512 FROM HEADWATERS OF THE MISSOURI TO DALLES OF THE COLUMBIA. 



the satisfaction of surprising our shadowy beasts by introducing them to as good a field of grass 

 as their most extravagant imaginations could wish. In fact, the moment we debouched from the 

 timber, we seemed to have transported ourselves by a single stride from the depih of winter to 

 the refreshing commencement of summer. There were but few traces of snow left on the Spo 

 kane prairie, and already the slim spears of green grass were shooting up plentifully. 



February 23. We crawled along ten miles farther, and camped near the lodges of Antoine 

 Plant, an old mountaineer, and an Indian herdsman, who lead pastoral lives, herding numerous 

 cattle and horses on the adjacent plains. In course of the evening I succeeded in hiring ten 

 fresh horses from Antoine, and in engaging his personal services as guide to Wallah-Wallah, vice 

 Paul, cashiered. 



My own animals were left in charge of the Indian till called for. 



The sun had passed the meridian on the 24th, before we left Antoine s &quot; ranche.&quot; The morn 

 ing was passed in replenishing our larder with beef, from one of Mr. Owen s fat heifers. When 

 we left the Bitter Root valley we had provisions enough, on ordinary allowance, to last to Wallah- 

 Wallah ; but notwithstanding many pounds of venison has been bought, we are entirely out. Our 

 appetites have been in proportion to our exposure, and at times prodigious. 



By 1 o clock we were again on the road, and two hours ride on our vigorous animals brought 

 us to the right bank of the Spokane, a distance of fifteen miles, when we camped. 



In passing, I took occasion to notice particularly the stock running at large. It was in about 

 the same condition as that in the Bitter Root valley, fat and sleek. 



To-day has been the first entirely clear day since leaving Fort Owen. 



February 25. The appearance of the Spokane river was not pleasant this morning. It is rapid 

 at all times, but now, swollen by recent rains, it rushed by with a defiant whirl. In we went, 

 however, and, thanks to strong ponies, by fording and swimming we landed all right on the other 

 side. Our packs readjusted and squeezed free of surplus water, we gave rein to the horses, and 

 were ofFata sharp trot. The trail threaded an undulating, gravelly country, occasionally broken 

 with ragged outcrops of trap, and half clad with stunted pines, which yearly dispute their claim 

 to the soil with the autumnal prairie fires. Five miles on our way we passed the &quot;falls,&quot; but at 

 too great a distance for a satisfactory view. The river banks both above and below were high, 

 and the right bank stretched off many miles to the north in a gently undulating plain, upon which, 

 at a distance of five miles, could be seen the Spokane camp, surrounded with its thousand horses. 

 Just below the falls, where a bar divided the channel, the Indians had constructed wing-walls 

 of loose rocks across one arm, leaving a race between their extremities, in which, by means of 

 nets, they caught salmon in passing. A long trestle-work was also built on the bank, upon which 

 their captives were laid to dry. 



At noon the heavy leaden clouds which had overhung the earth from sunrise commenced to 

 repay us for yesterday s fair weather, with most plentiful drench ings of snow and rain a course 

 of treatment kept up for the rest of the day. 



At the end of thirty miles we camped, and made ourselves passably comfortable by spreading 

 our saddle-blankets on a frame of poles on the stormy side. 



February 2G. Last night the beasts took it into their heads to see more of the surrounding 

 country than was consistent with an early start; but we made up for lost time when once on 

 their backs, and camped early, after a forty miles ride. The first quarter of our day s journey 

 presented the same characteristics as that of yesterday, but in a more decided form. The out 

 crops of trap were more numerous, and often vertical walls of columnar-basalt supported the 

 edge of a more elevated terrace, or bounded the sides of a detached knob. The soil is mostly 

 composed of the detritus of trap, and has much oxide of iron in its composition. In a steep, 

 craggy-sided basin we passed a small salt lagoon the only one, my guide said, in this section of 

 the country. 



Presently the country opened out into a broad and swelling prairie, and the last vestige and 



