NISQUALLY AND COLUMBIA RIVER. 301 



GENERAL ORDER. 



The undersigned informs the officers and crews under his command, 

 that the duties upon which they are about to enter will necessarily 

 bring them in contact at times with the savage and treacherous in- 

 habitants of this coast; and he therefore feels it his duty to enjoin 

 upon them the necessity of unceasing caution, and a restrictive and 

 mild system in all their intercourse with them. 



In my General Order of July 13th, 1839, my views are expressed 

 fully respecting our intercourse with savages, and I expect that the 

 injunctions therein contained will be strictly regarded. 



With a knowledge that many of the misfortunes that have befallen 

 previous voyagers on this coast, have arisen from an unrestrained and 

 unguarded intercourse with the natives, he deems it important to order 

 officers in charge of boats, and those having men under their direc- 

 tion, to make it their especial duty to govern them so as to avoid any 

 disputes or maltreatment of the Indians, and that force is never to be 

 resorted to but in cases of self-defence. 



No officer or man will be allowed to visit the shore without arms ; 

 and boats' crews, when surveying or on other duty, will be furnished 

 with such as are necessary for their protection. 



Charles Wilkes, 

 Commanding Exploring Expedition. 

 U. S. Ship Vincennes, 



May 1st, 1840. 



We remained at Port Discovery until 6th May, during w T hich time 

 we were employed in surveying the harbour and exploring the country. 

 Our botanists had a large and interesting field opened to them, and 

 there are few places where the variety and beauty of the flora are so 

 great as they are here. Dodecatheon, Viola, Trifolium, Leptosiphon, 

 Scilla (the cammass of the natives), Collinsia, Claytonia, Stellaria, &c, 

 vied with each other in beauty, and were in such profusion, as to excite 

 both admiration and astonishment. According to Mr. Brackenridge, 

 the soil on which the plants grow consists of a light-brown loam, but 

 the general character of the soil around Port Discovery is a thin, 

 black, vegetable mould, with a substratum of sand and gravel. 



The trees grow so closely that in some places the woods are almost 

 impenetrable. The timber consists principally of pine, fir, and spruce. 

 Of the latter there are two species, one of which resembles the hem 

 lock-spruce of the United States : it has a very tall growth, and puts 

 out but few, and those small, lateral branches. Some maple-trees 



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