TRAVELS IN OREGON, NO.l. 445 
of clothing they have been able to procure in trade from 
the emigrants; for we had now entirely quitted the 
country where hawks’ bills, beads and Vermillion were 
the current coin, and found that here only useful articles, 
and chiefly clothing, were in great request. These, 
however, are eagerly sought after, and for a few trifling 
pieces of clothing, travellers may procure food sufficient 
to carry them to the Columbia. 
“We made a long stretch across the upper plain, and 
encamped on the bluff* where the grass was very green 
and good, the soil of the upper plains containing a con¬ 
siderable proportion of calcareous matter. This green 
freshness of the grass was very remarkable for the sea¬ 
son of the year. Again we heard the roar of the fall in 
the river below, where the water in an unbroken volume 
goes over a descent of several feet.” 
At Wallawalla the Columbia is still one thousand two 
hundred and eighty-six feet above the sea-level, and is 
three thousand five hundred feet wide. Turning to the 
westward it now pursues a rapid course for eighty miles, 
and then enters the Cascade Mountains, where a series 
of falls and rapids make its canoe navigation only prac¬ 
ticable by portages. Before entering these mountains, 
it receives from the south the Umatilla, Quisnel’s, John 
Day’s and Chute rivers, and from the north Cathlatate’s 
river. Forty miles of still-water navigation are afforded 
Irom the rapids of the Cascade Mountains to the next 
series of similar obstructions, and to these last succeed a 
hundred and twenty miles of navigation to the ocean. 
Vessels drawing twelve feet of water can pass through 
this part of the river, although numerous sand bars ren¬ 
der the navigation somewhat unsafe. 
So recently as 1819, the lower part of this river and 
its precise outlet were unknown. For two-thirds of the 
year its entrance is impracticable, and it is equally dang* 
erous to leave it. The greatest portion of the valuable 
