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HE continent of North America is about three thou- sand miles across, from the Atlantic on the east to the Pacific on the west ; and, after an interval of three centuries since the discovery and settlement of the countiy, the civilised races, who aVe chiefly of English origin, have not generally penetrated with their possessions above a thii^i ot the entire breadth. The progress of en- croachr.ient in the western wilderness, however, is now ex- ceedingly rapid. Since the deliverance of the New England and other states from British control, the Anglo-Americans have evinced a singularly energetic spirit of migration towards what was, seventy years ago, an almost unknown land. Crossing the Alleghany range of mountains, from the Atlantic or old settled jitates, they have taken possession of the valley of the Mississippi, a tract as large as all Europe ; and approachmg the head waters of the Missouri and other tributaries of the Mississippi, appear prepared to cross the Rocky Mountains — " the Great Backbone of America," as they have not unaptly been called — and take pos- session of the Oregon country, lying on the shores of the Pacific. This extension of the boundaries of civilisation over a country hitherto abandoned to roaming tribes of Indians, and herds of wild animals, is at present one of the most remarkable facts in social history. Since the beginning of the present century, the population of the United States has increased from four millions to twenty millionf ; and following the same rate of increase, in less than a century hence the population will have increased to upwards of a hundred and fifty millions — all speaking the Eng- No. 45. -.' 1 lift 'A EXCURSION TO THE OHEGON. lish lanf^nag^ft, and possessing" institutions resembling our own. Yet, althouj^h the extension of the Ang-lo-American settlements be comparatively rapid, it is not effected without numerous diffi- culties. Those who tirst penetrate into the wilderness are usu- ally parties of fur traders ; and by these hardy pioneers, and the volunteer travellers who accompany them, the way may be said to be in some measure paved tor the more formal visits of sur- veyors, and the new occupaoitB of the country. The journeys of these pioneering" parties are attended with many dang-ers. The setting out of an expedition resembles a caravan of pilg-rims sallying" foi-th across the African deaerts ; civilisation is for months, perhaps for years, left behind ; no vestige of house or road is seen on the apparently interminable wastes ; journeying is performed only on horseback during the day, while repose is enjoyed in tents pitched for the night ; a constant outlook must be kept for prowling wild beasts, or the not less stealthy steps of the Pawnee Loup Indian : in short, all is wild nature, roman- tic enough perhaps to untamed minds, but as we can imagine altogether unendurable by persons accustomed to the quiet and orderly life of cities. Strange as it seems, however, there are highly cultivated individuals who, inspired by a love of science, or for the mere sake of sport, voluntarily make part of the fur-trading bands, and consent to remain for years from home, friends, and the world of refinement. Believing that the account of one of these romantic expedi- tions cannot but be acceptable to our readers, we oifer in the present sheet the history of an excursion performed a few years ago by Mr Townsend, an enthusiastic ornithologist, and his jfriend Professor Nuttall, of Howard university, an equally zealous botanist.* Being desirous of increasing the existing stock of knowledge in the departments of science to which they were respectively attached, these gentlemen agreed to accompany a body of traders, commanded by a Captain Wyeth, to the Colum- bia river and adjacent parts. The traders belonged to an asso- ciation called the Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company, and on this occasion they designed to lix a permanent branch- establishment in the west. On the evening of the 24th of March 1834, the two friends arrived in a steamboat at St Louis, on the Missouri, from Pitts- burg*. At St Louis, which is the last great town within the settlements, they furnished themselves with several pairs of leathern pantaloons, enormous overcoats, and white wool hats with rovmd crowns, fitting tightly to the head, and almost hard enough to resist a musket ball. Leaving their baggage to come on with the steamer, about three hundred miles farther up the * We draw ibe materials for our account from " An Excursion to tlio Rocky Mountains, by J. K. Townsend ;" a work publialied at Philadelpliia in 1839. 2 EXCUnSION TO THE OREGON. r Missouri, Mr Townsend and his friend set off to .nmuse thern- sftlves by walking" and huntinfr leisurely throug;!! that distance, which is composed i iiefly of wade flat prairies, with few and remotely situated habitations of the frontier settlers. One of the first indications of their approach to a wild country was the spectacle of a band of Indians of the Saque tribe, who w^ere removine" to new settlements. The men were fantastically painted, and trie chief was disting-uished by a profuse display of trinkets, and a hug'e necklace made of the claws of the grizzly bear. The decorations of one of the women amused the two travellers. , She was an old squaw, to whom was presented a broken umbrella. The only use she made of this prize was to wrench the plated ends from the whalebones, string' tbem on a piece of wire, take her knife from her belt, with which she deli- berately cut a slit of an inch in leng-th along" the upper rim of her ear, and insert them in it. The sig-ht was as shocking" to the feelings as it was grotesque ; for the cheeks of the vain being" were covered with blood as she stood with fancied dignity in the midst of twenty others, who evidently envied her the possession of the worthless baubles. While pushing forward on the borders of the wilderness, the travellers one day arrived at the house of a kind of g'entleman- settler, who, wuth his three daughters, vied in showing kind- ness to their visitors. "The girls," says Mr Townsend, " w^re veiy superior to most that I had seen in Missouri, although somewhat touched with the awkward bashfulness and prudery which generally characterise the prairie maidens. They had lost their mother when young, and having no companions out of the domestic circle, and consequently no opportunity of aping the manners of the world, w-ere perfect children of na- ture. Their father, however, had given them a good plain education, and they had made some proficiency in needlework, as was evinced by numerous neatly-worked samplers hanging in wooden frames round the room." Some little curiosity and astonishment was excited in the minds of the unsophisticated girls when they were informed that their two guests were imder- taking a long and difhcult journey across the prairies — one of them for the pur] se of shooting and stuffing birds, the other for the purpose of ootaining- plants to preserve between leaves of paper; but at last they began to perceive that probably there was some hidden utility in these seemingly idle pursuits; and the last words of the eldest Miss P to our ornitholosrist at parting w^ere, " Do come again, and come in May or June, for then there are plenty of prairie-hens, and you can shoot as many as you want, and you must stay a long while with us, and we'll have nice times. Good-by; I'm so sorry you're going." Miss P , in promising an abundance of prairie-hens, evidently did not perceive in what respect an ornithologist differed from a sportsman ; but her invitation was kindly jneant ; and Mr i *.< EXCURSION TO THE OREGON. Townsend promiaed, that if ever he visited Missouri again, he would go a good many miles out of his way to see her and her sisters. Tlie next resting-place which our traveller describes, was very different from Mr P 's comfortable and cheerful house. It was a hotel, for which a pigsty would have been a more appro- priate name. Everything and everybody were dirty, disobligmg, and disagreeable ; and jifter staym^ one night, the travellers refusing the landlord's invitation to Uqiiorise with him, departed without waiting for breakfast. In the case of our travellers, however, one of the last impres- sions left upon them before fairly entering the wilderness was of a more agreeable and suitable aescription. '' In about an hour and a half," savs Mr Townsend, " we arrived at Fulton, a pretty little town, ancl saw the villagers in their holiday clothes paraa- ing along to church. The bell at that moment sounded, and the peal gave rise to many reflections. It might be long ere I should near the sound of the * church-going bell' again. I was on my way to a far, far country, and I did not know that I should ever be permitted to revisit my own. I felt that I was leaving the scenes of my childhood — the spot which had witnessed all the happiness I ever knew, the home where all my aifections were centei-ed. I was entering a land of strangers, and would be compelled hereafter to mingle with those who might look upon me with indifference, or treat me with neglect." The travellers, tired of their long journey on foot, waited at a small village on the Missouri till their companions and baggage should come up. The steamer arrived on the 9th of April, and the two pedestrians having gone on board, it was soon puffing up the river at the rate of seven miles an hour. In four days they reached the small town of Independence, the outermost Anglo-American post, and disembarking, they began to prepare for their long" and venturesome journey. Mr Townsend here introduces a aescription of the company, about fifty in all. There were amongst the men, to compose the caravan, a great variety of dispositions. Some, who had not been accustomed to the kmd of life they were to lead, looked forward to it with eager delight, and talked of stirring incidents and hairbreadth escapes. Others, who were more experienced, seemed to be as easy and unconcerned about it as a citizen would be in contera- |)lating a drive of a few miles into the country. Some were evidently reared in the shade, and not accustomed to hardships ; many were almost as rou^-h as the grizzly bear, and not a little proud of their feats, of wlxich they were fond of boasting ; but the majority were strong able-bodied men. During the day, the captain kept all his men employed in arranging and packing a vast variety of goods for carriage. In addition to the necessary clothing for the company, arms, ammunition, &c. there were thousands of trinkets of various kinds, beads, paint, bells, rings, and such like trumpery, intended as presents for th« Indians, as well as objects 4 * EXCURSION TO THE OREGON. „ of trade with them. The bales were usually made to weif^li about eighty pounds, of which a horse was to carry two. Ciip- tain Wyeth insured the good-will and obedience ot the men by his affable but lirm manner, and showed himself eveiy wjiy suit- able for hi.s very important mission. In the company there were also live missionaries, the principal of whom, Mr Jasou Lee, was " a tall and powerful man, who looked as though he were well calculated to buffet difficulties in a wild country." Before setting- out, they were joined also by Mr Milton Sublette, a trader and trapper of several years' standing, who intended to travel a part of the way with them. Mr Sublette brought with him about twenty trained hunters, "true as the steel of their tried blades," who had more than once gone over the very track which the caravan intended to pursue — a reinforcement which was very welcome to Captain Wyeth and his party. THE CARAVAN SETS OUT. On the 28th of April, at ten o'clock in the morning", all things bein^ prepared, the caravan, consisting of seventy men and two- hundred and lifty horses, began its march towards the west. All were in high spirits, and full of hope of adventure; up- roarious bursts of merriment, and gay and lively songs, con- stantly echoed along the line of the cavalcade. The road lay over a vast rolling prairie, with occasional small spots of timber at the distance ot several miles apart, and this was expected to be the complexion of the track for some weeks. For the tirst day and night the journey was agreeable, but on the second day a heavy rain fell, Avhich made the ground wet and muddy, soaked the blanket bedding, and rendered camping at night anything but pleasant. The description given ot a nightly camp is in- teresting* : — " The party is divided into messes of eight men, and each mess is allowed a separate tent. The captam of a mess (who is generally an 'old hand') receives each morning rations of pork, flour, kc. for his people, and they choose one of their boay as cook for the whole. Our camp now consists of nine messes, of which Captain Wyeth's forms one, although it con- tains only four persons besides the cook. When we arrive in the evening at a suitable spot for encampment. Captain Wyeth rides round a space which he considers large enough to accommodate it, and directs where each mess shall pitch its tent. The men immediately unload their horses, and place their bales of goods in the direction indicated, and in such manner as, in case of need, to form a sort of fortification and defence. When all the messes are arranged in this way, the camp forms a hollow square, in the centre of which the horses are placed and staked firmly to the ground. The guard consists or from six to eight men, is relieved three times each night, and so arranged that each gang' may serve alternate nights. The captain of a guard (who is generally also the captain of a mess) collects his people at the 5 t RVB EXCimSlON TO THE OREGON. appointed hour, and posts them nround outside the camp in such situations that thfiy may command a view of the environs, and he ready to give the alarm in case of dano:er. The captain cries the liour rej^ularly hy a watch, and all's well, every fifteen minutes, and each man of the jyuard is required to repeat this call in rotation, which if any one sliould fail to do, it is fair to conclude that he is asleep, and he is then immediately visited and stirred up. In case of defection of this kind, our laws ad- judg'e to the delinquent the hard sentence of walking" three days. As yet, none of our poor fellows have incurred this penalty, and the probability is, that it would not o.t this time be enforced, as we are yet in a country where little molestation is to be appre- hended ; but in the course of another week's travel, when thiev- ing' and ill-designing Indians will be out, lying on our trail, it will be necessary that the strictest watch be kept ; and for the preservation of our persons and property, that our laws shall be rigidly enforced." For about a fortnight the caravan proceeded without any very remarkable incident occurring. The cook of the mess to which Mr Townsend belonged decamped one night, having* no doubt become tired of the expedition, and determined to go back to the settlements. The man himself Avas little missed; but he had taken a rifle, powd«p-horn, and shot-pouck along with him, and these articles were precious. In a few days after, three other men deserted, likewise carrying* rifles with them. In the course of the fortnig'ht the cai'avan passed through sev v;ral villages of the Kaw Indians', with whom they traded a little, giving bacon and tobacco in exchange for hides. These Indians do not appear, on the wliole, to have been veiy fa/AOurable specimens of the American aborigines. The men had many of them fine counte- nances, but the women were veiy homely. The following is a description of one of their chiefs : — " lu the evening the principal Kanzas chief paid us a visit in our tent. Pie is a young man about twenty-five years of age, straight a« a poplar, and with a noble countenance and bearing, but he appeai'ed t& me to be marvel- lously deficient in most of the requisites which go to make the character of a reed Indian chief, at least of suck Indian chiefs as we read of in our popuilar books. I begin to suspect, in truth, that these lofty antl dignified attributes are more apt to exist in the fertile brain of the novelist tlian in reality. Be this as it may, o?ir chief is a very lively, Inughino", and rather play ful personage; perhaps he may piit on his dignity, like a glove, when it suits his convenience." On the 8th of May the party had a misfortune in the loss of Mr Milton Sublette, who, owing to a fungus in one of his legs, was obliged to^ return to the settlements. On the afternoon of next day, the party crossed a broad Indian trail, beaj'ing northerly, sujjposed to be about five days old, and to have been made by a war-party of Pawnees. Hoping to escape these for- 6 : n WJ Ml Excunsropf to tub Oregon. midable enemies of th« white man, tlie party pushed on, but not witlioutocciisionai mi^ljaps ; at one time tlie horses ran away, and had to be chased for a wliohi nij^'ht, and even when tlie hibour of the chase was over, three were irrecoverably lost ; at another time half of the party were drenched crosainjif a wide creek full of black mud, which the men had to tiounder throufrh on lu^rse- back. The weather, too, washecominjj;* intoleral)ly wiirui. Tliey had frequently been favoured with fresh breezes, which made ifc very ag'reeable ; but the moment these failed, they were almost suftbcated Avith intense heat. Their rate of travelling' was about twenty miles per day, which in this warm weather, and with heavily burdened horses, was as much as could be accomplished with comfort to the travellers and their animals. The <>'eneral aspect, however, of the country throuijli which they were travelling", was exceeding^ly beautiful, "The littl« streams are fring-ed with a thick g'rowth of pretty trees and bushes, and the buds are now swelling-, and the leaves expanding', to 'welcome back the spring'.' The birds, too, sing" Joyously among-st them — g-rosbeiiks, thrushes, jind bunting's — a merry and musical band. I am ])articul;irly fond of snllying' out early iu the morning", and strolling: around the camp. The ii^"ht breeze just bends the tall tops of the g-rass on the boundless prairie, the birds are commencing- 1 heir matin carolling"s, and all nature looks fresh and beautiful. The horses of the camp are lying" comfort- ably on their sides, and seem, by the g-lances which they g-ive me in passing", to know that their hour of toil is approachiiig*, and the patient kine are ruminating" in happy unconsciousness." One morninj^ the scouts came in with the intellig'ence that they had found a larg-e trail of white men bearing' north-west. Cap- tain Wyeth and his party concluded that this was another cara- van belonging- to a rival trading company, and that it had pasised them noiselessly in the course of the nig'ht, in order to be before- hand with thera in traffic with the Indian tribes through which they were passing. The party grumbled a little at the unfriendly conduct of the rival caravan in stealing a march upon them ; but consoled themselves by making the rejection, that competition is the soul of commerce, and that, in the same circumstances, they would in all probability have acted in the same way. While dis- cussing the affair at breakfast, three Indians, of a tribe called tiu^ Ottos, made their appearance. These visitors were suspected of being concerned in the loss of the three horses mentioned above ; but as the crime could not be brought home to them by my kind of evidence, they were received in a friendly manner ; and, as usual, the pipe of peace was smoked with them. " While these people," says Mr Townsend, " were smoking the pipe of peace with us after breakfast, I observed that Richard- son, our chief hunter (an experienced man in this country, of a tall and iron frame, and almost child-like simplicity of cha- racter, in fiict, an exact counterpart of Hawk-eye in his younger 7 ' «, y EXCURSION TO THE OREGON. days), Btood aloof, and refused to sit in the circle, in whicli i% Wtos always the custom of the old hands to join. Feelinj^" some curiosity to ascertain the cause of this unusual diffidence, I occasionally allowed my eyes to wander to the spot where our sturdy hunter stood looking moodily upon us, as tfie calaraet passed from hand to hand around the circle, and I thoug-ht I perceived him now and then cast a furtive glance at one of the Indians who sat opposite to me, and sometimes hi* countenance would assume an expression almost demoniacal, a» thoug'h the most fierce and deadly passions were rag-ing" in hi* bosom. I felt certain that hereby hung a tale, and I watched for a corresponding expression, or at least a look of consciousness, in the lace of my opposite neighbour; but expression there wa* none. His large features were settled in a tranquillity which nothing could disturb, and as he puffed the smoke in huge volume* from His mouth, and the fragrant vapour wreathed and curled around his head, he seemed the embodied spirit of meekness and taciturnity. The camp moved soon after, and I lost no time in overhauling Richardson, and asking an explanation of his singular conduct. * Why,' said he, ' that lujen that sat opposite to you is my bitterest enemy. I was once going down alone from the rendezvous with letters for St Louis, and when I arrived on the lower part of the Platte river — just a short distance beyond us here — I fell iu with about a dozen Ottos. They were known to be a friendly tribe, and I therefore felt no fear of them. I dismounted from my horse, and sat with them upon the ground. It was in the depth of winter; the ground was covered with snow, and the river was frozen solid. While I was thinking of nothing but my dinner, which I was then about preparing, four or five of the cowarda jumped on me, mastered m,y rifle, and held my arms fast, while they took from me my kniie and tomahawk, my flint and steel, and all my ammunition. They then loosed me, and told me to be ofl; I begged them, for the love of God, to give me my rifle and a few loads of ammunition, or I should starve before I could reach the settlements. No; I should have nothing; and if I did not start off immediately, they would throw ine under the ice of the river. And,' continued the excited hunter, while he ground his teeth with bitter and uncontrollable rag'e, * that man that sat. opposite to you was the chief of them. He recognised me, and knew very well the reason why I would not smoke with him. I tell you, sir, if ever I meet that man in any other situation than that in which I saw him this morning, I'll shoot him with as little hesitation as I would shoot a deer. Several years have passed since the perpetration of this outrage, but it is still as fresh in my memory as ever ; and I again declare, that if ever an op- portunity ofters, I will kill that man.' * But, Richardson, did they take your horse also?' * To be sure they did, and my blan- kets, and everythirtg I had, except my clothes.' * But how did 8 ,. ft I if- EXCnnsfoN to THB OREOOff. you subsist until you reached the settlements 1 You had a lonff lourney before you.' * Why, set to trappin' nrairie squirrels with little nooses made out of the hairs of my head.' I should remark that his hair was so lon^ that it fefl in heavy masses on his shoulders. * But squirrels in winter, Richardson ! I never heard of squirrels in winter.' * Well, but there was plenty of them, thou<:^h ; little white ones, that lived amon^ the snow.' " Such is a trait of human naiire in these far western reg-ions. On the 18th of May the party reached the Platte river, one of the streams which pour their waters into the Missouri. Wolves and antelopes were abundant in the neig-hbourhood of fhe river, and herons and long-billed curlews were stalking about in the shallows, searching" for food. The prairie is here as level xis a race-course, not the slightest undulation appearing" through- out the whole extent of vision in a northerly and westerly direc- tion; but to the eastward of the river, and about eighi miles from it, was seen a rang:e of hig"h blnfts, or sand-banks, stretching away to the south-east till lost in the far distance. The travellei-s were not less struck with the solemn grandeur of the apparently boundless prairie, than with the sight of its surface, Avhich was in many places encrusted with an impure salt, seemingly a com- bination of the sulphate and muriate of soda : there were also seen a number of little pools, of only a few inches in depth, scat- tered over the plain, the water of which was so bitter and pun- g'ent, that it seemed to penetrate into the tongue, and almost to take the skin from the mouth. Next morning the party were alarmed with the appearance of two men on horseback, hovering on their path at a great distance. On looking at them with a telescope, they were discovered to be Indians, and on their ap- proach it was found they belonged to a large band of the Grand Pawnee tribe, who were on a war-excursion, and encamped at about thirty miles' distance. Having got rid of these suspicious visitors, the party moved rapidly forward in an altered direction, and did not slacken their pace till twelve o'clock at night. After a brief rest, they again went on, travelling steadily the whole day, and so got quite clear of the Grand Pawnees. The travellers were now proceeding across one of the large central prairies of North America, and were, as they reckoned, within three days' journey of the buiFalo region: that is, the region haunted by herds of buffalo. The uninitiated of the partj, who for a good many days past had been listening to the spirit- stirring accounts given by the old hunters of their sport in the buffalo region, began to grow impatient for the first sight of this animal, the tenant of the prairies. At length, on the after- noon of the 20th, they came in sight of a large gang of the long- coveted buffalo. They were grazing on the opposite side of the Platte, as quietly as domestic cattle ; but as they neared them, the foremost winded the travellers, and started back, and the whole herd followed in the wildest confusion, and were soon out of 7 9 i letu i iMi.te Tr^ EXCUnSION TO THE OREGON. sijrhfc. There must liave been many thousands of them. Towards evening a large band of elk ciirae on at full g-allop, and passed very near the party. The a|>pearance of these animals pro- duced a singular effect upon the horses, all of which became restive, and about half of the loose ones broke away, and scoured over ^he plain in ful'. chase after the elk. Captain Wyeth and several of his men went immediately in pursuit of them, and re- turned late at nig-ht, brinsring the g-reater number. Two had, however, been lost irrecoverably. By an observation, the lati- tude was found to be 40 degrees 31 minutes north, and the com- puted distance from the Missouri settlements about 30(> miles. The day following", the party saw several small herds of buffalo on their side of the river. Two of the hunters started out after a hug-e bull that had separated himself from his companions, and g-ave him chase on fleet horses. Away went the buffalo, and away went the men, as hard as they could dash ; now the huni)ers g-ained upon him, and pi'essed him hard ; again the enormous creature had the advantage, plunging with all his might, his ter- rific horns often ploughing up the earth as he spurned it under him. Sometimes he would double, and rush so near the horses as almost to gore them with his horns, and in an instant would be off in a tangent, and throw his pursuers from the track. At length the poor animal came to bay, and made some unequivocal demonstrations of combat, raising and tossing his head furiously, and tearing up the ground with his feet. At this moment a shot was fired. The victim trembled like an aspen leaf, and fell on his knees, but recovering himself in an instant, started again as fast as before. Ag*ain the determined hunters dashed after him, but the poor bull was nearly exhausted : he proceeded but a shoi-t dis- tance, and stopped again. The hunters approached, rode slowly by him, and shot two balls through his body with the most per- fect coolness and precision. During the i*ace — the whole of which occurred in full view of the party — the men seemed wild with the excitement which it occasioned : and when the animal fell, a shout rent the air which startled tlie antelopes by dozens from the bluffs, and sent the wolves howling from their lairs. This is the most common mode of killing* the buffalo, and is practised very generally by the travelling hunters: many are also destroyed by approaching them on foot, when, if the bushes are sufficiently dense, or the grass high enough to affoini conceal- ment, the hunter, by keeping carefully to leeward of his game, may sometimes approach so near as almost to touch the animal. If on a plain without grass or bushes, it is necessary to be very circumspect ; to approach so slowly as not to excite alarm, and when observed by the animal, to imitate dexterously the clumsy motions of a young bear, or assume the sneaking prowling atti- tude of a woff, in order to lull suspicion. The Indians resort to another stratagem, which is perhaps even more successful. The skin of a calf is properly dressed, with the head and legs left at- I f I EXCURSION TO THE OREGON'. taclied to it. The Indian envelopes himself in this, and w ith his short bow and a brace of arrows ainblcs otf into the very midst of a herd. When he has selected such an animal as suits his fancy, he comes close alongside of it, and without noise passes an arrow throujrh its heart. One arrow is always sufficient, aiul it is pfenerally delivered with such force, that at least half the shaft appears throug-h the opposite side. The creature tottei*s, and is about to fall, when the Indian prlides around, and draws the arrow from the wound lest it should be broken. A sing-le Indi;ui is said to kill a gi'eat number of butialoes in this way before any alarm is communicated to the herd. Towards evening", on ascending* a hill, the party were suddenly g:reeted by a sight which seemed to astonish even tlie oldest among-st them. The whole plain, as far as the eye could discern, was covered by one enormous mass of buffalo. The scene, at the very least computiition, would certainly extend ten miles, and in the whole of this g-reat space, including- about eig-lit miles in width from the bluifs to the river bank, there was apparently no vista in the incalculable multitude. It Avas truly a sig-ht that would have excited even the dullest mind to enthusiasm. The party rode up to within a few hundred yards of the edge of the herd l>eibre any alarm was communicated ; then the bulls, which are always stationed around as sentinels, beg"an pawing' the f^round and throwing" the earth over their heads ; in a lew moments they started in a slow clumsy canter, but as the hunters neared them they quickened their pace to an astonishing-ly rapid g"allop, and in a few minutes were entirely beyond the reach of their g"uns, but were still so near that their enormous horns and long" shagg:y beards were very distinctly seen. Shortly after encamping:, the hunters brought in the choice part? of live that they had killed. Of the animals belong"ing' to those vast hei*ds which the hunters kill, only a small portion is usually taken for food. Mr Towns- end and two of his associates having: killed a bull buffalo, they proceeded to cut it up in the following- approved manner : — The animal was lirst raised from his side where he had lain, and su]i- ported upon his knees, with his lioufs turned under him ; a long-i- tudinal incision was then made from the nape or antenor base of the hump, and continued backward to the loins, and a large portion of the skin from each side removed ; these pie(;es of skin were placed upon the g^round, with tlie under surface uppermost, and the fleeces, or masses of meat taken from along; the back, were laid upon them. These fleeces, from a large auinial, will weigh ]ierhap:; a Inmdred pounds each, and com}»rifie tlie whole of the hump on each side of the vertit"al processes (comuKuily called the hump rib^), which are attached to the vertebne. Tlie fleeces are considered the choice parts of the bufl'alo, and here, where the game is so abundant, nothing- else is taken, if we ex- cept the tong"ue and an occasional marrow-bone. This, it must u ^P"^ EXCURSION TO THE OREGON. be confessed, appears like a useless and unwarrantable waste of the g-oods of Providence ; but when are men economical, unless compelled to be so by necessity ? The food of the hunters con- sists for months of nothing but this kind of buffalo meat, roasted, and cold water — no bread of any kind. On this rude fare they enjoyed the best health, clear heads, and high spirits. One night shortly after their first encounter with the buffalo, Mr Townsend entering his tent about eleven o'clock, after having served as a supernumeraiy watch for several hours, was stooping to lay his gun in its usual place at the head of his couch, when he was startled by seeing a pair of eyes, wild and bright as those of a tiger, gleaming from a dark corner of the lodge, and evidently directed upon him. " My first impression," he says, " was that a wolf had been lurking around the camp, and had entered the tent in the prospect of finding meat. My gun was at my shoulder instmctively, my aim was directed between the eyes, and my finger pressed the trigger. At that moment a tall Indian sprang before me with a loud ivah ! seized the gun, and elevated the muzzle above my head; in another instant a second Indian was by my side, and I saw his keen knife glitter as it left the scabbard. I had not time for thought, and was struggling with all my might with the first savage for the recovery of my weapon, when Captain Wyeth and the other inmates of the tent were aroused, and the whole matter was explained, and set at rest in a moment. The Indians were chiefs of the tribe of Pawnee Loups, who had come with their young men to shoot buffalo : they had {)aid an evening visit to the captain, and as an act of courtesy, lad been invited to sleep in the tent. I had not known of their arrival, nor did I even suspect that Indians were in our neigh- bourhood, so could not control the alarm which their sudden appearance occasioned me. These Indians," continues Mr Towns- end, "were the finest looking of any I had seen. Their persons were tall, straight, and finely formed; their noses slightly aquiline, and the whole countenance expressive of high and daring intrepidity. The fiice of the taller one was particularly admirable, and Gall or Spurzheim, at a single glance at his magnificent, head, would have invested him with all the noblest qualities of the species. I know not what a physiognomist would have said of his eyes, but they were certainly the most wonderful I ever looked into; glittering and scintillating constantly, like the mirror-glasses in a lamp frame, and rolling and dancing iu their orbits as though possessed of abstract volition." APPROACH TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. As the party, leaving the Pawnees and the buffalo behind, began to approach the mountain district, the country altered its appearance greatly for the worse. They were now on a great sandy waste, forming a kind of upper table-land of North 12 i r ♦ ^^m 1 r » EXCURSION TO THE OREGON. America — a reg-ion without enliven the scene, and black g-nats, which assail the the unhappy traveller. It a single in green thing: to vary and abounding- in swarms of ferocious little eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth of is necessaiy, however, to pursue a route in this direction, in order to find accessible passes throug-h the Rocky Mountains, which are impenetrable more to the north-west. Making- the best of their way over the inhospitable desert, and fortunately escaping- any roving bands of unfriendly Indians, the cavalcade struck throug-h a range of stony moun- tains, called the Black Hills, and in a few days afterwards came in si":ht of the Wind River Mountains, which form the loftiest land m the northeni continent, and are at all times covered with snow of dazzling- whiteness. From the great height above the level of the sea which the party had attained, the climate was found to be cold, even although in summer; the plains were covered only by the scantiest herbage ; and frequently there was great difficulty in obtaining a supply of water for the camp. The painfulness of the journey, therefore, was now extreme, both for man and beast. Occasionally, however, a green spot did occur, where the jaded horses were allowed to halt, to roam about without their riders, and to tumble joyfully on the verdant sward ; and as these oases always abounded in birds and plants, our two naturalists were loath to leave them. Nor was their joui-ney through the inhos- pitable region of the hills devoid of incidents to vary the mono- tony of the way, and provoke hearty laughs from the whole jiax'ty. One afternoon, one of the men had a somewhat perilous adventure with a grizzly bear. He saw the animal crouching his huge frame among some willows which skirted the river, and, approaching on horseback to within twenty yards, fired upon him. The bear was only slightly wounded by the shot, and, with a fierce growl of angry malignity, rushed from his cover, and gave chase. The horse happened to be a slow one, and for the distance of half a mile the race was severely contested — the bear frequently approaching so near the terrified animal as to snap at his heels, while the equally terrified rider, who had lost his hat at the start, used whip and spur with the most frantic diligence, frequently looking behind, from an influence which he could not resist, at his rugged and determined foe, and shrieking in an agony of fear, ' Shoot him ! shoot him ! ' The man, who was a young hunter, happened to be about a mile behind the main body, either from the indolence of his horse or his own carelessness; but as he approached the party in his desperate flight, and his pitiable cries reached the ears of the men in fi'ont, about a dozen of them rode to his assistance, and soon succeeded in diverting the attention of his pertinacious foe. After the bear had received the contents of all the guns, he fell, and was soon despatched. The man rode in among his fellows, pale and haggard from overwrought feelings, and was EXCURSION TO THE OREGON. ▼ probably effectually cured of a propensit}' for meddling" with gTiizly bears. On the 19th of June, the party arrived on tlie Green river, or Colorado of the west, which thoy forded, and encamped upon a 8pot which was to form a rendezvous for all the mountain companies who left the states in spring*, and also the trappers who come from various parts with furs collected by them during the previous year. Our traveller relates a misfortune which happened to him here. Having* sallied forth with his g"un, and wandered about for several hours shooting- birds, he found on returning' to the camp that his party had quitted the spot. In pursuing their track, he had to swim his horae across a deep and swift stream. After coming up with the party, he was congratulating himself on his escape from being drowned, when he found that he had lost his coat. " I had felt,'" he says, " uncomfortably warm when I mounted, and had removed the coat and attached it carelessly to the saddle ; the rapidity of the current had disengag-ed it, and it was lost for ever. The coat itself was not of much consequence after the bard service it had seen, but it contained the second volume of my journal, a pocket compass, and other articles of essential value to me. I would gladly have relinquished every- thing the gaiment held, if I could but have recovered the book ; and although I returned to the river, and searched assiduously until night, and offered large rewards to the men, it could not be found." The loss of his journal, however, was not the only bad conse- quence of his river adventure. The ducking he had received Ijrougiit on a fever which confined him to his tent for several days. It was well for him that they had now arrived at the rendezvous where the caravans always make some stay before proceeding on the remainder of their journey. Still, according to Mr Townsend's account of the encampment, it was scarcely the best hospital for an invalid. As there were several other encampments stationed on the spot — among others that of the party of rival traders which had passed Captain Wyeth's party on the road — the encampment was constantly crowded wath a heterogeneous assemblage of visitors. " The principal of these are Indians of the Nez Perce, Banneck, and Shoshone tribes, who come with the furs and peltries which they have been col- lecting at the risk of their lives during the past winter and spring, to trade for ammunition, trinkets, and fire-water. There is, in addition to these, a great variety of personages amongst us ; most of them calling themselves white men, French- Canadians, half-breeds, &c., their colour nearly as dark, and their manners wholly as wild, as the Indians with whom they constantly associate. These people, with their obstreperous mirth, their whooping, and howling, and quarrelling, added to the mounted Indians, who are constantly dashing into and u 4^ t » * i t . EXCUKSIOX TO THE OllEGON. throng'h our camp, yelling" like fiends, tlie barking- and bayinpr of savasje wolf-doiis. and the incessant cracking' of rifles and carbines, render our camp a perfect bedlam. A more un])lea.s savage than the rest, being* heated by the detestable liquor whi(.'ii circulates freely among them. It is very much to be regretted that at times like the present there should l)e a positive nece^it;it3' to allow the men as much rum as they can drink ; but this coui-se has been sanctioned and practised by all the leaders of parties who have hitherto visited these regions, and reform cannot be thought of now. The principal liquor in use is alcohol diluted with water. It is sold to the men at three dollars the pmt 1 Tobacco, of very inferior quality, such as could be purchased in Philadelphia at about ten cents per pound, here fetches two dollars ! and everything else in proportion. There is no coin in circulation, and these articles are therefore paid for by the inde- pendent mountain-men in beaver skins, buffalo robes, &c. ; and those who are hired to the companies, have them charged against their wages. I was somewhat amused by observing one of our newlj'-hirtd men enter the tent and order, with the air of a man who knew he would not be refused, twenty dollars worth of rum and ten dollars worth of sugar, to treat two of his companions who were about leaving the reiulezvous." At the rendezvous a number of men belonging to Captain Wyeth's party left it to join returning parties; but the diminu- tion of numbers thus occasioned was made up for by the accession of about thirty Indians — Flatheads, Nez Perce's, and others, witli their wives, children, and dogs. These Indians joined the party in order to enjoy the benefit of its convoy through the tract of country infested by the Blackfeet Indians — a fierce and warlike race, the terror both of Indians and whites. Here also the party was joined by two English gentlemen roaming v;he prairies for amusement. At length, on the 2d of July, the party bade adieu to the rendezvous, packed up their moveables, and journeyed along' the bank of the river. Ihe horses were much recruited by the long rest and good pasture, and, like their masters, were in excellent spirits for renewing the route across the wilderness, -hey had now reached the confines of the Rocky Mountains, from which originate the upper tributaries of the Missouri on ' the one .nide, ana those of the Columbia on the other. The jilains in this high re^-ion are more rugged and barren than in the lower territories, ana occasionally present evidences of volcanic action, "^ ' being' thickly covered with masses of lava and high basaltic crags. The principal vegetation on the hills consists of small cedars, while on the plains nothing flourishes but the shrubln' vrormwood or sage. Mr Townsend had an opportunitv, in these EXCURSION TO THE OREGON. ■ melancholy wastes, of becomin<^ acquainted with a variety of animals, particularly birds. He met with flocks of a beautiful bird, called the cock of the plain {Tetrao urophasianus), which was so very tame, or rather so little accustomed to evil treatment, as to mingle familiarly with the cavalcade, and to suifer itself to be knocked down by whips. On the 10th of J^uly, the party encamped near the Blackfeel river, a small slug-g-ish stagnant stream which empties itself into the Bear rivei-. Here they had a rather stirring adventure with a grizzly bear. " As we approached our encampment," says Mr Townsend, "near a small grove of willows on the margin of the river, a tremendous grizzly bear rushed out upon us. Our horses ran wildly in every direction, snorting with terror, and became nearly unmanageable. Several balls were instantly fired into him, but they only seemed to increase his fury. After spending a moment in rending each wound (their invariable practice), he selected the person who happened to be nearest, and darted after him ; but before he proceeded far, he was sure to be stopped again by a ball from another quarter. In this way he was driven about amongst us for perhaps fifteen minutes, at times so near some of the horses, that he received several severe kicks from them. One of the pack-horses was fairly fastened upon by the fearful claws of the brute, a^d in the terri- fied animal's efwrts to escape the dreaded gi'ipe, the pack and eaddle were broken to pieces and disengaged. One of our mules also lent him a kick in the head while pursuing it up an adjacent hill, which sent him rolling to the bottom. Here he was finally brought to a stand. The poor animal was so completely sur- rounded by enemies that he became bewildered ; he raised him- self upon his hind feet, standing almost erect, his mouth partly open, and from his protruding tongue the blood fell fast in drops. While in this position he received about six more balls, each of which made him reel. At last, as in complete desperation, he dashed into the water and swam several yards with astonishing strength and agility, the guns cracking at him constantly. But he was not to proceed far ; for just then Richardson, who had been absent, rode up, and fixing his deadly aim upon him, fired a ball into the back of his head, which killed him instantly. The strength of four men was required to drag the ferocious brute from the water, and upon examining his body, he was found completely riddled ; there did not appear to be four inches of his shaggy person, fi'om the hips upward, that had not received a ball; there must have been at least thirty shots fired at him, and probably few missed ; yet such was his tenacity of life, that I have no doubt he would have succeeded in crossing the river but for the last shot in the brain. He would probably weigh at the least six hundred pounds, and was about the height of an ordinary steer. The spread of the foot laterally was ten inches, and the claws measured seven inches in length. This animal 16 V 1( J s EXCUnSION TO THE OREGOX. A "f i *s was 1 emaikably lean : when in pfood condition he would doubt les3 much exceed in A'eiffht the estimate I have g-iven. Uieliard- son and two other hunters in company killed two in the course of the afternoon, and saw several others." Although it was known that parties of Blackfeet were hang-inp hi the route of the caravan, our travellers fortunately escaped being- attacked by these dreaded Indians ; and on the 14th, havrng- reached the banks of the line larere Shoshone or Snake, also called Lewis river, they came to a halt for the purpose of erecting a fort, according" to their instructions, and also ot enjoying a rest of a fortnight or three weeks before renewing their journey. Nearly four months had now elapsed since they had commenced their expedition, and there were various evidences that they were ap- jiroaching its close. The Snake river, on the banks of which they were encamped, pours its waters directly into the Columbia, and as they tried to form some idea of the great Oregon river from the size of its tributary, it became evident that they were approach- ing the western shore of the vast North American continent. Food, however, was becoming scarce, the stock of dried buffalo meat being nearly exhausted; and therefore, while the majority of the party should remain to build a fort on the banks of the Snake river, it was resolved that a hunting party of twelve persons should start on the back track to shoot buflalo, and return to the fort in eight or nine d.ays with the fruits of their diligence?. To this party Mr Townsend attached himself. The hunters were successful in procuring buifalo, on which they now entirely fed, besides bringing a quantity in a dried state to the camp. Ex- posed constantly to the pure air, and having abundant exercise, the appetites of the party were most ravenous. Rising in tlie morning with the sun, they kindled a fire and roasted tlMtr breakfast, which consisted of from one to two pounds of meat. At ten o'clock they lunched on meat; at two they dined on meat ; at five they supped on meat ; at eight they had a second supper of meat ; and during the night, when they awoke, they took a snatch at any meat within reach. Their food was thus entirely meat, without bread or any other article except water, which was their sole beverage. On this plain and substantial fare they enjoyed robust health. Having heard that a ball in the middle of the forehead was never known to kill a buffalo, Mr Townsend determined to try the experiment. Accordingly one evening, seeing a large bull close at hand, he sallied forth with the utmost caution in the direction of his victim. " The unwieldy brute," he says, " wa."? quietly and unsuspiciously cropping the herbage, and I had ar- rived to within ten feet of him, when a sudden flashing of the eye, and an impatient motion, told me that I was observed. He raised his enormous head and looked around him, and so truly terrible and grand J . did he appear, that I must confess awed, almost frightened, at the task I had undertaken. felt But 17 ^ i EXCURSION TO THE OREGON. I had erone too far to retreat ; so, raising my g'un, I took deli- berate aim at the bushy centre of the forehead, and fired. The monster shook liis head, pawed up the earth with his hoofs, and makin*;^ a sudden sprinjr, at.companied by a terriiic roar, turned to make his escape. At that instant the ball from the second barrel penetrated his vitals, and he measured his hug'e length upon the e;round. In a few seconds he was dead. Upon exa- mining" the head, and cuttintr away the enormous mass of matted hair and skin which enveloped the skull, my larg-e bullet of twenty to the pound was found completely flattened aprainst the bone, having" earned with it, throug"h the interposini^ integu- ment, a considerable portion of the coarse hair, but without pro- ducing" the smallest fi-acture. I was satisfied; and taking" the tongue — the hunter's perquisite — I returned to my companions." Some of the party had seen Blackfeet Indians skulking about, and the eifect was to put the hunters more on their guard. They were now certain that their worst enemies, the Blackfeet, were around them, and that they only waited for a favourable oppor- tunity of making an attack. It was felt that these savage wan- derers -w-eve not there for nothing, and that the greatest care was necessary to prevent a surprise. The Blackfeet is a sworn and determined foe to all white men, and he has often been heard to declare that he would rather hang- the scalp of a pale-face to his girdle, than kill a buffalo to pre- vent his starving. The hostility of this dreaded tribe is, and has for years been, proverbial. They are, perhaps, the only Indians who do not fear the power, and who refuse to acknowledge the superiority of t^e white man; and though so often beaten in conflicts with them, even by their own mode of warfare, and generally with numbers vastly inft;rior, their indomitable courage and perseverance still urges them on to renewed attempts ; and if a single scalp is taken, it is considered equal to a great vic- tory, and is hailed as a presage of future and more extensive triumphs. It must be acknowledged, however, that this determined hos- tility does not originate solely in savage malignity, or an abstract thirst for the blood of white men ; it is fomented and kept alive from year to year by incessant provocatives on the part of white hunters, trappers, and traders, who are at best but intruders on the rightful domain of the red man of the wilderness. " Many a night," adds our traveller, " have I sat at the camp fire and listened to the recital of bloody and ferocious scenes, in which the narrators were the actors, and the poor Indians the victims, and I have felt my blood tingle with shame, and boil with indig- nation, to hear the diabolical acts applauded by those for whose amusement they were related. Many a precious villain and merciless marauder was made by these midnight tales of rapine, murder, and robbery ; many a stripling, in whose tender mind the seeds of virtue and honesty had never germinated, burned lit ; ■\- 1 •^■p ■ffH EXCURSION TO THE OREGON'. t I V ■ : ♦'. for an opportunity of loading" his pack-horse with t.'>e braver skins of some solitary Blackfeet trapjier, who was to be mur- dered and despoiled of the property he had actjuired by weeks and perhaps months of toil and danger."' The proximity of the Blackfeet caused the old hunters to recol- lect their former adventures in the same neipfhbourhood ; and one eveninfT, as the party sat around the camp lire, wrapped in their warm blankets, these old hunters became talkative, and relnted their individual adventures for the g-eneral amusement. The best story was one told by Richardson, of a meetinf? he once had with three Blackfeet Indians. Hh hud been out alone hunting* buffalo, and towards the end of the dav was returnin2: to the camp with his meat, when he heard the clattering" of hoots in the rear, and upon looking back, obsei-ved three Indians in hot pur- suit of him. To lighten his liurse, lie immediately threw otf tlie meat he carried, and then urged the animal t(^ his utmost speed, in an attempt to distance his pursuers. He soon discovered, however, that the enemy was rapidly gaining upon him, and that in a few minutes more he would be completely at their mercy, when he hit upon an expedient as singular as it was bold and courag'eous. Drawing his long scalping-knife from the sheath at his side, he plunged the keen weapon through his horse's neck, and severed the spine. The animal dropped instantly dead, and the determined hunter, throwing himselt behind the fallen car- cass, waited calmly the approach of his sanguinary pursuers. In a few moments one Indian was within range of the fatal rifle, and at its report his horse galloped riderless over the plain. The remaining two then thought to take him at advantage by ap- proaching simultaneously on both sides of his rampart ; but one of them happening to venture too near in order to be sure of his aim, was shot to the heart by the long pistol of the white man at the very instant that the ball from the Indian's gun whistled harmlessly by. The third savage, being wearied of the dangerous g-ame, applied the whip vigorously to the flanks of his horse, and was soon out of sight, while Richardson set about collecting the trophies of his singular victory. He caught the two Indians' horses, mounted one, and loaded the other with the meat which he had discarded, and returned to his camp with two spare rifles, and a good stock of ammunition. Having now procured a sufficient quantity of buffalo meat, the hunting party set out on its return to the fort, and arrived there on the 25th, after nine days' absence. Their return had been anxiously expected, and " I could well perceive," says Mr Towns- end, " many a long'ing and eager gaze cast upon the well-filled bales of buffalo meat as our mules swung* their little bodies through the camp. My companion, Mr Nuttall, had become so exceedingly thin that I could scarcely have known him; and upon my ex- pressing surprise at the great change in his appearance, he heaved a sisrh of inanitv, and remarked that I ' would have been 19 as EXCURSION TO THE OREGOX. thin as he, if I had lived on old bear for two weeks, and short allowance of that.' I found, in truth, that the whole camp hud been subsistin*^ durin«T^ our absence on little else than two or three j^rizzly bears which had been killed in the neij^hbourhood : and with a complacent g-lance at my own rotund and cow-feel person, I wished my poor friend better luck for the future." Another travellin<»' company had encamped on the banks of the Snake river durinj? the absence of the huntin.ir party. It consisted of thirty men. thirteen of them Indians, Nez Perees, Chinooks, and Kayouse, the remainder French-Canadians and half-breeds. Mr M'Kay, the leader of this company, was the son of Mr Alexander M'Kay, one of the early adventurers across the prairies, the tragical story of whose massacre by the Indians on the north-west coast is told by Washing-ton Irving in his " Astoria." Mr Townsenu gives an interesting description of this company and its captain. " On the evening of the 2Gth," he says, '' Captain Wyetn, Mr Nuttall, and myself, supped with Mr M'Kay in his lodge. I am much pleased with this gentle- man ; he unites the free, frank, and open manners of the moun- tain man, with the grace and affability of the Frenchman. But above all, I admire the order, decorum, and strict subordination ■which exists among his men ; so different from what I have been accustomed to see in parties composed of Americans. Mr M'Kay assures me that he had considerable difficulty in bringing his men to the state in which they now are. The free and fearless Indian was particularly difficult to subdue; but steady deter- mined perseverance and bold measures, aided by a rigid self- example, made them as clay in his hand, and has finally reduced them to their present admirable condition. If they misbehave, a commensurate punishment is sure to follow. In extreme cases flagellation is resorted to, but it is inflicted only by the hand of the captain ; were any other appointed to perform this office on an Indian, the indignity would be deemed so gTeat that nothing less than the blood of the individual could .appease the wounded feelings of the savage. After supper was concluded, we sat down on a buffalo robe at the entrance of the lodge to see the Indians at their devotions. The whole thirteen were soon collected at the call of one whom they had chosen for their chief, and seated with sober sedate countenances around a larg-e tire. After re- maining in perfect silence for perhaps fifteen minutes, the chief commenced a harangue in a solemn and impressive tone, remind- ing them of the object for which they were thus assembled — that of worshipping the ' Great Spirit who made the light and the darkness, the fire and the water,' and assured them that if they offered up their prayers to him with but ' one tongue,' they would certainly be accepted. He then rose from his squatting position to his knees, and his example was followed by all the others. In this situation he commenced a prayer, consisting of short sentences, uttered rapidly but with great apparent fervour, 20 I t 4. I ' I i X EXCURSION TO THE OllEOON. hi« hands clasped upon his breast, and his eyes cast upwards with a beseeching" look towards heaven. At the conclusion of each sentence, a choral response of a few words was made, accom- panied frequently by low moaning-. The prayer lasted about twenty minutes. After its conclusion, the chief, still maintaininf*" the same posi- tion of his body and hands, but with his head bent to his bi-east, commenced a kind of psalm or sacred song", in which the whole company presently joined. The song- was a simple expression of a few sounds, no intellig-ible words being* uttered. It resembled the words Ho-hn-ho-ha-ho-ha-hn-n, commencing" in a low tone, and g"radually swelling" to a full, round, and beautifully modu- lated chorus. During" the song" the clasped hands of the wor- shippers were moved rapidly across the breast, and their bodies swimcf with g"reat eneig"y to the time of the music. The chief ended the song" by a kind of swelling" g-roan, which was echoed in chorus. It was then taken xip by another, and the same routine was g"one throug"h. The whole ceremony occupied per- haps an hour and a half; a short silence then succeeded, after which each Indian rose from the g"rnund, and disappeared in the darkness with a step noiseless as that of a spectre. I think I never was more g-ratitied by any exhibition in my life. The liumble, subdued, and beseeching" looks of the poor untutored being"3 who were calling" upon their heavenly father to forgive their sins, and continue his mercies to them, and the evident and heartfelt sincerity which characterised the whole scene, was truly affecting" and very impressive. The next day being: the Sabbath, our g"Ood missionary, Mr Jason Lee, was requested to hold a meeting", with which he oblig"ing'ly complied. A convenient shady spot was selected in the forest adjacent, and the g-reater part of our men, as well as the whole of Mr M'Kay's company, including- the Indians, attended. The usual forms of the Methodist service, to which Mr Lee is attached, were g"one throug"h, and were followed by a brief but excellent and appropriate exhortation by that g"entle- man. The people were remarkably quiet and attentive, and the Indians sat upon the g"round like statues. Although not one of them could understand a word that was said, they nevertheless maintained the most strict and decorous silence, kneeling* when the preacher kneeled, and rising- when he rose, evidently with a view of paying: him and us a suitable respect, however much their own notions as to the proper and most acceptable forms of worship mig"ht have been opposed to ours. A meeting for wor- ship in the Rocky Mountains is almost as unusual as the appear- ance of a herd of buffalo in the settlements. A sermon was perhaps never preached here before, but for myself I really en- joyed the whole scene : it possessed the charm of novelty, to say nothing- of the salutary effect which I sincerely hope it may pro- duce." 21 _i-ll KxcunsioN TO THK onmox. After havinii: cornp^'tpd tlio ibvt, and niised the Airn'rican fliijj^ upon it, the party on the Otli ot" Au^-tist recomiiieuccd tlifir journey westwiird, Icavin;:: Ronie ni<'n in chai';ence that no pass (!ould be found. They had climbed to the very summit of the hii^he.st peaks above the snow and the reiich of vefjetation, and tin; only proMjiect they had was a con- fused mass t)f hufje an<,''ular rocks, over which a wild jroat could scarcely make his way. The captain also ha