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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Oregon and Eldorado, by Thomas Bulfinch
+
+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: Oregon and Eldorado
+       or, Romance of the Rivers
+
+Author: Thomas Bulfinch
+
+Release Date: February 6, 2012 [EBook #38774]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OREGON AND ELDORADO ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Greg Bergquist, Barbara Kosker and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+OREGON AND ELDORADO.
+
+
+
+
+OREGON AND ELDORADO;
+
+OR,
+
+ROMANCE OF THE RIVERS.
+
+
+
+
+BY
+
+THOMAS BULFINCH,
+
+AUTHOR OF "THE AGE OF FABLE," "THE AGE OF CHIVALRY," ETC.
+
+
+
+
+BOSTON:
+J. E. TILTON AND COMPANY.
+1866.
+
+
+
+
+Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866,
+  by THOMAS BULFINCH,
+In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the
+  District of Massachusetts.
+
+
+
+
+STEREOTYPED BY C. J. PETERS AND SON.
+PRINTED BY GEORGE C. RAND AND AVERY.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+When one observes attentively the maps of South and North America, no
+feature appears more striking than the provision which Nature seems to
+have made, in both continents, for water-communication across the
+breadth of each. In the Northern continent, this channel of
+communication is formed by the Missouri and Columbia Rivers, which
+stretch over an extent of three thousand miles, interrupted only by the
+ridge of the Rocky Mountains. In the Southern continent, the River
+Amazon, in its path from the Andes to the sea, traverses a course of
+thirty-three hundred miles. In both cases, a few hundred miles of
+land-carriage will complete the transit from ocean to ocean. The analogy
+presented in the length and direction of these magnificent
+water-pathways is preserved in their history. A series of romantic
+adventures attaches to each. I indulge the hope, that young readers who
+have so favorably received my former attempts to amuse and instruct
+them, in my several works reviving the fabulous legends of remote ages,
+will find equally attractive these true narratives of bold adventure,
+whose date is comparatively recent. Moreover, their scenes are laid, in
+the one instance, in our own country; and, in the other, in that great
+and rising empire of Brazil to which our distinguished naturalist, Prof.
+Agassiz, has gone on a pilgrimage of science. It will enable us better
+to appreciate the discoveries and observations which the professor will
+lay before us on his return, to know something beforehand of the history
+and peculiarities of the region which is the scene of his labors; and,
+on the other hand, the route across the North-American continent, to
+which the first part of the volume relates, deprives increased interest,
+at this time, from the fact that it nearly corresponds to the route of
+the contemplated Northern Pacific Railroad.
+
+BOSTON, June, 1866.                   T. B.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                        OREGON.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+DISCOVERY OF COLUMBIA RIVER                       1
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+LEWIS AND CLARKE                                 14
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE SIOUX                                        23
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+SUMMARY OF TRAVEL TO WINTER-QUARTERS             33
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+INDIAN TRIBES                                    45
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE MARCH RESUMED                                57
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE JOURNEY CONTINUED                            85
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE SOURCES OF THE MISSOURI AND COLUMBIA         97
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE PARTY IN THE BOATS                          107
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE DESCENT OF THE COLUMBIA                     120
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+CLARKE'S RIVER                                  131
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+KOOSKOOSKEE RIVER                               147
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+WINTER-QUARTERS                                 176
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+A NEW YEAR                                      187
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+WINTER LIFE                                     197
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE RETURN                                      210
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS                             230
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+CAPT. CLARKE'S ROUTE DOWN THE YELLOWSTONE       241
+
+
+                          ELDORADO.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE DISCOVERY                                   255
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+ORELLANA DESCENDS THE RIVER                     265
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+ORELLANA'S ADVENTURE CONTINUED                  275
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+SIR WALTER RALEIGH                              285
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+RALEIGH'S FIRST EXPEDITION                      293
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+RALEIGH'S ADVENTURES CONTINUED                  307
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+RALEIGH'S SECOND EXPEDITION                     316
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE FRENCH PHILOSOPHERS                         326
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+MADAME GODIN'S VOYAGE DOWN THE AMAZON           339
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+MADAME GODIN'S VOYAGE CONTINUED                 349
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+HERNDON'S EXPEDITION                            361
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+HERNDON'S EXPEDITION CONTINUED                  373
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+HERNDON'S EXPEDITION CONTINUED                  387
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+HERNDON'S EXPEDITION CONCLUDED                  396
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+LATEST EXPLORATIONS                             404
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE NATURALIST ON THE AMAZON                    427
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+ANIMATED NATURE                                 446
+
+
+
+
+OREGON.
+
+
+
+
+OREGON.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+DISCOVERY OF COLUMBIA RIVER.
+
+
+A few years ago, there was still standing in Bowdoin Square, Boston,
+opposite the Revere House, an ancient mansion, since removed to make
+room for the granite range called the Coolidge Building. In that
+mansion, then neither old nor inelegant, but, on the contrary, having
+good pretensions to rank among the principal residences of the place,
+was assembled, in the year 1787, a group, consisting of the master of
+the mansion, Dr. Bulfinch, his only son Charles, and Joseph Barrell,
+their neighbor, an eminent merchant of Boston. The conversation turned
+upon the topic of the day,--the voyages and discoveries of Capt. Cook,
+the account of which had lately been published. The brilliant
+achievements of Capt. Cook, his admirable qualities, and his sad fate
+(slain by the chance stroke of a Sandwich-Islander, in a sudden brawl
+which arose between the sailors and the natives),--these formed the
+current of the conversation; till at last it changed, and turned more
+upon the commercial aspects of the subject. Mr. Barrell was particularly
+struck with what Cook relates of the abundance of valuable furs offered
+by the natives of the country in exchange for beads, knives, and other
+trifling commodities valued by them. The remark of Capt. Cook respecting
+the sea-otter was cited:--
+
+"This animal abounds here: the fur is softer and finer than that of any
+other we know of; and therefore the discovery of this part of the
+continent, where so valuable an article of commerce may be met with,
+cannot be a matter of indifference." He adds in a note, "The sea-otter
+skins are sold by the Russians to the Chinese at from sixteen to twenty
+pounds each."
+
+Mr. Barrell remarked, "There is a rich harvest to be reaped there by
+those who shall first go in." The idea thus suggested was followed out
+in future conversations at the doctor's fireside, admitting other
+congenial spirits to the discussion, and resulted in the equipping of an
+expedition consisting of two vessels, the ship "Columbia" and sloop
+"Washington," to make the proposed adventure. The partners in the
+enterprise were Joseph Barrell, Samuel Brown, Charles Bulfinch, John
+Derby, Crowell Hatch, and J. M. Pintard. So important was the expedition
+deemed by the adventurers themselves, that they caused a medal to be
+struck, bearing on one side a representation of the two vessels under
+sail, and on the other the names of the parties to the enterprise.
+Several copies of this medal were made both in bronze and silver, and
+distributed to public bodies and distinguished individuals. One of these
+medals lies before the writer as he pens these lines. A representation
+is subjoined:--
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The expedition was also provided with sea-letters, issued by the Federal
+Government agreeably to a resolution of Congress, and with passports
+from the State of Massachusetts; and they received letters from the
+Spanish minister plenipotentiary in the United States, recommending them
+to the attention of the authorities of his nation on the Pacific coast.
+
+The "Columbia" was commanded by John Kendrick, to whom was intrusted the
+general control of the expedition. The master of the "Washington" was
+Robert Gray.
+
+The two vessels sailed together from Boston on the 30th of September,
+1787: thence they proceeded to the Cape Verde Islands, and thence to the
+Falkland Islands, in each of which groups they procured refreshments. In
+January, 1788, they doubled Cape Horn; immediately after which they were
+separated during a violent gale. The "Washington," continuing her course
+through the Pacific, made the north-west coast in August, near the 46th
+degree of latitude. Here Capt. Gray thought he perceived indications of
+the mouth of a river; but he was unable to ascertain the fact, in
+consequence of his vessel having grounded, and been attacked by the
+savages, who killed one of his men, and wounded the mate. But she
+escaped without further injury, and, on the 17th of September, reached
+Nootka Sound, which had been agreed upon as the port of re-union in case
+of separation. The "Columbia" did not enter the sound until some days
+afterward.
+
+The two vessels spent their winter in the sound; where the "Columbia"
+also lay during the following summer, collecting furs, while Capt.
+Gray, in the "Washington," explored the adjacent waters. On his return
+to Nootka, it was agreed upon between the two captains that Kendrick
+should take command of the sloop, and remain on the coast, while Gray,
+in the "Columbia," should carry to Canton all the furs which had been
+collected by both vessels. This was accordingly done; and Gray arrived
+on the 6th of December at Canton, where he sold his furs, and took in a
+cargo of tea, with which he entered Boston on the 10th of August, 1790,
+having carried the flag of the United States for the first time round
+the world.
+
+Kendrick, immediately on parting with the "Columbia," proceeded with the
+"Washington" to the Strait of Fuca, through which he sailed, in its
+whole length, to its issue in the Pacific, in lat. 51. To him belongs
+the credit of ascertaining that Nootka and the parts adjacent are an
+island, to which the name of Vancouver's Island has since been given,
+which it now retains. Vancouver was a British commander who followed in
+the track of the Americans a year later. The injustice done to Kendrick
+by thus robbing him of the credit of his discovery is but one of many
+similar instances; the greatest of all being that by which our
+continent itself bears the name, not of Columbus, but of a subsequent
+navigator.
+
+Capt. Kendrick, during the time occupied by Gray in his return voyage,
+besides collecting furs, engaged in various speculations; one of which
+was the collection, and transportation to China, of the odoriferous wood
+called "sandal," which grows in many of the tropical islands of the
+Pacific, and is in great demand throughout the Celestial Empire, for
+ornamental fabrics, and also for medicinal purposes. Vancouver
+pronounced this scheme chimerical; but experience has shown that it was
+founded on just calculations, and the business has ever since been
+prosecuted with advantage, especially by Americans.
+
+Another of Kendrick's speculations has not hitherto produced any fruit.
+In the summer of 1791, he purchased from Maquinna, Wicanish, and other
+Indian chiefs, several large tracts of land near Nootka Sound, for which
+he obtained deeds, duly _marked_ by those personages, and witnessed by
+the officers and men of the "Washington." Attempts were afterwards made
+by the owners of the vessel to sell these lands in London, but no
+purchasers were found; and applications have since been addressed by the
+legal representatives of the owners to the Government of the United
+States for a confirmation of the title, but hitherto without success.
+
+Capt. Kendrick lost his life by a singular accident. In exchanging
+salutes with a Spanish vessel which they met at the Sandwich Islands,
+the wad of the gun of the Spaniard struck Capt. Kendrick as he stood on
+the deck of his vessel, conspicuous in his dress-coat and cocked hat as
+commander of the expedition. It was instantly fatal.
+
+The ship "Columbia" returned to Boston from Canton under the command of
+Gray, as already stated, arriving on the 10th of August, 1790; but the
+cargo of Chinese articles brought by her was insufficient to cover the
+expenses of her voyage: nevertheless her owners determined to persevere
+in the enterprise, and refitted the ship for a new voyage of the same
+kind.
+
+The "Columbia," under her former captain, Gray, left Boston, on her
+second voyage, on the 28th of September, 1790, and, without the
+occurrence of any thing worthy of note, arrived at Clyoquot, near the
+entrance of Fuca's Strait, on the 5th of June, 1791. There, and in the
+neighboring waters, she remained through the summer and winter
+following, engaged in trading and exploring. In the spring of 1792, Gray
+took his departure in the ship, on a cruise southward, along the coast,
+bent on ascertaining the truth of appearances which had led him in the
+former voyage to suspect the existence of a river discharging its waters
+at or about the latitude of 46 degrees. During his cruise, he met the
+English vessels commanded by Commodore Vancouver. "On the 29th of
+April," Vancouver writes in his journal, "at four o'clock, a sail was
+discovered to the westward, standing in shore. This was a very great
+novelty, not having seen any vessel but our consort during the last
+eight months. She soon hoisted American colors, and fired a gun to
+leeward. At six, we spoke her. She proved to be the ship 'Columbia,'
+commanded by Capt. Robert Gray, belonging to Boston, whence she had been
+absent nineteen months. I sent two of my officers on board to acquire
+such information as might be serviceable in our future operations. Capt.
+Gray informed them of his having been off the mouth of a river, in the
+latitude of 46 degrees 10 minutes, for nine days; but the outset or
+reflux was so strong as to prevent his entering."
+
+To this statement of Capt. Gray, Vancouver gave little credit. He
+remarks, "I was thoroughly persuaded, as were also most persons of
+observation on board, that we could not have passed any safe navigable
+opening, harbor, or place of security for shipping, from Cape Mendocino
+to Fuca's Strait."
+
+After parting with the English ships, Gray sailed along the coast of the
+continent southward; and on the 7th of May, 1792, he "saw an entrance
+which had a very good appearance of a harbor." Passing through this
+entrance, he found himself in a bay, "well sheltered from the sea by
+long sand-bars and spits," where he remained three days trading with the
+natives, and then resumed his voyage, bestowing on the place thus
+discovered the name of Bulfinch's Harbor, in honor of one of the owners
+of his ship. This is now known as Gray's Harbor.
+
+At daybreak on the 11th, after leaving Bulfinch's Harbor, Gray observed
+the entrance of his desired port, bearing east-south-east, distant six
+leagues; and running into it with all sails set, between the breakers,
+he anchored at one o'clock in a large river of fresh water, ten miles
+above its mouth. At this spot he remained three days, engaged in trading
+with the natives, and filling his casks with water; and then sailed up
+the river about twelve miles along its northern shore, where, finding
+that he could proceed no farther from having taken the wrong channel, he
+again came to anchor. On the 20th, he recrossed the bar at the mouth of
+the river, and regained the Pacific.
+
+On leaving the river, Gray gave it the name of his ship, the Columbia,
+which it still bears. He called the southern point of land, at the
+entrance, Cape Adams; and the northern, Cape Hancock. The former of
+these names retains its place in the maps, the latter does not; the
+promontory being known as Cape Disappointment,--a name it received from
+Lieut. Meares, an English navigator, who, like Capt. Gray, judged from
+appearances that there was the outlet of a river at that point, but
+failed to find it, and recorded his failure in the name he assigned to
+the conspicuous headland which marked the place of his fruitless search.
+
+     NOTE. As the discovery of Columbia River was an event of
+     historical importance, the reader will perhaps be gratified to
+     see it as recorded in the words of Capt. Gray himself, copied
+     from his logbook as follows:--
+
+     "May 11 (1792), at eight, P.M., the entrance of Bulfinch's
+     Harbor bore north, distance four miles. Sent up the
+     main-top-gallant yard, and set all sail. At four, A.M., saw the
+     entrance of our desired port, bearing east-south-east, distance
+     six leagues; in steering sails, and hauled our wind in shore.
+     At eight, A.M., being a little to windward of the entrance of
+     the harbor, bore away, and ran in east-north-east between the
+     breakers, having from five to seven fathoms of water. When we
+     were over the bar, we found this to be a large river of fresh
+     water, up which we steered. Many canoes came alongside. At one,
+     P.M., came to, with the small bower in ten fathoms black and
+     white sand. The entrance between the bars bore west-south-west,
+     distant ten miles; the north side of the river a half-mile
+     distant from the ship, the south side of the same two and a
+     half miles distance; a village on the north side of the river,
+     west by north, distant three-quarters of a mile. Vast numbers
+     of natives came alongside. People employed in pumping the salt
+     water out of our water-casks, in order to fill with fresh,
+     while the ship floated in. So ends."
+
+From the mouth of Columbia River, Gray sailed to Nootka Sound, where he
+communicated his recent discoveries to the Spanish commandant, Quadra;
+to whom he also gave charts and descriptions of Bulfinch's Harbor, and
+of the mouth of the Columbia. He departed for Canton in September, and
+thence sailed to the United States.
+
+The voyages of Kendrick and Gray were not profitable to the adventurers,
+yet not fruitless of benefit to their country. They opened the way to
+subsequent enterprises in the same region, which were eminently
+successful. And, in another point of view, these expeditions were
+fraught with consequences of the utmost importance. Gray's discovery of
+Columbia River was the point most relied upon by our negotiators in a
+subsequent era for establishing the claim of the United States to the
+part of the continent through which that river flows; and it is in a
+great measure owing to that discovery that the growing State of Oregon
+is now a part of the American Republic.
+
+From the date of the discovery of Columbia River to the war of 1812, the
+direct trade between the American coast and China was almost entirely in
+the hands of the citizens of the United States. The British merchants
+were restrained from pursuing it by the opposition of their East-India
+Company; the Russians were not admitted into Chinese ports; and few
+ships of any other nation were seen in that part of the ocean. The trade
+was prosecuted by men whose names are still distinguished among us as
+those of the master-spirits of American commerce,--the Thorndikes, the
+Perkinses, Lambs, Sturgis, Cushing, and others of Boston, Astor and
+others of New York. The greater number of the vessels sent from the
+United States were fine ships or brigs laden with valuable cargoes of
+West-India productions, British manufactured articles, and French,
+Italian, and Spanish wines and spirits; and the owners were men of large
+capital and high reputation in the commercial world, some of whom were
+able to compete with the British companies, and even to control their
+movements.
+
+During all this period, though constant accessions were made to the
+knowledge of the coast by means of commercial adventure, the interior of
+the continent, from the Mississippi to the ocean, remained unknown. The
+intercourse of the people of the United States with the native tribes
+was restricted by several causes. One was the possession of Louisiana by
+the Spaniards; another, the retention by the British of several
+important posts south of the Great Lakes, within the acknowledged
+territory of the Union. At length, by the treaty of 1794 between Great
+Britain and the United States, those posts were given up to the
+Americans; and by treaty with France, in 1803, Louisiana, which had come
+into possession of that power in 1800, was ceded to the United States.
+From this period, the Government and people of the United States ceased
+to be indifferent to the immense and important region whose destinies
+were committed to them; and the ensuing narrative will relate the first
+attempt made by national authority to occupy and explore the country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+LEWIS AND CLARKE.
+
+
+In the year 1786, John Ledyard of Connecticut, who had been with Capt.
+Cook in his voyage of discovery to the north-west coast of America in
+1776-1780, was in Paris, endeavoring to engage a mercantile company in
+the fur-trade of that coast. He had seen, as he thought, unequalled
+opportunities for lucrative traffic in the exchange of the furs of that
+country for the silks and teas of China. But his representations were
+listened to with incredulity by the cautious merchants of Europe, and he
+found it impossible to interest any so far as to induce them to fit out
+an expedition for the object proposed.
+
+Disappointed and needy, he applied for advice and assistance to Mr.
+Jefferson, at that time the American minister at the court of France.
+Ledyard had no views of pecuniary gain in the contemplated enterprise:
+he sought only an opportunity of indulging his love of adventure by
+exploring regions at that time unknown. Mr. Jefferson, as the guardian
+of his country's interests and the friend of science, was warmly
+interested in any scheme which contemplated the opening of the vast
+interior regions of the American continent to the occupancy of civilized
+man. Since it was impossible to engage mercantile adventurers to fit out
+an expedition by sea, Mr. Jefferson proposed to Ledyard that he should
+go as a traveller, by land, through the Russian territories, as far as
+the eastern coast of the continent of Asia, and from thence get such
+conveyance as he could to the neighboring coast of America, and thus
+reach the spot where his main journey was to begin. Ledyard eagerly
+embraced the proposal. Permission was obtained from the Empress
+Catharine of Russia, and the enterprising traveller, in December, 1786,
+set forth. He traversed Denmark and Sweden; passed round the head of the
+Gulf of Bothnia, after an unsuccessful attempt to cross it on the ice;
+and reached St. Petersburg in March, 1787, without money, shoes, or
+stockings, having gone this immense journey on foot in an arctic winter.
+At St. Petersburg he obtained notice, money to the amount of twenty
+guineas, and permission to accompany a convoy of stores to Yakoutsk, in
+Siberia. But, for some unexplained reason, he was arrested at that
+place by order of the empress, and conveyed back to Europe; being
+cautioned, on his release, not again to set foot within the Russian
+territories, under penalty of death. This harsh treatment is supposed to
+have arisen from the jealousy of the Russian fur-traders, who feared
+that Ledyard's proceedings would rouse up rivals in their trade.
+
+Mr. Jefferson did not, upon this disappointment, abandon the idea of an
+exploration of the interior of the American continent. At his
+suggestion, the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia took
+measures, in 1792, to send suitable persons to make a similar transit of
+the continent in the opposite direction; that is, by ascending the
+Missouri, and descending the Columbia. Nothing was effected, however, at
+that time, except awakening the attention of Capt. Meriwether Lewis, a
+young officer in the American army, a neighbor and relative of Gen.
+Washington. He eagerly sought to be employed to make the contemplated
+journey.
+
+In 1803, Mr. Jefferson, being then President of the United States,
+proposed to Congress to send an exploring party to trace the Missouri to
+its source; to cross the highlands, and follow the best water
+communication which might offer itself, to the Pacific Ocean. Congress
+approved the proposal, and voted a sum of money to carry it into
+execution. Capt. Lewis, who had then been two years with Mr. Jefferson
+as his private secretary, immediately renewed his solicitations to have
+the direction of the expedition. Mr. Jefferson had now had opportunity
+of knowing him intimately, and believed him to be brave, persevering,
+familiar with the Indian character and customs, habituated to the
+hunting life, honest, and of sound judgment. He trusted that he would be
+careful of those committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance
+of discipline. On receiving his appointment, Capt. Lewis repaired to
+Philadelphia, and placed himself under its distinguished professors,
+with a view to acquire familiarity with the nomenclature of the natural
+sciences. He selected, as his companion in the proposed expedition,
+William Clarke, a brother-officer, known and esteemed by him.
+
+While these things were going on, the treaty with France was concluded,
+by which the country of Louisiana was ceded to the United States. This
+event, which took place in 1803, greatly increased the interest felt by
+the people of the United States in the proposed expedition.
+
+In the spring of 1804, the preparations being completed, the explorers
+commenced their route. The party consisted of nine young men from
+Kentucky, fourteen soldiers of the United-States army who volunteered
+their services, two French watermen, an interpreter, a hunter, and a
+black servant of Capt. Clarke. In addition to these, a further force of
+fifteen men attended on the commencement of the expedition to secure
+safety during the transit through some Indian tribes whose hostility was
+apprehended. The necessary stores were divided into seven bales and one
+box, the latter containing a small portion of each article in case of a
+loss of any one of the bales. The stores consisted of clothing, working
+tools, ammunition, and other articles of prime necessity. To these were
+added fourteen bales and one box of Indian presents, composed of richly
+laced coats and other articles of dress, medals, flags, knives, and
+tomahawks for the chiefs; ornaments of different kinds, particularly
+beads, looking-glasses, handkerchiefs, paints, and generally such
+articles as were deemed best calculated for the taste of the Indians.
+The company embarked on board of three boats. The first was a keel-boat,
+fifty-five feet long, carrying one large square sail and twenty-two
+oars. A deck of ten feet, at each end, formed a forecastle and cabin.
+This was accompanied by two open boats of six oars. Two horses were to
+be led along the banks of the river, for bringing home game, or hunting
+in case of scarcity.
+
+The narrative of the expedition was written by the commanders from day
+to day, and published after their return. We shall tell the story of
+their adventures nearly in the language of their own journal, with such
+abridgments as our plan renders necessary.
+
+May 14, 1804.--All the preparations being completed, they left their
+encampment this day. The character of the river itself was the most
+interesting object of examination for the first part of their voyage.
+Having advanced, in two months, about four hundred and fifty miles, they
+write as follows: "The ranges of hills on opposite sides of the river
+are twelve or fifteen miles apart, rich plains and prairies, with the
+river, occupying the intermediate space, partially covered near the
+river with cotton-wood or Balm-of-Gilead poplar. The whole lowland
+between the parallel ranges of hills seems to have been formed of mud of
+the river, mixed with sand and clay. The sand of the neighboring banks,
+added to that brought down by the stream, forms sand-bars, projecting
+into the river. These drive the stream to the opposite bank, the loose
+texture of which it undermines, and at length deserts its ancient bed
+for a new passage. It is thus that the banks of the Missouri are
+constantly falling in, and the river changing its bed.
+
+"On one occasion, the party encamped on a sand-bar in the river. Shortly
+after midnight, the sleepers were startled by the sergeant on guard
+crying out that the sand-bar was sinking: and the alarm was timely
+given; for scarcely had they got off with the boats before the bank
+under which they had been lying fell in; and, by the time the opposite
+shore was reached, the ground on which they had been encamped sunk also.
+
+"We had occasion here to observe the process of the undermining of these
+hills by the Missouri. The first attacks seem to be made on the hills
+which overhang the river. As soon as the violence of the current
+destroys the grass at the foot of them, the whole texture appears
+loosened, and the ground dissolves, and mixes with the water. At one
+point, a part of the cliff, nearly three-quarters of a mile in length,
+and about two hundred feet in height, had fallen into the river. As the
+banks are washed away, the trees fall in, and the channel becomes filled
+with buried logs."
+
+
+RIVER SCENERY.
+
+"July 12.--We remained to-day for the purpose of making lunar
+observations. Capt. Clarke sailed a few miles up the Namaha River, and
+landed on a spot where he found numerous artificial mounds.
+
+     NOTE. A late traveller, Rev. Samuel Parker, speaks thus of
+     these mounds: "The mounds, which some have called the work of
+     unknown generations of men, were scattered here in all
+     varieties of form and magnitude, thousands in number. Some of
+     them were conical, some elliptical, some square, and some
+     parallelograms. One group attracted my attention particularly.
+     They were twelve in number, of conical form, with their bases
+     joined, and twenty or thirty feet high. They formed two-thirds
+     of a circle, with an area of two hundred feet in diameter. If
+     these were isolated, who would not say they were artificial?
+     But, when they are only a group among a thousand others, who
+     will presume to say they all are the work of man?...
+
+     "It is said by those who advocate the belief that they are the
+     work of ancient nations; that they present plain evidence of
+     this in the fact that they contain human bones, articles of
+     pottery, and the like. That some of them have been used for
+     burying-places, is undoubtedly true; but may it not be
+     questioned whether they were _made_, or only _selected_, for
+     burying-places? No one who has ever seen the thousands and ten
+     thousands scattered through the Valley of the Mississippi will
+     be so credulous as to believe that a hundredth part of them
+     were the work of man."
+
+"From the top of the highest mound, a delightful prospect presented
+itself,--the lowland of the Missouri covered with an undulating grass
+nearly five feet high, gradually rising into a second plain, where rich
+weeds and flowers were interspersed with copses of the Osage plum.
+Farther back from the river were seen small groves of trees, an
+abundance of grapes, the wild cherry of the Missouri,--resembling our
+own, but larger, and growing on a small bush. The plums are of three
+kinds,--two of a yellow color, and distinguished by one of the species
+being larger than the other; a third species of red color. All have an
+excellent flavor, particularly the yellow kind."
+
+
+PIPE-CLAY ROCK.
+
+"Aug. 21.--We passed the mouth of the Great Sioux River. Our Indian
+interpreter tells us that on the head waters of this river is the quarry
+of red rock of which the Indians make their pipes; and the necessity of
+procuring that article has introduced a law of nations, by which the
+banks of the stream are sacred; and even tribes at war meet without
+hostility at these quarries, which possess a right of asylum. Thus we
+find, even among savages, certain principles deemed sacred, by which the
+rigors of their merciless system of warfare are mitigated."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE SIOUX.
+
+
+The Indian tribes which our adventurers had thus far encountered had
+been friendly, or at least inoffensive; but they were feeble bands, and
+all of them lived in terror of their powerful neighbors, the Sioux. On
+the 23d of September, the party reached a region inhabited by the
+Tetons, a tribe of Sioux. The journal gives an account of their
+intercourse with these new acquaintances as follows:--
+
+"The morning was fine; and we raised a flag-staff, and spread an awning,
+under which we assembled, with all the party under arms. The chiefs and
+warriors from the Indian camp, about fifty in number, met us; and Capt.
+Lewis made a speech to them. After this, we went through the ceremony of
+acknowledging the chiefs by giving to the grand chief a medal, a flag of
+the United States, a laced uniform coat, a cocked hat and feather; to
+the two other chiefs, a medal and some small presents; and to two
+warriors of consideration, certificates. We then invited the chiefs on
+board, and showed them the boat, the air-gun, and such curiosities as we
+thought might amuse them. In this we succeeded too well; for after
+giving them a quarter of a glass of whiskey, which they seemed to like
+very much, it was with much difficulty we could get rid of them. They at
+last accompanied Capt. Clarke back to shore in a boat with five men; but
+no sooner had the party landed than three of the Indians seized the
+cable of the boat, and one of the soldiers of the chief put his arms
+round the mast. The second chief, who affected intoxication, then said
+that we should not go on; that they had not received presents enough
+from us. Capt. Clarke told him that we would not be prevented from going
+on; that we were not squaws, but warriors; that we were sent by our
+great Father, who could in a moment exterminate them. The chief replied
+that he, too, had warriors; and was proceeding to lay hands on Capt.
+Clarke, who immediately drew his sword, and made a signal to the boat to
+prepare for action. The Indians who surrounded him drew their arrows
+from their quivers, and were bending their bows, when the swivel in the
+large boat was pointed towards them, and twelve of our most determined
+men jumped into the small boat, and joined Capt. Clarke. This movement
+made an impression on them; for the grand chief ordered the young men
+away from the boat, and the chiefs withdrew, and held a short council
+with the warriors. Being unwilling to irritate them, Capt. Clarke then
+went forward, and offered his hand to the first and second chiefs, who
+refused to take it. He then turned from them, and got into the boat, but
+had not gone more than a stone's-throw, when the two chiefs and two of
+the warriors waded in after him; and he took them on board.
+
+"Sept. 26.--Our conduct yesterday seemed to have inspired the Indians
+with respect; and, as we were desirous of cultivating their
+acquaintance, we complied with their wish that we should give them an
+opportunity of treating us well, and also suffer their squaws and
+children to see us and our boat, which would be perfectly new to them.
+Accordingly, after passing a small island and several sand-bars, we came
+to on the south shore, where a crowd of men, women, and children, were
+waiting to receive us. Capt. Lewis went on shore, and, observing that
+their disposition seemed friendly, resolved to remain during the night
+to a dance which they were preparing for us. The captains, who went on
+shore one after the other, were met on the landing by ten well-dressed
+young men, who took them up in a robe highly decorated, and carried them
+to a large council-house, where they were placed on a dressed
+buffalo-skin by the side of the grand chief. The hall, or council-room,
+was in the shape of three-quarters of a circle, covered at the top and
+sides with skins well dressed, and sewed together. Under this shelter
+sat about seventy men, forming a circle round the chief, before whom
+were placed a Spanish flag and the one we had given them yesterday. In
+the vacant space in the centre, the pipe of peace was raised on two
+forked sticks about six or eight inches from the ground, and under it
+the down of the swan was scattered. A large fire, at which they were
+cooking, stood near, and a pile of about four hundred pounds of
+buffalo-meat, as a present for us.
+
+"As soon as we were seated, an old man rose, and, after approving what
+we had done, begged us to take pity upon their unfortunate situation. To
+this we replied with assurances of protection. After he had ceased, the
+great chief rose, and delivered an harangue to the same effect. Then,
+with great solemnity, he took some of the more delicate parts of the
+dog, which was cooked for the festival, and held it to the flag by way
+of sacrifice: this done, he held up the pipe of peace, and first pointed
+it towards the heavens, then to the four quarters of the globe, and then
+to the earth; made a short speech; lighted the pipe, and presented it to
+us. We smoked, and he again harangued his people; after which the repast
+was served up to us. It consisted of the dog, which they had just been
+cooking; this being a great dish among the Sioux, and used at all
+festivals. To this was added _pemitigon_, a dish made of buffalo-meat,
+dried, and then pounded, and mixed raw with fat; and a root like the
+potato, dressed like the preparation of Indian-corn called hominy. Of
+all these luxuries, which were placed before us in platters, with horn
+spoons, we took the pemitigon and the potato, which we found good; but
+we could as yet partake but sparingly of the dog. We ate and smoked for
+an hour, when it became dark. Every thing was then cleared away for the
+dance; a large fire being made in the centre of the house, giving at
+once light and warmth to the ball-room. The orchestra was composed of
+about ten men, who played on a sort of tambourine formed of skin
+stretched across a hoop, and made a jingling noise with a long stick,
+to which the hoofs of deer and goats were hung. The third instrument was
+a small skin bag, with pebbles in it. These, with five or six young men
+for the vocal part, made up the band.
+
+"The women then came forward highly decorated; some with poles in their
+hands, on which were hung the scalps of their enemies; others with guns,
+spears, or different trophies, taken in war by their husbands, brothers,
+or connections. Having arranged themselves in two columns, as soon as
+the music began they danced towards each other till they met in the
+centre; when the rattles were shaken, and they all shouted, and returned
+back to their places. They have no steps, but shuffle along the ground;
+nor does the music appear to be any thing more than a confusion of
+noises, distinguished only by hard or gentle blows upon the
+buffalo-skin. The song is perfectly extemporaneous. In the pauses of the
+dance, any man of the company comes forward, and recites, in a low,
+guttural tone, some little story or incident, which is either martial or
+ludicrous. This is taken up by the orchestra and the dancers, who repeat
+it in a higher strain, and dance to it. Sometimes they alternate, the
+orchestra first performing; and, when it ceases, the women raise their
+voices, and make a music more agreeable, that is, less intolerable, than
+that of the musicians.
+
+"The harmony of the entertainment had nearly been disturbed by one of
+the musicians, who, thinking he had not received a due share of the
+tobacco we had distributed during the evening, put himself into a
+passion, broke one of the drums, threw two of them into the fire, and
+left the band. They were taken out of the fire: a buffalo-robe, held in
+one hand, and beaten with the other, supplied the place of the lost drum
+or tambourine; and no notice was taken of the offensive conduct of the
+man. We staid till twelve o'clock at night, when we informed the chiefs
+that they must be fatigued with all these attempts to amuse us, and
+retired, accompanied by four chiefs, two of whom spent the night with us
+on board."
+
+
+THE SIOUX.
+
+"The tribe which we this day saw are a part of the great Sioux nation,
+and are known by the name of the _Teton Okandandas_: they are about two
+hundred men in number, and their chief residence is on both sides of the
+Missouri, between the Cheyenne and Teton Rivers.
+
+"The men shave the hair off their heads, except a small tuft on the top,
+which they suffer to grow, and wear in plaits over the shoulders. To
+this they seem much attached, as the loss of it is the usual sacrifice
+at the death of near relations. In full dress, the men of consideration
+wear a hawk's feather or calumet feather, worked with porcupine-quills,
+and fastened to the top of the head, from which it falls back. The face
+and body are generally painted with a mixture of grease and coal. Over
+the shoulders is a loose robe or mantle of buffalo-skin, adorned with
+porcupine-quills, which are loosely fixed so as to make a jingling noise
+when in motion, and painted with various uncouth figures unintelligible
+to us, but to them emblematic of military exploits or any other
+incident. The hair of the robe is worn next the skin in fair weather;
+but, when it rains, the hair is put outside. Under this robe they wear
+in winter a kind of shirt, made either of skin or cloth, covering the
+arms and body. Round the middle is fixed a girdle of cloth or elk-skin,
+about an inch in width, and closely tied to the body. To this is
+attached a piece of cloth or blanket or skin about a foot wide, which
+passes between the legs, and is tucked under the girdle both before and
+behind. From the hip to the ankle, the man is covered with leggings of
+dressed antelope-skins, with seams at the sides two inches in width, and
+ornamented by little tufts of hair, the product of the scalps they have
+taken in war, which are scattered down the leg.
+
+"The moccasons are of dressed buffalo-skin, the hair being worn inwards.
+On great occasions, or whenever they are in full dress, the young men
+drag after them the entire skin of a polecat, fixed to the heel of the
+moccason.
+
+"The hair of the women is suffered to grow long, and is parted from the
+forehead across the head; at the back of which it is either collected
+into a kind of bag, or hangs down over the shoulders. Their moccasons
+are like those of the men, as are also the leggings, which do not reach
+beyond the knee, where they are met by a long, loose mantle of skin,
+which reaches nearly to the ankles. This is fastened over the shoulders
+by a string, and has no sleeves; but a few pieces of the skin hang a
+short distance down the arm. Sometimes a girdle fastens this skin round
+the waist, and over all is thrown a robe like that worn by the men.
+
+"Their lodges are very neatly constructed. They consist of about one
+hundred cabins, made of white buffalo-hide, with a larger cabin in the
+centre for holding councils and dances. They are built round with poles
+about fifteen or twenty feet high, covered with white skins. These
+lodges may be taken to pieces, packed up, and carried with the nation,
+wherever they go, by dogs, which bear great burdens. The women are
+chiefly employed in dressing buffalo-skins. These people seem
+well-disposed, but are addicted to stealing any thing which they can
+take without being observed."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+SUMMARY OF TRAVEL TO WINTER-QUARTERS.
+
+
+Sept. 1, 1804.--The daily progress of the expedition from this date is
+marked by no incidents of more importance than the varying fortunes of
+travel, as they found the river more or less favorable to navigation,
+and the game more or less abundant on the banks. Their progress was from
+twelve to twenty miles a day. In general, their sails served them; but
+they were sometimes obliged to resort to the use of tow-lines, which,
+being attached to a tree or other firm object on the shore, enabled the
+men to pull the boat along. This seems but a slow method of voyaging;
+yet they found it by no means the slowest, and were sorry when the
+nature of the banks, being either too lofty or too low, precluded their
+use of it. Their narrative is, however, varied by accounts of the
+scenery and natural productions of the country through which they
+passed, and by anecdotes of the Indians. While they are making their
+toilsome advance up the river, let us see what they have to tell us of
+the strange people and remarkable objects which they found on their way.
+
+
+PRAIRIE-DOGS.
+
+"We arrived at a spot on the gradual descent of the hill, nearly four
+acres in extent, and covered with small holes. These are the residences
+of little animals called prairie-dogs, who sit erect near the mouth of
+the hole, and make a whistling noise, but, when alarmed, take refuge in
+their holes. In order to bring them out, we poured into one of the holes
+five barrels of water, without filling it; but we dislodged and caught
+the owner. After digging down another of the holes for six feet, we
+found, on running a pole into it, that we had not yet dug half-way to
+the bottom. We discovered two frogs in the hole; and near it we killed a
+rattlesnake, which had swallowed a small prairie-dog. We have been told,
+though we never witnessed the fact, that a sort of lizard and a snake
+live habitually with these animals.
+
+"The prairie-dog is well named, as it resembles a dog in most
+particulars, though it has also some points of similarity to the
+squirrel. The head resembles the squirrel in every respect, except that
+the ear is shorter. The tail is like that of the ground-squirrel; the
+toe-nails are long, the fur is fine, and the long hair is gray."
+
+
+ANTELOPES.
+
+"Of all the animals we have seen, the antelope possesses the most
+wonderful fleetness. Shy and timorous, they generally repose only on the
+ridges, which command a view in all directions. Their sight
+distinguishes the most distant danger; their power of smell defeats the
+attempt at concealment; and, when alarmed, their swiftness seems more
+like the flight of birds than the movement of an animal over the ground.
+Capt. Lewis, after many unsuccessful attempts, succeeded in approaching,
+undiscovered, a party of seven, which were on an eminence. The only male
+of the party frequently encircled the summit of the hill, as if to
+discover if any danger threatened the party. When Capt. Lewis was at the
+distance of two hundred yards, they became alarmed, and fled. He
+immediately ran to the spot they had left. A ravine concealed them from
+him; but the next moment they appeared on a second ridge, at the
+distance of three miles. He doubted whether they could be the same; but
+their number, and the direction in which they fled, satisfied him that
+it was the same party: yet the distance they had made in the time was
+such as would hardly have been possible to the swiftest racehorse."
+
+
+PELICAN ISLAND.
+
+"42.--This name we gave to a long island, from the numbers of pelicans
+which were feeding on it. One of them being killed, we poured into his
+bag five gallons of water."
+
+     NOTE. "The antelopes are becoming very numerous. Their speed
+     exceeds that of any animal I have ever seen. Our hounds can do
+     nothing in giving them the chase: so soon are they left far in
+     the rear, that they do not follow them more than ten or twenty
+     rods before they return, looking ashamed of their defeat. Our
+     hunters occasionally take the antelope by coming upon them by
+     stealth. When they are surprised, they start forward a very
+     small space, then turn, and, with high-lifted heads, stare for
+     a few seconds at the object which has alarmed them, and then,
+     with a half-whistling snuff, bound off, seeming to be as much
+     upon wings as upon feet. They resemble the goat, but are far
+     more beautiful. Though they are of different colors, yet they
+     are generally red, and have a large, fine, prominent eye. Their
+     flesh is good for food, and about equals venison."--_Parker's
+     Tour._
+
+
+INDIAN VILLAGES AND AGRICULTURE.
+
+"We halted for dinner at a deserted village, which we suppose to have
+belonged to the Ricaras. It is situated in a low plain on the river, and
+consists of about eighty lodges, of an octagon form, neatly covered with
+earth, placed as close to each other as possible, and picketed round.
+The skin-canoes, mats, buckets, and articles of furniture, found in the
+lodges, induce us to suppose that it was left in the spring. We found
+three different kinds of squashes growing in the village.
+
+"Another village, which we reached two days later, was situated on an
+island, which is three miles long, and covered with fields, in which the
+Indians raise corn, beans, and potatoes. We found here several Frenchmen
+living among the Indians, as interpreters or traders. The Indians gave
+us some corn, beans, and dried squashes; and we gave them a steel mill,
+with which they were much pleased. We sat conversing with the chiefs
+some time, during which they treated us to a bread made of corn and
+beans, also corn and beans boiled, and a large rich bean which they take
+from the mice of the prairie, who discover and collect it. We gave them
+some sugar, salt, and a sun-glass."
+
+
+YORK, THE NEGRO.
+
+"The object which seemed to astonish the Indians most was Capt. Clarke's
+servant, York,--a sturdy negro. They had never seen a human being of
+that color, and therefore flocked round him to examine the monster. By
+way of amusement, he told them that he had once been a wild animal, and
+been caught and tamed by his master, and, to convince them, showed them
+feats of strength, which, added to his looks, made him more terrible
+than we wished him to be. At all the villages he was an object of
+astonishment. The children would follow him constantly, and, if he
+chanced to turn towards them, would run with great terror."
+
+
+STONE-IDOL CREEK.
+
+"We reached the mouth of a creek, to which we gave the name of
+Stone-Idol Creek; for, on passing up, we discovered, that, a few miles
+back from the Missouri, there are two stones resembling human figures,
+and a third like a dog; all which are objects of great veneration among
+the Ricaras. Their history would adorn the "Metamorphoses" of Ovid. A
+young man was in love with a girl whose parents refused their consent to
+the marriage. The youth went out into the fields to mourn his
+misfortunes: a sympathy of feeling led the girl to the same spot; and
+the faithful dog would not fail to follow his master. After wandering
+together, and having nothing but grapes to subsist on, they were at last
+converted into stone, which, beginning at the feet, gradually invaded
+the nobler parts, leaving nothing unchanged but a bunch of grapes, which
+the female holds in her hands to this day. Such is the account given by
+the Ricara chief, which we had no means of testing, except that we found
+one part of the story very agreeably confirmed; for on the banks of the
+creek we found a greater abundance of fine grapes than we had seen
+elsewhere."
+
+
+GOATS.
+
+"Great numbers of goats are crossing the river, and directing their
+course to the westward. We are told that they spend the summer in the
+plains east of the Missouri, and at this season (October) are returning
+to the Black Mountains, where they subsist on leaves and shrubbery
+during the winter, and resume their migrations in the spring. At one
+place, we saw large flocks of them in the water. They had been gradually
+driven into the river by the Indians, who now lined the shore so as to
+prevent their escape, and were firing on them; while boys went into the
+river, and killed them with sticks. They seemed to have been very
+successful; for we counted fifty-eight which they had killed. In the
+evening they made a feast, that lasted till late at night, and caused
+much noise and merriment.
+
+"The country through which we passed has wider river-bottoms and more
+timber than those we have been accustomed to see; the hills rising at a
+distance, and by gradual ascents. We have seen great numbers of elk,
+deer, goats, and buffaloes, and the usual attendants of these last,--the
+wolves, which follow their movements, and feed upon those who die by
+accident, or are too feeble to keep pace with the herd. We also wounded
+a white bear, and saw some fresh tracks of those animals, which are
+twice as large as the tracks of a man."
+
+
+THE PRAIRIE ON FIRE.
+
+"In the evening, the prairie took fire, either by accident or design,
+and burned with great fury; the whole plain being enveloped in flames.
+So rapid was its progress, that a man and a woman were burned to death
+before they could reach a place of safety. Another man, with his wife
+and child, were much burned, and several other persons narrowly escaped
+destruction. Among the rest, a boy of the half-breed escaped unhurt in
+the midst of the flames. His safety was ascribed by the Indians to the
+Great Spirit, who had saved him on account of his being white. But a
+much more natural cause was the presence of mind of his mother, who,
+seeing no hopes of carrying off her son, threw him on the ground, and,
+covering him with the fresh hide of a buffalo, escaped herself from the
+flames. As soon as the fire had passed, she returned, and found him
+untouched; the skin having prevented the flame from reaching the grass
+where he lay."
+
+
+A COUNCIL.
+
+"After making eleven miles, we reached an old field, where the Mandans
+had cultivated grain last summer. We encamped for the night about half a
+mile below the first village of the Mandans. As soon as we arrived, a
+crowd of men, women, and children, came down to see us. Capt. Lewis
+returned with the principal chiefs to the village, while the others
+remained with us during the evening. The object which seemed to surprise
+them most was a corn-mill, fixed to the boat, which we had occasion to
+use; while they looked on, and were delighted at observing the ease
+with which it reduced the grain to powder.
+
+"Among others who visited us was the son of the grand chief of the
+Mandans, who had both his little fingers cut off at the second joint. On
+inquiring into this injury, we found that the custom was to express
+grief for the death of relations by some corporeal suffering, and that
+the usual mode was to lose a joint of the little finger, or sometimes of
+other fingers.
+
+"Oct. 29, 1804.--The morning was fine, and we prepared our presents and
+speech for the council. At ten o'clock, the chiefs were all assembled
+under an awning of our sails. That the impression might be the more
+forcible, the men were all paraded; and the council opened by a
+discharge from the swivel of the boat. Capt. Lewis then delivered a
+speech, which, like those we had already made, intermingled advice with
+assurances of friendship and trade. While he was speaking, the Ahnahaway
+chief grew very restless, and observed that he could not wait long, as
+his camp was exposed to the hostilities of the Shoshonees. He was
+instantly rebuked with great dignity, by one of the chiefs, for this
+violation of decorum at such a moment, and remained quiet during the
+rest of the council. This being over, we proceeded to distribute the
+presents with great ceremony. One chief of each town was acknowledged
+by the gift of a flag, a medal with the likeness of the President of the
+United States, a uniform coat, hat, and feather. To the second chiefs we
+gave a medal representing some domestic animals, and a loom for weaving;
+to the third chiefs, medals with the impression of a farmer sowing
+grain. A variety of other products were distributed; but none seemed to
+give more satisfaction than an iron corn-mill which we gave them.
+
+"In the evening, our men danced among themselves to the music of the
+violin, to the great amusement of the Indians."
+
+
+THEY ENCAMP FOR THE WINTER.
+
+"Friday, Nov. 7, 1804.--Capt. Clarke having examined the shores, and
+found a position where there was plenty of timber, we encamped, and
+began to fell trees to build our huts. The timber which we employ is
+cotton-wood (poplar) and elm, with some ash of inferior size. By the
+8th, our huts were advanced very well; on the 13th, we unloaded the
+boat, and stowed away the contents in a storehouse which we had built.
+
+"Nov. 20.--This day we moved into our huts, which are now completed. We
+call our place Fort Mandan. It is situated on a point of low ground on
+the north side of the Missouri, covered with tall and heavy cotton-wood.
+The works consist of two rows of huts or sheds, forming an angle where
+they join each other; each row containing four rooms of fourteen feet
+square and seven feet high, with plank ceiling, and the roof slanting so
+as to form a loft above the rooms, the highest part of which is eighteen
+feet from the ground. The backs of the huts formed a wall of that
+height; and, opposite the angle, the place of the wall was supplied by
+picketing. In the area were two rooms for stores and provisions. The
+latitude, by observation, is 47 deg. 22', long. 101 deg.; and the computed
+distance from the mouth of the Missouri, sixteen hundred miles.
+
+"Nov. 21.--We are now settled in our winter habitation, and shall wait
+with much impatience the first return of spring to continue our
+journey."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+INDIAN TRIBES.
+
+
+"The villages near which we are established are the residence of three
+distinct nations,--the Mandans, the Ahnahaways, and the Minnetarees. The
+Mandans say, that, many years ago, their tribe was settled in nine
+villages, the ruins of which we passed about eighty miles below. Finding
+themselves wasting away before the small-pox and the Sioux, they moved
+up the river, and planted themselves opposite the Ricaras. Their numbers
+are very much reduced, and they now constitute but two villages,--one on
+each side of the river, and at a distance of three miles from each
+other. Both villages together may raise about three hundred and fifty
+men."
+
+
+AHNAHAWAYS.
+
+"Four miles from the lower Mandan village is one inhabited by the
+Ahnahaways. This nation formerly dwelt on the Missouri, about thirty
+miles below where they now live. The Assinaboins and Sioux forced them
+to a spot five miles higher, and thence, by a second emigration, to
+their present situation, in order to obtain an asylum near the
+Minnetarees. Their whole force is about fifty men."
+
+
+MINNETAREES.
+
+"About half a mile from this village, and in the same open plain with
+it, is a village of Minnetarees, who are about one hundred and fifty men
+in number. One and a half miles above this village is a second of the
+same tribe, who may be considered the proper Minnetaree nation. It is
+situated in a beautiful plain, and contains four hundred and fifty
+warriors. The Mandans say that this people came out of the water to the
+east, and settled near them. The Minnetarees, however, assert that they
+grew where they now live, and will never emigrate from the spot; the
+Great Spirit having declared, that, if they move, they will all perish.
+
+"The inhabitants of these villages, all of which are within the compass
+of six miles, live in harmony with each other. Their languages differ to
+some extent; but their long residence together has enabled them to
+understand one another's speech as to objects of daily occurrence, and
+obvious to the senses.
+
+"All these tribes are at deadly feud with the Sioux, who are much more
+powerful, and are consequently objects of continual apprehension. The
+presence of our force kept the peace for the present.
+
+"Almost the whole of that vast tract of country comprised between the
+Mississippi, the Red River of Lake Winnipeg, the Saskatchawan, and the
+Missouri, is loosely occupied by a great nation whose primitive name is
+Dahcotas, but who are called Sioux by the French, Sues by the English.
+They are divided into numerous tribes, named Yanktons, Tetons,
+Assinaboins, &c. These tribes are sometimes at war with one another, but
+still acknowledge relationship, and are recognized by similarity of
+language and by tradition."
+
+
+RELIGION.
+
+"The religion of the Mandans consists in the belief of one Great Spirit
+presiding over their destinies. This Being must be in the nature of a
+good genius, since it is associated with the healing art; and the Great
+Spirit is synonymous with Great Medicine,--a name also applied to every
+thing they do not comprehend. They also believe in a multiplicity of
+inferior spirits. Each individual selects for himself the particular
+object of his devotion, which is termed his Medicine, and is either an
+invisible being, or more commonly some animal, which thenceforward
+becomes his protector, or his intercessor with the Great Spirit. To
+propitiate the Medicine, every attention is lavished, and every personal
+consideration is sacrificed. 'I was lately owner of seventeen horses,'
+said a Mandan; 'but I have offered them all up to my Medicine, and am
+now poor.' He had in reality taken them into the plain, and, turning
+them loose, committed them to the care of his Medicine, and abandoned
+them.
+
+"Their belief in a future state is connected with a tradition of their
+origin. The whole nation, they say, once dwelt in one large village
+underground. A grape-vine extended its roots down to their habitation;
+and the earth, being broken round its stem, gave them a view of the
+light. Some of the more adventurous climbed up the vine, and were
+delighted with the sight of the earth, which they found covered with
+buffaloes, and rich with every kind of fruit. Returning with the grapes
+they had gathered, their countrymen were so pleased with the taste, that
+the whole nation resolved to leave their dull residence for the upper
+region. Men, women, and children ascended by means of the vine; but,
+when about half the nation had reached the surface, a corpulent woman,
+who was clambering up the vine, broke it with her weight, and, falling,
+closed up the cavity. Those who had reached the surface, thus excluded
+from their original seats, cherish the hopes of returning there when
+they die."
+
+
+INDIAN MANNERS.
+
+The following extract imparts some traits of Indian manners:--
+
+"Nov. 22.--This morning, the sentinel informed us that an Indian was
+about to kill his wife near the fort. We went to the house of our
+interpreter, where we found the parties, and, after forbidding any
+violence, inquired into the cause of his intending to commit such an
+atrocity. It appeared that, some days ago, a quarrel had taken place
+between him and his wife, in consequence of which she had taken refuge
+in the house where the wives of our interpreter lived. By running away,
+she forfeited her life, which might be lawfully taken by the husband. He
+was now come for the purpose of completing his revenge. We gave him a
+few presents, and tried to persuade him to take his wife home. The
+grand chief, too, happened to arrive at the same moment, and reproached
+him with his violence; till at length husband and wife went off
+together, but by no means in a state of much apparent connubial
+felicity."
+
+
+THE WEATHER.
+
+"Dec. 12, 1804.--The thermometer at sunrise was thirty-eight degrees
+below zero; on the 16th, twenty-two below; on the 17th, forty-five
+below. On the 19th, it moderated a little. Notwithstanding the cold, we
+observed the Indians at the village engaged, out in the open air, at a
+game which resembles billiards. The platform, which answered for a
+table, was formed with timber, smoothed and joined so as to be as level
+as the floor of one of our houses. Instead of balls, they had circular
+disks made of clay-stone, and flat like checkers."
+
+
+THE ARGALI.
+
+"Dec. 22.--A number of squaws brought corn to trade for small articles
+with the men. Among other things, we procured two horns of the animal
+called by the hunters the Rocky-Mountain sheep, and by naturalists the
+argali. The animal is about the size of a small elk or large deer; the
+horns winding like those of a ram, which they resemble also in texture,
+though larger and thicker.
+
+"Dec. 23.--The weather was fine and warm. We were visited by crowds of
+Indians of all description, who came either to trade, or from mere
+curiosity. Among the rest, Kagohami, the Little Raven, brought his wife
+and son, loaded with corn; and she entertained us with a favorite Mandan
+dish,--a mixture of pumpkins, beans, corn, and choke-cherries, all
+boiled together in a kettle, and forming a composition by no means
+unpalatable.
+
+"Dec. 25.--Christmas Day. We were awakened before day by a discharge of
+fire-arms from the party. We had told the Indians not to visit us, as it
+was one of our great Medicine-days; so that the men remained at home,
+and amused themselves in various ways, particularly with dancing, in
+which they take great pleasure. The American flag was hoisted for the
+first time in the fort; the best provisions we had were brought out; and
+this, with a little brandy, enabled them to pass the day in great
+festivity."
+
+
+THE BLACKSMITH.
+
+"Dec. 27.--We were fortunate enough to have among our men a good
+blacksmith, whom we set to work to make a variety of articles. His
+operations seemed to surprise the Indians who came to see us; but
+nothing could equal their astonishment at the bellows, which they
+considered a _very great Medicine_."
+
+
+THE DYING CHIEF.
+
+"Kagohami came to see us early. His village was afflicted by the death
+of one of their aged chiefs, who, from his account, must have been more
+than a hundred years old. Just as he was dying, he requested his
+grand-children to dress him in his best robe, and carry him up to a
+hill, and seat him on a stone, with his face down the river, towards
+their old village, that he might go straight to his brother, who had
+passed before him to the ancient village underground."
+
+
+THE MEDICINE-STONE.
+
+"Oheenaw and Shahaka came down to see us, and mentioned that several of
+their countrymen had gone to consult their _Medicine-stone_ as to the
+prospects of the following year. This Medicine-stone is the great oracle
+of the Mandans, and whatever it announces is believed with implicit
+confidence. Every spring, and on some occasions during the summer, a
+deputation visits the sacred spot, where there is a thick, porous stone
+twenty feet in circumference, with a smooth surface. Having reached the
+place, the ceremony of smoking to it is performed by the deputies, who
+alternately take a whiff themselves, and then present the pipe to the
+stone. After this, they retire to an adjoining wood for the night,
+during which it may be safely presumed all the embassy do not sleep;
+and, in the morning, they read the destinies of the nation in the white
+marks on the stone, which those who made them are at no loss to
+decipher. The Minnetarees have a stone of a similar kind, which has the
+same qualities, and the same influence over the nation."
+
+
+THE INDIANS' ENDURANCE OF COLD.
+
+"Jan. 10, 1805.--The weather now exhibited the intensity of cold. This
+morning, at sunrise, the mercury stood at forty degrees below zero. One
+of the men, separated from the rest in hunting, was out all night. In
+the morning he returned, and told us that he had made a fire, and kept
+himself tolerably warm. A young Indian, about thirteen years of age,
+came in soon after. He had been overtaken by the night, and had slept in
+the snow, with no covering but a pair of deer-skin moccasons and
+leggings, and a buffalo-robe. His feet were frozen; but we restored
+them by putting them in cold water, rendering him every attention in our
+power. Another Indian, who had been missing, returned about the same
+time. Although his dress was very thin, and he had slept in the snow,
+without a fire, he had not suffered any inconvenience. These Indians
+support the rigors of the season in a way which we had hitherto thought
+impossible."
+
+
+SUPPLIES OF FOOD.
+
+"Our supplies are chiefly procured by hunting; but occasional additions
+are made by the Indians, sometimes in the way of gifts, and sometimes in
+exchange for the services of the blacksmith, who is a most important
+member of the party.
+
+"Feb. 18.--Our stock of meat is exhausted, so that we must confine
+ourselves to vegetable diet till the return of our hunters. For this,
+however, we are at no loss, since yesterday and to-day our blacksmith
+got large quantities of corn from the Indians who came to the fort.
+
+"Sunday, March 3.--The men are all employed in preparing the boats. We
+are visited by a party of Indians with corn. A flock of ducks passed up
+the river to-day.
+
+"Wednesday, 13.--We had a fine day, and a south-west wind. Many Indians
+came to see us, who are so anxious for battle-axes, that our smiths have
+not a moment's leisure, and procure us an abundance of corn."
+
+
+HUNTING BUFFALOES ON THE ICE.
+
+"March 25, 1805.--A fine day, the wind south-west. The river rose nine
+inches, and the ice began breaking away. Our canoes are now nearly
+ready, and we expect to set out as soon as the river is sufficiently
+clear of ice to permit us to pass.
+
+"March 29.--The ice came down this morning in great quantities. We have
+had few Indians at the fort for the last three or four days, as they are
+now busy in catching the floating buffaloes. Every spring, as the river
+is breaking up, the surrounding plains are set on fire, and the
+buffaloes tempted to cross the river in search of the fresh grass which
+immediately succeeds to the burning. On their way, they are often
+insulated on a large cake or mass of ice which floats down the river.
+The Indians now select the most favorable points for attack, and, as the
+buffalo approaches, run with astonishing agility across the trembling
+ice, sometimes pressing lightly a cake of not more than two feet
+square. The animal is, of course, unsteady, and his footsteps insecure,
+on this new element, so that he can make but little resistance; and the
+hunter who has given him his death-wound paddles his icy boat to the
+shore, and secures his prey."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE MARCH RESUMED.
+
+
+From the 1st of November, 1804, to the 1st of April, 1805, the
+expedition remained stationary at their fort. Some of their number had
+been sent back to the States with despatches to the Government, and with
+specimens of the natural productions of the country. On resuming their
+march on the 4th of April, the party consisted of thirty-two persons.
+Besides the commanders, there were three sergeants,--Ordway, Prior, and
+Gass; twenty-three privates, besides Capt. Clark's black servant York;
+two interpreters,--George Drewyer and Toussaint Chaboneau. The wife of
+Chaboneau, an Indian woman, with her young child, accompanied her
+husband. All this party, with the luggage, was stored in six small
+canoes and two pirogues. They left the fort with fair weather, and,
+after making four miles, encamped on the north side of the river, nearly
+opposite the first Mandan village. We continue their journal.
+
+
+THE RIVER-SHORE.
+
+"April 8.--The river-banks exhibit indications of volcanic agency. The
+bluffs which we passed to-day are upwards of one hundred feet high,
+composed of yellow clay and sand, with horizontal strata of carbonated
+wood resembling pit-coal, from one to five feet in thickness, scattered
+through the bluff at different elevations. Great quantities of
+pumice-stone and lava are seen in many parts of the hills, where they
+are broken and washed into gullies by the rain. We passed a bluff which
+is on fire, and throws out quantities of smoke, which has a strong,
+sulphurous smell. On the sides of the hills is a white substance, which
+appears in considerable quantities on the surface, and tastes like a
+mixture of common salt with Glauber salts. Many of the springs which
+come from the foot of the hills are so impregnated with this substance,
+that the water has an unpleasant taste, and a purgative effect."
+
+
+THE PRAIRIE-MICE.
+
+"April, 1805.--We saw, but could not procure, an animal that burrows in
+the ground, similar to the burrowing-squirrel, except that it is only
+one-third of its size. This may be the animal whose works we have often
+seen in the plains and prairies. They consist of a little hillock of ten
+or twelve pounds of loose earth, which would seem to have been reversed
+from a flower-pot; and no aperture is seen in the ground from which it
+could have been brought. On removing gently the earth, you discover that
+the soil has been broken in a circle of about an inch and a half in
+diameter, where the ground is looser, though still no opening is
+perceptible. When we stopped for dinner, the Indian woman went out, and,
+penetrating with a sharp stick the holes of the mice, brought a quantity
+of wild artichokes, which the mice collect, and hoard in large
+quantities. The root is white, of an ovate form, from one to three
+inches long, and generally of the size of a man's finger; and two, four,
+and sometimes six roots are attached to a single stalk. Its flavor, as
+well as the stalk that issues from it, resemble those of the Jerusalem
+artichoke, except that the latter is much larger."
+
+
+THE YELLOW-STONE RIVER.
+
+"Certain signs, known to the hunters, induced them to believe that we
+were at no great distance from the Yellow-stone River. In order to
+prevent delay, Capt. Lewis determined to go on by land in search of
+that river, and make the necessary observations, so as to enable us to
+proceed immediately after the boats should join him.
+
+"On leaving the party, he pursued his route along the foot of the hills;
+ascending which, the wide plains watered by the Missouri and the
+Yellow-stone spread themselves before his eye, occasionally varied with
+the wood of the banks, enlivened by the windings of the two rivers, and
+animated by vast herds of buffaloes, deer, elk, and antelope."
+
+
+NATURAL HISTORY.
+
+"May, 1805.--We reached the mouth of a river flowing from the north,
+which, from the unusual number of porcupines near it, we called
+Porcupine River. These animals are so careless and clumsy, that we can
+approach very near without disturbing them as they are feeding on the
+young willows. The porcupine is common in all parts of the territory,
+and for its quills is held in high estimation by the Indians. It is
+interesting to see with how much ingenuity, and in how many various
+forms, the Indians manufacture these quills into ornamental work, such
+as moccasons, belts, and various other articles."
+
+
+WOLVES.
+
+"The wolves are very numerous, and of two species. First, the small
+wolf, or burrowing dog of the prairies, which is found in almost all the
+open plains. It is of an intermediate size, between the fox and dog,
+very delicately formed, fleet and active. The ears are large, erect, and
+pointed; the head long and pointed, like that of a fox; the tail long
+and bushy; the hair and fur of a pale reddish-brown, and much coarser
+than that of the fox. These animals usually associate in bands of ten or
+twelve, and are rarely, if ever, seen alone; not being able singly to
+attack a deer or antelope. They live, and rear their young, in burrows,
+which they fix near some pass much frequented by game, and sally out in
+a body against any animal which they think they can overpower, but, on
+the slightest alarm, retreat to their burrows, making a noise exactly
+like that of a small dog.
+
+"The second species is lower, shorter in the legs, and thicker, than the
+Atlantic wolf. They do not burrow, nor do they bark, but howl; and they
+frequent the woods and plains, and skulk along the herds of buffaloes,
+in order to attack the weary or wounded."
+
+
+ELK.
+
+"Among the animals of the deer kind, the elk is the largest and most
+majestic. It combines beauty with magnitude and strength; and its large,
+towering horns give it an imposing appearance. Its senses are so keen in
+apprehension, that it is difficult to be approached; and its speed in
+flight is so great, that it mocks the chase. Its flesh resembles beef,
+but is less highly flavored, and is much sought for by the Indians and
+hunters. Its skin is esteemed, and much used in articles of clothing and
+for moccasons."
+
+
+BEAVERS.
+
+"We saw many beavers to-day. The beaver seems to contribute very much to
+the widening of the river and the formation of islands. They begin by
+damming up the channels of about twenty yards width between the islands.
+This obliges the river to seek another outlet; and, as soon as this is
+effected, the channel stopped by the beaver becomes filled with mud and
+sand. The industrious animal is thus driven to another channel, which
+soon shares the same fate; till the river spreads on all sides, and cuts
+the projecting points of land into islands.
+
+"The beaver dams differ in shape, according to the nature of the place
+in which they are built. If the water in the river or creek have but
+little motion, the dam is almost straight; but, when the current is more
+rapid, it is always made with a considerable curve, convex toward the
+stream. The materials made use of are drift-wood, green willows, birch,
+and poplars, if they can be got; also mud and stones, intermixed in such
+a manner as must evidently contribute to the strength of the dam. In
+places which have been long frequented by beavers undisturbed, their
+dams, by frequent repairing, become a solid bank, capable of resisting a
+great force both of water and ice; and as the willow, poplar, and birch
+generally take root, and shoot up, they, by degrees, form a kind of
+regular planted hedge, in some places so tall that birds build their
+nests among the branches. The beaver-houses are constructed of the same
+materials as their dams, and are always proportioned in size to the
+number of inhabitants, which seldom exceeds four old and six or eight
+young ones. The houses are of a much ruder construction than their dams:
+for, notwithstanding the sagacity of these animals, it has never been
+observed that they aim at any other convenience in their house than to
+have a dry place to lie on; and there they usually eat their victuals,
+such as they take out of the water. Their food consists of roots of
+plants, like the pond-lily, which grows at the bottom of the lakes and
+rivers. They also eat the bark of trees, particularly those of the
+poplar, birch, and willow.
+
+"The instinct of the beavers leading them to live in associations, they
+are in an unnatural position, when, in any locality, their numbers are
+so much reduced as to prevent their following this instinct. The beaver
+near the settlement is sad and solitary: his works have been swept away,
+his association broken up, and he is reduced to the necessity of
+burrowing in the river-bank, instead of building a house for himself.
+Such beavers are called 'terriers.' One traveller says that these
+solitaries are also called 'old bachelors.'"
+
+
+THE WHITE, BROWN, OR GRISLY BEAR.
+
+"April 29.--All these names are given to the same species, which
+probably changes in color with the season, or with the time of life. Of
+the strength and ferocity of this animal, the Indians give dreadful
+accounts. They never attack him but in parties of six or eight persons,
+and, even then, are often defeated with the loss of some of the party.
+
+"May 18.--One of our men who had been suffered to go ashore came running
+to the boats with cries and every symptom of terror. As soon as he could
+command his breath, he told us, that, about a mile below, he had shot a
+white bear, which immediately turned and ran towards him, but, being
+wounded, had not been able to overtake him. Capt. Lewis, with seven men,
+went in search of the bear, and, having found his track, followed him by
+the blood for a mile, came up with him, and shot him with two balls
+through the skull. He was a monstrous animal, and a most formidable
+enemy. Our man had shot him through the centre of the lungs: yet the
+bear had pursued him furiously for half a mile; then returned more than
+twice that distance, and, with his talons, dug himself a bed in the
+earth, two feet deep and five feet long, and was perfectly alive when
+they found him, which was at least two hours after he received the
+wound. The fleece and skin of the bear were a heavy burden for two men;
+and the oil amounted to eight gallons.
+
+"The wonderful power of life of these animals, added to their great
+strength, renders them very formidable. Their very track in the mud or
+sand, which we have sometimes found eleven inches long and seven and a
+quarter wide, exclusive of the talons, is alarming; and we had rather
+encounter two Indians than a single brown bear. There is no chance of
+killing them by a single shot, unless the ball is sent through the
+brain; and this is very difficult to be done, on account of two large
+muscles which cover the side of the forehead, and the sharp projection
+of the frontal bone, which is very thick."
+
+
+     NOTE.
+
+     Their strength is astonishingly great. Lieut. Stein of the
+     dragoons, a man of undoubted veracity, told me he saw some
+     buffaloes passing near some bushes where a grisly bear lay
+     concealed: the bear, with one stroke, tore three ribs from a
+     buffalo, and left it dead.--_Parker._
+
+     Although endowed with such strength, and powers of destruction,
+     the grisly bear is not disposed to begin the attack. Mr.
+     Drummond, a later traveller, states, that, in his excursions
+     over the Rocky Mountains, he had frequent opportunity of
+     observing the manners of these animals; and it often happened,
+     that in turning the point of a rock, or sharp angle of a
+     valley, he came suddenly upon one or more of them. On such
+     occasions they reared on their hind-legs, and made a loud noise
+     like a person breathing quick, but much harsher. He kept his
+     ground, without attempting to molest them; and they on their
+     part, after attentively regarding him for some time, generally
+     wheeled round, and galloped off: though, from their known
+     disposition, there is little doubt but he would have been torn
+     in pieces, had he lost his presence of mind and attempted to
+     fly. When he discovered them at a distance, he often frightened
+     them away by beating on a large tin box in which he carried his
+     specimens of plants.
+
+
+THE BLACK BEAR.
+
+"The black bear, common in the United States, is scarcely more than half
+the size of the grisly bear. Its favorite food is berries of various
+kinds; but, when these are not to be procured, it lives upon roots,
+insects, fish, eggs, and such birds and quadrupeds as it can surprise.
+It passes the winter in a torpid state, selecting a spot for its den
+under a fallen tree, and, having scratched away a portion of the soil,
+retires to the place at the commencement of a snow storm, when the snow
+soon furnishes it with a close, warm covering. Its breath makes a small
+opening in the den, and the quantity of hoar-frost which gathers round
+the hole serves to betray its retreat to the hunter. In more southern
+districts, where the timber is of larger size, bears often shelter
+themselves in hollow trees."
+
+
+BUFFALOES.
+
+"The buffalo is about as large as our domestic cattle; and their long,
+shaggy, woolly hair, which covers their head, neck, and shoulders,
+gives them a formidable appearance, and, at a distance, something like
+that of the lion. In many respects, they resemble our horned cattle; are
+cloven-footed, chew the cud, and select the same kind of food. Their
+flesh is in appearance and taste much like beef, but of superior flavor.
+Their heads are formed like the ox, perhaps a little more round and
+broad; and, when they run, they carry them rather low. Their horns,
+ears, and eyes, as seen through their shaggy hair, appear small, and,
+cleared from their covering, are not large. Their legs and feet are
+small and trim; the fore-legs covered with the long hair of the
+shoulders, as low down as the knee. Though their figure is clumsy in
+appearance, they run swiftly, and for a long time without much
+slackening their speed; and, up steep hills or mountains, they more than
+equal the best horses. They unite in herds, and, when feeding, scatter
+over a large space; but, when fleeing from danger, they collect into
+dense columns: and, having once laid their course, they are not easily
+diverted from it, whatever may oppose. So far are they from being a
+fierce or revengeful animal, that they are very shy and timid; and in no
+case did we see them offer to make an attack but in self-defence, and
+then they always sought the first opportunity to escape. When they run,
+they lean alternately from side to side. They are fond of rolling upon
+the ground like horses, which is not practised by our domestic cattle.
+This is so much their diversion, that large places are found without
+grass, and considerably excavated by them."
+
+     NOTE. Rev. Mr. Parker thus describes a buffalo-hunt:--
+
+     "To-day we unexpectedly saw before us a large herd of
+     buffaloes. All halted to make preparation for the chase. The
+     young men, and all the good hunters, prepared themselves,
+     selected the swiftest horses, examined the few guns they had,
+     and also took a supply of arrows with their bows. They advanced
+     towards the herd of buffaloes with great caution, lest they
+     should frighten them before they should make a near approach,
+     and also to reserve the power of their horses for the chase,
+     when it should be necessary to bring it into full requisition.
+     When the buffaloes took the alarm, and fled, the rush was made,
+     each Indian selecting for himself the one to which he happened
+     to come nearest. All were in swift motion, scouring the valley.
+     A cloud of dust began to rise; firing of guns, and shooting of
+     arrows, followed in close succession. Soon, here and there,
+     buffaloes were seen prostrated; and the women, who followed
+     close in the rear, began the work of securing the acquisition,
+     and the men were away again in pursuit of the flying herd.
+     Those in the chase, when as near as two rods, shoot and wheel,
+     expecting the wounded animal to turn upon them. The horses
+     seemed to understand the way to avoid danger. As soon as the
+     wounded animal flies again, the chase is renewed; and such is
+     the alternate wheeling and chasing, until the buffalo sinks
+     beneath his wounds."
+
+
+INDIAN METHOD OF HUNTING THE BUFFALO.
+
+"May 30, 1805.--We passed a precipice about one hundred and twenty feet
+high, under which lay scattered the fragments of at least a hundred
+carcasses of buffaloes. These buffaloes had been chased down the
+precipice in a way very common on the Missouri, and by which vast herds
+are destroyed in a moment. The mode of hunting is to select one of the
+most active and fleet young men, who is disguised by a buffalo-skin
+round his body; the skin of the head, with the ears and horns, fastened
+on his own head in such a way as to deceive the buffaloes. Thus dressed,
+he fixes himself at a convenient distance between a herd of buffaloes
+and any of the river precipices, which sometimes extend for some miles.
+His companions, in the mean time, get in the rear and side of the herd,
+and, at a given signal, show themselves, and advance towards the
+buffaloes. They instantly take the alarm; and, finding the hunters
+beside them, they run toward the disguised Indian, or decoy, who leads
+them on, at full speed, toward the river; when, suddenly securing
+himself in some crevice of the cliff which he had previously fixed on,
+the herd is left on the brink of the precipice. It is then in vain for
+the foremost to retreat, or even to stop. They are pressed on by the
+hindmost rank, who, seeing no danger but from the hunters, goad on those
+before them, till the whole are precipitated over the cliff, and the
+shore is covered with their dead bodies. Sometimes, in this perilous
+adventure, the Indian decoy is either trodden under foot, or, missing
+his footing in the cliff, is urged down the precipice by the falling
+herd."
+
+
+WHICH IS THE TRUE RIVER?
+
+"June 3, 1805.--We came to for the night, for the purpose of examining
+in the morning a large river which enters opposite to us. It now became
+an interesting question, which of those two streams is what the Indians
+call Ahmateahza, or the Missouri, which, they tell us, has its head
+waters very near to the Columbia. On our right decision much of the fate
+of the expedition depends; since, if, after ascending to the Rocky
+Mountains or beyond them, we should find that the river we have been
+tracing does not come near the Columbia, and be obliged to turn back,
+we shall have lost the travelling season, and seriously disheartened
+our men. We determined, therefore, to examine well before deciding on
+our course, and, for this purpose, despatched two canoes with three men
+up each of the streams, with orders to ascertain the width, depth, and
+rapidity of the currents, so as to judge of their comparative bodies of
+water. Parties were also sent out by land to penetrate the country, and
+discover from the rising grounds, if possible, the distant bearings of
+the two rivers. While they were gone, the two commanders ascended
+together the high grounds in the fork of the two rivers, whence they had
+an extensive prospect of the surrounding country. On every side, it was
+spread into one vast plain covered with verdure, in which innumerable
+herds of buffaloes were roaming, attended by their enemies the wolves.
+Some flocks of elk also were seen; and the solitary antelopes were
+scattered, with their young, over the plain. The direction of the rivers
+could not be long distinguished, as they were soon lost in the extent of
+the plain.
+
+"On our return, we continued our examination. The width of the north
+branch is two hundred yards; that of the south is three hundred and
+seventy-two. The north, though narrower, is deeper than the south: its
+waters also are of the same whitish-brown color, thickness, and
+turbidness as the Missouri. They run in the same boiling and roaring
+manner which has uniformly characterized the Missouri; and its bed is
+composed of some gravel, but principally mud. The south fork is broader,
+and its waters are perfectly transparent. The current is rapid, but the
+surface smooth and unruffled; and its bed is composed of round and flat
+smooth stones, like those of rivers issuing from a mountainous country.
+
+"In the evening, the exploring parties returned, after ascending the
+rivers in canoes for some distance, then continuing on foot, just
+leaving themselves time to return by night. Their accounts were far from
+deciding the important question of our future route; and we therefore
+determined each of us to ascend one of the rivers during a day and a
+half's march, or farther, if necessary for our satisfaction.
+
+"Tuesday, June 4, 1805.--This morning, Capt. Lewis and Capt. Clarke set
+out, each with a small party, by land, to explore the two rivers. Capt.
+Lewis traced the course of the north fork for fifty-nine miles, and
+found, that, for all that distance, its direction was northward; and, as
+the latitude we were now in was 47 deg. 24', it was highly improbable,
+that, by going farther north, we should find between this and the
+Saskatchawan any stream which can, as the Indians assure us the Missouri
+does, possess a navigable current for some distance within the Rocky
+Mountains.
+
+"These considerations, with others drawn from the observations of Capt.
+Clarke upon the south branch, satisfied the chiefs that the South River
+was the true Missouri; but the men generally were of a contrary opinion,
+and much of their belief depended upon Crusatte, an experienced waterman
+on the Missouri, who gave it as his opinion that the north fork was the
+main river. In order that nothing might be omitted which could prevent
+our falling into error, it was agreed that one of us should ascend the
+southern branch by land until he reached either the falls or the
+mountains. In the mean time, in order to lighten our burdens as much as
+possible, we determined to deposit here all the heavy baggage which we
+could possibly spare, as well as some provisions, salt, powder, and
+tools. The weather being fair, we dried all our baggage and merchandise,
+and made our deposit, or cache. Our cache is made in this manner: In the
+high plain on the side of the river, we choose a dry situation, and,
+drawing a small circle of about twenty inches diameter, remove the sod
+as carefully as possible. The hole is then sunk perpendicularly a foot
+deep, or more if the ground be not firm. It is now worked gradually
+wider as it deepens, till at length it becomes six or seven feet deep,
+shaped nearly like a kettle, or the lower part of a large still, with
+the bottom somewhat sunk at the centre. As the earth is dug, it is
+carefully laid on a skin or cloth, in which it is carried away, and
+thrown into the river, so as to leave no trace of it. A floor to the
+cache is then made of dry sticks, on which is thrown hay, or a hide
+perfectly dry. The goods, being well aired and dried, are laid on this
+floor, and prevented from touching the sides by other dried sticks, as
+the baggage is stowed away. When the hole is nearly full, a skin is laid
+over the goods; and, on this, earth is thrown, and beaten down, until,
+with the addition of the sod, the whole is on a level with the ground,
+and there remains no appearance of an excavation. Careful measurements
+are taken to secure the ready recovery of the cache on the return; and
+the deposit is left in perfect confidence of finding every thing safe
+and sound after the lapse of months, or even years."
+
+
+THE FALLS OF THE MISSOURI.
+
+"June 12.--This morning, Capt. Lewis set out with four men on an
+exploration, to ascend the southern branch, agreeably to our plan. He
+left the bank of the river in order to avoid the deep ravines, which
+generally extend from the shore to a distance of two or three miles in
+the plain. On the second day, having travelled about sixty miles from
+the point of departure, on a sudden their ears were saluted with the
+agreeable sound of falling water; and, as they advanced, a spray which
+seemed driven by the wind rose above the plain like a column of smoke,
+and vanished in an instant. Towards this point, Capt. Lewis directed his
+steps; and the noise, increasing as he approached, soon became too
+powerful to be ascribed to any thing but the Great Falls of the
+Missouri. Having travelled seven miles after first hearing the sound, he
+reached the falls. The hills, as he approached the river, were difficult
+of transit, and two hundred feet high. Down these he hurried, and,
+seating himself on a rock, enjoyed the spectacle of this stupendous
+object, which, ever since the creation, had been lavishing its
+magnificence upon the desert, unseen by civilized man.
+
+"The river, immediately at its cascade, is three hundred yards wide, and
+is pressed in by a perpendicular cliff, which rises to about one hundred
+feet, and extends up the stream for a mile. On the other side, the bluff
+is also perpendicular for three hundred yards above the falls. For
+ninety or a hundred yards from the left cliff, the water falls in one
+smooth, even sheet, over a precipice eighty feet in height. The
+remaining part of the river rushes with an accelerated current, but,
+being received as it falls by irregular rocks below, forms a brilliant
+spectacle of perfectly white foam, two hundred yards in length, and
+eighty in height. The spray is dissipated into a thousand shapes, on all
+of which the sun impresses the brightest colors of the rainbow. The
+principal cascade is succeeded by others of less grandeur, but of
+exceeding beauty and great variety, for about twenty miles in
+extent."[1]
+
+
+A PORTAGE.
+
+"June 21.--Having reached the falls, we found ourselves obliged to get
+past them by transporting our boats overland by what is called a
+_portage_. The distance was eighteen miles. It was necessary to
+construct a truck or carriage to transport the boats; and the making of
+the wheels and the necessary framework took ten days. The axle-trees,
+made of an old mast, broke repeatedly, and the cottonwood tongues gave
+way; so that the men were forced to carry as much baggage as they could
+on their backs. The prickly pear annoyed them much by sticking through
+their moccasons. It required several trips to transport all the canoes
+and baggage; and, though the men put double soles to their moccasons,
+the prickly pear, and the sharp points of earth formed by the trampling
+of the buffaloes during the late rains, wounded their feet; and, as the
+men were laden as heavily as their strength would permit, the crossing
+was very painful. They were obliged to halt and rest frequently; and, at
+almost every stopping-place, they would throw themselves down, and fall
+asleep in an instant. Yet no one complained, and they went on with
+cheerfulness.
+
+"Having decided to leave here one of the pirogues, we set to work to fit
+up a boat of skins, upon a frame of iron which had been prepared at the
+armory at Harper's Ferry. It was thirty-six feet long, four feet and a
+half wide at top, and twenty-six inches wide at bottom. It was with
+difficulty we found the necessary timber to complete it, even tolerably
+straight sticks, four and a half feet long. The sides were formed of
+willow-bark, and, over this, elk and buffalo skins."
+
+
+A NARROW ESCAPE.
+
+"June 29.--Capt. Clarke, having lost some notes and remarks which he had
+made on first ascending the river, determined to go up along its banks
+in order to supply the deficiency. He had reached the falls, accompanied
+by his negro-servant York, and by Chaboneau, the half-breed Indian
+interpreter, and his wife with her young child. On his arrival there, he
+observed a dark cloud in the west, which threatened rain; and looked
+around for some shelter. About a quarter of a mile above the falls he
+found a deep ravine, where there were some shelving rocks, under which
+they took refuge. They were perfectly sheltered from the rain, and
+therefore laid down their guns, compass, and other articles which they
+carried with them. The shower was at first moderate; it then increased
+to a heavy rain, the effects of which they did not feel. Soon after, a
+torrent of rain and hail descended. The rain seemed to fall in a solid
+mass, and, instantly collecting in the ravine, came rolling down in a
+dreadful torrent, carrying the mud and rocks, and every thing that
+opposed it. Capt. Clarke fortunately saw it a moment before it reached
+them, and springing up, with his gun in his left hand, with his right he
+clambered up the steep bluff, pushing on the Indian woman with her child
+in her arms. Her husband, too, had seized her hand, and was pulling her
+up the hill, but was so terrified at the danger, that, but for Capt.
+Clarke, he would have been lost, with his wife and child. So
+instantaneous was the rise of the water, that, before Capt. Clarke had
+secured his gun and begun to ascend the bank, the water was up to his
+waist; and he could scarce get up faster than it rose, till it reached
+the height of fifteen feet, with a furious current, which, had they
+waited a moment longer, would have swept them into the river, just above
+the falls, down which they must inevitably have been carried. As it was,
+Capt. Clarke lost his compass, Chaboneau his gun, shot-pouch, and
+tomahawk; and the Indian woman had just time to grasp her child before
+the net in which it lay was carried down the current."
+
+
+PROGRESS RESUMED.
+
+"July 4.--The boat was now completed, except what was in fact the most
+difficult part,--the making her seams secure. Having been unsuccessful
+in all our attempts to procure tar, we have formed a composition of
+pounded charcoal with beeswax and buffalo-tallow to supply its place. If
+this resource fail us, it will be very unfortunate, as, in every other
+respect, the boat answers our purpose completely. Although not quite
+dry, she can be carried with ease by five men: she is very strong, and
+will carry a load of eight thousand pounds, with her complement of men.
+
+"July 9.--The boat having now become sufficiently dry, we gave it a coat
+of the composition, then a second, and launched it into the water. She
+swam perfectly well. The seats were then fixed, and the oars fitted. But
+after a few hours' exposure to the wind, which blew with violence, we
+discovered that nearly all the composition had separated from the skins,
+so that she leaked very much. To repair this misfortune without pitch
+was impossible; and, as none of that article was to be procured, we were
+obliged to abandon her, after having had so much labor in the
+construction.
+
+"It now becomes necessary to provide other means for transporting the
+baggage which we had intended to stow in her. For this purpose, we shall
+want two canoes; but for many miles we have not seen a single tree fit
+to be used for that purpose. The hunters, however, report that there is
+a low ground about eight miles above us by land, and more than twice
+that distance by water, in which we may probably find trees large
+enough. Capt. Clarke has therefore determined to set out by land for
+that place, with ten of the best workmen, who will be occupied in
+building the canoes, till the rest of the party, after taking the boat
+to pieces and making the necessary deposits, shall transport the
+baggage, and join them with the other six canoes.
+
+"Capt. Clarke accordingly proceeded on eight miles by land; the distance
+by water being twenty-three miles. Here he found two cottonwood-trees,
+and proceeded to convert them into boats. The rest of the party took the
+iron boat to pieces, and deposited it in a _cache_, or hole, with some
+other articles of less importance.
+
+"July 11.--Sergeant Ordway, with four canoes and eight men, set sail in
+the morning to the place where Capt. Clarke had fixed his camp. The
+canoes were unloaded and sent back, and the remainder of the baggage in
+a second trip was despatched to the upper camp.
+
+"July 15.--We rose early, embarked all our baggage on board the canoes,
+which, though eight in number, were heavily laden, and at ten o'clock
+set out on our journey.
+
+"July 16.--We had now arrived at the point where the Missouri emerges
+from the Rocky Mountains. The current of the river becomes stronger as
+we advance, and the spurs of the mountain approach towards the river,
+which is deep, and not more than seventy yards wide. The low grounds are
+now but a few yards in width; yet they furnish room for an Indian road,
+which winds under the hills on the north side of the river. The general
+range of these hills is from south-east to north-west; and the cliffs
+themselves are about eight hundred feet above the water, formed almost
+entirely of a hard black rock, on which are scattered a few dwarf pine
+and cedar trees.
+
+"As the canoes were heavily laden, all the men not employed in working
+them walked on shore. The navigation is now very laborious. The river is
+deep, but with little current; the low grounds are very narrow; the
+cliffs are steep, and hang over the river so much, that, in places, we
+could not pass them, but were obliged to cross and recross from one side
+of the river to the other in order to make our way."
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[1] Dimensions of Niagara Falls,--American, 960 feet wide, 162 feet
+high; English, 700 feet wide, 150 feet high.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+JOURNEY CONTINUED.
+
+
+July 4.--Since our arrival at the falls, we have repeatedly heard a
+strange noise coming from the mountains, in a direction a little to the
+north of west. It is heard at different periods of the day and night,
+sometimes when the air is perfectly still and without a cloud; and
+consists of one stroke only, or of five or six discharges in quick
+succession. It is loud, and resembles precisely the sound of a six-pound
+piece of ordnance, at the distance of three miles. The Minnetarees
+frequently mentioned this noise, like thunder, which they said the
+mountains made; but we had paid no attention to them, believing it to be
+some superstition, or else a falsehood. The watermen also of the party
+say that the Pawnees and Ricaras give the same account of a noise heard
+in the Black Mountains, to the westward of them. The solution of the
+mystery, given by the philosophy of the watermen, is, that it is
+occasioned by the bursting of the rich mines of silver confined within
+the bosom of the mountain.[2]
+
+"An elk and a beaver are all that were killed to-day: the buffaloes seem
+to have withdrawn from our neighborhood. We contrived, however, to
+spread a comfortable table in honor of the day; and in the evening gave
+the men a drink of spirits, which was the last of our stock."
+
+
+VEGETATION.
+
+"July 15.--We find the prickly-pear--one of the greatest beauties, as
+well as one of the greatest inconveniences, of the plains--now in full
+bloom. The sunflower too, a plant common to every part of the Missouri,
+is here very abundant, and in bloom. The Indians of the Missouri, and
+more especially those who do not cultivate maize, make great use of this
+plant for bread, and in thickening their soup. They first parch, and
+then pound it between two stones until it is reduced to a fine meal.
+Sometimes they add a portion of water, and drink it thus diluted; at
+other times they add a sufficient proportion of marmow-fat to reduce it
+to the consistency of common dough, and eat it in that manner. This last
+composition we preferred to the rest, and thought it at that time very
+palatable.
+
+"There are also great quantities of red, purple, yellow, and black
+currants. The currants are very pleasant to the taste, and much
+preferable to those of our gardens. The fruit is not so acid, and has a
+more agreeable flavor."
+
+
+THE BIG-HORNED OR MOUNTAIN RAM.
+
+"July 18.--This morning we saw a large herd of the big-horned animals,
+who were bounding among the rocks in the opposite cliff with great
+agility. These inaccessible spots secure them from all their enemies;
+and the only danger they encounter is in wandering among these
+precipices, where we should suppose it scarcely possible for any animal
+to stand. A single false step would precipitate them at least five
+hundred feet into the river.
+
+"The game continues abundant. We killed to-day the largest male elk we
+have yet seen. On placing it in its natural, erect position, we found
+that it measured five feet three inches from the point of the hoof to
+the top of the shoulder.
+
+"The antelopes are yet lean. This fleet and quick-sighted animal is
+generally the victim of its curiosity. When they first see the hunters,
+they run with great velocity. If the hunter lies down on the ground, and
+lifts up his arm, his hat, or his foot, the antelope returns on a light
+trot to look at the object, and sometimes goes and returns two or three
+times, till at last he approaches within reach of the rifle. So, too,
+they sometimes leave their flock to go and look at the wolves, who
+crouch down, and, if the antelope be frightened at first, repeat the
+same manoeuvre, and sometimes relieve each other, till they decoy the
+antelope from his party near enough to seize it."
+
+
+THE GATES OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
+
+"July 20.--During the day, in the confined valley through which we are
+passing, the heat is almost insupportable; yet, whenever we obtain a
+glimpse of the lofty tops of the mountains, we are tantalized with a
+view of the snow. A mile and a half farther on, the rocks approach the
+river on both sides, forming a most sublime and extraordinary spectacle.
+For six miles, these rocks rise perpendicularly from the water's edge
+to the height of nearly twelve hundred feet. They are composed of a
+black granite near the base; but judging from its lighter color above,
+and from fragments that have fallen from it, we suppose the upper part
+to be flint, of a yellowish-brown and cream color. Nothing can be
+imagined more tremendous than the frowning darkness of these rocks,
+which project over the river, and menace us with destruction. The river,
+one hundred and fifty yards in width, seems to have forced its channel
+down this solid mass: but so reluctantly has it given way, that, during
+the whole distance, the water is very deep even at the edges; and, for
+the first three miles, there is not a spot, except one of a few yards in
+extent, on which a man could stand between the water and the towering
+perpendicular of the mountain. The convulsion of the passage must have
+been terrible; since, at its outlet, there are vast columns of rock torn
+from the mountain, which are strewed on both sides of the river, the
+trophies, as it were, of victory. We were obliged to go on some time
+after dark, not being able to find a spot large enough to encamp on.
+This extraordinary range of rocks we called the Gates of the Rocky
+Mountains."
+
+
+NATURAL PRODUCTIONS.
+
+"July 29.--This morning the hunters brought in some fat deer of the
+long-tailed red kind, which are the only kind we have found at this
+place. There are numbers of the sandhill-cranes feeding in the meadows.
+We caught a young one, which, though it had nearly attained its full
+growth, could not fly. It is very fierce, and strikes a severe blow with
+its beak. The kingfisher has become quite common this side of the falls;
+but we have seen none of the summer duck since leaving that place. Small
+birds are also abundant in the plains. Here, too, are great quantities
+of grasshoppers, or crickets; and, among other animals, large ants, with
+a reddish-brown body and legs, and a black head, which build little
+cones of gravel ten or twelve inches high, without a mixture of sticks,
+and with but little earth. In the river we see a great abundance of
+fish, but cannot tempt them to bite by any thing on our hooks."
+
+
+THE FORKS OF THE MISSOURI.
+
+"July 28, 1805.--From the height of a limestone cliff, Capt. Lewis
+observed the three forks of the Missouri, of which this river is one.
+The middle and south-west forks unite at half a mile above the entrance
+of the south-east fork. The country watered by these rivers, as far as
+the eye could command, was a beautiful combination of meadow and
+elevated plain, covered with a rich grass, and possessing more timber
+than is usual on the Missouri. A range of high mountains, partially
+covered with snow, is seen at a considerable distance, running from
+south to west.
+
+"To the south-east fork the name of Gallatin was assigned, in honor of
+the Secretary of the Treasury. On examining the other two streams, it
+was difficult to decide which was the larger or real Missouri: they are
+each ninety yards wide, and similar in character and appearance. We were
+therefore induced to discontinue the name of Missouri, and to give to
+the south-west branch the name of Jefferson, in honor of the President
+of the United States and the projector of the enterprise; and called the
+middle branch Madison, after James Madison, Secretary of State.
+
+"July 30.--We reloaded our canoes, and began to ascend Jefferson River.
+The river soon became very crooked; the current, too, is rapid, impeded
+with shoals, which consist of coarse gravel. The islands are numerous.
+On the 7th of August, we had, with much fatigue, ascended the river
+sixty miles, when we reached the junction of a stream from the
+north-west, which we named Wisdom River. We continued, however, to
+ascend the south-east branch, which we were satisfied was the true
+continuation of the Jefferson."
+
+
+THE SHOSHONEES, OR SNAKE INDIANS.
+
+"July 28.--We are now very anxious to see the Snake Indians. After
+advancing for several hundred miles into this wild and mountainous
+country, we may soon expect that the game will abandon us. With no
+information of the route, we may be unable to find a passage across the
+mountains when we reach the head of the river, at least such an one as
+will lead us to the Columbia. And, even were we so fortunate as to find
+a branch of that river, the timber which we have hitherto seen in these
+mountains does not promise us any wood fit to make canoes; so that our
+chief dependence is on meeting some tribe from whom we may procure
+horses.
+
+"Sacajawea, our Indian woman, informs us that we are encamped on the
+precise spot where her countrymen, the Snake Indians, had their huts
+five years ago, when the Minnetarees came upon them, killed most of the
+party, and carried her away prisoner. She does not, however, show any
+distress at these recollections, nor any joy at the prospect of being
+restored to her country; for she seems to possess the folly, or the
+philosophy, of not suffering her feelings to extend beyond the anxiety
+of having plenty to eat, and trinkets to wear.
+
+"Aug. 9.--Persuaded of the absolute necessity of procuring horses to
+cross the mountains, it was determined that one of us should proceed in
+the morning to the head of the river, and penetrate the mountains till
+he found the Shoshonees, or some other nation, who could assist us in
+transporting our baggage. Immediately after breakfast, Capt. Lewis took
+Drewyer, Shields, and McNeal; and, slinging their knapsacks, they set
+out, with a resolution to meet some nation of Indians before they
+returned, however long it might be.
+
+"Aug. 11.--It was not till the third day after commencing their search
+that they met with any success. Capt. Lewis perceived with the greatest
+delight, at the distance of two miles, a man on horseback coming towards
+them. On examining him with the glass, Capt. Lewis saw that he was of a
+different nation from any we had hitherto met. He was armed with a bow
+and a quiver of arrows, and mounted on an elegant horse without a
+saddle; while a small string, attached to the under-jaw, answered as a
+bridle. Convinced that he was a Shoshonee, and knowing how much our
+success depended upon the friendly offices of that nation, Capt. Lewis
+was anxious to approach without alarming him. He therefore advanced
+towards the Indian at his usual pace. When they were within a mile of
+each other, the Indian suddenly stopped. Capt. Lewis immediately
+followed his example; took his blanket from his knapsack, and, holding
+it with both hands at the two corners, threw it above his head, and
+unfolded it as he brought it to the ground, as if in the act of
+spreading it. This signal, which originates in the practice of spreading
+a robe or a skin as a seat for guests to whom they wish to show
+kindness, is the universal sign of friendship among the Indians. As
+usual, Capt. Lewis repeated this signal three times. Still the Indian
+kept his position, and looked with an air of suspicion on Drewyer and
+Shields, who were now advancing on each side. Capt. Lewis was afraid to
+make any signal for them to halt, lest he should increase the suspicions
+of the Indian, who began to be uneasy; and they were too distant to hear
+his voice. He therefore took from his pack some beads, a looking-glass,
+and a few trinkets, which he had brought for the purpose; and, leaving
+his gun, advanced unarmed towards the Indian, who remained in the same
+position till Capt. Lewis came within two hundred yards of him, when he
+turned his horse, and began to move off slowly. Capt. Lewis then called
+out to him, as loud as he could, 'Tabba bone,'--which, in the Shoshonee
+language, means _White man_; but, looking over his shoulder, the Indian
+kept his eyes on Drewyer and Shields, who were still advancing, till
+Capt. Lewis made a signal to them to halt. This, Drewyer obeyed; but
+Shields did not observe it, and still went forward. The Indian, seeing
+Drewyer halt, turned his horse about, as if to wait for Capt. Lewis, who
+had now reached within one hundred and fifty paces, repeating the words,
+'Tabba bone,' and holding up the trinkets in his hand; at the same time
+stripping up his sleeve to show that he was white. The Indian suffered
+him to advance within one hundred paces, then suddenly turned his horse,
+and, giving him the whip, leaped across the creek, and disappeared in an
+instant among the willows. They followed his track four miles, but could
+not get sight of him again, nor find any encampment to which he
+belonged.
+
+"Meanwhile the party in the canoes advanced slowly up the river till
+they came to a large island, to which they gave the name of
+Three-thousand-mile Island, on account of its being at that distance
+from the mouth of the Missouri."
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[2] There are many stories, from other sources, confirmatory of these
+noises in mountainous districts. One solution, suggested by
+Humboldt,--who does not, however, record the fact as of his own
+observation,--is, that "this curious phenomenon announces a
+disengagement of hydrogen, produced by a bed of coal in a state of
+combustion." This solution is applicable only to mountains which contain
+coal, unless chemical changes in other minerals might be supposed
+capable of producing a similar effect.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE SOURCES OF THE MISSOURI AND COLUMBIA.
+
+
+Aug. 12, 1805.--Capt. Lewis decided to advance along the foot of the
+mountains, hoping to find a road leading across them. At the distance of
+four miles from his camp, he found a large, plain, Indian road, which
+entered the valley from the north-east. Following this road towards the
+south-west, the valley, for the first five miles, continued in the same
+direction; then the main stream turned abruptly to the west, through a
+narrow bottom between the mountains. We traced the stream, which
+gradually became smaller, till, two miles farther up, it had so
+diminished, that one of the men, in a fit of enthusiasm, with one foot
+on each side of the rivulet, thanked God that he had lived to bestride
+the Missouri. Four miles from thence, we came to the spot where, from
+the foot of a mountain, issues the remotest water of the mighty river.
+
+"We had now traced the Missouri to its source, which had never before
+been seen by civilized man; and as we quenched our thirst at the pure
+and icy fountain, and stretched ourselves by the brink of the little
+rivulet which yielded its distant and modest tribute to the parent
+ocean, we felt rewarded for all our labors.
+
+"We left reluctantly this interesting spot, and, pursuing the Indian
+road, arrived at the top of a ridge, from whence we saw high mountains,
+partially covered with snow, still to the west of us. The ridge on which
+we stood formed, apparently, the dividing-line between the waters of the
+Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. We followed a descent much steeper than
+that on the eastern side, and, at the distance of three-quarters of a
+mile, reached a handsome, bold creek of cold, clear water, running to
+the westward. We stopped for a moment, to taste, for the first time, the
+waters of the Columbia; and then followed the road across hills and
+valleys, till we found a spring, and a sufficient quantity of dry
+willow-brush for fuel; and there halted for the night."
+
+
+THEY MEET WITH INDIANS.
+
+"Aug. 13.--Very early in the morning, Capt. Lewis resumed the Indian
+road, which led him in a western direction, through an open, broken
+country. At five miles' distance, he reached a creek about ten yards
+wide, and, on rising the hill beyond it, had a view of a handsome little
+valley about a mile in width, through which they judged, from the
+appearance of the timber, that a stream probably flowed. On a sudden,
+they discovered two women, a man, and some dogs, on an eminence about a
+mile before them. The strangers viewed them apparently with much
+attention; and then two of them sat down, as if to await Capt. Lewis's
+arrival. He went on till he had reached within about half a mile; then
+ordered his party to stop, put down his knapsack and rifle, and,
+unfurling the flag, advanced alone towards the Indians.
+
+"The women soon retreated behind the hill; but the man remained till
+Capt. Lewis came within a hundred yards of him, when he, too, went off,
+though Capt. Lewis called out 'Tabba bone' ('White man'), loud enough to
+be heard distinctly. The dogs, however, were less shy, and came close to
+him. He therefore thought of tying a handkerchief with some beads round
+their necks, and then to let them loose, to convince the fugitives of
+his friendly intentions; but the dogs would not suffer him to take hold
+of them, and soon left him.
+
+"He now made a signal to the men, who joined him; and then all followed
+the track of the Indians, which led along a continuation of the same
+road they had been travelling. It was dusty, and seemed to have been
+much used lately both by foot-passengers and horsemen.
+
+"They had not gone along it more than a mile, when, on a sudden, they
+saw three female Indians, from whom they had been concealed by the deep
+ravines which intersected the road, till they were now within thirty
+paces of them. One of them, a young woman, immediately took to flight:
+the other two, an old woman and little girl, seeing we were too near for
+them to escape, sat on the ground, and, holding down their heads, seemed
+as if reconciled to the death which they supposed awaited them. Capt.
+Lewis instantly put down his rifle, and, advancing towards them, took
+the woman by the hand, raised her up, and repeated the words, 'Tabba
+bone,' at the same time stripping up his sleeve to show that he was a
+white man; for his hands and face had become by exposure quite as dark
+as their own.
+
+"She appeared immediately relieved from her alarm; and, Drewyer and
+Shields now coming up, Capt. Lewis gave her some beads, a few awls,
+pewter mirrors, and a little paint, and told Drewyer to request the
+woman to recall her companion, who had escaped to some distance, and, by
+alarming the Indians, might cause them to attack him, without any time
+for explanation. She did as she was desired, and the young woman
+returned readily. Capt. Lewis gave her an equal portion of trinkets, and
+painted the tawny cheeks of all three of them with vermilion, which,
+besides its ornamental effect, has the advantage of being held among the
+Indians as emblematic of peace.
+
+"After they had become composed, he informed them by signs of his wish
+to go to their camp in order to see their chiefs and warriors. They
+readily complied, and conducted the party along the same road down the
+river. In this way they marched two miles, when they met a troop of
+nearly sixty warriors, mounted on excellent horses, riding at full speed
+towards them. As they advanced, Capt. Lewis put down his gun, and went
+with the flag about fifty paces in advance. The chief, who, with two
+men, was riding in front of the main body, spoke to the women, who now
+explained that the party was composed of white men, and showed
+exultingly the presents they had received. The three men immediately
+leaped from their horses, came up to Capt. Lewis, and embraced him with
+great cordiality,--putting their left arm over his right shoulder, and
+clasping his back,--applying at the same time their left cheek to his,
+and frequently vociferating, 'Ah-hi-e!'--'_I am glad! I am glad!_'
+
+"The whole body of warriors now came forward, and our men received the
+caresses, and no small share of the grease and paint, of their new
+friends. After this fraternal embrace, Capt. Lewis lighted a pipe, and
+offered it to the Indians, who had now seated themselves in a circle
+around our party. But, before they would receive this mark of
+friendship, they pulled off their moccasons; a custom which, we
+afterwards learned, indicates their sincerity when they smoke with a
+stranger.
+
+"After smoking a few pipes, some trifling presents were distributed
+among them, with which they seemed very much pleased, particularly with
+the blue beads and the vermilion.
+
+"Capt. Lewis then informed the chief that the object of his visit was
+friendly, and should be explained as soon as he reached their camp; but
+that in the mean time, as the sun was oppressive, and no water near, he
+wished to go there as soon as possible. They now put on their moccasons;
+and their chief, whose name was Cameahwait, made a short speech to the
+warriors. Capt. Lewis then gave him the flag, which he informed him was
+the emblem of peace, and that now and for the future it was to be the
+pledge of union between us and them. The chief then moved on, our party
+followed, and the rest of the warriors brought up the rear.
+
+"At the distance of four miles from where they had first met the
+Indians, they reached the camp, which was in a handsome, level meadow on
+the bank of the river. Here they were introduced into a leathern lodge
+which was assigned for their reception. After being seated on green
+boughs and antelope-skins, one of the warriors pulled up the grass in
+the centre of the lodge, so as to form a vacant circle of two feet in
+diameter, in which he kindled a fire. The chief then produced his pipe
+and tobacco; the warriors all pulled off their moccasons, and our party
+were requested to take off their own. This being done, the chief
+lighted his pipe at the fire, and then, retreating from it, began a
+speech several minutes long; at the end of which he pointed the stem of
+his pipe towards the four cardinal points of the heavens, beginning with
+the east, and concluding with the north. After this ceremony, he
+presented the stem in the same way to Capt. Lewis, who, supposing it an
+invitation to smoke, put out his hand to receive the pipe; but the chief
+drew it back, and continued to repeat the same offer three times; after
+which he pointed the stem to the heavens, then took three whiffs
+himself, and presented it again to Capt. Lewis. Finding that this last
+offer was in good earnest, he smoked a little, and returned it. The pipe
+was then held to each of the white men, and, after they had taken a few
+whiffs, was given to the warriors.
+
+"The bowl of the pipe was made of a dense, transparent, green stone,
+very highly polished, about two and a half inches long, and of an oval
+figure; the bowl being in the same direction with the stem. The tobacco
+is of the same kind with that used by the Minnetarees and Mandans of the
+Missouri. The Shoshonees do not cultivate this plant, but obtain it from
+the bands who live farther south.
+
+"The ceremony of smoking being concluded, Capt. Lewis explained to the
+chief the purposes of his visit; and, as by this time all the women and
+children of the camp had gathered around the lodge to indulge in a view
+of the first white men they had ever seen, he distributed among them the
+remainder of the small articles he had brought with him.
+
+"It was now late in the afternoon, and our party had tasted no food
+since the night before. On apprising the chief of this fact, he said
+that he had nothing but berries to eat, and presented some cakes made of
+service-berries and choke-cherries which had been dried in the sun. Of
+these, Capt. Lewis and his companions made as good a meal as they were
+able.
+
+"The chief informed him that the stream which flowed by them discharged
+itself, at the distance of half a day's march, into another of twice its
+size; but added that there was no timber there suitable for building
+canoes, and that the river was rocky and rapid. The prospect of going on
+by land was more pleasant; for there were great numbers of horses
+feeding round the camp, which would serve to transport our stores over
+the mountains.
+
+"An Indian invited Capt. Lewis into his lodge, and gave him a small
+morsel of boiled antelope, and a piece of fresh salmon, roasted. This
+was the first salmon he had seen, and perfectly satisfied him that he
+was now on the waters of the Pacific.
+
+"On returning to the lodge, he resumed his conversation with the chief;
+after which he was entertained with a dance by the Indians. The music
+and dancing--which were in no respect different from those of the
+Missouri Indians--continued nearly all night; but Capt. Lewis retired to
+rest about twelve o'clock, when the fatigues of the day enabled him to
+sleep, though he was awaked several times by the yells of the dancers."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE PARTY IN THE BOATS.
+
+
+August, 1805.--While these things were occurring to Capt. Lewis, the
+party in the boats were slowly and laboriously ascending the river. It
+was very crooked, the bends short and abrupt, and obstructed by so many
+shoals, over which the canoes had to be dragged, that the men were in
+the water three-fourths of the day. They saw numbers of otters, some
+beavers, antelopes, ducks, geese, and cranes; but they killed nothing
+except a single deer. They caught, however, some very fine trout. The
+weather was cloudy and cool; and at eight o'clock a shower of rain fell.
+
+Next day, as the morning was cold, and the men stiff and sore from the
+fatigues of yesterday, they did not set out till seven o'clock. The
+river was shallow, and, as it approached the mountains, formed one
+continued rapid, over which they were obliged to drag the boats with
+great labor and difficulty. By these means, they succeeded in making
+fourteen miles; but this distance did not exceed more than six and a
+half in a straight line.
+
+Several successive days were passed in this manner (the daily progress
+seldom exceeding a dozen miles), while the party anxiously expected to
+be rejoined by Capt. Lewis and his men, with intelligence of some relief
+by the aid of friendly Indians. In the mean time, Capt. Lewis was as
+anxiously expecting their arrival, to confirm the good impressions he
+had made on the Indians, as well as to remove some lurking doubts they
+still felt as to his intentions.
+
+
+CAPT. LEWIS AMONG THE SHOSHONEES.
+
+Aug. 14.--In order to give time for the boats to reach the forks of
+Jefferson River, Capt. Lewis determined to remain where he was, and
+obtain all the information he could with regard to the country. Having
+nothing to eat but a little flour and parched meal, with the berries of
+the Indians, he sent out Drewyer and Shields, who borrowed horses of the
+natives, to hunt. At the same time, the young warriors set out for the
+same purpose.
+
+There are but few elk or black-tailed deer in this region; and, as the
+common red deer secrete themselves in the bushes when alarmed, they are
+soon safe from the arrows of the Indian hunters, which are but feeble
+weapons against any animal which the huntsmen cannot previously run
+down. The chief game of the Shoshonees, therefore, is the antelope,
+which, when pursued, runs to the open plains, where the horses have full
+room for the chase. But such is this animal's extraordinary fleetness
+and wind, that a single horse has no chance of outrunning it, or tiring
+it down; and the hunters are therefore obliged to resort to stratagem.
+About twenty Indians, mounted on fine horses, and armed with bows and
+arrows, left the camp. In a short time, they descried a herd of ten
+antelopes. They immediately separated into little squads of two or
+three, and formed a scattered circle round the herd for five or six
+miles, keeping at a wary distance, so as not to alarm them till they
+were perfectly enclosed. Having gained their positions, a small party
+rode towards the herd; the huntsman preserving his seat with wonderful
+tenacity, and the horse his footing, as he ran at full speed over the
+hills, and down the ravines, and along the edges of precipices. They
+were soon outstripped by the antelopes, which, on gaining the other
+limit of the circle, were driven back, and pursued by fresh hunters.
+They turned, and flew, rather than ran, in another direction; but there,
+too, they found new enemies. In this way they were alternately driven
+backwards and forwards, till at length, notwithstanding the skill of the
+hunters, they all escaped; and the party, after running two hours,
+returned without having caught any thing, and their horses foaming with
+sweat. This chase, the greater part of which was seen from the camp,
+formed a beautiful scene; but to the hunters it is exceedingly
+laborious, and so unproductive, even when they are able to worry the
+animal down and shoot him, that forty or fifty hunters will sometimes be
+engaged for half a day without obtaining more than two or three
+antelopes. Soon after they returned, our two huntsmen came in with no
+better success. Capt. Lewis therefore made a little paste with the
+flour, and the addition of some berries formed a tolerable repast.
+
+Having now secured the good-will of Cameahwait, Capt. Lewis informed him
+of his wish,--that he would speak to the warriors, and endeavor to
+engage them to accompany him to the forks of Jefferson River, where, by
+this time, another chief, with a large party of white men, were waiting
+his return. He added, that it would be necessary to take about thirty
+horses to transport the merchandise; that they should be well rewarded
+for their trouble; and that, when all the party should have reached the
+Shoshonee camp, they would remain some time among them, and trade for
+horses, as well as concert plans for furnishing them in future with
+regular supplies of merchandise. Cameahwait readily consented to do as
+requested; and, after collecting the tribe together, he made a long
+harangue, and in about an hour and a half returned, and told Capt. Lewis
+that they would be ready to accompany him next morning.
+
+Capt. Lewis rose early, and, having eaten nothing yesterday except his
+scanty meal of flour and berries, felt the pain of extreme hunger. On
+inquiry, he found that his whole stock of provisions consisted of two
+pounds of flour. This he ordered to be divided into two equal parts, and
+one-half of it boiled with the berries into a sort of pudding; and,
+after presenting a large share to the chief, he and his three men
+breakfasted on the remainder. Cameahwait was delighted with this new
+dish. He took a little of the flour in his hand, tasted it, and examined
+it very carefully, asking if it was made of roots. Capt. Lewis
+explained how it was produced, and the chief said it was the best thing
+he had eaten for a long time.
+
+Breakfast being finished, Capt. Lewis endeavored to hasten the departure
+of the Indians, who seemed reluctant to move, although the chief
+addressed them twice for the purpose of urging them. On inquiring the
+reason, Capt. Lewis learned that the Indians were suspicious that they
+were to be led into an ambuscade, and betrayed to their enemies. He
+exerted himself to dispel this suspicion, and succeeded so far as to
+induce eight of the warriors, with Cameahwait, to accompany him. It was
+about twelve o'clock when his small party left the camp, attended by
+Cameahwait and the eight warriors. At sunset they reached the river, and
+encamped about four miles above the narrow pass between the hills, which
+they had noticed in their progress some days before. Drewyer had been
+sent forward to hunt; but he returned in the evening unsuccessful; and
+their only supply, therefore, was the remaining pound of flour, stirred
+in a little boiling water, and divided between the four white men and
+two of the Indians.
+
+Next morning, as neither our party nor the Indians had any thing to eat,
+Capt. Lewis sent two of his hunters out to procure some provision. At
+the same time, he requested Cameahwait to prevent his young men from
+going out, lest, by their noise, they might alarm the game. This measure
+immediately revived their suspicions, and some of them followed our two
+men to watch them. After the hunters had been gone about an hour, Capt.
+Lewis mounted, with one of the Indians behind him, and the whole party
+set out. Just then, they saw one of the spies coming back at full speed
+across the plain. The chief stopped, and seemed uneasy: the whole band
+were moved with fresh suspicions; and Capt. Lewis himself was anxious,
+lest, by some unfortunate accident, some hostile tribe might have
+wandered that way. The young Indian had hardly breath to say a few words
+as he came up, when the whole troop dashed forward as fast as their
+horses could carry them; and Capt. Lewis, astonished at this movement,
+was borne along for nearly a mile, before he learned, with great
+satisfaction, that it was all caused by the spy's having come to
+announce that one of the white men had killed a deer.
+
+When they reached the place where Drewyer, in cutting up the deer, had
+thrown out the intestines, the Indians dismounted in confusion, and ran,
+tumbling over each other, like famished dogs: each tore away whatever
+part he could, and instantly began to devour it. Some had the liver,
+some the kidneys: in short, no part on which we are accustomed to look
+with disgust escaped them. It was, indeed, impossible to see these
+wretches ravenously feeding on the refuse of animals, and the blood
+streaming from their mouths, without deploring how nearly the condition
+of savages approaches that of the brute creation. Yet, though suffering
+with hunger, they did not attempt to take (as they might have done) by
+force the whole deer, but contented themselves with what had been thrown
+away by the hunter. Capt. Lewis had the deer skinned, and, after
+reserving a quarter of it, gave the rest of the animal to the chief, to
+be divided among the Indians, who immediately devoured the whole without
+cooking.
+
+
+THEY MEET THE BOAT PARTY.
+
+As they were now approaching the place where they had been told they
+should see the white men, Capt. Lewis, to guard against any
+disappointment, explained the possibility of our men not having reached
+the forks, in consequence of the difficulty of the navigation; so that,
+if they should not find us at that spot, they might be assured of our
+being not far below. After stopping two hours to let the horses graze,
+they remounted, and rode on rapidly, making one of the Indians carry the
+flag, so that the party in the boats might recognize them as they
+approached. To their great mortification, on coming within sight of the
+forks, no canoes were to be seen.
+
+Uneasy, lest at this moment he should be abandoned, and all his hopes of
+obtaining aid from the Indians be destroyed, Capt. Lewis gave the chief
+his gun, telling him, if the enemies of his nation were in the bushes,
+he might defend himself with it; and that the chief might shoot him as
+soon as they discovered themselves betrayed. The other three men at the
+same time gave their guns to the Indians, who now seemed more easy, but
+still suspicious. Luckily, he had a hold on them by other ties than
+their generosity. He had promised liberal exchanges for their horses;
+but, what was still more attractive, he had told them that one of their
+country-women, who had been taken by the Minnetarees, accompanied the
+party below: and one of the men had spread the report of our having with
+us a man perfectly black, whose hair was short and curled. This last
+account had excited a great degree of curiosity; and they seemed more
+desirous of seeing this monster than of obtaining the most favorable
+barter for their horses.
+
+In the mean time, the boat party under Capt. Clarke, struggling against
+rapids and shallows, had made their way to a point only four miles by
+land, though ten by water, from where Capt. Lewis and the Indians were.
+Capt. Clarke had seen from an eminence the forks of the river, and sent
+the hunters up. They must have left it only a short time before Capt.
+Lewis's arrival.
+
+Aug. 17.--Capt. Lewis rose early, and despatched Drewyer and the Indian
+down the river in quest of the boats. They had been gone about two
+hours, and the Indians were all anxiously waiting for some news, when an
+Indian who had straggled a short distance down the river returned, with
+a report that he had seen the white men, who were not far below, and
+were coming on. The Indians were all delighted; and the chief, in the
+warmth of his affection, renewed his embrace to Capt. Lewis, who, though
+quite as much gratified, would willingly have spared that manifestation
+of it. The report proved true. On commencing the day's progress, Capt.
+Clarke, with Chaboneau and his wife, walked by the river-side; but they
+had not gone more than a mile, when Capt. Clarke saw Sacajawea, the
+Indian woman, who was some distance in advance, begin to dance, and show
+every mark of extravagant joy, pointing to several Indians, whom he now
+saw advancing on horseback. As they approached, Capt. Clarke discovered
+Drewyer among them, from whom he learned the situation of Capt. Lewis
+and his party. While the boats were performing the circuit, Capt. Clarke
+went towards the forks with the Indians, who, as they went along, sang
+aloud with the greatest appearance of delight.
+
+They soon drew near the camp; and, as they approached it, a woman made
+her way through the crowd towards Sacajawea, when, recognizing each
+other, they embraced with the most tender affection. The meeting of
+these two young women had in it something peculiarly touching. They had
+been companions in childhood, and, in the war with the Minnetarees, had
+both been taken prisoners in the same battle. They had shared the same
+captivity, till one had escaped, leaving her friend with scarce a hope
+of ever seeing her again.
+
+While Sacajawea was renewing among the women the friendships of former
+days, Capt. Clarke went on, and was received by Capt. Lewis and the
+chief, who, after the first embraces and salutations, conducted him to a
+sort of circular tent constructed of willow-branches. Here he was seated
+on a white robe; and the chief tied in his hair six small shells
+resembling pearls,--an ornament highly valued by these people. After
+smoking, a conference was held, Sacajawea acting as interpreter. Capt.
+Lewis told them he had been sent to discover the best route by which
+merchandise could be conveyed to them, and, since no trade would be
+begun before our return, it was naturally desirable that we should
+proceed with as little delay as possible; that we were under the
+necessity of requesting them to furnish us with horses to transport our
+baggage across the mountains, and a guide to show us the route; but that
+they should be amply remunerated for their horses, as well as for any
+other service they should render us. In the mean time, our first wish
+was that they should immediately collect as many horses as were
+necessary to transport our baggage to their village, where, at our
+leisure, we would trade with them for as many horses as they could
+spare.
+
+The speech made a favorable impression. The chief thanked us for our
+friendly intentions, and declared their willingness to render us every
+service. He promised to return to the village next day, and to bring all
+his own horses, and to encourage his people to bring theirs. We then
+distributed our presents. To Cameahwait we gave a medal of the small
+size, with the likeness of President Jefferson, and on the reverse a
+figure of hands clasped, with a pipe and tomahawk. To this were added a
+uniform-coat, a shirt, a pair of scarlet leggings, a lump of tobacco,
+and some small articles. Each of the other chiefs received similar
+presents, excepting the dress-coat. These honorary gifts were followed
+by presents of paint, moccasons, awls, knives, beads, and
+looking-glasses. They had abundant sources of surprise in all they saw.
+The appearance of the men, their arms, their clothing, the canoes, the
+strange looks of the negro, and the sagacity of our dog, all in turn
+shared their admiration, which was raised to astonishment by a shot from
+the air-gun. This was immediately pronounced a _Great Medicine_, by
+which they mean something produced by the Great Spirit himself in some
+incomprehensible way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE DESCENT OF THE COLUMBIA.
+
+
+August, 1805.--Our Indian information as to the navigation of the
+Columbia was of a very discouraging character. It was therefore agreed
+that Capt. Clarke should set off in the morning with eleven men,
+furnished, besides their arms, with tools for making canoes; that he
+should take Chaboneau and his wife to the camp of the Shoshonees, where
+he was to leave them to hasten the collection of horses; that he was
+then to lead his men down to the Columbia; and if he found it navigable,
+and the timber in sufficient quantity, should begin to build canoes. As
+soon as he should have decided on the question of proceeding, whether
+down the river or across the mountains, he was to send back one of the
+men, with information of his decision, to Capt. Lewis, who would tarry
+meanwhile at the Shoshonee village.
+
+Aug. 20.--Capt. Clarke set out at six o'clock. Passing through a
+continuation of hilly, broken country, he met several parties of
+Indians. An old man among them was pointed out, who was said to know
+more of the nature of the country north than any other person; and Capt.
+Clarke engaged him as a guide.
+
+The first point to ascertain was the truth of the Indian information as
+to the difficulty of descending the river. For this purpose, Capt.
+Clarke and his men set out at three o'clock in the afternoon,
+accompanied by his Indian guide. At the distance of four miles he
+crossed the river, and, eight miles from the camp, halted for the night.
+As Capt. Lewis was the first white man who had visited its waters, Capt.
+Clarke gave the stream the name of Lewis's River.
+
+Aug. 23.--Capt. Clarke set out very early; but as his route lay along
+the steep side of a mountain, over irregular and broken masses of rocks,
+which wounded the horses' feet, he was obliged to proceed slowly. At the
+distance of four miles, he reached the river; but the rocks here became
+so steep, and projected so far into the stream, that there was no mode
+of passing except through the water. This he did for some distance,
+though the current was very rapid, and so deep, that they were forced to
+swim their horses. After following the edge of the stream for about a
+mile, he reached a small meadow, below which the whole current of the
+river beat against the shore on which he was, and which was formed of a
+solid rock, perfectly inaccessible to horses. He therefore resolved to
+leave the horses and the greater part of the men at this place, and
+continue his examination of the river on foot, in order to determine if
+there were any possibility of descending it in canoes.
+
+With his guide and three men he proceeded, clambering over immense
+rocks, and along the sides of precipices which bordered the stream. The
+river presented a succession of shoals, neither of which could be passed
+with loaded canoes; and the baggage must therefore be transported for
+considerable distances over the steep mountains, where it would be
+impossible to employ horses. Even the empty boats must be let down the
+rapids by means of cords, and not even in this way without great risk
+both to the canoes and the men.
+
+Disappointed in finding a route by way of the river, Capt. Clarke now
+questioned his guide more particularly respecting an Indian road which
+came in from the north. The guide, who seemed intelligent, drew a map on
+the sand, and represented this road as leading to a great river where
+resided a nation called Tushepaws, who, having no salmon on their river,
+came by this road to the fish-wears on Lewis's River. After a great deal
+of conversation, or rather signs, Capt. Clarke felt persuaded that his
+guide knew of a road from the Shoshonee village they had left, to the
+great river toward the north, without coming so low down as this, on a
+road impracticable for horses. He therefore hastened to return thither,
+sending forward a man on horseback with a note to Capt. Lewis, apprising
+him of the result of his inquiries.
+
+From the 25th to the 29th of August, Capt. Clarke and his men were
+occupied in their return to the Shoshonee village, where Capt. Lewis and
+party were awaiting them. During their march, the want of provisions was
+such, that if it had not been for the liberality of the Indians, who
+gave them a share of their own scanty supplies, they must have perished.
+The main dependence for food was upon salmon and berries. It was seldom
+they could get enough of these for a full meal; and abstinence and the
+strange diet caused some sickness. Capt. Lewis, on the contrary, had
+found the game sufficiently abundant to supply their own party, and to
+spare some to the Indians; so that, when their friends rejoined them,
+they had it in their power to immediately relieve their wants.
+
+
+THE SHOSHONEES.
+
+The Shoshonees are a small tribe of the nation called Snake Indians,--a
+vague denomination, which embraces at once the inhabitants of the
+southern parts of the Rocky Mountains, and of the plains on each side.
+The Shoshonees, with whom we now are, amount to about a hundred
+warriors, and three times that number of women and children. Within
+their own recollection, they formerly lived in the plains; but they have
+been driven into the mountains by the roving Indians of the Saskatchawan
+country, and are now obliged to visit only occasionally and by stealth
+the country of their ancestors. From the middle of May to the beginning
+of September, they reside on the waters of the Columbia. During this
+time, they subsist chiefly on salmon; and, as that fish disappears on
+the approach of autumn, they are obliged to seek subsistence elsewhere.
+They then cross the ridge to the waters of the Missouri, down which they
+proceed cautiously till they are joined by other bands of their own
+nation, or of the Flatheads, with whom they associate against the common
+enemy. Being now strong in numbers, they venture to hunt buffaloes in
+the plains eastward of the mountains, near which they spend the winter,
+till the return of the salmon invites them to the Columbia.
+
+In this loose and wandering existence, they suffer the extremes of want:
+for two-thirds of the year they are forced to live in the mountains,
+passing whole weeks without meat, and with nothing to eat but a few fish
+and roots.
+
+Yet the Shoshonees are not only cheerful, but gay; and their character
+is more interesting than that of any other Indians we have seen. They
+are frank and communicative; fair in their dealings; and we have had no
+reason to suspect that the display of our new and valuable wealth has
+tempted them into a single act of theft. While they have shared with us
+the little they possess, they have always abstained from begging any
+thing of us.
+
+Their wealth is in horses. Of these they have at least seven hundred,
+among which are about forty colts, and half that number of mules. The
+original stock was procured from the Spaniards; but now they raise their
+own, which are generally of good size, vigorous, and patient of fatigue
+as well as of hunger. Every warrior has one or two tied to a stake near
+his hut day and night, so as to be always prepared for action. The mules
+are obtained in the course of trade from the Spaniards of California.
+They are highly valued. The worst are considered as worth the price of
+two horses.
+
+The Shoshonee warrior always fights on horseback. He possesses a few bad
+guns, which are reserved for war; but his common arms are the bow and
+arrow, a shield, a lance, and a weapon called _pogamogon_, which
+consists of a handle of wood, with a stone weighing about two pounds,
+and held in a cover of leather, attached to the handle by a leather
+thong. At the other end is a loop, which is passed round the wrist, so
+as to secure the hold of the instrument, with which they strike a very
+severe blow.
+
+The bow is made of cedar or pine, covered on the outer side with sinews
+and glue. Sometimes it is made of the horn of an elk, covered on the
+back like those of wood. The arrows are more slender than those of other
+Indians we have seen. They are kept, with the implements for striking
+fire, in a narrow quiver formed of different kinds of skin. It is just
+long enough to protect the arrows from the weather, and is fastened upon
+the back of the wearer by means of a strap passing over the right
+shoulder, and under the left arm. The shield is a circular piece of
+buffalo-skin, about two feet four inches in diameter, ornamented with
+feathers, with a fringe round it of dressed leather, and adorned with
+paintings of strange figures.
+
+Besides these, they have a kind of armor, something like a coat of mail,
+which is formed by a great many folds of antelope-skins, united by a
+mixture of glue and sand. With this they cover their own bodies and
+those of their horses, and find it impervious to the arrow.
+
+The caparison of their horses is a halter and saddle. The halter is made
+of strands of buffalo-hair platted together; or is merely a thong of raw
+hide, made pliant by pounding and rubbing. The halter is very long, and
+is never taken from the neck of the horse when in constant use. One end
+of it is first tied round the neck in a knot, and then brought down to
+the under-jaw, round which it is formed into a simple noose, passing
+through the mouth. It is then drawn up on the right side, and held by
+the rider in his left hand, while the rest trails after him to some
+distance. With these cords dangling alongside of them, the horse is put
+to his full speed, without fear of falling; and, when he is turned to
+graze, the noose is merely taken from his mouth.
+
+The saddle is formed, like the pack-saddles used by the French and
+Spaniards, of two flat, thin boards, which fit the sides of the horse,
+and are kept together by two cross-pieces, one before and the other
+behind, which rise to a considerable height, making the saddle deep and
+narrow. Under this, a piece of buffalo-skin, with the hair on, is
+placed, so as to prevent the rubbing of the board; and, when the rider
+mounts, he throws a piece of skin or robe over the saddle, which has no
+permanent cover. When stirrups are used, they consist of wood covered
+with leather; but stirrups and saddles are conveniences reserved for
+women and old men. The young warriors rarely use any thing except a
+small, leather pad stuffed with hair, and secured by a girth made of a
+leathern thong. In this way, they ride with great expertness; and they
+have particular dexterity in catching the horse when he is running at
+large. They make a noose in the rope, and although the horse may be at
+some distance, or even running, rarely fail to fix it on his neck; and
+such is the docility of the animal, that, however unruly he may seem, he
+surrenders as soon as he feels the rope on him.
+
+The horse becomes an object of attachment. A favorite is frequently
+painted, and his ears cut into various shapes. The mane and tail, which
+are never drawn nor trimmed, are decorated with feathers of birds; and
+sometimes a warrior suspends at the breast of his horse the finest
+ornaments he possesses.
+
+Thus armed and mounted, the Shoshonee is a formidable enemy, even with
+the feeble weapons which he is still obliged to use. When they attack at
+full speed, they bend forward, and cover their bodies with the shield,
+while with the right hand they shoot under the horse's neck.
+
+
+INDIAN HORSES AND RIDERS.
+
+They are so well supplied with horses, that every man, woman, and child
+is mounted; and all they have is packed upon horses. Small children, not
+more than three years old, are mounted alone, and generally upon colts.
+They are tied upon the saddle to keep them from falling, especially when
+they go to sleep, which they often do when they become fatigued. Then
+they lie down upon the horse's shoulders; and, when they awake, they lay
+hold of their whip, which is fastened to the wrist of their right hand,
+and apply it smartly to their horses: and it is astonishing to see how
+these little creatures will guide and run them. Children that are still
+younger are put into an incasement made with a board at the back, and a
+wicker-work around the other parts, covered with cloth inside and
+without, or, more generally, with dressed skins; and they are carried
+upon the mother's back, or suspended from a high knob upon the fore part
+of their saddles.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+CLARKE'S RIVER.
+
+
+AUG. 31.--Capt. Lewis, during the absence of his brother-officer, had
+succeeded in procuring from the Indians, by barter, twenty-nine
+horses,--not quite one for each man. Capt. Clarke having now rejoined
+us, and the weather being fine, we loaded our horses, and prepared to
+start. We took our leave of the Shoshonees, and accompanied by the old
+guide, his four sons, and another Indian, began the descent of the
+river, which Capt. Clarke had named Lewis's River. After riding twelve
+miles, we encamped on the bank; and, as the hunters had brought in three
+deer early in the morning, we did not feel in want of provisions.
+
+On the 31st of August, we made eighteen miles. Here we left the track of
+Capt. Clarke, and began to explore the new route recommended by the
+Indian guide, and which was our last hope of getting out of the
+mountains.
+
+During all day, we rode over hills, from which are many drains and small
+streams, and, at the distance of eighteen miles, came to a large creek,
+called Fish Creek, emptying into the main river, which is about six
+miles from us.
+
+Sept. 2.--This morning, all the Indians left us, except the old guide,
+who now conducted us up Fish Creek. We arrived shortly after at the
+forks of the creek. The road we were following now turned in a contrary
+direction to our course, and we were left without any track; but, as no
+time was to be lost, we began to cut our road up the west branch of the
+creek. This we effected with much difficulty. The thickets of trees and
+brush through which we were obliged to cut our way required great labor.
+Our course was over the steep and rocky sides of the hills, where the
+horses could not move without danger of slipping down, while their feet
+were bruised by the rocks, and stumps of trees. Accustomed as these
+animals were to this kind of life, they suffered severely. Several of
+them fell to some distance down the sides of the hills, some turned over
+with the baggage, one was crippled, and two gave out exhausted with
+fatigue. After crossing the creek several times, we had made five miles
+with great labor, and encamped in a small, stony, low ground. It was
+not, however, till after dark that the whole party was collected; and
+then, as it rained, and we killed nothing, we passed an uncomfortable
+night. We had been too busily occupied with the horses to make any
+hunting excursion; and, though we saw many beaver-dams in the creek, we
+saw none of the animals.
+
+Next day, our experiences were much the same, with the addition of a
+fall of snow at evening. The day following, we reached the head of a
+stream which directed its course more to the westward, and followed it
+till we discovered a large encampment of Indians. When we reached them,
+and alighted from our horses, we were received with great cordiality. A
+council was immediately assembled, white robes were thrown over our
+shoulders, and the pipe of peace introduced. After this ceremony, as it
+was too late to go any farther, we encamped, and continued smoking and
+conversing with the chiefs till a late hour.
+
+Next morning, we assembled the chiefs and warriors, and informed them
+who we were, and the purpose for which we visited their country. All
+this was, however, conveyed to them in so many different languages,
+that it was not comprehended without difficulty. We therefore proceeded
+to the more intelligible language of presents, and made four chiefs by
+giving a medal and a small quantity of tobacco to each. We received in
+turn, from the principal chiefs, a present, consisting of the skins of
+an otter and two antelopes; and were treated by the women to some dried
+roots and berries. We then began to traffic for horses, and succeeded in
+exchanging seven, and purchasing eleven.
+
+These Indians are a band of the Tushepaws, a numerous people of four
+hundred and fifty tents, residing on the head waters of the Missouri and
+Columbia Rivers, and some of them lower down the latter river. They
+seemed kind and friendly, and willingly shared with us berries and
+roots, which formed their only stock of provisions. Their only wealth is
+their horses, which are very fine, and so numerous that this band had
+with them at least five hundred.
+
+We proceeded next day, and, taking a north-west direction, crossed,
+within a distance of a mile and a half, a small river from the right.
+This river is the main stream; and, when it reaches the end of the
+valley, it is joined by two other streams. To the river thus formed we
+gave the name of Clarke's River; he being the first white man who ever
+visited its waters.
+
+We followed the course of the river, which is from twenty-five to thirty
+yards wide, shallow, and stony, with the low grounds on its borders
+narrow; and encamped on its right bank, after making ten miles. Our
+stock of flour was now exhausted, and we had but little corn; and, as
+our hunters had killed nothing except two pheasants, our supper
+consisted chiefly of berries.
+
+The next day, and the next, we followed the river, which widened to
+fifty yards, with a valley four or five miles broad. At ten miles from
+our camp was a creek, which emptied itself on the west side of the
+river. It was a fine bold creek of clear water, about twenty yards wide;
+and we called it Traveller's Rest: for, as our guide told us we should
+here leave the river, we determined to make some stay for the purpose of
+collecting food, as the country through which we were to pass has no
+game for a great distance.
+
+Toward evening, one of the hunters returned with three Indians whom he
+had met. We found that they were Tushepaw Flatheads in pursuit of
+strayed horses. We gave them some boiled venison and a few presents,
+such as a fish hook, a steel to strike fire, and a little powder; but
+they seemed better pleased with a piece of ribbon which we tied in the
+hair of each of them. Their people, they said, were numerous, and
+resided on the great river in the plain below the mountains. From that
+place, they added, the river was navigable to the ocean. The distance
+from this place is five "sleeps," or days' journeys.
+
+On resuming our route, we proceeded up the right side of the creek (thus
+leaving Clarke's River), over a country, which, at first plain and good,
+became afterwards as difficult as any we had yet traversed.
+
+We had now reached the sources of Traveller's-rest Creek, and followed
+the road, which became less rugged. At our encampment this night, the
+game having entirely failed us, we killed a colt, on which we made a
+hearty supper. We reached the river, which is here eighty yards wide,
+with a swift current and a rocky channel. Its Indian name is
+Kooskooskee.
+
+
+KOOSKOOSKEE RIVER.
+
+Sept. 16.--This morning, snow fell, and continued all day; so that by
+evening it was six or eight inches deep. It covered the track so
+completely, that we were obliged constantly to halt and examine, lest we
+should lose the route. The road is, like that of yesterday, along steep
+hillsides, obstructed with fallen timber, and a growth of eight
+different species of pine, so thickly strewed, that the snow falls from
+them upon us as we pass, keeping us continually wet to the skin. We
+encamped in a piece of low ground, thickly timbered, but scarcely large
+enough to permit us to lie level. We had made thirteen miles. We were
+wet, cold, and hungry; yet we could not procure any game, and were
+obliged to kill another horse for our supper. This want of provisions,
+the extreme fatigue to which we were subjected, and the dreary prospect
+before us, began to dispirit the men. They are growing weak, and losing
+their flesh very fast.
+
+After three days more of the same kind of experience, on Friday, 20th
+September, an agreeable change occurred. Capt. Clarke, who had gone
+forward in hopes of finding game, came suddenly upon a beautiful open
+plain partially stocked with pine. Shortly after, he discovered three
+Indian boys, who, observing the party, ran off, and hid themselves in
+the grass. Capt. Clarke immediately alighted, and, giving his horse and
+gun to one of the men, went after the boys. He soon relieved their
+apprehensions, and sent them forward to the village, about a mile off,
+with presents of small pieces of ribbon. Soon after the boys had
+reached home, a man came out to meet the party, with great caution; but
+he conducted them to a large tent in the village, and all the
+inhabitants gathered round to view with a mixture of fear and pleasure
+the wonderful strangers. The conductor now informed Capt. Clarke, by
+signs, that the spacious tent was the residence of the great chief, who
+had set out three days ago, with all the warriors, to attack some of
+their enemies towards the south-west; that, in the mean time, there were
+only a few men left to guard the women and children. They now set before
+them a small piece of buffalo-meat, some dried salmon, berries, and
+several kinds of roots. Among these last was one which is round, much
+like an onion in appearance, and sweet to the taste. It is called
+_quamash_, and is eaten either in its natural state, or boiled into a
+kind of soup, or made into a cake, which is called _pasheco_. After our
+long abstinence, this was a sumptuous repast. We returned the kindness
+of the people with a few small presents, and then went on, in company
+with one of the chiefs, to a second village in the same plain, at a
+distance of two miles. Here the party was treated with great kindness,
+and passed the night.
+
+The two villages consist of about thirty double tents; and the people
+call themselves Chopunnish, or Pierced-nose. The chief drew a chart of
+the river on the sand, and explained that a greater chief than himself,
+who governed this village, and was called the Twisted-hair, was now
+fishing at the distance of half a day's ride down the river. His chart
+made the Kooskooskee to fork a little below his camp, below which the
+river passed the mountains. Here was a great fall of water, near which
+lived white people, from whom they procured the white beads and brass
+ornaments worn by the women.
+
+Capt. Clarke engaged an Indian to guide him to the Twisted-hair's camp.
+For twelve miles, they proceeded through the plain before they reached
+the river-hills, which are very high and steep. The whole valley from
+these hills to the Rocky Mountains is a beautiful level country, with a
+rich soil covered with grass. There is, however, but little timber, and
+the ground is badly watered. The plain is so much sheltered by the
+surrounding hills, that the weather is quite warm (Sept. 21), while the
+cold of the mountains was extreme.
+
+From the top of the river-hills we descended for three miles till we
+reached the water-side, between eleven and twelve o'clock at night.
+Here we found a small camp of five women and three children; the chief
+himself being encamped, with two others, on a small island in the river.
+The guide called to him, and he came over. Capt. Clarke gave him a
+medal, and they smoked together till one o'clock.
+
+Next day, Capt. Clarke passed over to the island with the Twisted-hair,
+who seemed to be cheerful and sincere. The hunters brought in three
+deer; after which Capt. Clarke left his party, and, accompanied by the
+Twisted-hair and his son, rode back to the village, where he found Capt.
+Lewis and his party just arrived.
+
+The plains were now crowded with Indians, who came to see the white men
+and the strange things they brought with them; but, as our guide was a
+perfect stranger to their language, we could converse by signs only. Our
+inquiries were chiefly directed to the situation of the country. The
+Twisted-hair drew a chart of the river on a white elk-skin. According to
+this, the Kooskooskee forks a few miles from this place: two days'
+journey towards the south is another and larger fork, on which the
+Shoshonee Indians fish; five days' journey farther is a large river from
+the north-west, into which Clarke's River empties itself. From the
+junction with that river to the falls is five days' journey farther. On
+all the forks, as well as on the main river, great numbers of Indians
+reside; and at the falls are establishments of whites. This was the
+story of the Twisted-hair.
+
+Provision here was abundant. We purchased a quantity of fish, berries,
+and roots; and in the afternoon went on to the second village. We
+continued our purchases, and obtained as much provision as our horses
+could carry in their present weak condition. Great crowds of the natives
+are round us all night; but we have not yet missed any thing, except a
+knife and a few other small articles.
+
+Sept. 24.--The weather is fair. All round the village the women are
+busily employed in gathering and dressing the pasheco-root, large
+quantities of which are heaped up in piles all over the plain.
+
+We feel severely the consequence of eating heartily after our late
+privations. Capt. Lewis and two of his men were taken very ill last
+evening, and to-day he can hardly sit on his horse. Others could not
+mount without help; and some were forced to lie down by the side of the
+road for some time.
+
+Our situation rendered it necessary to husband our remaining strength;
+and it was determined to proceed down the river in canoes. Capt. Clarke
+therefore set out with Twisted-hair and two young men in quest of timber
+for canoes.
+
+Sept. 27, 28, and 29.--Sickness continued. Few of the men were able to
+work; yet preparations were made for making five canoes. A number of
+Indians collect about us in the course of the day to gaze at the strange
+appearance of every thing belonging to us.
+
+Oct. 4.--The men were now much better, and Capt. Lewis so far recovered
+as to walk about a little. The canoes being nearly finished, it became
+necessary to dispose of the horses. They were therefore collected to the
+number of thirty-eight, and, being branded and marked, were delivered to
+three Indians,--the two brothers and the son of a chief; the chief
+having promised to accompany us down the river. To each of these men we
+gave a knife and some small articles; and they agreed to take good care
+of the horses till our return.
+
+We had all our saddles buried in a _cache_ near the river, about half a
+mile below, and deposited at the same time a canister of powder and a
+bag of balls.
+
+
+THE VOYAGE DOWN THE KOOSKOOSKEE RIVER.
+
+Oct. 7.--This morning, all the canoes were put in the water, and loaded,
+the oars fitted, and every preparation made for setting out. When we
+were all ready, the chief who had promised to accompany us was not to be
+found: we therefore proceeded without him. The Kooskooskee is a clear,
+rapid stream, with a number of shoals and difficult places. This day and
+the next, we made a distance of fifty miles. We passed several
+encampments of Indians on the islands and near the rapids, which
+situations are chosen as the most convenient for taking salmon. At one
+of these camps we found the chief, who, after promising to descend the
+river with us, had left us. He, however, willingly came on board, after
+we had gone through the ceremony of smoking.
+
+Oct. 10.--A fine morning. We loaded the canoes, and set off at seven
+o'clock. After passing twenty miles, we landed below the junction of a
+large fork of the river, from the south. Our arrival soon attracted the
+attention of the Indians, who flocked from all directions to see us.
+Being again reduced to fish and roots, we made an experiment to vary our
+food by purchasing a few dogs; and, after having been accustomed to
+horse-flesh, felt no disrelish to this new dish. The Chopunnish have
+great numbers of dogs, but never use them for food; and our feeding on
+the flesh of that animal brought us into ridicule as dog-eaters.
+
+This southern branch is, in fact, the main stream of Lewis's River, on
+whose upper waters we encamped when among the Shoshonees. At its mouth,
+Lewis's River is about two hundred and fifty yards wide, and its water
+is of a greenish-blue color. The Kooskooskee, whose waters are clear as
+crystal, is one hundred and fifty yards in width; and, after the union,
+the joint-stream extends to the width of three hundred yards.
+
+The Chopunnish, or Pierced-nose Indians, who reside on the Kooskooskee
+and Lewis's Rivers, are in person stout, portly, well-looking men. The
+women are small, with good features, and generally handsome, though the
+complexion of both sexes is darker than that of the Tushepaws. In dress,
+they resemble that nation, being fond of displaying their ornaments. The
+buffalo or elk-skin robe, decorated with beads, sea-shells (chiefly
+mother-of-pearl), attached to an otter-skin collar, is the dress of the
+men. The same ornaments are hung in the hair, which falls in front in
+two cues: they add feathers, paints of different colors (principally
+white, green, and blue), which they find in their own country. In
+winter, they wear a shirt of dressed skins; long, painted leggings, and
+moccasons; and a plait of twisted grass round the neck.
+
+The dress of the women is more simple, consisting of a long shirt of the
+mountain-sheep skin, reaching down to the ankles, without a girdle. To
+this are tied little pieces of brass and shells, and other small
+articles; but the head is not at all ornamented.
+
+The Chopunnish have few amusements; for their life is painful and
+laborious, and all their exertions are necessary to earn a precarious
+subsistence. During the summer and autumn, they are busily occupied in
+fishing for salmon, and collecting their winter store of roots. In
+winter, they hunt the deer on snow-shoes over the plains; and, towards
+spring, cross the mountains to the Missouri in pursuit of the buffalo.
+
+The soil of these prairies is a light-yellow clay. It is barren, and
+produces little more than a bearded grass about three inches high, and
+the prickly-pear, of which we found three species. The first is the
+broad-leaved kind, common to this river with the Missouri; the second
+has a leaf of a globular form, and is also frequent on the upper part
+of the Missouri; the third is peculiar to this country. It consists of
+small, thick leaves of a circular form, which grow from the margin of
+each other. These leaves are armed with a great number of thorns, which
+are strong, and appear to be barbed. As the leaf itself is very slightly
+attached to the stem, as soon as one thorn touches the moccason, it
+adheres, and brings with it the leaf, which is accompanied with a
+re-enforcement of thorns. This species was a greater annoyance on our
+march than either of the others.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+FROM THE JUNCTION OF THE KOOSKOOSKEE WITH LEWIS'S RIVER TO THE COLUMBIA.
+
+
+From the mouth of the Kooskooskee to that of the Lewis is about a
+hundred miles; which distance they descended in seven days. The
+navigation was greatly impeded by rapids, which they passed with more or
+less danger and difficulty; being greatly indebted to the assistance of
+the Indians, as they thankfully acknowledge. Sometimes they were obliged
+to unload their boats, and to carry them round by land. All these rapids
+are fishing-places, greatly resorted to in the season.
+
+On the 17th of October (1805), having reached the junction of Lewis's
+River with the Columbia, they found by observation that they were in
+latitude 46 deg. 15', and longitude 119 deg. They measured the two rivers by
+angles, and found, that, at the junction, the Columbia is 960 yards
+wide; and Lewis's River, 575: but, below their junction, the joint
+river is from one to three miles in width, including the islands. From
+the point of junction, the country is a continued plain, rising
+gradually from the water. There is through this plain no tree, and
+scarcely any shrub, except a few willow-bushes; and, even of smaller
+plants, there is not much besides the prickly-pear, which is abundant.
+
+In the course of the day, Capt. Clarke, in a small canoe, with two men,
+ascended the Columbia. At the distance of five miles, he came to a small
+but not dangerous rapid. On the bank of the river opposite to this is a
+fishing-place, consisting of three neat houses. Here were great
+quantities of salmon drying on scaffolds; and, from the mouth of the
+river upwards, he saw immense numbers of dead salmon strewed along the
+shore, or floating on the water.
+
+The Indians, who had collected on the banks to view him, now joined him
+in eighteen canoes, and accompanied him up the river. A mile above the
+rapids, he observed three houses of mats, and landed to visit them. On
+entering one of the houses, he found it crowded with men, women, and
+children, who immediately provided a mat for him to sit on; and one of
+the party undertook to prepare something to eat. He began by bringing
+in a piece of pine-wood that had drifted down the river, which he split
+into small pieces with a wedge made of the elk's horn, by means of a
+mallet of stone curiously carved. The pieces were then laid on the fire,
+and several round stones placed upon them. One of the squaws now brought
+a bucket of water, in which was a large salmon about half dried; and, as
+the stones became heated, they were put into the bucket till the salmon
+was sufficiently boiled. It was then taken out, put on a platter of
+rushes neatly made, and laid before Capt. Clarke. Another was boiled for
+each of his men. Capt. Clarke found the fish excellent.
+
+At another island, four miles distant, the inhabitants were occupied in
+splitting and drying salmon. The multitudes of this fish are almost
+inconceivable. The water is so clear, that they can readily be seen at
+the depth of fifteen or twenty feet; but at this season they float in
+such quantities down the stream, and are drifted ashore, that the
+Indians have nothing to do but collect, split, and dry them. The Indians
+assured him by signs that they often used dry fish as fuel for the
+common occasions of cooking. The evening coming on, he returned to camp.
+
+Capt. Clarke, in the course of his excursion, shot several grouse and
+ducks; also a prairie-cock,--a bird of the pheasant kind, about the size
+of a small turkey. It measured, from the beak to the end of the toe, two
+feet six inches; from the extremity of the wings, three feet six inches;
+and the feathers of the tail were thirteen inches long. This bird we
+have seen nowhere except upon this river. Its chief food is the
+grasshopper, and the seeds of wild plants peculiar to this river and the
+Upper Missouri.
+
+
+ADVENTURE OF CAPT. CLARKE.
+
+Oct. 19.--Having resumed their descent of the Columbia, they came to a
+very dangerous rapid. In order to lighten the boats, Capt. Clarke
+landed, and walked to the foot of the rapid. Arriving there before
+either of the boats, except a canoe, he sat down on a rock to wait for
+them; and, seeing a crane fly across the river, shot it, and it fell
+near him. Several Indians had been, before this, passing on the opposite
+side; and some of them, alarmed at his appearance or the report of the
+gun, fled to their houses. Capt. Clarke was afraid that these people
+might not have heard that white men were coming: therefore, in order to
+allay their uneasiness before the whole party should arrive, he got into
+the canoe with three men, and rowed over towards the houses, and, while
+crossing, shot a duck, which fell into the water. As he approached, no
+person was to be seen, except three men; and they also fled as he came
+near the shore. He landed before five houses close to each other; but no
+person appeared: and the doors, which were of mat, were closed. He went
+towards one of them with a pipe in his hand, and, pushing aside the mat,
+entered the lodge, where he found thirty-two persons, men and women,
+with a few children, all in the greatest consternation; some hanging
+down their heads; others crying, and wringing their hands. He went up to
+them all, and shook hands with them in the most friendly manner. Their
+apprehensions gradually subsided, but revived on his taking out a
+burning-glass (there being no roof to the lodge), and lighting his pipe.
+Having at length restored some confidence by the gift of some small
+presents, he visited some other houses, where he found the inhabitants
+similarly affected. Confidence was not completely attained until the
+boats arrived, and then the two chiefs who accompanied the party
+explained the friendly intentions of the expedition. The sight of
+Chaboneau's wife also dissipated any remaining doubts, as it is not the
+practice among the Indians to allow women to accompany a war-party.
+
+To account for their fears, they told the two chiefs that they had seen
+the white men fall from the sky. Having heard the report of Capt.
+Clarke's rifle, and seen the birds fall, and not having seen him till
+after the shot, they fancied that he had himself dropped from the
+clouds.
+
+This belief was strengthened, when, on entering the lodge, he brought
+down fire from heaven by means of his burning-glass. We soon convinced
+them that we were only mortals; and, after one of our chiefs had
+explained our history and objects, we all smoked together in great
+harmony.
+
+Our encampment that night was on the river-bank opposite an island, on
+which were twenty-four houses of Indians, all of whom were engaged in
+drying fish. We had scarcely landed when about a hundred of them came
+over to visit us, bringing with them a present of some wood, which was
+very acceptable. We received them in as kind a manner as we could,
+smoked with them, and gave the principal chief a string of wampum; but
+the highest satisfaction they enjoyed was in the music of our two
+violins, with which they seemed much delighted. They remained all night
+at our fires.
+
+
+AN INDIAN BURYING-PLACE.
+
+We walked to the head of the island for the purpose of examining a
+vault, or burying-place, which we had remarked in coming along. The
+place in which the dead are deposited is a building about sixty feet
+long and twelve feet wide, formed by placing in the ground poles, or
+forks, six feet high, across which a long pole is extended the whole
+length of the structure. Against this ridge-pole are placed broad
+boards, and pieces of wood, in a slanting direction, so as to form a
+shed. The structure stands east and west, open at both ends. On entering
+the western end, we observed a number of bodies wrapped carefully in
+leather robes, and arranged in rows on boards, which were then covered
+with a mat. This part of the building was destined for those who had
+recently died. A little farther on, limbs, half decayed, were scattered
+about; and in the centre of the building was a large pile of them heaped
+promiscuously. At the eastern extremity was a mat, on which twenty-one
+skulls were arranged in a circular form: the mode of interment being
+first to wrap the body in robes; and, as it decays, the bones are thrown
+into the heap, and the skulls placed together in order. From the
+different boards and pieces of wood which form the vault were suspended
+on the inside fishing-nets, baskets, wooden bowls, robes, skins,
+trenchers, and trinkets of various kinds, intended as offerings of
+affection to deceased relatives. On the outside of the vault were the
+skeletons of several horses, and great quantities of bones in the
+neighborhood, which induced us to believe that these animals were
+sacrificed at the funeral-rites of their masters.
+
+In other parts of the route, the travellers found a different species of
+cemetery. The dead were placed in canoes, and these canoes were raised
+above the ground by a scaffolding of poles. The motive was supposed to
+be to protect them from wild beasts.
+
+
+FALLS OF THE COLUMBIA.
+
+About a hundred and fifty miles below the junction of Lewis's River, we
+reached the Great Falls. At the commencement of the pitch, which
+includes the falls, we landed, and walked down to examine them, and
+ascertain on which side we could make a portage most easily. From the
+lower end of the island, where the rapids begin, to the perpendicular
+fall, is about two miles. Here the river contracts, when the water is
+low, to a very narrow space; and, with only a short distance of swift
+water, it makes its plunge twenty feet perpendicularly; after which it
+rushes on, among volcanic rocks, through a channel four miles in length,
+and then spreads out into a gentle, broad current.
+
+We will interrupt the narrative here to introduce from later travellers
+some pictures of the remarkable region to which our explorers had now
+arrived. It was not to be expected that Capts. Lewis and Clarke should
+have taxed themselves, in their anxious and troubled march, to describe
+natural wonders, however striking.
+
+Lieut. Fremont thus describes this remarkable spot:--
+
+     THE DALLES.--"In a few miles we descended to the river, which
+     we reached at one of its highly interesting features, known as
+     the Dalles of the Columbia. The whole volume of the river at
+     this place passes between the walls of a chasm, which has the
+     appearance of having been rent through the basaltic strata
+     which form the valley-rock of the region. At the narrowest
+     place, we found the breadth, by measurement, fifty-eight yards,
+     and the average height of the walls above the water twenty-five
+     feet, forming a trough between the rocks; whence the name,
+     probably applied by a Canadian voyageur."
+
+The same scene is described by Theodore Winthrop in his "Canoe and
+Saddle:"--
+
+     "The Dalles of the Columbia, upon which I was now looking,
+     must be studied by the American Dante, whenever he comes, for
+     imagery to construct his Purgatory, if not his Inferno. At
+     Walla-walla, two great rivers, Clarke's and Lewis's, drainers
+     of the continent north and south, unite to form the Columbia.
+     It flows furiously for a hundred and twenty miles westward.
+     When it reaches the dreary region where the outlying ridges of
+     the Cascade chain commence, it finds a great, low surface,
+     paved with enormous polished sheets of basaltic rock. These
+     plates, in French, _dalles_, give the spot its name. The great
+     river, a mile wide not far above, finds but a narrow rift in
+     this pavement for its passage. The rift gradually draws its
+     sides closer, and, at the spot now called the Dalles,
+     subdivides into three mere slits in the sharp-edged rock. At
+     the highest water, there are other minor channels; but
+     generally this continental flood is cribbed and compressed
+     within its three chasms suddenly opening in the level floor,
+     each chasm hardly wider than a leap a hunted fiend might take."
+
+It is not easy to picture to one's self, from these descriptions, the
+peculiar scenery of the Dalles. Fremont understands the name as
+signifying a _trough_; while Winthrop interprets it as _plates_, or
+_slabs_, of rock. The following description by Lieut. (now Gen.) Henry
+L. Abbot, in his "Report of Explorations for a Railroad Route," &c.,
+will show that the term, in each of its meanings, is applicable to
+different parts of the channel:--
+
+     "At the Dalles of the Columbia, the river rushes through a
+     chasm only about two hundred feet wide, with vertical,
+     basaltic sides, rising from twenty to thirty feet above the
+     water. Steep hills closely border the chasm, leaving in some
+     places scarcely room on the terrace to pass on horseback. The
+     water rushes through this basaltic trough with such violence,
+     that it is always dangerous, and in some stages of the water
+     impossible, for a boat to pass down. The contraction of the
+     river-bed extends for about three miles. Near the lower end of
+     it, the channel divides into several sluices, and then
+     gradually becomes broader, until, where it makes a great bend
+     to the south, it is over a quarter of a mile in width."
+
+After this interruption, the journal is resumed:--
+
+"We soon discovered that the nearest route was on the right side, and
+therefore dropped down to the head of the rapid, unloaded the canoes,
+and took all the baggage over by land to the foot of the rapid. The
+distance is twelve hundred yards, part of it over loose sands,
+disagreeable to pass. The labor of crossing was lightened by the
+Indians, who carried some of the heavy articles for us on their horses.
+Having ascertained the best mode of bringing down the canoes, the
+operation was conducted by Capt. Clarke, by hauling the canoes over a
+point of land four hundred and fifty-seven yards to the water. One mile
+farther down, we reached a pitch of the river, which, being divided by
+two large rocks, descends with great rapidity over a fall eight feet in
+height. As the boats could not be navigated down this steep descent, we
+were obliged to land, and let them down as gently as possible by strong
+ropes of elk-skin, which we had prepared for the purpose. They all
+passed in safety, except one, which, being loosed by the breaking of the
+ropes, was driven down, but was recovered by the Indians below."
+
+Our travellers had now reached what have since been called the Cascade
+Mountains; and we must interrupt their narrative to give some notices of
+this remarkable scenery from later explorers. We quote from Abbot's
+Report:--
+
+     "There is great similarity in the general topographical
+     features of the whole Pacific slope. The Sierra Nevada in
+     California, and the Cascade range in Oregon, form a continuous
+     wall of mountains nearly parallel to the coast, and from one
+     hundred to two hundred miles distant from it. The main crest of
+     this range is rarely elevated less than six thousand feet above
+     the level of the sea, and many of its peaks tower into the
+     region of eternal snow."
+
+Lieut. Abbot thus describes a view of these peaks and of the Columbia
+River:--
+
+     "At an elevation of five thousand feet above the sea, we stood
+     upon the summit of the pass. For days we had been struggling
+     blindly through dense forests; but now the surrounding country
+     lay spread out before us for more than a hundred miles. The
+     five grand snow-peaks, Mount St. Helens, Mount Ranier, Mount
+     Adams, Mount Hood, and Mount Jefferson, rose majestically above
+     a rolling sea of dark fir-covered ridges, some of which the
+     approaching winter had already begun to mark with white. On
+     every side, as far as the eye could reach, terrific convulsions
+     of Nature had recorded their fury; and not even a thread of
+     blue smoke from the camp-fire of a wandering savage disturbed
+     the solitude of the scene."
+
+     THE COLUMBIA RIVER.--"The Columbia River forces its way through
+     the Cascade range by a pass, which, for wild and sublime
+     natural scenery, equals the celebrated passage of the Hudson
+     through the Highlands. For a distance of about fifty miles,
+     mountains covered with clinging spruces, firs, and pines, where
+     not too precipitous to afford even these a foothold, rise
+     abruptly from the water's edge to heights varying from one
+     thousand to three thousand feet. Vertical precipices of
+     columnar basalt are occasionally seen, rising from fifty to a
+     hundred feet above the river level. In other places, the long
+     mountain-walls of the river are divided by lateral canyons
+     (pronounced _canyons_), containing small tributaries, and
+     occasionally little open spots of good land, liable to be
+     overflowed at high water."
+
+CANYONS.--The plains east of the Cascade Mountains, through the
+whole extent of Oregon and California, are covered with a volcanic
+deposit composed of trap, basalt, and other rocks of the same class.
+This deposit is cleft by chasms often more than a thousand feet deep,
+at the bottom of which there usually flows a stream of clear, cold
+water. This is sometimes the only water to be procured for the distance
+of many miles; and the traveller may be perishing with thirst while he
+sees far below him a sparkling stream, from which he is separated by
+precipices of enormous height and perpendicular descent. To chasms of
+this nature the name of _canyons_ has been applied, borrowed from the
+Spaniards of Mexico. We quote Lieut. Abbot's description of the canyon of
+Des Chutes River, a tributary of the Columbia:--
+
+     "Sept. 30.--As it was highly desirable to determine accurately
+     the position and character of the canyon of Des Chutes River, I
+     started this morning with one man to follow down the creek to
+     its mouth, leaving the rest of the party in camp. Having
+     yesterday experienced the inconveniences of travelling in the
+     bottom of a canyon, I concluded to try to-day the northern
+     bluff. It was a dry, barren plain, gravelly, and sometimes
+     sandy, with a few bunches of grass scattered here and there.
+     Tracks of antelopes or deer were numerous. After crossing one
+     small ravine, and riding about five miles from camp, we found
+     ourselves on the edge of the vast canyon of the river, which,
+     far below us, was rushing through a narrow trough of basalt,
+     resembling the Dalles of the Columbia. We estimated the depth
+     of the canyon at a thousand feet. On each side, the precipices
+     were very steep, and marked in many places by horizontal lines
+     of vertical, basaltic columns, fifty or sixty feet in height.
+     The man who was with me rolled a large rock, shaped like a
+     grindstone, and weighing about two hundred pounds, from the
+     summit. It thundered down for at least a quarter of a
+     mile,--now over a vertical precipice, now over a steep mass of
+     detritus, until at length it plunged into the river with a
+     hollow roar, which echoed and re-echoed through the gorge for
+     miles. By ascending a slight hill, I obtained a fine view of
+     the surrounding country. The generally level character of the
+     great basaltic table-land around us was very manifest from this
+     point. Bounded on the west by the Cascade Mountains, the plain
+     extends far towards the south,--a sterile, treeless waste."
+
+     THE CASCADES.--"About forty miles below the Dalles, all
+     navigation is suspended by a series of rapids called the
+     Cascades. The wild grandeur of this place surpasses
+     description. The river rushes furiously over a narrow bed
+     filled with bowlders, and bordered by mountains which echo back
+     the roar of the waters. The descent at the principal rapids is
+     thirty-four feet; and the total fall at the Cascades, sixty-one
+     feet. Salmon pass up the river in great numbers; and the
+     Cascades, at certain seasons of the year, are a favorite
+     fishing resort with the Indians, who build slight stagings over
+     the water's edge, and spear the fish, or catch them in rude
+     dip-nets, as they slowly force their way up against the
+     current."
+
+We now return to our travellers.
+
+
+INDIAN MODE OF PACKING SALMON.
+
+Near our camp are five large huts of Indians engaged in drying fish, and
+preparing it for market. The manner of doing this is by first opening
+the fish, and exposing it to the sun on scaffolds. When it is
+sufficiently dried, it is pounded between two stones till it is
+pulverized, and is then placed in a basket, about two feet long and one
+in diameter, neatly made of grass and rushes, and lined with the skin of
+the salmon, stretched and dried for the purpose. Here they are pressed
+down as hard as possible, and the top covered with skins of fish, which
+are secured by cords through the holes of the basket. These baskets are
+then placed in some dry situation, the corded part upwards; seven being
+usually placed as close as they can be together, and five on the top of
+them. The whole is then wrapped up in mats, and made fast by cords.
+Twelve of these baskets, each of which contains from ninety to a hundred
+pounds, form a stack, which is now left exposed till it is sent to
+market. The fish thus preserved are kept sound and sweet for several
+years; and great quantities of it, they inform us, are sent to the
+Indians who live lower down the river, whence it finds its way to the
+whites who visit the mouth of the Columbia. We observe, both near the
+lodges and on the rocks in the river, great numbers of stacks of these
+pounded fish.
+
+Beside the salmon, there are great quantities of salmon-trout, and
+another smaller species of trout, which they save in another way. A hole
+of any size being dug, the sides and bottom are lined with straw, over
+which skins are laid. On these the fish, after being well dried, is
+laid, covered with other skins, and the hole closed with a layer of
+earth, twelve or fifteen inches deep. These supplies are for their
+winter food.
+
+The stock of fish, dried and pounded, was so abundant, that Capt. Clarke
+counted one hundred and seven stacks of them, making more than ten
+thousand pounds.
+
+
+THE INDIAN BOATMEN.
+
+The canoes used by these people are built of white cedar or pine, very
+light, wide in the middle, and tapering towards the ends; the bow being
+raised, and ornamented with carvings of the heads of animals. As the
+canoe is the vehicle of transportation, the Indians have acquired great
+dexterity in the management of it, and guide it safely over the roughest
+waves.
+
+We had an opportunity to-day of seeing the boldness of the Indians. One
+of our men shot a goose, which fell into the river, and was floating
+rapidly towards the great shoot, when an Indian, observing it, plunged
+in after it. The whole mass of the waters of the Columbia, just
+preparing to descend its narrow channel, carried the bird down with
+great rapidity. The Indian followed it fearlessly to within a hundred
+and fifty feet of the rocks, where, had he arrived, he would inevitably
+have been dashed to pieces; but, seizing his prey, he turned round, and
+swam ashore with great composure. We very willingly relinquished our
+right to the bird in favor of the Indian, who had thus secured it at the
+hazard of his life. He immediately set to work, and picked off about
+half the feathers, and then, without opening it, ran a stick through it,
+and carried it off to roast.
+
+
+INDIAN HOUSES.
+
+While the canoes were coming on, impeded by the difficulties of the
+navigation, Capt. Clarke, with two men, walked down the river-shore, and
+came to a village belonging to a tribe called Echeloots. The village
+consisted of twenty-one houses, scattered promiscuously over an elevated
+position. The houses were nearly equal in size, and of similar
+construction. A large hole, twenty feet wide and thirty in length, is
+dug to the depth of six feet. The sides are lined with split pieces of
+timber in an erect position, rising a short distance above the surface
+of the ground. These timbers are secured in their position by a pole,
+stretched along the side of the building, near the eaves, supported by a
+post at each corner. The timbers at the gable-ends rise higher, the
+middle pieces being the tallest. Supported by these, there is a
+ridge-pole running the whole length of the house, forming the top of the
+roof. From this ridge-pole to the eaves of the house are placed a number
+of small poles, or rafters, secured at each end by fibres of the cedar.
+On these poles is laid a covering of white cedar or arbor-vitae, kept on
+by strands of cedar-fibres. A small distance along the whole length of
+the ridge-pole is left uncovered for the admission of light, and to
+permit the smoke to escape. The entrance is by a small door at the
+gable-end, thirty inches high, and fourteen broad. Before this hole is
+hung a mat; and on pushing it aside, and crawling through, the descent
+is by a wooden ladder, made in the form of those used among us.
+
+One-half of the inside is used as a place of deposit for their dried
+fish, and baskets of berries: the other half, nearest the door, remains
+for the accommodation of the family. On each side are arranged, near the
+walls, beds of mats, placed on platforms or bedsteads, raised about two
+feet from the ground. In the middle of the vacant space is the fire, or
+sometimes two or three fires, when, as is usually the case, the house
+contains several families.
+
+The inhabitants received us with great kindness, and invited us to their
+houses. On entering one of them, we saw figures of men, birds, and
+different animals, cut and painted on the boards which form the sides of
+the room, the figures uncouth, and the workmanship rough; but doubtless
+they were as much esteemed by the Indians as our finest domestic
+adornments are by us. The chief had several articles, such as scarlet
+and blue cloth, a sword, a jacket, and hat, which must have been
+procured from the whites. On one side of the room were two wide split
+boards, placed together so as to make space for a rude figure of a man,
+cut and painted on them. On pointing to this, and asking what it meant,
+he said something, of which all we understood was "good," and then
+stepped to the image, and brought out his bow and quiver, which, with
+some other warlike implements, were kept behind it. The chief then
+directed his wife to hand him his _Medicine-bag_, from which he brought
+out fourteen fore-fingers, which he told us had once belonged to the
+same number of his enemies. They were shown with great exultation; and
+after an harangue, which we were left to presume was in praise of his
+exploits, the fingers were carefully replaced among the valuable
+contents of the red Medicine-bag. This bag is an object of religious
+regard, and it is a species of sacrilege for any one but its owner to
+touch it.
+
+In all the houses are images of men, of different shapes, and placed as
+ornaments in the parts of the house where they are most likely to be
+seen.
+
+
+A SUBMERGED FOREST.
+
+Oct. 30.--The river is now about three-quarters of a mile wide, with a
+current so gentle, that it does not exceed a mile and a half an hour;
+but its course is obstructed by large rocks, which seem to have fallen
+from the mountains. What is, however, most singular, is, that there are
+stumps of pine-trees scattered to some distance in the river, which has
+the appearance of having been dammed below, and forced to encroach on
+the shore.
+
+     NOTE. Rev. S. Parker says, "We noticed a remarkable
+     phenomenon,--trees standing in their natural position in the
+     river, where the water is twenty feet deep. In many places,
+     they were so numerous, that we had to pick our way with our
+     canoe as through a forest. The water is so clear, that I had an
+     opportunity of examining their position down to their spreading
+     roots, and found them in the same condition as when standing in
+     their native forest. It is evident that there has been an
+     uncommon subsidence of a tract of land, more than twenty miles
+     in length, and more than a mile in width. That the trees are
+     not wholly decayed down to low-water mark, proves that the
+     subsidence is comparatively of recent date; and their
+     undisturbed natural position proves that it took place in a
+     tranquil manner, not by any tremendous convulsion of Nature."
+
+
+THE RIVER WIDENS.--THEY MEET THE TIDE.
+
+Nov. 2, 1805.--Longitude about 122 deg. At this point the first tidewater
+commences, and the river widens to nearly a mile in extent. The low
+grounds, too, become wider; and they, as well as the mountains on each
+side, are covered with pine, spruce, cotton-wood, a species of ash, and
+some alder. After being so long accustomed to the dreary nakedness of
+the country above, the change is as grateful to the eye as it is useful
+in supplying us with fuel.
+
+The ponds in the low grounds on each side of the river are resorted to
+by vast quantities of fowls, such as swans, geese, brants, cranes,
+storks, white gulls, cormorants, and plover. The river is wide, and
+contains a great number of sea-otters. In the evening, the hunters
+brought in game for a sumptuous supper, which we shared with the
+Indians, great numbers of whom spent the night with us. During the
+night, the tide rose eighteen inches near our camp.
+
+
+A LARGE VILLAGE.--COLUMBIA VALLEY.
+
+Nov. 4.--Next day, we landed on the left bank of the river, at a village
+of twenty-five houses. All of these were thatched with straw, and built
+of bark, except one, which was about fifty feet long, built of boards,
+in the form of those higher up the river; from which it differed,
+however, in being completely above ground, and covered with broad split
+boards. This village contains about two hundred men of the Skilloot
+nation, who seem well provided with canoes, of which there were
+fifty-two (some of them very large) drawn up in front of the village.
+
+On landing, we found an Indian from up the river, who had been with us
+some days ago, and now invited us into a house, of which he appeared to
+own a part. Here he treated us with a root, round in shape, about the
+size of a small Irish potato, which they call _wappatoo_. It is the
+common arrowhead, or sagittifolia, so much esteemed by the Chinese,
+and, when roasted in the embers till it becomes soft, has an agreeable
+taste, and is a very good substitute for bread.
+
+Here the ridge of low mountains running north-west and south-east
+crosses the river, and forms the western boundary of the plain through
+which we have just passed.[3] This great plain, or valley, is about
+sixty miles wide in a straight line; while on the right and left it
+extends to a great distance. It is a fertile and delightful country,
+shaded by thick groves of tall timber, watered by small ponds, and lying
+on both sides of the river. The soil is rich, and capable of any species
+of culture; but, in the present condition of the Indians, its chief
+production is the wappatoo-root, which grows spontaneously and
+exclusively in this region. Sheltered as it is on both sides, the
+temperature is much milder than that of the surrounding country. Through
+its whole extent, it is inhabited by numerous tribes of Indians, who
+either reside in it permanently, or visit its waters in quest of fish
+and wappatoo-roots. We gave it the name of the Columbia Valley.
+
+
+COFFIN ROCK.
+
+Among some interesting islands of basalt, there is one called Coffin
+Rock, situated in the middle of the river, rising ten or fifteen feet
+above high-freshet water. It is almost entirely covered with canoes, in
+which the dead are deposited, which gives it its name. In the section of
+country from Wappatoo Island to the Pacific Ocean, the Indians, instead
+of committing their dead to the earth, deposit them in canoes; and these
+are placed in such situations as are most secure from beasts of prey,
+upon such precipices as this island, upon branches of trees, or upon
+scaffolds made for the purpose. The bodies of the dead are covered with
+mats, and split planks are placed over them. The head of the canoe is a
+little raised, and at the foot there is a hole made for water to escape.
+
+
+THEY REACH THE OCEAN.
+
+Next day we passed the mouth of a large river, a hundred and fifty yards
+wide, called by the Indians Cowalitz. A beautiful, extensive plain now
+presented itself; but, at the distance of a few miles, the hills again
+closed in upon the river, so that we could not for several miles find a
+place sufficiently level to fix our camp upon for the night.
+
+Thursday, Nov. 7.--The morning was rainy, and the fog so thick, that we
+could not see across the river. We proceeded down the river, with an
+Indian for our pilot, till, after making about twenty miles, the fog
+cleared off, and we enjoyed the delightful prospect of the
+OCEAN, the object of all our labors, the reward of all our
+endurance. This cheering view exhilarated the spirits of all the party,
+who listened with delight to the distant roar of the breakers.
+
+For ten days after our arrival at the coast, we were harassed by almost
+incessant rain. On the 12th, a violent gale of wind arose, accompanied
+with thunder, lightning, and hail. The waves were driven with fury
+against the rocks and trees, which had till then afforded us a partial
+defence. Cold and wet; our clothes and bedding rotten as well as wet;
+the canoes, our only means of escape from the place, at the mercy of the
+waves,--we were, however, fortunate enough to enjoy good health.
+
+Saturday, Nov. 16.--The morning was clear and beautiful. We put out our
+baggage to dry, and sent several of the party to hunt. The camp was in
+full view of the ocean. The wind was strong from the south-west, and
+the waves very high; yet the Indians were passing up and down the bay in
+canoes, and several of them encamped near us. The hunters brought in two
+deer, a crane, some geese and ducks, and several brant. The tide rises
+at this place eight feet six inches, and rolls over the beach in great
+waves.
+
+
+AN EXCURSION DOWN THE BAY.
+
+Capt. Clarke started on Monday, 18th November, on an excursion by land
+down the bay, accompanied by eleven men. The country is low, open, and
+marshy, partially covered with high pine and a thick undergrowth. At the
+distance of about fifteen miles they reached the cape, which forms the
+northern boundary of the river's mouth, called Cape Disappointment, so
+named by Capt. Meares, after a fruitless search for the river. It is an
+elevated circular knob, rising with a steep ascent a hundred and fifty
+feet or more above the water, covered with thick timber on the inner
+side, but open and grassy in the exposure next the sea. The opposite
+point of the bay is a very low ground, about ten miles distant, called,
+by Capt. Gray, Point Adams.
+
+The water for a great distance off the mouth of the river appears very
+shallow; and within the mouth, nearest to Point Adams, there is a large
+sand-bar, almost covered at high tide. We could not ascertain the
+direction of the deepest channel; for the waves break with tremendous
+force across the bay.
+
+Mr. Parker speaks more fully of this peculiarity of the river:--
+
+     "A difficulty of such a nature as is not easily overcome exists
+     in regard to the navigation of this river; which is, the
+     sand-bar at its entrance. It is about five miles, across the
+     bar, from Cape Disappointment out to sea. In no part of that
+     distance is the water upon the bar over eight fathoms deep, and
+     in one place only five, and the channel only about half a mile
+     in width. So wide and open is the ocean, that there is always a
+     heavy swell: and, when the wind is above a gentle breeze, there
+     are breakers quite across the bar; so that there is no passing
+     it, except when the wind and tide are both favorable. Outside
+     the bar, there is no anchorage; and there have been instances,
+     in the winter season, of ships lying off and on thirty days,
+     waiting for an opportunity to pass: and a good pilot is always
+     needed. High, and in most parts perpendicular, basaltic rocks
+     line the shores."
+
+The following is Theodore Winthrop's description of the Columbia, taken
+from his "Canoe and Saddle:"--
+
+     "A wall of terrible breakers marks the mouth of the
+     Columbia,--Achilles of rivers.
+
+     "Other mighty streams may swim feebly away seaward, may sink
+     into foul marshes, may trickle through the ditches of an oozy
+     delta, may scatter among sand-bars the currents that once moved
+     majestic and united; but to this heroic flood was destined a
+     short life and a glorious one,--a life all one strong,
+     victorious struggle, from the mountains to the sea. It has no
+     infancy: two great branches collect its waters up and down the
+     continent. They join, and the Columbia is born--to full
+     manhood. It rushes forward jubilant through its magnificent
+     chasm, and leaps to its death in the Pacific."
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[3] Since called the Coast range.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+WINTER-QUARTERS.
+
+
+November, 1805.--Having now examined the coast, it becomes necessary to
+decide on the spot for our winter-quarters. We must rely chiefly for
+subsistence upon our arms, and be guided in the choice of our residence
+by the supply of game which any particular spot may offer. The Indians
+say that the country on the opposite side of the river is better
+supplied with elk,--an animal much larger, and more easily killed, than
+the deer, with flesh more nutritive, and a skin better fitted for
+clothing. The neighborhood of the sea is, moreover, recommended by the
+facility of supplying ourselves with salt, and the hope of meeting some
+of the trading-vessels, which are expected about three months hence,
+from which we may procure a fresh supply of trinkets for our journey
+homewards. These considerations induced us to determine on visiting the
+opposite side of the bay; and, if there was an appearance of plenty of
+game, to establish ourselves there for the winter.
+
+Monday, 25th November, we set out; but, as the wind was too high to
+suffer us to cross the river, we kept near the shore, watching for a
+favorable change. On leaving our camp, seven Clatsops in a canoe
+accompanied us, but, after going a few miles, left us, and steered
+straight across through immense, high waves, leaving us in admiration at
+the dexterity with which they threw aside each wave as it threatened to
+come over their canoe.
+
+Next day, with a more favorable wind, we began to cross the river. We
+passed between some low, marshy islands, and reached the south side of
+the Columbia, and landed at a village of nine large houses. Soon after
+we landed, three Indians came down from the village with wappatoo-roots,
+which we purchased with fish-hooks.
+
+We proceeded along the shore till we came to a remarkable knob of land
+projecting about a mile and a half into the bay, about four miles round,
+while the neck of land which unites it to the main is not more than
+fifty yards across. We went round this projection, which we named Point
+William; but the waves then became so high, that we could not venture
+any farther, and therefore landed on a beautiful shore of pebbles of
+various colors, and encamped near an old Indian hut on the isthmus.
+
+
+DISCOMFORTS.
+
+Nov. 27.--It rained hard all next day, and the next, attended with a
+high wind from the south-west. It was impossible to proceed on so rough
+a sea. We therefore sent several men to hunt, and the rest of us
+remained during the day in a situation the most cheerless and
+uncomfortable. On this little neck of land, we are exposed, with a
+miserable covering which does not deserve the name of a shelter, to the
+violence of the winds. All our bedding and stores are completely wet,
+our clothes rotting with constant exposure, and no food except the dried
+fish brought from the falls, to which we are again reduced. The hunters
+all returned hungry, and drenched with rain; having seen neither deer
+nor elk, and the swans and brants too shy to be approached. At noon, the
+wind shifted to the north-west, and blew with such fury, that many trees
+were blown down near us. The gale lasted with short intervals during the
+whole night; but towards morning the wind lulled, though the rain
+continued, and the waves were still high.
+
+30th.--The hunters met with no better success this day and the next, and
+the weather continued rainy. But on Monday, 2d December, one of the
+hunters killed an elk at the distance of six miles from the camp, and a
+canoe was sent to bring it. This was the first elk we had killed on the
+west side of the Rocky Mountains; and, condemned as we have been to the
+dried fish, it forms a most acceptable food.
+
+The rain continued, with brief interruptions, during the whole month of
+December. There were occasional falls of snow, but no frost or ice.
+
+
+WINTER-QUARTERS.
+
+Capt. Lewis returned from an excursion down the bay, having left two of
+his men to guard six elks and five deer which the party had shot. He had
+examined the coast, and found a river a short distance below, on which
+we might encamp for the winter, with a sufficiency of elk for our
+subsistence within reach. This information was very satisfactory, and we
+decided on going thither as soon as we could move from the point; but it
+rained all night and the following day.
+
+Saturday, 7th December, 1805, was fair. We therefore loaded our canoes,
+and proceeded: but the tide was against us, and the waves very high; so
+that we were obliged to proceed slowly and cautiously. We at length
+turned a point, and found ourselves in a deep bay. Here we landed for
+breakfast, and were joined by a party sent out three days ago to look
+for the six elk. After breakfast, we coasted round the bay, which is
+about four miles across, and receives two rivers. We called it
+Meriwether's Bay, from the Christian name of Capt. Lewis, who was, no
+doubt, the first white man who surveyed it. On reaching the south side
+of the bay, we ascended one of the rivers for three miles to the first
+point of highland, on its western bank, and formed our camp in a thick
+grove of lofty pines about two hundred yards from the water, and thirty
+feet above the level of the high tides.
+
+
+THE CLATSOPS AT HOME.
+
+Capt. Clarke started on an expedition to the seashore, to fix upon a
+place for the salt-works. He took six men with him; but three of them
+left in pursuit of a herd of elk. He met three Indians loaded with fresh
+salmon, which they had taken, and were returning to their village,
+whither they invited him to accompany them. He agreed; and they brought
+out a canoe hid along the bank of a creek. Capt. Clarke and his party
+got on board, and in a short time were landed at the village, consisting
+of twelve houses, inhabited by twelve families of Clatsops. These houses
+were on the south exposure of a hill, and sunk about four feet deep into
+the ground; the walls, roof, and gable-ends being formed of split-pine
+boards; the descent through a small door down a ladder. There were two
+fires in the middle of the room, and the beds disposed round the walls,
+two or three feet from the floor, so as to leave room under them for
+their bags, baskets, and household articles. The floor was covered with
+mats.
+
+Capt. Clarke was received with much attention. As soon as he entered,
+clean mats were spread, and fish, berries, and roots set before him on
+small, neat platters of rushes. After he had eaten, the men of the other
+houses came and smoked with him. They appeared much neater in their
+persons than Indians generally are.
+
+Towards evening, it began to rain and blow violently; and Capt. Clarke
+therefore determined to remain during the night. When they thought his
+appetite had returned, an old woman presented him, in a bowl made of
+light-colored horn, a kind of sirup, pleasant to the taste, made from a
+species of berry common in this country, about the size of a cherry,
+called by the Indians _shelwel_. Of these berries a bread is also
+prepared, which, being boiled with roots, forms a soup, which was served
+in neat wooden trenchers. This, with some cockles, was his repast.
+
+The men of the village now collected, and began to gamble. The most
+common game was one in which one of the company was banker, and played
+against all the rest. He had a piece of bone about the size of a large
+bean; and, having agreed with any one as to the value of the stake, he
+would pass the bone with great dexterity from one hand to the other,
+singing at the same time to divert the attention of his adversary. Then,
+holding up his closed hands, his antagonist was challenged to say in
+which of them the bone was, and lost or won as he pointed to the right
+or wrong hand.
+
+To this game of hazard they abandon themselves with great ardor.
+Sometimes every thing they possess is sacrificed to it; and this evening
+several of the Indians lost all the beads which they had with them.
+
+This lasted for three hours; when, Capt. Clarke appearing disposed to
+sleep, the man who had been most attentive, and whose name was Cuskalah,
+spread two new mats by the fire; and, ordering his wife to retire to her
+own bed, the rest of the company dispersed at the same time. Capt.
+Clarke then lay down, and slept as well as the fleas would permit him.
+
+Next morning was cloudy, with some rain. He walked on the seashore, and
+observed the Indians walking up and down, and examining the shore. He
+was at a loss to understand their object till one of them explained that
+they were in search of fish, which are thrown on shore by the tide;
+adding, in English, "Sturgeon is good." There is every reason to suppose
+that these Clatsops depend for their subsistence during the winter
+chiefly on the fish thus casually thrown on the coast.
+
+After amusing himself for some time on the beach, Capt. Clarke returned
+toward the village. One of the Indians asked him to shoot a duck which
+he pointed out. He did so; and, having accidentally shot off its head,
+the bird was brought to the village, and all the Indians came round in
+astonishment. They examined the duck, the musket, and the very small
+bullet (a hundred to the pound); and then exclaimed in their language,
+"Good musket: don't understand this kind of musket."
+
+They now placed before him their best roots, fish, and sirup; after
+which he bought some berry-bread and a few roots in exchange for
+fish-hooks, and then set out to return by the same route by which he
+came. He was accompanied by Cuskalah and his brother part of the way,
+and proceeded to the camp through a heavy rain. The party had been
+occupied during his absence in cutting down trees and in hunting.
+
+Next day, two of our hunters returned with the pleasing intelligence of
+their having killed eighteen elk about six miles off. Our huts begin to
+rise; for, though it rains all day, we continue our labors, and are glad
+to find that the beautiful balsam-pine splits into excellent boards more
+than two feet in width.
+
+Dec. 15.--Capt. Clarke, with sixteen men, set out in three canoes to get
+the elk which were killed. After landing as near the spot as possible,
+the men were despatched in small parties to bring in the game; each man
+returning with a quarter of an animal. It was accomplished with much
+labor and suffering; for the rain fell incessantly.
+
+
+THE FORT COMPLETED.
+
+We now had the meat-house covered, and all our game carefully hung up in
+small pieces. Two days after, we covered in four huts. Five men were
+sent out to hunt, and five others despatched to the seaside, each with a
+large kettle, in order to begin the manufacture of salt. The rest of the
+men were employed in making pickets and gates for our fort.
+
+Dec. 31.--As if it were impossible to have twenty-four hours of pleasant
+weather, the sky last evening clouded up, and the rain began, and
+continued through the day. In the morning, there came down two
+canoes,--one from the Wahkiacum village; the other contained three men
+and a squaw of the Skilloot nation. They brought wappatoo and shanatac
+roots, dried fish, mats made of flags and rushes, dressed elk-skins, and
+tobacco, for which, particularly the skins, they asked an extravagant
+price. We purchased some wappatoo and a little tobacco, very much like
+that we had seen among the Shoshonees, put up in small, neat bags made
+of rushes. These we obtained in exchange for a few articles, among which
+fish-hooks are the most esteemed. One of the Skilloots brought a gun
+which wanted some repair; and, when we had put it in order, we received
+from him a present of about a peck of wappatoo. We then gave him a piece
+of sheepskin and blue cloth to cover the lock, and he very thankfully
+offered a further present of roots. There is an obvious superiority of
+these Skilloots over the Wahkiacums, who are intrusive, thievish, and
+impertinent. Our new regulations, however, and the appearance of the
+sentinel, have improved the behavior of all our Indian visitors. They
+left the fort before sunset, even without being ordered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+A NEW YEAR.
+
+
+We were awaked at an early hour by the discharge of a volley of
+small-arms to salute the new year. This is the only way of doing honor
+to the day which our situation admits; for our only dainties are boiled
+elk and wappatoo, enlivened by draughts of water.
+
+Next day, we were visited by the chief, Comowool, and six Clatsops.
+Besides roots and berries, they brought for sale three dogs. Having been
+so long accustomed to live on the flesh of dogs, the most of us have
+acquired a fondness for it; and any objection to it is overcome by
+reflecting, that, while we subsisted on that food, we were fatter,
+stronger, and in better health, than at any period since leaving the
+buffalo country, east of the mountains.
+
+The Indians also brought with them some whale's blubber, which they
+obtained, they told us, from their neighbors who live on the sea-coast,
+near one of whose villages a whale has recently been thrown and
+stranded. It was white, and not unlike the fat of pork, though of a more
+porous and spongy texture; and, on being cooked, was found to be tender
+and palatable, in flavor resembling the flesh of the beaver.
+
+Two of the five men who were despatched to make salt returned. They had
+formed an establishment about fifteen miles south-west of our fort, near
+some scattered houses of the Clatsops, where they erected a comfortable
+camp, and had killed a stock of provisions. They brought with them a
+gallon of the salt of their manufacture, which was white, fine, and very
+good. It proves to be a most agreeable addition to our food; and, as
+they can make three or four quarts a day, we have a prospect of a
+plentiful supply.
+
+
+THE WHALE.
+
+The appearance of the whale seemed to be a matter of importance to all
+the neighboring Indians; and in hopes that we might be able to procure
+some of it for ourselves, or at least purchase some from the Indians, a
+small parcel of merchandise was prepared, and a party of men got in
+readiness to set out in the morning. As soon as this resolution was
+known, Chaboneau and his wife requested that they might be permitted to
+accompany us. The poor woman urged very earnestly that she had travelled
+a great way with us to see the great water, yet she had never been down
+to the coast; and, now that this monstrous fish also was to be seen, it
+seemed hard that she should not be permitted to see either the ocean or
+the whale. So reasonable a request could not be denied: they were
+therefore suffered to accompany Capt. Clarke, who next day, after an
+early breakfast, set out with twelve men in two canoes.
+
+He proceeded down the river on which we are encamped into Meriwether
+Bay; from whence he passed up a creek three miles to some high, open
+land, where he found a road. He there left the canoes, and followed the
+path over deep marshes to a pond about a mile long. Here they saw a herd
+of elk; and the men were divided into small parties, and hunted them
+till after dark. Three of the elk were wounded; but night prevented our
+taking more than one, which was brought to the camp, and cooked with
+some sticks of pine which had drifted down the creeks. The weather was
+beautiful, the sky clear, and the moon shone brightly,--a circumstance
+the more agreeable, as this is the first fair evening we have enjoyed
+for two months.
+
+Thursday, Jan. 2.--There was a frost this morning. We rose early, and
+taking eight pounds of flesh, which was all that remained of the elk,
+proceeded up the south fork of the creek. At the distance of two miles
+we found a pine-tree, which had been felled by one of our salt-makers,
+on which we crossed the deepest part of the creek, and waded through the
+rest. We then went over an open, ridgy prairie, three-quarters of a mile
+to the sea-beach; after following which for three miles, we came to the
+mouth of a beautiful river, with a bold, rapid current, eighty-five
+yards wide, and three feet deep in its shallowest crossings. On its
+north-east side are the remains of an old village of Clatsops, inhabited
+by only a single family, who appeared miserably poor and dirty. We gave
+the man two fish-hooks to ferry the party over the river, which, from
+the tribe on its banks, we called Clatsop River. The creek which we had
+passed on a tree approaches this river within about a hundred yards,
+and, by means of a portage, supplies a communication with the villages
+near Point Adams.
+
+After going on for two miles, we found the salt-makers encamped near
+four houses of Clatsops and Killimucks, who, though poor and dirty,
+seemed kind and well-disposed. We persuaded a young Indian, by the
+present of a file and a promise of some other articles, to guide us to
+the spot where the whale lay. He led us for two and a half miles over
+the round, slippery stones at the foot of a high hill projecting into
+the sea, and then, suddenly stopping, and uttering the word "peshack,"
+or bad, explained by signs that we could no longer follow the coast, but
+must cross the mountain. This threatened to be a most laborious
+undertaking; for the side was nearly perpendicular, and the top lost in
+clouds. He, however, followed an Indian path, which wound along, and
+favored the ascent as much as possible; but it was so steep, that, at
+one place, we were forced to draw ourselves up for about a hundred feet
+by means of bushes and roots.
+
+
+CLARKE'S POINT OF VIEW.
+
+At length, after two hours' labor, we reached the top of the mountain,
+where we looked down with astonishment on the height of ten or twelve
+hundred feet which we had ascended. We were here met by fourteen Indians
+loaded with oil and blubber, the spoils of the whale, which they were
+carrying in very heavy burdens over this rough mountain. On leaving
+them, we proceeded over a bad road till night, when we encamped on a
+small run. We were all much fatigued: but the weather was pleasant;
+and, for the first time since our arrival here, an entire day has passed
+without rain.
+
+In the morning we set out early, and proceeded to the top of the
+mountain, the highest point of which is an open spot facing the ocean.
+It is situated about thirty miles south-east of Cape Disappointment, and
+projects nearly two and a half miles into the sea. Here one of the most
+delightful views imaginable presents itself. Immediately in front is the
+ocean, which breaks with fury on the coast, from the rocks of Cape
+Disappointment as far as the eye can discern to the north-west, and
+against the highlands and irregular piles of rock which diversify the
+shore to the south-east. To this boisterous scene, the Columbia, with
+its tributary waters, widening into bays as it approaches the ocean, and
+studded on both sides with the Chinook and Clatsop villages, forms a
+charming contrast; while immediately beneath our feet are stretched rich
+prairies, enlivened by three beautiful streams, which conduct the eye to
+small lakes at the foot of the hills. We stopped to enjoy the romantic
+view from this place, which we distinguished by the name of Clarke's
+Point of View, and then followed our guide down the mountain.
+
+
+THE WHALE.
+
+The descent was steep and dangerous. In many places, the hillsides,
+which are formed principally of yellow clay, have been loosened by the
+late rains, and are slipping into the sea in large masses of fifty and a
+hundred acres. In other parts, the path crosses the rugged,
+perpendicular, basaltic rocks which overhang the sea, into which a false
+step would have precipitated us.
+
+The mountains are covered with a very thick growth of timber, chiefly
+pine and fir; some trees of which, perfectly sound and solid, rise to
+the height of two hundred and ten feet, and are from eight to twelve in
+diameter. Intermixed is the white cedar, or arbor-vitae, and some trees
+of black alder, two or three feet thick, and sixty or seventy in height.
+At length we reached the sea-level, and continued for two miles along
+the sand-beach, and soon after reached the place where the waves had
+thrown the whale on shore. The animal had been placed between two
+villages of Killimucks; and such had been their industry, that there now
+remained nothing but the skeleton, which we found to be a hundred and
+five feet in length. Capt. Clarke named the place Ecola, or Whale
+Creek.
+
+The natives were busied in boiling the blubber in a large square trough
+of wood by means of heated stones, preserving the oil thus extracted in
+bladders and the entrails of the whale. The refuse pieces of the
+blubber, which still contained a portion of oil, were hung up in large
+flitches, and, when wanted for use, were warmed on a wooden spit before
+the fire, and eaten, either alone, or with roots of the rush and
+shanatac. The Indians, though they had great quantities, parted with it
+very reluctantly, at such high prices, that our whole stock of
+merchandise was exhausted in the purchase of about three hundred pounds
+of blubber and a few gallons of oil.
+
+Next morning was fine, the wind from the north-east; and, having divided
+our stock of the blubber, we began at sunrise to retrace our steps in
+order to reach our encampment, which we called Fort Clatsop, thirty-five
+miles distant, with as little delay as possible. We met several parties
+of Indians on their way to trade for blubber and oil with the
+Killimucks: we also overtook a party returning from the village, and
+could not but regard with astonishment the heavy loads which the women
+carry over these fatiguing and dangerous paths. As one of the women was
+descending a steep part of the mountain, her load slipped from her back;
+and she stood holding it by a strap with one hand, and with the other
+supporting herself by a bush. Capt. Clarke, being near her, undertook to
+replace the load, and found it almost as much as he could lift, and
+above one hundred pounds in weight. Loaded as they were, they kept pace
+with us till we reached the salt-makers' camp, where we passed the
+night, while they continued their route.
+
+Next day, we proceeded across Clatsop River to the place where we had
+left our canoes, and, as the tide was coming in, immediately embarked
+for the fort, at which place we arrived about ten o'clock at night.
+
+
+DREWYER, THE HUNTER.
+
+Jan. 12, 1806.--Two hunters had been despatched in the morning; and one
+of them, Drewyer, had, before evening, killed seven elks. We should
+scarcely be able to subsist, were it not for the exertions of this
+excellent hunter. The game is scarce; and none is now to be seen except
+elk, which, to almost all the men, are very difficult to be procured.
+But Drewyer, who is the offspring of a Canadian Frenchman and an Indian
+woman, has passed his life in the woods, and unites in a wonderful
+degree the dexterous aim of the frontier huntsman with the sagacity of
+the Indian in pursuing the faintest tracks through the forest. All our
+men have indeed become so expert with the rifle, that, when there is
+game of any kind, we are almost certain of procuring it.
+
+Monday, Jan. 13.--Capt. Lewis took all the men who could be spared, and
+brought in the seven elk, which they found untouched by the wolves. The
+last of the candles which we brought with us being exhausted, we now
+began to make others of elk-tallow. We also employed ourselves in
+jerking the meat of the elk. We have three of the canoes drawn up out of
+the reach of the water, and the other secured by a strong cord, so as to
+be ready for use if wanted.
+
+Jan. 16.--To-day we finished curing our meat; and having now a plentiful
+supply of elk and salt, and our houses dry and comfortable, we wait
+patiently for the moment of resuming our journey.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+WINTER LIFE.
+
+
+Jan. 18, 1806.--We are all occupied in dressing skins, and preparing
+clothes for our journey homewards. This morning, we sent out two parties
+of hunters in different directions. We were visited by three Clatsops,
+who came merely for the purpose of smoking and conversing with us.
+
+Jan. 21.--Two of the hunters came back with three elks, which form a
+timely addition to our stock of provision. The Indian visitors left us
+at twelve o'clock.
+
+The Clatsops and other nations have visited us with great freedom.
+Having acquired much of their language, we are enabled, with the
+assistance of gestures, to hold conversations with great ease. We find
+them inquisitive and loquacious; by no means deficient in acuteness.
+They are generally cheerful, but seldom gay. Every thing they see
+excites their attention and inquiries.
+
+Their treatment of women and old men depends very much on the usefulness
+of these classes. Thus, among the Clatsops and Chinooks, who live upon
+fish and roots, which the women are equally expert with the men in
+procuring, the women have a rank and influence far greater than they
+have among the hunting tribes. On many subjects their judgments and
+opinions are respected; and, in matters of trade, their advice is
+generally asked and followed. So with the old men: when one is unable to
+pursue the chase, his counsels may compensate for his want of activity;
+but in the next state of infirmity, when he can no longer travel from
+camp to camp as the tribe roams about for subsistence, he is found to be
+a burden. In this condition they are abandoned among the Sioux and other
+hunting-tribes of the Missouri. As the tribe are setting out for some
+new excursion where the old man is unable to follow, his children or
+nearest relations place before him a piece of meat and some water; and
+telling him that he has lived long enough, that it is now time for him
+to go home to his relations, who can take better care of him than his
+friends on earth, they leave him without remorse to perish, when his
+little supply is exhausted.
+
+Though this is doubtless true as a general rule, yet, in the villages of
+the Minnetarees and Ricaras, we saw no want of kindness to old men: on
+the contrary, probably because in villages the more abundant means of
+subsistence renders such cruelty unnecessary, the old people appeared to
+be treated with attention; and some of their feasts, particularly the
+buffalo-dances, were intended chiefly as an occasion of contribution for
+the old and infirm.
+
+
+FLATHEAD INDIANS.
+
+The custom of flattening the head by artificial pressure during infancy
+prevails among all the nations we have seen west of the Rocky Mountains.
+To the east of that barrier the fashion is so perfectly unused, that
+they designate the western Indians, of whatever tribe, by the common
+name of Flatheads. The practice is universal among the Killimucks,
+Clatsops, Chinooks, and Cathlamahs,--the four nations with whom we have
+had most intercourse. Soon after the birth of her child, the mother
+places it in the compressing-frame, where it is kept for ten or twelve
+months. The operation is so gradual, that it is not attended with pain.
+The heads of the children, when they are released from the bandage, are
+not more than two inches thick about the upper edge of the forehead:
+nor, with all its efforts, can nature ever restore their shape; the
+heads of grown persons being often in a straight line from the tip of
+the nose to the top of the forehead.
+
+
+TEMPERANCE.--GAMBLING.
+
+Their houses usually contain several families, consisting of parents,
+sons and daughters, daughters-in-law and grand-children, among whom the
+provisions are in common, and harmony seldom interrupted. As these
+families gradually expand into tribes, or nations, the paternal
+authority is represented by the chief of each association. The
+chieftainship is not hereditary: the chief's ability to render service
+to his neighbors, and the popularity which follows it, is the foundation
+of his authority, which does not extend beyond the measure of his
+personal influence.
+
+The harmony of their private life is protected by their ignorance of
+spirituous liquors. Although the tribes near the coast have had so much
+intercourse with the whites, they do not appear to possess any
+knowledge of those dangerous luxuries; at least, they have never
+inquired of us for them. Indeed, we have not observed any liquor of an
+intoxicating quality used among any Indians west of the Rocky Mountains;
+the universal beverage being pure water. They, however, almost
+intoxicate themselves by smoking tobacco, of which they are excessively
+fond. But the common vice of all these people is an attachment to games
+of chance, which they pursue with a ruinous avidity. The game of the
+pebble has already been described. Another game is something like the
+play of ninepins. Two pins are placed on the floor, about the distance
+of a foot from each other, and a small hole made in the earth behind
+them. The players then go about ten feet from the hole, into which they
+try to roll a small piece resembling the men used at checkers. If they
+succeed in putting it into the hole, they win the stake. If the piece
+rolls between the pins, but does not go into the hole, nothing is won or
+lost; but the wager is lost if the checker rolls outside the pins.
+Entire days are wasted at these games, which are often continued through
+the night round the blaze of their fires, till the last article of
+clothing or the last blue bead is lost and won.
+
+
+TREES.
+
+The whole neighborhood of the coast is supplied with great quantities of
+excellent timber. The predominant growth is the fir, of which we have
+seen several species. The first species grows to an immense size, and is
+very commonly twenty-seven feet in circumference, six feet above the
+earth's surface. They rise to the height of two hundred and thirty feet,
+and one hundred and twenty of that height without a limb. We have often
+found them thirty-six feet in circumference. One of our party measured
+one, and found it to be forty-two feet in circumference at a point
+beyond the reach of an ordinary man. This tree was perfectly sound; and,
+at a moderate calculation, its height may be estimated at three hundred
+feet.
+
+The second is a much more common species, and constitutes at least
+one-half of the timber in this neighborhood. It resembles the spruce,
+rising from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and eighty feet; and is
+from four to six feet in diameter, straight, round, and regularly
+tapering.
+
+The stem of the black alder arrives at a great size. It is sometimes
+found growing to the height of sixty or seventy feet, and is from two to
+four in diameter.
+
+There is a tree, common on the Columbia River, much resembling the ash,
+and another resembling the white maple, though much smaller.
+
+The undergrowth consists of honeysuckle, alder, whortleberry, a plant
+like the mountain-holly, green brier, and fern.
+
+
+ANIMALS.
+
+The beaver of this country is large and fat: the flesh is very
+palatable, and, at our table, was a real luxury. On the 7th of January,
+our hunter found a beaver in his trap, of which he made a bait for
+taking others. This bait will entice the beaver to the trap as far as he
+can smell it; and this may be fairly stated to be at the distance of a
+mile, as their sense of smelling is very acute.
+
+The sea-otter resides only on the sea-coast or in the neighborhood of
+the salt water. When fully grown, he attains to the size of a large
+mastiff dog. The ears, which are not an inch in length, are thick,
+pointed, fleshy, and covered with short hair; the tail is ten inches
+long, thick at the point of insertion, and partially covered with a deep
+fur on the upper side; the legs are very short, covered with fur, and
+the feet with short hair. The body of this animal is long, and of the
+same thickness throughout. From the extremity of the tail to the nose,
+they measure five feet. The color is a uniform dark brown, and when in
+good condition, and in season, perfectly black. This animal is
+unrivalled for the beauty, richness, and softness of his fur. The inner
+part of the fur, when opened, is lighter than the surface in its natural
+position. There are some black and shining hairs intermixed with the
+fur, which are rather longer, and add much to its beauty.
+
+
+HORSES AND DOGS.
+
+The horse is confined chiefly to the nations inhabiting the great plains
+of the Columbia, extending from latitude forty to fifty north, and
+occupying the tract of country lying between the Rocky Mountains and a
+range of mountains which crosses the Columbia River about the great
+falls. In this region they are very numerous.
+
+They appear to be of an excellent race, lofty, well formed, active, and
+enduring. Many of them appear like fine English coursers. Some of them
+are pied, with large spots of white irregularly scattered, and
+intermixed with a dark-brown bay. The greater part, however, are of a
+uniform color, marked with stars, and white feet. The natives suffer
+them to run at large in the plains, the grass of which affords them
+their only winter subsistence; their masters taking no trouble to lay in
+a winter's store for them. They will, nevertheless, unless much
+exercised, fatten on the dry grass afforded by the plains during the
+winter. The plains are rarely moistened by rain, and the grass is
+consequently short and thin.
+
+Whether the horse was originally a native of this country or not, the
+soil and climate appear to be perfectly well adapted to his nature.
+Horses are said to be found wild in many parts of this country.
+
+The dog is small, about the size of an ordinary cur. He is usually
+party-colored; black, white, brown, and brindle being the colors most
+predominant. The head is long, the nose pointed, the eyes small, the
+ears erect and pointed like those of the wolf. The hair is short and
+smooth, excepting on the tail, where it is long and straight, like that
+of the ordinary cur-dog. The natives never eat the flesh of this animal,
+and he appears to be in no other way serviceable to them but in hunting
+the elk. To us, on the contrary, it has now become a favorite food; for
+it is found to be a strong, healthy diet, preferable to lean deer or
+elk, and much superior to horse-flesh in any state.
+
+
+BURROWING SQUIRREL.
+
+There are several species of squirrels not different from those found in
+the Atlantic States. There is also a species of squirrel, evidently
+distinct, which we denominate the burrowing squirrel. He measures one
+foot five inches in length, of which the tail comprises two and a half
+inches only. The neck and legs are short; the ears are likewise short,
+obtusely pointed, and lie close to the head. The eyes are of a moderate
+size, the pupil black, and the iris of a dark, sooty brown. The teeth,
+and indeed the whole contour, resemble those of the squirrel.
+
+These animals associate in large companies, occupying with their burrows
+sometimes two hundred acres of land. The burrows are separate, and each
+contains ten or twelve of these inhabitants. There is a little mound in
+front of the hole, formed of the earth thrown out of the burrow; and
+frequently there are three or four distinct holes, forming one burrow,
+with their entrances around the base of a mound. These mounds, about two
+feet in height and four in diameter, are occupied as watch-towers by the
+inhabitants of these little communities. The squirrels are irregularly
+distributed about the tract they thus occupy,--ten, twenty, or thirty
+yards apart. When any person approaches, they make a shrill whistling
+sound, somewhat resembling "tweet, tweet, tweet;" the signal for their
+party to take the alarm, and to retire into their intrenchments. They
+feed on the grass of their village, the limits of which they never
+venture to exceed. As soon as the frost commences, they shut themselves
+up in their caverns, and continue until the spring opens.
+
+
+BIRDS.
+
+THE GROUSE, OR PRAIRIE-HEN.--This is peculiarly the inhabitant
+of the great plains of the Columbia, but does not differ from those of
+the upper portion of the Missouri. In the winter season, this bird is
+booted to the first joint of the toes. The toes are curiously bordered
+on their lower edges with narrow, hard scales, which are placed very
+close to each other, and extend horizontally about one-eighth of an inch
+on each side of the toes, adding much to the broadness of the feet,--a
+security which Nature has furnished them for passing over the snow with
+more ease,--and, what is very remarkable, in the summer season these
+scales drop from the feet. The color of this bird is a mixture of dark
+brown, reddish, and yellowish brown, with white confusedly mixed. The
+reddish-brown prevails most on the upper parts of the body, wings, and
+tail; and the white, under the belly and the lower parts of the breast
+and tail. They associate in large flocks in autumn and winter; and, even
+in summer, are seen in companies of five or six. They feed on grass,
+insects, leaves of various shrubs in the plains, and the seeds of
+several species of plants which grow in richer soils. In winter, their
+food consists of the buds of the willow and cottonwood, and native
+berries.
+
+The cock of the plains is found on the plains of the Columbia in great
+abundance. The beak is large, short, covered, and convex; the upper
+exceeding the lower chap. The nostrils are large, and the back black.
+The color is a uniform mixture of a dark-brown, resembling the dove, and
+a reddish or yellowish brown, with some small black specks. The habits
+of this bird resemble those of the grouse, excepting that his food is
+the leaf and buds of the pulpy-leaved thorn. The flesh is dark, and only
+tolerable in point of flavor.
+
+
+HORNED FROG.
+
+The horned lizard, or horned frog, called, for what reason we never
+could learn, the prairie buffalo, is a native of these plains as well
+as of those of the Missouri. The color is generally brown, intermixed
+with yellowish spots. The animal is covered with minute scales,
+interspersed with small horny points, or prickles, on the upper surface
+of the body. The belly and throat resemble those of the frog, and are of
+a light yellowish-brown. The edge of the belly is likewise beset with
+small horny projections. The eye is small and dark. Above and behind the
+eyes there are several bony projections, which resemble horns sprouting
+from the head.
+
+These animals are found in greatest numbers in the sandy, open plains,
+and appear most abundant after a shower of rain. They are sometimes
+found basking in the sunshine, but generally conceal themselves in
+little holes of the earth. This may account for their appearance in such
+numbers after rain, as their holes may thus be rendered untenantable.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE RETURN.
+
+
+March, 1806.--Many reasons had inclined us to remain at Fort Clatsop
+till the 1st of April. Besides the want of fuel in the Columbian plains,
+and the impracticability of crossing the mountains before the beginning
+of June, we were anxious to see some of the foreign traders, from whom,
+by our ample letters of credit, we might recruit our exhausted stores of
+merchandise. About the middle of March, however, we became seriously
+alarmed for the want of food. The elk, our chief dependence, had at
+length deserted its usual haunts in our neighborhood, and retreated to
+the mountains. We were too poor to purchase food from the Indians; so
+that we were sometimes reduced, notwithstanding all the exertions of our
+hunters, to a single day's provision in advance. The men too, whom the
+constant rains and confinement had rendered unhealthy, might, we hoped,
+be benefited by leaving the coast, and resuming the exercise of
+travelling. We therefore determined to leave Fort Clatsop, ascend the
+river slowly, consume the month of March in the woody country, where we
+hoped to find subsistence, and in this way reach the plains about the
+1st of April, before which time it will be impossible to cross them.
+
+During the winter, we have been very industrious in dressing skins; so
+that we now have a sufficient quantity of clothing, besides between
+three and four hundred pairs of moccasons. But the whole stock of goods
+on which we are to depend for the purchase of horses or of food, during
+the long journey of four thousand miles, is so much diminished, that it
+might all be tied in two handkerchiefs. We therefore feel that our chief
+dependence must be on our guns, which, fortunately, are all in good
+order, as we took the precaution of bringing a number of extra locks,
+and one of our men proved to be an excellent gunsmith. The powder had
+been secured in leaden canisters; and, though on many occasions they had
+been under water, it remained perfectly dry: and we now found ourselves
+in possession of one hundred and forty pounds of powder, and twice that
+weight of lead,--a stock quite sufficient for the route homewards.
+
+We were now ready to leave Fort Clatsop; but the rain prevented us for
+several days from calking the canoes, and we were forced to wait for
+calm weather before we could attempt to pass Point William, which
+projects about a mile and a half into the sea, forming, as it were, the
+dividing-line between the river and the ocean; for the water below is
+salt, while that above is fresh.
+
+On March 23, at one o'clock in the afternoon, we took a final leave of
+Fort Clatsop. We doubled Point William without any injury, and at six
+o'clock reached the mouth of a small creek, where we found our hunters.
+They had been fortunate enough to kill two elks, which were brought in,
+and served for breakfast next morning.
+
+Next day, we were overtaken by two Wahkiacums, who brought two dogs, for
+which they wanted us to give them some tobacco; but, as we had very
+little of that article left, they were obliged to go away disappointed.
+We received at the same time an agreeable supply of three eagles and a
+large goose, brought in by the hunters.
+
+We passed the entrance of Cowalitz River, seventy miles from our winter
+camp. This stream enters the Columbia from the north; is one hundred and
+fifty yards wide; deep and navigable, as the Indians assert, for a
+considerable distance; and probably waters the country west and north of
+the Cascade Mountains, which cross the Columbia between the great falls
+and rapids. During the day, we passed a number of fishing-camps on both
+sides of the river, and were constantly attended by small parties of
+Skilloots, who behaved in the most orderly manner, and from whom we
+purchased as much fish and roots as we wanted, on moderate terms. The
+night continued as the day had been,--cold, wet, and disagreeable; which
+is the general character of the weather in this region at this season.
+
+March 29.--At an early hour, we resumed our route, and halted for
+breakfast at the upper end of an island where is properly the
+commencement of the great Columbian Valley. We landed at a village of
+fourteen large wooden houses. The people received us kindly, and spread
+before us wappatoo and anchovies; but, as soon as we had finished
+enjoying this hospitality (if it deserves that name), they began to ask
+us for presents. They were, however, perfectly satisfied with the small
+articles which we distributed according to custom, and equally pleased
+with our purchasing some wappatoo, twelve dogs, and two sea-otter
+skins. We also gave the chief a small medal, which he soon transferred
+to his wife.
+
+April 1.--We met a number of canoes filled with families descending the
+river. These people told us that they lived at the Great Rapids, but
+that a scarcity of provisions there had induced them to come down in
+hopes of finding subsistence in this fertile valley. All those who lived
+at the rapids, as well as the nations above them, they said, were in
+much distress for want of food, having consumed their winter store of
+dried fish, and not expecting the return of the salmon before the next
+full moon, which will be on the 2d of May.
+
+This intelligence was disagreeable and embarrassing. From the falls to
+the Chopunnish nation, the plains afford no deer, elk, or antelope, on
+which we can rely for subsistence. The horses are very poor at this
+season; and the dogs must be in the same condition, if their food, the
+fish, have failed. On the other hand, it is obviously inexpedient to
+wait for the return of the salmon, since, in that case, we may not reach
+the Missouri before the ice will prevent our navigating it. We therefore
+decided to remain here only till we collect meat enough to last us till
+we reach the Chopunnish nation, with whom we left our horses on our
+downward journey, trusting that we shall find the animals safe, and have
+them faithfully returned to us; for, without them, the passage of the
+mountains will be almost impracticable.
+
+April 2, 1806.--Several canoes arrived to visit us; and among the party
+were two young men who belonged to a nation, which, they said, resides
+at the falls of a large river which empties itself into the south side
+of the Columbia, a few miles below us; and they drew a map of the
+country with a coal on a mat. In order to verify this information, Capt.
+Clarke persuaded one of the young men, by the present of a
+burning-glass, to accompany him to the river, in search of which he
+immediately set out with a canoe and seven of our men.
+
+In the evening, Capt. Clarke returned from his excursion. After
+descending about twenty miles, he entered the mouth of a large river,
+which was concealed, by three small islands opposite its entrance, from
+those who pass up or down the Columbia. This river, which the Indians
+call Multnomah, from a nation of the same name residing near it on
+Wappatoo Island, enters the Columbia one hundred and forty miles above
+the mouth of the latter river. The current of the Multnomah, which is
+also called Willamett, is as gentle as that of the Columbia; and it
+appears to possess water enough for the largest ship, since, on sounding
+with a line of five fathoms, they could find no bottom.
+
+Capt. Clarke ascended the river to the village of his guide. He found
+here a building two hundred and twenty-six feet in front, entirely above
+ground, and all under one roof; otherwise it would seem more like a
+range of buildings, as it is divided into seven distinct apartments,
+each thirty feet square. The roof is formed of rafters, with round poles
+laid on them longitudinally. The whole is covered with a double row of
+the bark of the white cedar, secured by splinters of dried fir, inserted
+through it at regular distances. In this manner, the roof is made light,
+strong, and durable.
+
+In the house were several old people of both sexes, who were treated
+with much respect, and still seemed healthy, though most of them were
+perfectly blind.
+
+On inquiring the cause of the decline of their village, which was shown
+pretty clearly by the remains of several deserted buildings, an old man,
+father of the guide, and a person of some distinction, brought forward a
+woman very much marked with the small-pox, and said, that, when a girl,
+she was near dying with the disorder which had left those marks, and
+that the inhabitants of the houses now in ruins had fallen victims to
+the same disease.
+
+
+WAPPATOO ISLAND AND ROOT.
+
+Wappatoo Island is a large extent of country lying between the Multnomah
+River and an arm of the Columbia. The island is about twenty miles long,
+and varies in breadth from five to ten miles. The land is high, and
+extremely fertile, and on most parts is supplied with a heavy growth of
+cottonwood, ash, and willow. But the chief wealth of this island
+consists of the numerous ponds in the interior, abounding with the
+common arrowhead (_Sagittaria sagittifolia_), to the root of which is
+attached a bulb growing beneath it, in the mud. This bulb, to which the
+Indians give the name of _wappatoo_, is the great article of food, and
+almost the staple article of commerce, on the Columbia. It is never out
+of season; so that, at all times of the year, the valley is frequented
+by the neighboring Indians who come to gather it. It is collected
+chiefly by the women, who employ for the purpose canoes from ten to
+fourteen feet in length, about two feet wide, and nine inches deep,
+tapering from the middle, where they are about twenty inches wide. They
+are sufficient to contain a single person and several bushels of roots;
+yet so light, that a woman can carry one with ease. She takes one of
+these canoes into a pond where the water is as high as the breast, and,
+by means of her toes, separates from the root this bulb, which, on being
+freed from the mud, rises immediately to the surface of the water, and
+is thrown into the canoe. In this manner, these patient females remain
+in the water for several hours, even in the depth of winter. This plant
+is found through the whole extent of the valley in which we now are, but
+does not grow on the Columbia farther eastward.
+
+
+SCENERY OF THE RIVER AND SHORES.
+
+Above the junction of the Multnomah River, we passed along under high,
+steep, and rocky sides of the mountains, which here close in on each
+side of the river, forming stupendous precipices, covered with the fir
+and white cedar. Down these heights frequently descend the most
+beautiful cascades,--one of which, a large stream, throws itself over a
+perpendicular rock, three hundred feet above the water; while other
+smaller streams precipitate themselves from a still greater elevation,
+and, separating into a mist, again collect, and form a second cascade
+before they reach the bottom of the rocks.
+
+The hills on both sides of the river are about two hundred and fifty
+feet high, generally abrupt and craggy, and in many places presenting a
+perpendicular face of black, hard, basaltic rock. From the top of these
+hills, the country extends itself, in level plains, to a very great
+distance.
+
+To one remarkable elevation we gave the name of Beacon Rock. It stands
+on the north side of the river, insulated from the hills. The northern
+side has a partial growth of fir or pine. To the south, it rises in an
+unbroken precipice to the height of seven hundred feet, where it
+terminates in a sharp point, and may be seen at the distance of twenty
+miles. This rock may be considered as the point where tidewater
+commences.
+
+April 19.--We formed our camp at the foot of the Long Narrows, a little
+above a settlement of Skilloots. Their dwellings were formed by sticks
+set in the ground, and covered with mats and straw, and so large, that
+each was the residence of several families.
+
+The whole village was filled with rejoicing at having caught a salmon,
+which was considered as the harbinger of vast quantities that would
+arrive in a few days. In the belief that it would hasten their coming,
+the Indians, according to their custom, dressed the fish, and cut it
+into small pieces, one of which was given to every child in the village;
+and, in the good humor excited by this occurrence, they parted, though
+reluctantly, with four horses, for which we gave them two kettles,
+reserving to ourselves only one.
+
+We resumed our route, and soon after halted on a hill, from the top of
+which we had a commanding view of the range of mountains in which Mount
+Hood stands, and which continued south as far as the eye could reach;
+their summits being covered with snow. Mount Hood bore south thirty
+degrees west; and another snowy summit, which we have called Mount
+Jefferson, south ten degrees west.
+
+Capt. Clarke crossed the river, with nine men and a large part of the
+merchandise, to purchase, if possible, twelve horses to transport our
+baggage, and some pounded fish, as a reserve, on the passage across the
+mountains. He succeeded in purchasing only four horses, and those at
+double the price that had been paid to the Shoshonees.
+
+April 20.--As it was much for our interest to preserve the good will of
+these people, we passed over several small thefts which they had
+committed; but this morning we learned that six tomahawks and a knife
+had been stolen during the night. We addressed ourselves to the chief,
+who seemed angry with his people; but we did not recover the articles:
+and soon afterwards two of our spoons were missing. We therefore ordered
+them all from the camp. They left us in ill-humor, and we therefore kept
+on our guard against any insult.
+
+April 22.--We began our march at seven o'clock. We had just reached the
+top of a hill near the village, when the load of one of the horses
+turned; and the animal, taking fright at a robe which still adhered to
+him, ran furiously toward the village. Just as he came there, the robe
+fell, and an Indian made way with it. The horse was soon caught; but the
+robe was missing, and the Indians denied having seen it. These repeated
+acts of knavery had quite exhausted our patience; and Capt. Lewis set
+out for the village, determined to make them deliver up the robe, or to
+burn their houses to the ground. This retaliation was happily rendered
+unnecessary; for on his way he met two of our men, who had found the
+robe in one of the huts, hid behind some baggage.
+
+April 24.--The Indians had promised to take our canoes in exchange for
+horses; but, when they found that we were resolved on travelling by
+land, they refused giving us any thing for them, in hopes that we would
+be forced to leave them. Disgusted at this conduct, we determined rather
+to cut them in pieces than suffer these people to possess them; and
+actually began to do so, when they consented to give us several strands
+of beads for each canoe.
+
+We had now a sufficient number of horses to carry our baggage, and
+therefore proceeded wholly by land. Passing between the hills and the
+northern shore of the river, we had a difficult and fatiguing march over
+a road alternately sandy and rocky.
+
+The country through which we have passed for several days is of uniform
+character. The hills on both sides of the river are about two hundred
+and fifty feet high, in many places presenting a perpendicular face of
+black, solid rock. From the top of these hills, the country extends, in
+level plains, to a very great distance, and, though not as fertile as
+land near the falls, produces an abundant supply of low grass, which is
+an excellent food for horses. The grass must indeed be unusually
+nutritious: for even at this season of the year, after wintering on the
+dry grass of the plains, and being used with greater severity than is
+usual among the whites, many of the horses were perfectly fat; nor had
+we seen a single one that was really poor.
+
+Having proceeded thirty-one miles, we halted for the night not far from
+some houses of the Walla-wallas. Soon after stopping, we were joined by
+seven of that tribe, among whom we recognized a chief by the name of
+Yellept, who had visited us in October last, when we gave him a medal.
+
+He appeared very much pleased at seeing us again, and invited us to
+remain at his village three or four days, during which he would supply
+us with such food as they had, and furnish us with horses for our
+journey. After the cold, inhospitable treatment we had lately received,
+this kind offer was peculiarly acceptable. After having made a hasty
+meal, we accompanied him to his village. Immediately on our arrival,
+Yellept, who proved to be a man of much influence, collected the
+inhabitants, and after having made an harangue to them, the object of
+which was to induce them to treat us hospitably, set them an example by
+bringing himself an armful of wood, and a platter containing three
+roasted mullets. They immediately followed the example by furnishing us
+with an abundance of the only sort of fuel they use,--the stems of
+shrubs growing in the plains. We then purchased four dogs, on which we
+supped heartily, having been on short allowance for two days previously.
+
+We learned from these people, that, opposite to their village, there was
+a route which led to the mouth of the Kooskooskee; that the road was
+good, and passed over a level country well supplied with water and
+grass; and that we should meet with plenty of deer and antelope. We knew
+that a road in that direction would shorten our route eighty miles; and
+we concluded to adopt this route.
+
+Fortunately there was among these Walla-wallas a prisoner belonging to a
+tribe of the Shoshonee Indians. Our Shoshonee woman, Sacajawea, though
+she belonged to another tribe, spoke the same language as this prisoner;
+and by their means we were enabled to explain ourselves to the Indians,
+and to answer all their inquiries with respect to ourselves and the
+object of our journey. Our conversation inspired them with such
+confidence, that they soon brought several sick persons for whom they
+requested our assistance. We splintered the broken arm of one, gave some
+relief to another whose knee was contracted by rheumatism, and
+administered what we thought would be useful for ulcers and eruptions
+of the skin on various parts of the body, which are very common
+disorders among them. But our most valuable medicine was eye-water,
+which we distributed, and which, indeed, they very much required; for
+complaints of the eyes, occasioned by living so much on the water, and
+aggravated by the fine sand of the plains, were universal among them.
+
+We were by no means dissatisfied at this new resource for obtaining
+subsistence, as the Indians would give us no provisions without
+merchandise, and our stock was very much reduced. We carefully abstained
+from giving them any thing but harmless medicines; and our prescriptions
+might be useful, and were therefore entitled to some remuneration.
+
+May 5.--Almost the only instance of rudeness we encountered in our whole
+trip occurred here. We made our dinner on two dogs and a small quantity
+of roots. While we were eating, an Indian standing by, and looking with
+great derision at our eating dog's-flesh, threw a half-starved puppy
+almost into Capt. Lewis's plate, laughing heartily at the humor of it.
+Capt. Lewis took up the animal, and flung it back with great force into
+the fellow's face, and, seizing his tomahawk, threatened to cut him down
+if he dared to repeat such insolence. He went off, apparently much
+mortified; and we continued our dog-repast very quietly.
+
+Here we met our old Chopunnish guide and his family; and soon afterward
+one of our horses, which had been separated from the others in the
+charge of Twisted-hair, was caught, and restored to us.
+
+
+THE WALLA-WALLA.
+
+We reached (May 1) a branch of the Walla-walla River. The hills of this
+creek are generally abrupt and rocky; but the narrow bottom bordering
+the stream is very fertile, and both possess twenty times as much timber
+as the Columbia itself. Indeed, we now find, for the first time since
+leaving Fort Clatsop, an abundance of firewood. The growth consists of
+cotton-wood, birch, the crimson haw, willow, choke-cherry, yellow
+currants, gooseberry, honeysuckle, rose-bushes, sumac, together with
+some corn-grass and rushes.
+
+The advantage of a comfortable fire induced us, as the night was come,
+to halt at this place. We were soon supplied by Drewyer with a beaver
+and an otter; of which we took only a part of the beaver, and gave the
+rest to the Indians. The otter is a favorite food, though much
+inferior, in our estimation, to the dog, which they will not eat. The
+horse, too, is seldom eaten, and never except when absolute necessity
+compels. This fastidiousness does not, however, seem to proceed so much
+from any dislike to the food as from attachment to the animal; for many
+of them eat very freely of the horse-beef we give them.
+
+There is very little difference in the general face of the country here
+from that of the plains on the Missouri, except that the latter are
+enlivened by vast herds of buffaloes, elks, and other animals, which are
+wanting here. Over these wide bottoms we continued, till, at the
+distance of twenty-six miles from our last encampment, we halted for the
+night.
+
+We had scarcely encamped, when three young men from the Walla-walla
+village came in with a steel-trap, which we had inadvertently left
+behind, and which they had come a whole day's journey on purpose to
+restore. This act of integrity was the more pleasing because it
+corresponds perfectly with the general behavior of the Walla-wallas,
+among whom we had lost carelessly several knives, which were always
+returned as soon as found. We may, indeed, justly affirm, that, of all
+the Indians whom we have met, the Walla-wallas were the most
+hospitable, honest, and sincere.
+
+
+TWISTED-HAIR.
+
+On Wednesday, the 7th of May, we reached the Kooskooskee, and found it
+much more navigable than when we descended it last year. The water was
+risen, and covered the rocks and shoals. Here we found the chief, named
+Twisted-hair, in whose charge we had left our horses in our outward
+journey. We had suspicions that our horses, and especially our saddles,
+might not be easily recoverable after our long absence. The Twisted-hair
+was invited to come, and smoke with us. He accepted the invitation, and,
+as we smoked our pipes over the fire, informed us, that, according to
+his promise, he had collected the horses, and taken charge of them; but
+another chief, the Broken-arm, becoming jealous of him because the
+horses were confided to his care, was constantly quarrelling with him.
+At length, being an old man, and unwilling to live in perpetual
+disputes, he had given up the care of the horses, which had consequently
+become scattered. The greater part of them were, however, still in this
+neighborhood. He added, that on the rise of the river, in the spring,
+the earth had fallen from the door of the _cache_, and exposed the
+saddles, some of which had probably been lost; but, as soon as he was
+acquainted with the situation of them, he had had them buried in another
+place, where they were now. He promised that he would, on the morrow,
+send his young men, and collect such of the horses as were in the
+neighborhood. He kept his word. Next day, the Indians brought in
+twenty-one of the horses, the greater part of which were in excellent
+order; and the Twisted-hair restored about half the saddles we had left
+in the _cache_, and some powder and lead which were buried at the same
+place.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
+
+
+May 17.--The country along the Rocky Mountains, for several hundred
+miles in length and fifty in width, is a high level plain; in all its
+parts extremely fertile, and in many places covered with a growth of
+tall, long-leaved pine. Nearly the whole of this wide tract is covered
+with a profusion of grass and plants, which are at this time as high as
+the knee. Among these are a variety of esculent plants and roots,
+yielding a nutritious and agreeable food. The air is pure and dry; the
+climate as mild as that of the same latitudes in the Atlantic States,
+and must be equally healthy, since all the disorders which we have
+witnessed may fairly be imputed to other causes than the climate. Of
+course, the degrees of heat and cold obey the influence of situation.
+Thus the rains of the low grounds are snows in the high plains; and,
+while the sun shines with intense heat in the confined river-bottoms,
+the plains enjoy a much cooler air; and, at the foot of the mountains,
+the snows are even now many feet in depth.
+
+
+CROSSING THE MOUNTAINS.
+
+An attempt to cross the mountains in the early part of June failed on
+account of the snow, which still covered the track. It was plain we
+should have no chance of finding either grass or underwood for our
+horses. To proceed, therefore, would be to hazard the loss of our
+horses; in which case, if we should be so fortunate as to escape with
+our lives, we should be obliged to abandon our papers and collections.
+It was accordingly decided not to venture farther; to deposit here all
+the baggage and provisions for which we had no immediate use, and to
+return to some spot where we might live by hunting till the snow should
+have melted, or a guide be procured to conduct us. We submitted, June
+17, to the mortification of retracing our steps three days' march.
+
+On the 24th June, having been so fortunate as to engage three Indians to
+go with us to the falls of the Missouri for the compensation of two
+guns, we set out on our second attempt to cross the mountains. On
+reaching the place where we had left our baggage, we found our deposit
+perfectly safe. It required two hours to arrange our baggage, and
+prepare a hasty meal; after which the guides urged us to set off, as we
+had a long ride to make before we could reach a spot where there was
+grass for our horses. We mounted, and followed their steps; sometimes
+crossed abruptly steep hills, and then wound along their sides, near
+tremendous precipices, where, had our horses slipped, we should have
+been irrecoverably lost. Our route lay along the ridges which separate
+the waters of the Kooskooskee and Chopunnish, and above the heads of all
+the streams; so that we met no running water. Late in the evening, we
+reached a spot where we encamped near a good spring of water. It was on
+the steep side of a mountain, with no wood, and a fair southern aspect,
+from which the snow seemed to have disappeared for about ten days, and
+an abundant growth of young grass, like greensward, had sprung up. There
+was also a species of grass not unlike flag, with a broad succulent
+leaf, which is confined to the upper parts of the mountains. It is a
+favorite food with the horses; but it was then either covered with snow,
+or just making its appearance.
+
+June 27.--We continued our route over the high and steep hills of the
+same great ridge. At eight miles' distance, we reached an eminence where
+the Indians have raised a conical mound of stone six or eight feet high.
+From this spot we have a commanding view of the surrounding mountains,
+which so completely enclose us, that, although we have once passed them,
+we should despair of ever escaping from them without the assistance of
+the Indians; but our guides traverse this trackless region with a kind
+of instinctive sagacity. They never hesitate; they are never
+embarrassed; yet so undeviating is their step, that, wherever the snow
+has disappeared for even a hundred paces, we find the summer road. With
+their aid, the snow is scarcely a disadvantage; for although we are
+often obliged to slide down, yet the fallen timber and the rocks, which
+are now covered up, were much more troublesome when we passed in the
+autumn.
+
+     NOTE. A later traveller through this region writes, "The
+     mountains are indeed _rocky_. They are rocks heaped upon rocks,
+     with no vegetation, excepting a few cedars growing out of the
+     crevices near their base. Their tops are covered with perpetual
+     snow. The main ridge of the mountains is of _gneiss_ rock; yet,
+     to-day, parallel ridges of a rock, nearly allied to _basalt_,
+     have abounded. These ridges appear to be volcanic, forced up in
+     _dikes_ at different distances from each other, running from
+     east-north-east to west-south-west. The strata are mostly
+     vertical; but some are a little dipped to the south.
+
+     "Our encampment was near a small stream which runs through a
+     volcanic chasm, which is more than a hundred feet deep, with
+     perpendicular sides. Here was a passage made for the _water_ by
+     _fire_."
+
+
+THE PARTY AGREE TO SEPARATE.
+
+July 3, 1806.--It was agreed here that the expedition should be divided,
+to unite again at the confluence of the Missouri and the Yellowstone.
+The separation took place near the point where Clarke's River is crossed
+by the forty-seventh parallel of latitude. Capt. Lewis, with nine men,
+was to cross the mountains in a direction as nearly due east as
+possible, expecting to find some tributary of the Missouri, by following
+which he might reach that river, and by it retrace his way homeward.
+Capt. Clarke, with the remainder of the party, was to seek the head
+waters of the Yellowstone, and follow that stream to the proposed place
+of re-union.
+
+In conformity with this arrangement, Capt. Lewis, under the guidance of
+friendly Indians, crossed the mountains by a route which led him, after
+travelling one hundred and four miles, to Medicine River, and by that
+river to the Missouri. He reached the falls of the Missouri on the 17th
+of July, and leaving there a portion of his party, under Sergt. Gass, to
+make preparations for transporting their baggage and canoes round the
+falls, set out, accompanied by Drewyer and the two brothers Fields, with
+six horses, to explore Maria's River, to ascertain its extent toward the
+north. From the 18th to the 26th, they were engaged in this exploration.
+On the eve of their return, an event occurred, which, being the only
+instance in which the expedition was engaged in any conflict with the
+Indians with loss of life, requires to be particularly related.
+
+
+CONFLICT WITH THE INDIANS.
+
+We were passing through a region frequented by the Minnetarees, a band
+of Indians noted for their thievish propensities and unfriendly
+dispositions. Capt. Lewis was therefore desirous to avoid meeting with
+them. Drewyer had been sent out for game, and Capt. Lewis ascended a
+hill to look over the country. Scarcely had he reached the top, when he
+saw, about a mile on his left, a collection of about thirty horses. By
+the aid of his spy-glass, he discovered that one-half of the horses
+were saddled, and that, on the eminence above the horses, several
+Indians were looking down towards the river, probably at Drewyer. This
+was a most unwelcome sight. Their probable numbers rendered any contest
+with them of doubtful issue. To attempt to escape would only invite
+pursuit; and our horses were so bad, that we must certainly be
+overtaken: besides which, Drewyer could not yet be aware that Indians
+were near; and, if we ran, he would most probably be sacrificed. We
+therefore determined to make the best of our situation, and advance
+towards them in a friendly manner. The flag which we had brought in case
+of such an emergency was therefore displayed, and we continued slowly
+our march towards them. Their whole attention was so engaged by Drewyer,
+that they did not immediately discover us. As soon as they did so, they
+appeared to be much alarmed, and ran about in confusion. When we came
+within a quarter of a mile, one of the Indians mounted, and rode towards
+us. When within a hundred paces of us, he halted; and Capt. Lewis, who
+had alighted to receive him, held out his hand, and beckoned him to
+approach: but he only looked at us, and then, without saying a word,
+returned to his companions.
+
+The whole party now descended the hill, and rode towards us. As yet we
+saw only eight, but presumed that there must be more behind, as there
+were several more horses saddled. Capt. Lewis had with him but two men;
+and he told them his fears that these were Indians of the Minnetaree
+tribe, and that they would attempt to rob us, and advised them to be on
+the alert, should there appear any disposition to attack us.
+
+When the two parties came within a hundred yards of each other, all the
+Indians, except one, halted. Capt. Lewis therefore ordered his two men
+to halt, while he advanced, and, after shaking hands with the Indian,
+went on and did the same with the others in the rear, while the Indian
+himself shook hands with our two men. They all now came up; and, after
+alighting, the Indians asked to smoke with us. Capt. Lewis, who was very
+anxious for Drewyer's safety, told them that the man who had gone down
+the river had the pipe, and requested, that, as they had seen him, one
+of them would accompany R. Fields to bring him back. To this they
+assented; and Fields went with a young man in search of Drewyer, who
+returned with them.
+
+As it was growing late, Capt. Lewis proposed that they should encamp
+with us; for he was glad to see them, and had a great deal to say to
+them. They assented; and, being soon joined by Drewyer, the evening was
+spent in conversation with the Indians, in which Capt. Lewis endeavored
+to persuade them to cultivate peace with their neighbors. Finding them
+very fond of the pipe, Capt. Lewis, who was desirous of keeping a
+constant watch during the night, smoked with them to a late hour; and,
+as soon as they were all asleep, he woke R. Fields, and ordering him to
+rouse us all in case any Indian left the camp, as he feared they would
+attempt to steal our horses, he lay down by the side of Drewyer in the
+tent with the Indians, while the brothers Fields were stretched near the
+fire at the mouth of the tent.
+
+At sunrise, the Indians got up, and crowded round the fire, near which
+J. Fields, who was then on watch, had carelessly left his rifle, near
+the head of his brother, who was asleep. One of the Indians slipped
+behind him, and, unperceived, took his brother's and his own rifle;
+while at the same time two others seized those of Drewyer and Capt.
+Lewis. As soon as Fields turned round, he saw the Indian running off
+with the rifles; and, instantly calling his brother, they pursued him
+for fifty or sixty yards; and just as they overtook him, in the scuffle
+for the rifles, R. Fields stabbed him through the heart with his knife.
+The Indian ran a few steps, and fell dead. They recovered their rifles,
+and ran back to the camp.
+
+The moment the fellow touched his gun, Drewyer, who was awake, jumped
+up, and wrested it from him. The noise awoke Capt. Lewis, who instantly
+started from the ground, and reached to seize his gun, but found it
+gone, and, turning about, saw the Indian running off with it. He
+followed, and called to him to lay down the gun; which he did. By this
+time, the rest of the Indians were endeavoring to drive off our horses;
+and Capt. Lewis ordered his men to follow them, and fire upon the
+thieves if they did not release our horses. The result was, that we
+recovered four of our horses, and as many of theirs which they had left
+behind; so that we were rather gainers by the contest. Besides the
+Indian killed by Fields, one other was badly wounded.
+
+We had no doubt but that we should be immediately pursued by a much
+larger party. Our only chance of safety was in rejoining our friends,
+who were many miles distant. We therefore pushed our horses as fast as
+we could; and, fortunately for us, the Indian horses proved very good.
+The plains were level, free from stones and prickly-pears, and in fine
+order for travelling over from the late rains. We commenced our ride in
+the early morning. At three o'clock, we had ridden, by estimate,
+sixty-three miles. We halted for an hour and a half to refresh our
+horses; then pursued our journey seventeen miles farther, when, as night
+came on, we killed a buffalo, and again stopped for two hours. The sky
+was now overclouded; but, as the moon gave light enough to show us the
+route, we continued for twenty miles farther, and then, exhausted with
+fatigue, halted at two in the morning. Next day, we rejoined the main
+body of our party in safety.
+
+Capt. Lewis with his companions pursued their way down the Missouri,
+passing those points already noticed in their ascent. Our narrative,
+therefore, will leave them here, and attend the course of Capt. Clarke
+and his party down the Yellowstone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+CAPT. CLARKE'S ROUTE DOWN THE YELLOWSTONE.
+
+
+July 3, 1806.--The party under Capt. Clarke, consisting of fifteen men,
+with fifty horses, set out through the valley of Clarke's River, along
+the western side of which they rode in a southern direction. The valley
+is from ten to fifteen miles in width, and is diversified by a number of
+small open plains, abounding with grass and a variety of sweet-scented
+plants, and watered by numerous streams rushing from the western
+mountains. These mountains were covered with snow about one-fifth of the
+way from the top; and some snow was still to be seen in the hollows of
+the mountains to the eastward.
+
+July 7.--They reached Wisdom River, and stopped for dinner at a hot
+spring situated in the open plain. The bed of the spring is about
+fifteen yards in circumference, and composed of loose, hard, gritty
+stones, through which the water boils in large quantities. It is
+slightly impregnated with sulphur, and so hot, that a piece of meat,
+about the size of three fingers, was completely cooked in twenty-five
+minutes.
+
+July 8.--They arrived at Jefferson's River, where they had deposited
+their goods in the month of August the year before. They found every
+thing safe, though some of the goods were a little damp, and one of the
+canoes had a hole in it. They had now crossed from Traveller's-Rest
+Creek to the head of Jefferson's River, which seems to form the best and
+shortest route over the mountains during almost the whole distance of
+one hundred and sixty-four miles. It is, in fact, an excellent road;
+and, by cutting down a few trees, it might be rendered a good route for
+wagons, with the exception of about four miles over one of the
+mountains, which would require a little levelling.
+
+July 10.--The boats were now loaded, and Capt. Clarke divided his men
+into two bands. Sergt. Ordway, with nine men, in six canoes, was to
+descend the river; while Capt. Clarke, with the remaining ten, the wife
+and child of Chaboneau, and fifty horses, were to proceed by land to the
+Yellowstone. The latter party set out at five in the afternoon from the
+forks of the Missouri, in a direction nearly east. The plain was
+intersected by several great roads leading to a gap in the mountain
+about twenty miles distant, in a direction east-north-east; but the
+Indian woman, who was acquainted with the country, recommended another
+gap more to the south, through which Capt. Clarke determined to proceed.
+
+They started early the next morning, and, pursuing the route recommended
+by the squaw, encamped in the evening at the entrance of the gap
+mentioned by her. Through this gap they passed next day, and, at the
+distance of six miles, reached the top of the dividing ridge which
+separates the waters of the Missouri from those of the Yellowstone. Nine
+miles from the summit, they reached the Yellowstone itself, about a mile
+and a half below where it issues from the Rocky Mountains. The distance
+from the head of the Missouri to this place is forty-eight miles, the
+greater part of which is through a level plain. They halted for three
+hours to rest their horses, and then pursued the Buffalo Road along the
+banks of the river.
+
+Although but just emerging from a high, snowy mountain, the Yellowstone
+is here a bold, rapid, and deep stream, one hundred and twenty yards in
+width. They continued their course along the river till the 23d, when
+the party embarked on board of two canoes, each of which was
+twenty-eight feet long, sixteen or eighteen inches deep, and from
+sixteen to twenty-four inches wide. Sergt. Prior, with two men, was
+directed to take the horses to the Mandans for safe keeping until the
+re-union of the expedition.
+
+July 24.--At eight o'clock, Capt. Clarke and the remainder of his party
+embarked, and proceeded very steadily down the river. They passed the
+mouths of several large rivers emptying into the Yellowstone; one of
+which was called the Big-horn, from the numbers of that remarkable
+species of sheep seen in its neighborhood. Next day, Capt. Clarke landed
+to examine a curious rock, situated in an extensive bottom on the right,
+about two hundred and fifty paces from the shore. It is nearly two
+hundred paces in circumference, two hundred feet high, and accessible
+only from the north-east; the other sides consisting of perpendicular
+cliffs, of a light-colored, gritty stone. The soil on the summit is five
+or six feet deep, of a good quality, and covered with short grass. From
+this height, the eye ranges over a wide extent of variegated country. On
+the south-west are the Rocky Mountains, covered with snow; on the north,
+a lower range, called the Little Wolf Mountains. The low grounds of the
+river extend nearly six miles to the southward, when they rise into
+plains, reaching to the mountains. The north side of the river is
+bounded by jutting, romantic cliffs, beyond which the plains are open
+and extensive, and the whole country enlivened by herds of buffaloes,
+elks, and wolves. After enjoying the prospect from this rock, to which
+Capt. Clarke gave the name of Pompey's Pillar, he descended, and
+continued his route. At the distance of six or seven miles, he stopped
+to secure two bighorns, which had been shot from the boat, and, while on
+shore, saw in the face of the cliff, about twenty feet above the water,
+a fragment of the rib of a fish, three feet long, and nearly three
+inches round, embedded in the rock itself.
+
+
+BEAVERS, BUFFALOES, MOSQUITOES.
+
+The beavers were in great numbers along the banks of the river, and
+through the night were flapping their tails in the water round the
+boats.
+
+Aug. 1.--The buffaloes appeared in vast numbers. A herd happened to be
+on their way across the river. Such was the multitude of these animals,
+that although the river, including an island over which they passed, was
+a mile in width, the herd stretched, as thick as they could swim,
+completely from one side to the other. Our party, descending the river,
+was obliged to stop for an hour to let the procession pass. We consoled
+ourselves for the delay by killing four of the herd, and then proceeded,
+till, at the distance of forty-five miles, two other herds of buffaloes,
+as numerous as the first, crossed the river in like manner.
+
+Aug. 4.--The camp became absolutely uninhabitable, in consequence of the
+multitude of mosquitoes. The men could not work in preparing skins for
+clothing, nor hunt in the low grounds: in short, there was no mode of
+escape, except by going on the sand bars in the river, where, if the
+wind should blow, the insects do not venture. But when there is no wind,
+and particularly at night, when the men have no covering except their
+worn-out blankets, the pain they inflict is scarcely to be endured.
+
+On one occasion, Capt. Clarke went on shore, and ascended a hill after
+one of the bighorns; but the mosquitoes were in such multitudes, that he
+could not keep them from the barrel of his rifle long enough to take
+aim.
+
+This annoyance continued, till, on the 11th of September, they write,
+"We are no longer troubled with mosquitoes, which do not seem to
+frequent this part of the river; and, after having been persecuted with
+them during the whole route from the falls, it is a most happy
+exemption. Their noise was very agreeably exchanged for that of the
+wolves, which were howling in various directions all round us."
+
+Aug. 12, 1806.--The party continued to descend the river. One of their
+canoes had, by accident, a small hole made in it; and they halted for
+the purpose of covering it with a piece of elk-skin. While there, about
+noon, they were overjoyed at seeing the boats of Capt. Lewis's party
+heave in sight. The whole expedition being now happily re-united, at
+about three o'clock all embarked on board the boats; but as the wind was
+high, accompanied with rain, we did not proceed far before we halted for
+the night.
+
+
+THEY PART WITH SOME OF THEIR COMPANIONS.
+
+On the 14th August, having now reached a part of the river where we
+occasionally met the boats of adventurous traders ascending the river,
+Capt. Lewis was applied to by one of the men, Colter, who was desirous
+of joining two trappers, who proposed to him to accompany them, and
+share their profits. The offer was an advantageous one; and as he had
+always performed his duty, and his services might be dispensed with,
+Capt. Lewis consented to his going, provided none of the rest would ask
+or expect a similar indulgence. To this they cheerfully answered, that
+they wished Colter every success, and would not apply for a discharge
+before we reached St. Louis. We therefore supplied him, as did his
+comrades also, with powder and lead, and a variety of articles which
+might be useful to him; and he left us the next day.
+
+The example of this man shows how easily men may be weaned from the
+habits of civilized life, and brought to relish the manners of the
+woods. This hunter had now been absent many years from his country, and
+might naturally be presumed to have some desire to return to his native
+seats; yet, just at the moment when he is approaching the frontiers, he
+is tempted by a hunting-scheme to go back to the solitude of the woods.
+
+A few days after this, Chaboneau, with his wife and child, concluded to
+follow us no longer, as he could be no longer useful to us. We offered
+to take him with us to the United States; but he said that he had there
+no acquaintance, and preferred remaining among the Indians. This man has
+been very serviceable to us, and his wife particularly so, among the
+Shoshonees. She has borne with a patience truly admirable the fatigues
+of our long journey, encumbered with the charge of an infant, which is
+now only nineteen months old. We paid him his wages, amounting to five
+hundred dollars and thirty-three cents, including the price of a horse
+and a lodge purchased of him, and pursued our journey without him.
+
+
+THEY REACH HOME.
+
+Sept. 8, 1806.--We reached Council Bluffs, and stopped for a short time
+to examine the situation of the place, and were confirmed in our belief
+that it would be a very eligible spot for a trading establishment.[4]
+Being anxious to reach the junction of the Platte River, we plied our
+oars so well, that by night we had made seventy-eight miles, and landed
+at our old encampment, on the ascent, twelve miles above that river. We
+had here occasion to remark the wonderful evaporation from the Missouri.
+The river does not appear to contain more water, nor is its channel
+wider, than at the distance of one thousand miles nearer its source,
+although within that space it receives about twenty rivers (some of them
+of considerable width), and a great number of smaller streams.
+
+A few days more brought us to the mouth of the Kansas River. About a
+mile below it, we landed to view the country. The low grounds are
+delightful, the whole country exhibiting a rich appearance; but the
+weather was oppressively warm. Descending as we had done from a high,
+open country, between the latitudes of forty-six and forty-nine degrees,
+to the wooded plains in thirty-eight and thirty-nine degrees, the heat
+would have been intolerable, had it not been for the constant winds from
+the south and the south-west.
+
+On the 20th September, we reached the mouth of Osage River. A few miles
+lower down, we saw on the banks some cows feeding; and the whole party
+involuntarily raised a shout of joy at the sight of this evidence of
+civilization and domestic life.
+
+We soon after reached the little French village of La Charette, which we
+saluted with a discharge of four guns and three hearty cheers. We
+landed, and were received with kindness by the inhabitants, as well as
+by some traders who were on their way to traffic with the Osages. They
+were all surprised and pleased at our arrival; for they had long since
+abandoned all hopes of ever seeing us return.
+
+The third day after this,--viz., on Tuesday, the 23d of September,
+1806,--we arrived at St. Louis, and, having fired a salute, went on
+shore, and received the heartiest and most hospitable welcome from the
+whole village.
+
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+The successful termination of the expedition was a source of surprise
+and delight to the whole country. The humblest of its citizens had taken
+a lively interest in the issue of this journey, and looked forward with
+impatience for the information it would furnish. Their anxieties, too,
+for the safety of the party, had been kept in a state of excitement by
+lugubrious rumors, circulated from time to time on uncertain
+authorities, and uncontradicted by letters or other direct information,
+from the time when the party left the Mandan towns, on their ascent up
+the river, in 1804, until their actual return to St. Louis.
+
+The courage, perseverance, and discretion displayed by the commanders,
+and the fidelity and obedience of the men, were the theme of general
+approbation, and received the favorable notice of Government. A donation
+of lands was made to each member of the party; Capt. Lewis was appointed
+Governor of Louisiana, which, at that time, embraced the whole country
+west of the Mississippi, within the boundaries of the United States; and
+Capt. Clarke was made Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
+
+It was not until some years after, however, that the world was put in
+possession of the detailed history of the expedition. Capt. Lewis, in
+the midst of other cares, devoted what time he could to the preparation
+of his journals for publication, and, in 1809, was on his way to
+Philadelphia for that purpose, but, at a village in Tennessee, was taken
+ill, and prevented from proceeding. Here the energetic mind, which had
+encountered so unfalteringly the perils and sufferings of the desert,
+gave way. Constitutional despondency overcame him: it is probable he
+lost his reason; for, in a rash moment, he applied a pistol to his head,
+and destroyed his life. His journals were published under the charge of
+Paul Allen of Philadelphia.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[4] Now the site of Omaha City.
+
+
+
+
+ELDORADO.
+
+
+
+
+ELDORADO
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE DISCOVERY.
+
+
+What is meant by Eldorado? Is there such a country? and, if there be,
+where is it? The name literally means "The Golden Country," and was
+given to an unknown region in South America by the Spaniards, who had
+heard from the Indians marvellous tales of such a land lying in the
+interior of the continent, where gold and precious stones were as common
+as rocks and pebbles in other countries, and to be had for the trouble
+of picking them up. It was also a land of spices and aromatic gums. The
+first notion of this favored region was communicated by an Indian chief
+to Gonzalo Pizarro, brother of the conqueror of Peru, whose imagination
+was captivated by the account, and his ambition fired with a desire to
+add this, which promised to be the most brilliant of all, to the
+discoveries and conquests of his countrymen. He found no difficulty in
+awakening a kindred enthusiasm in the bosoms of his followers. In a
+short time, he mustered three hundred and fifty Spaniards, and four
+thousand Indians. One hundred and fifty of his company were mounted. The
+Indians were to carry the baggage and provisions, and perform the labors
+of the expedition.
+
+A glance at the map of South America will give us a clear idea of the
+scene of the expedition. The River Amazon, the largest river of the
+globe, rises in the highest ranges of the Andes, and flows from west to
+east through nearly the whole breadth of the continent. Pizarro's
+expedition started in the year 1540 from Quito, near the sources of the
+great river, and, marching east, soon became entangled in the deep and
+intricate passes of the mountains. As they rose into the more elevated
+regions, the icy winds that swept down the sides of the Cordilleras
+benumbed their limbs, and many of the natives found a wintry grave in
+the wilderness. On descending the eastern slope, the climate changed;
+and, as they came to a lower level, the fierce cold was succeeded by a
+suffocating heat, while tempests of thunder and lightning poured on them
+with scarcely any intermission day or night. For more than six weeks,
+the deluge continued unabated; and the forlorn wanderers, wet, and weary
+with incessant toil, were scarcely able to drag their limbs along the
+soil, broken up as it was, and saturated with the moisture. After months
+of toilsome travel, they reached the region where grew the spice-trees.
+Their produce resembled the cinnamon of the East in taste, but was of
+inferior quality. They saw the trees bearing the precious bark spreading
+out into broad forests; yet, however valuable it might be for future
+commerce, it was of but little worth to them. But, from the savages whom
+they occasionally met, they learned, that at ten days' distance was a
+rich and fruitful land, abounding with gold, and inhabited by populous
+nations. The Spaniards were so convinced of the existence of such a
+country, that if the natives, on being questioned, professed their
+ignorance of it, they were supposed to be desirous of concealing the
+fact, and were put to the most horrible tortures, and even burnt alive,
+to compel them to confess. It is no wonder, therefore, if they told, in
+many instances, such stories as the Spaniards wished to hear, which
+would also have the effect of ridding their own territories of their
+troublesome guests by inducing them to advance farther. Pizarro had
+already reached the limit originally proposed for the expedition; but
+these accounts induced him to continue on.
+
+As they advanced, the country spread out into broad plains, terminated
+by forests, which seemed to stretch on every side as far as the eye
+could reach. The wood was thickly matted with creepers and climbing
+plants, and at every step of the way they had to hew open a passage with
+their axes; while their garments, rotting from the effects of the
+drenching rains, caught in every bush, and hung about them in shreds.
+Their provisions failed, and they had only for sustenance such herbs and
+roots as they could gather in the forest, and such wild animals as, with
+their inadequate means, they could capture.
+
+At length they came to a broad expanse of water, from whence flowed a
+stream,--one of those which discharge their waters into the great River
+Amazon. The sight gladdened their hearts, as they hoped to find a safer
+and more practicable route by keeping along its banks. After following
+the stream a considerable distance, the party came within hearing of a
+rushing noise, that seemed like thunder issuing from the bowels of the
+earth. The river tumbled along over rapids with frightful velocity, and
+then discharged itself in a magnificent cataract, which they describe
+as twelve hundred feet high. Doubtless this estimate must be taken with
+some allowance for the excited feelings of the Spaniards, keenly alive
+to impressions of the sublime and the terrible.
+
+For some distance above and below the falls, the bed of the river
+contracted; so that its width did not exceed twenty feet. They
+determined to cross, in hopes of finding a country that might afford
+them better sustenance. A frail bridge was constructed by throwing
+trunks of trees across the chasm, where the cliffs, as if split asunder
+by some convulsion of Nature, descended sheer down a perpendicular depth
+of several hundred feet. Over this airy causeway, the men and horses
+succeeded in effecting their passage; though one Spaniard, made giddy by
+heedlessly looking down, lost his footing, and fell into the boiling
+surges below. They gained little by the exchange. The country wore the
+same unpromising aspect: the Indians whom they occasionally met in the
+pathless wilderness were fierce and unfriendly, and the Spaniards were
+engaged in perpetual conflict with them. From these they learned that a
+fruitful country was to be found down the river, at the distance of only
+a few days' journey; and the Spaniards held on their weary way, still
+hoping, and still deceived, as the promised land flitted before them,
+like the rainbow, receding as they advanced.
+
+At length, spent with toil and suffering, Pizarro resolved to construct
+a bark large enough to transport the weaker part of his company and his
+baggage. The forests furnished him with timber; the shoes of the horses,
+which had died on the road, or been slaughtered for food, were converted
+into nails; gum, distilled from the trees, took the place of pitch; and
+the tattered garments of the soldiers served for oakum. At the end of
+two months, the vessel was ready, and the command given to Francisco
+Orellana. The troops now moved forward through the wilderness, following
+the course of the river; the vessel carrying the feebler soldiers. Every
+scrap of provisions had long since been consumed. The last of their
+horses had been devoured; and they greedily fed upon toads, serpents,
+and even insects, which that country, teeming with the lower forms of
+animal life, abundantly supplied.
+
+The natives still told of a rich district, inhabited by a populous
+nation. It was, as usual, at the distance of several days' journey; and
+Pizarro resolved to halt where he was, and send Orellana down in his
+brigantine to procure a stock of provisions, with which he might
+return, and put the main body in condition to resume their march.
+Orellana, with fifty of the adventurers, pushed off into the middle of
+the river, where the stream ran swiftly; and his bark, taken by the
+current, shot forward as with the speed of an arrow, and was soon out of
+sight.
+
+Days and weeks passed away, yet the vessel did not return; and no speck
+was to be seen on the waters as the Spaniards strained their eyes to the
+farthest point, till the banks closed in, and shut the view. Detachments
+were sent out, and, though absent several days, came back without
+intelligence of their comrades. Weary of suspense, Pizarro determined to
+continue their march down the river, which they did, with incredible
+suffering, for two months longer, till their doubts were dispelled by
+the appearance of a white man, wandering, half naked, in the woods, in
+whose famine-stricken countenance they recognized the features of one of
+their countrymen. Orellana had passed swiftly down the river to the
+point of its confluence with the Amazon, where he had been led to expect
+that he should find supplies for the wants of himself and his
+companions, but found none. Nor was it possible to return as he had
+come, and make head against the current of the river. In this dilemma, a
+thought flashed across his mind: it was, to leave the party under
+Pizarro to their fate, and to pursue his course down the great river on
+which he had entered; to explore Eldorado for himself, and make the best
+of his way home to Spain to claim the glory and reward of discovery. His
+reckless companions readily consented to this course, with the exception
+of the individual whom Pizarro found; and him, when he remonstrated,
+they put ashore, and left to shift for himself.
+
+Pizarro and his party, deserted in the wilderness, unable to advance
+farther, had no alternative but to remain, or retrace their miserable
+way to Quito, the place they had started from more than a year before.
+They chose the latter, and commenced their return march with heavy
+hearts. They took a more northerly route than that by which they had
+approached the Amazon; and, though it was attended with fewer
+difficulties, they experienced yet greater distresses, from their
+greater inability to overcome them. Their only food was such scanty fare
+as they could pick up in the forest, or happily meet with in some
+forsaken Indian settlement, or wring by violence from the natives. Some
+sickened and sank down by the way, and perished where they fell; for
+there was none to help them. Intense misery had made them selfish; and
+many a poor wretch was abandoned to his fate, to die alone in the
+wilderness, or, more probably, to be devoured, while living, by the wild
+animals which roamed over it.
+
+It took them a year to measure back their way to Quito; and the miseries
+they had endured were testified to by their appearance when they
+arrived, in sadly reduced numbers, at the place of their starting. Their
+horses gone, their arms broken and rusted, the skins of wild animals
+their only clothes, their long and matted locks streaming wildly down
+their shoulders, their faces blackened by the tropical sun, their bodies
+wasted by famine and disfigured by scars, it seemed as if the
+charnel-house had given up its dead, as, with unsteady step, they crept
+slowly onwards. More than half of the four thousand Indians who had
+accompanied the expedition had perished; and of the Spaniards, only
+eighty, and many of these irretrievably broken in constitution, found
+their way back to Quito.
+
+Meanwhile, Orellana glided down the stream, which then was nameless and
+unknown, but which has since been called by his name, though it is more
+generally known by a name derived from a story which Orellana told, in
+his account of his voyage, of a nation of Amazons inhabiting its banks.
+But an account of Orellana's adventures must be reserved for our next
+chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+ORELLANA DESCENDS THE RIVER.
+
+
+When Orellana, in his ill-appointed bark, and with his crew enfeebled by
+famine, had reached the junction of the River Napo with the Amazon, and
+found no sources of supply which he had been led to expect, he had no
+difficulty in satisfying his companions that their only chance of
+preservation was in continuing their descent of the river, and leaving
+the party under Pizarro to their fate. He then formally renounced the
+commission which Pizarro had given him, and received the command anew
+from the election of his men, that so he might make discoveries for
+himself, and not, holding a deputed authority, in the name of another.
+It was upon the last day of December, 1541, that this voyage was
+begun,--one of the most adventurous that has ever been undertaken. The
+little stock of provisions with which they had parted from the army was
+already exhausted, and they boiled their leathern girdles and the
+leather of their shoes with such herbs as seemed most likely to be
+nourishing and harmless; for it was only by experiment that they were
+able to distinguish the wholesome from the poisonous. On the 8th of
+January, being reduced almost to the last extremity with hunger, they
+heard before daylight an Indian drum,--a joyful sound; for be the
+natives what they would, friendly or hostile, this they knew, that it
+must be their own fault now if they should die of hunger. At daybreak,
+being eagerly upon the lookout, they perceived four canoes, which put
+back upon seeing the brigantine; and presently they saw a village where
+a great body of the natives were assembled, and appeared ready to defend
+it. The Spaniards were too hungry to negotiate. Orellana bade them land
+in good order, and stand by each other. They attacked the Indians like
+men who were famishing, and fought for food, put them speedily to the
+rout, and found an immediate supply. While they were enjoying the fruits
+of their victory, the Indians came near them, more to gratify curiosity
+than resentment. Orellana spoke to them in some Indian language which
+they partly understood. Some of them took courage, and approached him.
+He gave them a few European trifles, and asked for their chief, who
+came without hesitation, was well pleased with the presents which were
+given him, and offered them any thing which it was in his power to
+supply. Provisions were requested; and presently peacocks, partridges,
+fish, and other things, were brought in great abundance. The next day,
+thirteen chiefs came to see the strangers. They were gayly adorned with
+feathers and gold, and had plates of gold upon the breast. Orellana
+received them courteously, required them to acknowledge obedience to the
+crown of Castile, took advantage as usual of their ignorance to affirm
+that they consented, and took possession of their country in the
+emperor's name.
+
+Such is Orellana's own account of this first interview. It was his
+object to create a high idea of the riches of the provinces which he had
+discovered. It is not probable that these tribes had any gold; for later
+discoveries showed that none of the tribes on the Amazon were so far
+advanced as to use it. It was here that they heard the first accounts of
+the rich and powerful nation composed wholly of women, whom, in
+recollection of the female warriors of classic antiquity, they called
+the Amazons. Here the Spaniards built a better brigantine than the frail
+one in which they were embarked. All fell to work, Orellana being the
+first at any exertion that was required. They calked it with cotton; the
+natives supplied pitch; and in thirty-five days the vessel was launched.
+On the 24th of April, they once more embarked. For eighty leagues, the
+banks were peopled with friendly tribes; then the course of the river
+lay between desert mountains, and they were fain to feed upon herbs and
+parched corn, not even finding a place where they could fish.
+
+Thus far they seem to have found the natives friendly, or not actively
+hostile; but, as they descended, they came to a populous province,
+belonging to a chief called Omagua, if, as is conjectured, that is not
+rather the name of the tribe itself than of their chief. One morning, a
+fleet of canoes was seen advancing with hostile demonstrations. The
+Indians carried shields made of the skins of the alligator. They came on
+with beat of tambour and with war-cries, threatening to devour the
+strangers. The Spaniards brought their two vessels close together, that
+they might aid one another in the defence. But, when they came to use
+their powder, it was damp, and they had nothing but their cross-bows to
+trust to; and, plying these as well as they could, they continued to
+fall down the stream, fighting as they went. Presently they came to an
+Indian town. Half the Spaniards landed to attack it, leaving their
+companions to maintain the fight upon the water.
+
+They won the town, and loaded themselves with provisions; but eighteen
+of the party were wounded, and one killed. They had neither surgeon nor
+any remedy for the wounded. Nothing could be done for them except
+"psalming;" that is, repeating some verses of the psalms over the wound.
+This mode of treatment was not unusual; and, as it was less absurd than
+the methods which were ordinarily in use at that day, it is no wonder if
+it proved more successful.
+
+For two days and two nights after this, they were constantly annoyed by
+the canoes of the natives following, and endeavoring to board them. But
+the Spaniards had now dried some powder; and one of them, getting a
+steady mark at the chief of the Indians, shot him in the breast. His
+people gathered round him; and, while they were thus occupied, the
+brigantines shot ahead.
+
+Thus they proceeded with alternate good and evil fortune, now finding
+the Indians friendly, and supplies of provisions abundant; and then
+encountering hostile tribes which assailed them with all their power, or
+long regions of unpeopled country, where they were reduced to the
+utmost straits for want of food. Six months had now been consumed on
+their voyage, and as yet no appearance of Eldorado; though, if their
+accounts may be trusted, they several times came upon populous places,
+which had many streets, all opening upon the river, and apparently
+leading to some greater city in the interior. On the 22d of June, on
+turning an angle of the river, they saw the country far before them, and
+great numbers of people collected, seemingly with hostile intentions.
+Orellana offered them trinkets, at which they scoffed; but he persisted
+in making towards the shore to get food, either by persuasion or force.
+A shower of arrows was discharged from the shore, which wounded five of
+the crew. They nevertheless landed, and, after a hot contest, repulsed
+the natives, killing some seven or eight of them. The historian of the
+voyage, who was one of the adventurers, affirms that ten or twelve
+Amazons fought at the head of these people, who were their subjects, and
+fought desperately; because any one who fled in battle would be beaten
+to death by these female tyrants. He describes the women as very tall
+and large-limbed, white of complexion, the hair long, platted, and
+banded round the head. It is amusing to observe how this story was
+magnified by later narrators, who learned it only by tradition. It is
+stated in these late accounts that Orellana fought on this occasion with
+a great army of women.
+
+Of a prisoner whom they took, Orellana asked questions about Eldorado
+and the Amazons, and got, as usual, such answers as he expected. This
+may partly be set down to the score of self-deception, and partly to the
+fact that they conversed with these people by signs, and by means of the
+few words of their language which the Spaniards knew, or supposed they
+knew, the meaning of. He learned from the prisoner that the country was
+subject to women, who lived after the manner of the Amazons of the
+ancients, and who possessed gold and silver in abundance. There were in
+their dominions fine temples of the sun, all covered with plates of
+gold. Their houses were of stone, and their cities walled. We can hardly
+doubt that the desire to tempt adventurers to join him in his subsequent
+expedition to conquer and colonize those countries had its effect in
+magnifying these marvels.
+
+Shortly after this, the Spaniards thought they perceived the _tide_.
+After another day's voyage, they came to some inhabited islands, and, to
+their infinite joy, saw that they had not been mistaken; for the marks
+of the tide here were certain. Here they lost another of their party in
+a skirmish with the natives. From this place the country was low; and
+they could never venture to land, except upon the islands, among which
+they sailed, as they supposed, about two hundred leagues; the tide
+coming up with great force. One day the smaller vessel struck upon a
+snag, which stove in one of her planks, and she filled. They, however,
+landed to seek for provisions; but the inhabitants attacked them with
+such force, that they were forced to retire; and, when they came to
+their vessels, they found that the tide had left the only serviceable
+one dry. Orellana ordered half his men to fight, and the other half to
+thrust the vessel into the water: that done, they righted the old
+brigantine, and fastened in a new plank, all which was completed in
+three hours, by which time the Indians were weary of fighting, and left
+them in peace. The next day they found a desert place, where Orellana
+halted to repair both vessels. This took them eighteen days, during
+which they suffered much from hunger.
+
+As they drew near the sea, they halted again for fourteen days, to
+prepare for their sea-voyage; made cordage of herbs; and sewed the
+cloaks, on which they slept, into sails. On the 8th of August, they
+proceeded again, anchoring with stones when the tide turned, though it
+sometimes came in such strength as to drag these miserable anchors. Here
+the natives were happily of a milder mood than those whom they had
+lately dealt with. From them they procured roots and Indian corn; and,
+having laid in what store they could, they made ready to enter upon the
+sea in these frail vessels, with their miserable tackling, and with
+insufficient food, without pilot, compass, or any knowledge of the
+coast.
+
+It was on the 26th of August that they sailed out of the river, passing
+between two islands, which were about four leagues asunder. The whole
+length of the voyage from the place where they had embarked to the sea
+they computed at eighteen hundred leagues. Thus far their weather had
+been always favorable, and it did not fail them now. They kept along the
+coast to the northward, just at safe distance. The two brigantines
+parted company in the night. They in the larger one got into the Gulf of
+Paria, from whence all their labor at the oar for seven days could not
+extricate them. During this time, they lived upon a sort of plum called
+"nogos," being the only food they could find. At length they were
+whirled through those tremendous channels which Columbus called the
+"Dragon's mouths," and, September the 11th, not knowing where they were,
+reached the Island of Cubagua, where they found a colony of their
+countrymen. The old brigantine had arrived at the same place two days
+before them. Here they were received with the welcome which their
+wonderful adventure deserved; and from hence Orellana proceeded to
+Spain, to give the king an account of his discoveries in person.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+ORELLANA'S ADVENTURE CONTINUED.
+
+
+Orellana arrived safe in Spain, and was favorably received. His act of
+insubordination in leaving his commander was forgotten in the success of
+his achievement; for it had been successful, even if the naked facts
+only had been told, inasmuch as it was the first event which led to any
+certain knowledge of the immense regions that stretch eastward from the
+Andes to the ocean, besides being in itself one of the most brilliant
+adventures of that remarkable age. But Orellana's accounts went far
+beyond these limits, and confirming all previous tales of the wonderful
+Eldorado, with its temples roofed with gold, and its mountains composed
+of precious stones, drew to his standard numerous followers. Every thing
+promised fairly. The king granted him a commission to conquer the
+countries which he had explored. He raised funds for the expedition, and
+even found a wife who was willing to accompany him in May, 1544, he set
+sail with four ships and four hundred men.
+
+But the tide of Orellana's fortune had turned. He stopped three months
+at Teneriffe, and two at the Cape de Verde, where ninety-eight of his
+people died, and fifty were invalided. The expedition proceeded with
+three ships, and met with contrary winds, which detained them till their
+water was exhausted; and, had it not been for heavy rains, all must have
+perished. One ship put back in this distress, with seventy men and
+eleven horses on board, and was never heard of after. The remaining two
+reached the river. Having ascended about a hundred leagues, they stopped
+to build a brigantine. Provisions were scarce here, and fifty-seven more
+of his party died. These men were not, like his former comrades,
+seasoned to the climate, and habituated to the difficulties of the new
+world. One ship was broken up here for the materials: the other met with
+an accident, and became unserviceable; and they cut her up, and made a
+bark of the timbers.
+
+Orellana meanwhile, in the brigantine, was endeavoring to discover the
+main branch of the river, which it had been easy to keep when carried
+down by the stream, but which he now sought in vain for thirty days
+among a labyrinth of channels. When he returned from this fruitless
+search, he was ill, and told his people that he would go back to Point
+St. Juan; and there he ordered them to seek him when they had got the
+bark ready. But he found his sickness increase upon him, and determined
+to abandon the expedition, and return to Europe. While he was seeking
+provisions for the voyage, the Indians killed seventeen of his men. What
+with vexation and disorder, he died in the river. This sealed the fate
+of the expedition. The survivors made no further exertions to reach
+Eldorado, but returned to their own country as they could. Such was the
+fate of Orellana, who, as a discoverer, surpassed all his countrymen;
+and though, as a conqueror, he was unfortunate, yet neither is he
+chargeable with any of those atrocities toward the unhappy natives which
+have left such a stain on the glories of Cortes and Pizarro.
+
+The next attempt we read of to discover Eldorado was made a few years
+after, under Hernando de Ribera, by ascending the La Plata, or River of
+Paraguay. He sailed in a brigantine with eighty men, and encountered no
+hostility from the natives. They confirmed the stories of the Amazons
+with their golden city. "How could they get at them?" was the next
+question: "by land, or by water?"--"Only by land," was the reply. "But
+it was a two-months' journey; and to reach them now would be impossible,
+because the country was inundated." The Spaniards made light of this
+obstacle, but asked for Indians to carry their baggage. The chief gave
+Ribera twenty for himself, and five for each of his men; and these
+desperate adventurers set off on their march over a flooded country.
+
+Eight days they travelled through water up to their knees, and sometimes
+up to their middle. By slinging their hammocks to trees, and by this
+means only, could they find dry positions for the night. Before they
+could make a fire to dress their food, they were obliged to raise a rude
+scaffolding; and this was unavoidably so insecure, that frequently the
+fire burned through, and food and all fell into the water. They reached
+another tribe, and were told that the Amazons' country was still nine
+days farther on; and then still another tribe, who told them it would
+take a month to reach them. Perhaps they would still have advanced; but
+here an insuperable obstacle met them. The locusts for two successive
+years had devoured every thing before them, and no food was to be had.
+The Spaniards had no alternative but to march back. On their way, they
+were reduced to great distress for want of food; and from this cause,
+and travelling so long half under water, the greater number fell sick,
+and many died. Of eighty men who accompanied Ribera upon this dreadful
+march, only thirty recovered from its effects.
+
+This expedition added a few items to the story of Eldorado. Ribera
+declares under oath that the natives told him of a nation of women,
+governed by a woman, and so warlike as to be dreaded by all their
+neighbors. They possessed plenty of white and yellow metal: their seats,
+and all the utensils in their houses, were made of them. They lived on a
+large island, which was in a huge lake, which they called the "Mansion
+of the Sun," because the sun sank into it. The only way of accounting
+for these stories is, that the Spaniards furnished, in the shape of
+questions, the information which they fancied they received in reply;
+the Indians assenting to what they understood but imperfectly, or not at
+all.
+
+
+MARTINEZ.
+
+Another expedition, not long after Orellana's, was that conducted by Don
+Diego Ordaz, of which Sir Walter Raleigh, in his "History of Guiana,"
+gives an account. The expedition failed; Ordaz being slain in a mutiny
+of his men, and those who went with him being scattered. The only
+noticeable result was in the adventures of one Martinez, an officer of
+Ordaz, who had charge of the ammunition. We tell the story in the
+language of Sir Walter, slightly modernized:--
+
+     "It chanced, that while Ordaz, with his army, rested at the
+     port of Morequito, by some negligence the whole store of powder
+     provided for the service was set on fire; and Martinez, having
+     the chief charge thereof, was condemned by the general to be
+     executed forthwith. Martinez, being much favored by the
+     soldiers, had all means possible employed to save his life; but
+     it could not be obtained in other way but this,--that he should
+     be set into a canoe alone, without any food, and so turned
+     loose into the great river. But it pleased God that the canoe
+     was carried down the stream, and that certain of the Guianians
+     met it the same evening: and, not having at any time seen any
+     European, they carried Martinez into the land to be wondered
+     at; and so from town to town until he came to the great city of
+     Manoa, the seat and residence of Inga, the emperor. The
+     emperor, when he beheld him, knew him to be a Christian of
+     those who had conquered the neighboring country of Peru, and
+     caused him to be lodged in his palace, and well entertained. He
+     lived seven months in Manoa, but was not suffered to wander
+     into the country anywhere. He was also brought thither all the
+     way blindfolded by the Indians, until he came to the entrance
+     of Manoa itself. He avowed at his death that he entered the
+     city at noon, and then they uncovered his face; and that he
+     travelled all that day till night through the city, ere he came
+     to the palace of Inga.
+
+     "After Martinez had lived seven months in Manoa, and began to
+     understand the language of the country, Inga asked him whether
+     he desired to return to his own country, or would willingly
+     abide with him. Martinez, not desirous to stay, obtained
+     permission of Inga to depart, who sent with him some Guianians
+     to conduct him to the river of Orinoco, with as much gold as
+     they could carry, which he gave to Martinez at his departure.
+     But, when he arrived at the river's side, the natives, being at
+     that time at war with Inga, robbed him and his Guianians of all
+     his treasure, save only two bottles made of gourds, which were
+     filled with beads of gold, which those people thought to
+     contain his drink or food, with which he was at liberty to
+     depart. So, in a canoe, he passed down by the river to
+     Trinidad, and from thence to Porto Rico, where he died. In the
+     time of his extreme sickness, and when he was without hope of
+     life, receiving the sacrament at the hands of his confessor, he
+     delivered this relation of his travels, and also called for his
+     calabazas, or gourds of gold beads, which he gave to the church
+     and the friars, to be prayed for.
+
+     "This Martinez was the one who christened the city of Manoa by
+     the name 'Eldorado,' and upon this occasion. At the times of
+     their solemn feasts, when the emperor carouses with his
+     captains, tributaries, and governors, the manner is thus: All
+     those that pledge him are first stripped naked, and their
+     bodies anointed all over with a kind of white balsam very
+     precious. When they are anointed all over, certain servants of
+     the emperor, having prepared gold made into fine powder, blow
+     it through hollow canes upon their naked bodies until they be
+     all shining from the head to the foot. Upon this sight, and for
+     the abundance of gold which he saw in the city, the images of
+     gold in their temples, the plates, armors, and shields of gold
+     which they use in the wars, he called it Eldorado."
+
+Such is Sir Walter's narrative of one of the traditions which fired his
+enthusiasm to undertake the conquest of Eldorado. He asserts that he
+read it in "The Chancery of Saint Juan de Porto Rico," of which Berrio
+had a copy. It is pretty plainly tinctured with fable, but probably had
+an historical foundation.
+
+After this, a good many years elapsed before any other expedition of
+note was fitted out in search of Eldorado. But the story grew,
+notwithstanding. An imaginary kingdom was shaped out. It was governed by
+a potentate who was called the Great Paytiti, sometimes the Great Moxu,
+sometimes the Enim, or Great Para. An impostor at Lima affirmed that he
+had been in his capital, the city of Manoa, where not fewer than three
+thousand workmen were employed in the silversmiths' street. He even
+produced a map of the country, in which he had marked a hill of gold,
+another of silver, and a third of salt. The columns of the palace were
+described as of porphyry and alabaster, the galleries of ebony and
+cedar: the throne was of ivory, and the ascent to it by steps of gold.
+The palace was built of white stone. At the entrance were two towers,
+and between them a column twenty-five feet in height. On its top was a
+large silver moon; and two living lions were fastened to its base with
+chains of gold. Having passed by these keepers, you came into a
+quadrangle planted with trees, and watered by a silver fountain, which
+spouted through four golden pipes. The gate of the palace was of copper,
+and its bolt was received in the solid rock. Within, a golden sun was
+placed upon an altar of silver; and four lamps were kept burning before
+it day and night.
+
+It may surprise us that tales so palpably false as these should have
+deceived any, to such an extent as to lead them to get up costly and
+hazardous expeditions to go in search of the wonder; but we must
+remember, that what the Spaniards had already realized and demonstrated
+to the world in their conquests of Mexico and Peru was hardly less
+astonishing than these accounts. It is therefore no wonder that
+multitudes should be found willing to admit so much of the marvels of
+Eldorado as to see in them a sufficient inducement to justify the
+search; and others less credulous were perhaps willing to avail
+themselves of the credulity of the multitude to accomplish plans of
+conquest and ambition for themselves. Of the latter class, we may
+imagine the celebrated Sir Walter Raleigh to be one, who, at this time,
+undertook an expedition for the discovery and conquest of Eldorado.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+SIR WALTER RALEIGH.
+
+
+Walter Raleigh was born in the year 1552 in Devonshire, England, and
+received a good education, completed by a residence of two years at the
+University of Oxford. At the age of seventeen, he joined a volunteer
+corps of English to serve in France in aid of the Protestant cause.
+Afterwards he served five years in the Netherlands. In 1576, he
+accompanied his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, on an expedition to
+colonize some part of North America; which expedition was unsuccessful.
+We next find him commanding a company of the royal troops in Ireland
+during the rebellion raised by the Earl of Desmond. In consequence of
+some serious differences which arose between him and his superior
+officer, he found it necessary to repair to court to justify himself. It
+was at this time that an incident occurred which recommended him to the
+notice of Queen Elizabeth, and was the foundation of his fortunes.
+Raleigh stood in the crowd one day where the queen passed on foot; and
+when she came to a spot of muddy ground, and hesitated for a moment
+where to step, he sprang forward, and, throwing from his shoulders his
+handsome cloak ("his clothes being then," says a quaint old writer, "a
+considerable part of his estate"), he spread it over the mud, so that
+the queen passed over dry-shod, doubtless giving an approving look to
+the handsome and quick-witted young officer. There is another story
+which is not less probable, because it is not less in character with
+both the parties. Finding some hopes of the queen's favor glancing on
+him, he wrote, on a window where it was likely to meet her eye,--
+
+"Fain would I climb, but that I fear to fall."
+
+And her majesty, espying it, wrote underneath,--
+
+"If thy heart fail thee, wherefore climb at all?"
+
+His progress in the queen's favor was enhanced by his demeanor when the
+matter in dispute between him and his superior officer was brought
+before the privy council, and each party was called upon to plead his
+own cause. "What advantage he had in the case in controversy," says a
+contemporary writer, "I know not; but he had much the better in the
+manner of telling his tale." The result was, that he became a man of "no
+slight mark;" "he had gotten the queen's ear in a trice;" "she took him
+for a kind of oracle," and "loved to hear his reasons to her demands,"
+or, in more modern phrase, "his replies to her questions."
+
+The reign of Queen Elizabeth has been called the heroic age of England.
+And, let us remember, the England of that day is ours as much as theirs
+who still bear the name of Englishmen. The men whose gallant deeds we
+now record were our ancestors, and their glory is our inheritance.
+
+The Reformation in religion had awakened all the energies of the human
+mind. It had roused against England formidable enemies, among which
+Spain was the most powerful and the most intensely hostile. She fitted
+out the famous Armada to invade England; and England, on her part, sent
+various expeditions to annoy the Spaniards in their lately acquired
+possessions in South America. These expeditions were generally got up by
+private adventurers; the queen and her great nobles often taking a share
+in them. When there was nominal peace with Spain, such enterprises were
+professedly for discovery and colonization, though the adventurers could
+not always keep their hands off a rich prize of Spanish property that
+fell in their way; but, for the last fifteen years of Elizabeth's reign,
+there was open war between the two powers: and then these expeditions
+had for their first object the annoyance of Spain, and discovery and
+colonization for their second.
+
+We find Raleigh, after fortune began to smile upon him, engaged in a
+second expedition, with Sir Humphrey Gilbert, for discovery and
+colonization in America. He furnished, from his own means, a ship called
+"The Raleigh," on board of which he embarked; but when a few days out, a
+contagious disease breaking out among the crew, he put back into port,
+and relinquished the expedition. Sir Humphrey, with the rest of the
+squadron, consisting of five vessels, reached Newfoundland without
+accident, took possession of the island, and left a colony there. He
+then set out exploring along the American coast to the south, he himself
+doing all the work in his little ten-ton cutter; the service being too
+dangerous for the larger vessels to venture on. He spent the summer in
+this labor till toward the end of August, when, in a violent storm, one
+of the larger vessels, "The Delight," was lost with all her crew. "The
+Golden Hind" and "Squirrel" were now left alone of the five ships. Their
+provisions were running short, and the season far advanced; and Sir
+Humphrey reluctantly concluded to lay his course for home. He still
+continued in the small vessel, though vehemently urged by his friends to
+remove to the larger one. "I will not forsake my little company, going
+homeward," said he, "with whom I have passed so many storms and perils."
+On the 9th of September, the weather was rough, and the cutter was with
+difficulty kept afloat, struggling with the violence of the waves. When
+the vessels came within hearing distance, Sir Humphrey cried out to his
+companions in "The Hind," "Be of good courage: we are as near to heaven
+by sea as by land." "That night, at about twelve o'clock," writes the
+historian of the voyage, who was himself one of the adventurers, "the
+cutter being ahead of us in 'The Golden Hind,' suddenly her lights were
+out, and the watch cried, 'The general is cast away!' which was too
+true." So perished a Christian hero. It was a fine end for a mortal man.
+Let us not call it sad or tragic, but heroic and sublime.
+
+Raleigh, not discouraged by the ill success of this expedition, shortly
+after obtained letters-patent for another enterprise of the same kind,
+on the same terms as had been granted to Sir Humphrey. Two barks were
+sent to explore some undiscovered part of America north of Florida, and
+look out for a favorable situation for the proposed colony. This
+expedition landed on Roanoke Island, near the mouth of Albemarle Sound.
+Having taken formal possession of the country for the Queen of England
+and her servant Sir Walter Raleigh, they returned, and gave so favorable
+an account of the country, that her Majesty allowed it to be called
+Virginia, after herself, a virgin queen. The next year, Raleigh sent out
+a second expedition, and left a colony of a hundred men, which was the
+first colony planted by Englishmen on the continent of America. Soon
+after, Raleigh sent a third expedition with a hundred and fifty
+colonists; but having now expended forty thousand pounds upon these
+attempts, and being unable to persist further, or weary of waiting so
+long for profitable returns, he assigned over his patent to a company of
+merchants, and withdrew from further prosecution of the enterprise.
+
+The years which followed were the busiest of Raleigh's adventurous life.
+He bore a distinguished part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada; and,
+in the triumphant procession to return thanks at St. Paul's for that
+great deliverance, he was conspicuous as commander of the queen's guard.
+He was a member of Parliament, yet engaged personally in two naval
+expeditions against the Spaniards, from which he reaped honor, but no
+profit; and was at the height of favor with the queen. But, during his
+absence at sea, the queen discovered that an intrigue existed between
+Raleigh and one of the maids of honor, which was an offence particularly
+displeasing to Elizabeth, who loved to fancy that all her handsome young
+courtiers were too much attached to herself to be capable of loving any
+other object. Raleigh, on his return, was committed a prisoner to the
+Tower, and, on being released after a short confinement, retired to his
+estate in Dorsetshire. It was during this retirement that he formed his
+scheme for the discovery and conquest of Eldorado. It had long been a
+subject of meditation to Raleigh, who declares in the dedication of his
+"History of Guiana," published after his return, that "many years since,
+he had knowledge, by relation, of that mighty, rich, and beautiful
+empire of Guiana, and of that great and golden city which the Spaniards
+call Eldorado, and the naturals Manoa."--"It is not possible," says one
+of the historians of these events, "that Raleigh could have believed
+the existence of such a kingdom. Credulity was not the vice of his
+nature; but, having formed the project of colonizing Guiana, he employed
+these fables as baits for vulgar cupidity." Other writers judge him more
+favorably. It is probably true that he believed in the existence of such
+a country as Eldorado; but we can hardly suppose that he put faith in
+all the marvellous details which accompanied the main fact in popular
+narration.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+RALEIGH'S FIRST EXPEDITION.
+
+
+As the attempts of Pizarro and Orellana were made by the route of the
+river of the Amazons, and that of Ribera by the river of Paraguay,
+Raleigh's approach was by the Orinoco, a river second in size only to
+the Amazons, and which flows in a course somewhat parallel to that, and
+some five or ten degrees farther to the north. The region of country
+where this river discharges itself into the Atlantic was nominally in
+possession of the Spaniards, though they had but one settlement in what
+was called the province of Guiana,--the town of St. Joseph, then
+recently founded; and another on the island of Trinidad, which lies
+nearly opposite the mouth of the river. Raleigh, arriving at Trinidad,
+stopped some days to procure such intelligence as the Spaniards resident
+there could afford him respecting Guiana. He then proceeded to the main
+land, destroyed the town which the Spaniards had lately built there,
+and took the governor, Berrio, on board his own ship. He used his
+prisoner well, and "gathered from him," he says, "as much of Guiana as
+he knew." Berrio seems to have conversed willingly upon his own
+adventures in exploring the country, having no suspicion of Raleigh's
+views. He discouraged Raleigh's attempts to penetrate into the country,
+telling him that he would find the river unnavigable for his ships, and
+the nations hostile. These representations had little weight with
+Raleigh, as he attributed them to a very natural wish on Berrio's part
+to keep off foreigners from his province; but, on trying to find the
+entrance to the river, he discovered Berrio's account to be true, so far
+as related to the difficulties of the navigation. After a thorough
+search for a practicable entrance, he gave up all hopes of passing in
+any large vessel, and resolved to go with the boats. He took in his
+largest boat, with himself, sixty men, including his cousin, his nephew,
+and principal officers. Another boat carried twenty, and two others ten
+each. "We had no other means," he says in his account afterward
+published, "but to carry victual for a month in the same, and also to
+lodge therein as we could, and to boil and dress our meat."
+
+The Orinoco, at nearly forty leagues from the sea, forms, like the Nile,
+a kind of fan, strewed over with a multitude of little islands, that
+divide it into numerous branches and channels, and force it to discharge
+itself through this labyrinth into the sea by an infinity of mouths,
+occupying an extent of more than sixty leagues. "The Indians who inhabit
+those islands," says Raleigh, "in the summer, have houses upon the
+ground, as in other places; in the winter they dwell upon the trees,
+where they build very artificial towns and villages: for, between May
+and September, the river rises to thirty feet upright, and then are
+those islands overflowed twenty feet high above the level of the ground;
+and for this cause they are enforced to live in this manner. They use
+the tops of palmitos for bread; and kill deer, fish, and porks for the
+rest of their sustenance." Raleigh's account is confirmed by later
+travellers. Humboldt says, "The navigator, in proceeding along the
+channels of the delta of the Orinoco at night, sees with surprise the
+summits of the palm-trees illuminated by large fires. These are the
+habitations of the Guaraons, which are suspended from the trees. These
+tribes hang up mats in the air, which they fill with earth, and kindle,
+on a layer of moist clay, the fire necessary for their household
+wants."
+
+Passing up with the flood, and anchoring during the ebb, Raleigh and his
+companions went on, till on the third day their galley grounded, and
+stuck so fast, that they feared their discovery must end there, and they
+be left to inhabit, like rooks upon trees, with these nations; but on
+the morrow, after casting out all her ballast, with tugging and hauling
+to and fro, they got her afloat. After four days more, they got beyond
+the influence of the tide, and were forced to row against a violent
+current, till they began to despair; the weather being excessively hot,
+and the river bordered with high trees, that kept away the air. Their
+provisions began to fail them; but some relief they found by shooting
+birds of all colors,--carnation, crimson, orange, purple, and of all
+other sorts, both simple and mixed. An old Indian whom they had pressed
+into their service was a faithful guide to them, and brought them to an
+Indian village, where they got a supply of bread, fish, and fowl. They
+were thus encouraged to persevere, and next day captured two canoes
+laden with bread, "and divers baskets of roots, which were excellent
+meat." Probably these roots were no other than potatoes; for the
+mountains of Quito, to which Sir Walter was now approaching, were the
+native country of the potato, and the region from whence it was first
+introduced into Europe. The Spaniards and Portuguese introduced it
+earlier than the English; but to Raleigh belongs the credit of making it
+known to his countrymen. The story is, that Sir Walter, on his return
+home, had some of the roots planted in his garden at Youghal, in
+Ireland, and that his gardener was sadly disappointed in autumn on
+tasting the apples of the "fine American fruit," and proceeded to root
+up the "useless weeds," when he discovered the tubers.
+
+Raleigh treated the natives with humanity, and, in turn, received
+friendly treatment from them. The chiefs told him fine stories about the
+gold-mines; but, unfortunately, the gold was not to be had without
+labor, and the adventurers were in no condition to undertake mining
+operations. What they wanted was to find a region like Mexico or Peru,
+only richer, where gold might be found, not in the rocks or the bowels
+of the earth, but in possession of the natives, in the form of barbaric
+ornaments that they would freely barter for European articles, or images
+of their gods, such as Christians might seize and carry away with an
+approving conscience.
+
+Thus far, their search for such a region had been unsuccessful, and
+their only hope was of reaching it by farther explorations. But the
+river was rising daily, and the current flowed with such rapidity, that
+they saw clearly, if it went on to increase as it had done for some time
+past, it must soon debar all farther progress.
+
+Raleigh found by talking with the chiefs that they were all hostile to
+the Spaniards, and willing enough to promise him their aid in driving
+them out of the country. He accordingly told them that he was sent by a
+great and virtuous queen to deliver them from the tyranny of the
+Spaniards. He also learned that the Indians with whom he was conversing
+were an oppressed race, having been conquered by a nation who dwelt
+beyond the mountains,--a nation who wore large coats, and hats of
+crimson color, and whose houses had many rooms, one over the other. They
+were called the Eperumei; and against them all the other tribes would
+gladly combine, for they were the general oppressors. Moreover, the
+country of these Eperumei abounded in gold and all other good things.
+
+He continued to make daily efforts to ascend the river, and to explore
+the tributary streams, but found his progress debarred in some quarters
+by the rapid current of the swollen streams, and in others by falls in
+the rivers. The falls of one of the tributaries of the Orinoco, the
+Caroli, he describes as "a wonderful breach of waters, running in three
+parts; and there appeared some ten or twelve over-falls in sight, every
+one as high over the other as a church-tower." He was informed that the
+lake from which the river issued was above a day's journey for one of
+their canoes to cross, which he computed at about forty miles; that many
+rivers fall into it, and great store of grains of gold was found in
+those rivers. On one of these rivers, he was told, a nation of people
+dwell "whose heads appear not above their shoulders;" which, he says,
+"though it may be thought a mere fable, yet, for my own part, I am
+resolved it is true, because every child in those provinces affirm the
+same. They are reported to have their eyes in their shoulders, and their
+mouths in the middle of their breasts, and that a long train of hair
+growth backward between their shoulders." Raleigh adds, "It was not my
+chance to hear of them till I was come away. If I had but spoken one
+word of it while I was there, I might have brought one of them with me
+to put the matter out of doubt." It might have been more satisfactory
+for the philosophers if he had done so; but his word was quite enough
+for the poets. One of that class, and the greatest of all, William
+Shakspeare, was, at that very time, writing plays for the gratification
+of Raleigh's gracious mistress and her subjects, and eagerly availed
+himself of this new-discovered tribe to introduce one of them in his
+play of "The Tempest," under the name of Caliban. He also makes Othello
+tell the gentle Desdemona "of most disastrous chances, and of the
+cannibals that each other eat; the Anthropophagi, and men whose heads do
+grow beneath their shoulders." Nor are these the only instances in which
+we think we trace the influence of the romantic adventurer on the
+susceptible poet. The name of the divinity whom Caliban calls "my dam's
+God Setebos" occurs in Raleigh's narrative as the name of an Indian
+tribe; and Trinculo's plan of taking Caliban to England to make a show
+of him seems borrowed from this hint of Raleigh's. In his days of
+prosperity, Raleigh instituted a meeting of intellectual men at "The
+Mermaid," a celebrated tavern. To this club, Shakspeare, Beaumont,
+Fletcher, Jonson, Selden, Donne, and other distinguished literary men,
+were accustomed to repair; and here doubtless the adventures and
+discoveries of Sir Walter, set forth with that talent of which his
+writings furnish abundant proof, often engaged the listening group.
+Raleigh was then forty-eight, and Shakspeare thirty-six, years old. But,
+in justice to Raleigh, it should be added, that he did not invent these
+stories, and that later travellers and missionaries testify that such
+tales were current among the Indians, though as yet no specimen of the
+tribe has been seen by trustworthy narrators.
+
+Raleigh now found that he must bring his westward progress to a
+conclusion: "for no half-day passed but the river began to rage and
+overflow very fearfully; and the rains came down in terrible showers,
+and gusts in great abundance, and men began to cry out for want of
+shift; for no man had place to bestow any other apparel than that which
+he wore on his back, and that was thoroughly washed on his body for the
+most part ten times a day; and we had now been near a month, every day
+passing to the westward, farther from our ships." They turned back,
+therefore, and, passing down the stream, went, without labor and against
+the wind, little less than one hundred miles a day. They stopped
+occasionally, both for provisions, and for conference with the natives.
+In particular, one old chief, with whom he had conferred formerly on his
+ascent, gave him the confidential communication, that the attempt to
+attack the city of Manoa, at that time, was desperate; for neither the
+time of the year was favorable, nor had he nearly a sufficient force. He
+advised, that, forbearing any further attempts at that time, Raleigh
+should rest satisfied with the information he had gained, and return to
+his own country for a larger force, with which to come again the next
+year, and unite all the tribes which were hostile to the Eperumei, or
+people of Manoa, and by their aid make an easy conquest of them. The old
+chief added, that, for his part and his people's, they wanted no share
+of the spoils of gold or precious stones: they only wanted to be avenged
+on their enemies, and to rescue from them their women whom the Eperumei
+had carried away in their frequent incursions; "so that, whereas they
+were wont to have ten or twelve wives apiece, they were now enforced to
+content themselves with three or four."
+
+Raleigh met with no material misadventure in his way down the river;
+and, though a storm attacked them the same night, they anchored in the
+mouth of the river; so that, in spite of every shelter they could derive
+from the shores, the galley "had as much to do to live as could be, and
+there wanted little of her sinking, and all those in her:" yet next day
+they arrived safe at the Island of Trinidad, and found the ships at
+anchor, "than which," says Raleigh, "there was never to us a more joyful
+sight."
+
+Raleigh was not favorably received by the queen on his return, nor was
+he welcomed with any popular applause; for he had brought home no booty,
+and his account of the riches of the land into which he had led the way
+was received with suspicion. He published it under this boastful title:
+"The Discovery of the large, rich, and beautiful Empire of Guiana; with
+a relation of the great and Golden City of Manoa, which the Spaniards
+call Eldorado. Performed by Sir Walter Raleigh." In spite of all the
+great promises which he held out, the acknowledgment that he had made a
+losing voyage tended to abate that spirit of cupidity and enterprise
+which he wished to excite.
+
+Sir Walter's history of his expedition contains, besides the marvels
+already cited, numerous others, some of which have a basis of fact,
+others not. Of the former kind is his account of oysters growing on
+trees. He says, "We arrived at Trinidado the 22d of March, casting
+anchor at Port Curiapan. I left the ships, and kept by the shore in my
+barge, the better to understand the rivers, watering-places, and ports
+of the island. In the way, I passed divers little brooks of fresh
+water, and one salt river, that had store of oysters upon the branches
+of the trees. All their oysters grow upon those boughs and sprays, and
+not on the ground. The like is commonly seen in the West Indies and
+elsewhere."
+
+Upon this narrative, Sir Robert Schomburgh, a late explorer, has the
+following remark: "The first accounts brought to Europe, of oysters
+growing on trees, raised as great astonishment as the relation of
+Eldorado itself; and to those who were unacquainted with the fact that
+these mollusks select the branches of the tree, on which they fix
+themselves during high water, when the branches are immersed, it may
+certainly sound strange, that shells, which we know live in Europe on
+banks in the depths of the sea, should be found in the West Indies on
+the branches of trees. They attach themselves chiefly to the
+mangrove-tree, which grows along the shore of the sea, and rivers of
+brackish water, and covers immense tracts of coast; rooting and
+vegetating in a manner peculiar to itself, even as far as low-water
+mark. The water flowing off during ebb leaves the branches, with the
+oysters attached to them, high and dry."
+
+Respecting the Republic of Amazons, Sir Walter says, "I made inquiry
+among the most ancient and best travelled of the Orenoqueponi; and I
+was very desirous to understand the truth of those warlike women,
+because of some it is believed, of others not. I will set down what hath
+been delivered me for truth of those women; and I spake with a cacique,
+or lord of people, who said that he had been in the river, and beyond it
+also. The nations of those women are on the south side of the river, in
+the province of Topago; and their chiefest strengths and retreats are in
+the islands of said river. They accompany with men but once in a year,
+and for the time of one month, which, I gather from their relation, to
+be in April. At that time, all the kings of the borders assemble, and
+the queens of the Amazons; and, after the queens have chosen, the rest
+cast lots for their valentines. This one month they feast, dance, and
+drink of their wines in abundance; and, the moon being done, they all
+depart to their own provinces. If a son be born, they return him to the
+father; if a daughter, they nourish it and retain it, all being desirous
+to increase their own sex and kind. They carry on wars, and are very
+blood-thirsty and cruel."
+
+Sir Robert Schomburgh, who explored these regions extensively between
+the years 1835 and 1844, says, in reference to this subject, "The
+result of this fatiguing and perilous journey has only strengthened our
+conviction that this republic of women was one of those inventions,
+designed merely to enhance the wonders, of which the new world was
+regarded as the seat." It would, however, be unjust to condemn Raleigh's
+proneness to a belief in their existence, when we find that Condamine
+believed in them; that Humboldt hesitated to decide against them; and
+that even Southey, the learned historian of Brazil, makes this remark,
+"Had we never heard of the Amazons of antiquity, I should, without
+hesitation, believe in those of America. Their existence is not the less
+likely for that reason; and yet it must be admitted, that the probable
+truth is made to appear suspicious by its resemblance to a known
+fable."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+RALEIGH'S ADVENTURES CONTINUED.
+
+
+When Raleigh, on his first arrival, broke up the Spanish settlement in
+Trinidad, he took Berrio, the governor, prisoner, and carried him with
+him in his voyage up the river. Berrio seems to have borne his fate with
+good temper, and conciliated the good will of Raleigh; so that, when the
+expedition returned to the mouth of the river, he was set at liberty,
+and collected his little colony again. Berrio probably shared the same
+belief as Raleigh in the existence of the kingdom of Eldorado within the
+limits of his province, and was naturally desirous to avail himself of
+the respite which he gained by the termination of Raleigh's expedition,
+until it should return in greater force to penetrate to Eldorado, and
+take possession for himself and his countrymen. With these views, he
+sent an officer of his, Domingo de Vera, to Spain, to levy men; sending,
+according to Raleigh's account, "divers images, as well of men as of
+beasts, birds, and fishes, cunningly wrought in gold," in hopes to
+persuade the king to yield him some further help. This agent was more
+successful than Raleigh in obtaining belief. He is described as a man of
+great ability, and little scrupulous as to truth. Having been favorably
+received by the government, he attracted notice by appearing in a
+singular dress, which, as he was of great stature, and rode always a
+great horse, drew all eyes, and made him generally known as the Indian
+chief of Eldorado and the rich lands. Some trinkets in gold he
+displayed, of Indian workmanship, and some emeralds, which he had
+brought from America, and promised stores of both; and, by the aid of
+influential persons, he obtained seventy thousand dollars at Madrid, and
+five thousand afterwards at Seville, authority to raise any number of
+adventurers (though Berrio had asked only for three hundred men), and
+five good ships to carry them out. Adventurers flocked to him in Toledo,
+La Mancha, and Estremadura. The expedition was beyond example popular.
+Twenty captains of infantry, who had served in Italy and Flanders,
+joined it. Not only those who had their fortunes to seek were deluded:
+men of good birth and expectations left all to engage in the conquest of
+Eldorado; and fathers of families gave up their employments, and sold
+their goods, and embarked with their wives and children. Solicitations
+and bribes were made use of by eager volunteers. The whole expedition
+consisted of more than two thousand persons.
+
+They reached Trinidad after a prosperous voyage, and took possession of
+the town. The little mischief which Raleigh had done had been easily
+repaired; for indeed there was little that he could do. The place did
+not contain thirty families, and the strangers were to find shelter as
+they could. Rations of biscuit and salt meat, pulse, or rice, were
+served out to them; but, to diminish the consumption as much as
+possible, detachments were sent off in canoes to the main land, where
+Berrio had founded the town of St. Thomas. Some flotillas effected their
+progress safely; but one, which consisted of six canoes, met with bad
+weather, and only three succeeded in entering the river, after throwing
+their cargoes overboard. The others made the nearest shore, where they
+were descried by the Caribs, a fierce tribe of natives, who slew them
+all, except a few women whom they carried away, and one soldier, who
+escaped to relate the fate of his companions.
+
+The city of St. Thomas contained at that time four hundred men, besides
+women and children. Berrio, to prepare the way for the discovery and
+conquest of Eldorado, sent out small parties of the new-comers under
+experienced persons, that they might be seasoned to the difficulties
+which they would have to undergo, and learn how to conduct themselves in
+their intercourse with the Indians. They were to spread the news that
+the king had sent out many Spaniards, and a large supply of axes, caps,
+hawk-bells, looking-glasses, combs, and such other articles of traffic
+as were in most request. They saw no appearance of those riches which
+Raleigh had heard of, nor of that plenty which he had found. The people
+with whom they met had but a scanty subsistence for themselves, and so
+little of gold or silver or any thing else to barter for the hatchets
+and trinkets of the Spaniards, that they were glad of the chance to
+labor as boatmen, or give their children, in exchange for them.
+
+Berrio was not discouraged by the result of these journeys. Like
+Raleigh, he was persuaded that the great and golden city stood on the
+banks of a great lake, from which the River Caroli issued, about twelve
+leagues east of the mouth whereof his town was placed. A force of eight
+hundred men was now ordered on the discovery. The command was given to
+Correa, an officer accustomed to Indian warfare. Three Franciscan monks,
+and a lay brother of the same order, accompanied the expedition. Having
+reached a spot where the country was somewhat elevated, and the
+temperature cooler than in the region they had passed, they hutted
+themselves on a sort of prairie, and halted there in the hope that rest
+might restore those who began to feel the effect of an unwholesome
+climate. The natives not only abstained from any acts of hostility, but
+supplied them with fruits, and a sort of cassava (tapioca). This they
+did in sure knowledge that disease would soon subdue these new-come
+Spaniards to their hands. It was not long before a malignant fever broke
+out among the adventurers, which carried off a third part of their
+number. One comfort only was left them: the friars continued every day
+to perform mass in a place where all the sufferers could hear it; and no
+person died without performing and receiving all the offices which the
+Romish Church has enjoined. Correa himself sank under the disease. He
+might possibly have escaped it, acclimated as he was, if he had not
+overtasked himself when food was to be sought from a distance, and
+carried heavy loads to spare those who were less equal to the labor: for
+now the crafty Indians no longer brought supplies, but left the
+weakened Spaniards to provide for themselves as they could; and when
+Correa was dead, of whom, as a man accustomed to Indian war, they stood
+in fear, they collected their forces, and fell upon the Spaniards, who
+apprehended no danger, and were most of them incapable of making any
+defence. The plan appears to have been concerted with a young Indian
+chief who accompanied the Spaniards under pretence of friendship; and
+the women whom the Indians brought with them to carry home the spoils of
+their enemies bore their part with stones and stakes in the easy
+slaughter. The Spaniards who escaped the first attack fled with all
+speed, some without weapons, and some without strength to use them. The
+friars were the last to fly. With the soldiers to protect them, they
+brought off their portable altar, two crosses, and a crucifix. No
+attempt at resistance was made, except when a fugitive fell by the way.
+The word then passed for one of the fathers: some soldiers stood with
+their muskets to protect him while he hastily confessed and absolved the
+poor wretch, whom his countrymen then commended to God, and left to the
+mercy of the Indians.
+
+In some places, the enemy set fire to the grass and shrubbery, which in
+that climate grow with extreme luxuriance; by which means many of this
+miserable expedition perished. Not quite thirty out of the whole number
+got safe back to the town of St. Thomas. That place was in a deplorable
+state, suffering at once from a contagious disease and from a scarcity
+of provisions. To add to the distress, about a hundred persons more had
+just arrived from Trinidad. They came of necessity; for there were no
+longer supplies of food at Trinidad to sustain them. But they came with
+high-raised hopes, only repining at their ill luck in not having been in
+the first expedition, by which they supposed the first spoils of
+Eldorado had already been shared. They arrived like skeletons at a city
+of death. Not only were provisions scarce, but the supply of salt had
+altogether failed; and, without it, health in that climate cannot be
+preserved. To add to their misery, the shoes had all been consumed, and
+the country was infested by that insect (the chigua) which burrows in
+the feet, and attacks the flesh wherever the slightest wound gives it
+access. The torment occasioned by these insects was such, that the men
+willingly submitted to the only remedy they knew of, and had the sores
+cauterized with hot iron.
+
+Among those who had come from Spain to enter upon this land of promise,
+there was a "beata," or pious woman, who had been attached to a convent
+in Madrid, and accompanied a married daughter and her husband on this
+unhappy adventure, and devoted herself to the service of the sick. Some
+of the women, and she among them, looking upon the governor, Berrio, as
+the cause of their miseries, and thinking, that, as long as he lived,
+there was no hope of their escaping from this fatal place, resolved to
+murder him, and provided themselves with knives for the purpose. The
+indignation against him was so general, that they hesitated not to
+impart their design to one of the friars; and, luckily for Berrio, he
+interposed his influence to prevent it. One of the women who had sold
+her possessions in Spain to join the expedition made her way to the
+governor when the officers and friars were with him, and, emptying upon
+the ground before him a bag which contained one hundred and fifty
+doubloons, said, "Tyrant, take what is left, since you have brought us
+here to die." Berrio replied, with less of anger than of distress in his
+countenance, "I gave no orders to Domingo de Vera that he should bring
+more than three hundred men." He offered no opposition to the departure
+of such as would. Many who had strength or resolution enough trusted
+themselves to the river in such canoes as they could find, without
+boatmen or pilot, and endeavored to make their way back to Trinidad;
+some perishing by the hands of the natives, others by drowning, others
+by hunger, on the marshy shores which they reached. Vera soon died of a
+painful disease in Trinidad; and Berrio did not long survive him. Such
+was the issue of this great attempt for the conquest of the golden
+empire; "of which," says an old Spanish historian, "it may be said, that
+it was like Nebuchadnezzar's image, beginning in gold, but continuing
+through baser metal, till it ended in rude iron and base clay."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+RALEIGH'S SECOND EXPEDITION.
+
+
+Raleigh's first voyage disappointed every one but himself. He pretended
+to have obtained satisfactory evidence of the existence of Eldorado, and
+information of the place where it was; also proof of the existence of
+mines of gold; and to have conciliated the good will of the natives, and
+secured their co-operation with him in any future attempt. But he had
+brought home no gold; the shining stones which his followers had
+abundantly supplied themselves with were found to be worthless: and
+there was no evidence of the existence of a native sovereignty as far
+advanced in civilization and refinement as the Mexicans and Peruvians,
+the conquest of which would reflect as much glory upon the English name
+as the achievements of Cortez and Pizarro had reflected upon that of
+Spain. Raleigh's boastful representations, therefore, failed of effect.
+None of his countrymen were inclined to join with him in a further
+prosecution of the enterprise; and the subject was dropped for the time.
+
+Raleigh was soon restored to favor, and employed in the naval
+expeditions against Spain which took place at this time. He greatly
+distinguished himself on several occasions, and was in high favor with
+Queen Elizabeth till her death; but, with the accession of James, his
+fortunes fell. He was accused (whether justly or not is still doubtful)
+of being concerned in treasonable plots against the king, and was
+brought to trial, found guilty, condemned to death, and committed
+prisoner to the Tower to await the execution of his sentence.
+
+Raleigh, withdrawn from active labors by his imprisonment, was not idle.
+He turned to intellectual pursuits, and, with many minor pieces in prose
+and verse, executed his greatest work, "The History of the World,"--a
+project of such vast extent, that the bare idea of his undertaking it
+excites our admiration. As an author, he stands on an eminence as high
+as that which he obtained in other paths. Hume says, "He is the best
+model of our ancient style;" and Hallam confirms the judgment. His
+imprisonment lasted thirteen years. At the expiration of that time, he
+had influence to have his sentence so far remitted as to allow him to
+go on a second expedition in search of Eldorado. Twenty years had
+elapsed since the former expedition; and the present was of a magnitude
+more like a national enterprise than a private one. Sir Walter's own
+ship, "The Destiny," carried thirty-six guns and two hundred men. There
+were six other vessels, carrying from twenty-five guns to three each.
+Raleigh embarked all his means in this expedition. His eldest son
+commanded one of the ships; and eighty of his companions were gentlemen
+volunteers and adventurers, many of them his relations.
+
+Those who have thoughtfully considered Raleigh's career have seen reason
+to doubt whether he really believed the stories which he was so anxious
+to impress upon others. They have thought it more likely that his real
+object was to emulate the fame of Cortez and Pizarro; to dispossess
+Spain of some portion of her conquests in South America, and transfer
+them to his own country. This latter object was admissible at the time
+of his first expedition, because Spain and England were then at war; but
+was not so on the second, as the two nations were then at peace. But
+Raleigh had reason to think, that, if he could succeed in his object,
+there was no danger of his being called to very strict account
+respecting his measures.
+
+He arrived off the coast of Guiana on the 12th of November, 1617; having
+had a long and disastrous voyage. One ship had left him, and returned
+home; another had foundered; forty-two of his men had died; many were
+suffering from sickness, and himself among the number. But he found the
+Indians friendly, and not forgetful of his former visit. He writes to
+his wife, "To tell you that I might be here king of the country were a
+vanity; but my name hath still lived among them here. They feed me with
+fresh meat, and all that the country yields. All offer to obey me."
+
+Being too feeble from sickness to go himself, he sent forward an
+expedition, under Capt. Keymis, to enter the Orinoco, and take
+possession of the mines. Five companies of fifty men each, in five
+shallops, composed the expedition; Raleigh, with the remainder of his
+vessels, repairing to Trinidad to await the result.
+
+Since Raleigh's former expedition, the Spaniards had made a settlement
+upon the main land, and founded a town to which they gave the name of
+St. Thomas. The governor resided there, and there were in all about
+five hundred inhabitants. On the 12th of January, the English flotilla
+reached a part of the river twelve leagues from St. Thomas; and an
+Indian fisherman carried the alarm to that place. The governor,
+Palameque, mustered immediately the little force which he had at hand.
+This consisted of fifty-seven men only. Messengers were sent to summon
+those men who were at their farms, and two horsemen were sent out to
+watch the invaders' movements.
+
+At eleven in the forenoon, the vessels anchored about a league from the
+town. The men landed, and the scouts hastened back with the
+intelligence. A Spanish officer, with ten men, was placed in ambush near
+the city. As soon as he was informed of the direction which the English
+were taking, he cut a match-cord in pieces, which he lighted at dark,
+and placed at intervals, where they might deceive the invaders by
+presenting the appearance of a greater force. The first discharge was
+from two pieces of cannon against the boats. The Spaniard, with his
+little band, then opened his fire upon the troops, and kept it up from
+the bushes as he retired before them. This skirmishing continued about
+an hour and a half, till he had fallen back to the place where the
+governor and his people were drawn up, at the entrance of the city, to
+make a stand. It was now nine at night. Raleigh says, in his account of
+the action, that some of the English, at the first charge, began to
+pause and recoil shamefully; whereupon his son, not tarrying for any
+musketeers, ran up at the head of a company of pikemen, and received a
+shot wound. Pressing then upon a Spanish captain with his sword, the
+Spaniard, taking the small end of his musket in his hand, struck him on
+the head with the stock, and felled him. His last words were, "Lord,
+have mercy upon me, and prosper the enterprise!" and his death was
+instantly avenged by his sergeant, who thrust the Spaniard through with
+his halberd. In the heat of the fight, and in the confusion which the
+darkness occasioned, the Spanish commander was separated from his
+people, and slain. The Spaniards, however, had the advantage of knowing
+the ground; and, betaking themselves to the houses, they fired from them
+on the English, and killed many, till the assailants set fire to the
+houses; thus depriving themselves of that booty which was their main
+object. The English were now masters of the place; the remainder of the
+defendants, with the women and children, under the command of Grados,
+the officer who had deported himself so well in the first ambush,
+effecting their escape across the river. Grados stationed them at a
+place about ten miles distant from the town, where a few slight huts
+were erected for the women and children.
+
+The captors searched in vain for gold in the city; but they had an idea
+that there was a rich gold-mine a short distance up the river.
+Accordingly, two launches, with twenty or thirty men in each, were
+despatched up the Orinoco. They came to the mouth of the creek, which
+led to the place where Grados had hutted the women and children; and the
+largest of the launches was about to enter, when Grados, who had posted
+nine of the invalids in ambush there, with about as many Indian bowmen,
+fired upon them so unexpectedly, and with such good aim, that only one
+of the crew is said to have escaped unhurt. The other launch also
+suffered some loss. Three days after, three launches were sent to take
+vengeance for this defeat; but Grados had removed his charge some two
+leagues into the country, and these vessels went up the river about a
+hundred leagues, treating with the Indians, to whom they made presents
+and larger promises, and after eighteen or twenty days returned, having
+effected nothing of importance.
+
+The English had now been four weeks in the city, annoyed by the
+Spaniards and Indians, and losing many of their men, cut off in their
+foraging excursions by ambushes. After the unsuccessful attempt to
+discover the mine, no further effort was made for that purpose; Keymis
+alleging in his excuse, that "the Spaniards, being gone off in a whole
+body, lay in the woods between the mine and us, and it was impossible,
+except they had been beaten out of the country, to pass up the woods and
+craggy hills without the loss of the commanders, without whom the rest
+would easily be cut to pieces." The English, accordingly, retreated from
+the city, setting fire to the few houses that remained, and promising
+the Indians, as they went, that they would return next year, and
+complete the destruction of the Spaniards.
+
+Raleigh was by no means satisfied with Keymis's excuses for his failure
+to discover the mine, and reproached him with so much severity, that
+Keymis, after the interview, retired to his cabin, and shot himself
+through the heart.
+
+When Raleigh arrived in England, he found that the tidings of his attack
+on the Spaniards, and the utter failure of his expedition, had reached
+there before him. The Spanish ambassador was clamorous for punishment
+on what he called a piratical proceeding; and the king and the nation,
+who might have pardoned a successful adventurer, had no indulgence to
+extend to one so much the reverse. Finding a proclamation had been
+issued for his arrest, Raleigh endeavored to escape to France, but was
+taken in the attempt, and committed close prisoner to the Tower. He was
+made a victim to court intrigue. The weak king, James, was then
+negotiating a Spanish match for his son, and, to gratify the King of
+Spain and his court, sacrificed one of the noblest of his subjects.
+Without being put on trial for his late transactions, Raleigh's old
+sentence, which had been suspended sixteen years, was revived against
+him; and on the 29th of October, 1618, four months after his arrival, he
+was beheaded on the scaffold.
+
+The fate of Raleigh caused a great sensation at the time, and has not
+yet ceased to excite emotion. The poet Thomson, in his "Summer," finely
+alludes to the various circumstances of his history, which we have
+briefly recorded:--
+
+                  "But who can speak
+The numerous worthies of the 'Maiden reign'?
+In Raleigh mark their every glory mixed,--
+Raleigh, the scourge of Spain, whose breast with all
+The sage, the patriot, and the hero, burned.
+Nor sunk his vigor when a coward reign
+The warrior fettered, and at last resigned
+To glut the vengeance of a vanquished foe:
+Then, active still and unrestrained, his mind
+Explored the vast extent of ages past,
+And with his prison-hours enriched the world;
+Yet found no times in all the long research
+So glorious or so base as those he proved
+In which he conquered and in which he bled."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE FRENCH PHILOSOPHERS.
+
+
+After so many abortive attempts to reach the Golden Empire, the ardor of
+research greatly abated. No expeditions, composed of considerable
+numbers, have since embarked in the enterprise; but from time to time,
+for the century succeeding Raleigh's last attempt, private expeditions
+were undertaken and encouraged by provincial governors; and several
+hundred persons perished miserably in those fruitless endeavors.
+
+The adventure we are now about to record was of an entirely different
+character in respect to its objects and the means employed; but it
+occupied the same field of action, and called into exercise the same
+qualities of courage and endurance.
+
+In 1735, the French Academy of Science made arrangements for sending out
+two commissions of learned men to different and distant parts of the
+world to make measurements, with a view to determining the dimensions
+and figure of the earth. The great astronomer, Sir Isaac Newton, had
+deduced from theory, and ventured to maintain, that the earth was not a
+perfect globe, but a spheroid; that is, a globe flattened at the poles.
+For a long time after Newton's splendid discoveries in astronomy, a
+degree of national jealousy prevented the French philosophers from
+accepting his conclusions; and they were not displeased to find, when
+they could, facts opposed to them. Now, there were some supposed facts
+which were incompatible with this idea of Newton's, that the earth was
+flattened at the poles. The point was capable of being demonstrated by
+measurements, with instruments, on the surface; for, if his theory was
+true, a degree of latitude would be longer in the northern parts of the
+globe than in the regions about the equator.
+
+We must not allow our story to become a scientific essay; and yet we
+should like to give our readers, if we could, some idea of the principle
+on which this process, which is called the measurement of an arc of the
+meridian, was expected to show the magnitude and form of the earth. We
+all know that geographical latitude means the position of places north
+or south of the equator, and is determined by reference to the north or
+pole star. A person south of the equator would not see the pole-star at
+all. One at the equator, looking at the pole-star, would see it, if no
+intervening object prevented, in the horizon. Advancing northward, he
+would see it apparently rise, and advance toward him. As he proceeded,
+it would continue to rise. When he had traversed half the distance to
+the pole, he would see the pole-star about as we see it in Boston; that
+is, nearly midway between the horizon and the zenith: and, when he had
+reached the pole, he would see the pole-star directly over his head.
+Dividing the quarter circle which the star has moved through into ninety
+parts, we say, when the star has ascended one-ninetieth part, that the
+observer has travelled over one degree of latitude. When the observer
+has reached Boston, he has passed over somewhat more than forty-two
+degrees, and, when he has reached the north-pole, ninety degrees, of
+latitude. Thus we measure our latitude over the earth's surface by
+reference to a circle in the heavens; and, because the portions into
+which we divide that circle are equal, we infer that the portions of the
+earth's surface which correspond to them are equal. This would be true
+if the earth were a perfect globe: but if the earth be a spheroid, as
+Newton's theory requires it to be, it would _not_ be true; for that
+portion of the earth's surface which is flattened will have less
+curvature than that which is not so, and less still than that portion
+which is protuberant. The degrees of least curvature will be longest,
+and those of greatest curvature shortest; that is, one would have to
+travel farther on the flattened part of the earth to see any difference
+in the position of the north-star than in those parts where the
+curvature is greater. So a degree of latitude near the pole, if
+determined by the position of the north-star, would be found, by actual
+measurement, to be longer than one similarly determined at the equator.
+It was to ascertain whether the fact was so that the two scientific
+expeditions were sent out.
+
+The party which was sent to the northern regions travelled over snow and
+ice, swamps and morasses, to the arctic circle, and fixed their station
+at Tornea, in Lapland. The frozen surface of the river afforded them a
+convenient level for fixing what is called by surveyors the base line.
+The cold was so intense, that the glass froze to the mouth when they
+drank, and the metallic measuring rod to the hand. In spite, however, of
+perils and discomforts, they persevered in their task, and brought back
+careful measurements of a degree in latitude 66 deg. north, to be compared
+with those made by the other party at the equator, whose movements we
+propose more particularly to follow.
+
+Before we take leave of the northern commissioners, however, we will
+mention another method they took of demonstrating the same fact. If the
+earth be depressed at the poles, it must follow that bodies will weigh
+heavier there, because they are nearer the centre of the earth. But how
+could they test this fact, when all weights would be increased
+alike,--the pound of feathers and the pound of lead? The question was
+settled by observing the oscillation of a pendulum. The observers near
+the pole found that the pendulum vibrated faster than usual, because,
+being nearer the centre of the earth, the attracting power was
+increased. To balance this, they had to lengthen the pendulum; and the
+extent to which they had to do this measured the difference between the
+earth's diameter at the poles, and that in the latitude from which they
+came.
+
+The commissioners who were sent to the equatorial regions were Messrs.
+Bouguer, La Condamine, and Godin, the last of whom was accompanied by
+his wife. Two Spanish officers, Messrs. Juan and De Ulloa, joined the
+commission. The party arrived at Quito in June, 1736, about two hundred
+years after Gonzalo Pizarro started from the same place in his search
+for Eldorado. In the interval, the country had become nominally
+Christian. The city was the seat of a bishopric, an audience royal, and
+other courts of justice; contained many churches and convents, and two
+colleges. But the population was almost entirely composed of Indians,
+who lived in a manner but very little different from that of their
+ancestors at the time of the conquest. Cuenca was the place next in
+importance to the capital; and there, or in its neighborhood, the chief
+labors of the commission were transacted. They were conducted under
+difficulties as great as those of their colleagues in the frozen regions
+of the north, but of a different sort. The inhabitants of the country
+were jealous of the French commissioners, and supposed them to be either
+heretics or sorcerers, and to have come in search of gold-mines. Even
+persons connected with the administration employed themselves in
+stirring up the minds of the people, till at last, in a riotous
+assemblage at a bullfight, the surgeon of the French commissioners was
+killed. After tedious and troublesome legal proceedings, the
+perpetrators were let off with a nominal punishment. Notwithstanding
+every difficulty, the commissioners completed their work in a
+satisfactory manner, spending in all eight years in the task, including
+the voyages out and home.
+
+The commissioners who had made the northern measurements reported the
+length of the degree at 66 deg. north latitude to be 57.422 toises; Messrs.
+Bouguer and La Condamine, the equatorial degree, 56.753 toises; showing
+a difference of 669 toises, or 4,389-3/4 feet. The difference, as
+corrected by later measurements, is stated by recent authorities at
+3,662 English feet; by which amount the polar degree exceeds the
+equatorial. Thus Newton's theory was confirmed.
+
+His scientific labors having been finished, La Condamine conceived the
+idea of returning home by way of the Amazon River; though difficulties
+attended the project, which we who live in a land of mighty rivers,
+traversed by steamboats, can hardly imagine. The only means of
+navigating the upper waters of the river was by rafts or canoes; the
+latter capable of containing but one or two persons, besides a crew of
+seven or eight boatmen. The only persons who were in the habit of
+passing up and down the river were the Jesuit missionaries, who made
+their periodical visits to their stations along its banks. A young
+Spanish gentleman, Don Pedro Maldonado, who at first eagerly caught at
+the idea of accompanying the French philosopher on his homeward route by
+way of the river, was almost discouraged by the dissuasives urged by his
+family and friends, and seemed inclined to withdraw from the enterprise;
+so dangerous was the untried route esteemed. It was, however, at length
+resolved that they should hazard the adventure; and a place of
+rendezvous was appointed at a village on the river. On the 4th of July,
+1743, La Condamine commenced his descent of one of the streams which
+flow into the great river of the Amazons. The stream was too precipitous
+in its descent to be navigated by boats of any kind, and the only method
+used was by rafts. These are made of a light kind of wood, or rather
+cane, similar to the bamboo, the single pieces of which are fastened
+together by rushes, in such a manner, that they yield to every shock of
+moderate violence, and consequently are not subject to be separated even
+by the strongest. On such a conveyance, the French philosopher glided
+down the stream of the Chuchunga, occasionally stopping on its banks for
+a day or two at a time to allow the waters to abate, and admit of
+passing a dangerous rapid more safely; and sometimes getting fast on the
+shallows, and requiring to be drawn off by ropes by the Indian boatmen.
+It was not till the 19th of July that he entered the main river at
+Laguna, where he found his friend Maldonado, who had been waiting for
+him some weeks.
+
+On the 23d of July, 1743, they embarked in two canoes of forty-two and
+forty-four feet long, each formed out of one single trunk of a tree, and
+each provided with a crew of eight rowers. They continued their course
+night and day, in hopes to reach, before their departure, the
+brigantines of the missionaries, in which they used to send once a year,
+to Para, the cacao which they collected in their missions, and for which
+they got, in return, supplies of European articles of necessity.
+
+On the 25th of July, La Condamine and his companion passed the village
+of a tribe of Indians lately brought under subjection, and in all the
+wildness of savage life: on the 27th, they reached another more advanced
+in civilization, yet not so far as to have abandoned their savage
+practices of artificially flattening their heads, and elongating their
+ears. The 1st of August, they landed at a missionary station, where they
+found numerous Indians assembled, and some tribes so entirely barbarous
+as to be destitute of clothing for either sex. "There are in the
+interior," the narration goes on to say, "some tribes which devour the
+prisoners taken in war; but there are none such on the banks of the
+river."
+
+After leaving this station, they sailed day and night, equal to seven or
+eight days' journey, without seeing any habitation. On the 5th of
+August, they arrived at the first of the Portuguese missionary stations,
+where they procured larger and more commodious boats than those in which
+they had advanced hitherto. Here they began to see the first signs of
+the benefits of access to European sources of supply, by means of the
+vessel which went every year from Para to Lisbon. They tarried six days
+at the last of the missionary stations, and again made a change of boats
+and of Indian crews. On the 28th August, being yet six hundred miles
+from the sea, they perceived the ebb and flow of the tide.
+
+On the 19th September, they arrived at Para, which La Condamine
+describes as a great and beautiful city, built of stone, and enjoying a
+commerce with Lisbon, which made it flourishing and increasing. He
+observes, "It is, perhaps, the only European settlement where silver
+does not pass for money; the whole currency being cocoa." He adds in a
+note, "Specie currency has been since introduced."
+
+The Portuguese authorities received the philosophers with all the
+civilities and hospitalities due to persons honored with the special
+protection and countenance of two great nations,--France and Spain. The
+cannon were fired; and the soldiers of the garrison, with the governor
+of the province at their head, turned out to receive them. The governor
+had received orders from the home government to pay all their expenses,
+and to furnish them every thing requisite for their comfort and
+assistance in their researches. La Condamine remained three months at
+Para; and then, declining the urgent request of the governor to embark
+in a Portuguese vessel for home by way of Lisbon, he embarked in a boat
+rowed by twenty-two Indians, under the command of a Portuguese officer,
+to coast along the shores of the continent to the French colony of
+Cayenne.
+
+The city of Para from whence he embarked is not situated upon the Amazon
+River, but upon what is called the River of Para, which branches off
+from the Amazon near its mouth, and discharges itself into the sea at a
+distance of more than a hundred miles east of the Amazon. The
+intervening land is an island called Marajo, along the coast of which
+La Condamine and his party steered till they came to the place where the
+Amazon River discharges into the sea that vast bulk of waters which has
+been swelled by the contributions of numerous tributaries throughout a
+course of more than three thousand miles in length. It here meets the
+current which runs along the north-eastern coast of Brazil, and gives
+rise to that phenomenon which is called by the Indians Pororoca. The
+river and the current, having both great rapidity, and meeting nearly at
+right angles, come into contact with great violence, and raise a
+mountain of water to the height of one hundred and eighty feet. The
+shock is so dreadful, that it makes all the neighboring islands tremble;
+and fishermen and navigators fly from it in the utmost terror. The river
+and the ocean appear to contend for the empire of the waves: but they
+seem to come to a compromise; for the sea-current continues its way
+along the coast of Guiana to the Island of Trinidad, while the current
+of the river is still observable in the ocean at a distance of five
+hundred miles from the shore.
+
+La Condamine passed this place of meeting in safety by waiting for a
+favorable course of tides, crossing the Amazon at its mouth, steering
+north; and after many delays, caused by the timidity and bad seamanship
+of his Indian crew, arrived at last safe at Cayenne on the 26th
+February, 1744, having been eight months on his voyage, two of which
+were spent in his passage from Para, a passage which he avers a French
+officer and crew, two years after him, accomplished in six days. La
+Condamine was received with all possible distinction at Cayenne, and in
+due time found passage home to France, where he arrived 25th February,
+1745.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+MADAME GODIN'S VOYAGE DOWN THE AMAZON.
+
+
+One of the French commissioners, M. Godin, had taken with him on his
+scientific errand to Peru his wife; a lady for whom we bespeak the kind
+interest of our readers, for her name deserves honorable mention among
+the early navigators of the Amazon. The labors of the commission
+occupied several years; and when, in the year 1742, those labors were
+happily brought to a conclusion, M. Godin was prevented, by
+circumstances relating to himself individually, from accompanying his
+colleagues in their return to France. His detention was protracted from
+year to year, till at last, in 1749, he repaired alone to the Island of
+Cayenne to prepare every thing necessary for the homeward voyage of
+himself and his wife.
+
+From Cayenne he wrote to Paris to the minister of marine, and requested
+that his government would procure for him the favorable interposition of
+the court of Portugal to supply him with the means of ascending the
+River Amazon to bring away his wife from Peru, and descend the stream
+with her to the Island of Cayenne. Thirteen years had rolled by since
+their arrival in the country, when at last Madame Godin saw her earnest
+wish to return home likely to be gratified. All that time, she had lived
+apart from her husband; she in Peru, he in the French colony of Cayenne.
+At last, M. Godin had the pleasure to see the arrival of a galoot (a
+small vessel having from sixteen to twenty oars on a side, and well
+adapted for rapid progress), which had been fitted out by the order of
+the King of Portugal, and despatched to Cayenne for the purpose of
+taking him on his long-wished-for journey. He immediately embarked; but,
+before he could reach the mouth of the Amazon River, he was attacked by
+so severe an illness, that he saw himself compelled to stop at Oyapoc, a
+station between Cayenne and the mouth of the river, and there to remain,
+and to send one Tristan, whom he thought his friend, in lieu of himself,
+up the river to seek Madame Godin, and escort her to him. He intrusted
+to him also, besides the needful money, various articles of merchandise
+to dispose of to the best advantage. The instructions which he gave him
+were as follows:--
+
+The galiot had orders to convey him to Loreto about half-way up the
+Amazon River, the first Spanish settlement. From there he was to go to
+Laguna, another Spanish town about twelve miles farther up, and to give
+Mr. Godin's letter, addressed to his wife, in charge to a certain
+ecclesiastic of that place, to be forwarded to the place of her
+residence. He himself was to wait at Laguna the arrival of Madame Godin.
+
+The galiot sailed, and arrived safe at Loreto. But the faithless
+Tristan, instead of going himself to Laguna, or sending the letter
+there, contented himself with delivering the packet to a Spanish Jesuit,
+who was going to quite another region on some occasional purpose.
+Tristan himself, in the mean while, went round among the Portuguese
+settlements to sell his commodities. The result was, that M. Godin's
+letter, passing from hand to hand, failed to reach the place of its
+destination.
+
+Meanwhile, by what means we know not, a blind rumor of the purpose and
+object of the Portuguese vessel lying at Loreto reached Peru, and came
+at last, but without any distinctness, to the ears of Madame Godin. She
+learned through this rumor that a letter from her husband was on the way
+to her; but all her efforts to get possession of it were fruitless. At
+last, she resolved to send a faithful negro servant, in company with an
+Indian, to the Amazon, to procure, if possible, more certain tidings.
+This faithful servant made his way boldly through all hinderances and
+difficulties which beset his journey, reached Loreto, talked with
+Tristan, and brought back intelligence that he, with the Portuguese
+vessel and all its equipments, were for her accommodation, and waited
+her orders.
+
+Now, then, Madame Godin determined to undertake this most perilous and
+difficult journey. She was staying at the time at Riobamba, about one
+hundred and twenty miles south of Quito, where she had a house of her
+own with garden and grounds. These, with all other things that she could
+not take with her, she sold on the best terms she could. Her father, M.
+Grandmaison, and her two brothers, who had been living with her in Peru,
+were ready to accompany her. The former set out beforehand to a place
+the other side of the Cordilleras to make arrangements for his
+daughter's journey on her way to the ship.
+
+Madame Godin received about this time a visit from a certain Mr. R., who
+gave himself out for a French physician, and asked permission to
+accompany her. He promised, moreover, to watch over her health, and to
+do all in his power to lighten the fatigues and discomforts of the
+arduous journey. She replied, that she had no authority over the vessel
+which was to carry her, and therefore could not answer for it that he
+could have a place in it. Mr. R., thereupon, applied to the brothers of
+Madame Godin; and they, thinking it very desirable that she should have
+a physician with her, persuaded their sister to consent to take him in
+her company.
+
+So, then, she started from Riobamba, which had been her home till this
+time, the 1st of October, 1749, in company of the above-named persons,
+her black man, and three Indian women. Thirty Indians, to carry her
+baggage, completed her company. Had the luckless lady known what
+calamities, sufferings, and disappointments awaited her, she would have
+trembled at the prospect, and doubted of the possibility of living
+through it all, and reaching the wished-for goal of her journey.
+
+The party went first across the mountains to Canelos, an Indian village,
+where they thought to embark on a little stream which discharges itself
+into the Amazon. The way thither was so wild and unbroken, that it was
+not even passable for mules, and must be travelled entirely on foot.
+
+M. Grandmaison, who had set out a whole month earlier, had stopped at
+Canelos no longer than was necessary to make needful preparations for
+his daughter and her attendants. Then he had immediately pushed on
+toward the vessel, to still keep in advance, and arrange matters for her
+convenience at the next station to which she would arrive. Hardly had he
+left Canelos, when the small-pox, a disease which in those regions is
+particularly fatal, broke out, and in one week swept off one-half of the
+inhabitants, and so alarmed the rest, that they deserted the place, and
+plunged into the wilderness. Consequently, when Madame Godin reached the
+place with her party, she found, to her dismay, only two Indians
+remaining, whom the fury of the plague had spared; and, moreover, not
+the slightest preparation either for her reception, or her furtherance
+on her journey. This was the first considerable mishap which befell her,
+and which might have served to forewarn her of the greater sufferings
+which she was to encounter.
+
+A second followed shortly after. The thirty Indians who thus far had
+carried the baggage, and had received their pay in advance, suddenly
+absconded, whether from fear of the epidemic, or that they fancied,
+having never seen a vessel except at a distance, that they were to be
+compelled to go on board one, and be carried away. There stood, then,
+the deserted and disappointed company, overwhelmed, and knowing not what
+course to take, or how to help themselves. The safest course would have
+been to leave all their baggage to its fate, and return back the way
+they came; but the longing of Madame Godin for her beloved husband, from
+whom she had now been separated so many years, gave her courage to bid
+defiance to all the hinderances which lay in her way, and even to
+attempt impossibilities.
+
+She set herself, therefore, to persuade the two Indians above mentioned
+to construct a boat, and, by means of it, to take her and her company to
+Andoas, another place about twelve days' journey distant. They willingly
+complied, receiving their pay in advance. The boat was got ready; and
+all the party embarked in it under the management of the two Indians.
+
+After they had run safely two days' journey down the stream, they drew
+up to the bank to pass the night on shore. Here the treacherous Indians
+took the opportunity, while the weary company slept, to run away; and,
+when the travellers awoke next morning, they were nowhere to be found.
+This was a new and unforeseen calamity, by which their future progress
+was rendered greatly more hazardous.
+
+Without a knowledge of the stream or the country, and without a guide,
+they again got on board their boat, and pushed on. The first day went by
+without any misadventure. The second, they came up with a boat which lay
+near the shore, alongside of an Indian hut built of branches of trees.
+They found there an Indian, just recovered from the sickness, and
+prevailed on him, by presents, to embark with them to take the helm. But
+fate envied them this relief: for, the next day, Mr. R.'s hat fell into
+the water; and the Indian, in endeavoring to recover it, fell overboard,
+and was drowned, not having strength to swim to the shore.
+
+Now was the vessel again without a pilot, and steered by persons, not
+one of whom had the least knowledge of the course. Ere long, the vessel
+sprung a leak; and the unhappy company found themselves compelled to
+land, and build a hut to shelter them.
+
+They were yet five or six days' journey from Andoas, the nearest place
+of destination. Mr. R. offered, for himself and another Frenchman his
+companion, to go thither, and make arrangements, that, within fourteen
+days, a boat from there should arrive and bring them off. His proposal
+was approved of. Madame Godin gave him her faithful black man to
+accompany him. He himself took good care that nothing of his property
+should be left behind.
+
+Fourteen days were now elapsed; but in vain they strained their eyes to
+catch sight of the bark which Mr. R. had promised to send to their
+relief. They waited twelve days longer, but in vain. Their situation
+grew more painful every day.
+
+At last, when all hope in this quarter was lost, they hewed trees, and
+fastened them together as well as they could, and made in this way a
+raft. When they had finished it, they put on their baggage, and seated
+themselves upon it, and suffered it to float down the stream. But even
+this frail bark required a steersman acquainted with navigation; but
+they had none such. In no long time, it struck against a sunken log, and
+broke to pieces. The people and their baggage were cast into the river.
+Great, however, as was the danger, no one was lost. Madame Godin sunk
+twice to the bottom, but was at last rescued by her brothers.
+
+Wet through and through, exhausted, and half dead with fright, they at
+last all gained the shore. But only imagine their lamentable, almost
+desperate, condition! All their supplies lost; to make another raft
+impossible; even their stock of provisions gone! And where were they
+when all these difficulties overwhelmed them? In a horrid wilderness,
+so thick grown up with trees and bushes, that one could make a passage
+through it no other way than by axe and knife; inhabited only by
+fiercest tigers, and by the most formidable of serpents,--the
+rattlesnake. Moreover, they were without tools, without weapons! Could
+their situation be more deplorable?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+MADAME GODIN'S VOYAGE CONTINUED.
+
+
+The unfortunate travellers had now but the choice of two desperate
+expedients,--either to wait where they were the termination of their
+wretched existence, or try the almost impossible task of penetrating
+along the banks of the river, through the unbroken forest, till they
+might reach Andoas. They chose the latter, but first made their way back
+to their lately forsaken hut to take what little provisions they had
+there left. Having accomplished this, they set out on their most painful
+and dangerous journey. They observed, when they followed the shore of
+the river, that its windings lengthened their way. To avoid this, they
+endeavored, without leaving the course of the river, to keep a straight
+course. By this means, they lost themselves in the entangled forest; and
+every exertion to find their way was ineffectual. Their clothes were
+torn to shreds, and hung dangling from their limbs; their bodies were
+sadly wounded by thorns and briers; and, as their scanty provision of
+food was almost gone, nothing seemed left to them but to sustain their
+wretched existence with wild fruit, seeds and buds of the palm-trees.
+
+At last, they sank under their unremitted labor. Wearied with the
+hardships of such travel, torn and bleeding in every part of their
+bodies, and distracted with hunger, terror, and apprehensions, they lost
+the small remnant of their energy, and could do no more. They sat down,
+and had no power to rise again. In three or four days, one after another
+died at this stage of their journey. Madame Godin lay for the space of
+twenty-four hours by the side of her exhausted and helpless brothers and
+companions: she felt herself benumbed, stupefied, senseless, yet at the
+same time tormented by burning thirst. At last, Providence, on whom she
+relied, gave her courage and strength to rouse herself and seek for a
+rescue, which was in store for her, though she knew not where to look
+for it.
+
+Around lay the dead bodies of her brothers and her other companions,--a
+sight which at another time would have broken her heart. She was almost
+naked. The scanty remnants of her clothing were so torn by the thorns as
+to be almost useless. She cut the shoes from her dead brothers' feet,
+bound the soles under her own, and plunged again into the thicket in
+search of something to allay her raging hunger and thirst. Terror at
+seeing herself so left alone in such a fearful wilderness, deserted by
+all the world, and apprehension of a dreadful death constantly hovering
+before her eyes, made such an impression upon her, that her hair turned
+gray.
+
+It was not till the second day after she had resumed her wandering that
+she found water, and, a little while after, some wild fruit, and a few
+eggs of birds. But her throat was so contracted by long fasting, that
+she could hardly swallow. These served to keep life in her frame.
+
+Eight long days she wandered in this manner hopelessly, and strove to
+sustain her wretched existence. If one should read in a work of fiction
+any thing equal to it, he would charge the author with exaggeration, and
+violation of probability. But it is history; and, however incredible her
+story may sound, it is rigidly conformed to the truth in all its
+circumstances, as it was afterwards taken down from the mouth of Madame
+Godin herself.
+
+On the eighth day of her hopeless wandering, the hapless lady reached
+the banks of the Bobonosa, a stream which flows into the Amazon. At the
+break of day, she heard at a little distance a noise, and was alarmed at
+it. She would have fled, but at once reflected that nothing worse than
+her present circumstances could happen to her. She took courage, and
+went towards the place whence the sound proceeded; and here she found
+two Indians, who were occupied in shoving their boat into the water.
+
+Madame Godin approached, and was kindly received by them. She told to
+them her desire to be conveyed to Andoas; and the good savages consented
+to carry her thither in their boat. They did so; and now behold her
+arrived at that place which the mean and infamous treachery of Mr. R.
+was the only cause of her not having reached long ago. This base fellow
+had, with unfeeling cruelty, thrown to the winds his promise to procure
+them a boat, and had gone on business of his own to Omaguas, a Spanish
+mission station, without in the least troubling himself about his
+pledged word, and the rescue of the unfortunates left behind. The honest
+negro was more true to duty, though he was born and bred a heathen, and
+the other a Christian.
+
+While the civilized and polished Frenchman unfeelingly went away, and
+left his benefactress and her companions to languish in the depths of
+misery, the sable heathen ceased not his exertions till he had procured
+two Indians to go up the river with him, and bring away his deserted
+mistress and her companions. But, most unfortunately, he did not reach
+the hut where he had left them before they had carried into execution
+the unlucky determination to leave the hut, and seek their way through
+the wilderness. So he had the pain of failing to find her on his
+arrival.
+
+Even then, the faithful creature did not feel as if all was done. He,
+with his Indian companions, followed the traces of the party till he
+came to the place where the bodies of the perished adventurers lay,
+which were already so decayed, that he could not distinguish one from
+the other. This pitiable sight led him to conclude that none of the
+company could have escaped death. He returned to the hut to take away
+some things of Madame Godin's which were left there, and carried them
+not only back with him to Andoas, but from thence (another touching
+proof of his fidelity) to Omaguas, that he might deposit the articles,
+some of which were of considerable value, in the hands of the unworthy
+Mr. R., to be by him delivered to the father of his lamented mistress.
+
+And how did this unworthy Mr. R. behave when he was apprised by the
+negro of the lamentable death of those whom he had so unscrupulously
+given over to destitution? Did he shudder at the magnitude and baseness
+of his crime? Oh, no! Like a heartless knave, he added dishonesty to
+cruelty, took the things into his keeping, and, to secure himself in the
+possession of them, sent the generous negro back to Quito. Joachim--for
+that was the name of this honest and noble black man--had unluckily set
+out on his journey back before Madame Godin arrived at Andoas. Thus he
+was lost to her; and her affliction at the loss of such a tried friend
+showed that the greatness of her past misfortunes had not made her
+incapable of feeling new distresses.
+
+In Andoas she found a Christian priest, a Spanish missionary; and the
+behavior of this unchristian Christian contrasts with the conduct of her
+two Indian preservers, as that of the treacherous R. with that of the
+generous negro. For instance, when Madame Godin was in embarrassment how
+to show her gratitude to the good Indians who had saved her life, she
+remembered, that, according to the custom of the country, she wore
+around her neck a pair of gold chains, weighing about four ounces. These
+were her whole remaining property; but she hesitated not a moment, but
+took them off, and gave one to each of her benefactors. They were
+delighted beyond measure at such a gift; but the avaricious and
+dishonest priest took them away from them before the face of the
+generous giver, and gave them instead some yards of coarse cotton cloth,
+which they call, in that country, Tukujo. And this man was one of those
+who were sent to spread Christianity among the heathen, and one from
+whom those same Indians whom he had treated so dishonestly would hear
+the lesson, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods"!
+
+Madame Godin felt, at seeing such unchristian and unmanly behavior, such
+deep disgust, that, as soon as she was somewhat recruited from the
+effects of so many sufferings, she longed for a sight of some boat to
+enable her to escape from the companionship of this unjust priest, and
+get to Laguna, one of the aforementioned Spanish mission stations. A
+kind Indian woman made her a petticoat of cotton cloth, though Madame
+Godin had nothing to give her in payment for it. But this petticoat was
+to her, afterwards, a sacred thing, that she would not have parted with
+for any price. She laid it carefully away with the slippers which she
+made of her brothers' shoes, and never could, in after-times, look at
+the two without experiencing a rush of sad and tender recollections.
+
+At Laguna she had the good fortune to find a missionary of better
+disposition. This one received her with kindness and sympathy, and
+exerted himself every way he could to restore her health, shattered by
+so much suffering. He wrote also on her behalf to the Governor of
+Omaguas, to beg him to aid in expediting her journey. By this means, the
+elegant Mr. R. learned that she was still alive; and as she was not
+likely in future to be burdensome to him, while he might, through her
+means, get a passage in the Portuguese vessel, he failed not to call
+upon her at Laguna. He delivered to her there some few of the things
+which Joachim had left in his charge; but to the question, "What had
+become of the rest?" he had no other answer to make but "They were
+spoilt." The knave forgot, when he said this, that gold bracelets,
+snuff-boxes, ear-rings, and pearls, of which this property consisted,
+are not apt to spoil.
+
+Madame Godin could not forbear making to him the well-merited reproach
+that he was the cause of her late sufferings, and guilty of the mournful
+death of her brothers and her other companions. She desired to know,
+moreover, why he had sent away her faithful servant, the good Joachim;
+and his unworthy reply was, he had apprehensions that he would murder
+him. To the question, how he could have such a suspicion against a man
+whose tried fidelity and honest disposition were known to him, he knew
+not what to answer.
+
+The good missionary explained to Madame Godin, after she was somewhat
+recruited from her late sufferings, the frightful length of the way, and
+the labors and dangers of her journey yet to come, and tried hard to
+induce her to alter her intention, and return to Rio Bambas, her former
+residence, instead of setting forth to encounter a new series of
+disappointments and perils. He promised, in that case, to convey her
+safely and with comfort. But the heroic woman rejected the proposal with
+immovable firmness. "God, who had so wonderfully protected her so far,"
+she said, "would have her in his keeping for the remainder of her way.
+She had but one wish remaining, and that was to be re-united to her
+husband; and she knew no danger terrible enough to induce her to give up
+this one ruling desire of her heart."
+
+The missionary, therefore, had a boat got ready to carry her to the
+Portuguese vessel. The Governor of Omaguas furnished the boat, and
+supplied it well with provisions: and, that the commander of the
+Portuguese galiot might be informed of her approach, he sent a smaller
+boat with provisions, and two soldiers by land, along the banks of the
+river, and betook himself to Loreto, where the galiot had been so long
+lying; and there he waited till Madame Godin arrived.
+
+She still suffered severely from the consequences of the injuries which
+she had sustained during her wanderings in the wilderness. Particularly,
+the thumb of one hand, in which she had thrust a thorn, which they had
+not been able to get out, was in a bad condition. The bone itself was
+become carious, and she found it necessary to have the flesh cut open to
+allow fragments of the bone to come out. As for the rest, she
+experienced from the commander of the Portuguese vessel all possible
+kindness, and reached the mouth of the Amazon River without any further
+misadventure.
+
+Mr. Godin, who still continued at Oyapoc (the same place where on
+account of sickness he had been obliged to stop), was no sooner informed
+of the approach of his wife than he went on board a vessel, and coasted
+along the shore till he met the galiot. The joy of again meeting, after
+a separation of so many years, and after such calamities undergone, was,
+as may well be supposed, on both sides, indescribably great. Their
+re-union seemed like a resurrection from the dead, since both of them
+had more than once given up all hope of ever seeing the other in this
+life.
+
+The happy husband now conveyed his wife to Oyapoc, and thence to
+Cayenne; whence they departed on their return to France, in company with
+the venerable Mr. De Grandmaison. Madame Godin remained, however,
+constantly sad, notwithstanding her present ample cause for joy; and
+every endeavor to raise her spirits was fruitless, so deep and
+inextinguishable an impression had the terrible sufferings she had
+undergone made upon her mind. She spoke unwillingly of all that she had
+suffered; and even her husband found out with difficulty, and by little
+and little, the circumstances which we have narrated, taken from
+accounts under his own hand. He thought he could thereby infer that she
+had kept to herself, to spare his feelings, many circumstances of a
+distressing nature, which she herself preferred to forget. Her heart,
+too, was, by reason of her sufferings, so attuned to pity and
+forbearance, that her compassion even extended to the base and wicked
+men who had treated her with such injustice. She would therefore add
+nothing to induce her husband to invoke the vengeance of the law
+against the faithless Tristan, the first cause of all her misfortunes,
+who had converted to his own use many thousand dollars' worth of
+property which had been intrusted to him. She had even allowed herself
+to be persuaded to take on board the boat from Omaguas down, for a
+second time, the mean-souled Mr. R.
+
+So true is it that adversity and suffering do fulfil the useful purpose
+of rendering the human heart tender, placable, and indulgent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+HERNDON'S EXPEDITION.
+
+
+In the month of August, 1850, Lieut. Herndon, of the United-States navy,
+being on board the frigate "Vandalia," then lying at anchor in the
+harbor of Valparaiso, received information that he was designated by the
+Secretary of the Navy to explore the Valley of the Amazon. On the 4th of
+April, being then at Lima, he received his orders, and, on the 21st of
+May, commenced his land journey to the highest point on the Amazon
+navigable for boats, which is about three hundred miles from its source;
+in which distance there are twenty-seven rapids, the last of which is
+called the Pongo (or falls) de Manseriche. Over these the water rushes
+with frightful rapidity; but they are passed, with great peril and
+difficulty, by means of rafts. From the Pongo de Manseriche, Lieut.
+Herndon states that an unbroken channel of eighteen feet in depth may be
+found to the Atlantic Ocean,--a distance of three thousand miles.
+
+The party consisted of Lieut. Herndon, commander; Passed-midshipman
+Gibbon; a young master's mate named Richards; a young Peruvian, who had
+made the voyage down the Amazon a few years before, who was employed as
+interpreter to the Indians; and Mauricio, an Indian servant. They were
+mounted on mules; and their baggage of all kinds, including
+looking-glasses, beads, and other trinkets for the Indians, and some
+supplies of provisions, were carried also on muleback, under the charge
+of an _arriero_, or muleteer, who was an Indian. The party were
+furnished with a tent, which often came in use for nightly shelter, as
+the roadside inns furnished none, and the haciendas, or farm-houses,
+which they sometimes availed themselves of, afforded but poor
+accommodation. The following picture of the lieutenant's first night's
+lodgings, not more than ten miles from Lima, is a specimen: "The house
+was built of _adobe_, or sun-dried bricks, and roofed with tiles. It had
+but one room, which was the general receptacle for all comers. A mud
+projection, of two feet high and three wide, stood out from the walls of
+the room all around, and served as a permanent bedplace for numbers.
+Others laid their blankets and cloaks, and stretched themselves, on the
+floor; so that, with whites, Indians, negroes, trunks, packages,
+horse-furniture, game-cocks, and guinea-pigs, we had quite a caravansera
+appearance."
+
+The lieutenant found the general answer to his inquiry for provisions
+for his party, and of fodder for their animals, was, "No hay" (there is
+none). The refusal of the people to sell supplies of these indispensable
+articles was a source of continued inconvenience. It arose probably from
+their fear to have it known that they had possessions, lest the hand of
+authority should be laid upon them, and their property be taken without
+payment. The cultivators, it must be remembered, are native Indians,
+under the absolute control of their Spanish masters, and have no
+recognized rights protected by law. While this state of things
+continues, civilization is effectually debarred progress.
+
+The usual day's travel was twelve to fifteen miles. The route ascended
+rapidly; and the River Rimac, along whose banks their road lay, was soon
+reduced to a mountain torrent, raging in foam over the fragments of the
+rocky cliffs which overhung its bed. The road occasionally widened out,
+and gave room for a little cultivation.
+
+May 27.--They had now reached a height of ten thousand feet above the
+level of the sea. Here the traveller feels that he is lifted above the
+impurities of the lower regions of the atmosphere, and is breathing air
+free from taint. The stars sparkled with intense brilliancy. The
+temperature at night was getting cool, and the travellers found they
+required all their blankets. But by day the heat was oppressive until
+tempered by the sea-breeze, which set in about eleven o'clock in the
+morning.
+
+The productions of the country are Indian corn, alfalfa (a species of
+lucern), and potatoes. The potato, in this its native country, is small,
+but very fine. They saw here a vegetable of the potato kind called
+_oca_. Boiled or roasted, it is very agreeable to the taste, in flavor
+resembling green corn.
+
+Here they entered upon the mining region. "The Earth here shows her
+giant skeleton bare: mountains, rather than rocks, rear their gray heads
+to the skies; and proximity made the scene more striking and sublime."
+Lieut. Herndon had brought letters to the superintendent of the mines,
+who received the travellers kindly and hospitably. This establishment is
+managed by a superintendent and three assistants, and about forty
+working hands. The laborers are Indians,--strong, hardy-looking
+fellows, though low in stature, and stupid in expression. The manner of
+getting the silver from the ore is this: The ore is broken into pieces
+of the size of an English walnut, and then ground to a fine powder. The
+ground ore is then mixed with salt, at the rate of fifty pounds of salt
+to every six hundred of ore, and taken to the ovens to be toasted. After
+being toasted, the ore is laid in piles of about six hundred pounds upon
+the stone floor. The piles are then moistened with water, and
+quicksilver is sprinkled on them through a woollen cloth. The mass is
+well mixed by treading with the feet, and working with hoes. A little
+calcined iron pyrites, called _magistral_, is also added. The pile is
+often examined to see if the amalgamation is going on well. It is left
+to stand for eight or nine days until the amalgamation is complete; then
+carried to an elevated platform, and thrown into a well, or cavity: a
+stream of water is turned on, and four or five men trample and wash it
+with their feet. The amalgam sinks to the bottom, and the mud and water
+are let off by an aperture in the lower part of the well. The amalgam is
+then put into conical bags of coarse linen, which are hung up; and the
+weight of the mass presses out a quantity of quicksilver, which oozes
+through the linen, and is caught in vessels below. The mass, now dry,
+and somewhat harder than putty, is carried to the ovens, where the
+remainder of the quicksilver is driven off by heat, and the residue is
+_plata pina_, or pure silver. The proportion of pure silver in the
+amalgam is about twenty-two per cent. This is an unusually rich mine.
+
+Returning from the mine, the party met a drove of llamas on their way
+from the hacienda. This is quite an imposing sight, especially when the
+drove is encountered suddenly at a turn of the road. The leader, who is
+always selected on account of his superior height, has his head
+decorated with tufts of woollen fringe, hung with little bells; and his
+great height (often six feet), gallant and graceful carriage, pointed
+ear, restless eye, and quivering lip, as he faces you for a moment, make
+him as striking an object as one can well conceive. Upon pressing on
+him, he bounds aside either up or down the cliff, and is followed by the
+herd, scrambling over places that would be impassable for the mule or
+the ass. The llama travels not more than nine or ten miles a day, his
+load being about one hundred and thirty pounds. He will not carry more,
+and will be beaten to death rather than move when he is overloaded or
+tired. The males only are worked: they appear gentle and docile, but,
+when irritated, have a very savage look, and spit at the object of their
+resentment. The guanaco, or alpaca, is another species of this animal,
+and the vicunia a third. The guanaco is as large as the llama, and bears
+a fleece of long and coarse wool. The vicunia is much smaller, and its
+wool is short and fine: so valuable is it, that it brings at the port of
+shipment a dollar a pound. Our travellers saw no guanacos, but now and
+then, in crossing the mountains, caught a glimpse of the wild and shy
+vicunia. They go in herds of ten or fifteen females, accompanied by one
+male, who is ever on the alert. On the approach of danger, he gives
+warning by a shrill whistle; and his charge make off with the speed of
+the wind.
+
+On the 31st of May, the thermometer stood at thirty-six degrees at five,
+A.M. This, it must be remembered, was in the torrid zone, in
+the same latitude as Congo in Africa, and Sumatra in Asia; yet how
+different the climate! This is owing to the elevation, which at this
+water-shed of the continent, which separates the rivers of the Atlantic
+from those of the Pacific, was about sixteen thousand feet above the
+level of the sea. The peaks of the Cordillera presented the appearance
+of a hilly country at home on a winter's day; while the lower ranges
+were dressed in bright green, with placid little lakes interspersed,
+giving an air of quiet beauty to the scene.
+
+The travellers next arrived at Morococha, where they found copper-mining
+to be the prevailing occupation. The copper ore is calcined in the open
+air, in piles consisting of ore and coal, which burn for a month. The
+ore thus calcined is taken to the ovens; and sufficient heat is employed
+to melt the copper, which runs off into moulds below. The copper, in
+this state, is impure, containing fifty per cent of foreign matter; and
+is worth fifteen cents the pound in England, where it is refined. There
+is a mine of fine coal near the hacienda, which yields an abundant
+supply.
+
+The travellers passed other mining districts, rich in silver and copper.
+A large portion of the silver which forms the circulation of the world
+is dug from the range of mountains which they were now crossing, and
+chiefly from that slope of them which is drained off into the Amazon.
+
+Their descent, after leaving the mining country, was rapid. On June 6,
+we find them at the head of a ravine leading down to the Valley of
+Tarma. The height of this spot above the level of the sea was 11,270
+feet. As they rode down the steep descent, the plants and flowers that
+they had left on the other side began to re-appear. First the short
+grass and small clover, then barley, lucern, Indian corn, beans,
+turnips, shrubs, bushes, trees, flowers, growing larger and gayer in
+their colors, till the pretty little city of Tarma, imbosomed among the
+hills, and enveloped in its covering of willows and fruit-trees, with
+its long lawns of _alfalfa_ (the greenest of grasses) stretching out in
+front, broke upon their view. It is a place of seven thousand
+inhabitants, beautifully situated in an amphitheatre of mountains, which
+are clothed nearly to the top with waving fields of barley. The
+lieutenant gives an attractive description of this mountain city, whose
+natural productions extend from the apples and peaches of the temperate
+zone to the oranges and pine-apples of the tropics; and whose air is so
+temperate and pure, that there was but one physician to a district of
+twenty thousand people, and he was obliged to depend upon government for
+a part of his support.
+
+The party left Tarma on the 16th of June, and resumed their descent of
+the mountains. The ride was the wildest they had yet had. The ascents
+and descents were nearly precipitous; and the scene was rugged, wild,
+and grand beyond description. At certain parts of the road, it is
+utterly impossible for two beasts to pass abreast, or for one to turn
+and retreat; and the only remedy, when they meet, is to tumble one off
+the precipice, or to drag him back by the tail until he reaches a place
+where the other can pass. They met with a considerable fright in this
+way one day. They were riding in single file along one of those narrow
+ascents where the road is cut out of the mountain-side, and the
+traveller has a perpendicular wall on one hand, and a sheer precipice of
+many hundreds of feet upon the other. Mr. Gibbon was riding ahead. Just
+as he was about to turn a sharp bend of the road, the head of a bull
+peered round it, on the descent. When the bull came in full view, he
+stopped; and the travellers could see the heads of other cattle
+clustering over his quarters, and hear the shouts of the cattle-drivers
+far behind, urging on their herd. The bull, with lowered crest, and
+savage, sullen look, came slowly on, and actually got his head between
+the perpendicular rock and the neck of Gibbon's mule. But the sagacious
+beast on which he was mounted, pressing her haunches hard against the
+wall, gathered her feet close under her, and turned as upon a pivot.
+This placed the bull on the outside (there was room to pass, though no
+one would have thought it); and he rushed by at the gallop, followed in
+single file by the rest of the herd. The lieutenant owns that he and his
+friend "felt frightened."
+
+On the 18th of June, they arrived at the first hacienda, where they saw
+sugar-cane, yucca, pine-apples, and plantains. Besides these, cotton and
+coffee were soon after found in cultivation. The laborers are native
+Indians, nominally free, but, by the customs of the country, pretty
+closely held in subjection to their employers. Their nominal wages are
+half a dollar a day; but this is paid in articles necessary for their
+support, which are charged to them at such prices as to keep them always
+in debt. As debtors, the law will enforce the master's claim on them;
+and it is almost hopeless for them to desert; for, unless they get some
+distance off before they are recognized, they will be returned as
+debtors to their employers. Freedom, under such circumstances, is little
+better than slavery; but it _is_ better, for this reason,--that it only
+requires some improvement in the intelligence and habits of the laborers
+to convert it into a system of free labor worthy of the name.
+
+The _yucca_ (cassava-root) is a plant of fifteen or twenty feet in
+height. It is difficult to distinguish this plant from the _mandioc_,
+which is called "wild yucca;" and this, "sweet yucca." This may be eaten
+raw; but the other is poisonous until subjected to heat in cooking, and
+then is perfectly wholesome. The yucca answers the same purpose in Peru
+that the mandioc does in Brazil. It is the general substitute for bread,
+and, roasted or boiled, is very pleasant to the taste. The Indians also
+make from it an intoxicating drink. Each plant will give from twenty to
+twenty-five pounds of the eatable root, which grows in clusters like the
+potato, and some tubers of which are as long and thick as a man's arm.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+HERNDON'S EXPEDITION CONTINUED.
+
+
+On the 4th of July, the travellers arrived at the great mining station
+of Cerro Pasco. The weather was so cold, that the lieutenant, not being
+quite well, sat by the fire all day, trying to keep himself warm. The
+town is a most curious-looking place, entirely honey-combed, and having
+the mouths of mines, some of them two or three yards in diameter, gaping
+everywhere. From the top of a hill, the best view is obtained of the
+whole. Vast pits, called Tajos, surround this hill, from which many
+millions of silver have been taken; and the miners are still burrowing,
+like so many rabbits, in their bottoms and sides. The hill is penetrated
+in every direction; and it would not be surprising if it should cave in,
+any day, and bury many in its ruins. The falling-in of mines is of
+frequent occurrence: one caved in, some years ago, and buried three
+hundred persons. An English company undertook mining here in 1825, and
+failed. Vast sums have been spent in constructing tunnels, and employing
+steam machinery to drain the mines; and the parties still persevere,
+encouraged by discovering, that, the lower they penetrate, the richer
+are the ores. The yield of these mines is about two million dollars'
+worth a year, which is equal to the yield of all the other mines of Peru
+together.
+
+The lieutenant found the leading people here, as well as at Tarma,
+enthusiastic on the subject of opening the Amazon to foreign commerce.
+It will be a great day for them, they say, when the Americans get near
+them with a steamer.
+
+On the 14th of July, they arrived at a spot of marshy ground, from which
+trickled in tiny streams the waters, which, uniting with others, swell
+till they form the broad River Huallaga, one of the head tributaries of
+the Amazon. Their descent was now rapid; and the next day they found
+themselves on a sudden among fruit-trees, with a patch of sugar-cane, on
+the banks of the stream. The sudden transition from rugged
+mountain-peaks, where there was no cultivation, to a tropical
+vegetation, was marvellous. Two miles farther on, they came in sight of
+a pretty village, almost hidden in the luxuriant vegetation. The whole
+valley here becomes very beautiful. The land, which is a rich
+river-bottom, is laid off into alternate fields of sugar-cane and
+alfalfa. The blended green and yellow of this growth, divided by
+willows, interspersed with fruit-trees, and broken into wavy lines by
+the serpentine course of the river, presented a scene which filled them
+with pleasurable emotions, and indicated that they had exchanged a
+semi-barbarous for a civilized society.
+
+The party had had no occasion to complain of want of hospitality in any
+part of their route; but here they seemed to have entered upon a country
+where that virtue flourished most vigorously, having at its command the
+means of gratifying it. The owner of the hacienda of Quicacan, an
+English gentleman named Dyer, received the lieutenant and his large
+party exactly as if it were a matter of course, and as if they had quite
+as much right to occupy his house as they had to enter an inn. The next
+day they had an opportunity to compare with the Englishman a fine
+specimen of the Peruvian country gentleman. Col. Lucar is thus
+described: "He is probably the richest and most influential man in the
+province. He seems to have been the father of husbandry in these parts,
+and is the very type of the old landed proprietor of Virginia, who has
+always lived upon his estates, and attended personally to their
+cultivation. Seated at the head of his table, with his hat on to keep
+the draught from his head, and which he would insist upon removing
+unless I would wear mine; his chair surrounded by two or three little
+negro children, whom he fed with bits from his plate; and attending with
+patience and kindness to the clamorous wants of a pair of splendid
+peacocks, a couple of small parrots of brilliant and variegated plumage,
+and a beautiful and delicate monkey,--I thought I had never seen a more
+perfect pattern of the patriarch. His kindly and affectionate manner to
+his domestics, and to his little grand-children, a pair of sprightly
+boys, who came in the evening from the college, was also very pleasing."
+The mention of a college in a region in some respects so barbarous may
+surprise our readers; but such there is. It has a hundred pupils, an
+income of seventy-five thousand dollars yearly, chemical and
+philosophical apparatus, and one thousand specimens of European
+minerals.
+
+Ijurra, our lieutenant's Peruvian companion, had written to the governor
+of the village of Tingo Maria, the head of canoe navigation on the
+Huallaga, to send Indians to meet the travellers here, and take their
+luggage on to the place of embarkation.
+
+July 30.--The Indians came shouting into the farm-yard, thirteen in
+number. They were young, slight, but muscular-looking fellows, and
+wanted to shoulder the trunks, and be off at once. The lieutenant,
+however, gave them some breakfast; and then the party set forward, and,
+after a walk of six miles, reached the river, and embarked in the canoe.
+Two Indian laborers, called _peons_, paddled the canoe, and managed it
+very well. The peons cooked their dinner of cheese and rice, and made
+them a good cup of coffee. They are lively, good-tempered fellows, and,
+properly treated, make good and serviceable travelling companions. The
+canoe was available only in parts of the river where the stream was free
+from rapids. Where these occur, the cargo must be landed, and carried
+round. Lieut. Herndon and his party were compelled to walk a good part
+of the distance to Tingo Maria, which was thirty-six miles from where
+they first took the canoe.
+
+"I saw here," says our traveller, "the _lucernago_, or fire-fly of this
+country. It is a species of beetle, carrying two white lights in its
+eyes, or rather in the places where the eyes of insects generally are,
+and a red light between the scales of the belly; so that it reminded me
+somewhat of the ocean steamers. They are sometimes carried to Lima
+(enclosed in an apartment cut into a sugar-cane), where the ladies at
+balls or theatres put them in their hair for ornament."
+
+At Tingo Maria, their arrival was celebrated with much festivity. The
+governor got up a ball for them, where there was more hilarity than
+ceremony. The next morning, the governor and his wife accompanied our
+friends to the port. The governor made a short address to the canoe-men,
+telling them that their passengers were "no common persons; that they
+were to have a special care of them; to be very obedient," &c. They then
+embarked, and stood off; the boatmen blowing their horns, and the party
+on shore waving their hats, and shouting their adieus.
+
+The party had two canoes, about forty feet long by two and a half broad,
+each hollowed out of a single log. The rowers stand up to paddle, having
+one foot in the bottom of the boat, and the other on the gunwale. There
+is a man at the bow of the boat to look out for rocks or sunken trees
+ahead; and a steersman, who stands on a little platform at the stern of
+the boat, and guides her motions. When the river was smooth, and free
+from obstruction, they drifted with the current, the men sitting on the
+trunks and boxes, chatting and laughing with each other; but, when they
+approached a "bad place," their serious looks, and the firm position in
+which each one planted himself at his post, showed that work was to be
+done. When the bark had fairly entered the pass, the rapid gestures of
+the bow-man, indicating the channel; the graceful position of the
+steersman, holding his long paddle; and the desperate exertions of the
+rowers, the railroad rush of the canoes, and the wild screaming laugh of
+the Indians as the boat shot past the danger,--made a scene so exciting
+as to banish the sense of danger.
+
+After this specimen of their travel, let us take a glimpse of their
+lodging. "At half-past five, we camped on the beach. The first business
+of the boatmen, when the canoe is secured, is to go off to the woods,
+and cut stakes and palm-branches to make a house for the 'commander.' By
+sticking long poles in the sand, chopping them half-way in two about
+five feet above the ground, and bending the upper parts together, they
+make in a few minutes the frame of a little shanty, which, thickly
+thatched with palm-leaves, will keep off the dew or an ordinary rain.
+Some bring the drift-wood that is lying about the beach, and make a
+fire. The provisions are cooked and eaten, the bedding laid down upon
+the leaves that cover the floor of the shanty, the mosquito nettings
+spread; and after a cup of coffee, a glass of grog, and a cigar (if they
+are to be had), everybody retires for the night by eight o'clock. The
+Indians sleep round the hut, each under his narrow mosquito curtain,
+which glisten in the moonlight like so many tombstones."
+
+The Indians have very keen senses, and see and hear things that would
+escape more civilized travellers. One morning, they commenced paddling
+with great vigor; for they said they heard monkeys ahead. It was not
+till after paddling a mile that they reached the place. "When we came up
+to them," says the lieutenant, "we found a gang of large red monkeys in
+some tall trees by the river-side, making a noise like the grunting of a
+herd of hogs. We landed; and, in a few moments, I found myself beating
+my way through the thick undergrowth, and hunting monkeys with as much
+excitement as I had ever felt in hunting squirrels when a boy." They
+found the game hard to kill, and only got three,--the lieutenant, with
+his rifle, one; and the Indians, with their blow-guns, two. The Indians
+roasted and ate theirs, and Lieut. Herndon tried to eat a piece; but it
+was so tough, that his teeth would make no impression upon it.
+
+Aug. 19.--The party arrived at Tarapoto. It is a town of three thousand
+five hundred inhabitants, and the district of which it is the capital
+numbers six thousand. The principal productions are rice, cotton, and
+tobacco; and cotton-cloth, spun and woven by the women, with about as
+little aid from machinery as the women in Solomon's time, of whom we are
+told, "She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the
+distaff." The little balls of cotton thread which the women spin in this
+way are used as currency (and this in a land of silver-mines), and pass
+for twenty-five cents apiece in exchange for other goods, or twelve and
+a half cents in money. Most of the trade is done by barter. A cow is
+sold for one hundred yards of cotton cloth; a fat hog, for sixty; a
+large sheep, twelve; twenty-five pounds of salt fish, for twelve;
+twenty-five pounds of coffee, six; a head of plantains, which will weigh
+from forty to fifty pounds, for three needles; and so forth. All
+transportation of merchandise by land is made upon the backs of Indians,
+for want of roads suitable for beasts of burden. The customary weight of
+a load is seventy-five pounds: the cost of transportation to Moyobamba,
+seventy miles, is six yards of cloth. It is easy to obtain, in the term
+of six or eight days, fifty or sixty peons, or Indian laborers, for the
+transportation of cargoes, getting the order of the governor, and paying
+the above price, and supporting the peons on the way. The town is the
+most important in the province of Mainas. The inhabitants are called
+civilized, but have no idea of what we call comfort in their domestic
+arrangements. The houses are of mud, thatched with palm, and have uneven
+earth floors. The furniture consists of a grass hammock, a standing
+bedplace, a coarse table, and a stool or two. The governor of this
+populous district wore no shoes, and appeared to live pretty much like
+the rest of them.
+
+Vessels of five feet draught of water may ascend the river, at the
+lowest stage of the water, to within eighteen miles of Tarapoto.
+
+Our travellers accompanied a large fishing-party. They had four or five
+canoes, and a large quantity of barbasco; a root which has the property
+of stupefying, or intoxicating, the fish. The manner of fishing is to
+close up the mouth of an inlet of the river with a network made of
+reeds; and then, mashing the barbasco-root to a pulp, throw it into the
+water. This turns the water white, and poisons it; so that the fish
+soon begin rising to the surface, dead, and are taken into the canoes
+with small tridents, or pronged sticks. Almost at the moment of throwing
+the barbasco into the water, the smaller fish rise to the surface, and
+die in one or two minutes; the larger fish survive longer.
+
+The salt fish, which constitutes an important article of food and also
+of barter trade, is brought from down the river in large pieces of about
+eight pounds each, cut from the _vaca marina_, or sea-cow, also found in
+our Florida streams, and there called _manatee_. It is found in great
+numbers in the Amazon and its principal tributaries. It is not, strictly
+speaking, a fish, but an animal of the whale kind, which nourishes its
+young at the breast. It is not able to leave the water; but, in feeding,
+it gets near the shore, and raises its head out. It is most often taken
+when feeding.
+
+Our travellers met a canoe of Indians, one man and two women, going up
+the river for salt. They bought, with beads, some turtle-eggs, and
+proposed to buy a monkey they had; but one of the women clasped the
+little beast in her arms, and set up a great outcry, lest the man should
+sell it. The man wore a long cotton gown, with a hole in the neck for
+the head to come through, and short, wide sleeves. He had on his arm a
+bracelet of monkeys' teeth, and the women had nose-rings of white beads.
+Their dress was a cotton petticoat, tied round the waist; and all were
+filthy.
+
+Sept. 1.--They arrived at Laguna. Here they found two travelling
+merchants, a Portuguese and a Brazilian. They had four large boats, of
+about eight tons each, and two or three canoes. Their cargo consisted of
+iron and iron implements, crockery-ware, wine, brandy, copper kettles,
+coarse short swords (a very common implement of the Indians), guns,
+ammunition, salt, fish, &c., which they expected to exchange for straw
+hats, cotton cloth, sugar, coffee, and money. They were also buying up
+all the sarsaparilla they could find, and despatching it back in canoes.
+They invited our travellers to breakfast; and the lieutenant says, "I
+thought that I never tasted any thing better than the _farinha_, which I
+saw now for the first time."
+
+Farinha is a general substitute for bread in all the course of the
+Amazon below the Brazilian frontier. It is used by all classes; and the
+boatmen seemed always contented with plenty of salt fish and farinha.
+The women make it in this way: They soak the root of the _mandioc_ in
+water till it is softened a little, when they scrape off the skin, and
+grate the root upon a board, which is made into a rude grater by being
+smeared with some of the adhesive gums of the forest, and then sprinkled
+with pebbles. The white grated pulp is put into a conical-shaped bag
+made of the coarse fibres of the palm. The bag is hung up to a peg
+driven into a post of the hut; a lever is put through a loop at the
+bottom of the bag; the short end of the lever is placed under a chock
+nailed to the post below; and the woman hangs her weight on the long
+end. This elongates the bag, and brings a heavy pressure upon the mass
+within, causing the juice to ooze out through the wicker-work of the
+bag. When sufficiently pressed, the mass is put on the floor of a mud
+oven; heat is applied, and it is stirred with a stick till it granulates
+into very irregular grains, and is sufficiently toasted to drive off all
+the poisonous qualities which it has in a crude state. It is then packed
+in baskets (lined and covered with palm-leaves) of about sixty-four
+pounds' weight, which are generally sold all along the river at from
+seventy-five cents to one dollar. The sediment of the juice is tapioca,
+and is used to make custards, puddings, starch, &c. It will surprise
+some of our readers to be told that the juice extracted in the
+preparation of these wholesome and nutritive substances is a powerful
+poison, and used by the Indians for poisoning the points of their
+arrows.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+HERNDON'S EXPEDITION CONTINUED.
+
+
+The Huallaga is navigable, for vessels drawing five feet depth of water,
+285 miles; and forty miles farther for canoes. Our travellers had now
+arrived at its junction with the Amazon; and their first sight of its
+waters is thus described: "The march of the great river in its silent
+grandeur was sublime; but in the untamed might of its turbid waters, as
+they cut away its banks, tore down the gigantic denizens of the forest,
+and built up islands, it was awful. I was reminded of our Mississippi at
+its topmost flood; but this stream lacked the charm which the plantation
+upon the bank, the city upon the bluff, and the steamboat upon the
+waters, lend to its fellow of the North. But its capacities for trade
+and commerce are inconceivably great; and to the touch of steam,
+settlement, and cultivation, this majestic stream and its magnificent
+water-shed would start up in a display of industrial results that would
+make the Valley of the Amazon one of the most enchanting regions on the
+face of the earth."
+
+Lieut. Herndon speaks of the Valley of the Amazon in language almost as
+enthusiastic as that of Sir Walter Raleigh: "From its mountains you may
+dig silver, iron, coal, copper, zinc, quicksilver, and tin; from the
+sands of its tributaries you may wash gold, diamonds, and precious
+stones; from its forests you may gather drugs of virtues the most rare,
+spices of aroma the most exquisite, gums and resins of the most varied
+and useful properties, dyes of hue the most brilliant, with cabinet and
+building woods of the finest polish and the most enduring texture. Its
+climate is an everlasting summer, and its harvest perennial."
+
+Sept. 8.--The party encamped at night on an island near the middle of
+the river. "The Indians, cooking their big monkeys over a large fire on
+the beach, presented a savage and most picturesque scene. They looked
+more like devils roasting human beings, than any thing mortal." We ask
+ourselves, on reading this, whether some such scene may not have given
+rise to the stories of cannibalism which Raleigh and others record.
+
+They arrived at Nauta, a village of a thousand inhabitants, mostly
+Indians. The governor of the district received them hospitably. Each
+district has its governor, and each town its lieutenant-governor. These
+are of European descent. The other authorities of a town are _curacas_,
+captains, alcades, and constables. All these are Indians. The office of
+curaca is hereditary, and is not generally interfered with by the white
+governor. The Indians treat their curaca with great respect, and submit
+to corporal punishment at his mandate.
+
+Sarsaparilla is one of the chief articles of produce collected here. It
+is a vine of sufficient size to shoot up fifteen or twenty feet from the
+root without support. It thus embraces the surrounding trees, and
+spreads to a great distance. The main root sends out many tendrils,
+generally about the thickness of a straw, and five feet long. These are
+gathered, and tied up in bundles of about an _arroba_, or thirty-two
+pounds' weight. It is found on the banks of almost every river of the
+region; but many of these are not worked, on account of the savages
+living on them, who attack the parties that come to gather it. The price
+in Nauta is two dollars the arroba, and in Europe from forty to sixty
+dollars.
+
+From Nauta, Lieut. Herndon ascended the Ucayali, a branch of the
+Amazon, stretching to the north-west in a direction somewhat parallel to
+the Huallaga. There is the essential difference between the two rivers,
+as avenues for commerce, that the Ucayali is still in the occupation of
+savage tribes, unchristianized except where under the immediate
+influence of the mission stations planted among them; while the
+population of the Huallaga is tolerably advanced in civilization. The
+following sentences will give a picture of the Indians of the Ucayali:
+"These people cannot count, and I can never get from them any accurate
+idea of numbers. They are very little removed above 'the beasts that
+perish.' They are filthy, and covered with sores. The houses are very
+large, between thirty and forty feet in length, and ten or fifteen in
+breadth. They consist of immense roofs of small poles and canes,
+thatched with palm, and supported by short stakes, four feet high,
+planted in the ground three or four feet apart, and having the spaces,
+except between two in front, filled in with cane. They have no idea of a
+future state, and worship nothing. But they can make bows and canoes;
+and their women weave a coarse cloth from cotton, and dye it. Their
+dress is a long cotton gown. They paint the face, and wear ornaments
+suspended from the nose and lower lip."
+
+Next let us take a view of the means in operation to elevate these
+people to civilization and Christianity. Sarayacu is a missionary
+station, governed by four Franciscan friars, who are thus described:
+"Father Calvo, meek and humble in personal concerns, yet full of zeal
+and spirit for his office, clad in his long serge gown, belted with a
+cord, with bare feet and accurate tonsure, habitual stoop, and generally
+bearing upon his shoulder a beautiful and saucy bird of the parrot kind,
+was my beau-ideal of a missionary monk. Bregati is a young and handsome
+Italian, whom Father Calvo sometimes calls St. John. Lorente is a tall,
+grave, and cold-looking Catalan. A lay-brother named Maguin, who did the
+cooking, and who was unwearied in his attentions to us, made up the
+establishment. I was sick here, and think that I shall ever remember
+with gratitude the affectionate kindness of these pious and devoted
+friars of St. Francis."
+
+The government is paternal. The Indians recognize in the "padre" the
+power to appoint and remove curacas, captains, and other officers; to
+inflict stripes, and to confine in the stocks. They obey the priests'
+orders readily, and seem tractable and docile. The Indian men are
+drunken and lazy: the women do most of the work; and their reward is to
+be maltreated by their husbands, and, in their drunken frolics, to be
+cruelly beaten, and sometimes badly wounded.
+
+Our party returned to the Amazon; and we find occurring in their
+narrative names which are familiar to us in the history of our previous
+adventurers. They touched at Omaguas, the port where Madame Godin found
+kind friends in the good missionary and the governor, and where she
+embarked on her way to the galiot at Loreto; and they passed the mouth
+of the Napo, which enters the Amazon from the north,--the river down
+which Orellana passed in the first adventure. The lieutenant says, "We
+spoke two canoes that had come from near Quito by the Napo. There are
+few Christianized towns on the Napo; and the rowers of the boats were a
+more savage-looking set than I had seen,"--so slow has been the progress
+of civilization in three hundred years.
+
+The Amazon seems to be the land of monkeys. Our traveller says, "I
+bought a young monkey of an Indian woman to-day. It had coarse gray and
+white hair; and that on the top of its head was stiff, like the quills
+of the porcupine, and smoothed down in front as if it had been combed. I
+offered the little fellow some plantain; but, finding he would not eat,
+the woman took him, and put him to her breast, when he sucked away
+manfully and with great gusto. She weaned him in a week, so that he
+would eat plantain mashed up, and put into his mouth in small bits; but
+the little beast died of mortification because I would not let him sleep
+with his arms around my neck."
+
+They got from the Indians some of the milk from the cow-tree. This the
+Indians drink, when fresh; and, brought in a calabash, it had a foamy
+appearance, as if just drawn from the cow. It, however, coagulates very
+soon, and becomes as hard and tenacious as glue. It does not appear to
+be as important an article of subsistence as one would expect from the
+name.
+
+Dec. 2.--They arrived at Loreto, the frontier town of the Peruvian
+territory, and which reminds us again of Madame Godin, who there joined
+the Portuguese galiot. Loreto is situated on an eminence on the left
+bank of the river, which is here three-fourths of a mile wide, and one
+hundred feet deep. There are three mercantile houses in Loreto, which do
+a business of about ten thousand dollars a year. The houses at Loreto
+are better built and better furnished than those of the towns on the
+river above. The population of the place is two hundred and fifty, made
+up of Brazilians, mulattoes, negroes, and a few Indians.
+
+At the next town, Tabatinga, the lieutenant entered the territory of
+Brazil. When his boat, bearing the American flag, was descried at that
+place, the Brazilian flag was hoisted; and when the lieutenant landed,
+dressed in uniform, he was received by the commandant, also in uniform,
+to whom he presented his passport from the Brazilian minister at
+Washington. As soon as this document was perused, and the lieutenant's
+rank ascertained, a salute of seven guns was fired from the fort; and
+the commandant treated him with great civility, and entertained him at
+his table, giving him roast beef, which was a great treat.
+
+It was quite pleasant, after coming from the Peruvian villages, which
+are all nearly hidden in the woods, to see that Tabatinga had the forest
+cleared away from about it; so that a space of forty or fifty acres was
+covered with green grass, and had a grove of orange-trees in its midst.
+The commandant told him that the trade of the river was increasing very
+fast; that, in 1849, scarce one thousand dollars' worth of goods passed
+up; in 1850, two thousand five hundred dollars; and this year, six
+thousand dollars.
+
+The sarsaparilla seems thus far to have been the principal article of
+commerce; but here they find another becoming of importance,--_manteca_,
+or oil made of turtle-eggs. The season for making manteca generally
+ends by the 1st of November. A commandant is appointed every year to
+take care of the beaches, prevent disorder, and administer justice.
+Sentinels are placed at the beginning of August, when the turtles
+commence depositing their eggs. They see that no one wantonly interferes
+with the turtles, or destroys the eggs. The process of making the oil is
+very disgusting. The eggs are collected, thrown into a canoe, and
+trodden into a mass with the feet. Water is poured on, and the mass is
+left to stand in the sun for several days. The oil rises to the top, is
+skimmed off, and boiled in large copper boilers. It is then put in
+earthen pots of about forty-five pounds' weight. Each pot is worth, on
+the beach, one dollar and thirty cents; and at Para, from two and a half
+to three dollars. The beaches of the Amazon and its tributaries yield
+from five to six thousand pots annually. It is used for the same
+purposes as lard with us.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+HERNDON'S EXPEDITION CONCLUDED.
+
+
+On Jan. 4, at about the point of the junction of the Purus River with
+the Amazon, Lieut. Herndon remarks, "The banks of the river are now
+losing the character of savage and desolate solitude that characterizes
+them above, and begin to show signs of habitation and cultivation. We
+passed to-day several farms, with neatly framed and plastered houses,
+and a schooner-rigged vessel lying off several of them."
+
+They arrived at the junction of the River Negro. This is one of the
+largest of the tributaries of the Amazon, and derives its name from the
+blackness of its waters. When taken up in a tumbler, the water is a
+light-red color, like a pale juniper-water, and is probably colored by
+some such berry. This river, opposite the town of Barra, is about a mile
+and a half wide, and very beautiful. It is navigable for almost any
+draughts to the Masaya, a distance of about four hundred miles: there
+the rapids commence, and the farther ascent must be made in boats. By
+this river, a communication exists with the Orinoco, by means of a
+remarkable stream, the Cassaquiare, which seems to have been formed for
+the sole purpose of connecting these two majestic rivers, and the future
+dwellers upon them, in the bonds of perpetual union. Humboldt, the great
+traveller and philosopher, thus speaks of it, "The Cassaquiare, as broad
+as the Rhine, and whose course is one hundred and eighty miles in
+length, will not much longer form in vain a navigable canal between two
+basins of rivers which have a surface of one hundred and ninety thousand
+square leagues. The grain of New Grenada will be carried to the banks of
+the Rio Negro; boats will descend from the sources of the Napo and the
+Ucayali, from the Andes of Quito and Upper Peru, to the mouths of the
+Orinoco. A country nine or ten times larger than Spain, and enriched
+with the most varied productions, is accessible in every direction by
+the medium of the natural canal of the Cassaquiare and the bifurcation
+of the rivers."
+
+The greatest of all the tributaries of the Amazon is the Madeira, whose
+junction our travellers next reached. For four hundred and fifty miles
+from its mouth, there is good navigation: then occur cascades, which are
+navigable only for boats, and occupy three hundred and fifty miles,
+above which the river is navigable for large vessels, by its great
+tributaries, into Bolivia and Brazil.
+
+They next entered the country where the cocoa is regularly cultivated;
+and the banks of the river present a much less desolate and savage
+appearance than they do above. The cocoa-trees have a yellow-colored
+leaf; and this, together with their regularity of size, distinguishes
+them from the surrounding forest. Lieut. Herndon says, "I do not know a
+prettier place than one of these plantations. The trees interlock their
+branches, and, with their large leaves, make a shade impenetrable to any
+ray of the sun; and the large, golden-colored fruits, hanging from
+branch and trunk, shine through the green with a most beautiful effect.
+This is the time of the harvest; and we found the people of every
+plantation engaged in the open space before the house in breaking open
+the shells of the fruit, and spreading the seed to dry in the sun. They
+make a pleasant drink for a hot day by pressing out the juice of the
+gelatinous pulp that envelops the seeds. It is called cocoa-wine: it is
+a white, viscid liquor, has an agreeable, acid taste, and is very
+refreshing."
+
+We must hasten on, and pass without notice many spots of interest on the
+river; but, as we have now reached a comparatively civilized and known
+region, it is less necessary to be particular. The Tapajos River
+stretches its branches to the town of Diamantino, situated at the foot
+of the mountains, where diamonds are found. Lieut. Herndon saw some of
+the diamonds and gold-sand in the possession of a resident of Santarem,
+who had traded much on the river. The gold-dust appeared to him equal in
+quality to that he had seen from California. Gold and diamonds, which
+are always united in this region as in many others, are found especially
+in the numerous water-courses, and also throughout the whole country.
+After the rains, the children of Diamantino hunt for the gold contained
+in the earth even of the streets, and in the bed of the River Ouro,
+which passes through the city; and they often collect considerable
+quantities. It is stated that diamonds are sometimes found in the
+stomachs of the fowls. The quantity of diamonds found in a year varies
+from two hundred and fifty to five hundred _oitavas_; the oitava being
+about seventeen carats. The value depends upon the quality and size of
+the specimen, and can hardly be reduced to an estimate. It is seldom
+that a stone of over half an oitava is found; and such a one is worth
+from two to three hundred dollars.
+
+As an offset to the gold and diamonds, we have this picture of the
+climate: "From the rising to the setting of the sun, clouds of stinging
+insects blind the traveller, and render him frantic by the torments they
+cause. Take a handful of the finest sand, and throw it above your head,
+and you would then have but a faint idea of the number of these demons
+who tear the skin to pieces. It is true, these insects disappear at
+night, but only to give place to others yet more formidable. Large bats
+(true, thirsty vampires) literally throng the forests, cling to the
+hammocks, and, finding a part of the body exposed, rest lightly there,
+and drain it of blood. The alligators are so numerous, and the noise
+they make so frightful, that it is impossible to sleep."
+
+At Santarem they were told the tide was perceptible, but did not
+perceive it. At Gurupa it was very apparent. This point is about five
+hundred miles from the sea. About thirty-five miles below Gurupa
+commences the great estuary of the Amazon. The river suddenly flows out
+into an immense bay, which might appropriately be called the "bay of a
+thousand islands;" for it is cut up into innumerable channels. The
+travellers ran for days through channels varying from fifty to five
+hundred yards in width, between numberless islands. This is the
+India-rubber country. The shores are low: indeed, one seldom sees the
+land at all; the trees on the banks generally standing in the water. The
+party stopped at one of the establishments for making India-rubber. The
+house was built of light poles, and on piles, to keep it out of the
+water, which flowed under and around it. This was the store, and, rude
+as it was, was a palace compared to the hut of the laborer who gathers
+the India-rubber. The process is as follows: A longitudinal gash is made
+in the bark of the tree with a hatchet. A wedge of wood is inserted to
+keep the gash open; and a small clay cup is stuck to the tree, beneath
+the gash. The cups may be stuck as close together as possible around the
+tree. In four or five hours, the milk has ceased to run, and each wound
+has given from three to five table-spoonfuls. The gatherer then collects
+it from the cups, pours it into an earthen vessel, and commences the
+operation of forming it into shapes, and smoking it. This must be done
+at once, as the juice soon coagulates. A fire is made on the ground,
+and a rude funnel placed over it to collect the smoke. The maker of the
+rubber now takes his last, if he is making shoes, or his mould, which is
+fastened to the end of a stick, pours the milk over it with a cup, and
+passes it slowly several times through the smoke until it is dry. He
+then pours on the other coats until he has the required thickness,
+smoking each coating till it is dry. From twenty to forty coats make a
+shoe. The soles and heels are, of course, given more coats than the body
+of the shoe. The figures on the shoes are made by tracing them on the
+rubber, while soft, with a coarse needle, or bit of wire. This is done
+two days after the coating. In a week, the shoes are taken from the
+last. The coating occupies about twenty-five minutes.
+
+The tree is tall, straight, and has a smooth bark. It sometimes reaches
+a diameter of thirteen inches or more. Each incision makes a rough wound
+on the tree, which, although it does not kill it, renders it useless,
+because a smooth place is wanted to which to attach the cups. The milk
+is white and tasteless, and may be taken into the stomach with impunity.
+
+Our travellers arrived at Para on the 12th of April, 1852, and were most
+hospitably and kindly received by Mr. Norris, the American consul.
+
+The journey of our travellers ends here. Lieut. Herndon's book is full
+of instruction, conveyed in a pleasant style. He seems to have
+manifested throughout good judgment, good temper, energy, and industry.
+He had no collisions with the authorities or with individuals, and, on
+his part, seems to have met friendly feelings and good offices
+throughout his whole route.
+
+     William Lewis Herndon was born in Fredericksburg, Va., on the
+     25th of October, 1813. He entered the navy at the age of
+     fifteen; served in the Mexican war; and was afterwards engaged
+     for three years, with his brother-in-law, Lieut. Maury, in the
+     National Observatory at Washington. In 1851-2, he explored the
+     Amazon River, under commission of the United-States Government.
+     In 1857, he was commander of the steamer "Central America,"
+     which left Havana for New York on Sept. 8, having on board four
+     hundred and seventy-four passengers and a crew of one hundred
+     and five men, and about two million dollars of gold. On Sept.
+     11, during a violent gale from the north-east and a heavy sea,
+     she sprung a leak, and sunk, on the evening of Sept. 12, near
+     the outer edge of the Gulf Stream, in lat. 31 deg. 44' N. Only one
+     hundred and fifty of the persons on board were saved, including
+     the women and children. The gallant commander of the steamer
+     was seen standing upon the wheel-house at the time of her
+     sinking.
+
+     In a former chapter, we have told the fate of Sir Humphrey
+     Gilbert. How fair a counterpart of that heroic death is this of
+     the gallant Herndon!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+LATEST EXPLORATIONS.
+
+
+In the year 1845, an English gentleman, Henry Walter Bates, visited the
+region of the Amazon for the purpose of scientific exploration. He went
+prepared to spend years in the country, in order to study diligently its
+natural productions. His stay was protracted until 1859, during which
+time he resided successively at Para, Santarem, Ega, Barra, and other
+places; making his abode for months, or even years, in each. His account
+of his observations and discoveries was published after his return, and
+affords us the best information we possess respecting the country, its
+inhabitants, and its productions, brought down almost to the present
+time. Our extracts relate to the cities, the river and its shores, the
+inhabitants civilized and savage, the great tributary rivers, the
+vegetation, and the animals of various kinds.
+
+Before proceeding with our extracts, we will remark the various names of
+the river.
+
+It is sometimes called, from the name of its discoverer, "Orellana."
+This name is appropriate and well-sounding, but is not in general use.
+
+The name of "Maranon," pronounced Maranyon, is still often used. It is
+probably derived from the natives.
+
+It is called "The River of the Amazons," from the fable of its former
+inhabitants.
+
+This name is shortened into "The Amazons," and, without the plural sign,
+"The Amazon," in common use.
+
+Above the junction of the River Negro, the river is designated as "The
+Upper Amazon," or "Solimoens."
+
+
+PARA.
+
+"On the morning of the 28th of May, 1848, we arrived at our destination.
+The appearance of the city at sunrise was pleasing in the highest
+degree. It is built on a low tract of land, having only one small rocky
+elevation at its southern extremity: it therefore affords no
+amphitheatral view from the river; but the white buildings roofed with
+red tiles, the numerous towers and cupolas of churches and convents,
+the crowns of palm-trees reared above the buildings, all sharply defined
+against the clear blue sky, give an appearance of lightness and
+cheerfulness which is most exhilarating. The perpetual forest hems the
+city in on all sides landwards; and, towards the suburbs, picturesque
+country-houses are seen scattered about, half buried in luxuriant
+foliage.
+
+"The impressions received during our first walk can never wholly fade
+from my mind. After traversing the few streets of tall, gloomy,
+convent-looking buildings near the port, inhabited chiefly by merchants
+and shopkeepers; along which idle soldiers, dressed in shabby uniforms,
+carrying their muskets carelessly over their arms; priests; negresses
+with red water-jars on their heads; sad-looking Indian women, carrying
+their naked children astride on their hips; and other samples of the
+motley life of the place,--were seen; we passed down a long, narrow
+street leading to the suburbs. Beyond this, our road lay across a grassy
+common, into a picturesque lane leading to the virgin forest. The long
+street was inhabited by the poorer class of the population. The houses
+were mostly in a dilapidated condition; and signs of indolence and
+neglect were everywhere visible. But amidst all, and compensating every
+defect, rose the overpowering beauty of the vegetation. The massive
+dark crowns of shady mangoes were seen everywhere among the dwellings,
+amidst fragrant, blossoming orange, lemon, and other tropical
+fruit-trees,--some in flower, others in fruit at various stages of
+ripeness. Here and there, shooting above the more dome-like and sombre
+trees, were the smooth columnar stems of palms, bearing aloft their
+magnificent crowns of finely-cut fronds. On the boughs of the taller and
+more ordinary-looking trees sat tufts of curiously leaved parasites.
+Slender woody lianas hung in festoons from the branches, or were
+suspended in the form of cords and ribbons; while luxuriant creeping
+plants overran alike tree-trunks, roofs, and walls, or toppled over
+palings in copious profusion of foliage.
+
+"As we continued our walk, the brief twilight commenced; and the sounds
+of multifarious life came from the vegetation around,--the whirring of
+cicadas; the shrill stridulation of a vast number of crickets and
+grasshoppers, each species sounding its peculiar note; the plaintive
+hooting of tree-frogs, all blended together in one continuous ringing
+sound,--the audible expression of the teeming profusion of Nature. This
+uproar of life, I afterwards found, never wholly ceased, night or day:
+in course of time, I became, like other residents, accustomed to it.
+After my return to England, the death-like stillness of summer days in
+the country appeared to me as strange as the ringing uproar did on my
+first arrival at Para."
+
+
+CAMETA.
+
+"I staid at Cameta five weeks, and made a considerable collection of the
+natural productions of the neighborhood. The town, in 1849, was
+estimated to contain about five thousand inhabitants. The productions of
+the district are cacao, India-rubber, and Brazil nuts. The most
+remarkable feature in the social aspect of the place is the mixed nature
+of the population,--the amalgamation of the white and Indian races being
+here complete. The aborigines were originally very numerous on the
+western bank of the Tocantins; the principal tribe being the Cametas,
+from which the city takes its name. They were a superior nation,
+settled, and attached to agriculture, and received with open arms the
+white immigrants who were attracted to the district by its fertility,
+natural beauty, and the healthfulness of the climate. The Portuguese
+settlers were nearly all males. The Indian women were good-looking, and
+made excellent wives; so the natural result has been, in the course of
+two centuries, a complete blending of the two races.
+
+"The town consists of three long streets running parallel to the river,
+with a few shorter ones crossing them at right angles. The houses are
+very plain; being built, as usual in this country, simply of a strong
+framework, filled up with mud, and coated with white plaster. A few of
+them are of two or three stories. There are three churches, and also a
+small theatre, where a company of native actors, at the time of my
+visit, were representing light Portuguese plays with considerable taste
+and ability. The people have a reputation all over the province for
+energy and perseverance; and it is often said that they are as keen in
+trade as the Portuguese. The lower classes are as indolent and sensual
+here as in other parts of the province,--a moral condition not to be
+wondered at, where perpetual summer reigns, and where the necessaries of
+life are so easily obtained. But they are light-hearted, quick-witted,
+communicative, and hospitable. I found here a native poet, who had
+written some pretty verses, showing an appreciation of the natural
+beauties of the country; and was told that the Archbishop of Bahia, the
+primate of Brazil, was a native of Cameta. It is interesting to find
+the mamelucos (half-breeds) displaying talent and enterprise; for it
+shows that degeneracy does not necessarily result from the mixture of
+white and Indian blood.
+
+"The forest behind Cameta is traversed by several broad roads, which
+lead over undulating ground many miles into the interior. They pass
+generally under shade, and part of the way through groves of coffee and
+orange trees, fragrant plantations of cacao, and tracts of second-growth
+woods. The narrow, broad-watered valleys, with which the land is
+intersected, alone have remained clothed with primeval forest, at least
+near the town. The houses along these beautiful roads belong chiefly to
+mameluco, mulatto, and Indian families, each of which has its own small
+plantation. There are only a few planters with large establishments; and
+these have seldom more than a dozen slaves. Besides the main roads,
+there are endless by-paths, which thread the forest, and communicate
+with isolated houses. Along these the traveller may wander day after
+day, without leaving the shade, and everywhere meet with cheerful,
+simple, and hospitable people."
+
+
+RIVERS AND CREEKS.
+
+"We made many excursions down the Irritiri, and saw much of these
+creeks. The Magoary is a magnificent channel: the different branches
+form quite a labyrinth, and the land is everywhere of little elevation.
+All these smaller rivers throughout the Para estuary are of the nature
+of creeks. The land is so level, that the short local rivers have no
+sources and downward currents, like rivers, as we understand them. They
+serve the purpose of draining the land; but, instead of having a
+constant current one way, they have a regular ebb and flow with the
+tide. The natives call them _igarapes_, or canoe-paths. They are
+characteristic of the country. The land is everywhere covered with
+impenetrable forests: the houses and villages are all on the water-side,
+and nearly all communication is by water. This semi-aquatic life of the
+people is one of the most interesting features of the country. For short
+excursions, and for fishing in still waters, a small boat, called
+_montaria_, is universally used. It is made of five planks,--a broad one
+for the bottom, bent into the proper shape by the action of heat, two
+narrow ones for the sides, and two triangular pieces for stem and stern.
+It has no rudder: the paddle serves for both steering and propelling.
+The montaria takes here the place of the horse, mule, or camel of other
+regions. Besides one or more montarias, almost every family has a larger
+canoe, called _igarite_. This is fitted with two masts, a rudder, and
+keel, and has an arched awning or cabin near the stern, made of a
+framework of tough _lianas_, thatched with palm-leaves. In the igarite,
+they will cross stormy rivers fifteen or twenty miles broad. The natives
+are all boat-builders. It is often remarked by white residents, that the
+Indian is a carpenter and shipwright by intuition. It is astonishing to
+see in what crazy vessels these people will risk themselves. I have seen
+Indians cross rivers in a leaky montaria when it required the nicest
+equilibrium to keep the leak just above water: a movement of a
+hair's-breadth would send all to the bottom; but they manage to cross in
+safety. If a squall overtakes them as they are crossing in a
+heavily-laden canoe, they all jump overboard, and swim about until the
+heavy sea subsides, when they re-embark."
+
+
+JUNCTION OF THE MADEIRA.
+
+"Our course lay through narrow channels between islands. We passed the
+last of these, and then beheld to the south a sea-like expanse of
+water, where the Madeira, the greatest tributary of the Amazons, after
+two thousand miles of course, blends its waters with those of the king
+of rivers. I was hardly prepared for a junction of waters on so vast a
+scale as this, now nearly nine hundred miles from the sea. While
+travelling week after week along the somewhat monotonous stream, often
+hemmed in between islands, and becoming thoroughly familiar with it, my
+sense of the magnitude of this vast water-system had become gradually
+deadened; but this noble sight renewed the first feelings of wonder. One
+is inclined, in such places as these, to think the Paraenses do not
+exaggerate much when they call the Amazons the Mediterranean of South
+America. Beyond the mouth of the Madeira, the Amazons sweeps down in a
+majestic reach, to all appearance not a whit less in breadth before than
+after this enormous addition to its waters. The Madeira does not ebb and
+flow simultaneously with the Amazons; it rises and sinks about two
+months earlier: so that it was now fuller than the main river. Its
+current, therefore, poured forth freely from its mouth, carrying with it
+a long line of floating trees, and patches of grass, which had been torn
+from its crumbly banks in the lower part of its course. The current,
+however, did not reach the middle of the main stream, but swept along
+nearer to the southern shore.
+
+"The Madeira is navigable 480 miles from its mouth: a series of
+cataracts and rapids then commences, which extends, with some intervals
+of quiet water, about 160 miles, beyond which is another long stretch of
+navigable stream."
+
+
+JUNCTION OF THE RIO NEGRO.
+
+"A brisk wind from the east sprung up early in the morning of the 22d:
+we then hoisted all sail, and made for the mouth of the Rio Negro. This
+noble stream, at its junction with the Amazons, seems, from its
+position, to be a direct continuation of the main river; while the
+Solimoens, which joins it at an angle, and is somewhat narrower than its
+tributary, appears to be a branch, instead of the main trunk, of the
+vast water-system.
+
+"The Rio Negro broadens considerably from its mouth upward, and presents
+the appearance of a great lake; its black-dyed waters having no current,
+and seeming to be dammed up by the impetuous flow of the yellow, turbid
+Solimoens, which here belches forth a continuous line of uprooted trees,
+and patches of grass, and forms a striking contrast with its tributary.
+In crossing, we passed the line a little more than half-way over, where
+the waters of the two rivers meet, and are sharply demarcated from each
+other. On reaching the opposite shore, we found a remarkable change. All
+our insect pests had disappeared, as if by magic, even from the hold of
+the canoe: the turmoil of an agitated, swiftly-flowing river, and its
+torn, perpendicular, earthy banks, had given place to tranquil water,
+and a coast indented with snug little bays, fringed with sloping, sandy
+beaches. The low shore, and vivid, light-green, endlessly varied
+foliage, which prevailed on the south side of the Amazons, were
+exchanged for a hilly country, clothed with a sombre, rounded, and
+monotonous forest. A light wind carried us gently along the coast to the
+city of Barra, which lies about seven or eight miles within the mouth of
+the river.
+
+"The town of Barra is built on a tract of elevated but very uneven land,
+on the left bank of the Rio Negro, and contained, in 1850, about three
+thousand inhabitants. It is now the principal station for the lines of
+steamers which were established in 1853; and passengers and goods are
+trans-shipped here for the Solimoens and Peru. A steamer runs once a
+fortnight between Para and Barra; and another as often between this
+place and Nauta, in the Peruvian territory."
+
+
+MAMELUCOS, OR HALF-BREEDS.
+
+"We landed at one of the cacao-plantations. The house was substantially
+built; the walls formed of strong, upright posts, lathed across,
+plastered with mud, and whitewashed; and the roof tiled. The family were
+Mamelucos, or offspring of the European and the Indian. They seemed to
+be an average sample of the poorer class of cacao-growers. All were
+loosely dressed, and barefooted. A broad veranda extended along one side
+of the house, the floor of which was simply the well-trodden earth; and
+here hammocks were slung between the bare upright supports, a large
+rush-mat being spread on the ground, upon which the stout, matron-like
+mistress, with a tame parrot perched upon her shoulder, sat sewing with
+two pretty-looking mulatto-girls. The master, coolly clad in shirt and
+drawers, the former loose about his neck, lay in his hammock, smoking a
+long gaudily painted wooden pipe. The household utensils--earthenware
+jars, water-pots, and sauce-pans--lay at one end, near which was a
+wood-fire, with the ever-ready coffee-pot simmering on the top of a
+clay tripod. A large shed stood a short distance off, embowered in a
+grove of banana, papaw, and mango trees; and under it were the troughs,
+ovens, sieves, and other apparatus, for the preparation of mandioc. The
+cleared space around the house was only a few yards in extent: beyond it
+lay the cacao-plantations, which stretched on each side parallel to the
+banks of the river. There was a path through the forest, which led to
+the mandioc-fields, and, several miles beyond, to other houses on the
+banks of an interior channel. We were kindly received, as is always the
+case when a stranger visits these out-of-the-way habitations; the people
+being invariably civil and hospitable. We had a long chat, took coffee;
+and, on departing, one of the daughters sent a basketful of oranges, for
+our use, down to the canoe."
+
+
+MURA INDIANS.
+
+"On the 9th of January, we arrived at Matari, a miserable little
+settlement of Mura Indians. Here we again anchored, and went ashore. The
+place consisted of about twenty slightly built mud-hovels, and had a
+most forlorn appearance, notwithstanding the luxuriant forest in its
+rear. The absence of the usual cultivated trees and plants gave the
+place a naked and poverty-stricken aspect. I entered one of the hovels,
+where several women were employed cooking a meal. Portions of a large
+fish were roasting over a fire made in the middle of the low chamber;
+and the entrails were scattered about the floor, on which the women,
+with their children, were squatted. These had a timid, distrustful
+expression of countenance; and their bodies were begrimed with black
+mud, which is smeared over the skin as a protection against musquitoes.
+The children were naked: the women wore petticoats of coarse cloth,
+stained in blotches with _murixi_, a dye made from the bark of a tree.
+One of them wore a necklace of monkey's teeth. There were scarcely any
+household utensils: the place was bare, with the exception of two dirty
+grass hammocks hung in the corners. I missed the usual mandioc-sheds
+behind the house, with their surrounding cotton, cacao, coffee, and
+lemon trees. Two or three young men of the tribe were lounging about the
+low, open doorway. They were stoutly-built fellows, but less
+well-proportioned than the semi-civilized Indians of the Lower Amazons
+generally are. The gloomy savagery, filth, and poverty of the people in
+this place made me feel quite melancholy; and I was glad to return to
+the canoe."
+
+
+MARAUA TRIBE.
+
+A pleasanter picture is presented by the Indians of the Maraua tribe.
+Our traveller thus describes a visit to them:--
+
+"Our longest trip was to some Indian houses, a distance of fifteen or
+eighteen miles up the Sapo; a journey made with one Indian paddler, and
+occupying a whole day. The stream is not more than forty or fifty yards
+broad: its waters are dark in color, and flow, as in all these small
+rivers, partly under shade, between two lofty walls of forest. We
+passed, in ascending, seven habitations, most of them hidden in the
+luxuriant foliage of the banks; their sites being known only by small
+openings in the compact wall of forest, and the presence of a canoe or
+two tied up in little shady ports. The inhabitants are chiefly Indians
+of the Maraua tribe, whose original territory comprises all the
+by-streams lying between the Jutahi and the Jurua, near the mouths of
+both these great tributaries. They live in separate families, or small
+hordes; have no common chief; and are considered as a tribe little
+disposed to adopt civilized customs, or be friendly with the whites.
+One of the houses belonged to a Juri family; and we saw the owner, an
+erect, noble-looking old fellow, tattooed, as customary with his tribe,
+in a large patch over the middle of his face, fishing, under the shade
+of a colossal tree, with hook and line. He saluted us in the usual grave
+and courteous manner of the better sort of Indians as we passed by.
+
+"We reached the last house, or rather two houses, about ten o'clock, and
+spent there several hours during the heat of the day. The houses, which
+stood on a high, clayey bank, were of quadrangular shape, partly open,
+like sheds, and partly enclosed with rude, mud walls, forming one or two
+chambers. The inhabitants, a few families of Marauas, received us in a
+frank, smiling manner. None of them were tattooed: but the men had great
+holes pierced in their ear-lobes, in which they insert plugs of wood;
+and their lips were drilled with smaller holes. One of the younger men,
+a fine, strapping fellow, nearly six feet high, with a large aquiline
+nose, who seemed to wish to be particularly friendly to me, showed me
+the use of these lip-holes, by fixing a number of little sticks in them,
+and then twisting his mouth about, and going through a pantomime to
+represent defiance in the presence of an enemy.
+
+"We left these friendly people about four o'clock in the afternoon, and,
+in descending the umbrageous river, stopped, about half-way down, at
+another house, built in one of the most charming situations I had yet
+seen in this country. A clean, narrow, sandy pathway led from the shady
+port to the house, through a tract of forest of indescribable
+luxuriance. The buildings stood on an eminence in the middle of a level,
+cleared space; the firm, sandy soil, smooth as a floor, forming a broad
+terrace round them. The owner was a semi-civilized Indian, named Manoel;
+a dull, taciturn fellow, who, together with his wife and children,
+seemed by no means pleased at being intruded on in their solitude. The
+family must have been very industrious; for the plantations were very
+extensive, and included a little of almost all kinds of cultivated
+tropical productions,--fruit-trees, vegetables, and even flowers for
+ornament. The silent old man had surely a fine appreciation of the
+beauties of Nature; for the site he had chosen commanded a view of
+surprising magnificence over the summits of the forest; and, to give a
+finish to the prospect, he had planted a large number of banana-trees in
+the foreground, thus concealing the charred and dead stumps which would
+otherwise have marred the effect of the rolling sea of greenery. The
+sun set over the tree-tops before we left this little Eden; and the
+remainder of our journey was made slowly and pleasantly, under the
+checkered shade of the river banks, by the light of the moon."
+
+
+THE FOREST.
+
+The following passage describes the scenery of one of the peculiar
+channels by which the waters of the Amazon communicate with those of the
+Para River:--
+
+"The forest wall under which we are now moving consists, besides palms,
+of a great variety of ordinary forest-trees. From the highest branches
+of these, down to the water, sweep ribbons of climbing-plants of the
+most diverse and ornamental foliage possible. Creeping convolvuli and
+others have made use of the slender lianas and hanging air-roots as
+ladders to climb by. Now and then appears a mimosa or other tree, having
+similar fine pinnate foliage; and thick masses of inga border the water,
+from whose branches hang long bean-pods, of different shape and size
+according to the species, some of them a yard in length. Flowers there
+are very few. I see now and then a gorgeous crimson blossom on long
+spikes, ornamenting the sombre foliage towards the summits of the
+forest. I suppose it to belong to a climber of the Combretaceous order.
+There are also a few yellow and violet trumpet-flowers. The blossoms of
+the ingas, although not conspicuous, are delicately beautiful. The
+forest all along offers so dense a front, that one never obtains a
+glimpse into the interior of the wilderness."
+
+
+THE LIANA.
+
+"The plant which seems to the traveller most curious and singular is the
+liana, a kind of osier, which serves for cordage, and which is very
+abundant in all the hot parts of America. All the species of this genus
+have this in common, that they twine around the trees and shrubs in
+their way, and after progressively extending to the branches, sometimes
+to a prodigious height, throw out shoots, which, declining
+perpendicularly, strike root in the ground beneath, and rise again to
+repeat the same course of uncommon growth. Other filaments, again,
+driven obliquely by the winds, frequently attach themselves to
+contiguous trees, and form a confused spectacle of cord, some in
+suspension, and others stretched in every direction, not unfrequently
+resembling the rigging of a ship. Some of these lianas are as thick as
+the arm of a man; and some strangle and destroy the tree round which
+they twine, as the boa-constrictor does its victims. At times it happens
+that the tree dies at the root, and the trunk rots, and falls in powder,
+leaving nothing but the spirals of liana, in form of a tortuous column,
+insulated and open to the day. Thus Nature laughs to scorn and defies
+the imitations of Art."
+
+
+CACAO.
+
+"The Amazons region is the original home of the principal species of
+chocolate-tree,--the theobroma cacao; and it grows in abundance in the
+forests of the upper river. The forest here is cleared before planting,
+and the trees are grown in rows. The smaller cultivators are all very
+poor. Labor is scarce: one family generally manages its own small
+plantation of ten to fifteen thousand trees; but, at harvest-time,
+neighbors assist each other. It appeared to me to be an easy, pleasant
+life: the work is all done under shade, and occupies only a few weeks in
+the year.
+
+"The cultivated crop appears to be a precarious one. Little or no care,
+however, is bestowed on the trees; and weeding is done very
+inefficiently. The plantations are generally old, and have been made on
+the low ground near the river, which renders them liable to inundation
+when this rises a few inches more than the average. There is plenty of
+higher land quite suitable to the tree; but it is uncleared: and the
+want of labor and enterprise prevents the establishment of new
+plantations."
+
+
+THE COW-TREE.
+
+"We had heard a good deal about this tree, and about its producing from
+its bark a copious supply of milk as pleasant to drink as that of the
+cow. We had also eaten of its fruit at Para, where it is sold in the
+streets by negro market-women: we were glad, therefore, to see this
+wonderful tree growing in its native wilds. It is one of the largest of
+the forest-monarchs, and is peculiar in appearance, on account of its
+deeply-scored, reddish, and ragged bark. A decoction of the bark, I was
+told, is used as a red dye for cloth. A few days afterward, we tasted
+its milk, which was drawn from dry logs that had been standing many days
+in the hot sun at the saw-mills. It was pleasant with coffee, but had a
+slight rankness when drunk pure. It soon thickens to a glue, which is
+very tenacious, and is often used to cement broken crockery. I was told
+that it was not safe to drink much of it; for a slave had recently lost
+his life through taking it too freely.
+
+"To our great disappointment, we saw no flowers, or only such as were
+insignificant in appearance. I believe it is now tolerably well
+ascertained that the majority of forest-trees in equatorial Brazil have
+small and inconspicuous flowers. Flower-frequenting insects are also
+rare in the forest. Of course, they would not be found where their
+favorite food was wanting. In the open country, on the Lower Amazons,
+flowering trees and bushes are more abundant; and there a large number
+of floral insects are attracted. The forest-bees in South America are
+more frequently seen feeding on the sweet sap which exudes from the
+trees than on flowers."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE NATURALIST ON THE AMAZON.
+
+
+On the 16th of January, the dry season came abruptly to an end. The
+sea-breezes, which had been increasing in force for some days, suddenly
+ceased, and the atmosphere became misty: at length, heavy clouds
+collected where a uniform blue sky had for many weeks prevailed, and
+down came a succession of heavy showers, the first of which lasted a
+whole day and night. This seemed to give a new stimulus to animal life.
+On the first night, there was a tremendous uproar,--tree-frogs,
+crickets, goat-suckers, and owls, all joining to perform a deafening
+concert. One kind of goat-sucker kept repeating at intervals, throughout
+the night, a phrase similar to the Portuguese words, 'Joao corta
+pao,'--'John, cut wood;' a phrase which forms the Brazilian name of the
+bird. An owl in one of the trees muttered now and then a succession of
+syllables resembling the word 'murucututu.' Sometimes the croaking and
+hooting of frogs and toads were so loud, that we could not hear one
+another's voices within doors. Swarms of dragon-flies appeared in the
+day-time about the pools of water created by the rain; and ants and
+termites came forth in great numbers."
+
+
+ANTS.
+
+This region is the very headquarters and metropolis of ants. There are
+numerous species, differing in character and habits, but all of them at
+war with man, and the different species with one another. Our author
+thus relates his observations of the saueba-ant:--
+
+"In our first walks, we were puzzled to account for large mounds of
+earth, of a different color from the surrounding soil, which were thrown
+up in the plantations and woods. Some of them were very extensive, being
+forty yards in circumference, but not more than two feet in height. We
+soon ascertained that these were the work of the sauebas, being the
+outworks, or domes, which overlie and protect the entrances to their
+vast subterranean galleries. On close examination, I found the earth of
+which they are composed to consist of very minute granules,
+agglomerated without cement, and forming many rows of little ridges and
+turrets. The difference of color from the superficial soil is owing to
+their being formed of the undersoil brought up from a considerable
+depth. It is very rarely that the ants are seen at work on these mounds.
+The entrances seem to be generally closed: only now and then, when some
+particular work is going on, are the galleries opened. In the larger
+hillocks, it would require a great amount of excavation to get at the
+main galleries; but I succeeded in removing portions of the dome in
+smaller hillocks, and then I found that the minor entrances converged,
+at the depth of about two feet, to one broad, elaborately worked
+gallery, or mine, which was four or five inches in diameter.
+
+"The habit of the saueba-ant, of clipping and carrying away immense
+quantities of leaves, has long been recorded in books of natural
+history; but it has not hitherto been shown satisfactorily to what use
+it applies the leaves. I discovered this only after much time spent in
+investigation. The leaves are used to thatch the domes which cover the
+entrances to their subterranean dwellings, thereby protecting from the
+deluging rains the young broods in the nests beneath. Small hillocks,
+covering entrances to the underground chambers, may be found in
+sheltered places; and these are always thatched with leaves, mingled
+with granules of earth. The heavily-laden workers, each carrying its
+segment of leaf vertically, the lower end secured by its mandibles,
+troop up, and cast their burthens on the hillock; another relay of
+laborers place the leaves in position, covering them with a layer of
+earthy granules, which are brought one by one from the soil beneath.
+
+"It is a most interesting sight to see the vast host of busy, diminutive
+workers occupied on this work. Unfortunately, they choose cultivated
+trees for their purpose, such as the coffee and orange trees."
+
+
+THE FIRE-ANT.
+
+"Aveyros may be called the headquarters of the fire-ant, which might be
+fittingly termed the scourge of this fine river. It is found only on
+sandy soils, in open places, and seems to thrive most in the
+neighborhood of houses and weedy villages, such as Aveyros: it does not
+occur at all in the shades of the forest. Aveyros was deserted a few
+years before my visit, on account of this little tormentor; and the
+inhabitants had only recently returned to their houses, thinking its
+numbers had decreased. It is a small species, of a shining reddish
+color. The soil of the whole village is undermined by it. The houses are
+overrun with them: they dispute every fragment of food with the
+inhabitants, and destroy clothing for the sake of the starch. All
+eatables are obliged to be suspended in baskets from the rafters, and
+the cords well soaked with copaiba-balsam, which is the only thing known
+to prevent them from climbing. They seem to attack persons from sheer
+malice. If we stood for a few moments in the street, even at a distance
+from their nests, we were sure to be overrun, and severely punished;
+for, the moment an ant touched the flesh, he secured himself with his
+jaws, doubled in his tail, and stung with all his might. The sting is
+likened, by the Brazilians, to the puncture of a red-hot needle. When we
+were seated on chairs in the evenings, in front of the house, to enjoy a
+chat with our neighbors, we had stools to support our feet, the legs of
+which, as well as those of the chairs, were well anointed with the
+balsam. The cords of hammocks are obliged to be smeared in the same way,
+to prevent the ants from paying sleepers a visit."
+
+
+BUTTERFLIES.
+
+"At Villa Nova, I found a few species of butterflies which occurred
+nowhere else on the Amazons. In the broad alleys of the forest, several
+species of Morpho were common. One of these is a sister-form to the
+Morpho Hecuba, and has been described under the name of Morpho Cisseis.
+It is a grand sight to see these colossal butterflies by twos and threes
+floating at a great height in the still air of a tropical morning. They
+flap their wings only at long intervals; for I have noticed them to sail
+a very considerable distance without a stroke. Their wing-muscles, and
+the thorax to which they are attached, are very feeble in comparison
+with the wide extent and weight of the wings; but the large expanse of
+these members doubtless assists the insects in maintaining their aerial
+course. The largest specimens of Morpho Cisseis measure seven inches and
+a half in expanse. Another smaller kind, which I could not capture, was
+of a pale, silvery-blue color; and the polished surface of its wings
+flashed like a silver speculum, as the insect flapped its wings at a
+great elevation in the sunlight."
+
+
+THE BIRD-CATCHING SPIDER.
+
+"At Cameta, I chanced to verify a fact relating to the habits of a
+large, hairy spider of the genus Mygale, in a manner worth recording.
+The individual was nearly two inches in length of body; but the legs
+expanded seven inches, and the entire body and legs were covered with
+coarse gray and reddish hairs. I was attracted by a movement of the
+monster on a tree-trunk: it was close beneath a deep crevice in the
+tree, across which was stretched a dense white web. The lower part of
+the web was broken; and two small birds, finches, were entangled in the
+pieces. They were about the size of the English siskin; and I judged the
+two to be male and female. One of them was quite dead; the other lay
+under the body of the spider, not quite dead, and was smeared with the
+filthy liquor, or saliva, exuded by the monster. I drove away the
+spider, and took the birds; but the second one soon died. The fact of a
+species of mygale sallying forth at night, mounting trees, and sucking
+the eggs and young of hummingbirds, has been recorded long ago by Madame
+Merian and Palisot de Beauvois; but, in the absence of any
+confirmation, it has come to be discredited. From the way the fact has
+been related, it would appear that it had been derived from the report
+of natives, and had not been witnessed by the narrators. I found the
+circumstance to be quite a novelty to the residents hereabouts.
+
+"The mygales are quite common insects. Some species make their cells
+under stones; others form artificial tunnels in the earth; and some
+build their dens in the thatch of houses. The natives call them
+crab-spiders. The hairs with which they are clothed come off when
+touched, and cause a peculiar and almost maddening irritation. The first
+specimen that I killed and prepared was handled incautiously; and I
+suffered terribly for three days afterward. I think this is not owing to
+any poisonous quality residing in the hairs, but to their being short
+and hard, and thus getting into the fine creases of the skin. Some
+mygales are of immense size. One day, I saw the children belonging to an
+Indian family who collected for me with one of these monsters, secured
+by a cord round its waist, by which they were leading it about the house
+as they would a dog."
+
+
+BATS.
+
+"At Caripi, near Para, I was much troubled by bats. The room where I
+slept had not been used for many months, and the roof was open to the
+tiles and rafters. I was aroused about midnight by the rushing noise
+made by vast hosts of bats sweeping about the room. The air was alive
+with them. They had put out the lamp; and, when I relighted it, the
+place appeared blackened with the impish multitudes that were whirling
+round and round. After I had laid about well with a stick for a few
+minutes, they disappeared among the tiles; but, when all was still
+again, they returned, and once more extinguished the light. I took no
+further notice of them, and went to sleep. The next night, several of
+them got into my hammock. I seized them as they were crawling over me,
+and dashed them against the wall. The next morning, I found a wound,
+evidently caused by a bat, on my hip. This was rather unpleasant: so I
+set to work with the negroes, and tried to exterminate them. I shot a
+great many as they hung from the rafters; and the negroes, having
+mounted with ladders to the roof outside, routed out from beneath the
+eaves many hundreds of them, including young broods. There were
+altogether four species. By far the greater number belonged to the
+Dysopes perotis, a species having very large ears, and measuring two
+feet from tip to tip of the wings. I was never attacked by bats, except
+on this occasion. The fact of their sucking the blood of persons
+sleeping, from wounds which they make in the toes, is now well
+established; but it is only a few persons who are subject to this
+blood-letting."
+
+
+PARROTS.
+
+"On recrossing the river in the evening, a pretty little parrot fell
+from a great height headlong into the water near the boat, having
+dropped from a flock which seemed to be fighting in the air. One of the
+Indians secured it for me; and I was surprised to find the bird
+uninjured. There had probably been a quarrel about mates, resulting in
+our little stranger being temporarily stunned by a blow on the head from
+the beak of a jealous comrade. It was of the species called by the
+natives Maracana; the plumage green, with a patch of scarlet under the
+wings. I wished to keep the bird alive, and tame it; but all our efforts
+to reconcile it to captivity were vain: it refused food, bit every one
+who went near it, and damaged its plumage in its exertions to free
+itself. My friends in Aveyros said that this kind of parrot never became
+domesticated. After trying nearly a week, I was recommended to lend the
+intractable creature to an old Indian woman living in the village, who
+was said to be a skilful bird-tamer. In two days, she brought it back
+almost as tame as the familiar love-birds of our aviaries. I kept my
+little pet for upward of two years. It learned to talk pretty well, and
+was considered quite a wonder, as being a bird usually so difficult of
+domestication. I do not know what arts the old woman used. Capt. Antonio
+said she fed it with her saliva.
+
+"Our maracana used to accompany us sometimes in our rambles, one of the
+lads carrying it on his head. One day, in the middle of a long
+forest-road, it was missed, having clung probably to an overhanging
+bough, and escaped into the thicket without the boy perceiving it. Three
+hours afterwards, on our return by the same path, a voice greeted us in
+a colloquial tone as we passed, 'Maracana!' We looked about for some
+time, but could not see any thing, until the word was repeated with
+emphasis, 'Maracana!' when we espied the little truant half concealed in
+the foliage of a tree. He came down, and delivered himself up,
+evidently as much rejoiced at the meeting as we were."
+
+
+TURTLE-EGGS AND OIL.
+
+"I accompanied Cardozo in many wanderings on the Solimoens, or Upper
+Amazons, during which we visited the _praias_ (sand-islands), the
+turtle-pools in the forests, and the by-streams and lakes in the great
+desert river. His object was mainly to superintend the business of
+digging up turtle-eggs on the sand-banks; having been elected
+_commandante_ for the year of the _praia-real_ (royal sand-island) of
+Shimuni, the one lying nearest to Ega. There are four of these royal
+praias within the district, all of which are visited annually by the Ega
+people, for the purpose of collecting eggs, and extracting oil from
+their yolks. Each has its commander, whose business is to make
+arrangements for securing to every inhabitant an equal chance in the
+egg-harvest, by placing sentinels to protect the turtles while laying.
+The turtles descend from the interior pools to the main river in July
+and August, before the outlets dry up, and then seek, in countless
+swarms, their favorite sand-islands; for it is only a few praias that
+are selected by them out of the great number existing.
+
+"We left Ega, on our first trip to visit the sentinels while the turtles
+were yet laying, on the 26th of September. We found the two sentinels
+lodged in a corner of the praia, or sand-bank, where it commences, at
+the foot of the towering forest-wall of the island; having built for
+themselves a little rancho with poles and palm-leaves. Great
+preparations are obliged to be taken to avoid disturbing the sensitive
+turtles, who, previous to crawling ashore to lay, assemble in great
+shoals off the sand-bank. The men, during this time, take care not to
+show themselves, and warn off any fisherman who wishes to pass near the
+place. Their fires are made in a deep hollow near the borders of the
+forest, so that the smoke may not be visible. The passage of a boat
+through the shallow waters where the animals are congregated, or the
+sight of a man, or a fire on the sand-bank, would prevent the turtles
+from leaving the water that night to lay their eggs; and, if the causes
+of alarm were repeated once or twice, they would forsake the praia for
+some quieter place. Soon after we arrived, our men were sent with the
+net to catch a supply of fish for supper. In half an hour, four or five
+large basketsful were brought in. The sun set soon after our meal was
+cooked: we were then obliged to extinguish the fire, and remove our
+supper-materials to the sleeping-ground, a spit of land about a mile
+off; this course being necessary on account of the musquitoes, which
+swarm at night on the borders of the forest.
+
+"I rose from my hammock at daylight, and found Cardozo and the men
+already up, watching the turtles. The sentinels had erected for this
+purpose a stage about fifty feet high, on a tall tree near their
+station, the ascent to which was by a roughly-made ladder of woody
+lianas. The turtles lay their eggs by night, leaving the water in vast
+crowds, and crawling to the central and highest part of the praia. These
+places are, of course, the last to go under water, when, in unusually
+wet seasons, the river rises before the eggs are hatched by the heat of
+the sand. One would almost believe from this that the animals used
+forethought in choosing a place; but it is simply one of those many
+instances in animals where unconscious habit has the same result as
+conscious prevision. The hours between midnight and dawn are the
+busiest. The turtles excavate, with their broad-webbed paws, deep holes
+in the fine sand; the first-comer, in each case, making a pit about
+three feet deep, laying, its eggs (about a hundred and twenty in
+number), and covering them with sand; the next making its deposit at
+the top of that of its predecessor; and so on, until every pit is full.
+The whole body of turtles frequenting a praia does not finish laying in
+less than fourteen or fifteen days, even when there is no interruption.
+When all have done, the area over which they have excavated is
+distinguishable from the rest of the praia only by signs of the sand
+having been a little disturbed.
+
+"On arriving at the edge of the forest, I mounted the sentinels' stage
+just in time to see the turtles retreating to the water on the opposite
+side of the sand-bank after having laid their eggs. The sight was well
+worth the trouble of ascending the shaky ladder. They were about a mile
+off; but the surface of the sand was blackened with the multitudes which
+were waddling towards the river. The margin of the praia was rather
+steep; and they all seemed to tumble, head-first, down the declivity,
+into the water."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the turtles have finished depositing their eggs, the process of
+collecting them takes place, of which our author gives an account as
+follows:--
+
+
+THE EGG-HARVEST.
+
+"My next excursion was made in company of Senior Cardozo, in the season
+when all the population of the villages turns out to dig up turtle-eggs,
+and to revel on the praias. Placards were posted on the church-doors at
+Ega, announcing that the excavation on Shimuni would commence on the
+17th October. We set out on the 16th, and passed on the way, in our
+well-manned igarite (or two-masted boat), a large number of people, men,
+women, and children, in canoes of all sizes, wending their way as if to
+a great holiday gathering. By the morning of the 17th, some four hundred
+persons were assembled on the borders of the sand-bank; each family
+having erected a rude temporary shed of poles and palm-leaves to protect
+themselves from the sun and rain. Large copper kettles to prepare the
+oil, and hundreds of red earthenware jars, were scattered about on the
+sand.
+
+"The excavation of the _taboleiro_, collecting the eggs, and preparing
+the oil, occupied four days. The commandante first took down the names
+of all the masters of households, with the number of persons each
+intended to employ in digging. He then exacted a payment of about
+fourpence a head towards defraying the expense of sentinels. The whole
+were then allowed to go to the taboleiro. They ranged themselves round
+the circle, each person armed with a paddle, to be used as a spade; and
+then all began simultaneously to dig, on a signal being given--the roll
+of drums--by order of the commandante. It was an animating sight to
+behold the wide circle of rival diggers throwing up clouds of sand in
+their energetic labors, and working gradually toward the centre of the
+ring. A little rest was taken during the great heat of mid-day; and, in
+the evening, the eggs were carried to the huts in baskets. By the end of
+the second day, the taboleiro was exhausted: large mounds of eggs, some
+of them four or five feet in height, were then seen by the side of each
+hut, the produce of the labors of the family.
+
+"When no more eggs are to be found, the mashing process begins. The egg,
+it may be mentioned, has a flexible or leathery shell: it is quite
+round, and somewhat larger than a hen's egg. The whole heap is thrown
+into an empty canoe, and mashed with wooden prongs; but sometimes naked
+Indians and children jump into the mass, and tread it down, besmearing
+themselves with the yolk, and making about as filthy a scene as can well
+be imagined. This being finished, water is poured into the canoe, and
+the fatty mass then left for a few hours to be heated by the sun, on
+which the oil separates, and rises to the surface. The floating oil is
+afterwards skimmed off with long spoons, made by tying large
+mussel-shells to the end of rods, and purified over the fire in
+copper-kettles. At least six thousand jars, holding each three gallons
+of the oil, are exported annually from the Upper Amazons and the Madeira
+to Para, where it is used for lighting, frying fish, and other
+purposes."
+
+
+ELECTRIC EELS.
+
+"We walked over moderately elevated and dry ground for about a mile, and
+then descended three or four feet to the dry bed of another creek. This
+was pierced in the same way as the former water-course, with round holes
+full of muddy water. They occurred at intervals of a few yards, and had
+the appearance of having been made by the hands of man. As we
+approached, I was startled at seeing a number of large serpent-like
+heads bobbing above the surface. They proved to be those of electric
+eels; and it now occurred to me that the round holes were made by these
+animals working constantly round and round in the moist, muddy soil.
+Their depth (some of them were at least eight feet deep) was doubtless
+due also to the movements of the eels in the soft soil, and accounted
+for their not drying up, in the fine season, with the rest of the creek.
+Thus, while alligators and turtles in this great inundated forest region
+retire to the larger pools during the dry season, the electric eels make
+for themselves little ponds in which to pass the season of drought.
+
+"My companions now cut each a stout pole, and proceeded to eject the
+eels in order to get at the other fishes, with which they had discovered
+the ponds to abound. I amused them all very much by showing how the
+electric shock from the eels could pass from one person to another. We
+joined hands in a line, while I touched the biggest and freshest of the
+animals on the head with my hunting-knife. We found that this experiment
+did not succeed more than three times with the same eel, when out of the
+water; for, the fourth time, the shock was hardly perceptible."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+ANIMATED NATURE.
+
+
+"The number and variety of climbing trees in the Amazons forests are
+interesting, taken in connection with the fact of the very general
+tendency of the animals also to become climbers. All the Amazonian, and
+in fact all South-American monkeys, are climbers. There is no group
+answering to the baboons of the Old World, which live on the ground. The
+gallinaceous birds of the country, the representatives of the fowls and
+pheasants of Asia and Africa, are all adapted, by the position of the
+toes, to perch on trees; and it is only on trees, at a great height,
+that they are to be seen. Many other similar instances could be
+enumerated."
+
+
+MONKEYS.
+
+"On the Upper Amazons, I once saw a tame individual of the Midas
+leoninus, a species first described by Humboldt, which was still more
+playful and intelligent than the more common M. ursulus. This rare and
+beautiful monkey is only seven inches in length, exclusive of the tail.
+It is named leoninus on account of the long, brown mane which hangs from
+the neck, and which gives it very much the appearance of a diminutive
+lion. In the house where it was kept, it was familiar with every one:
+its greatest pleasure seemed to be to climb about the bodies of
+different persons who entered. The first time I went in, it ran across
+the room straightway to the chair on which I had sat down, and climbed
+up to my shoulder: arrived there, it turned round, and looked into my
+face, showing its little teeth, and chattering, as though it would say,
+"Well, and how do _you_ do?" M. de St. Hilaire relates of a species of
+this genus, that it distinguished between different objects depicted on
+an engraving. M. Ardouin showed it the portraits of a cat and a wasp: at
+these it became much terrified; whereas, at the sight of a figure of a
+grasshopper or beetle, it precipitated itself on the picture, as if to
+seize the objects there represented."
+
+
+THE CAIARARA.
+
+"The light-brown caiarara is pretty generally distributed over the
+forests of the level country. I saw it frequently on the banks of the
+Upper Amazons, where it was always a treat to watch a flock leaping
+amongst the trees; for it is the most wonderful performer in this line
+of the whole tribe. The troops consist of thirty or more individuals,
+which travel in single file. When the foremost of the flock reaches the
+outermost branch of an unusually lofty tree, he springs forth into the
+air without a moment's hesitation, and alights on the dome of yielding
+foliage belonging to the neighboring tree, maybe fifty feet beneath; all
+the rest following his example. They grasp, on falling, with hands and
+tail, right themselves in a moment, and then away they go, along branch
+and bough, to the next tree.
+
+"The caiarara is very frequently kept as a pet in the houses of natives.
+I kept one myself for about a year, which accompanied me in my voyages,
+and became very familiar, coming to me always on wet nights to share my
+blanket. It keeps the house where it is kept in a perpetual uproar. When
+alarmed or hungry, or excited by envy, it screams piteously. It is
+always making some noise or other, often screwing up its mouth, and
+uttering a succession of loud notes resembling a whistle. Mine lost my
+favor at last by killing, in one of his jealous fits, another and much
+choicer pet,--the nocturnal, owl-faced monkey. Some one had given this a
+fruit which the other coveted: so the two got to quarrelling. The
+owl-faced fought only with his paws, clawing out, and hissing, like a
+cat: the other soon obtained the mastery, and, before I could interfere,
+finished his rival by cracking its skull with its teeth. Upon this I got
+rid of him."
+
+
+THE COAITA.
+
+"The coaita is a large, black monkey, covered with coarse hair, and
+having the prominent parts of the face of a tawny, flesh-colored hue.
+The coaitas are called by some French zoologists spider-monkeys, on
+account of the length and slenderness of their body and limbs. In these
+apes, the tail, as a prehensile organ, reaches its highest degree of
+perfection; and, on this account, it would perhaps be correct to
+consider the coaita as the extreme development of the American type of
+apes.
+
+"The tail of the coaita is endowed with a wonderful degree of
+flexibility. It is always in motion, coiling and uncoiling like the
+trunk of an elephant, and grasping whatever comes within reach.
+
+"The flesh of this monkey is much esteemed by the natives in this part
+of the country; and the military commandant every week sends a negro
+hunter to shoot one for his table. One day I went on a coaita-hunt, with
+a negro-slave to show me the way. When in the deepest part of the
+ravine, we heard a rustling sound in the trees overhead; and Manoel soon
+pointed out a coaita to me. There was something human-like in its
+appearance, as the lean, shaggy creature moved deliberately among the
+branches at a great height. I fired, but, unfortunately, only wounded
+it. It fell, with a crash, headlong, about twenty or thirty feet, and
+then caught a bough with its tail, which grasped it instantaneously; and
+there the animal remained suspended in mid-air. Before I could reload,
+it recovered itself, and mounted nimbly to the topmost branches, out of
+the reach of a fowling-piece, where we could perceive the poor thing
+apparently probing the wound with its fingers."
+
+
+THE TAME COAITA.
+
+"I once saw a most ridiculously tame coaita. It was an old female, which
+accompanied its owner, a trader on the river, in all his voyages. By way
+of giving me a specimen of its intelligence and feeling, its master set
+to, and rated it soundly, calling it scamp, heathen, thief, and so
+forth, all through the copious Portuguese vocabulary of vituperation.
+The poor monkey, quietly seated on the ground, seemed to be in sore
+trouble at this display of anger. It began by looking earnestly at him;
+then it whined, and lastly rocked its body to and fro with emotion,
+crying piteously, and passing its long, gaunt arms continually over its
+forehead; for this was its habit when excited, and the front of the head
+was worn quite bald in consequence. At length, its master altered his
+tone. 'It's all a lie,' my old woman. 'You're an angel, a flower, a
+good, affectionate old creature,' and so forth. Immediately the poor
+monkey ceased its wailing, and soon after came over to where the man
+sat."
+
+
+SCARLET-FACED MONKEY.
+
+The most singular of the Simian family in Brazil are the scarlet-faced
+monkeys, called by the Indians Uakari, of which there are two
+varieties, the white and red-haired. Mr. Bates first met with the
+white-haired variety under the following circumstances:--
+
+"Early one sunny morning, in the year 1855, I saw in the streets of Ega
+a number of Indians carrying on their shoulders down to the port, to be
+embarked on the Upper Amazons steamer, a large cage made of strong
+lianas, some twelve feet in length, and five in height, containing a
+dozen monkeys of the most grotesque appearance. Their bodies (about
+eighteen inches in height, exclusive of limbs) were clothed from neck to
+tail with very long, straight, and shining whitish hair; their heads
+were nearly bald, owing to the very short crop of thin gray hairs; and
+their faces glowed with the most vivid scarlet hue. As a finish to their
+striking physiognomy, they had bushy whiskers of a sandy color, meeting
+under the chin, and reddish yellow eyes. They sat gravely and silently
+in a group, and altogether presented a strange spectacle."
+
+Another interesting creature is the owl-faced night ape. These monkeys
+are not only owl-faced, but their habits are those of the moping bird.
+
+"They sleep all day long in hollow trees, and come forth to prey on
+insects, and eat fruits, only in the night. They are of small size, the
+body being about a foot long, and the tail fourteen inches; and are
+clothed with soft gray and brown fur, similar in substance to that of
+the rabbit. Their physiognomy reminds one of an owl or tiger-cat. The
+face is round, and encircled by a ruff of whitish fur; the muzzle is not
+at all prominent; the mouth and chin are small; the ears are very short,
+scarcely appearing above the hair of the head; and the eyes are large,
+and yellowish in color, imparting the staring expression of nocturnal
+animals of prey. The forehead is whitish, and decorated with three black
+stripes, which, in one of the species, continue to the crown, and in the
+other meet on the top of the forehead.
+
+"These monkeys, although sleeping by day, are aroused by the least
+noise; so that, when a person passes by a tree in which a number of them
+are concealed, he is startled by the sudden apparition of a group of
+little striped faces crowding a hole in a trunk."
+
+Mr. Bates had one of the Nyctipithaeci for a pet, which was kept in a box
+containing a broad-mouthed glass jar, into which it would dive, head
+foremost, when any one entered the room, turning round inside, and
+thrusting forth its inquisitive face an instant afterward to stare at
+the intruder. The Nyctipithecus, when tamed, renders one very essential
+service to its owner: it clears the house of bats as well as of insect
+vermin.
+
+The most diminutive of the Brazilian monkeys is the "Hapale pygmaeus,"
+only seven inches long in the body, with its little face adorned with
+long, brown whiskers, which are naturally brushed back over the ears.
+The general color of the animal is brownish-tawny; but the tail is
+elegantly barred with black.
+
+Mr. Bates closes his account by stating that the total number of species
+of monkeys which he found inhabiting the margins of the Upper and Lower
+Amazons was thirty-eight, belonging to twelve different genera, forming
+two distinct families.
+
+
+THE SLOTH.
+
+"I once had an opportunity, in one of my excursions, of watching the
+movements of a sloth. Some travellers in South America have described
+the sloth as very nimble in its native woods, and have disputed the
+justness of the name which has been bestowed upon it. The inhabitants of
+the Amazons region, however, both Indians and descendants of the
+Portuguese, hold to the common opinion, and consider the sloth as the
+type of laziness. It is very common for one native to call to another,
+in reproaching him for idleness, 'Bicho do Embaueba' (beast of the
+cecropia-tree); the leaves of the cecropia being the food of the sloth.
+It is a strange sight to see the uncouth creature, fit production of
+these silent woods, lazily moving from branch to branch. Every movement
+betrays, not indolence exactly, but extreme caution. He never looses his
+hold from one branch without first securing himself to the next; and,
+when he does not immediately find a bough to grasp with the rigid hooks
+into which his paws are so curiously transformed, he raises his body,
+supported on his hind legs, and claws around in search of a fresh
+foothold. After watching the animal for about half an hour, I gave him a
+charge of shot: he fell with a terrific crash, but caught a bough in his
+descent with his powerful claws, and remained suspended. Two days
+afterward, I found the body of the sloth on the ground; the animal
+having dropped, on the relaxation of the muscles, a few hours after
+death. In one of our voyages, I saw a sloth swimming across a river at a
+place where it was probably three hundred yards broad. Our men caught
+the beast, and cooked and ate him."
+
+
+THE ANACONDA.
+
+"We had an unwelcome visitor while at anchor in the port. I was awakened
+a little after midnight, as I lay in my little cabin, by a heavy blow
+struck at the sides of the canoe close to my head, succeeded by the
+sound of a weighty body plunging in the water. I got up; but all was
+quiet again, except the cackle of fowls in our hen-coop, which hung over
+the side of the vessel, about three feet from the cabin-door. Next
+morning I found my poultry loose about the canoe, and a large rent in
+the bottom of the hen-coop, which was about two feet from the surface of
+the water. A couple of fowls were missing.
+
+"Antonio said the depredator was the sucumju, the Indian name for the
+anaconda, or great water-serpent, which had for months past been
+haunting this part of the river, and had carried off many ducks and
+fowls from the ports of various houses. I was inclined to doubt the fact
+of a serpent striking at its prey from the water, and thought an
+alligator more likely to be the culprit, although we had not yet met
+with alligators in the river. Some days afterward, the young men
+belonging to the different settlements agreed together to go in search
+of the serpents. They began in a systematic manner, forming two
+parties, each embarked in three or four canoes, and starting from points
+several miles apart, whence they gradually approximated, searching all
+the little inlets on both sides of the river. The reptile was found at
+last, sunning itself on a log at the mouth of a muddy rivulet, and
+despatched with harpoons. I saw it the day after it was killed. It was
+not a very large specimen, measuring only eighteen feet nine inches in
+length, and sixteen inches in circumference at the widest part of the
+body."
+
+
+ALLIGATORS.
+
+"Our rancho was a large one, and was erected in a line with the others,
+near the edge of the sand-bank, which sloped rather abruptly to the
+water. During the first week, the people were all more or less troubled
+by alligators. Some half-dozen full-grown ones were in attendance off
+the praia, floating about on the lazily flowing, muddy water. The
+dryness of the weather had increased since we left Shimuni, the currents
+had slackened, and the heat in the middle of the day was almost
+insupportable. But no one could descend to bathe without being advanced
+upon by one or other of these hungry monsters. There was much offal
+cast into the river; and this, of course, attracted them to the place.
+Every day, these visitors became bolder: at length, they reached a pitch
+of impudence that was quite intolerable. Cardozo had a poodle-dog named
+Carlito, which some grateful traveller whom he had befriended had sent
+him from Rio Janeiro. He took great pride in this dog, keeping it well
+sheared, and preserving his coat as white as soap and water could make
+it. We slept in our rancho, in hammocks slung between the outer posts; a
+large wood fire (fed with a kind of wood abundant on the banks of the
+river, which keeps alight all night) being made in the middle, by the
+side of which slept Carlito on a little mat. One night, I was awoke by a
+great uproar. It was caused by Cardozo hurling burning firewood with
+loud curses at a huge cayman, which had crawled up the bank, and passed
+beneath my hammock (being nearest the water) towards the place where
+Carlito lay. The dog raised the alarm in time. The reptile backed out,
+and tumbled down the bank into the river; the sparks from the brands
+hurled at him flying from his bony hide. Cardozo threw a harpoon at him,
+but without doing him any harm."
+
+
+THE PUMA.
+
+"One day, I was searching for insects in the bark of a fallen tree, when
+I saw a large, cat-like animal advancing towards the spot. It came
+within a dozen yards before perceiving me. I had no weapon with me but
+an old chisel, and was getting ready to defend myself if it should make
+a spring; when it turned round hastily, and trotted off. I did not
+obtain a very distinct view of it; but I could see its color was that of
+the puma, or American lion, although it was rather too small for that
+species.
+
+"The puma is not a common animal in the Amazons forests. I did not see
+altogether more than a dozen skins in the possession of the natives. The
+fur is of a fawn-color. The hunters are not at all afraid of it, and
+speak in disparaging terms of its courage. Of the jaguar they give a
+very different account."
+
+
+THE GREAT ANT-EATER.
+
+"The great ant-eater, _tamandua_ of the natives, was not uncommon here.
+After the first few weeks of residence, I was short of fresh provisions.
+The people of the neighborhood had sold me all the fowls they could
+spare. I had not yet learned to eat the stale and stringy salt fish
+which is the staple food of these places; and for several days I had
+lived on rice-porridge, roasted bananas, and farinha. Florinda asked me
+whether I could eat tamandua. I told her almost any thing in the shape
+of flesh would be acceptable: so she went the next day with an old negro
+named Antonio, and the dogs, and, in the evening, brought one of the
+animals. The meat was stewed, and turned out very good, something like
+goose in flavor. The people of Caripi would not touch a morsel, saying
+it was not considered fit to eat in those parts. I had read, however,
+that it was an article of food in other countries of South America.
+During the next two or three weeks, whenever we were short of fresh
+meat, Antonio was always ready, for a small reward, to get me a
+tamandua.
+
+"The habits of the animal are now pretty well known. It has an
+excessively long, slender muzzle, and a worm-like, extensile tongue. Its
+jaws are destitute of teeth. The claws are much elongated, and its gait
+is very awkward. It lives on the ground, and feeds on termites, or white
+ants; the long claws being employed to pull in pieces the solid hillocks
+made by the insects, and the long flexible tongue to lick them up from
+the crevices."
+
+
+THE JAGUAR.
+
+Our traveller, though he resided long and in various parts of the Amazon
+country, never saw there a jaguar. How near he came to seeing one
+appears in the following extract. This animal is the nearest approach
+which America presents to the leopards and tigers of the Old World.
+
+"After walking about half a mile, we came upon a dry water-course, where
+we observed on the margin of a pond the fresh tracks of a jaguar. This
+discovery was hardly made, when a rush was heard amidst the bushes on
+the top of a sloping bank, on the opposite side of the dried creek. We
+bounded forward: it was, however, too late; for the animal had sped in a
+few minutes far out of our reach. It was clear we had disturbed on our
+approach the jaguar while quenching his thirst at the water-hole. A few
+steps farther on, we saw the mangled remains of an alligator. The head,
+fore-quarters, and bony shell, were all that remained: but the meat was
+quite fresh, and there were many footmarks of the jaguar around the
+carcass; so that there was no doubt this had formed the solid part of
+the animal's breakfast."
+
+
+PARA.
+
+"I arrived at Para on the 17th of March, 1859, after an absence in the
+interior of seven years and a half. My old friends, English, American,
+and Brazilian, scarcely knew me again, but all gave me a very warm
+welcome. I found Para greatly changed and improved. It was no longer the
+weedy, ruinous, village-looking place that it had appeared when I first
+knew it in 1848. The population had been increased to twenty thousand by
+an influx of Portuguese, Madeiran, and German immigrants; and, for many
+years past, the provincial government had spent their considerable
+surplus revenue in beautifying the city. The streets, formerly unpaved,
+or strewed with stones and sand, were now laid with concrete in a most
+complete manner: all the projecting masonry of the irregularly-built
+houses had been cleared away, and the buildings made more uniform. Most
+of the dilapidated houses were replaced by handsome new edifices, having
+long and elegant balconies fronting the first floors, at an elevation of
+several feet above the roadway. The large swampy squares had been
+drained, weeded, and planted with rows of almond and other trees; so
+that they were now a great ornament to the city, instead of an eye-sore
+as they formerly were. Sixty public vehicles, light cabriolets, some of
+them built in Para, now plied in the streets, increasing much the
+animation of the beautified squares, streets, and avenues. I was glad to
+see several new book-sellers' shops; also a fine edifice devoted to a
+reading-room, supplied with periodicals, globes, and maps; and a
+circulating library. There were now many printing-offices, and four
+daily newspapers. The health of the place had greatly improved since
+1850,--the year of the yellow-fever; and Para was now considered no
+longer dangerous to new-comers.
+
+"So much for the improvements visible in the place; and now for the dark
+side of the picture. The expenses of living had increased about
+fourfold; a natural consequence of the demand for labor and for native
+products of all kinds having augmented in greater ratio than the supply,
+in consequence of large arrivals of non-productive residents, and
+considerable importations of money, on account of the steamboat-company
+and foreign merchants.
+
+"At length, on the 2d of June, I left Para,--probably forever. I took a
+last view of the glorious forest for which I had so much love, and to
+explore which I had devoted so many years. The saddest hours I
+recollect ever to have spent were those of the succeeding night, when,
+the pilot having left us out of sight of land, though within the mouth
+of the river, waiting for a wind, I felt that the last link which
+connected me with the land of so many pleasing recollections was
+broken."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+PRESS OF GEO. C. RAND & AVERY, NO. 3, CORNHILL, BOSTON.
+
+
+
+    +------------------------------------------------+
+    |             Transcriber's Note:                |
+    |                                                |
+    | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the   |
+    | original document have been preserved.         |
+    |                                                |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:    |
+    |                                                |
+    | Page  74  Sascatchawan changed to Saskatchawan |
+    | Page 103  Cameawait changed to Cameahwait      |
+    | Page 192  Chinnook changed to Chinook          |
+    | Page 198  Chinnooks changed to Chinooks        |
+    | Page 199  Chinnooks changed to Chinooks        |
+    | Page 199  Killamucks changed to Killimucks     |
+    | Page 212  Wakiacums changed to Wahkiacums      |
+    | Page 224  Kooskooskie changed to Kooskooskee   |
+    | Page 224  Sacajaweah chanaged to Sacajawea     |
+    | Page 232  Kooskooskie changed to Kooskooskee   |
+    | Page 295  palmitoes changed to palmitos        |
+    | Page 299  groweth changed to growth            |
+    | Page 360  pursuaded changed to persuaded       |
+    +------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Oregon and Eldorado, by Thomas Bulfinch
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