434 PUGET SOUND AND OKONAGAN. 



horses for the land journey to the northern posts, they collect here 

 what skins they can. The country affords about eighty beaver-skins 

 during the year, the price for each of which is usually twenty charges 

 of powder and ball. Some bear, marten, and other skins, are also 

 obtained, for which the prices vary ; and it appears to be the practice 

 of the Company to buy all the skins that are brought in, in order to 

 encourage the Indians to procure them. At Nisqually, Mr. Anderson 

 informed me that many were bought that were afterwards destroyed, 

 as they were not worth transportation. 



At this post they have some goats, and thirty-five head of very fine 

 cattle, which produce abundance of milk and butter. Neither of these 

 are yet permitted to be slaughtered, and the only animal food used, is 

 a species of rat, called " siffleurs," which burrows among the stones 

 on the hill-sides in great numbers. These the Indians catch and sell 

 for a leaden ball : they were found very fat, and considered good food 

 by our party. The soil is too poor for farming operations, and only a 

 few potatoes are grown. There is generally a supply of provisions on 

 hand here for the parties that are passing to and fro. 



There is also another post, called Fort Thompson, on the Kamloops 

 Lake, which is in charge of an Indian, and is of less importance than 

 Okonagan. 



On the morning of the 9th, Mr. Maxwell, one of the Company's 

 officers, arrived from Colville, with forty horses laden with provisions, 

 for Mr. Ogden's brigade. He was not a little surprised to find strangers 

 in the country, and in possession of his quarters at the post. He was 

 obliging enough to offer any assistance that he could render, and, in con- 

 junction with Le Pratt, endeavoured to supply all the wants of the party. 



The Okonagan tribe of Indians are supposed to number about two 

 hundred, and are represented as quiet and peaceably disposed. Their 

 food consists principally of salmon and a small fish which they call 

 carp ; but they are not provident enough to lay up a sufficient supply 

 for their winter's stock, and are obliged, for the remainder of the year, 

 to make use of roots, and a bread which is made from the moss that 

 grows on the trees. This moss is collected in large quantities, cleaned, 

 and then placed in a hole made in the ground, along with heated stones, 

 which are all covered up closely with earth. In this hole the moss re- 

 mains for twenty-four hours. When the pit is opened, it is found to 

 have become soft. After this process, it is washed and moulded into 

 cakes, which are set out to dry. The seed of the Balsamoriza (Oregon 

 sunflower), is also used here, being pounded into a kind of meal, which 

 they call mielito. To this is added the siffleurs ; but with all these 

 articles of food, much suffering is experienced towards the spring. 



