that flows about nine miles farther into 
. the Columbia, had a narrow escape from 
losing my horse, and receiving a severe 
hurt. The animal stuck in the bank, 
. Which is very steep and slippery, after 
crossing, and, in his struggles to get free, 
gave me a sharp blow, and threw me head 
foremost into the river; the force with 
which the poor beast did this, enabled him 
however to extricate himself from what he 
probably felt would otherwise have proved 
his grave, and I received no other injury 
than a terrible ducking, from the effects of 
Which a walk of several miles enabled me 
.. to recover, with the loss, however, of all 
the seeds I had been collecting during this 
trip, and of my knapsack and note-book. 
Afler an absence of two months I was 
kindly re-welcomed to the Kettle Falls, 
by Mr. Dease, on the evening of Saturday, 
the 5th August. Several species of Œno- 
thera, T. rifolium, Artemisia, and a novel 
riogonum were added to my stores. 
August 7th to Tuesday l5th.—Con- 
tinued collecting seeds, drying and pack- 
ing plants ; butlearning from Mr. M‘Lough- 
lin that the vessel at Fort Vancouver would 
hot sail for England until the 1st of Sep- 
tember, and that it is the last which will 
probably proceed thither direct for some 
Years, and, as I have a collection of seeds 
ready to go, amounting to one hundred and 
twenty species gleaned this year, I am very 
sirous of sending every thing that I can 
muster by her. By some means or other 
I Must endeavour to reach the ocean, 
carrying my collections to be despatched 
homeward. ‘I therefore packed up a share 
of my paper and seeds, with what little 
linen I could Spare, intending to leave 
the box at this place, whence it will be for- 
warded across the Rocky Mountains to Fort 
Edmonton, where I hope to find it early in 
June. Mr. Dease kindly took the trouble 
of speaking to the Little Wolf, a chief of 
akanagan tribe of Indians, to con- 
inn me to Oakanagan, as the Columbia is 
. "UV $0 full of rapids, cascades, and whirl- 
Pools, that I could not proceed by a canoe, 
wen had six or eight men to manage 
. duct 
ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 
191. 
it; nor is there, indeed, any boat here 
large enough for the purpose. 
17th.—Packed a bundle of dry plants in 
my trunk, among my little stock of cloth- 
ing, consisting of a single shirt, one pair of 
stockings, a night-cap, and a pair of old 
mitts, together with an Indian bag, of curi- 
ous workmanship, made of Indian Hemp, 
a species of Apocynum, Helonias tenax 
and Eagle's quills, used for carrying roots 
and other such articles. A party of twenty- 
one men and two females arrived belonging 
to the Cootanie tribe, whose lands lie near 
the source of the Columbia, for the purpose 
of fishing. Between these and the tribes 
on the Columbia lakes, about sixty miles 
above this place, who are now similarly 
engaged at the Falls, an old quarrel exists, 
which causes much uneasiness to Mr. 
Dease and all our people. The parties 
met to-day stark naked, at our camp, painted 
some red, some black, others white and 
yellow, all with their bows strung, while 
those who had guns and ammunition, 
brought their weapons charged and cocked. 
War caps, made of the Calumet-Eagle’s 
feathers, were the only particle of clothing 
they had on. Just as one of these savages 
was discharging an arrow from his bow, 
aimed at a chief of the other party, Mr. 
Dease hit him such a blow on the nose as 
stunned him, and the arrow fortunately only 
grazed the skin of his adversary, passing 
along the rib opposite to his heart without 
doing him much injury. The whole day 
was spent in clamour and haranguing, and 
unable to foresee what the issue might be, 
we were prepared for the worst. Mr. 
Dease, however, succeeded in persuading 
them to make arrangements for peace, and 
begged this might be done without delay 
on the morrow, representing to them how 
little they had ever gained by their former 
wars, in which they had mutually butchered 
one another like dogs. Unluckily for me, 
my guide, the Wolf, is equally wanted by 
his party, whether to make war or peace, 
therefore I am obliged to wait for him. 
Friday, 18th.—Bustle and uproar, ter- 
minating towards evening in a proposal | 
