spirit must linger still about the place, and steal into our
+thoughts. Occasionally an owl stirred in the thicket beside us, or we
+caught a glimpse of the mottled beauty of a snake gliding across our
+path. The great boom and crash of the falling trees startled us, until
+we were used to it, and understood it.
+
+Whenever we left the trail, we felt some doubt lest we might not find it
+again, or might happen upon an impassable stream that would cut us off
+from farther progress; not feeling quite equal to navigating with a pole
+on a snag, after the fashion of the Indians.
+
+Near sunset, when the woods began to grow darker around us, we saw a
+bird, about as large as a robin, with a black crescent on his breast.
+His song was very different from that of the robin, and consisted of
+five or six notes, regularly descending in minor key. It thrilled me to
+hear it in the solitary woods: it was like the wail of an Indian spirit.
+
+It began to be quite a serious question to us, what we were to do for
+the night; as how near or how far Port Gamble might be, we could not
+tell. There was no possibility of our climbing the straight fir-trees,
+with branches high overhead; and to stop on the ground was not to be
+thought of, for fear of wild beasts. We hastened on, but the trail
+became almost undistinguishable before the lights of Port Gamble
+appeared below us. As we descended to the settlement, we were met with
+almost as much excitement on the part of the mill people, who had never
+crossed the trail, as if we had risen from the water, or floated down
+from the sky, among them.
+
+We take great satisfaction in the recollection of this one day of pure
+Indian life.
+
+The next day we decided to try a canoe. We should not have ventured to
+go alone with the Indians, not understanding their talk; but another
+passenger was to go with us, who represented that he had learned the
+only word it would be necessary to use. He explained to us, after we
+started, that the word was "_hyac_," which meant "hurry up;" the only
+danger being that we should not reach Port Townsend before dark, as they
+were apt to proceed in so leisurely a way when left to themselves. After
+a while, the bronze paddlers--two _siwashes_ (men) and two _klootchmen_
+(women)--began to show some abatement of zeal in their work, and our
+fellow-passenger pronounced the talismanic word, with some emphasis;
+whereat they laughed him to scorn, and made some sarcastic remarks,
+half Chinook and half English, from which we gathered that they advised
+him, if he wanted to reach Port Townsend before dark, to tell the sun to
+stop, and not tell them to hurry up. We could only look on, and admire
+their magnificent indifference. They stopped whenever they liked, and
+laughed, and told stories. The sky darkened in a very threatening way,
+and a heavy shower came on; but it made not the slightest difference to
+them. After it was over, there was a splendid rainbow, like the great
+gate of heaven. This animated the Indians, and their spirits rose, so
+that they began to sing; and we drifted along with them, catching enough
+of their careless, joyous mood, not to worry about Port Townsend,
+although we did not reach the wharf till two or three hours after dark.
+
+A day or two after, we found, rather to our regret, that we should be
+obliged to take a canoe again, from Port Discovery. The intoxicated
+"Duke of Wellington"--an Indian with a wide gold band round his hat, and
+a dilapidated naval uniform--came down, and invited us to go in his
+sloop. We politely declined the offer, and selected Tommy, the only
+Indian, we were told, who did not drink. With the aid of some of the
+bystanders, we asked his views of the weather. He said there would
+undoubtedly be plenty of wind, and plenty of rain, but it would not make
+any difference: he had mats enough, and we could stop in the woods. But,
+as we had other ideas of comfort, we waited two days; and, as the
+weather was still unsettled, we took the precaution, before starting, to
+give him his directions for the trip: "_Halo_ wind, Port Angeles; _hyiu_
+wind, Dungeness," meaning that we were to have the privilege of stopping
+at Dungeness if it should prove too stormy to go on. So he and his
+little _klootchman_, about as big as a child of ten, took us off. When
+we reached the portage over which they had to carry the canoe, he
+pointed out the place of the _memaloost_ (the dead). I see the Indians
+often bury them between two bodies of water, and have wondered if this
+had any significance to them. I have noticed, too, that their
+burial-places have always wild and beautiful surroundings. At this
+place, the blue blankets over the graves waved in the wind, like the
+wings of some great bird. A chief was buried here; and some enormous
+wooden figures, rudely carved, stood to guard him. They looked old and
+worn. They had long, narrow eyes, high cheek-bones, and long upper lips,
+like true Indians, with these features somewhat exaggerated.
+
+We tried to talk with Tommy a little about the _memaloost_. He said it
+was all the same with an Indian, whether he was _memaloost_, or on the
+_illahie_ (the earth); meaning that he was equally alive. We were told
+at the store, that Tommy still bought sugar and biscuits for his child
+who had died.
+
+When we reached the other side of the portage, the surf roared so loud,
+it seemed frightful to launch the canoe in it; but Tommy praised R. as
+_skookum_ (very strong) in helping to conduct it over. He seemed much
+more good-natured than the Indians we had travelled with before. He
+smiled at the loon floating past us, and spoke to it.
+
+When we reached Dungeness, he represented that it would be very rough
+outside, in the straits. So he took us to a farmhouse. I began to
+suspect his motive, when I saw that there was a large Indian encampment
+there, and he pointed to some one he said was all the same as his mamma.
+It was the exact representation of a sphinx,--an old gray creature lying
+on the sand, with the upper part of her body raised, and her lower limbs
+concealed by her blanket. I expected to see Tommy run and embrace her:
+but he walked coolly by, without giving her any greeting whatever; and
+she remained perfectly imperturbable, never stirred, and her expression
+did not change in the least. I was horror-stricken, but afterwards
+altered my views of her, and came to the conclusion that she was a good,
+kind mother, only that it was their way to refrain from all appearance
+of emotion. When we started the next morning, she came down to the canoe
+with the little _klootchman_, loaded with presents, which she carried in
+a basket on her back, supported by a broad band round her
+head,--smoking-hot venison, and a looking-glass for the child's grave,
+among them. The old lady waded into the water, and pushed us off with
+great energy and strong ejaculations.
+
+As we approached Port Angeles, we had a fine view of the Olympic Range
+of mountains,--shining peaks of silver in clear outline; later, only
+dark points emerging from seas of yellow light. Little clouds were drawn
+towards them, and seemed like birds hovering over them, sometimes
+lighting, or sailing slowly off.
+
+
+  EDIZ HOOK LIGHT, September 23, 1865.
+
+This light-house is at the end of a long, narrow sand-spit, known by the
+unpoetical name of Ediz Hook, which runs out for three miles into the
+Straits of Fuca, in a graceful curve, forming the bay of Port Angeles.
+Outside are the roaring surf and heavy swell of the sea; inside that
+slender arm, a safe shelter.
+
+In a desolate little house near by, lives Mrs. S., whose husband was
+recently lost at sea. She is a woman who awakens my deepest wonder, from
+her being so able to dispense with all that most women depend on. She
+prefers still to live here (her husband's father keeps the light), and
+finds her company in her great organ. One of the last things her husband
+did was to order it for her, and it arrived after his death. I think the
+sailors must hear it as they pass the light, and wonder where the
+beautiful music comes from. There is something very soft and sweet in
+her voice and touch.
+
+Sometimes I see the four children out in the boat. The little girls are
+only four and six years old, yet they handle the oars with ease. As I
+look at their bare bright heads in the sunshine, they seem as pretty as
+pond-lilies. I feel as if they were as safe, they are so used to the
+water.
+
+
+  PORT ANGELES, October 1, 1865.
+
+Port Angeles has been the scene of a grand ceremony,--the marriage of
+Yeomans's daughter to the son of a Makah chief. Many of the Makah tribe
+attended it. They came in a fleet of fifty canoes,--large, handsome
+boats, their high pointed beaks painted and carved, and decorated with
+gay colors. The chiefs had eagle-feathers on their heads, great
+feather-fans in their hands, and were dressed in black bear-skins. Our
+Flat-heads in their blankets looked quite tame in contrast with them.
+They approached the shore slowly, standing in the canoes. When they
+reached the landing in front of Yeomans's ranch, the congratulations
+began, with wild gesticulations, leapings, and contortions. They were
+tall, savage-looking men. Some of them had rings in their noses; and all
+had a much more primitive, uncivilized look, than our Indians on the
+Sound. I could hardly believe that the gentlemanly old Yeomans would
+deliver up his pretty daughter to the barbarians that came to claim her,
+and looked to see some one step forward and forbid the banns; but the
+ceremony proceeded as if every thing were satisfactory. There may be
+more of the true old Indian in him than I imagined; or perhaps this is a
+political movement to consolidate the friendship of the tribes. When
+they landed, they formed a procession, bearing a hundred new blankets,
+red and white, as a _potlach_ to the tribe. They brought also some of
+the much-prized blue blankets, reserved for special ceremonies and the
+use of chiefs.
+
+What occurred inside the lodge, we could not tell; but were quite
+touched at seeing Yeomans's son take the flag from his dead sister's
+grave, and plant it on the beach at high-water mark, as if it were a
+kind of participation, on the part of the dead girl, in the joy of the
+occasion.
+
+
+  OCTOBER 5, 1865.
+
+Flocks of crows hover continually about the Indian villages. The most
+proverbially suspicious of all birds is here familiar and confiding. The
+Indian exercises superstitious care over them, but whether from love or
+fear we could never discover. It is very difficult to find out what an
+Indian believes. We have sometimes heard that they consider the crows
+their ancestors. It is a curious fact, that the Indians, in talking,
+make so much use of the palate,--_kl_ and other guttural sounds
+occurring so often,--and that the crow, in his deep "caw, caw," uses the
+same organ. It may be significant of some psychological relationship
+between them.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+     Indian Chief Seattle.--Frogs and Indians.--Spring Flowers and
+     Birds.--The Red _Tamahnous_.--The little Pend d'Oreille.--Indian
+     Legend.--From Seattle to Fort Colville.--Crossing the Columbia
+     River Bar.--The River and its Surroundings.--Its Former
+     Magnitude.--The Grande Coulee.--Early Explorers, Heceta, Meares,
+     Vancouver, Grey.--Curious Burial-Place.--Chinese
+     Miners.--Umatilla.--Walla Walla.--Sage-Brush and
+     Bunch-Grass.--Flowers in the Desert.--"Stick"
+     Indians.--Klickatats.--Spokane Indian.--Snakes.--Dead Chiefs.--A
+     Kamas-Field.--Basaltic Rocks.
+
+
+  SEATTLE, WASHINGTON TERRITORY,
+  November 5, 1865.
+
+We saw here a very dignified Indian, old and poor, but with something
+about him that led us to suspect that he was a chief. We found, upon
+inquiry, that it was Seattle, the old chief for whom the town was named,
+and the head of all the tribes on the Sound. He had with him a little
+brown sprite, that seemed an embodiment of the wind,--such a swift,
+elastic little creature,--his great-grandson, with no clothes about him,
+though it was a cold November day. To him, motion seemed as natural as
+rest.
+
+Here we first saw Mount Rainier. It was called by the Indians _Tacoma_
+(The nourishing breast). It is also claimed that the true Indian name is
+_Tahoma_ (Almost to heaven). It stands alone, nearly as high as Mont
+Blanc, triple-pointed, and covered with snow, most grand and
+inaccessible-looking.
+
+We have a great laurel-tree beside our house. It looks so Southern, it
+is strange to see it among the firs. It has a dark outer bark, and a
+soft inner skin; both of which are stripped away by the tree in growing,
+and the trunk and branches are left bare and flesh-colored. It has
+glossy evergreen leaves, and bright red berries, that look very cheerful
+in contrast with the snow.
+
+
+  APRIL 6, 1866.
+
+The frogs have begun to sing in the marsh, and the Indians in their
+camps. How well their voices chime together! All the bright autumn days,
+we used to listen to the Indians at sunset; but after that, we heard no
+sound of them for several months. They sympathize too much with Nature
+to sing in the winter. Now the warm, soft air inspires them anew. All
+through the cold and rainy months, as I looked out from my window, there
+was always the little black figure in the canoe, as free and as
+unembarrassed by any superfluities as the birds that circled around it.
+It seemed a mistake, when the most severe weather came, for them to have
+made no preparation whatever to meet it. It drove the women into our
+houses, with their little bundles of "fire-sticks" (pitch-wood) to sell.
+I offered one of them a pair of shoes; but she pointed to the snow, and
+said it was "hot," and that it would make her feet too cold to wear
+shoes.
+
+We were told, before we came here, that this climate was like that of
+Asia; and now an Asian flower has come to confirm it. The marshes are
+all gay with it: it is the golden club. The botany calls it the
+Orontium, because it grows on the banks of the Orontes; and it is very
+Asian-looking. It has a great wrapper, like the rich yellow silk in
+which the Japanese brought their presents to President Lincoln. It is a
+relation to the calla-lily, but is larger.
+
+The very last day of winter, as if they could not possibly wait a day
+longer, great flocks of meadow-larks came, and settled down on the field
+next to us. They are about as large as robins, and have a braided work
+of black-and-gold to trim off their wings, and a broad black collar on
+their orange breasts. They appear to have a very agreeable consciousness
+of being in the finest possible condition. The dear old robins look
+rather faded beside them. With them came the crimson-headed linnets. In
+trying to identify these little birds from our books, I found that great
+confusion had prevailed in regard to them, because their nuptial plumage
+differs so much from their ordinary dress. These darlings blushed all
+over with life and joy, which told me their secret.
+
+
+  APRIL 30, 1866.
+
+In the winter we were told, that, when the spring came fully on, the
+Indians would have the "_Red Tamahnous_," which means "love." A little,
+gray old woman appeared yesterday morning at our door, with her cheeks
+all aglow, as if her young blood had returned. Besides the vermilion
+lavishly displayed on her face, the crease at the parting of her hair
+was painted the same color. Every article of clothing she had on was
+bright and new. I looked out, and saw that no Indian had on any thing
+but red. Even old blind Charley, whom we had never seen in any thing but
+a black blanket, appeared in a new one of scarlet. But I was most
+touched by the change in this woman, because she is, I suppose, the
+oldest creature that I ever looked at. Nothing but a primeval rock ever
+seemed to me so old; and when we had seen her before, she was like a
+mummy generally in her clothing. These most ancient creatures have their
+little stiff legs covered with a kind of blue cloth, sewed close round
+them, just like the mummy-wrappings I have seen at Barnum's Museum. She
+has more vivacity and animation than any one else I ever saw. If anybody
+has a right to bright cheeks, she has. I like the Indians' painting
+themselves, for in them it is quite a different thing from what it is in
+fashionable ladies. They do it to show how they feel, not commonly
+expressing their emotions in words.
+
+This woman, who is a Pend d'Oreille, has the most extraordinary power of
+modulation in her voice. The Indians, by prolonging the sound of words,
+add to their force, and vary their meaning; so that the same word
+signifies more or less, according as it is spoken quickly or slowly. She
+has such a searching voice, especially when she is attempting to convict
+me of any subterfuge or evasion, that I have to yield to her at once.
+The Indians have no word, as far as I can learn, for "busy." So, when I
+cannot entertain her, I have to make the nearest approach I can to the
+truth, and tell her I am sick, or something of that kind; but nothing
+avails, with her, short of the absolute truth. She is so very fantastic
+and entertaining, that I should cultivate her acquaintance more, if it
+were not for this deficiency in the language, which makes it impossible
+to convey the idea to her when I want to get rid of her. As old as she
+is, she still carries home the great sacks of flour--a hundred
+pounds--on her back, superintends the salmon-fishery for the family,
+takes care of the _tenas men_ (children), and looks after affairs in
+general.
+
+
+  MAY 10, 1866.
+
+We walked out to Lake Union, and found an Indian and his wife living in
+a tree. The most primitive of the Indians, the old gray ones, who look
+the most interesting, do not commonly speak the Chinook at all, or have
+any intercourse with the whites. On the way there, we found the peculiar
+rose that grows only on the borders of the fir-forest, the wild white
+honeysuckle, and the glossy _kinni-kinnick_--the Indian tobacco.
+
+We saw a nest built on the edge of the lake, rising and falling with the
+water, but kept in place by the stalks of shrubs about it. A great brown
+bird, with spotted breast, rose from it. I recognized it as the
+dabchick. The Indians say that this bird was once a human being, wife to
+an Indian with whom she quarrelled. He was transformed to the great
+blue heron, and stalks about the marshes. With the remnant of her
+woman's skill, she makes these curious nests, in sheltered nooks, on the
+edges of lakes. She dived below the water, and we peeped in at her
+babies. Their floating nest was overhung by white spirea. They had
+silver breasts, and pale blue bills. I wondered that their little
+bleating cry did not call her back; but, though below the water, she
+seemed to know that we were near, and as long as we lingered about she
+would not return.
+
+We are going on a long journey to the north, part of it over a desert
+table-land, where for four days there will be no house,--a part of the
+country frequented by the Snake River Indians and the Nez Perces, who
+are inclined to be hostile. It is near the territory of the Pend
+d'Oreilles. I have seen one of them, with a pretty, graceful ornament in
+her ear.
+
+
+  FORT COLVILLE, WASHINGTON TERRITORY,
+  June 8, 1866.
+
+We travelled by steamer from Seattle to Portland, thence by a succession
+of steamers as far as Wallulla. We then took the stage for Walla Walla,
+at which point public accommodation for travel ceases. We stopped there
+two or three days, seeking a conveyance across the country to this
+point; and finally secured a wagoner, who agreed to transport us and our
+luggage for a hundred dollars, the distance being two hundred miles.
+
+The most interesting part of the journey was the passage of the
+Columbia. The bar at the mouth of the river is a great hinderance to its
+free navigation; and vessels are often detained for days, and even
+weeks, waiting for a favorable opportunity to cross. We waited five days
+outside in the fog, hearing all the time the deep, solemn warning of the
+breakers, to keep off. Our steadfast captain, as long as he could see
+nothing, refused to go on, knowing well the risk, though he sent the
+ship's boats out at times to try to get his bearings. In all that time,
+the fog never once lifted so that he could get the horizon-line. At the
+end of the fifth day, he entered in triumph, with a clear view of the
+river, the grandest sight I have ever seen. The passengers seemed hardly
+to dare to breathe till we were over the bar. Some of them had witnessed
+a frightful wreck there a few years before, when, after a similar
+waiting in the fog for nearly a week, a vessel attempted to enter the
+river, and struck on the bar. She was seen for two days from Astoria,
+but the water was so rough that no life-boat could reach her. The
+passengers embarked on rafts, but were swept off by the sea.
+
+As we passed into the river, I sat on deck, looking about. All at once I
+felt a heavy thump on my back, and a wave broke over my head,--a pretty
+rough greeting from the sea. It seems that we slightly grounded, but
+were off in an instant.
+
+I had long looked forward to the wonderful experience of seeing this
+immense river, seven miles broad, rolling seaward, and the great line of
+breakers at the bar; but no one can realize, without actually seeing it,
+how much its grandeur is enhanced by the surroundings of interminable
+forest, and the magnificence of its snow-mountains. The character of the
+river itself is in accordance with every thing about it, especially
+where it breaks through the Cascade Mountains in four miles of rapids;
+and still higher up, shut between basaltic walls, rushes with deafening
+roar through the narrow passage of the Dalles, where it is compressed
+into one-eighth of its width. For a long time I could not receive any
+other sensation, nor admit any other thought, but of its terrific
+strength. The Indians say that in former times the river flowed smoothly
+where are now the whirling rapids of the Cascades, but that a landslide
+from the banks dammed up the stream, and produced this great change. How
+many generations have repeated the account of this wonderful occurrence,
+from one to another, to bring it down to our times! This is now accepted
+by scientific men as undoubtedly the fact.
+
+It is hard to conceive the idea of the geologists, that this is only the
+remnant of a vastly greater Columbia, that formerly occupied not only
+its present bed, but other channels, now abandoned, including the Grande
+Coulee, between whose immense walls it poured a current ten miles broad
+at the mouth; and that the water was at some time one or two thousand
+feet above the present level of the river, as shown by the terraces
+along its banks, and fragments of drift caught in fissures of the rock.
+The Grande Coulee is like an immense roofless ruin, extending north and
+south for fifty miles. Strange forms of rock are scattered over the
+great bare plain. To the Indians, it is the home of evil spirits. They
+say there are rumblings in the earth, and that the rocks are hot, and
+smoke. Thunder and lightning, so rare elsewhere on the western coast,
+are here more common. The evidences of volcanic action are everywhere
+apparent,--in the huge masses and curious columns of basaltic and
+trap-rock, the lava-beds through which the rivers have found their way,
+and the powdery alkaline soil. The marks of glaciers are also as
+distinct in the bowlders, and the scooping-out of the beds of lakes. The
+gravelly prairies between the Columbia and Puget Sound, and the
+Snoqualmie, Steilaguamish, and other flats, show that the Sound was
+formerly of much more extensive proportions than at present.
+
+The Columbia was first discovered on the 15th of August, 1775, by Bruno
+Heceta, a Spanish explorer, who found an opening in the coast, from
+which rushed so strong a current as to prevent his entering. He
+concluded that it was the mouth of some great river, or possibly the
+Straits of Fuca, which might have been erroneously marked on his chart.
+As this was the anniversary of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, he
+named the opening _Ensenada de Asuncion_ (Assumption Inlet); and it was
+afterwards called, in the charts published in Mexico, _Ensenada de
+Heceta_, and _Rio de San Roque_. He gave to the point on the north side
+the name of Cape _San Roque_; and, to that on the south, Cape _Frondoso_
+(Leafy Cape).
+
+Meares, in 1788, gave the name of Cape Disappointment to the northern
+point, owing to his not being able to make the entrance of the river,
+and the mouth he called Deception Bay, and asserted that there was no
+such river as the St. Roc, as laid down in the Spanish charts.
+
+Vancouver also, when exploring the Pacific coast in 1792, passed by this
+great stream, without suspecting that there was a river of any
+importance there. He noticed the line of breakers, and concluded, that,
+if there was any river, it must be unnavigable, from shoals and reefs.
+He had made up his mind, that all the streams flowing into the Pacific
+between the fortieth and forty-eighth parallels of latitude were mere
+brooks, insufficient for vessels to navigate, and not worthy his
+attention.
+
+Capt. Grey, who reached the place shortly after, with keener observation
+and deeper in-sight, saw the indications of a great river there, and
+after lying outside for nine days, waiting a favorable opportunity to
+enter, succeeded in doing so on the 11th of May, 1792, being the first
+to accomplish that feat, and explored the lower portion of it. He gave
+to the river and to the southern point the names they now bear.
+
+Vancouver failed in the same way to discover the Fraser, the great river
+of British Columbia, although he actually entered the delta of the
+river, and sailed about among the sand-banks, naming one of them
+Sturgeon Bank; while the Spanish explorers, who were there about the
+same time, recognized the fact of its existence far out at sea, in the
+irregular currents, the sand-banks, the drift of trees and logs, and
+also in the depression in the Cascade Mountains, which marks its
+channel.
+
+In 1805 Lewis and Clarke, who reached the mouth of the Columbia that
+year, found that the Indians called the river "_Shocatilcum_" (friendly
+water).
+
+Tourists have not yet discovered what a wonderful country this is for
+sight-seeing, fortunately for us. On our passage up the Columbia, after
+leaving Portland, we sat for two or three days, almost alone, on the
+deck of the steamer, with nothing to break the silence but the deep
+breathing of the boat, which seemed like its own appreciation of it; and
+sailed past the great promontories, some of them a thousand feet high,
+and watched the slender silver streams that fall from the rocks, and
+felt that we were in a new world,--new to us, but older and grander than
+any thing we had ever seen.
+
+We were shown a high, isolated rock, rising far above the water, on
+which was a scaffolding, where, for many generations, the Indians had
+deposited their dead. They were wrapped in skins, tied with cords of
+grass and bark, and laid on mats. Their most precious possessions were
+placed beside them, first made unserviceable for the living, to secure
+their remaining undisturbed. The bodies were always laid with the head
+toward the west, because the _memaloose illahie_ (land of the dead) lay
+that way.
+
+In the instincts of children and of uncivilized people, there seems
+something to trust. This idea of Heaven's lying toward the west appears
+to have been held by the New-England Indians also, and is expressed in
+Whittier's lines,--
+
+              "O mighty Sowanna!
+                Thy gateways unfold,
+              From thy wigwam of sunset
+                Lift curtains of gold!
+          Take home the poor spirit whose journey is o'er--
+          _Mat wonck kunna-monee!_ We see thee no more!"
+
+The Chinese have also the "peaceful land in the west," lying far beyond
+the visible universe.
+
+Farther up the river, we passed some abandoned diggings, where little
+colonies of patient, toilsome Chinamen had established themselves, and
+were washing and sifting the earth discarded by previous miners; making,
+we were told, on the average, two or three cents to the pan. The
+Chinaman regularly pays, as a foreigner (and is almost the only
+foreigner who does so), his mining-license tax to the State. He never
+seeks to interfere with rich claims, and patiently submits to being
+driven away from any neglected spot he may have chosen if a white man
+takes a fancy to it.
+
+We stopped one night at Umatilla City, a cheerless little settlement at
+the junction of the Umatilla River with the Columbia, in the midst of a
+bleak, dreary waste of sand and sage-brush, without a sign of a tree in
+any direction, a perfect whirlwind blowing all the time. What could
+induce people to live there, I could not imagine.
+
+We stopped a day or two at Walla Walla, where one of the early forts was
+established; the post having been transferred from Wallula, where it was
+called Fort "Nez Perces," from the Indians in that vicinity, who wore in
+their noses a small white shell, like the fluke of an anchor.
+
+The journey from Walla Walla to Fort Colville occupied eleven days and
+nights, during which time we did not take a meal in a house, nor sleep
+in a bed. It was cold, rainy, and windy, a good deal of the time, but we
+enjoyed it notwithstanding. To wake up in the clear air, with the
+bright sky above us, when it was pleasant; and to reach at night the
+little oases of willows and birches and running streams where we
+camped,--was enough to repay us for a good deal of discomfort. At one of
+the camping-grounds,--Cow Creek,--a beautiful bird sang all night; it
+sounded like bubbling water.
+
+For several days we saw only great sleepy-looking hills, stretching in
+endless succession, as far as the horizon extended, from morning till
+night, as if a billowy ocean had been suddenly transfixed in the midst
+of its motion. They have only thin vegetation on them,--not enough to
+disturb or conceal the beautiful forms, the curves which the waves leave
+on the hills they deposit. Their colors are very subdued,--pale salmon
+from the dead grass, or light green like a thin veil, with the red earth
+showing dimly through. There is no change in looking at them, but from
+light to shadow, as the clouds move over them.
+
+We travelled, for a long distance, over sage-brush and alkali plains. In
+this part of the country, sage-brush is a synonym for any thing that is
+worthless. We found the little woody twigs of it available for our
+camping-fires; but its amazing toughness reminded me of a story told by
+Mr. Boller, in his book "Among the Indians." He was taking a band of
+mustang half-breeds from California to Montana, when, to his surprise,
+one of the mares presented him with a foal. Supposing it would be
+impossible for it to keep up with the party, he took out his revolver to
+shoot it. Twice he raised it, but the little fellow trotted along so
+cheerily that his heart failed him, and he returned it to the holster.
+The colt swam creeks breast-high for the horses, and travelled on with
+sublime indifference to every thing but the gratification of its keen
+little appetite. He resolved to take it through, thinking it would never
+do to destroy an animal of so much pluck, and named it "Sage-brush." It
+swam every stream, flinched from nothing, and arrived in good order in
+Montana, a distance of three hundred miles, having travelled every day
+from the time it was half an hour old. Its name was most appropriate, as
+an illustration of the character of the plant.
+
+Intermixed with the wastes of sage-brush were patches of bunch-grass.
+The horses sniffed it with delight as luxuriant pasturage. It is curious
+to see how nature here acts in the interest of civilization. The old
+settlers told us that many acres formerly covered with sage-brush were
+now all bunch-grass. It is a peculiarity of the sage-brush, that fire
+will not spread in it. The bush which is fired will burn to the ground,
+but the next will not catch from it. The grass steals in among the
+sage-brush; and, when that is burned, it carries the fire from one bush
+to another. Although the grass itself is consumed, the roots strike
+deep; and it springs up anew, overrunning the dead sage-brush.
+
+Then we came to the most barren country I ever saw,--nothing but broken,
+rusty, worm-eaten looking rocks, where the rattlesnakes live. But here
+grew the most beautiful flower, peach-blossom color. It just thrust its
+head out of the earth, and the long pink buds stretched themselves out
+over the dingy bits of rock; and that was all there was of it. We took
+some of the roots, which are bulbous, and shall try to furnish them with
+sufficient hardships to make them grow.
+
+One night, while in this region, we camped on a hill where the cayotes
+came up and cried round us, which made it seem quite wild.
+
+Wherever there was any soil, there was another little plant that was
+very pretty to notice, both for itself, and because of its adaptation to
+the climate in the dry season. It was coated with a delicate fur; and
+long after the hot sun was up, and when every thing else was dry, great
+diamonds of dew glistened in its soft hair. We saw a great many plants
+of the lupine family, in every variety of shade, from crimson, blue, and
+purple, to white.
+
+On the last days we had all the time before us dark mountains, with snow
+on their summits, and troops of trees on their sides, and ravines with
+sun-lighted mists travelling through them. It was like getting into an
+inhabited country, to reach the trees again: they were almost like human
+beings, after what we had seen. The Spokane River divides the great
+treeless plain on the south from the timbered mountainous country to the
+north.
+
+During this journey, we came upon various little bands of Indians, of
+different tribes. We noticed the superiority of the "stick" Indians
+(those who live in the woods) over those who live by the sea. The former
+have herds of horses, and hunt for their living. The Indians who live by
+fishing are of tamer natures, poor and degraded, compared to those of
+the interior.
+
+We saw at Walla Walla some of the Klickatats, from the mountains. They
+were very bright and animated in their appearance, and wore fringed
+dresses and ornamented leggings, and moccasins of buffalo-skin. They
+were mounted upon fancy-colored and spotted horses, which they prize
+above all others. They presented such a striking contrast to the lazy
+Clalams on the Sound,--who used to say to us in reply to our inquiries
+as to their occupations and designs, "_Cultus nannitsh, cultus
+mitlight_" (look about and do nothing), as if that were their whole
+business all day long,--that I was reminded of what some of the early
+explorers said, that no two nations of Europe differed more widely from
+each other than the different tribes of Indians.
+
+One day we met an Spokane Indian, of very striking appearance, with a
+face like Dante's, but with a happier expression. He was most becomingly
+clothed in white blankets, compactly folded about him, with two or three
+narrow red stripes across his bonnet of the same material, which had a
+red peaked border, completely encircling the face, like an Irishwoman's
+night-cap, or rather day-cap, but much more picturesque. He was scouring
+the hills and plains between the Snake and Spokane Rivers, mounted on a
+gay little pony, in search of stolen horses. Upon being questioned as to
+his abiding-place, he informed us that he did not live anywhere.
+
+We saw some representatives of another tribe of Indians, the Snakes.
+They call themselves Shoshones, which means only "inland Indians." The
+white people called them Snakes, probably because of their marvellous
+power of eluding pursuit, by crawling off in the long grass, or diving
+in the water. They seemed more wild and agile than any we had seen. The
+Snakes were a very numerous tribe when the traders first came among
+them. When questioned as to their number, by the agents of "The Great
+White Chief," they said, "It is the same as the stars in the sky." They
+were a proud, independent people, living mostly on the plains, hunting
+the buffalo. They kept no canoes; depending only on temporary rafts of
+bulrushes or willows, if not convenient to ford or swim across the
+streams. They were the only Indians of this part of the country who had
+any knowledge of working in clay,--their necessities obliging them to
+make rude jugs in which to carry water across the bare plains. The
+mountain Snakes were outlaws, enemies to all other tribes. They lived in
+bands, in rocky caverns; and were said to have a wonderful power of
+imitating all sounds of nature, from the singing of birds to the howling
+of wolves,--by this means diverting attention from themselves, and
+escaping detection in their roving, predatory expeditions.
+
+When we reached the ferry on the Snake River, we saw some Indians
+swimming their horses across. They were a bunting-party of Spokanes and
+Nez Perces. Strapped on to one of the horses, with a roll of blankets,
+was a Nez Perces baby. This infant, though apparently not over a year
+and a half old, sat erect, grasping the reins, with as spirited and
+fearless a look as an old warrior's.
+
+At one of the portages, we saw some graves of chiefs; the bodies
+carefully laid in east-and-west lines, and the opening of the lodge
+built over them was toward the sunrise. On a frame near the lodge were
+stretched the hides of their horses, sacrificed to accompany them to
+another world. The missionaries congratulate themselves that these
+barbarous ceremonies are no longer observed, that the Indian is weaned
+from his idea of the happy hunting-ground, and the sacrilegious thought
+of ever meeting his horse again is eradicated from his mind. I thought
+with satisfaction that the missionary really knows no more about the
+future than the Indian, who seems ill adapted to the conventional idea
+of heaven. For my part, I prefer to think of him, in the unknown future,
+as retaining something of his earthly wildness and freedom, rather than
+as a white-robed saint, singing psalms, and playing on a harp.
+
+Between the Snake and the Spokane are several beautiful lakes. We met a
+hunter coming from one of them, who had shot a white swan. He said he
+found it circling round and round its dead mate, in so much distress
+that he thought it was a kindness to kill it.
+
+We passed two great smoking mounds, and, on alighting to investigate,
+found that we were in the midst of a kamas-field, where a great many
+Indian women and children were busy digging the root, and roasting it in
+the earth.
+
+Some of the old women wore the fringed skirt, made of cloth spun and
+woven from the soft inner bark of the young cedar, which they used to
+wear before blankets were introduced.
+
+The Indians eat other roots beside the kamas, but that is the one on
+which they chiefly depend. As soon as the snow is off the ground, they
+begin to search for a little bulbous root they call the _pohpoh_. It
+looks like a small onion, and has a dry, spicy taste. In May they get
+the _spatlam_, or bitter-root. This is a delicate white root, that
+dissolves in boiling, and forms a bitter jelly. The Bitter Root River
+and Mountains get their name from this plant. In June comes the kamas.
+It looks like a little hyacinth-bulb, and when roasted is as nice as a
+chestnut. We have seen it in blossom, when its pale-blue flowers
+covered the fields so closely that, at a little distance, we took it for
+a lake. One of the women, seeing our curiosity as we watched them, drew
+some of the bulbs out of the earth ovens, and handed them to us. As we
+tasted them, they explained that they were not ready to eat; that it
+would take two or three days to roast them sufficiently. This they live
+upon for two or three months; with the salmon, it is their chief article
+of food. The women stop at the kamas-grounds, while the men go to the
+fishing-stations.
+
+In August they gather the choke-berry and service-berry, to dry for the
+winter. When they are reduced to great extremity for food, they
+sometimes boil and eat the moss and lichens on the trees, which the deer
+eats. Most of the work of digging the roots, and picking the berries,
+falls upon the women. On this account, a Spokane man in marrying joins
+the tribe of his wife, instead of her joining his tribe; thinking, if he
+takes her away from the places where she has been accustomed to find her
+roots and berries, she may not succeed, in a new place, in discovering
+them.
+
+We saw, in the vicinity of the Pelouse River, some remarkable basaltic
+rocks, that looked like buildings with columns and turrets and
+bastions. Some of them were like my idea of the great kings' tombs of
+the Egyptians. The colors on them were often very Egyptian-like,--bright
+sulphur-yellow, and brown, and sometimes orange and dark
+red,--incrustations of lichen and weather-staining. We saw, also, walls
+of pentagonal columns of rock, packed closely together. Where the
+Pelouse enters the Snake River, are immense ledges of square blocks.
+When we camped there, and I lay down beneath them at night, "Swedish
+_trappa_, a stair," from the geological text-book, was always running in
+my mind,--this black trap-rock made such great steps that led up towards
+the sky.
+
+We have seen here a splendid specimen of gold, which is to be sent to
+the Exposition at Paris. It is granulated, and sparkles as I never saw
+gold before. Some one suggests that a thin film of quartz may be
+crystallized over it.
+
+Next week we hope to go up within sight of the whirlpools of Death's
+Rapids, a long distance above here, on the Columbia River. These rapids
+are so named on account of the number of persons who have been lost in
+attempting to navigate them. Their names are cut into the rocks at the
+side of the passage; their bodies have never been found.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+     Two Hundred Miles on the Upper Columbia.--Steamer
+     "Forty-Nine."--Navigation in a Canyon.--Pend d'Oreille River and
+     Lake.--Rock Paintings.--Tributaries of the Upper Columbia.--Arrow
+     Lakes.--Kettle
+     Falls.--Salmon-Catching.--Salmon-Dance.--Goose-Dance.
+
+
+  FORT COLVILLE, July 20, 1866.
+
+We have just returned from a trip on the Columbia River, extending two
+hundred miles north into British Columbia, on the little steamer built
+in this vicinity for the purpose of carrying passengers and supplies to
+the Big Bend and other mines in the upper country. We did not get to the
+"Rapids of the Dead." The boat, this time, did not complete her ordinary
+trip. Some of the passengers came to the conclusion that the river was
+never intended to be navigated in places she attempted to run through.
+It is a very adventurous boat, called the "Forty-nine," being the first
+to cross that parallel,--the line separating Washington Territory from
+British Columbia. The more opposition she meets with, and the more
+predictions there are against her success, the more resolute she is to
+go through; on which account, we were kept three weeks on the way, the
+ordinary length of the passage being four days. I was surprised, when we
+came to the first of what was called the "bad water," to see the boat
+aim directly for it. It was much better, the captain said, to go "head
+on," than to run the risk of being carried in by an eddy. I never saw
+any river with such a tendency to whirl and fling itself about as the
+Upper Columbia has. It is all eddies, in places where there is the least
+shadow of a reason for it, and even where there is not; influenced, I
+suppose, by the adjoining waters. Some of these whirl-pits are ten or
+fifteen feet deep, measured by the trees that are sucked down into them.
+
+The most remarkable part of the river is where it is compressed to
+one-sixth of its width, in passing through a mountain gorge
+three-quarters of a mile long. The current is so strong there, that it
+takes from four to six hours for the steamer to struggle up against it,
+and only one minute to come down. The men who have passed down through
+it, in small boats, say that it is as if they were shot from the mouth
+of a cannon.
+
+When we reached this canyon, our real difficulties began. We attempted
+to enter it in the afternoon, but met with an accident which delayed us
+until the next morning. Meanwhile the river began to rise. It goes up
+very rapidly, fifty, sixty, I believe even seventy, feet, sometimes. We
+waited twelve days in the woods for it to subside. The captain cut us a
+trail with his axe; and we sat and looked at the great snow-fields up on
+the mountains, so brilliant that the whitest clouds looked dark beside
+them. The magnificence of the scenery made every one an artist, from the
+captain to the cook, who produced a very beautiful drawing of three
+snow-covered peaks, which he called "The Three Sisters."
+
+Everybody grew very impatient; and at length, one night, the captain
+said he would try it the next morning, although he had never before been
+up when the water was so high. A heavy rain came on, lasting all night,
+so that it seemed rather desperate to attempt going through, if the
+river was too high the night before; and I could hardly believe it, when
+I heard the engineer getting up the steam to start. The wildest weather
+prevailed at this time, and on all important occasions. As soon as we
+went on board the boat, in first starting, a violent thunder-storm came
+on, lightning, hail, and rain; and a great pine-tree came crashing
+down, and fell across the bow of the boat. A similar storm came again
+the first time we tried to enter the canyon; and the drift it brought
+down so interfered with the steering, that it led to the accident before
+mentioned. On this last morning, there were most evident signs of
+disapproval all about us,--the sky perfect gloom, and the river
+continually replenishing its resources from the pouring rain, and
+strengthening itself against us. But we steamed up to the entrance of
+the canyon. Then the boat was fastened by three lines to the shore, and
+the men took out a cable six hundred feet in length, which they carried
+along the steep, slippery rocks, and fastened to a great tree. One of
+them rolled down fifty feet into the water, but was caught by his
+companions before he was whirled away. They then returned to the boat,
+let on all the steam, and began to wind up the cable on the capstan.
+With the utmost power of the men and steam, it was sometimes impossible
+to see any progress. Finally, however, that line was wound up; and the
+boat was again secured to the bank, and the cable put out the second
+time. This part of the passage was still more difficult; and, after the
+line was arranged, two men were left on shore with grappling-irons to
+keep it off the rocks,--a great, fine-looking one, who appeared equal to
+any emergency, and a little, common one, with sandy hair and a
+lobster-colored face and neck. We watched them intently; and, as we drew
+near, we saw that the line had caught on something beneath the surface
+of the water, so that they could not extricate it. The little man toiled
+vigorously at it, standing in the water nearly up to his head; but
+appeared to be feebly seconded, by the big one, who remained on the
+rocks. It seemed as if the line would part from the strain, or the boat
+strike the next moment. The mate shouted and gesticulated to them; but
+no voice could be heard above the raging water, and they either could
+not understand his motions, or could not do as they were directed. The
+boat bore directly down upon them. Presently it seemed evident to us
+that the little man must sacrifice himself for the steamer; but I did
+not know how it looked to him,--people are all so precious to
+themselves. He stopped a second, then flung back his cap and pole, and
+threw himself under the boiling water. Up came the rope to the surface,
+but the man was gone. Instantly after, he scrambled up the bank; and the
+great magnificent man did nothing but clutch him on the back when he
+was safely out.
+
+We had then wound up about two-thirds of the cable. Immediately after,
+this remarkable occurrence took place: The great heavy line came wholly
+up out of the water. A bolt flew out of the capstan, which was a signal
+for the men who were at work on it to spring out of the way. The captain
+shouted, "Cut the rope!" but that instant the iron capstan was torn out
+of the deck, and jumped overboard, with the cable attached to it. I felt
+thankful for it, for I knew it was the only thing that could put an end
+to our presumptuous attempt. I had felt that this rope would be a great
+snare to us in case of accident. Three of our four rudders were broken;
+but the remaining one enabled us to get into an eddy that carried us to
+a little cove, where we stopped to repair damages sufficiently to come
+down the river.
+
+All day, the rain had never ceased; and the river had seemed to me like
+some of those Greek streams that Homer tells of, which had so much
+personal feeling against individuals. I felt as if we were going to be
+punished for an audacious attempt, instead of rewarded for what might
+otherwise have been considered a brave one. When the capstan
+disappeared, it was just as if some great river-god, with a whiff of
+his breath, or a snap of his fingers, had tossed it contemptuously
+aside. So we turned back defeated. But there was a great deal to enjoy,
+when we came to think of it afterwards, and were safely out of it. We
+had seen nothing so bold and rugged before. An old Scotchman, who knows
+more about it than any one else here, had said to us before we started,
+"That British Columbia is such a terrible country, very little can ever
+be known of it." But there was a great deal that was beautiful too. I
+was particularly struck with the manner in which the Pend d'Oreille
+springs into the Columbia. Glen Ellis Fall, gliding down in its
+swiftness, always seemed to me more beautiful than almost any thing else
+I ever saw. But this river is more demonstrative. It springs up, and
+falls again in showers of spray, and comes with great leaps out of the
+canyon, in a way that I cannot describe. There is in it more freedom and
+strength and delight than in any thing else I ever saw. Far to the
+south-east, this stream widens into Lake Pend d'Oreille. On this lake
+are the wonderful painted rocks, rising far above the water, upon which,
+at the height of several hundred feet, are the figures of men and
+animals, which the Indians say are the work of a race that preceded
+them. They are afraid to approach the rocks, lest the waters should rise
+in anger, and ingulf them. There are also hieroglyphic figures far up on
+the rocks of Lake Chelan, which is supposed to have once been an arm of
+the Columbia. These paintings or picture-writings must have been made
+when the water was so high in the lakes that they could be done by men
+in boats.
+
+Most of the tributaries of the Upper Columbia are similar in character
+to the main stream,--wild, unnavigable rivers, flowing through deep
+canyons, and full of torrents and rapids. With Nature so vigorous and
+unsubdued about us, all conventionalities seemed swept away; and
+something fresh and strong awoke in us, as if it had long slumbered
+until the presence of its kindred in these mountain streams called it to
+consciousness,--something of the force and freedom of these wild,
+tireless Titans, that poured down their white floods to the sea.
+
+Most of these streams rise in lakes, and in some part of their course
+spread again into one or more lakes; as, the Arrow Lakes of the
+Columbia, the Flat-head, Kootenay, Pend d'Oreille, and Coeur d'Alene,
+and the beautiful string of lakes of the Okinakane, and many others.
+
+As we passed through the Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, which
+lie in British Columbia, we had some splendid views of mountain scenery.
+The Upper Lake is thirty-three miles long, and three in width,
+crystalline water, surrounded by snow-covered peaks and precipices, and
+forests of pine and cedar. The second is sixteen miles below the first,
+forty-two miles in length, and two and a half wide. Innumerable arrows
+were sticking in the crevices of the rocks. Formerly every Indian who
+passed deposited an arrow,--intended probably as an offering to the
+spirit that rules over the chase, just as the Indian medicine-man, when
+he gathers his roots, makes an offering to the earth.
+
+The Catholic missionaries were much surprised to find crosses erected
+sometimes in lonely places, and at first supposed some other priests
+must have preceded them; but learned that they were set up by the
+Indians, in honor of the moon, to induce her to favor their nightly
+expeditions for robbery or the chase.
+
+
+  JULY 22, 1866.
+
+We have been on an excursion to Kettle Falls on the Columbia, where the
+river dashes over the huge rocks in a most picturesque way. These falls
+were called _La Chaudiere_ by the Canadian _voyageurs_, because the
+pool below looks like a great boiling caldron. We noticed that limestone
+there replaced the black basalt, of which we had seen so much, the water
+falling over a tabular bed of white marble.
+
+There we saw some Indians engaged in spearing salmon, as the fish were
+attempting to leap the falls, in their passage up the stream to their
+breeding-places. They do not always succeed in passing the falls at
+their first leap, sometimes falling back two or three times. Many of
+them are dashed on the rocks at the Cascades, and at other points where
+the river presents obstacles to their progress. An immense number become
+victims to the nets of the fishermen, and the traps and spears of the
+Indians; and those that escape these dangers, and reach the upper
+waters, are very much bruised and battered,--"spent salmon" they are
+called. After their long journey of six or seven hundred miles from the
+sea, it seems as if they would be filled with despair at the sight of
+these boiling cataracts. They refuse bait on the way, apparently never
+stopping for food, from the time they leave the salt water. Often with
+fins and tails so worn down as to be almost useless, their noses worn to
+the bone, their eyes sunken, sometimes wholly extinguished, they
+struggle on to the last gasp, to ascend the streams to their sources. In
+calm weather they swim near the surface, and close to the shore, to
+avoid the strong current; and they are so possessed with this one
+purpose, and so regardless of every thing about them, that the Indians
+catch hundreds of them by merely slipping the gaff-hook under their
+bodies, and lifting them out of the water,--selecting the best to
+preserve for food, and throwing aside those that they consider as
+worthless. These pale, emaciated creatures, I looked at with the
+greatest interest. How strong is the impulse that carries them through,
+in spite of these almost insurmountable obstacles! It is beyond our
+knowledge, why, in coming in from the sea, they pass certain streams to
+enter others; but this they are known to do, so perfectly do they
+understand the mysterious direction given them.
+
+The early explorers witnessed many ceremonies among the Indians not now
+observed by them; as, the salmon-dance, to celebrate the taking of the
+first salmon in the river. When the earliest spring salmon was caught in
+the Columbia, the Indians were extremely particular in their dealings
+with it. No white man could obtain it at any price, lest, by opening it
+with a knife instead of a stone, he should drive all following salmon
+from the river. Certain parts must be eaten with the rising, and others
+with the falling, tide; and many other minute regulations carefully
+observed. After the salmon-berry ripened, they relaxed their vigilance,
+feeling that by that time the influx was secure.
+
+The Gros Ventres celebrated the goose-dance, to remind the wild geese,
+as they left in the autumn, that they had had good food all summer, and
+must come back in the spring. This dance was performed by women, each
+one carrying a bunch of long seed-grass, the favorite food of the wild
+goose. They danced to the sound of the drum, circling about with
+shuffling steps.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+     Old Fort Colville.--Angus McDonald and his Indian Family.--Canadian
+     _Voyageurs_.--Father Joseph.--Hardships of the Early
+     Missionaries.--The Coeurs d'Alene and their Superstitions.--The
+     Catholic Ladder.--Sisters of Notre Dame.--Skill of the Missionaries
+     in instructing the Indians.--Father de Smet and the Blackfeet.--A
+     Native Dance.--Spokanes.--Exclusiveness of the Coeurs
+     d'Alene.--Battle of Four Lakes.--The Yakima Chief and the
+     Road-Makers.
+
+
+  FORT COLVILLE, July 25, 1866.
+
+We have been making a little visit to Old Fort Colville, one of the
+Hudson Bay stations, kept by Angus McDonald, an old Scotchman, who has
+been there for a great many years. He is an educated gentleman, of a
+great deal of character and intelligence; and his wife is an Indian
+woman, who cannot live more than half the year in the house, and has to
+wander about, the rest of it, with her _tilicums_ (relations and
+friends).
+
+It was interesting to see how this cultivated man, accustomed to the
+world as he had been, had adapted himself to life in this solitary spot
+on the frontier, with his Indian children for his only companions. He
+has about ten. In some of them the Scotch blood predominated, but in
+most the Indian blood was more apparent. The oldest son, a grown man,
+was a very dark Indian, decorated with wampum. Christine, the oldest
+daughter, resembled her father most. She kept house for him, because, as
+she explained to us, her mother could not be much in-doors. She spoke,
+too, of disliking to be confined. I asked her where she liked best to
+be; and she said, with the Blackfeet Indians, because they had the
+prettiest dances, and could do such beautiful bead-work; and described
+their working on the softened skins of elk, deer, and antelope, making
+dresses for chiefs and warriors. We had a sumptuous meal of
+Rocky-Mountain trout, buffalo-tongues, and pemmican. Although Christine
+was, in some respects, quite a civilized young lady, she occasionally
+betrayed her innocence of conventionalities, as when she came and
+whispered to me, before the meal was announced, what the chief dishes
+were to be. She mentioned, as one of the delicacies of the Blackfeet,
+berries boiled in buffalo-blood.
+
+Mr. McDonald told us many stories about the Canadian _voyageurs_
+employed by the Hudson Bay Company, illustrating their power of
+endurance and their elastic temperament. One of their men, he said, was
+lost for thirty-five days in the woods, and finally discovered by the
+Indians, crawling on his hands and feet towards a brook, nearly
+exhausted, but still keeping up his courage. He asked us if we could
+conjecture how he had kept alive all that time, with no means whatever,
+outside of himself, to procure food. He had actually succeeded in making
+a fine net from his own hair, with which he caught small fishes,
+devouring them raw, accompanied by a little grass or moss; not daring to
+eat any roots or berries, lest they might be poisonous, as the country
+was new to him. These Canadians are as brown as Indians, from their
+constant exposure to the sun and wind, and have adapted themselves
+completely to Indian ways, wearing a blanket _capote_, leather trousers,
+moccasins, and a fur cap, with a bright sash or girdle to hold a knife
+and a tobacco-pouch. Their half-breed children are generally excellent
+canoe-men and hunters, with the vivacity of the father, and the
+endurance of the mother's race. Marcel Bernier, one of these French
+Canadians, was one of the early settlers in the Cowlitz Valley; and we
+have travelled with him between the Columbia River and Puget Sound, and
+once stopped at his house over night. It was quite different from the
+common Indian houses; having pillow-cases trimmed with ruffles and lace,
+and great bear-skin mats on the door. The baby slept in a little hammock
+swung from the ceiling. The family were devoted Catholics, and sung
+matins and vespers, and had pictures and images of saints about the
+room. We were quite impressed by the advance in civilization which the
+little admixture of French blood had brought.
+
+Christine took us to see an ancient Indian woman, who remembers the
+country when there were no white people in it. She has the fifth
+generation of her children about her. She is wholly blind, her eyes
+mostly closed, only little bloodshot traces of them left. She sat
+serenely in the sunshine, hollowing out a little canoe of pine-bark for
+the youngest, two little girls who swam in the arm of the river before
+the tent-door.
+
+We went with Christine also up on the bluff to see Father Joseph, a
+Catholic priest, who represented to me a new class of men, whom I had
+known before only in books. His eyes were as clear blue as Emerson's
+ideal ones, that tell the truth; and I knew he meant it, when he
+answered a question I asked him, in a way that surprised me, and which I
+should have taken, in some men, for cant. I asked him if it was not
+ever solitary there; and he said, "It is enough like my own home
+[Switzerland] for that, but all countries are alike to me. We have no
+home here below." For twenty-five years he has lived on the top of that
+hill, with only miserable Indians around him, who could repay him very
+little for all his efforts. In the Indian war, he was supposed to be so
+strongly on the side of the Indians, that the government agent, as I
+find by the printed report, recommended his removal; although he
+admitted that it was hard to say any thing against a man who had made
+such unbounded sacrifices for what he considered the good of the
+Indians. He had books in all languages on his shelves, and was very
+intelligent and courteous.
+
+He described the condition of the country when the first little band of
+Jesuits, of whom he was one, entered upon the Oregon mission,--Oregon
+then extending east as far as the Rocky Mountains. They had often to
+travel through dark forests, into which the daylight never entered, and,
+axe in hand, make their own paths through the wilderness, sometimes
+crawling on all-fours through labyrinths of fallen trees, fording rivers
+where the water reached to their shoulders, travelling afterwards in
+their wet clothes, with swollen limbs, and moccasins soaked in blood
+from laceration of their feet by the thorns of the prickly pear, and
+lying down at night on their beds of brushwood, wrapped in their
+buffalo-robes. The Indians were full of curiosity to know what they were
+in search of, and listened with great interest when they attempted to
+talk with them. The first group that Father Joseph gathered about him
+sat all night to hear him, although they had come from hard labor of
+hunting and fishing, and digging roots. He said, that, however degraded
+they were, they were all eager to find some power superior to man.
+
+The tribe among whom he first established himself--the Coeurs
+d'Alene--were renowned among all the tribes for their belief in sorcery;
+and he experienced great difficulty in making an impression upon them,
+from the opposition of the medicine-men (jugglers). Among this tribe he
+found two relics held in great esteem, of which the Indians gave him
+this account:--
+
+They said that the first white man they ever saw wore a spotted-calico
+shirt--which to them appeared like the small-pox--and a great white
+comforter. They thought the spotted shirt was the Great Manitou himself,
+the master of the alarming disease that swept them off in such vast
+numbers, and that the white comforter was the Manitou of the snow; that,
+if they could only secure and worship them, the small-pox would be
+banished, and abundant snows would drive the buffalo down from the
+mountains. The white man agreed to give them up, receiving in exchange
+several of their best horses; and for many years these two Manitous were
+carried in solemn procession to a hill consecrated to superstitious
+rites, laid reverently on the grass, and the great medicine-pipe (which
+is offered to the earth, the sun, and the water) was presented to them;
+the whole band singing, dancing, and howling around them.
+
+Father Joseph treated the Indians altogether as children, and devised a
+system of object-teaching, making little images representing what they
+were to shun, and what to seek, to which he pointed in instructing them.
+He considered it a miracle, that they yielded their hearts to his
+teaching; but it seemed to me, that if the good priest's gentle ways and
+entire devotion to their welfare had produced no effect, it would have
+been as contradictory to all the laws of nature as any miracle could be.
+While instructing some savages from Puget Sound, he said the idea came
+into the mind of one of the priests, to represent by a ladder, which he
+made on paper, the various truths and mysteries of religion, in their
+chronological order. This proved vastly beneficial in instructing them.
+It was called the "Catholic ladder," and disseminated widely among the
+Indians; their progress in religion being measured by their knowledge of
+this ladder. At the same time that he sent the ladder among them, he
+sent also roots and seeds and agricultural tools. I could hardly repress
+a smile at seeing that he spoke with the same enthusiasm of their
+success with the beans and potatoes, as with the ladder. The truth is,
+that he had deeply at heart the good of these, his "wild children of the
+forest," as he always called them. It was quite touching to him, he
+said, to see how ready they were to believe that God took charge of
+earthly things as well as of heavenly.
+
+One of his associates in the early missions was a Belgian priest, whose
+journal he showed us. He brought over, to aid in the work, six sisters
+of Notre Dame, in 1844. The vessel which brought them to the Pacific
+coast stopped at Valparaiso and Lima, to inquire how to enter the
+Columbia River. Not receiving any satisfactory information, they sailed
+north till they reached the forty-sixth degree of latitude. Then they
+explored for several days, and at length saw a sail coming out of what
+appeared to be the mouth of a river. They immediately sent an officer to
+find out from this vessel how to enter; but, as he did not return, they
+were obliged to approach alone the "vast and fearful mouth of the
+river," and soon found themselves in the terrible southern channel, into
+which, they were assured afterwards, no vessel had ever sailed before.
+The commander of the fort at Astoria had endeavored, by hoisting flags,
+by great signal-fires, and guns, to warn them of their danger. They saw
+the signals, but did not suspect their intention. They sailed two miles
+amidst fearful breakers. When at length they reached stiller water, a
+canoe approached them, containing an American man and some Clatsop
+Indians. The white man told them he would have come sooner to their aid,
+but the Indians refused to brave the danger; and said that he expected
+every moment to see the vessel dashed into a thousand pieces. The
+Indians, seeing it ride triumphantly over the dreadful bar, considered
+it under the special guidance of the Great Spirit, and greeted it with
+wild screams of delight. This was the introduction of the serene sisters
+to their field of labor. My idea of the sisters generally had been of
+pale, sad beings, whose most appropriate place was by the side of
+death-beds. These sisters of Notre Dame were brisk, energetic women, of
+lively temperaments. Finding the building which was preparing for them
+not yet provided with doors and windows, from the scarcity of mechanics,
+they themselves set about planing, glazing, and painting, to make every
+thing neat and comfortable. Wilkes, in his account of his exploring
+expedition, speaks regretfully of the poor appearance the Protestant
+missions presented, when compared with those of the Catholics; there
+being among the former an unthrifty, dilapidated look, and the Indians
+he saw there appeared to be employed only as servants.
+
+The Catholics took pains to make all their ceremonies as imposing as
+circumstances would permit; making free use of musketry, bright colors,
+and singing,--things most attractive to an Indian,--remarking often,
+"Noise is essential to the Indian's enjoyment," and, "Without singing,
+the best instruction is of little value." They showed the Indians that
+they regarded the comfort and good of their bodies, as well as of their
+souls; giving them at Easter a great feast of potatoes, parsneps,
+turnips, beets, beans, and pease, to impress upon them the advantages of
+civilization, and taking pains that the requirements of religion should
+not interfere with the fishery or the chase. All the good customs and
+practices already established among them, they confirmed and approved,
+and found much to sympathize with in the Indians. The suavity and
+dignified simplicity of the chiefs particularly pleased them, and the
+relation of the chief to the people,--they consulting him in regard to
+every public or private undertaking, as when about to take a journey, or
+when entering upon marriage; he regulating the gathering of roots and
+berries, the hunting and fishing, and the division of spoils. The
+priests said of the chief, "He speaks calmly, but never in vain." They
+admired the self-control of the Indians, who never showed any impatience
+when misfortunes befell them; and said, that, the farther they
+penetrated into the wilderness, the better Indians they found. They were
+especially pleased with those about the sources of the Columbia, and
+said of their converts in that region, "If it be true that the prayer of
+him who possesses the innocence, the simplicity, and the faith of a
+child, pierces the clouds, then will the prayers of these dear children
+of the forest reach the ear of Heaven." They were interested in the
+different views of the future life held by the different tribes. To
+those who lived by woods and waters, heaven was a country of lakes,
+streams, and forests; but the Blackfoot heaven was of great sandhills,
+stretching far and wide, abounding in game.
+
+They devoted themselves with great zeal to reconciling hostile tribes,
+particularly the Blackfeet and Flat-heads. All the tribes feared the
+Blackfeet, especially that terrible sub-tribe called the "Blood
+Indians." The Snakes, too, were a common enemy to all the river-tribes.
+Father De Smet, the Belgian priest, with great intrepidity started for
+the Blackfoot country, although receiving numerous warnings of the risk
+he incurred. He encamped in the heart of their country. One of their
+chiefs sought him out, and took a fancy to the fearless old man at
+sight, embracing him in savage fashion, "rough but cordial." This chief
+was ornamented from head to foot with eagle-feathers, and dressed in
+blue as a mark of distinction. With this powerful friend, he immediately
+gained a footing among them. He conducted towards them with great wisdom
+and kindness, interfering as little as possible with their old customs.
+After he had made many converts among them, they asked him, on one of
+the great days of the Church, if he would like to see them manifest
+their joy in their own way,--by painting, singing, and dancing; to
+which he gave courteous assent. The dance was performed wholly by women
+and children, although in the dress of warriors. Some of them carried
+arms, others only green boughs. All took part in it, from the toddling
+infant to the ancient grandam whose feeble limbs required the aid of a
+staff. They carried caskets of plumes, which nodded in harmony with
+their movements, and increased the graceful effect. There was also
+jingling of bells, and drums beaten by the men who surrounded them, and
+joined in the songs. To break the monotony, occasionally a sudden
+piercing scream was added. If the dance languished, haranguers and those
+most skilful in grimaces came to its aid. The movement consisted of a
+little jump, more or less lively according to the beat of the drum. It
+was danced on a beautiful green plain, under a cluster of pines. All the
+Indians climbed the trees, or sat round on their horses, to see it.
+
+The missionaries secured some of their readiest converts among the
+Spokanes (children of the sun), who lived mostly on a great open plain.
+Instead of being crafty and reserved, like most of the tribes about
+them, they were free and genial. They welcomed the earliest explorers,
+and lived on friendly terms with the settlers. They were more
+susceptible to civilization and improvement than most of the other
+Indians.
+
+Father De Smet was enthusiastic in his enjoyment of the forests and the
+mountains; speaking often of the "skyward palaces and holy towers" among
+the hills, "the immortal pine," the "rock-hung flower," the "fantastic
+grace of the winding rivers." The desert country through which he
+travelled, and of which we also saw something in coming to this place,
+he called "a little Arabia shut in by stern, Heaven-built walls of
+rock." In the narrow valleys at the foot of the Cascade Mountains, he
+found magnificent groves of rhododendrons, thousands of them together,
+fifteen or twenty feet high,--green arches formed underneath by their
+intertwined branches; above, bouquets of splendid flowers, shading from
+deepest crimson to pure white.
+
+He mourned very much over the superstitions of the Indians; but said,
+nevertheless, that an attack of severe illness, which he suffered after
+one of his journeys, was no doubt sent as a punishment for his too
+carnal admiration of nature.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While we were talking with Father Joseph, and looking over the journal,
+a messenger rode up to the door, and told him that _Tenas Marie_ (Little
+Mary) was dying. The Indian agent, who stood by, said, "It is not much
+of a loss; she is a worthless creature." Father Joseph turned to him in
+a most dignified way, and said, "It is a human being;" and then to
+Christine, and asked if she would lend him a horse, she having a whole
+herd at command. Presently he started off for a whole night's ride. I
+thought, if I were Little Mary, after my bad life, when I must enter
+into account for it, I should be a good deal cheered and supported to
+see his kind eyes, and hear his firm voice directing me at the last.
+
+The Coeurs d'Alene (pointed hearts, or hearts of arrows--flint)[1]
+were so called from their determined resistance to having the white men
+come among them. They did not desire to have one of the Hudson Bay
+Company's posts upon their land, although the other tribes favored their
+establishment among them, wishing to barter their skins and obtain
+fire-arms; but said, that, if the white men saw their country, they
+would want to take it from them, it was so beautiful.
+
+Father Joseph was their interpreter in the negotiations between them
+and the United States Government. They attacked Col. Steptoe, while he
+was passing through their territory, because they had heard that the
+white men were going to build a road which would drive away the deer and
+the buffalo. It was explained to them, that, although this was so, other
+advantages would more than compensate for it. This was beyond their
+comprehension. To them, the advantages of civilization bore no
+comparison to the charm of their free, roving life. When the army
+officers entered the Coeur d'Alene country, they declared that no
+conception of heaven could surpass the beauty of its exquisite lakes,
+embosomed in the forest. This tribe held firm against all propositions
+of the government to treat with them, until Donati's comet appeared in
+1858; when, supposing it to be a great fiery broom sent to sweep them
+from the earth, they accepted a treaty.
+
+The "Battle of Four Lakes" was fought in this country. An old man whom
+we met at the fort in Walla Walla, who saw this battle, gave us some
+account of it. The lakes are surrounded with rocks covered with pine.
+Beyond them is a great rolling country of grassy hills. For about two
+miles, he said, this open ground was all alive with the wildest, most
+fantastic figures of mounted Indians, with painted horses, having
+eagle-feathers braided into their tails and manes; each Indian fighting
+separately on his own account. He described to us the appearance of the
+war chief as he rode to battle, his own head hidden by a wolf's head,
+with stiff, sharp ears standing erect, ornamented with bears' claws, and
+under it a circlet of feathers. From this head depended a long train of
+feathers that floated down his back; the loss of which would be the loss
+of his honor, and as great a disaster to him as, to a Chinaman, the loss
+of his cue. His war-horse was painted, as well as his own person, and
+also profusely decorated with feathers on head and tail. The Indians
+have such a fancy for feathers, that, in some of their medicine
+ceremonies, they smear their heads with a sticky substance, and cover
+them all over with swan's-down.
+
+Lieut. Mullan's surveying expedition roused many of the tribes to
+desperation. Owhi, the Yakima chief, when urged to give up his
+land,--or, what amounted to the same thing, to allow free passage to the
+surveying party and the road-makers,--argued that he could not give away
+the home of his people; saying, "It is not mine to give. The Great
+Spirit has _measured_ it to my people." Not being successful in his
+arguments, he organized the outbreak of the following winter. The army
+destroyed the caches filled with dried berries, and the pressed cake
+which the Indians prepare from roots for their winter food, many lodges
+filled with grain, and hundreds of horses; the officers mentioning in
+their report, that it would insure the Indians a winter of great
+suffering, and concluding in these words: "Seldom has an expedition been
+undertaken, the recollection of which is invested with so much that is
+agreeable, as that against the Northern Indians."
+
+
+  FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] To the Canadian _voyageur_, the word _alene_ (awl) meant any
+sharp-pointed instrument.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+     Colville to Seattle.--"Red."--"Ferrins."--"Broke Miners."--A Rare
+     Fellow-Traveller.--The Bell-Mare.--Pelouse Fall.--Red-Fox
+     Road.--Early Californians.--Frying-Pan
+     Incense.--Dragon-Flies.--Death of the Chief Seattle.
+
+
+  SEATTLE, August 23, 1866.
+
+We were detained at Fort Colville several days longer than we desired,
+seeking an opportunity to get back to the Columbia River, by some chance
+wagon going down from the mines, or from some of the supply-stations in
+the upper country. In our expedition on the "Forty-nine," we had seen a
+great many miners, and, among them, one horrid character, with a flaming
+beard, who was known by every one as "Red." He had been mining in the
+snow mountains, far up in British Columbia, and joined us to go down on
+the steamer to Colville. He was terribly rough and tattered-looking. The
+mining-season in those northern mountains is so short, that he said he
+was going back to winter at the mines, so as to be on the spot for work
+in the spring, and that he should take up about forty gallons of grease
+to keep himself warm through the winter.
+
+He and his companions told great stories about their rough times in the
+mountains. Some of them mentioned having been reduced to the extremity
+of living on "ferrins" when all other food had failed. These accounts
+were generally received, by the rest of the miners, with great outbursts
+of laughter. That appeared to be their customary way of regarding all
+their misfortunes,--at least, in the retrospect. We wondered what the
+"ferrins" could be. Nobody seemed to resort to them, except in the
+direst need. Upon inquiry, we found out that they were _boiled ferns_. I
+have always noticed that even insects of all kinds pass by ferns. I
+suspect that even the hungriest man would find them rather unsatisfying,
+but this light diet seemed to have kept them in the most jovial spirits.
+
+R. was rather averse to travelling in such company, and always presented
+"Red" to me as the typical miner, when opportunities offered for our
+getting down from Colville with a party from the mines. Finally I
+persuaded him to accept either "Buffalo Bill," who offered to take us by
+ourselves, or an Irishman who insisted upon having a few miners with
+him. I think he was rather prejudiced against the former, on account of
+his name; and we therefore made an agreement with the latter, to take
+us, with only two miners, instead of ten as he at first desired, that R.
+should see them before we started, and that we should have the wagon to
+ourselves at night. As it happened, we left in haste, and did not see
+the miners until they leaped from the wagon, and began to assist in
+putting in our baggage. That was not an occasion, of course, for
+criticising them. Besides that, I saw, when I first looked at them, that
+they were rather harder to read than most people I had met; and I could
+not in a minute tell what to make of them. Our wagoner said they were
+"broke miners." I did not know exactly what that meant, but thought they
+might be very desperate characters, made more so by special
+circumstances. One of them looked like a brigand, with his dark hair and
+eyes. But I didn't mind; for I was tired of travelling about, and
+anxious to get home. I thought I would sleep most of the way down; so I
+put back my head, and shut my eyes. Presently the dark man began to talk
+with R., in a musical voice, about the soft Spanish names of places in
+California; and I could not sleep much. Then he spoke of the primitive
+forms in which minerals crystallized, the five-sided columns of volcanic
+rock, and the little cubes of gold. I could make no pretence at sleep
+any longer; I had to open my eyes; and once in a while I asked a
+question or two, although I would not show much interest, and determined
+not to become at all acquainted with him, because we were necessarily to
+be very intimate, travelling all day together, and camping together at
+night. But I watched him a great deal, and listened to his conversation
+upon many subjects. I think, that not only on this journey, but in all
+the time since we came to this coast, we have not enjoyed any thing else
+so much. He had uncommon powers of expression, and of thought and
+feeling too, and took great interest in every thing. He had even a
+little tin box of insects. He showed us the native grains, wild rice,
+etc., the footprints of animals, the craters of old volcanoes, and
+called us to listen to the wild doves at night, and the cry of the loon
+and the curlew.
+
+We travelled in a large freight-wagon, drawn by four mules. A pretty
+little "bell-mare" followed the wagon. At night she was tied out on the
+plain; and the mules were turned loose to feed, and were kept from
+wandering far away by the tinkle of the bell hung on her neck. We slept
+on beautiful flowering grass, which our wagoner procured for us on the
+way. When he tied great bunches of it on the front of the wagon, to feed
+the animals when they came to a barren place, it looked as if we were
+preparing to take part in some floral procession. The first night, we
+camped in the midst of the pine-trees. When I woke in the night, and
+looked round me, the row of dark figures on either side seemed like the
+genii in "The Arabian Nights," that used to guard sleeping princesses.
+
+Besides the knowledge which our fellow-traveller possessed of the
+country through which we were passing, which made him a valuable
+companion to us then, his general enthusiasm would have made him
+interesting anywhere. I remember a little incident at one of our noon
+stopping-places, which we thought was very much to his credit. He always
+hastened to make a fire as soon as we stopped. It was rather hard to
+find good places, sheltered from the wind, where it would burn, and
+which would furnish us, too, with a little shade. On this occasion there
+was a magnificent tree very near us. We were passing out of the region
+of trees, so it was a particularly welcome sight. He started the fire
+close to it. It happened to be too near; the pitch caught fire, and
+presently the trunk was encircled with flame. He was desperate to think
+that he should have been guilty of an act of "such wanton
+destructiveness," as he called it,--especially as it was the last fine
+tree on the road. He abandoned all idea of dinner, and did nothing
+through that fiery noon, when we could hardly stir from the
+shade,--which we found farther off,--but rush between the stream near by
+and the tree, with his little camp-kettle of water, to try to save it.
+He looked back with such a grateful face, as we left the spot, to see
+that the flames were smothered. There was something like a child about
+him; that is, an uncommon freedom from the wickedness that seems to
+belong to most met, certainly the class he is in the habit of
+associating with. I doubt if there is one of the men we saw on the
+"Forty-nine" who would not have been delighted to burn that tree down;
+and how few of them would have thought, as he did, to put the little
+pieces of wood that we had to spare, where fuel was scarce, into the
+road, so that "some other old fellow, who might chance to come along,
+might see them and use them "!
+
+He told us one beautiful story about miners, though, in connection with
+the loss of the "Central America." He had a friend on board among the
+passengers, who were almost all miners going home. When they all
+expected to perish with the vessel, a Danish brig hove in sight, and
+came to the rescue. But the passengers could not all be transferred to
+her. They filled the ship's boats with their wives and their treasure,
+and sent them off; and the great body of them went down with a cheer and
+a shout, as the vessel keeled over.
+
+The event of special interest, in our journey home, was our visit to the
+Pelouse Fall. We had heard that there was a magnificent fall on the
+Pelouse, twelve miles by trail from the wagon-road, which we were very
+desirous of seeing; but no one could give us exact directions for
+finding it. Our friend the miner wanted very much to see it also; and as
+he seemed to have quite an instinct for finding his way, by rock
+formations and other natural features of the country, we ventured to
+attempt it with him. The little bell-mare, which was a _cayuse_ (Indian)
+horse, was offered for my use, and an old Spanish wooden saddle placed
+upon her back. I had no bridle; but I had been presented at the fort
+with a _hackama_ (a buffalo-hair rope), such as the Indians use with
+their horses. This was attached to the head of the horse, so that the
+miner could lead her. My saddle had an arrangement in front by which to
+attach the lasso, in catching animals. The miner said that just the same
+pattern was still in use in Andalusia and other Spanish provinces. I
+felt as if I were starting on quite a new career. When he lifted me on
+to the horse, he said, "How light you are!" It was because every care
+had dropped off from me.
+
+We rode over the wildest desert country, with great black walls of rock,
+and wonderful canyons, with perpendicular sides, extending far down into
+the earth. Mr. Bowles, in his book, "Across the Continent," says he
+cannot compare any thing else to the exhilaration of the air of the
+upland plains; neither sea nor mountain air can equal it. The extreme
+heat, too, seemed to intensify every thing in us, even our power of
+enjoyment, notwithstanding the discomfort of it. The thermometer marked
+117 deg. in the shade. I felt as if I had never before known what breezes
+and shadows and streams were. Just as we had reached the last limit of
+possible endurance, the shadow of some great wall of rock would fall
+upon us, or a little breeze spring up, or we would find the land
+descending to the bed of a stream. At length our miner, who had been
+for the last part of the way looking and listening with the closest
+attention, struck almost directly to the spot, hardly a step astray. It
+was all below the surface of the earth, so that hardly any sound rose
+above; and there was no sign of any path to it, not a tree, nor shrub,
+nor blade of grass near, but an amphitheatre of rock, and the beautiful
+white river, in its leap into the canyon falling a hundred and ninety
+feet. The cliffs and jagged pinnacles of basaltic rock around it were
+several hundred feet high. It looked like a great white bridal veil. It
+was made up of myriads of snowy sheaves, sometimes with the faintest
+amethyst tint. It shattered itself wholly into spray before it struck
+the water below,--that is, the outer circumference of it,--and the inner
+part was all that made any sound.
+
+The miner looked upon it with perfect rapture. He said to me, "It is a
+rare pleasure to travel with any one who enjoys any thing of this kind."
+I felt it so too.
+
+His striking directly at the spot, after many miles of travel, without
+any landmarks, reminded me of the experience of Ross, the Hudson Bay
+trader, when he travelled from Fort Okanagan on foot, two hundred miles
+to the coast, taking with him an Indian, who told him they would go by
+the Red Fox road; that is, the road by which Red Fox the chief and his
+men used to go. After they had travelled a long distance over a pathless
+country, without any sign of a trail, or climbed along the rocky banks
+of streams, he asked his guide when they would reach the Red Fox road.
+"This is it, you are on," was the reply. "Where?" eagerly inquired Ross:
+"I see no road here, not even so much as a rabbit could walk on."--"Oh,
+there is no road," answered the Indian: "this is the place where they
+used to pass."
+
+At another time, when he was travelling with an Indian guide, who was
+accompanied by some of his relatives, the latter were left at a place
+called Friendly Lake, and were to be called for on their return. They
+went on to their journey's end, and on their way back, some days after,
+stopped at the place; but no sign of the relatives appeared. The guide,
+however, searched about diligently, and presently pointed to a small
+stick, stuck up in the ground, with a little notch in it. He said, "They
+are there," pointing in the direction in which the stick slanted,--"one
+day's journey off." Exactly there they were found.
+
+There was a kind of generosity about this "broke miner," that made us
+ready to forgive a great deal in him. No doubt there would have been a
+great deal to forgive if we had known him more. He was, very likely, in
+the habit of drinking and gambling, like the others that we saw. I know
+he was a terrible tobacco chewer and smoker. He has been seventeen years
+on the Pacific side of the continent, came out as a "forty-niner," has
+travelled a great deal, and taken notes of all he has seen, and said he
+thought of making use of them some time, if his employments would ever
+admit of it. I think he is the best fitted to describe the country, of
+all the persons I have met.
+
+He gave us quite a vivid idea of the semi-barbarous life of the
+California pioneers, and of the intense desire they sometimes felt for a
+glimpse of their homes, their wives, and children. I remembered Starr
+King's saying that women and children had been more highly appreciated
+in California ever since, on account of their scarcity during the first
+few years. I rather think the sentiment of the miners was somewhat
+intensified by the extreme difficulty they found in doing women's work.
+One of them, now an eminent physician, pricked and scarred his fingers
+in the most distressing manner, in attempting to sew on his buttons,
+and patch the rents in his garments. Another member of the camp, who
+was afterwards governor of the State, won his first laurels as a cook,
+by the happy discovery, that, by combining an acid with the alkali used
+in the making of their bread, the result was vastly more satisfactory
+than where the alkali alone was used. In crossing the plains, they had
+used the alkali water found there for this purpose.
+
+A travelling theatrical company, who presented themselves with the
+announcement that they would perform a drama entitled "The Wife," met
+with unbounded appreciation. Carpenters were employed at sixteen dollars
+a day to prepare for its presentation. This was the first play ever
+acted in San Francisco. The company were encouraged to remain, and give
+other performances; but, as there was only one lady actor, every play
+had to be altered to conform to this condition of things.
+
+The most tempting advertisement a restaurant could offer was, "potatoes
+at every meal." Those who indulged in fresh eggs did so at an expense of
+one dollar per egg.
+
+When the signal from Telegraph Hill announced the arrival of the monthly
+mail-steamer, there was a general rush for the post-office; and a long
+line was formed, reaching from the office out to the tents in the
+chapparal. The building was a small one, and the facilities for
+assorting and delivering the mail so limited, that many hours were
+consumed in the work. Large prices were often paid for places near the
+head of the line; and some of the more eager ones would wrap their
+blankets around them, and stand all night waiting, in order to get an
+early chance.
+
+Thus, with endless stories and anecdotes, accounts of his adventures as
+a miner and explorer, and descriptions of the new and wonderful places
+he had visited, and the curious people he had met, our fellow-traveller
+beguiled the tediousness of the journey, and continually entertained us.
+
+As we approached Walla Walla, we made our last camp at the Touchet, a
+lovely stream. I woke in the morning feeling as if some terrible
+misfortune had befallen us. I could not tell what, until I was fully
+roused, and found it could be nothing else than that we must sleep in a
+bed that night.
+
+We left our miner in Walla Walla, to get work, I think, as a machinist.
+My acquaintance with him was a lesson to me, never to judge any one by
+appearance or occupation. We met afterwards some little, common-looking
+men, who had been so successful at the mines that they could hardly
+carry their sacks of gold-dust, which made hard white ridges in their
+hands. They had fifteen thousand dollars or more apiece. I thought, how
+unequally and unwisely Fate distributes her gifts; but then, as Mrs. S.
+said when there was such a rush for the garments brought on board the
+steamer for us at Panama, after our shipwreck, "Let those have them who
+can least gracefully support the want of them."
+
+Among the miners of the upper country, who had not seen a white woman
+for a year, I received such honors, that I am afraid I should have had a
+very mistaken impression of my importance if I had lived long among
+them. At every stopping-place they made little fires in their
+frying-pans, and set them around me, to keep off the mosquitoes, while I
+took my meal. As the columns of smoke rose about me, I felt like a
+heathen goddess, to whom incense was being offered. The mosquitoes were
+terrible; but we found our compensation for them in the journey
+homeward. I remember the entomology used to call the dragon-fly the
+"mosquito-hawk;" and such dragon-flies I never before saw as we met with
+near the rivers, especially at the Pelouse. There seemed to be a
+festival of them there, and one kind of such a green as I believe never
+was seen before on earth,--so exquisite a shade, and so vivid. There
+were also burnished silver and gold ones, and every beautiful variety of
+spotting and marking. A little Indian boy appeared there, dressed in
+feathers, with a hawk on his wrist,--a wild, spirited-looking little
+creature.
+
+On Sunday we reached Olympia, and saw the waters of the Sound, and the
+old headlands again. I had no idea it could look so homelike; and when
+the mountain range began to reveal itself from the mist, I felt as if
+nothing we had seen while we were gone had been more beautiful, more
+really impressive, than what we could look at any day from our own
+kitchen-door.
+
+As we approached Seattle, we began to gather up the news. It is very
+much more of an event to get back, when you have had no newspapers, and
+only the rarest communication of any kind, while you have been gone.
+
+Seattle, the old chief, had died. When he was near his end, he sent word
+over to the nearest settlement, that he wished Capt. Meigs, the owner of
+the great sawmill at Port Madison, to come when he was dead, and take
+him by the hand, and bid him farewell.
+
+We learned that the beautiful Port Angeles was to be
+abandoned,--Congress having decided to remove the custom-house to Port
+Townsend,--and that no vessels would go in there. It seemed like leaving
+Andromeda on her rock. We are going down to make a farewell visit.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+     Port Angeles Village and the Indian Ranch.--A "Ship's
+     _Klootchman_."--Indian _Muck-a-Muck_.--Disposition of an Old Indian
+     Woman.--A Windy Trip to Victoria.--The Black
+     _Tamahnous_.--McDonald's in the Wilderness.--The Wild Cowlitz.--Up
+     the River during a Flood.--Indian Boatmen.--Birch-Bark and Cedar
+     Canoes.
+
+
+  EDIZ HOOK, October 21, 1866.
+
+We are making a visit at the end of Ediz Hook. No one lives here now but
+the light-keepers. When we feel the need of company, we look across to
+the village of Port Angeles and the Indian ranch. It is very striking to
+see how much more picturesque one is than the other, in the distance. In
+the village, all the trees have been cut down; but the lodges of the
+Indians stand in the midst of a maple grove, and in this Indian-summer
+weather there is always a lovely haze about it, bright leaves, and blue
+beams of mist across the trees. Living so much out of doors as they do,
+and in open lodges, their little fires are often seen, giving their
+ranch a hospitable look, and making the appearance of the village very
+uninviting in comparison.
+
+  OCTOBER 26, 1866.
+
+We have had a great storm; and last night, about dark, a white figure of
+a woman appeared in the water, rising and falling, outside the breakers.
+Some Indians went out in their canoes, and took her in to the shore. One
+of them came to tell us about it. A "ship's _klootchman_" (wife or
+woman), he said it was, and a "_hyas_ [big] ship" must have gone down.
+It was the figure-head of a vessel. The next morning, I saw that the
+Indians had set it up on the sand, with great wings--which they made of
+broken pieces of spars--at the sides. It was the large, handsome figure
+of a woman, twice life-size. They seemed to regard it as a kind of
+goddess; and I felt half inclined to, myself, she looked out so serenely
+at the water. I sat down by her side, thinking about what had probably
+happened, to try to get her calm way of regarding it. A sloop was sent
+over from the custom-house, to take it across the bay for
+identification; but that proved impracticable. The captain said that he
+knew the work,--it was English carving. Soon after, a vessel came in,
+having lost her figure-head. The men on board said that a strange ship
+ran into her in the night, and immediately disappeared. They supposed
+she was much injured, as they afterwards saw a deck-load of lumber
+floating, which they thought had come from her. They said it might be
+the "Radama," bound for China.
+
+
+  OCTOBER 29, 1866.
+
+To-day, when we were coasting along the shore, we saw Yeomans preparing
+his canoe for a long excursion. It was lined with mats. In the middle
+were two of the baskets the Indians weave from roots, filled with red
+salmon-spawn. Against them lay a gray duck, with snowy breast; then,
+deer-meat, and various kinds of fishes. Over the whole he had laid great
+green leaves that looked like the leaves of the tulip-tree. The narrow
+end of the canoe was filled with purple sea-urchins, all alive, and of
+the most vivid color. I took one up, and asked him if they were good to
+eat. He said, "Indian _muck-a-muck_, not for Bostons" (whites). His
+arrangements looked a great deal more picturesque than our preparations
+for picnics.
+
+The light-keeper at Ediz Hook told us to-day that he had exhumed an old
+Indian woman, whom some of her tribe had buried alive, or, rather,
+wrapped up and laid away in one of the little wooden huts in their
+graveyard, according to their custom of disposing of the dead. They had
+apparently become tired of the care of her, and concluded to anticipate
+her natural exit from the world by this summary disposition of her. Mr.
+S. heard her cries, and went to the rescue. He restored her to the
+tribe, with a reprimand for their barbarity, and told them the Bostons
+would not tolerate such _mesahchie_ (outrageous) proceedings.
+
+
+  PORT ANGELES, October 31, 1866.
+
+We made a spirited voyage to Victoria, across the Straits of Fuca. There
+had been a very severe storm, which we thought was over; but it had a
+wild ending, after we were on our way, and beyond the possibility of
+return. We saw the California steamer, ocean-bound, putting back to
+port. Our only course was to hasten on. The spray was all rainbows, and
+there were low rainbows in the sky,--incomprehensible rainbows above and
+below,--and the strongest wind that ever blew. It was all too wonderful
+for us to be afraid: it was like a new existence; as if we had cast off
+all connection with the old one, and were spirits only. We flew past the
+high shores, and looked up at the happy, homelike houses, with a strange
+feeling of isolation and independence of all earthly ties.
+
+I staid on deck till every man had gone in, feeling that I belonged
+wholly to wind and wave, borne on like a bird. But the captain came and
+took me in, lest I should be swept from the deck. When we reached
+Victoria, great wooden signs were being blown off the stores, and
+knocking down the people in the streets. This is certainly the home of
+the winds.
+
+
+  NOVEMBER 20, 1866.
+
+To-day we met on the beach Tleyuk (Spark of Fire), a young Indian with
+whom we had become acquainted. Instead of the pleasant "_Klahowya_" (How
+do you do?), with which he was accustomed to greet us, he took no notice
+of us whatever. On coming nearer, we saw hideous streaks of black paint
+on his face, and on various parts of his body, and inquired what they
+meant. His English was very meagre; but he gave us to understand, in a
+few hoarse gutturals, that they meant hostility and danger to any one
+that interfered with him. We noticed afterwards other Indians, with
+dark, threatening looks, and daubed with black paint, gathering from
+different directions. The old light-keeper was launching his boat to
+cross over to the spit, and we turned to him for an explanation. He
+warned us to keep away from the Indians, as this was the time of the
+"Black _Tamahnous_," when they call up all their hostility to the
+whites. He pointed to some Indian children, who had a white elk-horn,
+like a dwarf white man, stuck up in the sand to throw stones at. I had
+noticed for the last few days, when I met them in the narrow paths in
+the woods, that they stopped straight before me, obliging me to turn
+aside for them.
+
+We saw them withdraw to an old lodge in the woods, as if to hold a
+secret council. We did not feel much concerned as to the result of it
+for ourselves, as we held such friendly relations to Yeomans, the old
+chief, and had always given the Indians all the sea-bread they
+wanted,--that being the one article of our food that they seemed most to
+appreciate. As it proved, it was a mere thunder-cloud, dissipated after
+a few growls.
+
+
+  MCDONALD'S, December 18, 1866.
+
+Not knowing the name of the nearest town, I date this from McDonald's,
+that having been our last stopping-place. It is on the stage-route
+between Columbia River and Puget Sound, and a place worth remembering. I
+wish I could give an idea of its cheeriness, especially after travelling
+a fortnight in the rain, as we have done. At this season of the year,
+every thing is deluged; and the roads, full of deep mudholes and
+formidable stumps, are now at their worst. The heavy wagons move slowly
+and laboriously forward, sometimes getting so deep in the mire that it
+is almost impossible to extricate them, and at times impeded by fallen
+trees, which the driver has to cut away. They are poorly protected
+against the searching rains, and for the last two days we have been
+drenched.
+
+When we caught the first glimpse of the red light in the distance, we
+felt very much inclined to appreciate any thing approaching comfort,
+tired and dripping as we were; but what our happy Fates had in store for
+us, we never for a moment imagined. We had hardly entered the house
+before we felt that it was no common place. The fireplace was like a
+great cavern, full of immense logs and blazing bark. It lighted up a
+most hospitable room. From a beam in the low ceiling, hung a great
+branch of apples. I counted twenty-three bright red and yellow apples
+shining out from it.
+
+Two stages meet here, and the main business at this time of the year is
+drying the passengers sufficiently for them to proceed on their way the
+next day. The host and his family stood round the fire, handling and
+turning the wet garments with unbounded good-nature and patience. The
+stage-drivers cracked jokes and told stories. A spirit of perfect
+equality prevailed, and a readiness to take every thing in the best
+possible part. The family are Scotch,--hard-working people; but they
+have not worked so hard as to rub all the bloom off their lives, as so
+many people have that we have seen.
+
+When supper was announced, another surprise awaited us. Instead of the
+unvarying round of fried meat and clammy pie with which we had hitherto
+been welcomed, we were refreshed with a dish of boiled meat, a
+corn-starch pudding, and stewed plums. Why some other dweller in the
+wilderness could not have introduced a little variety into his bill of
+fare, we could never conceive. It seemed a real inspiration in McDonald,
+to send to California or Oregon for a little dried fruit and some papers
+of corn-starch. He gave us, too, what was even more delightful than his
+wholesome food,--a little glimpse of his home-life. To a tired
+traveller, what could be more refreshing than a sight of somebody's
+home? Generally, at whatever place we stopped, we saw only the
+"men-folks;" the family, often half-breed, being huddled away in the
+rear. Here, in the room in which the guests were received, lay the
+smiling baby in its old-fashioned cradle. Two blithe little girls danced
+in and out, and the old grandfather sat holding a white-haired boy. When
+dinner was over, the great business of drying the clothes was resumed by
+the travellers and the family; and we held our wrappings by the fire,
+and turned them about, until we became so drowsy that we lost all sense
+of responsibility. We found, the next morning, that our host sat up and
+finished all that were left undone. He had become so accustomed to this
+kind of work, that he did not seem to consider it was any thing extra,
+or that it entitled him to any further compensation than the usual one
+for a meal and a night's lodging. When we offered something more, he
+pointed to a little box nailed up beside the door, over which was a
+notice that any one who wished might contribute something for a school
+which the Sisters were attempting to open for the children of that
+neighborhood. Being Scotch people, I could hardly believe they were
+Catholics; but found upon inquiry that their views were so liberal as to
+enable them to appreciate the advantages of education, by whomsoever
+offered. I was quite touched by McDonald's little contribution to
+civilization, in the midst of the wilderness. As I looked back, in
+leaving, at the great trees and the exquisitely curved slope of his
+little clearing, I felt that in the small log house was something worthy
+of the fine surroundings.
+
+
+  OLYMPIA, December 23, 1866.
+
+When we reached Cowlitz Landing, we found the river quite different in
+character from what we had known it before. It had risen many feet above
+its ordinary level, and was still rising, and had become a wide, fierce,
+and rushing stream, bearing on its surface great trees and fragments of
+wrecked buildings, swiftly sailing down to the Columbia. How serenely we
+descended the river last year, floating along at sunset, admiring the
+lovely valley and the hills, reaching over the side of the canoe, and
+soaking our biscuits in the glacier-water, without once thinking of the
+vicissitudes to which we were liable from its mountain origin!
+
+The little steamer that recently had begun to compete with the Indian
+canoes in the traffic of the river, and the carrying of passengers, did
+not dare to attempt to ascend it. Navigation was not to be thought of by
+ordinary boats, or by white men, and was possible only by canoes in the
+most trusty hands. No land-conveyance could be had at this point. We
+were told that we might take the stream, by those familiar with it, if
+we could find good Indians willing to go with us. One called "Shorty"
+was brought forward to negotiate with us. He has the same dwarfed
+appearance I have noticed in the old women, and that strange,
+Egyptian-looking face and air. It would be impossible for any one to
+tell, by his appearance, whether he personally were old or young; but
+the ancientness of the type is deeply impressed upon him. If
+half-civilized Indians had been offered, or those that had had much
+intercourse with the whites, I should have hesitated more to trust them;
+but he was such a pure Indian, it seemed as if he were as safe as any
+wild creature. Whether he would extend any help, in emergencies, to his
+clumsy civilized passengers, was a more doubtful question. However, as
+the alternative was to wait indefinitely, and the character of the
+stopping-places, as a rule, drives one to desperate measures, we
+confided ourselves to his hands, and embarked with him and his
+assistant, a fine athletic young Indian.
+
+We fixed our eyes intently upon him, as if studying our fates. He was
+perfectly imperturbable, and steered only, the other poling the canoe
+along the edge of the stream, and grasping the overhanging trees to
+pull it along, using the paddle only when these means were not
+available. His work required unceasing vigilance and activity, and was
+so hard that it would have exhausted any ordinary man in a few hours;
+but he kept on from early morning till dark. Always in the most
+difficult places, or if his energy seemed to flag in the least, Shorty
+would call out to him, in the most animated manner, mentioning a canoe,
+a hammock, and a _hyas closhe_ (very nice) _klootchman_; at which the
+young man would laugh with delight, and start anew. I considered it was
+probably his stock in life, the prospect of an establishment, which was
+presented to rouse and cheer him on. Shorty had been recommended to us
+as one of the best hands on the river. I began to see that it was for
+his power of inspiring others, as well as for his extreme vigilance in
+keeping out of the eddies, and avoiding the drift in crossing the river,
+to be caught in which would have been destruction. We crossed several
+times, to secure advantages which his quick eye perceived. I noticed
+that whenever he pointed out any particular branch on the shore to be
+seized, how certain the other was to strike it at once. With white men,
+how much blundering and missing there would have been!
+
+I never felt before, so strongly, how many vices attend civilization,
+which it seems as if men might just as well be free from, as when I
+compared these Indians with the common white people about us,--the
+stage-drivers, mill-men, and others,--with no smoking nor drinking nor
+tobacco-chewing, and so strong and graceful, and sure in their aim, that
+no gymnast I have ever seen could compare with them. The ingenious ways
+in which they helped themselves along in places where any boat of ours
+would have been immediately overturned, converting obstacles often into
+helps, were fascinating to study. As night came on, I began to wish that
+their consciences were a little more developed, or, rather, that they
+had a little more sense of responsibility with regard to us. The safety
+of their passengers is no burden whatever on the minds of the Indians.
+Their spirits seem to rise with danger. They know that they could very
+well save themselves in an emergency, and I believe they prefer that
+white people should be drowned. I could only look into the imperturbable
+faces of our boatmen, and wonder where we were to spend the night.
+Finally, with a terrible whirl, which I felt at the time must be our
+last, they entered a white foaming slough (a branch of the river), and
+drew up on the bank. They announced to us then that we were to walk a
+mile through the woods, to a house. I think no white man, even the most
+surly of our drivers, would have asked us to do that,--in perfect
+blackness, the trees wet and dripping,--but would have managed to bring
+us to some inhabited place. They started off at a rapid gait, and we
+followed. We could not see their forms; but one carried something white
+in his hand, which we faintly discerned in the darkness, which served as
+our guide. They sang and shouted, and sounded their horn, all the way. I
+supposed it was to keep off bad spirits, but the next day we heard that
+in those woods bears and panthers were sometimes found. At length a
+light appeared. We felt cheered; but when we approached it, two furious
+dogs rushed out at us. They were immediately followed by their master,
+who took us in. After consultation with him, we concluded to abandon our
+Indians, as he said he could take us, on the following day, through the
+woods to the next stopping-place, with his ox-team. The quiet comfort of
+being transported by oxen was something not to be resisted, after having
+our nerves so racked. We felt an immense satisfaction in coming again
+upon our own kind, even if it were only in an old log cabin, where the
+children were taken out of their bed to put us in.
+
+We have seen no bark canoes here; they are all of cedar. No doubt there
+is good canoe-birch on the river-banks, but something more durable is
+needed. The North-west Fur Company, in early days, sent out a cargo of
+birch from Montreal to London, to be shipped from there round Cape Horn
+to the north-west coast of America, to be made into canoes for their men
+to navigate the Columbia and its branches; in direst ignorance of the
+requirements of the country, as well as of its productions.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+     Voyage to San Francisco.--Fog-Bound.--Port Angeles.--Passing Cape
+     Flattery in a Storm.--Off Shore.--The "Brontes."--The Captain and
+     his Men.--A Fair Wind.--San Francisco Bar.--The City at
+     Night.--Voyage to Astoria.--Crescent City.--Iron-Bound
+     Coast.--Mount St. Helen's.--Mount Hood.--Cowlitz Valley and its
+     Floods.--Monticello.
+
+
+  SAN FRANCISCO, February 20, 1867.
+
+We are here at last, contrary to all our expectations for the last ten
+days. We left Puget Sound at short notice, taking passage on the first
+lumber-vessel that was available, with many misgivings, as she was a
+dilapidated-looking craft. We went on board at Port Madison, about
+dusk,--a dreary time to start on a sea-voyage, but we had to accommodate
+ourselves to the tide. The cabin was such a forlorn-looking place, that
+I was half tempted to give it up at the last; when I saw, sitting beside
+the rusty, empty stove, a small gray-and-white cat, purring, and rubbing
+her paws in the most cheery manner. The contrast between the great,
+cold, tossing ocean, and that little comfortable creature, making the
+best of her circumstances, so impressed me, that I felt ashamed to
+shrink from the voyage, if she was willing to undertake it. So I
+unpacked my bundles, and settled down for a rough time. There were only
+two of us as passengers, lumber-vessels not making it a part of their
+business to provide specially for their accommodation.
+
+The sky looked threatening when we started; and the captain said, if he
+thought there was a storm beginning, he would not try to go on. But as
+we got out into the Straits of Fuca, the next day, a little barque, the
+"Crimea," came up, and said she had been a week trying to get out of the
+straits, and thought the steady south-west wind, which had prevented
+her, could not blow much longer. We continued beating down towards the
+ocean, and in the afternoon a dense fog shut us in. The last thing we
+saw was an ocean-steamer, putting back to Victoria for shelter. Our
+captain said his vessel drew too much water for Victoria Harbor, and the
+entrance was too crooked to attempt; but, if he could find Port Angeles,
+he would put in there. A gleam of sunshine shot through the fog, and
+showed us the entrance; and we steered triumphantly for that refuge. Two
+other vessels had anchored there. But just as we were about rounding
+the point to enter, and were congratulating ourselves on the quiet night
+we hoped to spend under the shelter of the mountains, the captain spied
+a sail going on towards the ocean. He put his vessel right about,
+determined to face whatever risks any other man would. But the vessel
+seemed unwilling to go. All that night, and the next day, and the next
+night, we rode to and fro in the straits, unable to get out.
+
+Passing Cape Flattery is the great event of the voyage. It is always
+rough there, from the peculiar conformation of the land, and the
+conflict of the waters from the Gulf of Georgia, and other inlets, with
+the ocean-tides. Our captain had been sailing on this route for fifteen
+years, but said he had never seen a worse sea than we encountered. We
+asked him if he did not consider the Pacific a more uncertain ocean than
+the Atlantic. At first he said "Yes;" then, "No, it is pretty certain to
+be bad here at all times." What could Magellan's idea have been in so
+naming it? He, however, sailed in more southern latitudes, where it may
+be stiller. We expected to sail _on_ the water; but our vessel drove
+_through_ it, just as I have seen the snow-plough drive through the
+great drifts after a storm. Going to sea on a steamer gives one no idea
+of the winds and waves,--the real life of the ocean,--compared to what
+we get on a sailing-vessel. Every time we tried to round the point,
+great walls of waves advanced against us,--so powerful and
+defiant-looking, that I could only shut my eyes when they drew near. It
+did not seem as if I made a prayer, but as if I were myself a prayer,
+only a winged cry. I knew then what it must be to die. I felt that I
+fled from the angry sea, and reached, in an instant, serene heights
+above the storm.
+
+Finally, as the result of all these desperate efforts, in which we
+recognized no gain, the captain announced that we had made the point,
+but we could get no farther until the wind changed; and, while we still
+felt the fury of the contrary sea, it was hard to recognize that we had
+much to be grateful for. We saw one beautiful sight, though,--a vessel
+going home, helped by the wind that hindered us. It was at night; and
+the light struck up on her dark sails, and made them look like wings, as
+she flew over the water. What bliss it seemed, to be nearing home, and
+all things in her favor!
+
+I could hear all about us a heavy sound like surf on the shore, which
+was quite incomprehensible, as we were so far from land. But the water
+drove us from the deck. The vessel plunged head foremost, and reeled
+from side to side, with terrible groaning and straining. If we attempted
+to move, we were violently thrown in one direction or another; and
+finally found that all we could do was to lie still on the cabin-floor,
+holding fast to any thing stationary that we could reach. We could hear
+the water sweeping over the deck above us, and several times it poured
+down in great sheets upon us. We ventured to ask the captain what he was
+attempting to do. "Get out to sea," he said, "out of the reach of
+storms." That is brave sailing, I thought, though I would not have gone
+if I could have helped it. We struggled on in this way for a day and a
+night, and then he said we were beyond the region of storms from land. I
+am afraid I should, if left to myself, linger always with the
+faint-hearted mariners who hug the shore, notwithstanding this great
+experience of finding our safety by steering boldly off from every thing
+wherein we had before considered our only security lay. After this, I
+performed every day the great exploit of climbing to the deck, and
+looking out at the waste of water. I saw only one poor old vessel,
+pitching and reeling like a drunken man. I wondered if we could look so
+to her. She was always half-seas-over. I came to the conclusion it was
+best not to watch her, but it was hard to keep my eyes off of her. She
+was our companion all the way down, always re-appearing after every gale
+we weathered, though often far behind. I remember, just as we were
+fairly under way, hearing a man sing out, "There's the old 'Brontes'
+coming out of the straits." My associations with the name were gloomy in
+the extreme.
+
+When the wind and sea were at their worst, considering the extremity, we
+felt called upon to offer some advice to the captain, and suggested
+that, under such circumstances, it might be advisable to travel under
+bare poles; but that, he assured us, was only resorted to when a man's
+voice could not possibly be heard in giving orders.
+
+The captain was quite a study to us. On shore he presented the most
+ordinary appearance. When we had been out two or three days, I noticed
+some one I had not seen before on deck, and thought to myself, "That is
+an apparition for a time of danger,--a man as resolute as the sea
+itself, so stern and gray-looking." I was quite bewildered, for I
+thought I must certainly before that have seen every one on board. It
+proved to be the captain in his storm-clothes. One of the sailors was a
+Russian serf, running away, as he said, from the Czar of Russia, not
+wholly believing in the safety of the serfs. He had shipped as a
+competent sea-man; but when he was sent up to the top of the
+mizzen-mast, to fix the halliards for a signal, he stopped in the most
+perilous place, and announced that he could not go any farther. It seems
+that every man on board was a stranger to the captain. It filled us with
+anxiety to think how much depended on that one man. One night there was
+an alarm of "A man overboard!" If it had been the captain, how aimlessly
+we should have drifted on! I liked to listen, when we were below, to
+hear the men hoisting the sails, and shouting together. It sounded as if
+they were managing horses, now restraining them, and now cheering them
+on. When the captain put his hand on the helm, we could always tell
+below. There was as much difference as in driving. In the midst of the
+wildest plunging, he would suddenly quiet it by putting the vessel in
+some other position, just as he would have held in a rearing horse.
+
+Two or three times, when there was a little lull, I went on deck; and
+the air was as balmy as from a garden. What can it mean, this fragrance
+of fresh flowers in the midst of the sea?
+
+Some virtues, I think, are admirably cultivated at sea. Night after
+night, as we lay there, I said to the captain, "What is the meaning of
+those clouds?" or "that dull red sky?" And he answered so composedly,
+"It's going to be squally," that I admired his patience; but it wore
+upon us very much.
+
+At length, one night, as I lay looking up through our little skylight,
+at the flapping of the great white spanker-sheet,--my special enemy and
+dread, because the captain would keep it up when I thought it unsafe, it
+seemed such a lawless thing, and so ready to overturn us every time it
+shifted,--a great cheerful star looked in. It meant that all trouble was
+over. One after another followed it. I could not speak, I was so glad. I
+could only look at them, and feel that our safety was assured. The wind
+had changed. I appreciated the delight of Ulysses in "the fresh North
+Spirit" Calypso gave him "to guide him o'er the sea,"--the rest of our
+voyage was so exhilarating.
+
+We had one more special risk only,--crossing the bar of San Francisco
+Bay. The captain said, if he reached it at night, he expected to wait
+until daylight to enter; but I knew that his ambitious spirit would
+never let him, if it were possible to get over. About three o'clock in
+the morning, I heard a new sound in the water, like the rippling of
+billows, as if it were shallow. I hastened upon deck, and found that we
+were apparently on the bar. The captain and the mate differed about the
+sounding. Immediately after, I heard the captain tell a man to run down
+and see what time it was; and, upon learning the hour, heard him
+exclaim, in the deepest satisfaction, "Flood-tide, sure! Well, we had a
+chance!" I felt as if we had had a series of chances from the time we
+left Port Angeles Harbor, to the running in without a pilot, and
+drifting, as we did, into the revenue-cutter, just as we anchored. We
+had a beautiful entrance, though. It is a long passage, an hour or two
+after crossing the bar. San Francisco lay in misty light before us, like
+one of the great bright nebulae we used to look at in Hercules, or the
+sword-handle of Perseus. It is splendidly lighted. As we drew nearer,
+there seemed to be troops of stars over all the hills.
+
+
+  ASTORIA, ORE., October 17, 1868.
+
+In making the voyage from San Francisco, I could hardly go on deck at
+all, until the last day; but, lying and looking out at my little
+port-hole, I saw the flying-fish, and the whales spouting, and the
+stormy-petrels and gulls.
+
+On Sunday the boat was turned about; and when we inquired why, we were
+told that the wind and sea were so much against us, we were going to put
+back into Crescent City. It came at once into our minds, how on Sunday,
+three years before, the steamer "Brother Jonathan," in attempting to do
+the same thing, struck a rock, and foundered, and nearly all on board
+were lost.
+
+Crescent City is an isolated little settlement, a depot for supplies for
+miners working on the rivers in Northern California. It has properly no
+harbor, but only a roadstead, filled with the wildest-looking black
+rocks, of strange forms, standing far out from the shore, and affords a
+very imperfect shelter for vessels if they are so fortunate as to get
+safely in. The Coast Survey Report mentions it as "the most dangerous of
+the roadsteads usually resorted to, filled with sunken rocks and reefs."
+It further says, that "no vessel should think of gaining an anchorage
+there, without a pilot, or perfect knowledge of the hidden dangers. The
+rocks are of peculiar character, standing isolated like bayonets, with
+their points just below the surface, ready to pierce any unlucky craft
+that may encounter them." The "Dragon Rocks" lie in the near vicinity,
+at the end of a long reef that makes out from Crescent City. All the
+steamers that enter or depart from there must pass near them.
+
+It is very remarkable, that, while the Atlantic coast abounds in
+excellent harbors, on the Pacific side of the continent there is no good
+harbor where a vessel can find refuge in any kind of weather between San
+Francisco Bay and San Diego to the south, and Port Angeles, on the
+Straits of Fuca, to the north. It is fitly characterized by Wilkes as an
+"iron-bound coast."
+
+We reached here Saturday night. Sunday morning, hearing a silver
+triangle played in the streets, we looked out for tambourines and
+dancing-girls, but saw none, and were presently told it was the call to
+church. We were quite tempted to go and hear what the service would be,
+but the sound of the breakers on the bar enchained us to stop and listen
+to them.
+
+
+  PORTLAND, ORE., October 20, 1868.
+
+In coming up the river from Astoria, we had always in view the
+snow-white cone of St. Helen's, one of the principal peaks of the
+Cascade Range. Nothing can be conceived more virginal than this form of
+exquisite purity rising from the dark fir forests to the serene sky.
+Mount Baker's symmetry is much marred by the sunken crater at the
+summit; Mount Rainier's outline is more complicated: this is a pure,
+beautiful cone. It is so perfect a picture of heavenly calm, that it is
+as hard to realize its being volcanic as it would be to imagine an
+outburst of passion in a seraph. Fremont reports having seen columns of
+smoke ascending from it, and showers of ashes are known to have fallen
+over the Dalles.
+
+As we approached Portland, the sharp-pointed form of Mount Hood came
+prominently into view. Portland would be only a commonplace city, the
+Willamette River being quite tame here, and the shores low and
+unattractive; but this grand old mountain, and the remnant of forest
+about it, give it an ancient, stately, and dignified look.
+
+
+  OLYMPIA, October 30, 1868.
+
+In crossing from the Columbia River to the Sound, we saw, along the
+Cowlitz Valley, marks of the havoc and devastation caused by the floods
+of last winter. The wild mountain stream had swept away many familiar
+landmarks since we were last there; in fact, had abandoned its bed, and
+taken a new channel. It gave us a realizing sense of the fact that great
+changes are still in process on our globe. Where we had quietly
+slumbered, is now the bed of the stream. We mourned over the little
+place at Monticello, where for eight years a nice garden, with rows of
+trim currant-bushes, had gladdened the eyes of travellers, and the neat
+inn, kept by a cheery old Methodist minister, had given them hospitable
+welcome,--not a vestige of the place now remaining. Civilization is so
+little advanced in that region, that few men would have the heart or the
+means to set out a garden.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+     Victoria.--Its Mountain Views, Rocks, and Flowers.--Vancouver's
+     Admiration of the Island.--San Juan Islands.--Sir James
+     Douglas.--Indian Wives.--Northern Indians.--Indian
+     Workmanship.--The Thunder-Bird.--Indian Offerings to the Spirit of
+     a Child.--Pioneers.--Crows and Sea-Birds.
+
+
+  VICTORIA, B.C., November 15, 1868.
+
+We are to stay for several months in this place. We are delightfully
+situated. The house has quite a Christmas look, from the holly and other
+bright berries that cluster round the windows. The hall is picturesquely
+ornamented with deer's horns and weapons and Indian curiosities. But the
+view is what we care most about. On our horizon we have the exquisite
+peaks of silver, the summits of the Olympic Range, at the foot of which
+we lived in Port Angeles. We look across the blue straits to them.
+Immediately in front is an oak grove, and on the other side a great
+extent of dark, Indian-looking woods. There are nearer mountains, where
+we can see all the beautiful changes of light and shade. Yesterday they
+were wrapped in haze, as in the Indian summer, and every thing was soft
+and dreamy about them; to-day they stand out bold and clear, with great
+wastes of snow, ravines, and landslides, and dark prominences, all
+distinctly defined. When the setting sun lights up the summits, new
+fields of crystal and gold, and other more distant mountains, appear.
+
+It is very refreshing to get here, the island has such a rich green look
+after California. It is quite rocky about us; but the rocks even are
+carpeted deep with moss, and the old gnarled branches of the oaks have a
+coating of thick, bright velvet. It is now the middle of November; and
+the young grass is springing up after the rain, and even where it does
+not grow there is no bare earth, but brown oak-leaves and brakes, with
+soft warm colors, particularly when the sun strikes across them. The
+skies, too, are like those at home, with the magnificent sunrise and
+sunset that only clouds can give. The California sky is, much of the
+time, pure unchanging blue.
+
+When we first landed here, we were very much impressed by the appearance
+of the coast, it being bold and rocky, like that of New England; while
+on the opposite side of the straits, and almost everywhere on the Sound,
+are smooth, sandy shores, or high bluffs covered with trees. The trees,
+too, at once attracted our attention,--large, handsome oaks, instead of
+the rough firs, and a totally different undergrowth, with many flowers
+wholly unknown on the opposite side, which charmed us with their
+brilliancy and variety of color; among them the delicate cyclamen, and
+others that we had known only in greenhouses. They continually recalled
+to us the surprise of some of the early explorers at seeing an
+uncultivated country look so much like a garden. We were told that much
+less rain falls here than on the American side; the winds depositing
+their moisture as snow on the mountains before they reach Victoria,
+which gives it a dryer winter climate.
+
+Vancouver, in his narrative, repeatedly speaks of the serenity of the
+weather here, and says that the scenery recalled to him delightful
+places in England. He felt as if the smooth, lawn-like slopes of the
+island must have been cleared by man. Every thing unsightly seemed to
+have been removed, and only what was most graceful and picturesque
+allowed to remain. He says, "I could not possibly believe that any
+uncultivated country had ever been discovered exhibiting so rich a
+picture." When requested by the Spanish Seignor Quadra to select some
+harbor or island to which to give their joint names, in memory of their
+friendship, and the successful accomplishment of their business (they
+having been commissioned respectively by their governments to tender and
+receive the possessions of Nootka, given back by Spain to Great
+Britain), he selected this island as the fairest and most attractive
+that he had seen, and called it the "Island of Quadra and Vancouver."
+The "Quadra," as was usual with the Spanish names, was soon after
+dropped.
+
+Between Vancouver's Island and Washington Territory lie the
+long-disputed islands of the San Juan group; the British claiming that
+Rosario Strait is the channel indicated in the Treaty of 1846, which
+would give them the islands; while the United States claim that De Haro
+Strait is the true channel, and that the islands belong to them.
+
+These islands are valuable for their pasturage and their harbors, and
+most of all for their situation in a military point of view. While this
+question is still in dispute, the British fort at one end of San Juan,
+and the American fort at the other, observe towards each other a
+respectful silence.
+
+
+  DECEMBER 1, 1868.
+
+Sir James Douglas, the first governor of British Columbia, selected the
+site of Victoria. Owing to his good taste, the natural beauty of the
+place has been largely preserved. The oak groves and delicate
+undergrowth are a great contrast to the rude mill-sites of the Sound,
+where every thing is sacrificed to sending off so much lumber. He lives
+at Victoria in a simple, unpretending way. It was made a law in British
+Columbia, that no white man should live with an Indian woman as wife,
+without marrying her. He set the example himself, by marrying one of the
+half-breed Indian women. Some of the chief officers of the Hudson Bay
+Company did the same. The aristocracy of Victoria has a large admixture
+of Indian blood. The company encouraged their employes, mostly French
+Canadians, to take Indian wives also. They were absolute in prohibiting
+the sale of intoxicating drinks to the Indians, and dismissed from their
+employ any one who violated this rule. They gave the Indians better
+goods than they got from the United States agents; so that they even now
+distinguish between a King George (English) blanket, and a Boston
+(American) blanket, as between a good one and a bad one.
+
+It was, no doubt, owing to the influence of Sir James Douglas, that
+Lady Burdett Coutts sent out and established a high school here for boys
+and girls.
+
+
+  DECEMBER 5, 1868.
+
+We saw here some of the Northern Indians of the Haidah tribe, from Queen
+Charlotte's Islands. They came in large canoes, some of which would hold
+a hundred men, and yet each was hollowed out of a single log of cedar.
+They came down to bring a cargo of dogfish-oil to the light-house at
+Cape Flattery. They camped for two weeks on the beach, and we went often
+to see them. Having led such an isolated life on their islands,
+surrounded by rough water, and hardly known to white men, they have
+preserved many peculiarities of their tribe, and are quite different in
+their looks and habits from the Indians of Puget Sound. Some of the old
+women had a little piece of bone or pearl shell stuck through the lower
+lip, which gave them a very barbarous appearance; but in many ways the
+men had more knowledge of arts and manufactures than any other Indians
+we have seen. They showed us some ornaments of chased silver, which they
+offered for sale; also bottle-shaped baskets, made of roots and bark, so
+closely woven together as to hold water. But most curious to us were
+some little black, polished columns, about a foot high, that looked like
+ebony. They were covered with carvings, very skilfully executed. When we
+took them into our hands, we were surprised at their weight, and found
+that they were made of a fine, black coal-slate. A man who stood by
+explained to us that this slate is a peculiar product of their islands.
+When first quarried, it is so soft as to be easily cut; and when
+afterward rubbed with oil, and exposed to the air, it becomes intensely
+hard. At the foot of the column was the bear, who guards the entrance of
+their lodges; at the top, the crow, who presides over every thing. On
+some were frogs and lizards. One was surmounted by the "thunder-bird," a
+mythological combination of man and bird, who lives among the mountains.
+When he sails out from them, the sky is darkened; and the flapping of
+his wings makes the thunder, and the winking of his eyes the lightning.
+It is very strange that the "thunder-bird" should be one of the deities
+of the Indians of the North-west, where thunder is so rare as to be
+phenomenal. We heard of him in other parts of British Columbia, and see
+him represented in carvings from Sitka. Tatoosh Island, off Cape
+Flattery, where the Makah Indians live, derives its name from
+_Tootootche_, the Nootka name for the "thunder-bird." The Makahs
+originally came from the west coast of Vancouver's Island. They deem
+themselves much superior to the tribes of the interior, because they go
+out on the ocean. Their home being on the rocky coast islands, they
+naturally look to the water to secure their living. Their chief business
+is to hunt the whale, they being the only Indians who engage in this
+pursuit.
+
+Sometimes we found the Indians so deeply interested in a game they were
+playing, that they took no notice of us. It was played with slender
+round sticks, about six inches long, made of yew wood, so exquisitely
+polished that it had a gloss like satin. Some of the sticks were inlaid
+with little bits of rainbow pearl, and I saw one on which the figure of
+a fish was very skilfully represented. It is quite incomprehensible, how
+they can do such delicate work with the poor tools they have. They use
+only something like a cobbler's knife.
+
+They shuffled the sticks under tow of cedar-bark, droning all the time a
+low, monotonous chant. It is curious that any thing so extremely simple
+can be so fascinating. They will sit all day and night, without stopping
+for food, and gamble away every thing they possess. It appeared to be
+identical with the old game of "Odd or Even" played by the ancient
+Greeks, as described by Plato.
+
+We saw here the great conical hat worn by the Cape Flattery Indians,
+similar in form to the Chinese hat; and also some blankets of their own
+manufacture, woven of dog's hair.
+
+
+  PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON TERRITORY,
+  April 4, 1869.
+
+This afternoon we rode past the graveyard of the Indians on the beach.
+It is a picturesque spot, as most of their burial-places are. They like
+to select them where land and water meet. A very old woman, wrapped in a
+green blanket, was digging clams with her paddle in the sand. She was
+one of those stiff old Indians, whom we occasionally see, who do not
+speak the Chinook at all, and take no notice whatever of the whites. I
+never feel as if they even see me when I am with them. They seem always
+in a deep dream. Her youth must have been long before any white people
+came to the country. When she dies, her body will be wrapped in the
+tattered green blanket, and laid here, with her paddle, her only
+possession, stuck up beside her in the sand.
+
+We saw two Indians busy at one of the little huts that cover the
+graves. They were nailing a new red covering over it. We asked them if a
+chief was dead. A _klootchman_ we had not noticed before looked up, and
+said mournfully, "No," it was her "little woman." I saw that she had
+before her, on the sand, a number of little bright toys,--a doll wrapped
+in calico, a musical ball, a looking-glass, a package of candy and one
+of cakes, a bright tin pail full of sirup, and two large sacks, one of
+bread, and the other of apples.
+
+Another and older woman was picking up driftwood, and arranging it for a
+fire. When the men had finished their work at the hut, they came and
+helped her. They laid it very carefully, with a great many openings, and
+level on the top, and lighted it.
+
+Then the grandmother brought a little purple woollen shawl, and gave it
+to the old man. He held it out as far as his arm could reach, and waved
+it, and apparently called to the spirit of the child to come and receive
+it; and he then cast it into the fire. He spoke in the old Indian
+language, which they do not use in talking with us. It sounded very
+strange and thrilling. Each little toy they handled with great care
+before putting it into the flames. After they had burned up the bread
+and the apples, they poured on some sugar, and smothered the flames,
+making a dense column of smoke.
+
+Then they all moved a little farther back, and motioned us to also. We
+wondered they had tolerated us so long, as they dislike being observed;
+but they seemed to feel that we sympathized with them. The old man staid
+nearest. He lay down on the sand, half hidden by a wrecked tree. He
+stripped his arms and legs bare, and pulled his hair all up to the top
+of his head, and knotted it in a curious way, so that it nodded in a
+shaggy tuft over his forehead. Then he lay motionless, looking at the
+fire, once in a while turning and saying something to the women,
+apparently about the child, as I several times distinguished the word
+_tenas-tenas_ (the little one). I thought perhaps he might be describing
+her coming and taking the things. At times he became very animated. They
+did not stir, only answered with a kind of mournful "Ah--ah," to every
+thing he said.
+
+At last their little dog bounded forward, as if to meet some one. At
+that, they were very much excited and pleased, and motioned us to go
+farther off still, as if it were too sacrilegious for us to stay there.
+They all turned away but the old man, and he began to move in a stealthy
+way towards the fire. All the clumsiness and weight of a man seemed to
+be gone. He was as light and wiry as a snake, and glided round the old
+drift that strewed the sand, with his body prostrate, but his head held
+erect, and his bright eyes fixed on the fire, like some wild desert
+creature, which he appeared to counterfeit. The Indians think, that, by
+assuming the shape of any creature, they can acquire something of its
+power. When he had nearly reached the fire, he sprang up, and caught
+something from it. I could not tell whether it was real or imaginary. He
+held it up to his breast, and appeared to caress it, and try to twine it
+about his neck. I thought at first it was a coal of fire; perhaps it was
+smoke. Three times he leaped nearly into the flames in this way, and
+darted at something which he apparently tried to seize. Then he seemed
+to assure the others that he had accomplished his purpose; and they all
+went immediately off, without looking back.
+
+
+  APRIL 20, 1869.
+
+We are surprised to find so many New-England people about us. Many of
+those who are interested in the sawmills are lumbermen from Maine. The
+two men who first established themselves in the great wilderness, with
+unbroken forest, and only Indians about them, are still living near us.
+They are men of resources, as well as endurance. A man who comes to do
+battle against these great trees must necessarily be of quite a
+different character from one who expects, as the California pioneer did,
+to pick up his fortune in the dust at his feet. I am often reminded of
+Thoreau's experience in the Maine woods. He says, "The deeper you
+penetrate into the woods, the more intelligent, and, in one sense, less
+countrified, do you find the inhabitants; for always the pioneer has
+been a traveller, and to some extent a man of the world; and, as the
+distances with which he is familiar are greater, so is his information
+more general and far-reaching."
+
+
+  MAY 30, 1869.
+
+The gulls and crows give parties to each other on the sand, at low-tide.
+Farther out are the ducks, wheeling about, and calling to each other,
+with sharp, lively voices. It is curious to watch them, and try to
+understand their impulses. Sometimes they are all perfectly motionless,
+sitting in companies of hundreds, in the deepest calm; sometimes all in
+a flutter, tripping over the water, with their wings just striking it,
+uttering their shrill cry. They dive, but never come to shore. What one
+does, all the rest immediately do. Sometimes the whole little fleet is
+gone in an instant, and the water unruffled above them.
+
+The prettiest among them is the spirit-duck,--its motion is so
+beautiful, as it breasts the little billows, or glides through the still
+water. Their bosoms are so like the white-caps, I have to look for their
+little black heads, to see where they are. Once in a while, a loon comes
+sailing along, in its slow, stately way, turning its slender, graceful
+neck from side to side, as if enjoying the scenery. We never see more
+than two of them together, and they generally separate soon.
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+     Puget Sound and Adjacent Waters.--Its Early Explorers.--Towns,
+     Harbors, and Channels.--Vancouver's Nomenclature.--Juan de
+     Fuca.--Mount Baker.--Chinese "Wing."--Ancient Indian Women.--Pink
+     Flowering Currant and Humming-Birds.--"Ah Sing."
+
+
+  PORT TOWNSEND, September 10, 1869.
+
+We have been spending a day or two in travelling about the Sound by
+steamer, touching at the various mill-towns and other ports, where the
+boat calls, to receive and deliver the mails, or for other business.
+Every time we pass over these waters, we admire anew their extent and
+beauty, and their attractive surroundings, their lovely bays and
+far-reaching inlets, their bold promontories and lofty shores, their
+setting in the evergreen forest, and the great mountains in the
+distance, standing guard on either side.
+
+The early explorers who visited this part of the country evidently had a
+high appreciation of it, as their accounts of it show. Vancouver, who
+came in 1792, expressed so much admiration of these waters and their
+surroundings, that his statements were received with hesitation, and it
+was supposed that his enthusiasm as an explorer had led him to
+exaggeration. But Wilkes, who followed him many years afterwards,
+confirmed all that he had said, and, in his narrative, writes as follows
+regarding this great inland sea:--
+
+     "Nothing can exceed the beauty of these waters, and their safety.
+     Not a shoal exists within the Straits of San Juan de Fuca,
+     Admiralty Inlet, Puget Sound, or Hood's Canal, that can in any way
+     interrupt their navigation by a seventy-four-gun ship. I venture
+     nothing in saying there is no country in the world that possesses
+     waters equal to these."
+
+     In another account Wilkes writes: "One of the most noble estuaries
+     in the world; without a danger of any kind to impede navigation;
+     with a surrounding country capable of affording all kinds of
+     supplies, harbors without obstruction at any season of the year,
+     and a climate unsurpassed in salubrity."
+
+More recently the United States Coast Survey Report of 1858 declares,
+that, "For depth of water, boldness of approaches, freedom from hidden
+dangers, and the immeasurable sea of gigantic timber coming down to the
+very shores, these waters are unsurpassed, unapproachable."
+
+We were at first puzzled by the various names given to the different
+waters over which we travelled; but soon discovered, that, while the
+term "Puget Sound" is popularly applied to the whole of them, it
+properly belongs only to the comparatively small body of water lying
+beyond the "Narrows," at the southern end, and the arms and inlets that
+branch therefrom.
+
+The great natural divisions of this system are: the Straits of Juan de
+Fuca, extending from the ocean eastward about eighty miles, and then
+branching into the vast Gulf of Georgia to the north, and Admiralty
+Inlet to the south; Hood's Canal, branching from the latter, on the west
+side, near the entrance, and running south-west about sixty miles;
+Possession Sound, branching from the east side, and extending north
+between Whidby Island and the mainland, as far as Rosario Straits; and
+Puget Sound, connected with the southerly end of Admiralty Inlet by the
+"Narrows."
+
+We commenced our recent trip at Victoria, and crossed the Straits of
+Fuca,--through which the west wind draws as through a tunnel,--to Port
+Angeles. This place was named by Don Francisco Elisa, who was sent out
+to this region in 1791 by the Mexican Viceroy. Of course Don Francisco
+must compliment the Viceroy by giving his name to some important points.
+This royal personage had a string of ten proper names, besides his
+titles. These Don Francisco distributed according to his judgment. Being
+apparently a religious man, he was mindful also of the claims of saints
+and angels; and, when he reached the first good harbor on the upper
+coast, he called it _Puerto de los Angeles_ (Port of the Angels).
+
+Proceeding eastward, the next point of interest is New Dungeness, so
+called by Vancouver from its resemblance in situation to Dungeness on
+the British Channel. The harbor of this place, like that of Port
+Angeles, is formed by a long sand-spit that curves out from the shore.
+On account of this resemblance, Vancouver gave to Port Angeles the name
+of False Dungeness, thinking it might be mistaken for the other. But
+this name has been dropped, and the more poetical designation of the
+Spaniard retained. The pious Elisa called the long-pointed sand-spit at
+Dungeness "the Point of the Holy Cross."
+
+The great body of water north of Vancouver's Island, which had not yet
+received its name, he called _Canal de Nuestra Senora del Rosario_ (the
+Channel of Our Lady of the Rosary). When Vancouver, in the following
+year, gave his own name to the island, he called this body of water the
+Gulf of Georgia, in honor of George III., the reigning king of England.
+The name given by Elisa is still retained by the strait east of the De
+Haro Archipelago.
+
+The next place at which we stopped was Port Townsend. This was named, by
+Vancouver, Marrowstone Point, from the cliff of marrowstone at the head
+of the peninsula; but this name was afterwards given to the headland on
+the opposite side of the entrance to Port Townsend Bay, to the
+south-east of the town, and the name of Townshend, one of the lords of
+the Admiralty, was given to the bay. The town afterwards took the same
+name, dropping the _h_ from it. Admiralty Inlet commences here, and was
+named by Vancouver in honor of the Board of Admiralty for whom he
+sailed. Hood's Canal was named for another of the lord-members of the
+Board.
+
+Opposite, across the inlet, to the north and east, lies Whidby Island,
+which Vancouver named for one of his lieutenants. It is a pity it could
+not have had some more poetic name, it is so beautiful a place; it is
+familiarly known here as the "Garden of the Territory." It was formerly
+owned and occupied by the Skagit Indians, a large tribe, who had several
+villages there, and fine pasture-grounds; their name being still
+retained by the prominent headland at the southern extremity of the
+island. I heard one of the passengers remark that there were formerly
+white deer there. I strained my eyes as long as it was in sight, hoping
+to see one of these lovely creatures emerge from the dark woods; but in
+vain. Wilkes says that the Skagit Indians had large, well-built lodges
+of timber and planks. But, since so many tribes have been swept away by
+the small-pox, most of them have lost their interest in making
+substantial houses, feeling that they have so little while to live.
+North of Whidby is Fidalgo Island, named for a Spanish officer. Between
+them is a narrow passage, called Deception Pass, very intricate and full
+of rocks, above and below the water, and most difficult to navigate,--in
+striking contrast to the waters of the Sound in general.
+
+We called at Port Ludlow and Port Gamble, the latter on Hood's Canal,
+near the entrance,--_Teekalet_ being its Indian name. Returning to
+Admiralty Inlet, we presently passed Skagit Head, at the entrance of
+Possession Sound, so named by Vancouver to commemorate the formal
+taking possession, by him, of all the territory around the Straits of
+Fuca and Admiralty Inlet, on the king's birthday.
+
+We steamed serenely on, over the clear, still water, to Port Madison,
+and then crossed the inlet to Seattle. Thence we proceeded south, and
+passed Vashon Island, which has many attractive features.
+Quartermaster's Harbor, at the southern end, is a lovely place; and
+beautiful shells and fossils are to be found there. Occasionally we came
+across a great boom of logs, travelling down to some sawmill; or a
+crested cormorant, seated on a fragment of drift, sailed for a while in
+our company. We passed on through the "Narrows," and entered Puget Sound
+proper, named for Peter Puget, one of Vancouver's lieutenants, who
+explored it.
+
+All Vancouver's friends, patrons, and officers--lieutenants, pursers,
+pilots, and pilot's mates--are abundantly honored in the names scattered
+about this region. He appears, too, to have had a good appreciation of
+nature, and praised, in his report, the landscape and the flowers. He
+regarded somewhat, in his nomenclature, the natural features of the
+country; as in Point Partridge, the eastern headland of Whidby Island;
+Hazel Point, on Hood's Canal; Cypress Island, one of the San Juan
+group; and Birch Bay, south of the delta of Fraser River.
+
+The Spanish explorers in this region do not seem to have taken much
+pains to record and publish the result of their discoveries. Vancouver
+held on to his with true English grip, and often supplanted their names
+by others of his own choosing.
+
+At night we reached Steilacoom, where there was formerly a military
+post. It has an imposing situation, with a fine mountain view; and there
+are some excellent military roads leading from it in various directions.
+
+We spent a pleasant day at Olympia, which lies at the southern extremity
+of the Sound, and resembles a New-England village, with its maples
+shading the streets, and flower-gardens. It has an excellent class of
+people, as have the towns upon the Sound in general; and the evidences
+of taste and culture, which are continually seen, are one of the
+pleasantest characteristics of this new and thinly settled part of the
+country.
+
+There are no sawmills on the Straits of Fuca, and the slight
+settlements along its shores have scarcely marred their primitive
+wildness and beauty. The original forest-line is hardly broken; the deer
+still come down to the water's edge; and the face of the country has
+apparently not changed since Vancouver, nearly a hundred years ago,
+stooped to gather the May roses at Dungeness; or Juan de Fuca, two
+centuries earlier, "sailed into that silent sea," and looked round at
+the mountains,--not less beautiful, though more imposing, than those
+that lay about his own home on the distant Mediterranean.
+
+
+  DECEMBER 10, 1869.
+
+We have just seen an English gentleman who came over to this country for
+the purpose of ascending Mount Baker, first called by the Spaniards
+_Montana del Carmelo_. He was three years in trying to get a small
+company to attempt the expedition with him. Indians do not at all
+incline to ascending mountains; they seem to have some superstitious
+fear about it. I believe this mountain has never been explored to any
+extent. He describes the colors of the snow and ice as intensely
+beautiful. He has travelled among the Alps, but saw an entirely new
+phenomenon on the summit of Mount Baker,--the snow like little tongues
+of flame. In the deep rifts was a most exquisite blue. On the last day's
+upward journey, they were obliged to throw away all their blankets,--as
+they were not able to carry any weight,--and depend on chance for the
+night's shelter. How well Fate rewarded them for trusting her! They
+happened at night upon a warm cavern, where any extra coverings would
+have been quite superfluous. It was part of the crater, but they slept
+quietly notwithstanding.
+
+
+  JANUARY 15, 1870.
+
+We have now a little Chinese boy to live with us; that is, he represents
+himself as a boy, but he seems more as if he were a most ancient man. He
+might have stepped out of some Ninevite or Egyptian sculpture. He is
+like the little figures in the processions on the tombs, and his face is
+perfectly grave and unchanging all the time. I feel about him, as I do
+about some of the Indians,--as if he had not only his own age, but the
+age of his race, about him.
+
+There never could be any thing more inappropriate than that he should be
+named "Wing," for no creature could be farther from any thing light or
+airy. One reason, I think, why he seems so different from any of his
+countrymen that we have seen, is because he has never lived in a city,
+but only in a small village, which he says has no name that we should
+understand.
+
+He works in the slowest possible way, but most faithfully and
+incessantly, and never shows the slightest desire for any recreation or
+rest. Even the anticipation of the great national Chinese feast, which
+is to be celebrated next month, and which occurs only once in a thousand
+years, has failed to arouse any enthusiasm in him, and he is apparently
+quite indifferent to it.
+
+Our goat has taken a great dislike to him,--I think just because he is
+so different from herself. She is always making thrusts at him with her
+horns, and trying to butt him over. But he preserves, even toward her,
+his uniform sweet manner; calls her a "sheep," entirely ignoring her
+rude, fierce ways; leads her to pasture every day, under great
+difficulties; and attempts to milk her, at the risk of his life. The
+serenity of these people is really to be envied; they go on their way so
+perfectly undisturbed, whatever happens.
+
+
+  APRIL 30, 1870.
+
+The tides are very peculiar here. Every alternate fortnight they run
+very low, and then the beach is uncovered so far out that we can take
+long rides on it, as far as the head of the bay.
+
+We are very much entertained with seeing the old Indian crones digging
+clams. They appear to be equally amused with us, and chuckle with
+delight as we pass. It seems very strange to see human beings without
+the least approach to any thing civilized or artificial, with the single
+exception of the old blankets knotted about them with pieces of rope;
+but when I compare them with civilized women of the same age, who are
+generally helpless, I see that they have a great advantage over them.
+They are out everywhere, in all weathers, and do always the hardest of
+the work. We meet them often in the woods, so bowed down under the loads
+of bark on their backs, that it looks as if the bark itself had a stout
+pair of legs, and were walking. Our horse is always frightened, and can
+never get used to them.
+
+We can ride now for hours on the beach, looking at the water on one
+side, and on the other at the densely wooded bluffs, now most
+beautifully lighted up by the pink flowering currant. It is like the
+rhodora at home, in respect to coming very early,--the flowers before
+the leaves. At first it is of a delicate faint pink; but as the season
+advances it becomes very deep and rich in color, and contrasts most
+beautifully with the drapery of light-gray moss, and the dark fir-trees.
+
+This flower attracts the humming-bird, and furnishes its earliest food.
+This delicate, tropical-looking little creature is the first bird to
+arrive; coming often in March from its winter home in California, where
+it lives on another species of flowering currant that blooms through the
+winter.
+
+In making some excavations here, there have been found the bones and
+teeth of the American elephant, and with them a bone made into a wedge,
+such as the Indians here use in splitting wood; which seems to imply
+great antiquity for their race.
+
+
+  AUGUST 10, 1870.
+
+We have a new China boy, Ah Sing, who is very impulsive and
+enthusiastic, quite a different character from the unemotional Wing. He
+is almost too zealous to learn. R. began to teach him his letters, to
+make him contented. I hear him now repeating them over and over to
+himself, with great emphasis, while he is washing the clothes. He is so
+big and strong, that they come out with great force. A few nights ago,
+after everybody had gone to bed, he came down past our room, and went
+into the kitchen. R. followed him to see what was the matter, and, as
+the boy looked a little wild, thought perhaps he was going into a fit.
+He had seized the primer, and was flourishing it about and
+gesticulating with it; and finally R., who has a wonderful faculty for
+comprehending the Chinese, divined that he had gone to bed without a
+lesson, and could not sleep until he had learned something.
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+     Rocky-mountain Region.--Railroad from Columbia River to Puget
+     Sound.--Mountain Changes.--Mixture of Nationalities.--Journey to
+     Coos Bay, Oregon.--Mountain Canyon.--A Branch of the
+     Coquille.--Empire City.--Myrtle Grove.--Yaquina.--Genial Dwellers
+     in the Woods.--Our Unknown Neighbor.--Whales.--Pet Seal and
+     Eagle.--A Mourning Mother.--Visit from Yeomans.
+
+
+  PORT TOWNSEND, November 18, 1872.
+
+We had quite a pleasant journey back from the East, and saw some things
+we must have passed in the night on our trip thither. About the
+Rocky-mountain region we saw what appeared to be immense ruins; but they
+were really natural formations, resembling old castles, with ramparts
+and battlements and towers. I could not help feeling as if they must
+belong to some gigantic extinct race. On the wide, solitary plains they
+were most imposing.
+
+At the Laramie Plains, where we stopped a while, we were so blinded by
+the glittering crystals of quartz and specks of mica, we could well
+understand why the name of the Glittering Mountains was first given to
+the Rocky-mountain Range.
+
+We saw at Cheyenne a most curious cactus. Outside, it was only a green,
+prickly ball; inside, was a deep nest, filled with a cluster of pink
+blossoms.
+
+We looked into the beautiful Blue Canyon--blue with mist. Hundreds of
+feet below us was the gliding silver line of a stream.
+
+At one of our stopping-places was a team of buffalo and oxen working
+together. To see this chief Manitou of the Indians so degraded, was like
+seeing a captive Jugurtha.
+
+We found great changes had taken place within a year between Columbia
+River and Puget Sound. Where we used to cross alone, in the deepest
+solitude of the forest, there were cars running, gangs of Chinamen
+everywhere at work, great burnt tracts, and piles of firewood. Once in a
+while a stray deer bounded by, and turned back to look at us, with
+pretty, innocent curiosity. And there were still some of the old trees
+left standing, gnarled and twisted, and so thickly coated with moss,
+that great ferns grew out of it, and hung down from the branches. What a
+pity to destroy the work of centuries, the like of which we shall never
+see again!
+
+We saw to-day some of the pretty spotted sea-doves, that have just
+arrived to spend the winter with us. Puget Sound, with its mild climate,
+is their Florida or Bermuda. In early spring they return to the rocky
+lagoons of the North, to pair and breed.
+
+
+  DECEMBER 15, 1872.
+
+With our wider range from the hill-top to which we have removed, we
+notice more how the appearance of the mountains changes with the changes
+of the sky. This morning they were all rose-color; and are now so
+ghostly, the snow like shrouds about them. Before, we had only single
+chains and solitary peaks; here, we look into the bosom of a mountainous
+country, and every change in the light reveals something new. Where we
+have many times looked without seeing any thing, at length some
+beautiful new outline appears in faint silver on the distant horizon.
+Heaven ought to be more real to us for living in sight of what is so
+inaccessible, and so full of beauty and mystery.
+
+
+  MARCH 9, 1873.
+
+We are very much struck with the mixture of nationalities upon this
+coast. We were so fortunate as to secure last winter the services of a
+splendid great Swedish girl, the heartiest and healthiest creature I
+ever saw. There did not seem to be a shadow of any kind about her, nor
+any thing more amiss with her in any way than there is with the sunshine
+or the blue sky. All kinds of work she took alike, with equal readiness,
+and never admitted to her mind a doubt or anxiety on any subject.
+
+We felt sorry enough, when we had had her only three weeks, to have the
+foreman of the mill come and beg us to release her. It seems they were
+engaged to be married when they left Sweden; but, being of thrifty
+natures, they had agreed to work each a year before settling down in
+marriage. The constant sight of her charms proved too much for him, and
+they decided that all they needed to begin life together was their
+wealth of affection and their exuberant health and spirits.
+
+Her size may be imagined, when I mention that her lover brought up six
+rings in succession, to try to find one big enough to go over her
+finger. Finally he squeezed on the largest one he could obtain, as an
+absolutely essential ceremony to bind them together, and smiled with
+delight to see that it could never be taken off.
+
+The only help we could find in her place, at such short notice, was a
+Russian boy, lately arrived from Kodiac. When we first saw him, we were
+quite disheartened at his appearance, his mouth and eyes were so like
+those of a fish, and he seemed so terribly uncivilized. I attempted to
+intimate that I thought we could not undertake to do any thing with him.
+He seemed to suspect what I thought,--although he could not understand
+my words,--and took up a piece of paper, and wrote some Russian words on
+it. I asked him what they meant; and he said, "Jesus Christ, he dead; he
+get up again; men and devils he take them all up." I supposed the most
+civilized person he had ever seen was the priest; and, as the priest had
+taught him that, he thought it was a kind of introduction for him, and
+that I should feel it to be a bond of union between us. I did not feel
+quite so much as if he were a fish or a seal afterward. All the time,
+even over the hot cooking-stove, he kept his rough fur cap on his head.
+His great staring eyes rolled round in every direction; and he looked so
+utterly uncouth and so bewildered, that I doubted very much if he could
+ever be adapted to our needs.
+
+To my great surprise, however, he learned very fast, stimulated by his
+curiosity to know about every thing. What made him appear so very
+stupid at first was, that he felt so strongly the newness of all his
+surroundings. After he learned to talk with us, he interested us very
+much with accounts of his own country, and with the letters he read us
+from his father, an old man of ninety, who had spent his life in charge
+of convicts in Siberia. He wrote his father that he was homesick; and
+the old man replied: "You homesick--work! work by and by make you
+strong!" His letters were directed only: "Son mine--George Olaf." He
+seemed to trust to some one on the way, to take an interest in their
+reaching him.
+
+The boy generally set up his hymn-book in some place where he could
+occasionally glance at it, and chant his Russian hymns, while he was
+about his work. On the other side, the nurse sang Dutch songs to the
+baby.
+
+
+  JULY 1, 1873.
+
+We have just returned from a long, rough journey in southern and western
+Oregon. We crossed the Coast Range of mountains,--not so high and
+snow-capped as the Cascades, but beautiful to watch in their variations
+of light and shade, always the shadows of clouds travelling over them,
+and mists stealing up through the dark ravines. A Dutchwoman--our
+fellow-passenger--was in ecstasies, exclaiming continually: "How
+beautiful is the land here! How _bracht_ [bright]!"--noticing all the
+sun-lighted places; but I was more attracted by the shadows. I heard
+another hard-looking woman say to a man, that she cried when she saw the
+hills, they were so beautiful. There was a deep welcome in them;
+something human and responsive seemed to fill the stillness. In these
+solitary places, remote from all other associations, it seems as if
+Nature could communicate more directly with us.
+
+I noticed, more than I ever did before, the difference in the appearance
+and bearing of the flowers; how some seemed only to flaunt themselves,
+and others had so much more character. As we passed a little opening in
+the woods, a great dark purple flower, that was a stranger to me, fixed
+its gaze upon me so that I felt the look, as we sometimes do from human
+eyes. Any thing supernatural is so in keeping with these solitary
+places, I felt as if some one had assumed that form to greet me. There
+were some beautiful new flowers; among them a snow-white iris, which was
+very lovely. It seemed like a miracle that this fair little creature
+should come up so unsoiled out of the rough, black earth.
+
+We crossed the mountain range through a canyon. The road wound round and
+round the sides of it, sometimes so narrow that it seemed hardly more
+than an Indian trail. We had a true California driver, who shouted out
+to us every few minutes, to hold on tight, or all to get together on one
+side, or something equally suspicious; but dashed on without any regard
+to danger. We were in constant expectation of being hurled to the
+bottom; but it quickened our senses to enjoy the beauty about us, to
+feel that any moment might be our last. We saw below us great trees that
+filled the canyon. They were so very tall, that it appeared as if, after
+having grown into what would be recognized everywhere as lofty trees,
+they had altered their views altogether as to what a tall tree really
+should be, and started anew. We did not wholly enjoy looking down at
+their great mossy arms, stretched out as if to receive us. Everywhere
+was the most exquisite fragrance, from the Linnaea and other flowers. At
+the bottom was a little thread of a brook. After we passed through the
+canyon, the brook came out, and went down the mountain side with us. It
+was very lively company. Sometimes it hid from us, but we could tell
+where it was, by the rushing of the water. Then it would appear again,
+whirling and eddying about the rocks. In some places, its bed was of
+pure, hard stone, with basins full of foam. Sometimes the rocks were
+covered with dark, rich moss. There were retired little falls in it,
+that seemed like nuns, so unregarding as they were of all the commotion
+about them. Then the whole body of water would gather itself up, and
+shoot down some rock, and cut like a sword-blade into the still water
+below. We shall long remember that little, leaping, dancing branch of
+the Coquille, that runs from the Coast Mountains to the sea.
+
+Upon learning that we were approaching "Empire City," we attempted a
+hasty toilet,--as appropriate for entering a metropolis as circumstances
+would permit,--but we were kindly informed that we might spare ourselves
+the trouble, as the place consisted at present of but a single house; a
+carpenter having established himself there, and, with a far-seeing eye,
+given the place its name, and started a settlement by building his own
+dwelling, and a play-house in the woods for his little daughter.
+
+We spent one night in a myrtle-grove. The trees leaned gracefully
+together, and the whole grove for miles was made of beautiful arched
+aisles. Coming from our shaggy firs, and the rough undergrowth that is
+always beneath them, to these smooth, glossy leaves, and clear, open
+spaces of fine grass, was like entering fairy-land, or the "good green
+wood" of the ballads. I looked for princes and lovers wandering among
+them, and felt quite transformed myself. The driver I regarded as a
+different man from that moment; to think that he should show so much
+good taste as to draw up for the night in that lovely place.
+
+In coming from the mountain, we had to ride a good deal of the way
+without seeing where we were going; and once we found ourselves with a
+great roof over our heads, hollowed out of the solid rock, and covered
+with dripping maiden's-hair. All the rock about was like flint, and worn
+into strange shapes by the water.
+
+One day we were accompanied quite a distance through the woods by a
+female chief, Yaquina. I think that she is a celebrated woman in Oregon,
+and that Yaquina Bay was named for her. She was mounted on a little
+pony, and riding along in a free and joyous way, looking about at the
+green leaves and the sunshine. I thought of Victoria with her heavy
+crown, that gives her the sick headache, and wondered how she would like
+to exchange with her.
+
+We were quite interested in some of the people we saw, one of them
+especially,--a man whose house had no windows. We felt at first as if we
+could not stop with him; but he came out to our wagon, looking so bright
+and clean, and had such an air of welcome as he said, "We are not very
+well provided, but we are very accommodating," that we at once decided
+to stop, particularly as the driver said the horses could not possibly
+go enough farther to get to any better place that night. He ushered us
+in very hospitably, and looking round the room--the chairs being rather
+scarce--said, "There are plenty of seats--on the floor." I saw some
+books on a shelf, and, going to look at them, found "Mill's Logic," and
+"Tyndall on Sound," and several others, scientific and historical. We
+found him, as he said we should, eager to make us comfortable. He
+noticed that the baby did not look well, and went out into the woods,
+and cut down a little tree that he said would do her good, and urged us
+to take it with us. He said that he was generally called in by his
+neighbors, in case of sickness or accident. He had learned to help
+himself in most ways, as he came there originally with only fifty cents
+in his pocket.
+
+Another old man, at the next stopping-place, made a beautiful picture,
+as he sat inside his open door, in a great, rough, home-made armchair,
+with a black bear-skin for a pillow,--a large, strong man, with long,
+shining, silver hair. We were very much pleased to find that we were to
+spend the night there, he looked so interesting. All his talk was about
+fights with wild beasts and Indians, and cutting down the big trees, and
+making the terrible roads we had been over. There was a good deal of
+refinement and gentleness, too, about him. He had in his arms a dear
+little child. He had adopted her, he said, because his were all grown
+up. She seemed like a soft little bird, so timid and clinging.
+
+When we came to see our accommodations, we were delighted to find every
+thing so clean and agreeable. We expressed our pleasure to him, and he
+said, "Yes; a woman, I think, will go a mile or two farther for a clean
+sheet; and even a man does not altogether like to be tucked into bed
+with a stranger;" which suggests what the customs are there.
+
+
+  DECEMBER 20, 1873.
+
+We were startled to learn, a few days since, that one of our neighbors
+had been found dead,--a man about whom there had always been a good
+deal of mystery in the village. He lived alone, and never spoke of any
+relations or friends. He was a man of very courteous manners, but on
+this point he would allow no questions. There was no one to notify of
+his death, and nobody appeared to claim his property.
+
+The first time we ever saw him, he was riding in the woods, on a
+handsome horse, with a bright scarlet blanket. He looked so picturesque,
+and there was so much grace and dignity about him, that I felt as if he
+did not belong anywhere about here. It seemed as if he might have come
+riding out of some foreign land, or some distant age,--like a knight
+going to a tournament.
+
+When we came to know him, we could not help wondering what could induce
+him to live here. He was thought to be Southern, and it was generally
+supposed that some difficulties arising at the time of the war had
+brought him here. He seemed disposed to make the best of our dull life,
+and always had something that interested him to show us,--a new flower,
+or curious shell, or some pretty Indian child.
+
+The last time we saw him was Saturday night. It must have been only a
+few hours before his death, but he appeared in his usual fine health.
+The next we knew of him was Monday morning, when some men who lived
+near us said that nothing had been seen of him since his light
+disappeared Saturday night. As he did not open his house, as usual, on
+Sunday, they said to themselves, "He does not like to be disturbed," and
+waited till Monday, when they went to the window; and the dog inside,
+hearing the noise, came and tore down the curtain, and went back and sat
+down beside his master, where he lay on the bed, and licked his face;
+and they saw that he was dead. He was tenderly buried by the people of
+the village, without religious ceremonies; but they dropped little green
+branches into his grave in the way of the Free Masons. I was surprised
+at the delicacy of feeling shown in regard to his desire to remain
+unknown, rude curiosity concerning any thing peculiar being everywhere
+so common.
+
+
+  MAY 20, 1874.
+
+This afternoon we went out a little farther than usual in our boat, and
+saw a herd of whales in the distance,--great free creatures, puffing and
+snorting, spouting and frolicking, together. The boatman said that a
+flap from one of their tails would send our boat clean out of the water,
+and turned hastily about, hallooing in the wildest way, to keep them
+off.
+
+On our way back we passed some deserted buildings on a sandy point. We
+inquired about them, and were told that they were the commencement of a
+city, originally called "New York;" but, having disappointed its
+founders, the Indian name of _Alki_ (By and By) was given to it in
+derision.
+
+We saw in the woods near here some magnificent rhododendrons, ten or
+twelve feet tall, covered with clusters of rose-colored flowers.
+
+One of the boatmen has a pet seal that we sometimes take out in the boat
+with us. We put him occasionally into the water, feeling that he must be
+longing to go; but he always stays near the boat, and comes back if we
+whistle to him, and seems quite companionable. Who would have believed
+that one of these cold sea creatures could ever have been enticed into
+such intimacy? Our only idea of them, before this experience, had been
+of a little dark head here and there in the distance, in the midst of
+great wastes of water, where, as Lowell says, they--
+
+          "Solemnly lift their faces gray,
+           Making it yet more lonely."
+
+One of the captains we sailed with told us that he had at one time a
+gray eagle he had tamed when young, that often took coasting-voyages
+with him, leaving the vessel occasionally, and returning to it, even
+when it had sailed many miles; never, by mistake, alighting on another
+craft instead of his. Sometimes, when out on a voyage to San Francisco,
+it would leave the vessel, and return to his house on Port Discovery
+Bay.
+
+
+  OCTOBER 15, 1874.
+
+As we were passing along near the shore to-day, in our boat, we saw an
+Indian woman sitting alone on the beach, moaning, and dipping her hands
+continually in the water. Her canoe was drawn up beside her. We stopped,
+and asked her if any one was dead. She pointed to a square box[2] in the
+canoe, and said, "_mika tenas_" (my child). She said, afterwards, that
+she was as tall as I, and "_hyas closhe_" (so good)!
+
+As the poor Indian mother looked round at the waves and the sky to
+comfort her, I thought, what is there, after all, that civilization can
+offer, beyond what is given by Nature alone, to every one in deepest
+need?
+
+Yeomans, our old Port Angeles friend, called on us to-day. Every year
+since we left there, he has included us in his annual visit to the
+Seattle tribes. Each time we see him I think must be the last, he looks
+so very old; but every autumn brings him back, apparently unchanged. He
+seems to alter as slowly as the old firs about him. I am surprised
+always at his light tread; he bears so little weight on his feet, but
+glides along as if he were still in the woods, and would not have a leaf
+rustle.
+
+
+  FOOTNOTES:
+
+[2] The crouching position, the favorite one of the Indians in life, is
+preserved by them in the disposition of their dead.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+     Puget Sound to San Francisco.--A Model Vessel.--The Captain's
+     Relation to his Men.--Rough Water.--Beauty of the Sea.--Golden-Gate
+     Entrance.--San Francisco Streets.--Santa Barbara.--Its
+     Invalids.--Our Spanish Neighbors.--The Mountains and the
+     Bay.--Kelp.--Old Mission.--A Simoom.--The Channel Islands.--A New
+     Type of Chinamen.--An Old Spanish House.
+
+
+  SAN FRANCISCO, March 20, 1875.
+
+We reached here last night, after a rough voyage from Puget Sound. We
+had all our worst weather first. After three or four days came a bright,
+clear morning, and the captain called me on deck to see the sunrise. It
+was all so changed, so beautiful, so joyous,--all around the exquisite
+green light flashing through the waves as they broke; and as far off as
+we could see, in every direction, the water leaping and tossing itself
+into spray. A strong wind had taken the vessel in charge; and it flew
+swiftly over the water, with no changes needed, no altering of sails, no
+orders of any kind, and nobody seemed to be about. The captain fixed me
+a hammock in a sail; and I lay there hour after hour, with no company
+but the warm, bright sunshine straying over the deck. I felt as if it
+were an enchanted vessel, on which I was travelling alone.
+
+Cleopatra's barge could not have been more carefully kept. When the men
+came out to their daily work, all their spare moments were spent in
+polishing and cleaning every little tarnished or dingy spot. At first it
+used to seem to me like a wanton risk of life, with the vessel rearing
+and plunging so that we did not dare to stir on deck, to see them climb
+the tall masts, and cling there, scraping and oiling them, to bring out
+the veining of the wood. Perhaps it was partly as a discipline in
+steadiness, that they were directed to do it,--to get used to working at
+such a height. What a contrast to the tawdriness of the steamers we had
+been accustomed to, to see every thing about us made beautiful by
+exquisite neatness, done chiefly, too, for their own eyes! I saw, then,
+why the sunshine was so pleasant on the deck; it was because there was
+nothing about the vessel out of keeping with the pure beauty of nature.
+I felt safer, too, to think how all things, small and great, conformed
+to the laws of Heaven.
+
+One day I asked the captain if he had many of the same men with him as
+on the last voyage we took with him. I remembered his pointing out to me
+then the fair, honest face of a young Swedish sailor at the wheel. He
+said most of his men made many voyages with him. I spoke of another
+captain, who told us his men were almost all new every time. He said
+that was generally the master's fault; that a captain should not speak
+to his men just the same in fair weather and in foul. I looked with
+interest, afterward, to see his management of them, and found that,
+while every thing went on smoothly, he took pains to converse with them,
+and to become somewhat acquainted with each man. Then, in emergencies,
+his brief, clear directions were immediately comprehended, and promptly
+obeyed. I began to understand the secret of his short voyages (for his
+vessel had the reputation of being the fastest sailer between San
+Francisco and the Sound): it was partly from his management of the ship,
+and partly from his management of the men.
+
+We started in a snow-storm, and at first every thing seemed to be
+against us. He had told us that March was not generally a very quiet
+month on the water. We took a tug-boat to tow us out to the entrance of
+the Straits; but, as the weather grew continually worse, the steamer
+was obliged to leave us, with wind dead ahead, and against that we had
+to beat out. As soon as we had made Cape Flattery, the wind changed, and
+became what would have been a good wind for getting out, but was just
+the opposite of what we wanted for going down the coast. These reverses
+the captain received with unruffled serenity; although he dearly
+delights in his quick trips, and was ready to seize with alacrity the
+least breath in his favor. After all, he made one of his best voyages,
+by the help of the strong, steady wind that drove him on at the last. It
+was perhaps as much, however, from his vigilance in watching when there
+was so little to take advantage of, and seizing all the little bits of
+help it was possible to get, as it was from the great help of that
+powerful wind; for other vessels that started with us, and even days
+before us, have not come in yet, and they all had the great wind alike.
+
+R---- ventured to inquire of the captain one day, when we were beating
+about the mouth of the Straits, as to the feasibility of going into
+Neeah Bay, while it was yet possible to do so; but the captain said he
+preferred to beat about, and then he was ready to take advantage of the
+first chance in his favor, which he might lose if he were in shelter.
+
+One day it was more than I could enjoy. The wind roared so loud, and the
+sound of the waves was so heavy, that I retreated to my berth, and lay
+down; but I could not keep my mind off the thought of how deep the water
+was under us. After a while I went on deck and sat there again, and the
+vessel began to plunge so that it seemed as if it were trying to stand
+upon one end. I felt so frightened that I thought I would speak to the
+captain, and ask him if he ever knew a lumber-vessel to tip over; and if
+I dared I would suggest that he should carry a little less sail. I knew
+that he was once on a vessel that turned bottom upward in the Straits,
+and he was left on the overturned hull for three days, in a snow-storm,
+before help came to him. I spoke to him, and he did not give me much of
+an answer; but, a little while after, he came to me, and said, "Are you
+able to go to the forward part of the ship with me? I should like to
+have you, if you can." So he helped me along to the bow, where it seemed
+almost too frightful to go, and said, "Kneel down;" and knelt down by
+me, and said, "Look under the ship." It was one of the most beautiful
+sights I ever saw,--such a height of foam, and rainbows over it. The
+dark water beside it seemed to be full of little, sharp, shining
+needles. I suppose it was moving so quickly that made the elongated
+drops appear so. Then he took me to the other side, that was in shadow;
+and there the water was whirled into the most beautiful shapes, standing
+out distinct from each other, from the swiftness of the motion, that
+held them poised, like exquisite combinations of snowflakes, only more
+airy.
+
+Presently he said, "Men don't often speak of these things to each other,
+but I feel the beauty of it. Nights when the vessel is moving so fast, I
+come and watch here for hours and hours, and dream over it." When I
+thought about it afterward, I wondered how he could know that the way to
+answer my fear was to show me what was so beautiful. I was not afraid
+any more, whatever the vessel did.
+
+Those three days and nights of lonely watching, floating about in the
+Straits, must have been a great experience to him, and made him
+different from what he would otherwise have been; certainly different
+from most men.
+
+Before sunrise, yesterday morning, we passed the "Seal-Rocks;" as the
+light just began to reveal a little of the dark, dreamy hills on each
+side of the long, beautiful entrance to the harbor. A flood of light
+filled it as we entered, and it must have looked just as it did when it
+was first named the "Golden Gate." All along, for miles, the water
+throws itself up into the air, and falls in fountains on the rocky
+shore. I cannot conceive of a more beautiful harbor in the world; and,
+as we were two or three hours in coming from the sea up to the city, we
+had time enough to enjoy it.
+
+The southern headland of the entrance is Point Lobos (_Punta de los
+Lobos_, Point of Wolves); the northern, Point Bonita (Beautiful Point).
+
+
+  MARCH 25, 1875.
+
+We could never have stepped out of our wilderness into a stranger city
+than this. From the variety of foreign names and faces that I see in the
+streets, I should think I were travelling over the whole world. On one
+side of us lives a Danish family, on the other a French. I walk along
+and look up at the signs,--"Scandinavian Society;" "Yang Tzy Association
+of Shanghae;" "Nuevo Continente Restaurant Mejicano;" "Angelo Beffa,
+Helvetia Exchange," with the white cross and plumed hat of Switzerland.
+One street is all Chinese, with shiny-haired women, and little mandarins
+with long cues of braided red silk. The babies seem to be dressed in
+imitation of the idol in the temple; their tight caps have the same
+tinsel and trimmings, and the resemblance their little dry faces bear to
+it is very curious.
+
+Next to "Tung Wo," "Sun Loy," and "Kum Lum," come "Witkowski,"
+"Bukofski," "Rowminski,"--who keep Russian caviar, etc. Some day, when
+we feel a little tired of our ordinary food, we think of trying the
+caviar, or perhaps a gelatinous bird's nest, for variety.
+
+Besides the ordinary residents, we meet many sailors from the hundreds
+of vessels always in the harbor,--Greeks, Lascars, Malays, and Kanakas.
+Their picturesque costumes and Oriental faces add still more to the
+foreign look of the place.
+
+In the midst of the greatest rush and confusion of one of the principal
+business streets, stands a man with an electrical machine, bawling in
+stentorian tones, "Nothing like it to steady the nerves, and strengthen
+the heart,"--ready, for a small fee, to administer on the spot a current
+of greater or less intensity to whoever may desire it. The contrast is
+most ludicrous between the need that undoubtedly exists for some such
+quieting influence, and the utter inefficacy of it, if applied, under
+such circumstances.
+
+
+  OCTOBER 20, 1875.
+
+We have just returned from Santa Barbara. How buoyant the air seems, and
+how brisk the people, after our languid, dreamy life there! I, who went
+there in robust health, spent six months in bed, for no other reason,
+that I could understand, than the influence of the climate. Perhaps, on
+homoeopathic principles, as Santa Barbara makes sick people well, it
+makes well people sick. A physician that I have seen since coming here
+tells me that he went there himself for his own health, and was so much
+affected by the general atmosphere of sickness, that he was obliged to
+return. It is a depressing sight, certainly, to see so many feeble,
+consumptive-looking people about, as we did there. Where we lived I
+think it was also malarious, from the _estero_ that winds like a snake
+about the lowlands near the bay. The favorite part of the city is near
+the foot-hills. It is probably more healthful there, but we cannot live
+without seeing at least one little silver line of the sea. So we took up
+our abode in the midst of the Spanish population, near the water.
+
+We found it very difficult to get any one to help us in our work,
+although we had supposed that in the midst of poor people we should be
+favorably situated in that respect. We were told, however, that the
+true Castilian, no matter how poor, never works; that we might perhaps
+find some one among the Mexicans to assist us.
+
+Our neighbors were quite interesting to watch, and we were pleased with
+the simplicity of their lives. They had no apparent means of support,
+unless it might be lassoing and taming some wild mustangs, which they
+were sometimes engaged in doing; but this seemed to be more of a
+recreation than a business with them. They were never harassed nor
+hurried about any thing. They lived mostly outside their little dark
+dwelling, only seeking it at noon for a _siesta_. In the morning they
+placed a mat under the trees, and put the babies down naked to play on
+it, shaking dawn the leaves for play-things. Sometimes they cut a great
+piece of meat into narrow strips, and hung it all over our fence to dry.
+This dried meat, and melons, constituted a large part of their food. The
+old mother was called _Gracia_, but she could never in her youth have
+been more graceful than now. She was as picturesque still as she could
+ever have been, and perfectly erect. She wore a little black cap, like a
+priest's cap, on the top of her head, and her long gray hair floated out
+from it over her shoulders; and, with her black mantle thrown as
+gracefully about her as any young person could have worn it, we used to
+see her starting out every morning to enjoy herself abroad. She appeared
+one morning at our window, before we were up, with her arms full of
+roses covered with dew, eager to give them to us while they were so
+fresh.
+
+We noticed her sometimes out in the yard, preparing some of the family
+food, by the aid of a curious flat stone supported on three legs, and a
+stone pestle or roller,--a very primitive arrangement. Kneeling down
+upon the ground, she placed her corn, or Chili peppers--or whatever
+article she wished to grind--upon the stone; and, taking the hand-stone,
+she rolled it vigorously back and forth over the flat surface, crushing
+up the material, which fell off at the lower end into a dish below. We
+saw her making _tomales_, composed of bruised green corn,--crushed by
+the process just described,--mixed with chopped meat, and seasoned with
+Chili peppers or other pungent flavoring, and made up into slender
+rolls, each enveloped in green-corn leaves, tied at the ends, and baked
+in the ashes,--resulting in a very savory article of food.
+
+Our only New-England acquaintances at Santa Barbara had evidently
+modified very much their ideas of living. We found them with bare
+floors; a great bunch of pampas grass, and a guitar hanging against the
+wall, in true Spanish fashion; the room being otherwise mostly empty.
+
+We had on one side the dark Santa Ynez Mountains, and on the other the
+sea. The mountains are not very high but bold in their outlines; and the
+number of crags and ravines gives them a beautiful play of light and
+shadow. Very early one morning I saw a great gray eagle fly overhead,
+back to his home in their dark recesses. Some of the slopes are covered
+with grape-vines, and some with olive-trees. Far up in the hollows can
+be seen the little white houses of the people who keep the bee-ranches.
+They live up so high because the flowers last longer there. The
+mountains form a semicircle on one side of the town; on the other is the
+beach. An immense bed of kelp, extending for miles and miles along the
+shore, forms the most beautiful figures, rising and falling as it floats
+on the water,--so gigantic, and at the same time so graceful. It is of
+every beautiful shade of pale yellow and brown. In winter the gales
+sometimes drive it shoreward in such vast quantities that vessels are
+compelled to anchor outside of it.
+
+There is an old mission there, built in the Moorish style, where all
+visitors are hospitably received by the Franciscan friars in charge.
+This mission, like all those we have seen, has a choice situation,
+sheltered from wind, and with good soil about it. The old monks knew how
+to make themselves comfortable. Their cattle roamed over boundless
+pastures, herded by mounted _vaqueros_; their grain-fields ripened under
+cloudless skies; their olive-orchards, carefully watered and tended by
+their Indian subjects, yielded rich returns.
+
+We made the acquaintance of a gentleman from Morocco, who says that the
+climate there is almost the same as that of Santa Barbara. I suppose the
+simoom we had there in the summer was a specimen of it. A fierce, hot
+wind blew from the Mojave desert. There was no possibility of comfort in
+the house, nor out of it. We could escape the storm of wind and dust by
+going in, but there was still the choking feeling of the air. The
+residents of the place could say nothing in defence of it,--only that
+did not occur often.
+
+We are told that on the 17th of June, 1859, there was much more of a
+genuine simoom. So hot a blast of air swept over the town as to fill the
+people with terror. This burning wind raised dense clouds of fine dust.
+Birds dropped dead from the trees. The people shut themselves up in
+their thick adobe houses. The mercury rapidly rose to 133 degrees, and
+continued so for three hours. Trees were blighted, and gardens ruined.
+
+Sailors approaching the coast in a fog can recognize the Santa Barbara
+Channel by the smell of bitumen which floats on the water. Some of the
+old navigators thought their vessels were on fire when they noticed it.
+It gives a luminous appearance to the water at night.
+
+On one side of Santa Barbara is a great table-land, called the _Mesa_,
+where there is always a sea-breeze that blows across fields of grain and
+fragrant grass. That would be a beautiful place to live, but there is no
+water. The experiment of artesian wells is about being tried.
+
+From the _Mesa_ we looked off to the channel islands,--Santa Cruz, Santa
+Rosa, San Miguel, and Anacapa,--bold, rocky, and picturesque. Anacapa
+was formerly a great resort for the seal and otter; and the natives from
+Alaska came down to hunt them, and collected large quantities of their
+valuable skins. The island is of sandstone, all honeycombed with
+cavities of different sizes, sometimes making beautiful arches. There is
+no water on this island, and only cactus and coarse grass grow there.
+Others of the group have wood and water, and settlements of fishermen.
+On some of them, interesting historical relics have been
+discovered,--supposed to be the remains of a temple to the sun, with
+idols and images. There are also beautiful fossils and corals and
+abalone shells.
+
+It was hard to make up our minds to leave so lovely a place; but as I
+looked back, the last morning, to fix the picture of it in my mind, I
+saw the little white clouds that come before the hot wind, rising above
+the mountains, and was glad that we were going. Two immense columns of
+smoke rose out of the canyons, and stood over the place, like genii. In
+the dry weather it seems that the mountains are almost always on fire,
+which modifies what is called the natural climate of Santa Barbara, so
+as to make it very uncomfortable. Its admirers must come from some worse
+place,--probably often from the interior; no one from Puget Sound ever
+praises it. We met several families from that region; and they were all
+anxious to get back to the clear mountain atmosphere of their northern
+climate, which is as equable as that of Santa Barbara, though far
+different in character.
+
+We saw there some Chinese quite unlike any that we have met before. We
+have heard that most of those who come to the Pacific Coast are of an
+inferior kind, chiefly Tartars. There we saw some quite handsome ones,
+who had more of an Arab look, and had also elegant manners,--one,
+especially, who had a little office near us. On the birthday of the
+Emperor of China, his room was ornamented with a picture of Confucius,
+before which he burned scented wood; and hanging over it was an
+air-castle, with the motto, "God is Love."
+
+We visited one day an interesting-looking old house, near our quarter of
+the town, to see if we could live in it. It was one of the finest there
+before the place became Americanized, and belonged to an old Spanish
+don. It stands in the centre of spacious and beautiful grounds, and the
+avenue leading to it is bordered with olive-trees, which were in bloom.
+There was a curious, delicate fragrance in the air, quite new to me,
+which I attributed to them. It was as different from all other odors, as
+their color is from that of all other trees. They have a little greenish
+blossom, something like a daphne, and the foliage is of beautiful shades
+of gray-green, from an almost black to light silvery color. They seem
+like old Spaniards themselves, they have such an ancient, reserved look.
+Two magnificent pepper-trees, with their light, graceful foliage
+trailing from the branches, stand near the door. The house is shut in
+with dark heavy porches on all sides, and covered with vines. The
+windows are in such deep recesses, owing to the great thickness of the
+walls of the house, that the rooms were but dimly lighted, although it
+was early in the afternoon. Some of the windows are of stained glass,
+and others of ground glass, to lessen the light still more. It is an
+adobe house; and the walls are so damp that I gave up all idea of living
+in it, as soon as I laid my hand on them. The Spaniards, I see, all
+build their houses on a plan that originated in a hot country, where the
+idea of comfort was all of coolness and shade. This house, and the one
+opposite where we lived, are covered with passion-flowers. Near the
+latter are two dark evergreen-trees,--the Santa Cruz spruce,--trimmed so
+as to be very stiff and straight, standing like dark wardens before the
+door. There is a hedge of pomegranate, with its flame-like flowers,
+which seem to be filled with light. The pepper-tree abounds in Santa
+Barbara, and the eucalyptus is being planted a good deal. It has a
+special power to absorb malaria from the air, and makes unhealthy places
+wholesome.
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+     Our Aerie.--The Bay and the Hills.--The Little
+     Gnome.--Earthquake.--Temporary Residents.--The
+     Trade-Wind.--Seal-Rocks.--Farallon Islands.--Exhilarating
+     Air.--Approach of Summer.--Centennial
+     Procession.--Suicides.--Mission Dolores.--Father Pedro Font and his
+     Expedition.--The Mission Indians.--Chinese Feast of the
+     Dead.--Curious Weather.
+
+
+  SAN FRANCISCO, October 30, 1875.
+
+We have found a magnificent situation. Our little house is perched on
+such a height, that every one wonders how we ever discovered it. The
+site of the city was originally a collection of immense sandhills, on
+the sides and tops of which the houses were built, many of them before
+the streets were laid out and graded. When the grades were finally
+determined, and the hills cut through,--as some of them were,--houses
+were often left perched far above, on the edge of a cliff, and almost as
+inaccessible as a feudal castle. I feel as if ours might be an eagle's
+nest, and enjoy the wildness and solitude of it. So does our Scotch
+shepherd dog, who has been used to lonely places. Sometimes, just as the
+sun is rising, we see him sitting out on the sandhills, looking about
+with such a contented expression that it seems as if he smiled. He opens
+his mouth to drink in the wind, as if it were a delicious draught to
+him.
+
+The hills are covered with sage-brush, full of little twittering birds.
+My bed is between two windows, and they fly across from one to the
+other, without minding me at all. Opposite is Alcatraz, a fortified
+island, but very peaceful-looking, the waves breaking softly all around
+it. It has still the Spanish name of the white pelicans with which it
+used to be covered. The commander of the fort died since we came here,
+and was carried across the water, with music, to Angel Island, to be
+buried.
+
+Across the bay is a low line of hills, with softly rounded outlines.
+They are of pale russet color, from the red earth, and thin, dried
+grass, that covers them. Farther to the north is Mount Tamalpias, with
+sharper outlines.
+
+
+  NOVEMBER 8, 1875.
+
+The China boys generally refuse to come out here to live with us, saying
+it is "too far, too far." The unsettled appearance of this part of the
+city does not please them. To-day we succeeded in securing a small one.
+He is a curious-looking little creature, with a high pointed head,
+stiff, black hair, and small, sparkling eyes. He seems like a little
+gnome, and might have been living in the bowels of the earth, in mines
+and caverns, with black coal and bright jewels about him. Before he
+would agree to come, he said he must go and consult the idol in the
+temple. He burned little fragrant sticks before him; but how he divined
+what his pleasure might be, I could not tell.
+
+We hesitated about taking him, considering his very stunted appearance;
+but he said, "Me heap smart," and that settled it. "Heap" must be a word
+the Chinese have picked up at the mines. It is in constant requisition
+in any attempt to converse with them.
+
+Last night we had a heavy shock of earthquake. How different it is from
+merely reading that the crust of the earth is thin, and that there is
+fire under it, to feel it tremble under your feet! I was glad to have
+one thing more made real to me, that before meant nothing. It was a
+strange, deep trembling, as if every thing were sliding away from us.
+
+
+  NOVEMBER 18, 1875.
+
+It gives one a lonesome feeling to see how many people here lead
+unsettled lives, looking upon some other place as their home. Even the
+children, hearing so much talk about the East, seem to have an idea that
+they really belong somewhere else. One of our little neighbors said to
+me, "I have never been home;" although she, and all her grown-up
+brothers and sisters, were born and brought up here. Many of the customs
+of the place are adapted to a temporary way of living. In most parts of
+the city, it would be hard to find a street without signs of "Furnished
+rooms to let." Besides innumerable restaurants, a flying kitchen travels
+about, with every thing cooking as it goes along, and clean-looking men,
+with white aprons, to serve the food; one ringing a bell, and looking
+out in every direction, to see what is wanted.
+
+The numerous windmills, for raising water, give the city a lively look.
+The wind keeps them always in motion. The constant whirring of the
+wheels, and the general breezy look of things, distinguish this place
+from all others that I have seen. Sir Francis Drake, entering the bay
+nearly three hundred years ago, refers, with great delight, to "a franke
+wind," that took him "into a safe and good baye." There was, for a long
+time, some doubt as to which of several ports he made. I think that
+mention of the wind settles it. The identical wind has been blowing with
+undiminished vigor ever since. In summer (the time he was here), it will
+carry a vessel in against the strongest tide.
+
+The city is built mostly of wood. The absence of foliage, and the
+neutral color of the houses, give the streets a dull gray look, here and
+there redeemed by the scarlet geranium, which, if not a native, is most
+thoroughly naturalized,--it grows so sturdily, even in the poorest
+yards.
+
+
+  APRIL 30, 1876.
+
+We had a long ride out to the Seal-Rocks, past great wavy hills, with
+patches of gold, brighter than the dandelions and buttercups are at
+home. This was the eschcholtzia, or California poppy. Occasionally we
+passed great tracts of lupine. The lowland was a sea of blue iris.
+
+Suddenly, as we surmounted a height, the ocean rolled in before us, line
+after line of breakers, on a broad beach. When we reached Point Lobos we
+saw the two great rocks, far out in the water, covered with brown seals
+that lay in the sun like flocks of sheep, and little slippery, shining
+ones all the time crawling up out of the water, and dropping back again.
+As the vessels pass out of the bay, they go near enough to hear them
+bark; but nothing frightens them away, nor discomposes them in the
+least, although they are only a few miles from the city, and have a
+great many visitors. They are protected by law from molestation.
+
+We looked off to the Farallon Islands, which are one of the chief
+landmarks for vessels approaching the Golden Gate. There was formerly a
+settlement of Russians there, who hunted the seal and the otter. These
+islands are still a great resort for seals, also for cormorants and
+sea-gulls; and the large speckled eggs of the birds are gathered in
+quantities, and brought to the San Francisco market for sale. They were
+called by the Spaniards "_Farallons de los Frayles_" (Islands of the
+Friars), _farallon_ being a sharp-pointed island.
+
+There is a marvellous exhilaration in the air. The enthusiastic Bayard
+Taylor said, that, in his first drive round the bay, he felt like Julius
+Caesar, Milo of Crotana, and Gen. Jackson, rolled into one. It is an
+acknowledged fact, that both men and animals can work harder and longer
+here, without apparent injury or fatigue, than anywhere on the Eastern
+coast. We have heard it suggested that the abundant actinic rays in the
+dry, cloudless atmosphere are the cause of this invigoration, and also
+of the unusual brilliancy of the flowers.
+
+
+  JUNE 1, 1876.
+
+The only way in which we know that summer is coming is by the more
+chilling winds, the increased dust, the tawny color of the hills, and
+the general dying look of things. Every thing is bare, sunny, and sandy.
+
+We are surrounded with great wastes of sand, which the wind drives
+against the house, so that it seems always like a storm. Sometimes, when
+I sit at work at the window, a gopher comes out of the sandhill, and
+sits down outside it. His company makes me feel still more remote from
+all civilized things.
+
+
+  JULY 4, 1876.
+
+We had a splendid Centennial procession. Things that we imitate at home
+are all real here. Instead of having our own people dressed up in
+foreign costume, we have Italians, French, Swiss, Russians, Germans,
+Chinese, Turks, etc., all ready for any occasion. The newspapers
+mentioned as a remarkable fact, that there were no suicides for a week
+beforehand; every one seemed to have something to look forward to.
+
+The night before the celebration, the French residents built up a great
+arch, as high as the highest buildings, with fine decorations, for the
+procession to pass under. Some doubt was expressed about the Germans
+liking to pass beneath the French arch; so three thousand Germans, to
+show their good-will, went and sung the Marseillaise under it.
+
+The Jews have the handsomest church in San Francisco, which they
+decorated with the greatest enthusiasm, and had Centennial services, in
+which they said that they, of all people in the world, ought to
+appreciate America, as, before they came here, they were outcasts
+everywhere, while here they were unmolested and prosperous.
+
+I liked best in the procession the Highlanders, who were real Scotchmen,
+in plaids, and bonnets with eagle feathers. Every one had a claymore by
+his side, and a thistle on his breast; and there were pipers playing on
+bagpipes to lead them.
+
+There are a great many Germans in San Francisco, and the brewers had a
+car dressed with yellow barley and other ripe grains. The great fat men
+looked so full of enjoyment, it was really picturesque to see them,
+under the nodding grain. For the first time in my life I appreciated
+them, as I saw how poorly a thin man would convey the idea of comfort.
+There are a good many Italian fishermen here too. They are always just
+fit for processions, without any alteration whatever; their pretty green
+boat "Venezia," and their Captain Caesar Celso Morena, seem made for it.
+They had Roman guards, in golden scale armor. The California Jaegers
+with their wild brown faces, that seemed to transport us to the great
+hot plains where they herd and lasso the half-tamed animals, walked too
+in the procession; and the baby camel, born lately in San Francisco, a
+great pet. They were led by the silver cornet band, whose music was
+exquisitely clear and sweet.
+
+
+  AUGUST 2, 1876.
+
+In this homeless city, built upon sandhills, and continually desolated
+by winds, it is no wonder that the blue bay looks attractive, especially
+to any one thrust aside in the continual vicissitudes of this unsettled
+life. The first news we heard, on our return from Santa Barbara, was
+that Ralston, the great banker, and one of the chief favorites in social
+life, had sought the calm of its still depths as better than any thing
+life could offer. How serenely the water lay in the sunshine, as we
+looked at it, hearing this news, which had stirred the city to its
+utmost! Here all secrets are guarded, all perplexities end. The passion
+for suicide seeks mostly this pathway, though there is an unprecedented
+number of intentional deaths of all kinds.
+
+This morning's paper records the suicide of a Frenchman, who half
+reconciled me to his view, by the cheerful, intelligent way in which he
+spoke. He left a letter stating that he died with no ill feeling toward
+any one, and full of faith in God as a Father; that he did not consider
+that he was to blame for what he was about to do, as he had tried in
+vain to get work,--probably because he was wholly deaf. He made so
+little fuss about what almost every one would have considered a terrible
+calamity,--that his life should end in this way,--that it seemed a pity
+it could not otherwise have been made known what kind of a man he was.
+He gave a little account of himself, beginning, "I was born in the
+province of Haute Vienne, in France, and have lived mostly at the
+mines," going on to speak as quietly of what he was about to do, as he
+might if he were going to move from one town to another, not having
+succeeded in the first; ending by saying, "I have taken the poison,--an
+acid taste, but not disagreeable." He made only one request,--that a
+package of old letters should be laid on his breast, and buried with
+him. A valuable member of society might have been saved, if the result
+in his case could have been the same as with a man we knew in Santa
+Barbara, who, becoming discouraged by continual rheumatism, combined
+with poverty, took a large dose of strychnine, with suicidal intent,
+but, to his astonishment, was entirely cured of his rheumatism; and the
+notoriety he acquired presently procured him an abundance of work.
+
+In the winter a man who called himself Professor Blake, a "mind-reader,"
+gave some exhibitions of his power, which were considered wonderful. It
+might have been better for him, however, not to know what people
+thought, as it proved. A few weeks ago a man was discovered dead, with
+this letter beside him: "I die of a weary and a heavy heart, but of a
+sound mind. If there should be one or two persons to whom I should be
+known, let them, out of charity to the living, withhold their knowledge.
+Should my eyes be open, close them, that I may not chance, even in
+death, to see any more of this hated world." Notwithstanding his wish,
+of course every effort was made to find out who he was; and it proved to
+be this "mind-reader."
+
+These cases are very depressing to think of; only that it makes one feel
+more certain of another life, to see how unfinished and unsatisfactory
+some things are here.
+
+
+  SEPTEMBER 6, 1876.
+
+I have found two beautiful places to visit,--the old Spanish graveyard
+of the Mission Dolores, and Lone Mountain Cemetery. They have long, deep
+grass, and bright, exquisite flowers. On the waste tracks about the
+cemetery, I can still find the fragrant little _yerba buena_ (good
+herb), from which the Spanish Fathers named the spot where San Francisco
+now stands, in the primitive times, long before gold was discovered. The
+cross on the summit of Lone Mountain, erected by the Franciscan friars,
+is quite impressive from its height and size. It is seen from all parts
+of the city.
+
+The Mission Dolores (Mission of our Lady of Sorrow) is south of the
+city, sheltered from the wind, with a clear stream flowing near. The
+fathers displayed their customary shrewdness in the selection of this
+situation. The bleak sandhills to the north they left for the future
+city, and settled themselves in this pleasant valley. The pioneer
+missionary of Northern California--Father Junipero Serra, that rigorous
+old Spaniard who used to beat his breast with stones--established
+himself here, with his Franciscan monks, in the fall of 1776. His old
+church is still standing,--an adobe building, with earthen floor, the
+walls and ceiling covered with rude paintings of saints and angels.
+
+The Presidio of San Francisco was established in the spring preceding,
+by a colony sent out by the Viceroy of Mexico, accompanied by a military
+command. Father Pedro Font came with the expedition. He was a scientific
+man, and recorded his observations of the country and the people. Just
+before starting, a mass was sung for their happy journey, to the Most
+Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe, whom they chose for their patroness,
+together with the Archangel Michael and their Father Saint Francis.
+
+When they reached the vicinity of the Gila River, the governors of
+several of the rancherias came out to meet them, with the alcalde, and a
+body of Pimas Indians, mounted on horses, who presented them with the
+scalps of several Apaches they had slain the day before. At the next
+stopping-place along the river, they were met by about a thousand
+Indians, who were very hospitable, and made a great shed of green
+boughs for them, in which to pass the night.
+
+Father Pedro observed that the country must formerly have been inhabited
+by a different race, as the ground was strewn with fragments of painted
+earthenware, which the Pimas did not understand making. He saw also the
+ruins of an ancient building, with walls four and six feet thick. On the
+east and west sides were round openings, through which, according to the
+Indian traditions, the prince who lived there used to salute the rising
+and setting sun.
+
+The company travelled on, singing masses, and resting by the way, until
+they reached what Father Pedro called "a miracle of Nature, the port of
+ports" (San Francisco Bay). He ascended a table-land, that ended in a
+steep white rock, to admire what he calls the "delicious
+view,"--including the bay and its islands, and the ocean, with the
+_Farallons_ in the distance, of which he made a sketch. He mentioned
+Angel Island, which still bears that name. The commandant planted a
+cross on the steep white rock, as the symbol of possession, and also at
+Point Reyes (Point of Kings), and selected the table-land for the site
+of the Presidio. Father Font explored the country about the bay, and
+made some surveys. He noticed some Indians with launches made of
+_tules_ (bulrushes), in which they navigated the streams.
+
+It would have been fortunate for the Indians if all the priests sent
+among them had been of as gentle a spirit as Father Pedro. He says, in
+his account of this expedition, that they received him everywhere with
+demonstrations of joy, with dancing and singing. But, some years after,
+we hear that the soldiers were sent out from the Presidio to lasso the
+Indians. They were brought in like wild beasts, immediately baptized,
+and their Christianization commenced. Kotzebue, one of the early Russian
+explorers, says that in his time (1824) he saw them at Santa Clara
+driven into the church like a flock of sheep, by an old ragged Spaniard,
+armed with a stick. Some of the more humane priests complained bitterly
+of this violent method of converting the heathen, and insisted that all
+the Indians who had been brought in by force should be restored "to
+their gentile condition."
+
+In the old Mission of Santa Barbara, we saw some of the frightful
+pictures considered so very effective in converting them. One special
+painting, representing in most vivid colors the torments of hell, was
+said of itself alone to have led to hosts of conversions; but a picture
+of paradise, in the same church, which was very subdued in its
+treatment and coloring, had failed to produce any effect.
+
+The services of the Indians belonged for life to the missions to which
+they were attached. They were taught many useful things. They watered
+and kept the gardens and fields of grain, and tended the immense herds
+of cattle that roamed over the hills. Traders came to the coast to buy
+hides and tallow from the ranches and the missions, and the product of
+their fields. For seventy years, these old monks, supported by Spain,
+were the rulers of California. Spain's foreign and colonial troubles,
+however, led her to appropriate to other purposes the "Pious Fund" by
+which the missions were maintained. Jealousy of their growing power, and
+revolutions in Mexico, hastened their downfall. The discovery of gold in
+1848 introduced the element which was to prove their final destruction.
+
+It is a curious fact that the first adventurer who ever set foot on this
+soil, Sir Francis Drake, although he was here for only a month,
+repairing his ship, became convinced that there was no earth about here
+but had some probable show of gold or silver in it. If news had spread
+then as rapidly as now, in these days of newspapers and telegraphs, it
+would not have lain two hundred and seventy years untouched, and then
+been discovered only by accident.
+
+
+  NOVEMBER 3, 1876.
+
+A few days ago, I wandered on to the solitary Chinese quarter of Lone
+Mountain, and happened upon the celebration of the Feast of the Dead.
+Hundreds and hundreds of Chinamen were bowing over the graves in the
+sand. Each grave had on it little bright-colored tapers burning,
+sometimes large fires beside, made of the red and silver paper they use
+at the New Year. Each had curious little cups and teapots and
+chop-sticks, rice, sugar-cane, and roast chicken. I saw some little
+white cakes, inscribed with red letters, similar to children's Christmas
+cakes with names on them. Every thing that seems nice to a Chinaman was
+there. They were so engrossed in what they were doing, that they took no
+notice whatever of my observation of them. At each grave they spread a
+mat, and arranged the food. Then some one that I took for the nearest
+friend clasped his hands, and bowed in a sober, reverent way over the
+grave; then poured one of the little cups of rice wine out on the sand.
+It reminded me of the offerings I saw made to the spirit of the dead
+Indian child, at Port Townsend. Then two dead men were brought out to
+be buried, while we stood there; and the instant they were covered with
+the sand, the Chinamen called to each other, "fy, fy!" (quick,
+quick!),--to light the fire, as if it were to guide them on the way, as
+the Indians think. They threw into the air a great many little papers. I
+asked if those were letters to the dead Chinamen, and they said,
+"Yes,"--but I am not sure if they understood me.
+
+It produced such a strange effect, in this wild, desert-looking place,
+to see all these curious movements, and the fires and the feasts on the
+graves, that I felt utterly lost. It was as if I had stepped, for a few
+moments, into another world.
+
+The Chinamen are so very saving, never wasting any thing, and they have
+to work so hard for all their money, and pay such high duty on the
+things they import from home, that they would not incur all this expense
+unless they felt sure that it answered some end. It is a matter for
+endless pondering what they really believe about it. They are satisfied
+with a very poor, little, frugal meal for themselves; but on this
+occasion every thing was done in the greatest style. At one place was a
+whole pig, roasted and varnished; and every grave had a fat, roasted
+chicken, with its head on, and dressed and ornamented in the most
+fanciful manner. The red paper which they use for visiting-cards at the
+New Year, and seem to be very choice of then, they sacrificed in the
+most lavish way at this time. They fired off a great many crackers to
+keep off bad spirits.
+
+Most of the graves were only little sand-mounds for temporary use, until
+the occupants should be carried back to China; but one was a great
+semi-circular vault, so grand and substantial-looking that it suggested
+the Egyptian Catacombs. Over one division of the graveyard, I saw a
+notice which I could partly read, saying that no woman or child could be
+buried there.
+
+The Chinese are so out of favor here now, that the State Government is
+trying to limit the number that shall be allowed to come. About a
+thousand arrive on each steamer. How foolish it seems to be afraid of
+them, especially for their good qualities! the chief complaint against
+them being that they are so industrious, economical, and persevering,
+that sooner or later all the work here will fall into their hands.
+
+
+  JANUARY 9, 1877.
+
+We have been having some very strange weather here,--earthquake weather,
+it is called by some persons. It seems as if it came from internal
+fires. It has been so warm at night that we could not sleep, even with
+two open windows.
+
+The chief thought of every one is, "When will it rain?" Prayers are
+offered in the churches for rain. It is also the subject of betting; and
+the paper this morning said that several of the prominent stockbrokers
+were confined to their rooms, with low spirits, on account of the
+condition of stocks, caused by the general depression from the dry
+season. We watch the sky a good deal. Strange clouds appear and
+disappear, but nothing comes of them. To-day, when I first looked out of
+my window, there were two together, before it, most human-like in
+appearance, that seemed to hold out their arms, as if in appeal; but, as
+I watched them, they only drew their beautiful trailing drapery after
+them, and moved slowly away.
+
+There is a curious excitement about this weather, coming in the middle
+of winter. These extremes of dryness, and this strange heat at this
+season, reversing all natural order, may be one cause of the
+peculiarities of the Californians; and they are certainly peculiar
+people. I recently took a little excursion to Oakland, crossing the bay
+by the ferry, and riding some distance in the cars. A pleasant feeling
+came over me as I saw that it was like crossing the Merrimac from
+Newburyport to Salisbury; the distance was about as far, and there were
+the same low trees and green grass on the opposite side. I felt quite at
+home, until, on entering the cars, my eyes lighted on this notice,
+posted conspicuously everywhere: "Passengers will beware of playing
+three-card monte, strap, or any other game of chance, with strangers. If
+you do, you will surely be robbed." All visions of respectable New
+England vanished at that sight.
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+     Quong.--His _Protege_.--His Peace-Offering.--The Chinese and their
+     Grandmothers.--Ancient Ideas.--Irish, French, and Spanish
+     Chinamen.--Chinese Ingenuity.--Hostility against the
+     Chinese.--Their Proclamations.--Discriminations against
+     them.--Their Evasion of the Law.--Their Perseverance against all
+     Obstacles.--Their Reverence for their Ancestors, and Fear of the
+     Dead.--Their Medical Knowledge.--Their Belief in the Future.--Their
+     Curious Festivals.--Indian Names for the Months.--Resemblance
+     between the Indians and Chinese.--Their Superstitions.
+
+
+  SAN FRANCISCO, February 20, 1877.
+
+Some time since, we asked the washman to send us a new boy. One evening,
+in the midst of a great storm of wind and rain, the most grotesque
+little creature appeared at the door, with his bundle under his arm, as
+if he were sure of being accepted. We thought we must keep him for a day
+or two, on account of the weather, and just to show him that he could
+not do what we wanted; but he proved too amusing for us to think of
+letting him go. His name is Quong. He is shorter than Margie, who is
+only nine, and has much more of a baby face, but a great deal of
+dignity; and he assures me, when they go out together, that he shall
+take good care of Margie and the baby, and if there is any trouble he
+will call the police. We felt a little afraid to trust them with him at
+first, because the Chinese are so often attacked in the streets; but he
+has unbounded confidence in the police, and has a little whistle with
+which to call them. It reminds me of Robin Hood; he takes such great
+pleasure in making use of it, and comes out so safe from all dangers by
+the help of it.
+
+The first Sunday that he was here, we told him that he could go out for
+a while, as all the Chinese do on that day. When he came back, I asked
+him where he had been. These little boys are all petted a good deal at
+the wash-houses, and I supposed he had been there enjoying himself. But
+he said that he went every Sunday to see a small boy that he had charge
+of, who was too young to work; that he sent him now to school, but next
+year he should tell him, "No work, no eat;" and, if he did not do
+something to support himself, he should not give him clothes any more. I
+remember reading that the Chinese were considered men at fourteen. It is
+very comical to see such a little creature assume these
+responsibilities, and take such pride in them. He says that he is ten,
+but his face is perfectly infantine; and he is a baby too in his plays.
+He rolls and tumbles about like a young dog or kitten. If it rains, he
+seems like a wild duck, he is so pleased with it; and then, when the sun
+comes out, he hardly knows how to express his enjoyment of it; he looks
+at me with such a radiant face, saying, "Oh, nice sun, nice!" I feel
+ready at that moment to forgive him for every thing that we ever have to
+blame him for,--such a sun seems to shine out of him; and I feel as if
+we made a mistake to be critical about his little faults, which are
+mainly attributable to his extreme youth.
+
+He has lately been away to celebrate the new year. "Going home to
+China," he calls it, because at that time the Chinese eat their national
+food, and observe their own customs. We told him, before he left, that
+he must be sure to come back in two days; but three passed, with no sign
+of him. Then R---- went down to the wash-house, and left word that he
+must come directly back. In the course of the afternoon, he walked in.
+The moment he opened the door, we said to him, very severely, "What for
+you stop too long?" But he walked up to me, without a word, and put down
+before me a little dirty handkerchief, all tied up in knots, which I
+finally made up my mind to open. It was full of the most curious
+sweet-meats and candy, little curls of cocoanut, frosted with sugar;
+queer fruits, speckled with seeds; and some nuts that looked exactly
+like carved ram's-heads with horns. We had to accept this as a
+peace-offering, and put aside our anger.
+
+He is much pleased to be where there is a woman. Although he is so
+young, he says that he has lived generally only with men,--Spanish men,
+he says, where there was "too much tree." I suppose it was some rather
+unsettled place,--a sheep-ranch, perhaps.
+
+He is so unsophisticated that he will answer all our questions, as the
+older ones will not, if they can. I asked him, one day, about the
+ceremonies that I saw at Lone Mountain,--what they burned the red and
+silver paper on the graves for; and he said that in the other world the
+Chinamen were dressed in paper, and, if they did not burn some for them
+on their graves, they would not have any clothes. I told him I saw a boy
+kneel down on a grave, and take a cup of rice wine, and sip a little,
+and then pour it out on the sand. He said, Oh, no, that he did not drink
+any, only put it to his lips, and said, "Good-by, good-by," because the
+dead Chinaman would come no more.
+
+Whenever he speaks of any thing mysterious, we can see, by the darkening
+of his face, how he feels the awe of it. One of his friends, in hurrying
+to get his ironing done, to get ready to celebrate the new year, brought
+on an attack of hemorrhage of the lungs. Of course, it was necessary to
+keep him entirely still, which his companions knew; but, at the same
+time, they were so afraid that he might die where he was, that they
+insisted on carrying him to another place, a long way off, which killed
+him. For, they said, if he died at the wash-house, he would come back
+there; and then all the Chinamen would leave, or they would have to move
+the house. His grandmother, the boy said, came back in a blue flame, and
+asked for something to eat, and they had to move the house; then she
+came back to where the house stood before, but could not get any
+farther.
+
+The Chinese stand in great awe of their grandmothers. In their estimate
+of women, as in many of their other ideas, they are quite different from
+the rest of the world; with them a woman increases in value as she grows
+older. The young girl who is a slave to her mother can look forward to
+the prospect of being a goddess to her grandchildren.
+
+
+  MARCH 20, 1877.
+
+Quong observes every thing, and asks endless questions about what he
+sees. He says that the French and Spanish people here like the Chinamen
+"too much" (a good deal); and that the "Melicans half likee, half no
+likee;" but the Irishmen "no likee nothing,"--seeing so plainly who
+their true enemies are. Many of the principal people here are Irish. On
+St. Patrick's Day, R---- told him that he was going to take Margie to
+see the procession, and that he could go too; but he said, with an air
+of immense superiority, that he did not care to go and see the "whiskey
+men;" he would rather stop at home, and do his work.
+
+I feel now that all my responsibilities are shared. A while ago, R----
+was obliged to stay out one night till twelve o'clock; and, when he came
+home, he found the boy, with his little black head on the kitchen table,
+fast asleep. When he waked him, and asked him what he was there for, he
+said, that, as every one else was asleep, he staid there to take care of
+the house. On another occasion, when R---- was to be out late again, I
+took pains to tell him to go right to bed, as soon as he had washed the
+dishes. He looked up at me, as if he were going to suggest the most
+insuperable obstacle to that, and asked, "Who fuff the light?" (put it
+out.)
+
+One thing that I am always very much impressed with, in regard to the
+Chinese, is the feeling of there being something ancient about them, no
+matter how young they may be themselves; not only because many of them
+wear clothes which appear to have been handed down from their remotest
+ancestors, but they have ancient ideas. This boy, although he is of such
+a cheerful temperament, seems always to keep his own death in view, as
+much as the old Egyptian kings ever did. He pays a kind of burial-fee,
+amounting to nearly a quarter of his wages, every month, to some one
+appointed by the Chinese company to which he belongs; and when R----
+remonstrated with him, and told him how foolish and unnecessary it was,
+and how much better it would be to spend the money for something else,
+he seemed to regard his remarks with great horror, and said he _must_
+pay it; to leave off wasn't to be thought of, for then, he said, he
+should have "no hole to get into" (meaning no grave), and there would be
+no apples thrown away at his funeral.
+
+We one day heard him speaking of one of his countrymen as an Irish
+Chinaman; and, when we asked him what he meant, he said there were
+Irish Chinamen, French Chinamen, and Spanish Chinamen. Our own
+observation seems to confirm this idea. We see often among them the
+light, careless temperament which marks the French; these are the men
+who support the theatres, and patronize the gaming-dens. The grave,
+serene Spanish is the common type; and, since the hoodlum spirit has
+broken out among the Californians, it has called out a coarse, rough
+class among the Chinese, corresponding to the lower grades of the Irish.
+To this class belong the "Highbinders,"--men bound by secret oaths to
+murder, robbery, and outrage. The actual crimes that can be justly
+charged against the Chinese in this country are due, almost wholly, to
+the spirit that evoked these men.
+
+Their ingenuity is equal to their perseverance in accomplishing an end.
+The Six Companies having made a regulation in regard to the wash-houses,
+that there should be at least fifteen houses between every two of them,
+one of the washmen was notified that he must give up his business, there
+being only fourteen houses between his and the next establishment.
+Although the Six Companies' directions are absolute law, he had no idea
+of doing this. He carefully examined the fourteen buildings, and found
+among them a deserted pickle manufactory, which he hired for one day,
+with the privilege of putting up a partition which would divide it into
+two houses,--in that way fulfilling the requirements of the law.
+
+
+  APRIL 30, 1877.
+
+There has lately been a great excitement about the Chinese here, and
+several meetings have been held to consider how to get rid of them; and
+anti-Chinese processions, carrying banners with crossed daggers, have
+paraded the streets. One night the Chinese armed themselves, and went up
+on to the tops of their houses, prepared to fire on a mob. They issued a
+proclamation, saying, that they were not much accustomed to fighting (I
+remember learning, in the geography, that they dressed themselves in
+quilted petticoats when they went to battle), but they should sell their
+lives as dearly as they could.
+
+Another proclamation which they sent out was very characteristic of
+them; it showed so good an understanding of the subject, suggesting so
+artfully that, if the Chinamen were not allowed unlimited freedom to
+come here, Americans should not be allowed to go to China.
+
+In an "Address to the Public" which they recently put forth, they
+explained, that, instead of taking the places of better men, as they
+are accused of doing, they considered that, in performing the menial
+work they did, they opened the way to higher and more lucrative
+employments for others; saying several times, in their simple,
+impressive way, "We lift others up."
+
+In regard to the other chief accusation,--that they do not profit the
+country any, do not invest any thing here, but send every thing home to
+China,--they said, "The money that you pay us for our labor, we send
+home; but the work remains for you,"--as, for instance, the Pacific
+Railroad.
+
+In trying to accumulate arguments against them, the anti-Chinese party
+have made a great deal of the fact that they are bound to companies, who
+advance money for them to come here, and say that the cooly trade is
+like the slave-trade. One of the anti-Chinese speakers said he helped
+make California a free state, and seemed to think he was employed in the
+same meritorious way now. Upon investigation, it proved that many of
+them do mortgage themselves--that is, their services--for a number of
+years, to get here; and that it is often in order that they may support
+poor relatives at home, who would otherwise starve. This shows some of
+their heathen virtues. A good deal of the objection to them seems to be
+on the ground of their being Pagans; some of the speakers saying that it
+is "so very demoralizing to our Christian youth," that they should be
+here,--quite overlooking a very large class of the population who are
+worse than Pagans, and vastly more dangerous.
+
+The idea now seems to be, to drive them away by discriminating against
+them in State and city regulations; as, for instance, by enforcing the
+"pure-air ordinance," by which every Chinaman who sleeps where there is
+less than five hundred cubic feet of air for each person, pays a fine of
+ten dollars, but white people sleep as they choose. Then, as they value
+their cues above all things, and are greatly disgraced if they lose
+them,--having even been known to commit suicide when deprived of
+them,--an old ordinance is restored, by which every one who is put in
+jail must have his hair cropped close. They are often arrested on false
+charges. Then a special tax is levied on their wash-houses, and a new
+regulation made, by which no one can carry baskets on poles across the
+sidewalks; that being the way they carry about vegetables to sell. All
+these little teasing things, and a great many other annoyances which
+have not any pretence of legality, they bear with patience, and seem in
+all ways to show more forbearance even, and give, if possible, less
+ground for complaint, than before.
+
+The poll-tax, which is levied on all males over twenty-one years of age,
+is rigorously collected from the Chinamen, while no special effort is
+made to collect it from the whites. In crossing the ferry to Oakland,
+they are often pounced upon by the collector,--in many instances when
+they are under age; and, unless they can show a tax receipt, their
+travelling bags or bundles are taken from them, and retained until the
+requirements of the collector are satisfied. Their wit and shrewdness
+avail them, however, to avoid this trouble; and a Chinaman who has
+occasion to cross the ferry can usually borrow the tax receipt of some
+one who has already paid. This serves as a passport, as it is not easy
+for a white man to distinguish them as individuals, on account of their
+similarity in dress, manners, and general appearance.
+
+The police, being extremely vigilant in respect to all violations of law
+by the Chinese, have sought out their gambling-dens with great
+diligence, and made many arrests. The Chinese, not to be
+baffled,--besides resorting to labyrinthine passages, underground
+apartments, barricades of various kinds, and other modes of secluding
+themselves, to indulge in their games undisturbed,--have adopted one
+medium after another in place of cards, substituting something that
+could be quickly concealed in case the police should surprise them. At
+one time they made use of squash or melon seeds for this purpose,
+cutting on them the necessary devices. These could be much more easily
+concealed about the folds of their loose garments than cards. When this
+ruse was detected, they made use of almonds in the same way; and, when
+surprised, hastily devoured them, leaving not a particle of evidence
+upon which a policeman could base an arrest.
+
+
+  MAY 10, 1877.
+
+One of the strongest arguments against the Chinese has been that they
+could never affiliate with our people, nor enter into the spirit of our
+institutions; that they had no desire to become citizens, and had no
+families here. Now that they have petitioned for common-school
+privileges for their children, stating how many there are here, and to
+what extent they are taxed to support schools, there is a louder outcry
+than ever against them, for such audacity. They are slowly asserting
+themselves, in different ways, and showing that they understand a good
+deal that we thought they did not. One of them has now protested against
+being imprisoned for violating the "pure-air ordinance." The city has
+made a good deal of money by the fines paid on this account, but it has
+been thought expedient to stop the arrests while this case is being
+tried.
+
+Then they are making an effort against the injustice of the city in
+discriminating against them by charging more for laundry licenses where
+the clothes are carried about by hand, than where horses are used; in
+this way obliging any one who does a small business to pay more in
+proportion than one who does a large business. There are a great many
+large French laundries here, that all send about wagons. The Chinese
+carry every thing by hand; they seem altogether too meek and timid to
+have horses; but, as they adapt themselves to every thing, they have
+looked about, and met the difficulty, in part, by securing quite a
+number of poor, abject animals, with which they are beginning to appear
+in the streets. There is no change they are not willing to make; and
+their patience and perseverance are unconquerable, about staying and
+going on with their work. As an Eastern writer said of them: "They bow
+to the storm, and rise up, and plod on in the intervals." It is very
+true of them, as we see them here,--so unresisting, and yet so
+resistless.
+
+We have lately made the acquaintance of a man who has lived thirty years
+in Shanghae, who explained many of their customs and ideas. He confirmed
+some things that our boys had told us, but we understood them better
+from him. He said that the Chinese have such perfect faith in continued
+life after death, and in a man's increased power in another life, that
+it was not an unusual thing for any one who had some great injury to
+avenge, to kill himself, in order to get into a position to do it more
+effectually. To them a dead man is more important than a living one; and
+the one great feature of their religion is the worship of their
+ancestors. They make a great many offerings to them,--as we saw them do
+at Lone Mountain. If any one dies at sea, or in a foreign country, where
+there is no friend or relative to do this for him, he becomes a beggar
+spirit. It is the duty of the Chinese at home to make offerings to
+beggar spirits as well as to their own relatives. If any great
+misfortune happens to a man, he thinks he must have neglected or
+offended some dead relative, or perhaps one of these beggar spirits; and
+will impoverish himself for years, to atone for it by a great feast.
+They are very much afraid of the spirits, and build their houses with
+intricate passages, and put up screens, to keep them from seeing what
+happens; and they especially avoid openings north and south, as they
+think the spirits move only in north and south lines. What is more
+important than almost any thing in a man's life, is to be placed right
+after his death,--toward the south, that he may receive genial and
+reviving influences from it; but if he is toward the north, and gets
+chilling influences from that direction, he wreaks his vengeance on his
+living relatives who placed him there.
+
+We learn a good deal from the boys we have. I should like very much to
+go into their schools, they are so well taught in many respects. One of
+our boys once took some fruit-wax, and modelled a perfect little duck.
+He said he was taught at school how to do it. He also drew several
+animals with an exceedingly life-like appearance. This early instruction
+is no doubt the basis of the acknowledged superiority of the Chinese as
+carvers in wood and ivory.
+
+I have often wondered that more of them do not die in coming to a
+climate so different from their own, and adopting such new modes of life
+as most of them are obliged to do. But they all seem to have been
+taught the rudiments of medicine. A young American boy, if he is sick,
+has not the remotest idea what to do for himself; but the Chinese boys
+know in most cases. We have often seen them steeping their little tin
+cups of seeds, roots, or leaves on the kitchen stove, which they said
+was medicine for some ailment or other, but "Melican man no sabbe
+Chinaman medicine;" and sometimes, when they did not have their own
+remedies at hand, I have offered them pellets or tinctures from my
+homoeopathic supply, which they could rarely be induced to accept,
+alleging that "Melican medicine no good for Chinaman." One of our little
+boys went to a Chinese doctor for himself one day, and when he came
+back, I asked him what the doctor said. He told me that he pressed with
+his finger here and there on his flesh, to see if it rose readily, and
+the color came back. I saw that he meant if any one was not very sick,
+that the flesh was elastic; and I thought it was quite a good test, and
+one that might perhaps be useful to our doctors. They have one curious
+idea in their treatment, which is, that, if any one is sick, he is to
+eat an additional meal instead of less. Nevertheless, they seem to get
+well with this arrangement.
+
+The belief in a future life, and in improved conditions hereafter,
+seems to be universal among them. A poor Chinaman was found dead near
+us, with a letter beside him, which was translated at the inquest held
+over the body.
+
+  THIRD MONTH, 27th DAY [May 4].
+
+     TO MY FATHER AND MOTHER,--I came to this country, and spent my
+     money at the gambling-table, and have not accomplished any thing.
+     Where I am now, I cannot raise money to return home. I am sick, and
+     have not long to live. My life has been a useless one. When you
+     have read this letter, do not cry yourselves sick on my account.
+     Let my brothers' wives rear and educate my two cousins. I wish to
+     be known as godfather to one of them. I desire Chow He, my wife, to
+     protect and assist you. When you both are dead, she may marry if
+     she wishes. In this world I can do no more for you, father and
+     mother. You must look to the next world for any future benefit to
+     be received from me.
+
+  TONG GOOT LOON.
+
+
+  SEPTEMBER 10, 1877.
+
+The Chinese generally appear unwilling to talk with us about their
+religious customs and ideas, apparently from superstitious feelings.
+Occasionally we meet with an intelligent one, who readily answers our
+questions, and tells us about many of their festivals celebrated at
+home, which are not recognized here. Notwithstanding their solemn faces
+and methodical ways, they are as fond of celebrations as the San
+Francisco people themselves. They celebrate the Festival of the Little
+Cold, and of the Great Cold; of the Little Snow, and of the Great Snow;
+of the Moderate Heat, and of the Great Heat. Early in the autumn comes
+the Festival of Pak-lo, or the White Dew; later in the autumn, the
+Festival of Hon-lo, or the Cold Dew. About the time of our harvest moon,
+the fifteenth day of eighth moon, they celebrate the Festival of the
+Full Moon, eating moon-cakes, and sending presents to their friends, of
+tea, wine, and fruits; in February, the Festival of Rain and Water;
+early in the spring (the sixth day of second moon), the Festival of
+Enlivened Insects. On the third day of third moon they celebrate, for
+three days and nights, the birthday of Pak Tai, god of the extreme
+north; in spring, the birthday of the god of health; in spring also, the
+great Festival of Tsing Ming (Clear and Bright). On this occasion, they
+visit and worship at the tombs. In all great festivals the ancestors
+must share. In early summer occurs the Festival of the Prematurely
+Ripened. The hour for the offering of each sacrifice is most carefully
+chosen,--that of the spring sacrifice being at the first glimmering of
+dawn.
+
+This shows as close observation of nature on their part as the Indians
+display, and reminds me of the names the Makahs give to the months:
+December, the moon when the gray whale appears; March, the moon of the
+fin-back whale; April, the moon of sprouts and buds; May, the moon of
+the salmon-berry; June, the moon of the red huckleberry; November, the
+moon of winds and screaming birds. The Makahs select the time of the
+full moon as an especially favorable one to communicate with the Great
+Spirit.
+
+I do not know whether it is now considered that our Indians are of
+Oriental origin. It seems at first as if two races could hardly differ
+more than Indians and Chinese; but, after living long among them, many
+resemblances attract our attention. We have seen, occasionally, Indians
+with quite Mongolian features, and short, square frames. Flattening the
+head among the Indians is considered a mark of distinction, as
+compressing the feet is with the Chinese; no slave being allowed to
+practise either. The reverence of the Indians for the graves of their
+fathers approaches the worship of ancestors among the Chinese. No
+outrage is greater to the Indians than to desecrate the burial-places of
+their dead. They often make sacrifices to them, and celebrate
+anniversaries of the dead with dancing and feasting. The Chinese feast
+their dead at regular intervals, and carry them thousands of miles
+across the ocean from foreign countries to rest in their own land at
+last. The Manitous (ruling spirits) of earth, air, and water, with the
+Indians, are, in some respects, like the Shin of the Chinese,--spirits
+that inhabit all nature; but the Shin are inferior deities, not having
+much power, being employed rather as detectives,--as the kitchen god, or
+hearth spirit, who at the end of the year reports the conduct of the
+family to Shang-te, the God of Heaven. Both races are firm believers in
+the power and efficacy of charms: the Chinaman, in his green-jade
+bracelet, is demon-proof; the Indian warrior, in a white wolf-skin,
+rides to certain victory. Both are excessively superstitious,
+considering that the ruling spirits are sometimes friendly, sometimes
+hostile; and feel it necessary, in all the commonest acts of their
+lives, to be constantly on the watch to guard against malign
+influences,--attributing great power for harm to the spirits of the
+dead. An Indian, like a Chinaman, will frequently abandon his lodge,
+thinking some dead relative whom he has offended has discovered him
+there. He is afraid to speak the name of any one who is dead, and often
+changes his own name, that the dead person, not hearing the old name
+spoken, may not so readily find him. Indians and Chinese are alike in
+the habit of changing their names, having one for youth, another for
+manhood, and a third for old age; taking new names many times in the
+course of their lives,--as after any great event or performance.
+
+They resemble each other in their infatuation for gambling,--a Chinaman,
+after all his possessions have been staked and lost, sometimes selling
+himself for a term of years, to keep up the game; or an Indian gambling
+away a hand, an arm, a leg, and so on, and at last the head, until the
+whole body is lost at the play, and then he goes into perpetual slavery.
+The Indians will sometimes gamble away their children, though they are
+usually very fond of them,--the typical "bad Indian" with them being one
+who is cowardly, or who neglects his children.
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+     Chun Fa's Funeral.--Alameda.--Gophers and Lizards.--Poison
+     Oak.--Sturdy Trees.--Baby Lizards.--Old Alameda.--Emperor
+     Norton.--California Generosity.--The Dead Newsboy.--Anniversary of
+     the Goddess Kum Fa.--Chinese Regard for the Moon and Flowers.--A
+     Shin Worshipper.
+
+
+  ALAMEDA, CAL., April 5, 1878.
+
+We have left San Francisco, and come across the bay to live. The last
+thing I did there was to go to a Chinawoman's funeral. I saw in the
+papers that Chun Fa, the wife of Loy Mong, was dead; and he would like
+to have all the Christian Chinese and their friends come to the funeral.
+I thought I would go. Especially at this time, when the Chinese meet
+with so much bad treatment, we are glad of an opportunity to show our
+good-will and sympathy; but I did not expect to be so much interested as
+I was. The columns in the chapel were wreathed with ivy and lilies, and
+every thing was very quiet and pleasant in the bright forenoon. One side
+of the church was filled with Chinese women and girls. It is very hard
+to tell which are women, and which are children, they all have such
+childlike faces. I suppose it is because they are so undeveloped. Their
+uncovered heads, and smooth, shining black hair, looked to me at first
+all exactly alike; all the company seemed of one pattern. But, when I
+had noticed them longer, I saw some variety in their manners and
+expressions. To sit there among them, and feel the differences between
+them and us, and the resemblances,--so much stronger than the
+differences,--was a curious experience.
+
+It was a school, I found, and Chun Fa seemed to have been the flower of
+it. They all mourned very much at losing her. She was the wife of one of
+their principal merchants,--but their wives are often children. She had
+a sweet, innocent face; and we heard that she was very intelligent, and
+eager to learn. With her fair, open look, it seemed as if one could have
+done a great deal with her in the way of development.
+
+An American man first made a prayer in Chinese; then they all sang--
+
+          "Shall we gather at the river?"
+
+in English. They sang with so much fervor, that, although it was so
+unmusical, I felt more like crying than laughing, to think it was for
+one of those Chinese women who have been so badly spoken of; the papers
+often saying that they are all prostitutes, that there are no families
+among them, and that the California people must purify their State by
+getting rid of them. Then a serene-looking Chinaman chanted something
+that sounded very soothing and musical, and another made a prayer. Then
+we went, each one, and took leave of poor little Chun Fa. I thought I
+should have been willing to have it my funeral, every thing was so
+genuine about it; no cant, and nothing superfluous.
+
+We met with quite a disappointment in leaving San Francisco, to find
+that our little Quong could not go with us. We thought we had obtained
+leave from the proper patron; but at the last a brother appeared who
+claimed to be superior authority, and forbade his going. As he seemed a
+very gruff, disagreeable person, and, as the boy said, had never treated
+him kindly, we advised him to disobey him; but he said it would never do
+for a little China boy to disobey a father or an older brother; but,
+when he was old enough, he would take ten dollars, and buy a pistol, and
+shoot him.
+
+
+  APRIL 30, 1878.
+
+We are only an hour's ride by cars and steamer from San Francisco. It is
+hard to believe it, it is so wholly different a place. Before us is a
+field of blue nemophilas. To see them waving in the wind, recalled to me
+what Emerson said about its restoring any one to reason and faith to
+live in the midst of nature,--so many trivial cares and anxieties
+disappeared at the sight of it. On the other side, the water rolls
+softly up to our very door. We bathe in it, floating about at will in
+warm or cold currents.
+
+The first morning after we moved here, I noticed two small hills and
+holes, newly dug, beside our door. A curious little head thrust itself
+out of one, and two small eyes peered at me. They belonged to one of the
+little underground creatures, called gophers, that we have all about us.
+They eat roots, and it is almost impossible to cultivate any thing where
+they are. They appeared to have come just because they saw that the
+house was going to be occupied. I think they like human company, only
+they want to keep their own distance. They and the lizards quite animate
+the landscape. The gopher's wise, old-fashioned looking head is quite a
+contrast to that of the lizard, with its eager, inquisitive expression.
+There is always a little twisted-up head and bright eye, or a sharp
+little tail, appearing and disappearing, wherever we look. They spend
+their whole time in coming and going. Their purpose seems to be
+accomplished, if they succeed in seeing us, and getting safely away.
+
+The wagoner who moved us over from San Francisco made some commiserating
+remarks concerning me, as he deposited the last load of furniture;
+saying that it was a good place to raise children, but would be very
+solitary for the woman.
+
+It is a lonely place here, but the water is constant company. As I
+write, the only sound I can hear is the gentle roll of waves, and now
+and then an under sound that seems to come from far-off caverns,--so
+soft and so deep. I never lived so close to the water before, so that
+its changes made a part of my every-day life. Even when I am so busy
+that I do not look at it, I feel how the tide is creeping in, filling up
+all the little inlets, and making all waste places bright and full.
+
+
+  MAY 10, 1878.
+
+We made inquiries of some of the old residents, in reference to the
+wind, before we decided to come here; but people who live in
+half-settled places, I find, are very apt to misrepresent,--they are so
+eager for neighbors. How much wiser we should have been to have
+consulted the trees!--they show so plainly that they have fought all
+their lives against a strong sea-wind, bending low, and twisting
+themselves about, trying to get away from it.
+
+We find that where we live is not Alameda proper, but is called the
+Encinal District,--_encinal_ being the Spanish for _oak_. I do not know
+whether they mean by it the old dusky evergreens, or the poison oak
+which is every where their inseparable companion. Soon after we arrived,
+we found ourselves severely affected by it. It was then in flower, and
+we attributed its strength to that circumstance; but every change it
+passes through re-enforces its life,--when it ripens its berries, when
+its leaves turn bright, or when the autumn rains begin. Every thing
+suits it; moisture or dryness, whichever prevails, appears to be its
+element. Thoreau, who liked to see weeds overrun flowers, would have
+rejoiced in its vigor. We never touch it; but any one sensitive to its
+influence cannot pass near it, nor breathe the air where it grows,
+without being affected by it. Alameda seems hardly ready for human
+occupancy yet, unless something effectual can be done to exterminate
+it. We often see superficial means taken, like burning it down to the
+level of the earth; but what short-sighted warfare is that which gives
+new strength after a brief interval! On one account I forgive it many
+injuries,--that it furnishes our only bright autumn foliage, turning
+into most vivid and beautiful shades of red. Except for the poison oak,
+and a few of the long, narrow leaves of the Eucalyptus, that hang like
+party-colored ribbons on the trees, we have no change in the foliage
+between summer and winter; there are always the same old dingy evergreen
+oaks everywhere about us.
+
+There are some cultivated grounds and gardens in the neighborhood, but
+everywhere interspersed among them are wild fields. The trees have a
+determined look, as they stand and hold possession of them. The
+cultivated ones that border the streets, in contrast with them, appear
+quite tame. I find myself thinking of the latter sometimes as if they
+were artificial, and only these old aborigines were real; they have so
+much more character and expression. I heard a lady criticising Alameda,
+saying that there were so many trees, you could not see the place. We
+have a general feeling, all the time, as if we were camping out, and
+everybody else were camping out too. The trees are scattered
+everywhere; and it is quite the fashion, in this humble part of the
+town, for people to live in tents while they build their own houses.
+These trees are of a very social kind, bending low, and spreading their
+branches wide, so that any one could almost live in them just as they
+are. They are a great contrast to the firs which we had wholly around us
+on Puget Sound. They have strange fancies for twisting and turning. I
+have never seen two alike, nor one that grew up straight. It is not
+because they are so yielding,--they are as stiff and rugged as they can
+be,--it must be their own wild nature that makes them like to grow in
+strange, irregular ways. Sometimes, when I look at great fields of them,
+I feel as if I were in the midst of a storm, every thing has such a
+wind-swept look, although it is perfectly still at the time. One day I
+came upon a body of them, that appeared as if they had all been stopped
+by some sudden enchantment, in the midst of running away. Often we see
+trees that look as if they had come out of the wars, with great clefts
+in their sides, and holes through them. Their foliage is very slight;
+there is very little to conceal their muscular look. It seems as if we
+could feel in them the will that tightened all the fibres.
+
+
+  MAY 15, 1878.
+
+The great event to us lately has been the advent of the baby lizards.
+The streets are all laid with planks, clean and sunny. The lizards
+delight in them, they are so bright and warm. I like to see, as I walk
+along, these curious little bodies, in old-fashioned scale armor,
+stopping and looking about, as if they were drinking in the comfort of
+the sunshine, just as I am. Although they stop a great deal, it is very
+difficult to catch one, for their movements are like a flash. I did
+succeed once in holding one long enough to examine his beautiful
+steel-blue bands. The babies are as delicate as if they were made of
+glass, and as light and airy as if they belonged to fairy-land. They
+run, all the time, backward and forward, just for the pleasure of
+moving, over the sidewalk, and under it.
+
+When I read in the papers, every week, about the people who kill
+themselves in San Francisco,--and they generally say that they do it
+because there does not seem to be any thing worth living for,--I wonder
+if it would not make a difference to them if they lived in the country,
+and saw how entertaining the world looks to the lively little creatures
+about us, who think it worth while to move so quickly, and look well
+about on every side, for fear they may miss seeing something.
+
+
+  JULY 2, 1878.
+
+When we first came here in the spring, and found the ground all blue and
+yellow and white with blossoms, I thought how interested I should be, to
+watch the succession of flowers. But that was all. In these dry places,
+we have only _spring_ flowers. I did, though, the other day, see
+something red in the distance, and, going to it, found a clump of
+thistles, almost as tall as I am, of a bright crimson color. The fields
+are very dry now, and it seems to be the season of the snakes. Under the
+serpent-like branches, we find nothing but the cast-off skins of the
+snakes.
+
+There are some curious old men here who tend cattle, sitting under the
+trees, with their knitting. I think they are Germans. They do not appear
+to understand when I speak to them. I thought they might be "broke
+miners," who are generally the most curious people here-abouts.
+
+One of these "broke miners" is employed to take care of two little
+children near us, whose mother is dead. He dresses them with their
+clothes hind-side before, and liable at any moment to drop entirely off;
+but seems to succeed very well in amusing them, quilting up his
+dishcloths into dolls for them, and transforming their garments into
+kites. His failing seems to be that a kind of dreamy mood is apt to
+steal over him, in which he wanders on the beach, regardless of hours;
+and the master of the house, coming home, has to hunt high and low for
+him, to come and prepare the meal. On the last bright moonlight night,
+he wholly disappeared.
+
+
+  OCTOBER 15, 1878.
+
+We have finally been driven off by the wind from our cottage on the bay.
+Margie has been so accustomed to moving, that she takes it as easily as
+an Indian child would. A few days before we left, she gave me an account
+of the moving of the man opposite, which was all accomplished before
+breakfast in the morning. First, she said, he put all his things on a
+wagon, and then took his house to pieces, and put that on; and then he
+and the wagoner sat down and drank a pot of coffee together, and started
+off, on their load.
+
+We did not take our house with us, but found a rather dilapidated one,
+in what is called Old Alameda. It is quite attractive, from the trees
+and vines about it, and the spacious garden in which it stands. It is
+owned by an old German woman, who lives next to us. She is rich now,
+and owns the whole block, but still holds to her old peasant customs,
+and wears wooden shoes. Opposite is a French family, who go off every
+year to a vineyard, to make wine; and, next to them, a poor Spanish
+family, who carry round mussels to sell.
+
+
+  MARCH 3, 1879.
+
+We have had a real winter; not that it was very cold or snowy,--that it
+never is here,--but so excessively rainy as to keep us a good deal
+in-doors. The grass grew up in the house, and waved luxuriantly round
+the edges of the rooms. The oak-trees surprised us by bursting out into
+fresh young green, though we had not noticed that they had lost any of
+their hard, evergreen leaves.
+
+
+  APRIL 10, 1879.
+
+While we were crossing the ferry between San Francisco and Oakland one
+day, a peculiar-looking person appeared on the deck of the boat, who
+saluted the assembled company in a most impressive manner. He was a
+large man, serene and self-possessed, with rather a handsome face. On
+his broad shoulders he wore massive epaulets, a sword hung by his side,
+and his hat was crowned with nodding peacock feathers. I noticed that he
+passed the gates where the tickets are delivered, unquestioned, giving
+only a courteous salute, instead of the customary passport. Upon
+inquiry, I learned that he was the "Emperor Norton, ruler of
+California," according to his fancy; and that he passed free wherever he
+chose to go,--theatres opening their doors to him, railroads and
+steamers conveying him without charge. He was an old pioneer, distraught
+by misfortunes, and humored in this hallucination by the people. He was
+in the habit of ordering daily telegraphic despatches sent to the
+different crowned heads of Europe. He had once been known to draw his
+sword upon his washer-woman, because she presumed to demand payment for
+his washing; whereupon the Pioneer Society, learning of the affair, took
+upon itself the charge of meeting all little expenses of this nature.
+
+The Californians have a jolly, good-natured way of regarding
+idiosyncrasies, and a kind of lavish generosity in the distribution of
+their alms, quite different from the careful and judicious method of the
+Eastern people. We hear that some of the early miners, passing along the
+streets of San Francisco, just after it had been devastated by one of
+the terrible fires that swept every thing before them, and seeing a lone
+woman sitting and weeping among the ruins, flung twenty-dollar gold
+pieces and little packages of gold dust at her, until all her losses
+were made good, and she had a handsome overplus to start anew.
+
+I noticed in Oakland a man who drew the whole length of his body along
+the sidewalk, like an enormous reptile, moving slowly by the help of
+his hands, unable to get along in any other way, holding up a bright,
+sunny, sailor face. On his back was a pack of newspapers, from which men
+helped themselves, and flung him generally a half or a quarter of a
+dollar, always refusing the change. That such a man could do business in
+the streets, was a credit to the kindliness of the people incommoded by
+him. I hardly think he would have been tolerated in New York or Boston;
+but his pleasant face and fast-disappearing papers showed that he was
+not made uncomfortably aware of the inconvenience he caused.
+
+One day, while waiting at the ferry, I saw two men employed in a way
+that attracted the attention of every one who passed. One of them, who
+had in his hand a pair of crutches, ascended some steps, and, crossing
+them, nailed them to the wall, close to the gateway where the passengers
+passed to the boat. The other arranged some light drapery in the form
+of wings above them. Below they put a small table, with the photograph
+of a little newsboy on it. All the business-men, the every-day
+passengers crossing to their homes on the Oakland side, appeared to
+understand it, and quietly laid some piece of money beside the picture.
+It seems that it was the stand of a little crippled boy who had for a
+year or two furnished the daily papers to the passengers passing to the
+boat. The money was for his funeral expenses, and to help his family. It
+was very characteristic of the Californians to take this dramatic and
+effective way of collecting a fund. Men who would have been very likely
+to meet a subscription-paper with indifference, on being appealed to in
+this poetic manner, with no word spoken, only seeing the discarded
+crutches and the white wings above, with moist eyes laid their little
+tribute below, as if it were a satisfaction to do so. I thought how the
+little newsboy's face would have brightened if he could have seen it,
+and hoped that he might not be beyond all knowledge of it now.
+
+We have had an opportunity to observe some fine-looking Chinamen who
+have been at work on the railroad all winter opposite our house. There
+are a hundred or more of them. We understand that they are from the
+rural districts of China. They are large, strong, and healthy, quite
+different from the miserable, stunted, sallow-faced creatures from the
+cities, of whom we see so many, showing that this inferiority is not
+inherent in the race, but is the effect of unfavorable circumstances.
+
+
+  MAY 15, 1879.
+
+Day before yesterday was the anniversary of the birthday of the Chinese
+goddess Kum Fa, or Golden Flower, guardian of children. She is
+worshipped chiefly by women; but some of the workers on the railroad
+begged branches of the feathery yellow acacia, which is now in bloom, to
+carry with them to the temple in San Francisco. They are so unpoetic in
+many ways, that we should hardly expect them to be so fond of flowers;
+but they mourn very much if the bulbs which they keep growing in stones
+and water in their houses in the winter do not open for the new year.
+
+The moon and the flowers they enjoy more than any thing else. In many
+things they are children, and like what children like. The moon holds a
+very important place to them, and the dates of the new year and all
+their festivals are determined by its changes. We used to see one of our
+boys standing, sometimes for hours together, with his arms folded,
+gazing into the moonlit sky. When questioned as to what he was doing, he
+said he was "looking at the garden in the moon," and listening to "hear
+the star-men sing."
+
+This boy appeared to be a Shin worshipper. He made many drawings
+representing these spirits, with astonishing facility and artistic
+skill, but, when pressed to explain them, said it was not good to speak
+much about them. Some rode upon clouds; some thrust their heads out of
+the water, or danced upon the backs of fishes; some looked out of caves
+among the hills. There were serene, peaceful ones, with flowers or
+musical instruments in their hands; others were fierce and hostile,
+brandishing weapons, and exploding bombs. Everywhere was the wildest
+freedom and grace, and apparently much symbolic meaning which we could
+not understand.
+
+
+
+
+LEE AND SHEPARD'S NEW BOOKS.
+
+
+_LIFE AT PUGET SOUND_
+
+WITH SKETCHES OF TRAVEL IN
+
+WASHINGTON TERRITORY, BRITISH COLUMBIA, OREGON, AND CALIFORNIA.
+1865-1881.
+
+BY
+
+CAROLINE C. LEIGHTON.
+
+The vast inland sea, popularly known as Puget Sound, ramifying in
+various directions, the wide-spreading and majestic forests, the ranges
+of snow-capped mountains on either side, the mild and equable climate,
+and the diversified resources of this favored region, excite the
+astonishment and admiration of all beholders. To the lovers of the grand
+and beautiful, unmarred as yet by any human interference, and
+untrammelled by the conventionalities which pertain to longer settled
+portions of the globe, it presents an endless field for observation and
+enjoyment. There is already a steady stream of emigration to this new
+"land of promise," and everything seems to indicate for it a vigorous
+growth and development, and a brilliant and substantial future.
+
+
+THE GOLDEN TRUTH SERIES.
+
+A uniform edition of unequalled selections from the best religious
+authors. Edited by Mrs. C.A. Means. Dainty volumes, in gold and colors,
+each, $1.25. Comprising:--
+
+GOLDEN TRUTHS.
+
+     "Abounds in gems of truth and beautiful suggestions. A book from
+     which the thoughtful will gather hope."--_Baltimore American._
+
+LIVING THOUGHTS.
+
+     "A sweet volume of selections from the best writers for Christian
+     instruction, meditation, and comfort."--_Christian Secretary,
+     Hartford._
+
+WORDS OF HOPE.
+
+     "A volume of religious selections designed for the cheer and
+     consolation of sorrowing friends. Sympathy for a friend in sorrow
+     can be expressed in no more delicate or acceptable manner than by
+     the presentation of these words of hope."--_Boston Post._
+
+
+EUROPEAN BREEZES.
+
+By MARGERY DEANE. Cloth. gilt top, $1.50. Being chapters of travel
+through Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland.
+
+     "It is just the story that a bright, intelligent woman could relate
+     to a circle of friends, and is written in a snappy, off-hand style.
+     The travels of the writer were mostly confined to the German
+     countries of Europe and to an incursion into that little-travelled
+     country of Hungary. The last chapter in the book is in some
+     respects the best, for it is the most practical, giving, as it
+     does, information in regard to the expenses of a European trip that
+     many an extended traveller has searched for long and far, in
+     vain."--_Oregonian._
+
+Sold by all booksellers, or sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt of
+price.
+
+LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers,
+Boston, Mass.
+
+
+LEE AND SHEPARD'S NEW BOOKS.
+
+WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH OUR DAUGHTERS?
+
+Superfluous Women and other Lectures. By Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. Price,
+$1.25.
+
+     "Earnest, sensible and elevating in tone, these discourses express
+     with sincerity and power the best thoughts of the day regarding the
+     momentous topics with which they deal, and will long be a beacon
+     light to guide the aspirations of the future."--_Boston Traveller._
+
+     "Mrs. Livermore's book is something to be glad of, and will always
+     have an historic interest as marking the evolution of an existing
+     social question."--_Boston Transcript._
+
+
+TWELVE MONTHS IN AN ENGLISH PRISON.
+
+By Mrs. S.B. Fletcher. 12mo. Cloth. $1.50.
+
+     "This volume contains a most thrilling narrative of the experiences
+     of a well-known spiritualist in a situation where the visible
+     ministrations of invisible forces are proven by the testimony of
+     the jailers themselves. Its appearance is destined in create a
+     profound impression, and probably a most lively discussion.
+
+     "Many of the scenes and incidents are startling, and if the book
+     should fail to change certain notions in regard to spiritualism, it
+     certainly will confound sceptical thinkers and writers."--_Boston
+     Transcript._
+
+
+HIS TRIUMPH.
+
+By Mrs. Mary A. Denison. Author of "That Husband of Mine," "Like a
+Gentleman," etc. 16mo. Cloth. $1.00.
+
+     "This brightly old domestic idyl deals with actors and theatrical
+     affairs, in the midst of which personages and scenes, the heroine,
+     a charming young wife, acts out a little comedy of her own. This
+     sprightly account of how a modern Eve circumvented a nineteenth
+     century serpent is sure to find favor with novel readers."--_The
+     Art Interchange._
+
+Uniform with Lee and Shepard's Dollar Novels.
+
+  LIKE A GENTLEMAN.
+  NUMA ROUMESTAN.
+  KINGS IN EXILE.
+  THE PUDDLEFORD PAPER.
+  THE FORTUNATE ISLAND.
+  THE TIGHT SQUEEZE.
+
+
+FORE AND AFT.
+
+A Personal Narrative of Sea Experiences. By Robert B. Dixon. 16mo.
+Cloth. 320 pages. Price, $1.25.
+
+     This is a book which, like the famous "Two Years Before the Mast,"
+     interests young and old alike, and is decidedly pleasant reading to
+     a sea-lover. It has the air of VRAISEMBLANCE, and holds one with
+     the fascination of real struggles with storms and fire and mutiny,
+     and all the perils and marvels of the ever-changing sea.
+
+Sold by all Booksellers, and sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt of
+price.
+
+LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers,
+BOSTON.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBERS NOTE:
+
+Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as
+possible, including obsolete and variant spellings. Date entries have
+been normalized. Obvious typographical errors in punctuation have been
+fixed. Corrections [in brackets] in the text are noted below:
+
+  Page 168 succestion [succession]
+  Page 198 heavp [heavy]
+  Page 201 boy [boys]
+  Page 204 comorants [cormorants]
+  Page 204 in in [in]
+  Page 255 the the [the]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life at Puget Sound: With Sketches of
+Travel in Washington Territory, British Columbia, Oregon and California, by Caroline C. Leighton
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AT PUGET SOUND: SKETCHES OF TRAVEL ***
+
+***** This file should be named 24816.txt or 24816.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/8/1/24816/
+
+Produced by Bryan Ness, Greg Bergquist and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.