162 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST 



crypt that serves one or two hundred persons. All the 

 dwellers on the banks carry their water from the same pol- 

 luted stream. And if a more fortunate resident on the banks 

 of a creek drinks from a less vitiated source, yet this is not 

 without its share of decaying vegetation and other matters 

 injurious to health. This is a surprising inattention to com- 

 fort and decency, as well as to health, when it is known that 

 a pure spring may generally be struck at twenty or thirty feet 

 from tlie surface. 



If with this impure and unhealthy habit, joined to the ex- 

 posure from the dwelling, from its insufficiency as a shelter, 

 from unaccustomed labors and hardships, and from the exha- 

 lations of undrained and of newly cultivated country, the 

 amount of sickness and of mortality is not more than double 

 the amount in a like population in other parts, the climate of 

 the country ought to be considered salubrious. 



A few remarks extracted from " Peck's Guide to the West," 

 inserted in that work as a quotation, have the concurrence of 

 the writer : — 



" Much disease, especially in the more recently settled 

 parts of this country, is consequent to. neglecting simple and 

 comfortable precautionary means ; sometimes this neglect is 

 owing to misdirected industry, and at others to laziness or evil 

 habits. 



" To have a dry house, if it be a log one, with the open- 

 ings between the logs well filled up, so that it may be kept 

 warm in winter ; to fill up all the holes in its vicinity which 

 may contain stagnant water ; to have a good clean spring or 

 well, sufficient clothing, and a reasonable supply of provisions, 

 should be the first object of a settler's attention. But fre- 

 quently a little wet smoky cabin or hovel is erected, with the 

 floor scarcely separated from the ground, and admitting the 

 damp and unwholesome air. All hands that can work are 



