BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 299 



plains, composed of soil, rarely topped, or walled, with 

 granite or gneiss ; void of vegetation, save the scanty grasses 

 scattered over them, their chief vegetation being some in- 

 conspicuous Boraginea. These mountains serve as land- 

 marks to the traveller ; one of them, more than 1000 feet 

 high, was pointed out to me, as having a spring on its top. 

 Stripes, or tongues of pine forest, on sandy elevated lands, 

 give to these wide flat Gamass prairies a pleasing interrup- 

 tion ; some of the most colossal trees of Pinus ponderosa are 

 also found in these limited forests. This completes the 

 general outlines of these plains ; we will now say something 

 about the Gamass itself.* 

 A deep blue covers these extensive plains when -the 



* Gamassia esculenta, Dougl. ? Narthecium Squamash, Pursh., Phalan- 

 gium Squamash, Nutt., is an Asphodelea much resembling a common blue 

 Hyacinth, the bulb likewise of about the same size, in texture and shape 

 more like that of Narcissus Tazetta. The Gamass of Oregon seems to 

 differ from the same in Missouri and Illinois ; the former being more 

 robust, has a bulb twice as large, shorter, stiffer leaves, and longer 

 racemes with larger and more oblique flowers, of a light or deep indigo 

 blue, rarely pure white. The pale blue faded colour of the Gamass on 

 the east side of the Rocky Mountain I did not meet in Oregon. 



The digging of the Gamass bulb is a feast for old and young amongst 

 the Indians ; a sort of picnic which is spoken of throughout the whole 

 year. The different neighbouring tribes meet on the same plain and 

 mostly at the same time, at the same spot where their forefathers met. 

 Here the old men talk over their long tales of olden times, the young 

 relate hunting adventures of the last winter, and pass most of their time 

 in play and gaming ; while on the women alone, young and old, rests the 

 whole labour of gathering that indispensable food. They, especially the 

 young women, vie with each other in collecting the greatest possible 

 quantity and best quality of Gamass, because their fame for future good 

 wives will depend much on the activity and industry they show here ; 

 the young men will not overlook these merits, and many a marriage is 

 closed after the Gamass are brought home. I saw a young woman at 

 the Skitsoe village, who had collected and prepared sixty sacks of good 

 Gamass, each sack containing li bushel ; she was spoken of in the best 

 terms throughout the village. 



As soon as the Indians have returned from gathering the "Biscuit 

 root." of which we shall speak afterwards, they begin to prepare for the 

 Gamass grounds. The whole village is active in collecting the horses, 



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