COLUMBIA RIVER. 133 



of the river, he employed himself, during the time it was making, in 

 getting a full set of equal altitudes. By 6 p. M. they had carried 

 every thing across and embarked ; but the river was full of sand-bars, 

 shallow rapids, and sunken snags, which often compelled them to 

 drag the canoe over by main force. The land on both sides of the 

 river is flat, marshy, and well wooded. Among the trees were many 

 ash. They stopped for the night at an Indian camp. Mr. Eld 

 endeavoured to induce the old chief to accompany him down the 

 river ; but he declined, assigning as a reason that he was afraid of 

 the Chinooks. He boasted that he was the chief of the Sachal tribe; 

 but as the party had met with but two or three other Indians during 

 the route, they were at a loss to know where the tribe resided. 



On the 24th, they again embarked on the river, and had another 

 fatiguing day ; but being now provided with poles, they succeeded 

 better in navigating the canoe. When they had proceeded some 

 distance, they were overtaken by the squaw chief and her husband, 

 who passed them quickly in a light canoe. During the day they saw 

 several deserted native huts, situated on small prairies, extending 

 back some distance from the river, and in the rear, on either side, 

 were seen hills rising to the height of about fifteen hundred feet. No 

 kind of rock had been observed on their route, except a single block of 

 granite, which was passed on one of the prairies near Lake Sachal. 

 The weather, for the few last days, had been fine and clear. 



On the 25th, they set out at an early hour, and in passing one of 

 the rapids in the large canoe, it came in contact with a snag, which 

 tore off part of the gunwale, and half filled the canoe with water. 

 At ten o'clock they reached the place where the Sachal enters the 

 Chickeeles, which is there one hundred and fifty feet wide, and runs 

 with a rapid current. The bottom was gravelly, and the surface 

 smooth, except where a sand and gravel bar stretched across the river, 

 in a direction about east-northeast. One lonely Indian was met at the 

 junction, from whom they bought some pieces of dried elk. 



The soil on both sides of the river, for about one-third of a mile 

 back, was a deep, rich, alluvial loam, overgrown with poplar, willow, 

 dogwood, and alder, with an undergrowth of raspberry. On the 

 26th, the old chief joined the party, and they all proceeded down 

 the river together, to the point where the Kluckullum enters the 

 Chickeeles, where they halted. No inducement could prevail upon 

 the chief to serve as a guide up the Sachap, another branch of the 

 Chickeeles. 



vol. v. 34 



