396 WILLAMETTE VALLEY. 



Indian. At the fort he is always welcome, and is furnished with a 

 plate at meal-times at the side-table. I could not but feel for the situ- 

 ation of one who, in the short space of a few years, has lost not only 

 his property and importance, but his whole tribe and kindred, as I 

 saw him quietly enter the apartment, wrapped in his blanket, and 

 take his seat at the lonely board. He scarce seemed to attract the 

 notice of any one, but ate his meal in silence, and retired. He has 

 always been a great friend to the wliites, and during the time of his 

 prosperity was ever ready to search out and bring to punishment all 

 those who committed depredations on strangers. 



Casenove's tribe is not the only one that has suffered in this way : 

 many otliers have been swept off entirely by this fatal disease, without 

 leaving a single survivor to tell their melancholy tale. 



The cause of this great mortality among the Indians has been attri- 

 buted to the manner in which the disease has been treated, or rather 

 to their superstitious practices. Their medicine-men and women are 

 no better than jugglers, and use no medicine except some deleterious 

 roots ; while, from the character of these Indians, and their treatment 

 of an unsuccessful practitioner, the whites decline administering any 

 remedies, for fear of consequences like those to which I have alluded. 



On the morning of the 17th, Vancouver was awake at an early 

 hour, and preparations were actively making ; a voyageur occasion- 

 ally was to be seen, decked out in all his finery, feathers, and flowing 

 ribands, tying on his ornamented leggins, sashes, and the usual 

 worked tobacco and fire pouch. The latter is of the shape of a lady's 

 reticule, and generally made of red or blue cloth, prettily worked with 

 beads. In working them the wives of the officers of the Company 

 exercise great taste, and it is deemed fully as essential a part of dress 

 in a voyageur's wardrobe as in a lady's. The simple bag does not, 

 however, afford sufficient scope for ornament, and it has usually seve- 

 ral long tails to it, which are worked with silk of gaudy colours. 



Tlie ladies of the country are dressed after our own bygone 

 fashions, with the exception of leggins, made of red and blue cloth, 

 richly ornamented. Their feet, which are small and pretty, are 

 covered with worked moccasins. Many of them have a dignified 

 look and carriage : their black eyes and hair, and brown ruddy com- 

 plexion, combined with a pleasing expression, give them an air of 

 independence and usefulness that one little expects to see. As 

 wives, they are spoken of as most devoted, and many of them 



