70 NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY 



practised by all leaders of parties who have hitherto visited these 

 regions, and reform cannot be thought of now. The principal 

 liquor in use here is alcohol diluted with water. It is sold to the 

 men at three dollars the pint ! Tobacco, of very inferior qual- 

 ity, such as could be purchased in Philadelphia at about ten cents 

 per pound, here brings two dollars ! and everything else in pro- 

 portion. There is no coin in circulation, and these articles are 

 therefore paid for by the independent mountain-men, in beaver 

 skins, buffalo robes, &c. ; and those who are hired to the compa- 

 nies, have them charged against their wages. 



I was somewhat amused to-day by observing one of our newly 

 hired men enter the tent, and order, with the air of a man who 

 knew he would not be refused, twenty dollars' worth of rum, and 

 ten dollars worth of sugar, to treat two of his companions who 

 were about leaving the rendezvous ! 



30fA. — Our camp here is a most lovely one in every respect, 

 and as several days have elapsed since v/e came, and I am con- 

 valescent, I can roam about the country a little and enjoy it. 

 The pasture is rich and very abundant, and it docs our hearts 

 good to witness the satisfaction and comfort of our poor jaded 

 horses. Our tents are pitched in a pretty little valley or indenta- 

 tion in the plain, surrounded on all sides by low bluffs of yellow 

 clay. Near us flows the clear deep water of the Siskadee, and 

 beyond, on every side, is a wide and level prairie, interrupted only 

 by some gigantic peaks of mountains and conical butes in the 

 distance. The river, here, contains a great number of large trout, 

 some grayling, and a small narrow-mouthed white fish, resembling 

 a herring. They are all frequently taken with the hook, and, the 

 trout particularly, afford excellent sport to the lovers of angling. 

 Old Izaac Walton would be in his glory here, and the precautio^nary 

 measures which he so strongly recommends in approaching a 

 trout stream, he would not need to practise, as the fish is not 



