6 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[July 2, 1904. 
ing-glass. We scon convinced them, however, that we 
were merely mortals, and after one of our chiefs had ex- 
plained our history and objects, we all smoked together 
in great harmony." 
Below this, other Indian villages were passed, and there 
was more or less intercourse between the white men and 
the Indians. On the 20th an island was visited, one end 
of which was devoted to the burial of the dead. _ The 
passage down the river continued to be more or less inter- 
rupted by rapids and falls, about which they were obliged 
to make portages. All the Indians seemed to be friendly, 
and seemed also to be in great dread of the Snake Indians, 
with whom they were constantly at war. # 
Here is described the method of certain tribes ot 
preparing fish, by drying, and pounding it fine, and then 
placing it in a basket, lined with skin of the salmon, 
and covering the top of the basket with skins. Fish 
prepared in this way would keep sound and sweet for 
years It was an article of trade between these people 
and those further down the river, who eagerly pur- 
chased it. The preparation seems to have been the 
equivalent of the pemmican, made of flesh, and so ex- 
tensively used on the eastern side of the Rocky 
Mountains. , 
The rapids which they constantly encountered greatly 
delayed them, and sometimes the contents of one or 
more boats were soaked by being upset, or by ship- 
ping water. Food was scarce, and they continued to 
purchase dogs for provisions. October 24, a change 
was noticed in the actions of the Indians, who seemed 
more suspicious than usual, and approached the travel- 
ers with more caution. This alarmed the two Indian 
chiefs who had come with them down the river, and 
they wished to leave the party and return to their own 
country. However, they were persuaded to remain 
two nights longer, since they had proved most useful 
in quieting the fears of the different tribes met with, and 
inspiring them with confidence in the white 
people. . .. 
A little later they met Indians, some of whom wore 
white men's clothing, said to have been traded with 
people further down the stream, and who had also a 
musket, a cutlass, and several brass kettles. A chief 
who had some white men's clothing, exhibited to the 
travelers, as trophies, fourteen dried forefingers which 
he told them had belonged to enemies whom he had 
killed in fighting, to the southeast. At a burial place 
were deposited brass kettles and frying-pans, with holes 
in the bottoms. The making holes in these vessels, 
which were to contain liquid, was, of course, tor the 
purpose of "killing" the vessel, that it might be use- 
ful to the spirit who was to use it in another life. Mot 
very far below this they first met the wappato, a word 
now firmly established in the vernacular of the North- 
wesf it is the root of the plant Sagitaria, well known 
as an excellent food for human beings, and eagerly 
eaten by wildfowl. The Indians with whom the ex- 
plorers now came in contact were troublesome mortals; 
very presuming, and disposed to take anything that 
was left about. They possessed still more articles of 
white men's manfacture, some having muskets and 
pistols. Below the mouth of -the Cowehske River they 
found an Indian who spoke a few words of English, 
and he gave them the name of the principal person 
who traded with them— a Mr. Haley. :: 
The river was now growing wider; there were great 
numbers of water fowl; and, on the afternoon of No- 
vember 7, the fog suddenly cleared away, and they saw 
the ocean, the object of all their labors, the reward of 
all their anxiety. The weather was almost constantly 
rainy, and they were continually wet. There were 
numerous villages along the river, and these were to 
be avoided, because, like all Indian villages recently 
passed, they were terribly infested by fleas. Among 
the water fowl killed in this locality were a goose and 
two canvasback ducks. The sea was heavy in this 
mouth of the river, and the motion so great that sev- 
eral of the men became seasick. They landed in the 
bay, but the hills came down so steeply to the water s 
edge that there was no room for them to make a 
satisfactory camp, nor to secure the baggage above 
high water. However, they raised the baggage on 
poles, and spent a most uncomfortable night tor 
some days now they camped on the beach wet co d 
and comfortless, with nothing but dried fish to satisfy 
their hunger. Hunters sent out failed to bring in any 
game, but they bought a few fresh fish from the Indians. 
On the 15th of November, however, the sun came out, 
and they were able to dry their merchandise; and, the 
wind falling, they loaded their canoes and after pro- 
ceeding a short distance, found a sand beach, where 
they made a comfortable camp. This was m full view 
of the ocean, quite on the route traversed by the In- 
dians many of whom visited them; and there was more 
or "ess the neighborhood, for the hunters brought 
in two deer, some geese and ducks, and a crane 
'It was now almost winter, and the travelers began 
to look out for a place where they might build their 
winter camp. The Indians reported deer and elk rea- 
sonably abundant on the opposite side of the bay; but 
on the other hand, the explorers wished to be near 
the ocean, that they might provide themselves with 
salt and also for the chance of meeting some of the 
trading vessels, which were expected m the - course of 
the nelt two or three months The ram continued, and 
the hunters were unsuccessful. A diet of dried fish 
was making the men ill, and the prospects were not 
brirfrt However, on the 2d of December one of the 
hunters killed an elk, the first taken on the west side 
of the Rocky Mountains; and we may imagine how 
much its flesh was enjoyed after the long diet of roots 
and fish And now for some time deer and elk were 
killed in great abundance; but the continued wet 
weather caused much of the flesh to spoil. The Indians 
seemed to be taking a good many salmon— presumably 
in the salt water of the bay— and they had many 
berries. 
The natives here were chiefly Clatsops, most of whom 
were kindly and cordial, reasonably hospitable and 
generous; but, at the same time, careful bargainers, 
fnd determined to get the worth of the goods which 
?hey desired to trade. The explorers found that blue 
Wads were the most valuable trade articles, and that 
the Indians cared little for those of any other color, 
except white; but even these were not highly valued 
in comparison with the blue beads. 
Christmas and New Years passed, and in the first 
days of January there came the news that a whale had 
been cast up on the beach. All the Indians hurried to 
it; and, following them, went Captain Clark and some 
of the men, and with them Chabonneau and his wife, 
the latter extremely anxious to venture to the edge of 
the salt water, and to see the enormous "fish" which 
had come ashore. The skeleton of the whale measured 
105 feet in length. 
"While smoking with the Indians, Captain Clark 
was startled about 10 o'clock by a loud, shrill cry from 
the opposite village, on hearing which all the natives 
immediately started up to cross the creek, and the 
guide informed him that some one had been killed. 
On examination, one of our men was discovered to be 
absent, and a guard was despatched, who met him 
crossing the creek in great haste. An Indian belong- 
ing to another band, and who happened to be with the 
Killamucks that evening, had treated him with much 
kindness, and walked arm in arm with him to a tent, 
where our man found a Chinnook squaw who was an 
old acquaintance. From the conversation and manner 
of the stranger, this woman discovered that his object 
was to murder the white man for the sake of the few 
articles on his person; and when he rose and pressed 
our man to go to another tent, where they would find 
something better to eat, she held McNeal by the blanket, 
Not knowing her object, he freed himself from her, 
and was going on with his pretended friend, when she 
ran out and gave; a shriek which brought the men of 
the village over, and the stranger ran off before McNeal 
knew what had occasioned the alarm." 
With a small load of blubber and oil, the party re- 
turned to the fort, where they found that game was 
still being killed, and endeavored to jerk some of it. 
Much is said in the journal about the various Indian 
tribes of the neighborhood, their method of hunting 
and fishing, their habitations, and their dress and im- 
plements. The canoes, and the skill in managing them, 
excited the unfeigned admiration of the white men; 
and the fact that such canoes could be constructed by 
people without axes, and armed only with a chisel, 
made of an old file, about an inch or an inch and 7 a 
half in width, seemed to them very extraordinary. It 
was noted that some of the Indians, especially the 
women, appeared to tattoo the legs and arms; and on 
the arm of one woman was read the name, J. Bowman; 
perhaps some trader who had visited the locality. 
Among these people women were very well treated, and 
old age was highly respected. 
Geo. Bird Grinnell. 
Swimming and Life-Saving. 
It has always struck me as curious that though Eng- 
lishmen are so fond of all athletic sports — though yacht- 
ing, boating, and fishing take so prominent a place 
among our sports and amusements — yet that we are such 
very bad swimmers. When at Cambridge I could never 
find anyone who would swim the half mile with me, and 
I doubt if there were twenty men at the University who 
could have swum half a mile. "Rather not, I get so 
pumped !" was the answer always made to my invitation. 
Yet there is no exercise which, when properly learnt, 
"pumps" one less or tires one less. After a five-mile 
race one's heart is not beating any faster than at the 
start, nor is one half so exhausted as after riding a 
bicycle up a steep hill. 
I often talked with Captain Webb about his Channel 
swim, and he told me that even after swimming for 
twenty-two hours his muscles were not very tired, and 
that it was weariness he felt more than exhaustion. We 
used to swim for two hours together twice a week when 
we were both training for some race. He was a slow 
swimmer, but swam in excellent style, which means he 
wasted none of his strength, and when I knew him he 
never swam pnything but the breast stroke. If I re- 
member rightly he never was any good at any of the side 
strokes, and he certainly swam the Channel on his breast. 
The Channel may be crossed again, but it is not very 
likely, as several good swimmers have tried and been 
beaten. Except for the pleasure of having to look out the 
Hellespont in the map, Byron's swim (which is, I sup- 
pose, more or less an historical event, as it is alluded to 
by every distributor of swimming prizes who wishes to 
show his learning) should be forgotten, and never al- 
luded to as a feat at all when compared with Webb's. 
Men are "pumped" because so few care to learn to 
swim properly, and are content to flounder and splutter 
about, thinking, apparently, that the faster they move 
their arms and legs, never mind in what direction, the 
more magnificent their swimming. 
Swimming is a question of balance, and that is why 
when once learnt it is never forgotten. The mistake in 
learning is that to avoid breathing in water boys, put their 
heads too far back, and so keep their mouths too far 
above the surface. Nobody will ever swim well or with 
any ease till he has learnt that it is not necessary to carry 
his neck like a strangled giraffe. This strained attitude 
upsets the balance. You will see every good swimmer 
in the world swimming with his mouth under water till 
the arms separate, his body will thus be straight, very 
high in the water, and he will be balanced properly. 
To learn to breathe properly means to learn to swim 
quickly and well. It is very simple; all that the tyro 
need remember is to breathe outward as his hands go 
forward, and to breathe inward directly his hands 
separate, which is the moment when his head is highest. 
I have found it useful, when teaching, to tell boys to 
"blow their hands from them" as a sort of memoria 
technica of the moment to breathe outward. I am sorry 
for lads whom I see learning to swim when they become 
apparently much distressed about the proper movement 
of their legs and arms, and much more sorely distressed 
really by the amount of bath water they are swallowing, 
of which the instructor takes no note, though the pupil 
does. 
One word more about learning. It is important — very 
—that the hands in breast-stroke swimming should work 
in the same horizontal plane as the body, and not down- 
ward; working them downward is a waste of strength; 
they are then only lifting the body out of, instead of pro- 
pelling it through, the water. It is important that boys 
should be taught the breast stroke properly. All boys 
think they can swim quicker on their sides, because when 
on their sides they see the water pass by their faces, and 
fancy that they are going as fast as a torpedo catcher. 
But it is a mistake. The proper side stroke now adopted 
by all amateurs and professionals for racing is very dif- 
ferent from what boys call "side stroke," and ought to be 
carefully learnt after a good breast stroke has been mas- 
tered. Nothing but a good breast stroke can save you in 
trouble, nor can you save a drowning man by any fancy 
swimming. 
Now for the second part of my text. Can there be 
a more hideous danger than that of swimming up to 
rescue a drowning and struggling man, who, fighting for 
his life and in the agony of suffocation, will seize you 
and clutch you and take you with him to the bottom? 
Drowning men are said to clutch at a straw, but for 
ch oice they prefer something more substantial. Summer 
after summer we read the same old story of the rescuer 
being clutched and drowned and two lives lost, one of 
LOOSENING THE HOLD OF A GRAPPLEK. 
them certainly being that of a b rave man. • Yet it is 
a mere question of three or four hours', teaching and 
practice to enable anyone to rescue a drowning man with 
but very little danger to the rescuer. 
It has been my painful duty to award the medals at the 
so-called life-saving competitions now taking place every 
summer at our public schools. Miserable and gloomy 
farces they are. A stuffed booby is pushed out about 
twenty yards into the water, and the boys jump in one 
after another and pull it to shore. The booby is then 
sunk, and the boys have to dive and bring it up, no direc- 
tions being given how properly to do so. Anything more 
unlike what one has to do when confronted with the 
danger of rescuing a struggling man it is impossible to 
conceive, and I hope the day is not far distant when pub- 
lic school boys will_ be ashamed to accept a medal for 
such a silly competition. 
When you swim up to a drowning man he will prob- 
HELPING AN EXHAUSTED SWIMMER. 
ably seize you by the wrists. If you. turn your wrist 
round against his thumbs he cannot hold you for a 
second, and the fact of his losing his hold on you will 
probably swing him round, so that you can then catch 
hold of him properly and bring him to shore, swimming 
on your back. 
My readers should be a little careful how they practice 
this, because if they try to hold on when the wrists are 
turned against their thumbs, the result may probably be 
dislocation. , , 
It is not safe, however, to assume that, the rescued 
man will remain quiet, nor will he, if any water splashes 
on his face; so the best way to hold him is to place your 
arms under his, and your hands on his chest. He cannot 
then turn round on you, and his head is higher out of 
water than when simply held by the head. If he seizes 
you by the head, which is the next most likely part to be 
grasped, you must put one arm behind his back, one hand 
under his chin, the arm behind pulls him toward you, the 
hand under the chin pushes his head backward and under 
water. He will let go of necessity. If he seizes you lower 
down you must put your knee up as high as it will go, 
and you can easily free yourself. All this is far easier 
to do than it is to describe, if only men will take the lit- 
tle trouble to learn. 
If the drowning man has sunk, you will generally see 
by the bubbles in still water whereabouts he is. Dive 
