370 WILLAMETTE VALLEY. 



hundred warriors ; but the ague and fever have, within a short space 

 of time, swept off the whole tribe, and it is said that they all died 

 within three weeks. He now stands alone, his land, tribe, and property 

 all departed, and he left a dependant on the bounty of the Company. 

 Casenove is about fifty years of age, and a noble and intelligent-looking 

 Indian. At the fort he is always welcome, and is furnished with a 

 plate at meal-times at the side-table. I could not but feel for the situa- 

 tion of one who, in the short space of a few years, has lost not only 

 his property and importance, but his whole tribe and kindred, as I saw 

 him quietly enter the apartment, wrapped in his blanket, and take his 

 seat at the lonely board. He scarce seemed to attract the notice of 

 any one, but ate his meal in silence, and retired. He has always been 

 a great friend to the whites, and during the time of his prosperity was 

 ever ready to search out and bring to punishment all those who com- 

 mitted depredations on strangers. 



Casenove's tribe is not the only one that has suffered in this way; 

 many others have been swept off entirely by this fatal disease, without 

 leaving a single survivor to tell their melancholy tale. 



The cause of this great mortality among the Indians has been attri- 

 buted to the manner in which the disease has been treated, or rather 

 to their superstitious practices. Their medicine-men and women are 

 no better than jugglers, and use no medicine except some deleterious 

 roots ; while, from the character of these Indians, and their treatment 

 of an unsuccessful practitioner, the whites decline administering any 

 remedies, for fear of consequences like those to which I have alluded. 



On the morning of the 17th, Vancouver was awake at an early 

 hour, and preparations were actively making ; a voyageur occasion- 

 ally was to be seen, decked out in all his finery, feathers, and flowing 

 ribands, tying on his ornamented leggins, sashes, and the usual worked 

 tobacco and fire pouch. The latter is of the shape of a lady's reticule, 

 and generally made of red or blue cloth, prettily worked with beads. 

 In working them the wives of the officers of the Company exercise 

 great taste, and it is deemed fully as essential a part of dress in a 

 voyageur's wardrobe as in a lady's. The simple bag does not, how- 

 ever, afford sufficient scope for ornament, and it has usually several 

 long tails to it, which are worked with silk of gaudy colours. 



The ladies of the country are dressed after our own bygone fashions, 

 with the exception of leggins, made of red and blue cloth, richly orna- 

 mented. Their feet, which are small and pretty, are covered with 

 worked moccasins. Many of them have a dignified look and carriage : 

 their black eyes and hair, and brown ruddy complexion, combined with 

 a pleasing expression, give them an air of independence and usefulness 



