244 Mr Scouler's Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, 



As iron is very scarce among them, their arrows are generally 

 pointed with bone or with pieces of muscle shells. 



On the 3d September we crossed the bar of the Columbia, 

 and again anchored in Baker's Bay. Next morning I set out 

 for Fort Vancouver to join my old associate Mr Douglas. 

 As we passed Cheenook Point we saw the burying ground of 

 Comcomly, where, within two years, this unfortunate old chief 

 has deposited the bodies of eight individuals of his once nu- 

 merous family. 



The canoes in which the bodies were deposited were cover- 

 ed with the laced coats, silks, blankets, and other articles the 

 deceased possessed, and had a remarkably melancholy appear- 

 ance. The Indians, like the ancient inhabitants of Britain, de- 

 posited the arms of the dead along with their body. Each of 

 Comcomly's sons had a fowling piece by his side, and a loaded 

 pistol in each hand. The bodies are annually uncovered by 

 the old chief, and if necessary, wrapped in new blankets. For- 

 merly the Cheenooks used to live in this place, but since it be- 

 came a burying-place, it has been abandoned by the Indians 

 As it was sunset before we left the ship, we had to travel all 

 night, and in the morning we breakfasted on a small alluvial 

 island, about twenty miles from the ship. At this place I had 

 a few minutes to botanize, and, although the season was far ad- 

 vanced, we found some curious plants. The wapito or Indian 

 potato grew in abundance. Valisneria grew in the mud of 

 the river, and I also found a beautiful Sisyrinchium with yel- 

 low flowers. On arriving at Fort Vancouver we were kindly 

 received by all the gentlemen. Mr Douglas was just return- 

 ed from a short excursion he had made to the interior. While 

 I had botanized along the coast, from the Columbia in lat. 45. 

 N. to Queen Charlotte's island in 52, Mr Douglas had taken 

 a most extensive range in a different direction, and through a 

 very different country, so that our respective herbariums 

 contained entirely different sets of plants. His first excursion 

 had been up the Multuoma or Wilhamut river, which takes a 

 southerly course from the Columbia. He followed this river 

 for about fifty miles- in a country abounding in salt springs, and 

 where the Indians cultivate the Nicotiana rustica. His next 

 journey was to the falls of the Columbia, where he found a 



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