& 
150 NARRATIVE OF 1853. 
dulating hills, to a region of high table-land, upon which a few insolated pines could here and 
there be seen. After journeying thirteen miles we halted at a small stream called Se-cule-eel- 
qua, near which the soil is very fertile, and the grass fine and of luxuriant growth. Like most 
of the streams in this region, it is bordered by willows, thorns, silver poplars, and other trees 
of smaller growth. 
October 30.— We commenced to move at early sunrise, and, after travelling fifteen miles 
through a country of broken and rugged aspect, relieved by marshy places and small ponds, 
we made a noon halt, where there was grass and water, and near by there was a spring 
frequently used as a camping ground. Trap rock covers more than one-fourth of the area of 
the earth's surface, and in consequence of its projection the path is rendered very tedious to 
the animals. "This portion of the prairie is almost destitute of fire-wood, but is well watered. 
At 3 p. m. we encamped on a small lake, twenty-two miles from our place of departure in the 
morning. In view of this camp were the graves of a number of Spokane Indians, indicated by 
mounds of stones designed to protect the bodies from the wolves, and by poles supported in 
an upright position by the stones. It was the usage, until within a few years past, for the 
Spokanes and other northern tribes toward the Pacific to slay the horses and cattle of the 
deceased at his grave, and also to sacrifice his other property; but they are gradually relin- 
quishing this pernicious practice, under the influence of the counsels and example of the white 
man. | 
Garry informs us that six miles south of our present camp there is a stream called the Sin- 
sae-ghi-aul-tan, (cray-fish,) running to a lake still further south. He also says that the language 
of the Peluse and Yakima Indians is the same, and that of the Colville and Okinakane nearly 
the same as the Spokane. 
October 31.— We continued to follow the general course of the stream upon whose banks we 
were encamped, and after riding eight miles we crossed another small stream called Snae- 
peene, or Narrow creek, and half a mile beyond we beheld an attractive camping ground, it 
being the one we desired to reach yesterday, but which was represented by Garry to be too 
far for the day's journey. The stream just mentioned rises in a chain of small lakes south of 
our last camp. These lakes abound in wild fowl, which at this season, and indeed until the 
last of November, are very plentiful, and they are therefore much resorted to by the Spokane 
and other Indians. We saw in one of these lakes, surrounded by ducks and geese, a pair of 
white swans, which remained to challenge our admiration after their companions had been 
frightened away by our approach. 
Garry assures us that there is a remarkable lake called En-chush-chesh-she-luxum, or Never 
Freezing Water, about thirty miles to the east of this place. It is much larger than any Ф 
the lakes just mentioned, and so completely surrounded by high and precipitous rocks that it 
is impossible to descend to the water. It is said never to freeze, even in the most severe 
winters. "The Indians believe that it is inhabited by buffalo, elk, deer, and all other kinds of 
game, which they say may be seen in the clear, transparent element. He also narrates the 
story of a superstition respecting a point of painted rock in Pend d’ Oreille lake, situated near 
the place now occupied by Michel Ogden. The Indians, he says, do not venture to pass this 
point, fearing that the Great Spirit may, as related in the legends, create a commotion да the 
water, and cause them to be swallowed up in the waves. The painted rocks are wery high, 
and contain effigies of men and beasts, and other characters, made, as the Indians believe, by 
a race of men who preceded them as inhabitants of the land. 
