PREFACE 
BY THE PUBLISHER. 
OF the various publications which unite amuse- 
ment and information, few can be justly held in 
higher estimation than the Journals and Narratives 
of Travellers and Voyagers : and in our own highly 
favoured country, the diffusion of general knowledge, 
the enterprizing spirit of the people, their commer- 
cial pursuits and habits of emigration, render such 
works particularly valuable and interesting ; while 
the vigorous and unrestrained mind of the free A- 
merican, by amplifying and embellishing the scenes 
presented to its view, enjoys the choicest luxuries 
of the entertainment they are calculated to afford. 
If it is conceded that discoveries made in North 
America are more important to the people of the 
United States than those made elsewhere, it will not 
be difficult to shew that none could have been made 
of so much importance to them in any part of the 
world as in the large tracts of country through which 
the late expedition, under the command of Captain 
Lewis and Captain Clarke, passed. For if we take a 
view of the different discoveries and settlements pre- 
viously made, we will find that those tracts through 
which the Missouri and Columbia rivers, and their 
branches flow, commonly called unknown region.?^^ 
were the only parts remaining unexplored, which 
could be considered valuable- 
