ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 
long as I had been kept in ignorance of 
every thing respecting my dearest friends, 
my anxiety was not allayed by one perusal 
of my letters, and no less than four times 
during the night did I rise from my mat to 
read and re-read them, till, ere morning 
dawned, I had them, I am sure, all by 
heart. The first thing I did, after this 
sleepless night, was to write a few lines of 
acknowledgment to Mr. Sabine, and by 
sun-rise I was again seated in the boat, 
on my return up the river, and with new 
spirits resumed my employment of bota- 
nizing during the frequent portages that 
we made, previous to arriving at Walla- 
wallah on Saturday. Thence, on Monday, 
ihe 17th, I accompanied Messrs. Wark 
and M‘Donald, who were going by water, 
with a party of twenty-eight men, to the 
Forks of Lewis and Clarke's River, about 
one hundred and fifty miles from the Co- 
lumbia, and as the marches these gentle- 
men proposed to make would be short, I 
hoped to obtain most of the plants which 
grow on the banks of this stream. 
Tuesday 18th to Monday 24th.—Lewis 
and Clarke's River is a stream of con- 
siderable magnitude, in many places from. 
two hundred and fifty to three hundre 
yards broad, very deep and rapid: its 
general course is easterly. At twenty-five 
miles from its junction with the Columbia, 
the country near its banks changes from 
undulating and barren to lofty rugged 
mountains, and not a blade of grass can be 
Seen, except in the vallies and near springs, 
where a little vegetation survives the in- 
tense heat. We rose always at day-break, 
and camped at three or four P.M., during 
which interval the thermometer, commonly 
| standing in the shade at 108° of Fahren- 
» heit, it was dangerous to attempt travel- 
. ling, unsheltered as we were by any screen 
from the Scorching sun. In the cool of 
the evening we generally made fifteen or 
twenty miles more. Except that good 
water may always be obtained, there is 
nothing to render this country superior, in 
ey to the burning deserts of Arabia. 
Salmon are caught in the river, and some- 
in great numbers, but they are neither 
cM 
119 
so plentiful nor so good as in the Columbia; 
we obtained occasionally a few from the 
Indians, to vary our standing dish of 
horse-flesh, boiled, or roasted at the end of 
astick; but such is the indolence of these 
people that they will almost rather starve 
than incur much labour in fishing. I 
found great relief from the burning heat 
by bathing every morning and evening, 
and, though the practice is certainly en- 
feebling, yet I doubt if I could at all have 
prosecuted my journey without it. 
Monday, 24th.—Arrived at the Forks of 
the river at dusk, where we found a camp 
of tbree different nations, upwards of six 
hundred men, able to bear arms: these 
were the Pierced Nose Indians, the Cha- 
whaptan and the Chamniemucks. e 
chiefs, or principal men of each tribe came 
and staid with us till late, when they pré- 
sented us with some favourite horses. 
Tuesday, 25th.—Understanding from my 
companions that their stay here would be 
for a few days, I was desirous of making a 
trip to the mountains, distant about sixty 
miles, and part of the same ridge which I 
bad visited, in a part much to the South- 
East, during spring. As, however, no 
arrangement had yet been made with the 
natives, it was deemed imprudent for me 
to venture any distance from the camp; 
but, on Wednesday a conference being 
held, which terminated amicably, and with 
all the pomp and circumstance of singing, 
dancing, haranguing, and smoking, the 
whole party being dressed in their best 
garments, I took advantage of the conclu- 
sion of this novel and striking spectacle, to 
beg the services of one of Mr. M‘Donald’s 
men, named Cog de Lard, and with him 
to start on an exploring trip, in the direction 
of the said mountains. My companion and 
friend, (guide he could not be called, as he 
was equally a stranger to this country as 
myself,) travelled two days, when we reach- 
ed the first ridge of hills. Here we parted, 
I leaving him to take care of the horses, 
and proceeding alone to the summit, where 
I found nothing different, as to vegetation, 
from what I had seen before, but was much 
struck with a remarkable spring that rises 
