244 FROM NISQUALLY TO COLUMBIA RIVER. 



that there was another lake to the northeast, and next day 

 Mr. Eld and myself set out to visit it. We arrived there 

 after a walk of several hours, and the supposed lake proved 

 so insignificant as to hardly deserve the name of a pond; 

 it was not more than one hundred and fifty yards in diame- 

 ter, nor more than four feet deep, and was overspread with 

 water lilies. 



On our return we struck the tents, and, embarking in our 

 canoes on Lake Sachal, we steered for its southern end, where 

 we entered the river bearing the same name. We now made 

 very slow progress, owing to the sinuosity of the river and a 

 variety of other obstructions. Every few minutes we either 

 came in contact with drift-wood, or became entangled among 

 the branches of trees and bushes, covering the banks of the 

 river, and from which it was impossible to clear ourselves 

 otherwise than by cutting them down with our hatchets. 



We lost some time also through a trick played us by two 

 Indians, who had been following us for some time in a small 

 canoe, and were anxious to pass us. Having come where the 

 river branched off, we were unable to decide which way our 

 course lay. We therefore inquired of the Indians in the 

 canoe, and they motioned to us to turn off to the right ; we did 

 as they directed ; but after pulling for more than an hour, we 

 met other Indians, who assured us that we were steering the 

 wrong way, and offered to accompany us back to the main 

 stream, and put us on the proper course, an offer which we 

 very gladly accepted. We did not at first like the idea of 

 being thus outwitted by savages, but, after awhile, when all 

 the trouble of getting right again was over, we were willing to 

 admit that it was a capital joke, and perhaps had as many a 

 good laugh over it as the Indians themselves. 



It was past 9 o'clock when we stopped to encamp, and still 



