WILLAMETTE VALLEY. 361 



adhered to the country will thrive. But should this pest be introduced, 

 the vice of drunkenness will probably reach a height unknown else- 

 where ; for such is the ease with which a livelihood is gained here, 

 that persons may be supported, and indeed grow rich, in idleness. 

 According to the inhabitants, one month in a year of labour is all that 

 is required for a comfortable support. This labour consists in preparing 

 the ground, putting the seed into it, and when it is ripe, reaping the 

 harvest. Cattle, as I have before said, require no protection or care, 

 except to guard them from the wolves. Two-thirds of the time of the 

 settlers is consequently at their own disposal ; and unless education, 

 with its moral influence, is attended to strictly in this young settlement, 

 these very advantages will prove its curse. On the missionaries who 

 have settled here will depend in a great measure the future character 

 of the inhabitants ; and on them also will rest the responsibility of 

 maintaining the morals, as well as superintending the education, of the 

 rising population. I trust they will both see and feel the great neces- 

 sity of that strict attention to their duties necessary to insure success. 



In the morning, before dawn, the two Indian boys belonging to 

 Johnson came over to our hut for the purpose of looking for their 

 milk-pans. Unknown to us, we had laid on its side, for a seat, a 

 cupboard which contained them. This the boys came in search of, 

 and in their haste awoke Mr. Drayton, who naturally thought they 

 intended to steal some of our things : he accordingly pelted them with 

 our boots and shoes, and all other articles that came to hand. This 

 aroused us all, when a general outcry was raised, and the Indian boys 

 made a precipitate retreat, not, however, before they had secured one 

 of the objects of their search. 



After breakfast, we crossed the river to Johnson's, and I was, on 

 this second visit, more impressed with the filth, both in and out doors 

 than before. 



It was now determined that Mr. Drayton should take the boat 

 down the river, and that I should pass through the eastern part of the 

 Willamette Valley on horseback, to reach the falls by dark. This 

 George Gay said could be easily done, with fresh and good horses. 

 Taking him as a guide, I set off, and after passing a few miles, we 

 crossed a low ridge of rough rocky ground, of trap formation, about 

 a mile wide: it was well wooded with pines and firs. After passing 

 the ridge, we again entered on fine prairies, part of the farm of 

 Dr. Bailey. This was one of the most comfortable I had yet seen, 

 and was certainly in the neatest order. Dr. Bailey had married 

 one of the girls who came out with the missionaries, and the mistress 

 of the establishment was as pleasing as it was well conducted. Dr. 



vol. iv. 2F 46 



