FROM HEADWATERS OF THE MISSOURI TO DALLES OF THE COLUMBIA. 503 
A band of wolves favored us with a serenade last night, and continued their politeness by 
escorting us on our way to-day. 
Our dogs are nearly famished—poor fellows—but we are unable to increase their allowance. 
We have to hang our trains and harnesses up in trees at night, to keep them from eating off the 
raw-hide straps and buckskin strings. They have already managed to steal and eat two har¬ 
nesses, all except the collars. Travelled about twenty-five miles, and camped on the river. 
On the 17th, travelling was very bad all day, and we made but poor progress. The banks are 
often very broken and abrupt on one or both sides, and there are many rapids in the river where 
the stream does not freeze at all, and these generally occur where the banks are worst. Some 
places seemed impassable either by land or water. We sometimes found it necessary to pass 
where the water had overflowed the ice a few inches; this would wet the bottoms of the trains, 
and the moment they struck the snow again a portion of it would freeze to them, and no amount 
of scraping would make them run as easily as they did before. 
Last night it clouded up, and has remained cloudy ever since, and a little snow has fallen from 
time to time. 
Saw a few ducks along the river, and now and then the track of a marten on the banks; aho 
saw a black squirrel, on a pine tree, as we came into camp. This is not the first 1 have observed, 
however. 
January 18.—We were so fatigued by yesterday’s march that we overslept ourselves entirely 
last night. In fact we did not wake up till 10 o’clock in the morning: this, with a little accident 
that happened, detained us till about noon. 
The dogs or wolves, one or both—for they are on very good terms with each other—managed 
to pull down one of our trains from the tree in which it was hanging, and ate off every particle 
of its rigging, leaving us nothing but the bare boards. 
The men set about repairing the mischief with all possible despatch, but at the same time 
expressed themselves in no very amiable terms with regard to the perpetrators, as I judged from 
the frequent use of the expression, “ Sucre maudite chien ,” and the like. After making about six 
miles over a route very similar to that of yesterday, we camped about half a mile from the 
river. The weather has been clear and bright for the most of the day, but towards evening it 
clouded up and a little snow is falling. 
On the morning of the 19th we left camp about an hour before sunrise, in order to make up in 
some measure for our idleness of yesterday. The river has now become quite a stream. I did 
not measure its width, but estimated it to be about one hundred yards. Sometimes it rushes over 
ragged rapids with great impetuosity for a distance of half a mile, enclosed on both sides between 
banks composed to the water’s edge of hanging crags and big loose rocks. It was often a 
matter requiring some ingenuity and risk to get along at all. 
There is a trail somewhere along the right bank; but as I have no guide, it is out of the 
question to follow it, covered as it is with snow. At other points, generally on the concave 
side of some long bend, the banks fall back in a gentle slope for a mile or so to the base of the 
mountains. On some of these inclined intervals I observed a great many buffalo tracks leading 
from the mountain defiles to the water. This somewhat surprised me, as I was under the 
impression, from what I had learned, that no buffalo lived in these mountains. 
As I was picking my way along the river towards evening, some distance in advance of my 
party, an otter popped out of an air-hole near me and commenced playing about and smoothing 
down his sleek coat on the hard snow. I had nothing but my pistol with me, having left my rifle 
behind on one of the trains; but unwilling to lose my chances at him I fired, and he slid back 
into the water, but soon reappeared and continued his diversions, upon which I fired again with 
no better effect. After the third shot I went off and left him to his amusements, satisfied that my 
chances of killing him were not worth the pow'der and shot. This was the first one I had had 
the opportunity of seeing distinctly. His head was rather elongated and small in comparison to 
