32 



PHYSICAL HISTORY OF MAN. 



Continuing the descent, we arrived in the afternoon at the margin 

 of the river, a little below the mouth of the Piscous. The junction of 

 this large stream had given rise to an unusual circumstance, a spot of 

 ground that admitted of cultivation. A portion of it was planted with 

 potatoes; but we hunted grouse for some time around the place, be- 

 fore remarking the cabins of the proprietors. 



For two days we proceeded along the western bank of the Colum- 

 bia ; having been delayed in the first place by the Piscous, waiting for 

 a canoe ; and some twenty miles above, another stream required the 

 same convenience. A little beyond, some natives were established, 

 then enganfed in takingr salmon : and Mr. Brackenridge observed the 

 mode of burial, which "differed essentially from the Chinook, the 

 graves being marked by a heap of stones surrounding an upright 

 post." It was necessary at last to cross the main Columbia; and these 

 natives, having become dissatisfied, from some unknown cause, the 

 chief saying "his heart was bad," were unwilling to lend us a canoe; 

 until they unexpectedly found us independent of them, in some mea- 

 sure, by the possession of balsas. One of our Canadians lost his gun ; 

 but it appeared literally to have been borrowed without leave, as sub- 

 sequently at the Company's Post, it was considered recoverable. 



On the 7th, we left the river, and ascended to the plain above; 

 where we passed a night without water, except a little we had brought 

 with us, and almost without fuel. The country was more level than 

 that west of the Columbia, and somewhat green and grassy; and but 

 for the scarcity of water, seemed well enough adapted for pasturage. 



On the 8th, we arrived at Okonagan ; where we found two White 

 men, Canadians, and the usual accompaniments of a trading-post, nu- 

 merous half-breeds, and a small encampment of natives outside the 

 stockade. Three or four ' bateaus,' of similar construction to our 

 river-boats of burden, were laid up on the bank. Canadians, it ap- 

 pears, are exclusively employed in navigating the Columbia; for the 

 knowledge the natives have of the river is local, extending only to 

 particular sections. 



On the bank of the Okonagan River, a large tributary which enters 

 the Columbia at this place, I observed a 'sweating-house.' It was 

 low, rounded, and covered with clay, affording scarcely room for more 

 than a single person; and it might readily have been mistaken for the 

 work of a beaver, or some similar animal. The steam was said to be 

 produced by means of heated stones. 



