58 DOUGLAS' JOURNAL 



macrocarpus, Lupinus aridus, L. leucophyllus, Brodiaea, &c. The present 

 bed of the river at the Falls is 600 feet below the former bed of the river 

 of decomposed granite. I could not this season go higher than a few 

 miles above the Falls, but was amply repaid by Purshia tridentata, Bartonia 

 albicaulis, 1 Collomia grandiflora, and several Pentstemons, and by seeds of 

 many desirable plants. In this journey many fine plants were secured. 

 Early in the morning of July 19th I descended the river in an Indian canoe 

 for the purpose of prosecuting my researches on the coast, which was in a 

 great measure frustrated by the tribe among whom I lived going to war 

 with the natives to the northward, the direction I intended to follow. 

 During my stay several persons were killed and some wounded in a 

 quarrel. The principal chief in the village, Cockqua, behaved to me with 

 great fidelity, and had built for me a small cabin in his own lodge ; but by 

 reason of the immense number of fleas and the great inconvenience suffered 

 thereby, I preferred to put up at my own camp, a few yards from the 

 village, on the shore of the river. He was so deeply interested in my 

 safety that he watched himself the whole night on which he expected the 

 war party. 



In the evening about three hundred men in their war garments danced 

 the war dance and sung several death songs, which to me alone imparted 

 an indescribable sensation. The following day seventeen canoes of 

 warriors, nearly four hundred men, made their appearance, when, after 

 several harangues, hostilities were for the present suspended. 



A sturgeon was caught by one of my chief's fishermen, which measured 

 12 feet 9 inches from the snout to the point of the tail, and 7 feet round 

 at the thickest part. The weight might on a moderate calculation exceed 

 500 Ib. Among the plants I found on this occasion were Lupinus 

 littoralis, Carex MenzieMi" [sic], Juncus Menziesii,s J . globosus,* Vaccinium 

 ovatum, V. parvifolium and ovali folium, and seeds of the beautiful Spiraea 

 ariaefoliap Gaultkeria, Ribes sanguineum, Berberis, and of several other 

 valuable plants. Before taking leave of my Indian friend I purchased 

 from his people several articles of wearing apparel, gaming articles, and 

 things used in domestic economy, for which 1 gave trinkets and tobacco. 



I arrived again at Fort Vancouver on August 5th, and was employed 

 until the 18th drying the plants collected, making short journeys in quest of 

 seeds and other plants, in the course of which time my labours were greatly 

 retarded by rainy weather. On the 19th I left again for the purpose of 

 ascending the River Multnomah, one of the southern tributaries of the 

 Columbia. This is a fine stream with very fertile banks. Thirty-six miles 

 from the Columbia are falls of 43 feet perpendicular pitch across the whole 

 breadth of the river, in one sheet at this season of the year, but during the 

 spring and autumn divided into three channels. There is but little current 

 thus far, the water being gorged back by the waters of the Columbia. 

 Making the portage over the falls was no small undertaking. I killed 



1 Mentzelia albicaulis, S. Wats. Bibl. Ind. N. Am. Bot. p. 389. 



2 err. for C. Mcnziesiana = C. macrocephala Boott, Ulustr. Carex, i. p. 27. 



3 Juncus falcatus, Ind. Kew. fasc. ii. p. 1258. 



4 See Hook. Fl. Bot. Am. i. p. 190 as a syn. of Juncus polycephalus. 

 S. discolor var. ariaefolia, S. Wats. Bibl. Ind. N. Am. Bot. p. 321. 



