VOYAGE IN A CANOE FROM FOET OWEN TO VANCOUVER. 299 



except during the coldest winters. The old trappers thought that these noises were produced by 

 the bursting of silver mines. Their opinion in such a matter is of but little importance, to my 

 mind. There are three or four explanations concerning the manner in which these sounds may 

 have been produced. They may be simply volcanic detonations. These are frequently heard 

 at great distances. Humboldt mentions having heard volcanic detonations in the Andes from 

 Chillo, near Quito, a distance of eighty-eight miles. But the fact that these noises in the Rocky 

 mountains are only heard during the most severe winters, seems to render this explanation improb 

 able. Similar reports, attending the opening of cracks or chasms, arc said to be common in the 

 Polar regions. They may be caused by the detachment of heavy masses of ice, or more prob 

 ably by land-slides. On the main Columbia, a short distance above Fort Colville, the black pipe- 

 stone is found. There is no red pipestone west of the mountains, except that which is already 

 fabricated into pipes. The natives have a few among them, which originally came from the Sioux 

 country, and which they have obtained either as presents, by barter, or as war trophies. I left 

 the mission on the 10th of November, and arrived at Fort Colville on the 13th. Here I was 

 kindly entertained by Mr. Angus McDonald, the officer in charge of the post. Near the fort is 

 the mission of St. Paul, established among the Kettle Fall Indians, on the left bank of the Colum 

 bia, about one mile from the Kettle Falls. I visited the mission establishment three times during 

 my stay at Fort Colville. It is superintended by the Rev. Father Joset, assisted by one other 

 priest and a lay brother. Father Joset received me very kindly. He is a Swiss, and very gen 

 tlemanly and agreeable in his manners. To him I am indebted for much valuable information 

 concerning this part of the country. The mission establishment consists of a chapel, a dwelling- 

 house, and several other buildings. There is no farm attached to it. The Indians have sufficient 

 to eat, which they obtain from other sources. There is, consequently, no necessity requiring the 

 missionaries to cultivate land, as they can obtain all they want for their own use from the Hud 

 son s Bay Company. The Kettle Falls Indians call themselves Squeer-yer-pe. The chief of this 

 tribe is called Pierre Jean. He, with most of his followers, live in their lodges around the mis 

 sion. The number of souls in this band is about three hundred and fifty. During the summer 

 season the Indians from all the surrounding country congregate at this place to catch salmon. 

 There are then about one thousand at the falls. The Squeer-yer-pe name for the Kettle Falls is 

 Schwan-ate-koo, or deep-sounding water. Here the Columbia pitches over a ledge of rocks, 

 making a fall of about fifteen feet perpendicular. The Indians sow a little wheat and plant some 

 potatoes, of which they are very fond; but their principal subsistence is the everlasting salmon. 

 These come up annually in great numbers, on their way to the headwaters of the Columbia. 

 The Indians, as before stated, all collect in the neighborhood of these and other falls, where they 

 riot in feasting on their captured prey. They kill hundreds of thousands of these fish by spear 

 ing them. The myriads of salmon that ascend the rivers of the Pacific coast are almost incred 

 ible. In many places the water appears alive with them, and the shores are thickly lined with 

 the dead and dying fish. This, according to De Smet, is particularly noticed on the small lakes 

 of the upper Columbia, in the vicinity of Martin s rapids. The salmon ascend the Clark river to 

 a point about twenty-five miles above its mouth. Here the great falls prevent their further as 

 cent. The question has often occurred to me whether it would not be a good plan to blast out a 

 raceway or gradual ascent over these falls, and thus allow a passage of the fish to the whole 

 back country, from which arise the sources of the Clark. This certainly would be providing 

 food for the Indians and others at a very trifling expense. The salmon of these waters, unlike 

 those of other parts of the world, do not take the hook; and, strange as it seems, they are said 

 never to stop searching after the source of the stream they are in. Their march is always ahead 

 until they spawn and die ; they never return to the sea. This seems to be the general opinion of 

 the people with whom I have conversed. 



The subject, however, will never be thoroughly understood until a number of careful, judicious 

 experiments have been instituted. Salmon are taken on the hook by trolling in the salt water of 



