448 PUGET SOUND AND OKONAGAN. 



packed away on the horses. This was the first large game they had 

 obtained, having previously got only a few grouse. 



They had now reached the Smalocho, which runs to the westward, 

 and is sixty-five feet wide : its depth was found to be four and a half 

 feet, which, as it was also rapid, was too great for the horses to ford 

 and carry their loads. The Indians now became serviceable to them. 

 Lieutenant Johnson had engaged several that were met on their way, 

 and they now amounted to thirteen, who appeared for a time lively 

 and contented. This, however, was but a forerunner of discontent, 

 and a refusal to go any farther ; but with coaxing and threatening they 

 were induced to proceed. 



The road or way, after passing the river, was over a succession of 

 deep valleys and hills, so steep that it was difficult for a horse to get 

 up and over them with a load, and the fall of a horse became a com- 

 mon occurrence. They were all, however, recovered without injury, 

 although one of them fell upwards of one hundred feet; yet in con- 

 sequence of his fall having been repeatedly broken by the shrubs and 

 trees, he reached the bottom without injury to himself, but with the 

 loss of his load, consisting of their camp utensils, &c., which were 

 swept off by the rapid current of the river. 



The route lay, for several days, through forests of spruce, and some 

 of the trees that had fallen measured two hundred and sixty-five feet 

 in length. One of these, at the height often feet from the roots, mea- 

 sured thirty-five feet in circumference ; and at the end which had 

 been broken off in its fall, it was found to be eighteen inches in 

 diameter, which would make the tree little short of three hundred 

 feet when it was growing-. The stems of all these trees Were clear of 

 branches to the height of one hundred and fifty feet from the ground, 

 and perfectly straight. In man}' cases it was impossible to see over 

 the fallen trees, even when on horseback, and on these, seedlings were 

 growing luxuriantl}'', forcing their roots through the bark and over 

 the body of the trunk till they reached the ground. Many spruces 

 were seen which had grown in this way; and these, though of conside- 

 rable size, still retained the form of an arch, showing where the old 

 tree had lain, and under which they occasionally rode. As may be 

 supposed, they could not advance very rapidly over such ground, and 

 Lieutenant Johnson remarks, that although he was frequently desi- 

 rous of shortening the road, by taking what seemed a more direct 

 course, he invariably found himself obliged to return to the Indian 

 trail. 



