62 DOUGLAS' JOURNAL 



some inconveiiience from having eaten a few roots of a species of 

 Narthecium. 



Fortunately we found at the Cow-a-lidsk a small boat which Schach- 

 anaway, the chief, had borrowed from the establishment a few days before. 

 He gave us a few roots, some dried salmon, and a goose (Anser canadensis). 

 The following day we descended the river to the Columbia, and on Novem- 

 ber 15th landed at the establishment. Seeds of Helonias tenax,^ Rubus 

 spectabilis, and a few others were the only things I saved on this unfor- 

 tunate journey ; all marine birds and seaweeds I was obliged to leave. 

 I had suffered so much from my last trip that little hope was left me 

 for being able to do much good for this season, at least in botany. 



1826. 



When opportunity favoured I collected woods, and gathered Musci, 

 &c., and from this time to March 20th I formed a tolerable collection of 

 preserved animals and birds, but this desirable object was frequently 

 interrupted by heavy rains. Among the birds and animals deserve to 

 be mentioned Tetrao Sabini, T. Richardsonii, Sarcoramphos californica, 

 Corvus Stelleri, an endless variety of Anas, several species of Cam's, 

 Cervus, Mus, and Myoxus. The winter was uncommonly mild, scarcely 

 any frost, and no snow until February 20th. 



March 20th. Having resolved to devote a season in the interior parts 

 of the country skirting the Rocky Mountains, Dr. McLoughlin, who 

 was unremitting with his kind attentions, allowed me to embark in 

 the spring boat for the interior with two reams of paper, which was an 

 enormous indulgence. Rather than go unprovided in this respect I 

 curtailed the small supply of clothing. We reached the falls on the 

 24th. From this point to Walla wallah, the first inland post, the country 

 is hilly, destitute of timber, the soil sandy and barren, the banks of the 

 river rocky. I walked along the banks of the river save when the boat was 

 under sail, and, though early in the season, added some plants to my collec- 

 tion the beautiful Lilium pudicum,* Pursh, two new genera of Cruciferae, 

 and Ribes cereum ; but what gave me most pleasure was finding a new 

 species of Wulfenia. The banks of the river as high up as the junction 

 of Spokane River are steep, bold and rocky, the river rapid and difficult to 

 ascend. This part of the country is barren, sandy soils and very parched. 

 A few deer, C[ervus] leucurus (C. macrotis, Say), bears, wolves, foxes, 

 and badgers are occasionally seen among the brushwood, which consists 

 principally of Purshia tridentata and Artemisia arborea [sic]. The principal of 

 the feathered tribe are Tetrao urophasianus and T. urophasianellus, at this 

 season of the year celebrating their nuptials on the gravelly shores of 

 the streams. In several contracted parts of the river, where the breadth 

 does not exceed 200 yards, the water during the melting of the snow rises 

 to the amazing height of 43 feet perpendicular above its ordinary level. 

 On April llth we arrived at the junction of Spokane River, where Mr. John 

 W. Dease had fixed his camp. I took an opportunity of sending letters 



1 Xerophyllum asphodeloides, var. Baker, in Journ. Linn. Soc. xvii. p. 467. 

 ' Fritillaria pudica, Baker, loc. cit., xiv. p. 267. 



