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NABBATIVE 
 
 OF A 
 
 JOURNEY ROUND THE WORLD, 
 
 DURING THE VKAUS ISH AM) 1842. 
 
 BY 
 
 Sill GEORGE SIMPSON, 
 
 GOVERNOR-IN-CHIEF 
 
 OF THE IirnsON's BAY COMPANY'S TERRITORIES 
 
 IN NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 IX TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 vol.. I. 
 
 LOxNDON: 
 
 H E N II y (J L H U R N, P U R L ? S 11 E R. 
 
 (IHEAT MAIILBOROUGII STREET 
 
 1817. 
 
F. Shoberl, Jua., PriDter to II.R.II. Prince Alberi, lliiiiert Slrect. 
 
TO 
 
 THE ni RECTORS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY— 
 
 SIR JOHN HENRY PKLLY, BART., GOVERNOR, 
 
 ANDREW COLVILE, ESQIIRE, DEPITY GOVERNOR, 
 
 BENJAMIN HARRISON, I-SQITRE, 
 
 JOHN HALKETT, ESQIIRE, 
 
 HENRY HIF^SE HERENS, ESQIIRE, 
 
 AARON fllAPMAN, ESQIIRE, M.P., 
 
 EnWARI) EMJCE, ESQIIRE, M.P., 
 
 THE EARL OF SELKIRK, 
 
 RICHARD WEYNTON, ESQl IRE — 
 
 ■ r 
 
 THESE PAGES 
 
 ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 
 BY 
 
 THEIR OBLIGED AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 h 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The Author ought perhaps to account for the loncrth 
 of time which has elapsed since the conclusion of his 
 Travels, in 184^, to the .late of their publication. It 
 may probably be deemed sufficient to state that the 
 various and important occupations in which, durin<r that 
 Ion- period, he had been constantly engaged under the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, throughout their extensive 
 territories, as well as at their remote trading-posts in 
 other parts of North America, nrecluded him from 
 bestowing an earlier and requisite attention to the 
 subject. 
 
CO NT K NTS 
 oy 
 
 Til 10 F I RST VOLU M K. 
 
 CIIAPTKR I. 
 
 KUOM LONDON TO KKD RIVKK SKTTLKMENT. 
 
 Dt'imrturc from Loiidnn — Voyaf^u across the Atlantic — Ilulinix — 
 Doston — KoHto to Montreal — Montreal — Departure from Iji Chine — 
 Ottawa — Miituwa — Height of luiul — Lake Nipissing, Ice — Krench 
 Kiver — Lake Huron — Sault Saiute Marie — Lake Suiterior, a Week in 
 the Ice — Chinpeway Indians — Kaminista<|Uoia, Kakat)eka Fall — Ileiyiit 
 of land — Route to Lac la I'hiie — Fort Frances, Chippeway Indians — 
 Riviere la riuie — Lake of the WockIs — River AVini|H?g — Lake Winipeg 
 — Red River — Lower Fort — Departure of Lords Caledon and Mulgra\e 
 for BuHalo Hunting ..... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 KROM RF.n RIVER SKTTLEMENT TO EDMONTON. 
 
 Red River Settlement, position, origin, condition — Departure ft-om 
 Red River Settlement — Face of country — Salt lake — Fort Kllice — 
 Qu'Appellc River, crank canoes — Wolverine Knoll, native legend — 
 Native lodges — Rain and swamps — Dog Knoll — Salt lakes — Native 
 lodge, hieroglyphics — Halt in heavy rain — Wanderings of Tom Taylor 
 — Bow River — Indian story — War in the plains — Carlton — The Saskat- 
 chewan — Picturesque country — Crees — Scarcity of water — Red River 
 emigrants, love of native spot — Buffalo hunt — Turtle River — Scarcity of 
 water — Fort Pitt — ^Miseries of a native lodge — Alarm of Blackfeet — 
 Effects of hail — Extreme vicissitudes — Oddity of native names — Ed- 
 monton — Native tribes — Visitors of quality . . . 45) 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 FROM EDMONTON HOUSE TO FORT VANCOUVER, 
 
 Departure from Edmonton — Rev. Mr. R untile — fluU Lake — Native 
 pnssips—Duck hunt — Red Decr'is River I'ncxpectcd meeting — March 
 
 f 
 
 1 
 
VIII 
 
 <(»NTr'.NTS, 
 
 tliriMi^li wet liiitli — Altered clmriictiT of vogctntion — Stuto ofconimiH- 
 HUiiiit — Dilliciillii'M til'nmrcli — Itii^^itl Mtvnc — IVcfliie's home — IVi- 
 |K'ii(liriiliir roi'ki — liiiliiiii xkiriiiisli, c(Mira;(i' of u woniaii — 'I'lic spoilt 
 
 — Mow Uiver 'rriiviTNe — l'or('ii|iiiu' — Natural >;nti'\vay — lltiglit of laiiil 
 
 — KciniiiiMceiicc of Scotland — linprovfineiit in climate — KootoiiaiN Kiver 
 
 — Adventures of two of oiir men — Scarcity of water — llud road — Co- 
 liiinliia ISiver — Senicli for Iioih-h — (ilooniy ravine — IlieronlyidiicH — 
 'IVnacity of mnsqnitoes — Fresh horses — Scenery now softer — Klathow 
 Indians — Ifot spring's — Hnrninf; forestH — I'ark-likc prairie — Kootonais 
 Indians, chief's son — (iranile (jin'te Lake, nnssin^ companion — (irande 
 liurte Kiver — Improvement in ve>;etuti(m — IMnnne of two loaded horses 
 
 — rse«)fa horse — Starvation nmouf^ natives — Female horse-dealer — 
 Kxteiisivc and interesting view — March through wet hush — Kootonais 
 IJiver Traverse — Peculiar canoe — Kootonais village — Food of natives 
 — Mr. and Mrs. ("harlo — Natural pit — Itnrning woods — Kullespelm 
 hake — I'eud' d'Oreille Kiver — rend' il'Oreille Indians — Card-playing — 
 Kesults of education — Native dress — Fresh horses — Supper or no 
 supper ? — Mr. M"' Donald from Col vile — Kxcellent lireakfast — Ludicrous 
 accident — Fort Ctdvile — Fine farm — Chaudiere Indians— I'eechcc—- 
 Departure fnmi C(dvilc — Chaudiere Falls — (irande Coulee — Oka- 
 nagan — Munler of Mr. lilack — Scarcity of wood — Isle des I'ierres 
 Kajiids — Sault du I'ntre — KattleMiakes — Snake Kiver — Wallawalla — 
 Kev. Mr. Mungh — M'Kenzie's and Koss's Heads — Frairie fowl — Snake 
 Imlians — Itasaltic rocks — I'ayuse chief in love — Les Chutes, past and 
 present — I'etites Dalles — hong Narrows — Hair seals — Mission of 
 Whaspicum — Aquatic forest — Cascades — Pillar Kock — Arrival at 
 Vancouver . . .106 
 
 ClIAl'TFR IV. 
 
 KOM VASCOIIVKH Vo SITKA. 
 
 Departure from Vancouver — The Willamette — Wappatoo Island — 
 The Cowlitz — Variety of races in Imteau — Cowlitz Farm — Fnormous 
 trees — The Chccaylis — Natural mounds — Fort Nisqually — Embark- 
 ation on Beaver Steamer — Frazer's Kiver — Feveda, superior fuel — 
 Wooding and watering — Comouc fleet — (iuakeolth chief — Johnston's 
 Straits — Dense fog — Quakeolth fleet — Trading — Food, &c., of 
 Quakeolths — Native pronunciation of English — Manners of natives 
 generally — Dishonesty and treachery of natives — Shushady harbour — 
 Trading with Newettees — Hiiuiuay shells — Humming-birds — Canoeing 
 alone with a native chief — Native blankets, canoes, &c. — Indignant 
 harangue of a chief — Dense fog, danger of shipwreck — Shark — Cal- 
 vert's Island — Sir Alexander M'^Keiizic — Fort M'^Loughliu— IJalla- 
 lH)lla Indians — Large canoe — Lip-piece — Power of chiefs — F'ort 
 
(•(»mi;nth. 
 
 ix 
 
 Siin|n()ii — Iiigciiiiity ol" iiotivc^ Nortli-wcHt ArrowHiiiith — Smiill|M>x — 
 Flirt Stikiiic — Tlit; St.Tiiti|iioiiiiys — lliiniiinity «)!' rcinale chiel" — t'oiitli- 
 tioii ol'SliivtH — McMMrs. Sliukis and Q;intkay — IIiuk'KO J'>c — Stcphin'H 
 I'lWHaKo — I"(»rt 'riicd — Abiiiidiiiicf of doer — liig-liorii Nhccp iiiid moiin- 
 tiiiii goat — Tuco Kivor — liyim's Oiiiml — Aiicke Iiidiaim — Arrivul at 
 Sitka . . . . .17:1 
 
 CIIAl'Ti:U V. 
 
 KUOM SITKA TO VANroL'VKU. 
 
 Sitkii — Trade — Fur-seals, \c. — Count naronolV— Nortlieni discovery 
 — I)e|»arture frouj Sitka — (ilaciers luid (liiiifiii;^ ice — Fort Stikiiie — Fort 
 Simpson — Indian light nlumt potatoes — Seliassanien — Fort AI'Loii^hlin 
 
 — (iigautic seaweed — Xeweftees, names of diiels — Quakeoltli llett — 
 Native jealousy — .lolinston's Straits — Dense fog — Catalogue of dangcrH 
 and disasters — Aliundaiu-e of herring spawn — Inlluence of white fist on 
 wivagcH — N'is(|ually — Captain Herkeley, Juan de Fuca, and Admiral 
 Fontc — Steam, its physical and moral power — Condition of slaves — 
 iJev. Mr. Demers — Arrival at Vancouver — .\ stranger — Vancouver 
 
 — AVillamette Settlenu'Ut, position and condition — Civilizatiim of 
 nativcH . . , . 2]l> 
 
 CIIAPTKR VI. 
 
 KROM VANCOUVKIl TO SAN KKANCIsro. 
 
 Departure from Vancouver — Boating down the Columhia — Kmbark- 
 ation on board of the Cowlitx, (he grand epoch of my journey — Damage 
 from lightning — JJar of the Columhia — Discovery of Columhia; compa- 
 rative merits of lleceta, Meares, and ^iray — Disputed territory, claims 
 of United States — Christmas Day, home and abroad — Whales — Coik* 
 Mendocino — New Albion and California — liodega and Uoss, Uussian 
 American Company, Russian Sovereignty — Ilussiun discoveries — llussia 
 and England — Sir Francis Drake, past and present — First glance of 
 California — PortofSan Francisco, discovered by laud — Upper California, 
 motives for colonizing it — San Francisco, entrance of harbour — Presidios 
 — Siege of a mud kitciien — (jleueral description of harbour — Ilussians 
 and English, compared with Colifornians — Verba Huena . . 253 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SAN KRANCISCO. 
 
 More detailed description of harbour — Native balsa — Whalers, 
 San Francisco and Sandwich Islands — Trade in hides — Foreigners — 
 Indolence of people, its causes — Branding, &c., of cattle — Value of 
 herds — JNlissions, their rise and fall — Express l)y land to Monterey — 
 
 
 ^, 
 
X CONTEXTS, 
 
 Timothy Murphy — Father Quigas — Summnry justice — General Val- 
 lego — Breakfast, cookery — Valley of Sonoma — Lasso — Civilization of 
 aborigines — General Vallego's buildings, troops, garden, &c. — Dinner, 
 ball, and Captam Prado — " Auld Lang Syne" — Paradise of wild fowl 
 — Captain Sutter's hist^i-y and prospects — Anglification of San Fran- 
 cisco — Californian justice — Mission of San Francisci, old and new 
 times — Mission of Santa Clara — Prospects of priesthood — Revenue 
 laws . . . . . . .285 
 
 CILVPTER Vin. 
 
 MONTEREY. 
 
 Voyage to Monterey — Landing — Town, buildings and furniture, &c. 
 — Neighbourhood — Christening of bridge — Mr. Spence — Governor 
 Alvarado — Unsophisticated cockney — Californian ignorance — Mr. 
 Ermatingcr's journey from Vancouver to Monterey — Californians and 
 Indians — Murderous desecration of baptism — Sellishness and indiflFer- 
 ence of public authorities — Compromise with custom-house — Schooner 
 California, untried convicts — Revenue law, impolitic and oppressive — 
 Spanish America in general, its fiscal and political condition — Contrast 
 between Spanish and English colonies — Fruits of Spanish American 
 independence — Pueblo of Brancifortc — Mission of Santa Cruz — Mission 
 of San Carlos, past and present . . . .341 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SANTA BARBARA. 
 
 Voyage from Monterey — Mrs. Wilson — ^Von Resanoff and Donna 
 Conception — Town, its situation and buildings, &c. — Inhabitants, man- 
 ners, and dress, and customs, &c. — Resemblance of Spanish colonist to 
 old Spaniard — Californian happiness and ease — Compadres and Com- 
 madres — Californian hospitality — Bishop of Santa Barbara — Episcopal 
 pomp^Roman see, its estimate of distant dependencies — Home-made 
 wine and brandy — Church — Santa Guadalupe and the miraculous 
 blanket — Organist — Candlemas-day, gunpowder — ^Valley of Santa Bar- 
 bara — Aqueducts and cisterns — Grist-mill — Garden — Indian village, 
 remarkably old woman — Ball, with Scotch reel — Embarkation — Carcase 
 of right whale — Perfect paradise for fish — Bishop's present of wine — 
 San Pedro, pueblo of Nuestra Senora, with its bulls and its bears — 
 Mission of San Gabriel — ^\'alley of the Tularcs, bands of horses — 
 " Police" of California — San Diego— Concluding remarks on California 
 — Gradual spread of English race in new world — Ultimate destiny of 
 California — British claims, financial and territorial — Arrival in region 
 of trade-winds ....... 372 
 
 h 
 
CONTKNTS, 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 XI 
 
 VOYAGK TO HONOLULU, &C 
 
 tros and tropic Lird-Am^hbLr '"^^^^^ 
 
 Volcanic mountains of Ilawa^ZlJT"^^' ''' "*""^ advantages- 
 Spaniards-Cook's discove"accSlT7.''f "'"''=' '^'^"'^^ 'y 
 of the group-Volcanicorfgn ot^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 direction-Lahaina, residence of 1^7 "' "^'°"^' ''' S^"^^«' 
 
 in days of barbarisn.-Peopli^l Jf 17 "l;'''""" ''^^^^'^ '^'^^^^ 
 
 Ruggedness of Wo^hoo-X^V •^''"''^^"^ ^''''P^ Peabody- 
 of Ilonolulu-iiarborr if, r ^'■''"'" "^ ^""''^ ^one-Distant vL 
 Everything to "Id Tof r7r^"^^^ pHots- Coral reefs- 
 navigatorsillarbrr Leral T ^ •'''°"'''^* ""''^'''^ "« '^"dearly 
 Governor K..^^: ^Z^l^^^^^^^^ channeli 
 
 and buildings, cWe. &c.-vXv o^^^^^ P«P»lation 
 
 battle . ; ''"^^ °^ Nuannau, scene of in.portant 
 
 . 412 
 
 If' 
 
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ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Portrait of tlie Author 
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 NARRATIVE 
 
 OP \N 
 
 OVERLAND 
 JOURNEY ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 •4 ' 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FROM LONDON TO RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Departure from London — Voyage across the Atlantic — Halifax — 
 Boston — Route to Montreal — Montreal — Departure from I^ Chine — 
 Ottawa — Matawa — Height of land — Lake Nipissing, Ice — French 
 River — Lake Huron — Sault Sainte Marie — Lake Supcrioi , a ^^'oek in 
 the Ice — Chippeway Indians — Kaministaquoia, Kakabeka Fi U — Height 
 of land — Route to Lac la Pluie — Fort Frances, Chippewny Indiana — 
 Riviere la Pluie — Lake of the Woods — River Winipcg — Lake Winipeg 
 — Red River — Lower Fort — Departure of Lords Calcdun and Mulgravc 
 for Buffalo Hunting. 
 
 On the morning of the 3rd of March, 1841, I left 
 London for Liverpool. In addition to my secretary, 
 Mr. Hopkins, I was accompanied by four or five «>;en- 
 tlemen connected with the Hudson's Bay Company's 
 service, and also by a gentleman in the service of the 
 Russian American Company, on his route from Peters- 
 burg to Sitka, which his superiors wore thus preferring 
 for him, as shorter by thirty degrees of longitude, the 
 breadth of all the rest of the world, to that of his native 
 empire. Li less than ten hours we reached our port of 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
OVERLAND JOIUNI-Y 
 
 
 I 
 
 cinbjirkiition, tnkinpf up our (juartcrs for the ni<,'ht fit tlio 
 Greci:iii Hotel iii Dale Street. 
 
 Next <lay, after an early dinner, we were conveyed in 
 a Hin.'iU steamer from the K^'remont Pier to the Cale- 
 donia, Captain M''Kellar, a vessel of 1,300 tons, and 450 
 horse power. At half-past five, the last of the passen- 
 gers, amounting in all to forty-four, haviii<( arrived, 
 to«^cther with the niail-ba<(s, the melancholy signal of 
 the farewell boll was immediately followed l»y a rush of 
 " friends " for the shore ; and, in ten minutes more, at 
 the sound of the bugle, the good ship's paddles were 
 plashing in the waters of the JNIersey. 
 
 The first incident that varied the usual monotony of 
 sickness and discomfort was the glimpse of a whale in 
 the morning of our sixth day. In fact, we nearly ran 
 foul of the monster while he was lounging on the surface, 
 within a few feet of the paddles; but, not liking the 
 look of us, he immediately dived, so that we saw nothing 
 more of him. Next day furnished us with a still richer 
 theme for discussion. While we ourselves had so little 
 wind that all our light canvass was set, we met, at some 
 distance, a ship under close-reefed topsails, pronounced, 
 by the by, by some of our " blue noses " to be the An- 
 dover, bound from New Brunswick for Liverpool. Though 
 some of us took the responsibility of ridiculing the 
 timidity of the unknown skipper, yet our weatherwise 
 friends concluded that he must have just escaped from 
 a gale, of which we were very likely to have our turn. 
 Within eight and forty hours, their prognostications 
 were verified with a vengeance. 
 
 On the morning of our ninth day. Captain M"Kellar 
 discovered that the barometer had fallen between two 
 
 
IIOIND THE WOUI.P. 
 
 ; ftt tllO 
 
 eyed in 
 
 Cale- 
 uul 450 
 pjisson- 
 univod, 
 ijjiuil of 
 
 1 rush of 
 more, ut 
 lea wove 
 
 lotony of 
 wliale in 
 early ran 
 e surface, 
 ikinj; the 
 V notliing 
 ill richer 
 so little 
 it, at some 
 (iiounced, 
 |e the An- 
 Though 
 [uling the 
 latherwise 
 iped from 
 our turn, 
 istications 
 
 M°Kellar 
 tween two 
 
 and three inches during the iiiglit, having; desconchMl to 
 
 2G".9, the lowest point which, in Ids experience, it * ad 
 
 overreached. The wind gradually increased in violence, 
 till, by three in the afternoon, it blew a perfect hurri- 
 cane, during which, so far from being able to mount the 
 rigging, the crew could hardly show themselves on deck, 
 unless sheltered from the fury of the blast. One of our 
 boats was swe])t overboard ; part of our cutwater was 
 carried away ; much of our canvass was torn to rags ; 
 and seven of our men were severely injured. The sea 
 had risen into mountains, whose whitened crests, shorn 
 off as soon as formed, were scattered through the air 
 like drifts of snow, while the solid masses, one after 
 another, were making a clean breach over us. The sky, 
 as if its fnurky curtain rested on the very waters, was 
 almost as dark as nii^ht ; the rain fell heavily ; and our 
 ship, like " a thing of life," might have been supposed 
 to struggle and groan in the agonies of dissolution. 
 
 If the scone without was awful, the scene within was 
 still more appalling to the nerves. Passengers and erew 
 alike appeared to give themselves up for lost ; and, in 
 fact, the more experienced among us, as being more 
 sensible of the extent and variety of our perils, laboured 
 under greater terror than the rest. The storm came 
 from all the points of the compass in succession, com- 
 mencing at N. E., travelling round to E., S., and W., 
 and finally settling about N. This characteristic of the 
 tempest raised such a cross sea, that, even when, about 
 six in the morning, the wind abated, the vessel could not 
 keep her course; and she was, therefore, laid-to for 
 several hours. 
 
 On the second day thereafter, the sea still running 
 
 B 2 
 
 it 
 
 !! 
 
'l 
 
 4 OVKRr.ANI) JOl'IlNEY 
 
 hi^rli, with n foul wiml, tho Calodonia, in a heavy {litch, 
 carried away her jih-hooin ; and, in order to clear tlie 
 wreck, who was obli^^ed to make hotter weather of it, by 
 putting ahout a little. Within four-and-twenty houra 
 more, a depth of tifty-threo fathoms showed that we 
 were now on tho banks of Nowfoun«Iland. Had our hurri- 
 cane cau<;ht us hero amid tho short swell of tho shallow 
 watera, wo should, in all human probability, have mot 
 tho same fate as befel the unfortunate President, under 
 somewhat similar circumstances, in this very storm. 
 
 Towards tho close of our next day's diimer, the cry 
 of " land " sent the hungriest of us on deck, when the 
 supposed terra firma proved to be only an immense field 
 of ice, which, from tho inequalities of its surface, had 
 assumed, with a little help from refraction, tho appear- 
 ance of a wooded country. As this floating island lay 
 in our very path, wo were obliged to round it, keeping 
 along its southern shore; and so extensive was it, that 
 we did not get fairly rid of it till midnight. 
 
 While we were coasting along what had been mis- 
 taken for land, the cry of " light ahead " turned out to 
 be a still more extraordinary error. As we were several 
 hundred miles to the eastward of Isle des Sables, tho 
 announcement in question excited the greatest astonish- 
 ment. Seeing, however, was believing; and all the 
 knowing ones, though sorely puzzled as to the cause of 
 the phenomenon, did yet clearly distinguish a magnifi- 
 cent revolver. The paddles were accordingly stopped 
 to have a cast of the lead, while every glass on board 
 was gazing intently in the right direction. But, in a 
 short time, old Mother Earth was ascertained to be the 
 principal revolver in the case, for, in rather less than 
 
iioi'M) Tin; WOIII D. 
 
 half til) lio'ir, the uiik'own li^ht proved to ho a nowly- 
 riseii i*t:\r. Thin optical illusion was (loiihtloMscoiinoetod 
 with the proximity of the adjacent ^Macier, as well as 
 of Home icohcr^!* that we saw about tho same time; and 
 the aurora horraHs, whether it ho an optical illusion or 
 not, was peculiarly vivid for soveral hours durin<,' the 
 night. 
 
 About noon on the 18th, wo descried the dreary 
 shores of Nova Scotia, covered with snow and lined 
 with ice ; and, by five in the evening, after a run of 
 precisely fourteen «lay8, we entered the harbour of Hali- 
 fax, amitl the hearty cheers of n large concourse of 
 " blue noses." Wo did not, however, come to our 
 moorings before half-past six, fully half an hour after 
 sunset. Almost immediately afterwards, the Britannia, 
 belonging to the same line as the Caledonia, came into 
 port, on her homeward voyage from Boston to England, 
 in order to receive the mail. The simultaneous arrival 
 of two large steamers naturally threw the town into a 
 state of great animation and bustle, more particularly 
 as each of them would transact all her business with the 
 least possible delay, or rather with the greatest possible 
 expedition. 
 
 To the establishment of this communication between 
 the two continents, Halifax owes much, both on com- 
 mercial and on political grounds. Still, however, the 
 work is only half done. In summer, to be sure, the 
 mails are conveyed so rapidly to Quebec by steam, that 
 the first news from England is received throughout 
 Canada by that route ; but, during the winter, the bags 
 are dragged over such wretched roads, that they every 
 where meet, as stale news, the letters and journals 
 
 M 
 
 i 
 
r' 
 
 6 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 li > 
 
 t 
 
 which have accompanied themselves from England, and 
 preferred the circuitous route through the United States 
 to the straight cut through British America. 
 
 Of this flourishing city and its celebrated haven I 
 could not presume to offer any opinion, after a noc- 
 turnal visit of only five hours. We started again for 
 Boston soon after eleven in the evening, several of 
 our passengers having left us, but many more having 
 joined us. 
 
 On the forenoon of the 20th we entered Boston Bay. 
 The upper end of the inlet presented many small 
 islands, on which were fortifications, not yet finished, 
 of considerable strength. The navigation appeared to 
 be intricate; but by half-past eleven we were safely 
 moored, having accomplished a distance of three hun- 
 dred and ninety miles from Halifax in thirty-six hours. 
 As the officers of the customs allowed our baggage to 
 pass without examination, we soon found ourselves in 
 the heart of the city, which was full of life and bustle. 
 There was here far more to remind an Englishman 
 of home than any thing I had ever seen in New York. 
 Even before landing, the gently undulating shores of 
 the bay, highly cultivated, and partially covered with 
 snow, had recalled to my memory the white cliffs and 
 green hills of England ; and within the town, the oldest 
 and finest in the Union, both the buildings and the 
 inhabitants had a peculiarly English air about them. 
 Moreover, in many respects, that do not strike the eye, 
 Boston resembles her fatherland. She is the centre and 
 soul of those religious establishments, which have placed 
 the United States next to Great Britain in the divine 
 tusk of shedding on the nations the light of the Gospel ; 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 she is the nursery and home of most of those commer- 
 cial adventurers, wlio have elevated the influence of 
 America above that of Eno;land, in more than one of 
 those regions which lie within the contemplated range 
 of my wanderings. 
 
 But Boston has more of America about her, as well 
 as more of England, than any one of her republican 
 rivals. It was in her town-hall that the revolution was 
 planned ; it was from her quays that the imports, which 
 the old country taxed, were thrown into the tide ; it 
 was by her citizens that freedom's first battle was 
 fought on Bunker's Hill. Both of these apparently con- 
 tradictory characteristics of Boston are mainly owing 
 to one and the same cause. The Pilgrim Fathers were 
 republicans in feeling, while their descendants conti- 
 nued to be so under a practically republican consti- 
 tution ; and the close resemblance to England in every 
 thing but the government of the church and the state 
 was the natural result of the fact, that the colony, of 
 which Boston was the capital, virtually began her 
 career, as a portion of the old country, by receiving 
 into her bosom all the various grades and classes of 
 society at once. 
 
 After dining at the Tremont, an excellent hotel, we 
 left the city at five in the afternoon, by railway, for 
 Lowell, the Manchester of New England ; and, pro- 
 ceeding thence by a similar mode of conveyance, we 
 reached Nashua, distant thirty-five miles from Boston, 
 about nine o'clock. In 1819 this place was a mere 
 village, of about nineteen houses in all ; but now it con- 
 tained, in connexion with its manufactories, nineteen 
 thousand inhabitants, with the usual concomitants of 
 
 \\\ 
 
 (,'1 
 
 h 
 
f* 
 
 8 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 
 i; 
 
 r 
 
 churches, hotels, prisons, banks, &c. The country was 
 industriously cultivated and densely peopled. 
 
 As our party, by the addition of some of our fellow- 
 passengers in the Caledonia, was now increased to four- 
 teen, we formed ourselves, on starting from Nashua in 
 the morning, into two detachments, which pursued dif- 
 ferent roads, in order to lessen the chances of famine 
 and detention. One band dashed off in a sleigh with 
 six horses ; and the other, to which I belonged, rattled 
 along in a coach and four. We soon passed into New 
 Hampshire, which is hilly and well settled ; but whe- 
 ther or not it were skilfully cultivated the snow pre- 
 vented us from judging. 
 
 We reached Concord, the capital of the state, in time 
 for a rather late breakfast, for which a drive of thirty- 
 five miles had thoroughly sharpened the appetite. 
 Here, as bad luck would have it, we exchanged our 
 coach for a sleigh. For the first few miles we congra- 
 tulated ourselves on the improvement ; but the sun, as 
 the day advanced, kept thawing the snow, till at last, 
 on coming to a deep drift, we were repeatedly obliged 
 to get out, sometimes walking up to our knees, and 
 sometimes helping to lift the vehicle with levers out of 
 the snow. About three o'clock, however, we fairly 
 stuck fast, in spite of all our hoisting, and bauling, and 
 pushing. The horses struggled and plunged to no pur- 
 pose, excepting that the leaders, after breaking part of 
 their tackle, galloped off " over the hills and far away," 
 leaving us to kick our heels in the slush, till they were 
 brought back, after a chase of several miles. 
 
 Having extricated ourselves by placing our baggage 
 on another sleigh, which was condescendingly driven by 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 9 
 
 and 
 
 )ut of 
 
 [fairly 
 
 f, and 
 
 pur- 
 irt of 
 |way," 
 
 were 
 
 Iggage 
 'en by 
 
 " Captain" Sinitli, we kept rolling and pitching, till, 
 about eleven at night, we broke down with a crash in 
 a deep drift. Assistance being procured, the body of 
 the sleigh was mounted on a clumsy pair of runners ; 
 and, as the night was cold, we were all glad to lend a 
 helping hand, to save our fingers from being frost- 
 bitten. At Lebanon, a village of Quakers, which we 
 reached about half-past one, we exchanged our disabled 
 vehicle for a more serviceable sleigh, consoling ourselves 
 at the same time wiih a good supper. 
 
 Our road was somewhat romantic, being cut on the 
 fac3 of a range of abrupt hills that overlooked the 
 Connecticut River. Reaching the village of Royalton 
 at sunrise, we again exchanged our vehicle for the 
 equipage in which our competitors in the race to Mon- 
 treal had performed the last stage; and, while we were 
 drawing odious comparisons to the prejudice of our new 
 outfit, we were soon put in better humour by finding in 
 the bottom of the sleigh a writing-desk, containing the 
 money and papers of one of my own original compa- 
 nions, who had joined the other detachment. 
 
 We were now travelling through Vermont, — the State 
 of green mountains. The country appeared to be well 
 worthy of its name ; and one part of the road was 
 peculiarly beautiful, passing through a narrow valley, 
 known as the Gorge, between steep hills on either side. 
 Montpelier, where we breakfasted, was perhaps the 
 sweetest spot that I saw on my travels, looking rather 
 like the residence of hereditary ease and luxury, than 
 the capital of a young republic of thrifty graziers. It 
 was, in fact, an assemblage of villas. The wide streets 
 ran between rows of trees ; and the houses, each in its 
 
 i'9v 
 
 •It 
 
 Nl 
 
 li i\ 
 
10 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 own little garden, were shaded by verandahs. By 
 eleven at night we overtook our friends at the Ame- 
 rican Hotel in Burlington, on Lake Champlain. After 
 supper, at which each party recounted to the other its 
 various perils by " flood and field," we retired about 
 one o'clock to obtain a little repose, after forty-two 
 hours of hard jolting, leaving orders to call us ai five 
 in the morning. 
 
 Four hours being very scanty allowance of sleep for 
 two whole days, I was not surprised at being nearly 
 as drowsy as ever u hen I was roused by a peal of blows 
 at my door. In spite, however, of laziness, and a cold 
 morning to boot, I had completed the operations of 
 washing and dressing by candle-light, having even 
 donned hat and gloves to join my companions, when 
 the waiter entered ray room with a grin. " I guess," 
 said the rascal, " I've put my foot in it ; are you the 
 man that wanted to be called at two ?" " No," was my 
 reply. " Then," said he, " I calculate, I've fixed the 
 wrong man, so you had better go to bed again." 
 Having delivered himself of this friendly advice, he 
 went to awaken my neighbour, who had all this time 
 been quietly enjoying the sleep that properly belonged 
 to me. Instead of following the fellow's recommenda- 
 tion, I sat up for the rest of the night, thinking one 
 hour's snooze hardly worth the trouble of rubbing my 
 eyes a second time. 
 
 In the afternoon, an hour or so after passing the town 
 of Highgate, the outposts of one of our regiments, that 
 were stationed in a dark forest, showed us that we had 
 got beyond the frontier. At three in the morning, we 
 crossed tlie Richelieu, which empties Lake Champlain 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 11 
 
 into the St. Lawrence, by a wooden bridge, a good 
 deal the worse for the wear, and three quarters of a mile 
 in length. 
 
 Being now in the village of St. John's, one or two 
 of us went ahead to the j^rincipal inn; and, as our 
 knocking and shouting elicited no answer, we enforced 
 our noisy salutations by adding that there were fourteen 
 more coming, with a whole host of drivers. When at 
 length we effected an entrance, eagerly demanding fires 
 and suppers, the landlord was not to be found, though, 
 on examining the premises, his lair was warm, and his 
 clothes, down even to the indispensable garment, were 
 all waiting their owner's appearance more patiently 
 than we were. The establishment was searched up 
 stairs and down stairs, inside and outside, while the 
 luckless man's brother wandered about, the very ghost 
 of despair ; and we were inclined to reproach ourselves 
 as the innocent cause of the domestic tragedy. In a 
 few minutes, however, did " mine host" return with a 
 face wreathed in the blandest smiles. The mystery was 
 now quickly explained. The election had taken place 
 the day before, accompanied by much rioting ; and the 
 landlord, having zealously espoused the cause of the 
 successful candidate, had been threatened with all sorts 
 of vengeance by the losing party. The doomed inn- 
 keeper had accordingly considered us, more particularly 
 after the announcement of our numbers, as the bearers 
 of his death-warrant, brimful, of course, of wrath and 
 whiskey ; and, as the fiercest fire-eater would have done 
 in his place, he smuggled himself away for dear life into 
 some unmentionable and inscrutable corner or other. 
 
 This little adventure and our keen appetites together 
 
 
 i.t 
 
12 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 ;':! 
 
 made us forget our fatigues over a substantial meal, 
 supper and breakfast in one ; and, finding all the beds 
 engaged, we continued our journey to La Prairie, and 
 thence, across the ice of the St. Lawrence, to Montreal. 
 In traversing the noble river, we enjoyed perhaps the 
 best view that can be obtained of the metropolis of the 
 Canadas, rising from the waters' edge up the immediate 
 bank of the stream, and then stretching away along the 
 face of the higher ground behind. If the aspect of the 
 city be grander from the mountain, as it is called, in 
 the rear at any given point, the sight from that part of 
 the St. Lawrence, which we passed, is superior in this 
 respect, that, besides being nearly as complete at every 
 instant, it rapidly evolves an endless variety, during a 
 race of about seven miles. 
 
 On this flourishing emporium I shall offer only this 
 single remark, that it contrasts, as if in a nutshell, the 
 characteristic qualities of the two races that inhabit it. 
 The French were the original possessors of the city, 
 while the English at first found themselves to be house- 
 less strangers in a strange land. But the latter have 
 forced their way by inches from the waters' edge into 
 nearly all that constituted Montreal in the days of 
 Wolfe and Amherst ; and the former have been driven 
 from their ancient seats into the newer sections of the 
 city, being gradually jostled out even there from every 
 thing like a thoroughfare of commerce. 
 
 On the 1st of May, the season bein-i- more backward 
 than usual, the navigation was so iac open as to permit 
 the steamers to ply on the St. Lawrence as far as 
 Beauharnois and Chateauguay ; and on that day, there- 
 fore, the heavy canoes were despatched for the interior 
 
ROUND THE WORI,D. 
 
 13 
 
 under the charge of one of tlic gentlemen, wlio had 
 accompanied me from London. The weather was still 
 cold and unsteady ; patches of deep snow were to be 
 seen ; and neither meadow nor bush displayed any 
 symptom of reviving vegetation. 
 
 In the light canoes I was to have several fellow- 
 travellers not connected with the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany's service. My friend, Colonel Oldfield, head of the 
 engineer department in Canada, was to accompany me, 
 along with his aide-de-camp, Mr. Bainbrigge, as far as 
 Lake Nipissing, in order to survey the country with 
 respect to the means of navigation ; and the Earls of 
 Caledon and Mulgrave were to be my fellow-travellers 
 all the way to Red River settlement, whence they in- 
 tended to proceed to hunt the buffalo. 
 
 Under these circumstances, our departure excite«l 
 more than ordinary interest; and accordingly, on the 
 morning of the 4th of May, many friends of my fellow- 
 travellers and myself came out to an early breakfast 
 in order to witness our start for the wilderness. By 
 nine o'clock, our two canoes were floating in front of the 
 house, on the Lachine Canal, constructed to avoid the 
 famous rapids of St. Louis. The crews, thirteen men 
 to the one vessel and fourteen to the other, consisted 
 partly of Canadians, but principally of Iroquois from 
 the opposite village of Kaughnawaga, the whole being 
 under the charge of my old and faithful follower, Morin. 
 To do credit to the concern in the eyes of the strangers, 
 the voyageurs had been kept as sober as voyageurs 
 could be kept on such an occasion ; and each one had 
 been supplied with a feather for his cap. This was all 
 very fine ; but the poor fellows were sadly disappointed, 
 
 1, 
 
 'ill 
 
14 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 !|'. 
 
 1 
 
 ! 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 , 
 
 : 
 
 
 Sj 
 
 i 
 
 , 
 
 ,( 
 
 
 
 
 ■1 
 
 
 ,1 
 
 that a northwester, which was blowing, prevented the 
 hoisting of our flags. 
 
 The canoes, those tiny vehicles of an amphibious 
 navigation, are constructed in the following manner. 
 The outside is formed of the thick and tough bark of 
 the birch, the sheets being sewed together with the 
 root of the pine-tree split into threads, and the seams 
 gummed to make them air-tight. The gunwales are of 
 pine or cedar of about three inches square ; and in their 
 lower edges are inserted the ribs, made of thin pieces of 
 wood, bent to a semicircle. Between the ribs cand the 
 bark is a coating of lathing, which, besides warding off 
 internal injury from the fragile covering, serves to im- 
 part a firmness to the vessel. These canoes are gene- 
 rally about thirty-five feet from stem to stern; and 
 are five feet wide in the centre, gradually tapering to a 
 point at each end, where they are raised about a foot. 
 When loaded, they draw scarcely eighteen inches of 
 water ; and they weigh between three hundred and four 
 hundred pounds. 
 
 When all was ready, the passengers embarked, the 
 centre of each canoe being appropriated to their accom- 
 modation. In the first canoe the two noblemen and 
 myself took our seats ; and the second contained Colonel 
 Oldfield, Mr. Bainbrigge, our Russian companion, and 
 Mr. Hopkins. At ten minutes before eleven, the men 
 struck up one of their hereditary ditties, and off we 
 went amid the cheers and adieus of our assembled 
 friends; 
 
 As the wind was high, the waves of the St. Lawrence 
 rather resembled those of the sea than of a river, while, 
 borne on the biting gale, the snow drifted heavily in 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 15 
 
 our faces. At Point Clare, where we : ?d, we luckily 
 obtained the shelter of a roof, through the politeness of 
 Mr. Charlebois, whose wife proved to be an old friend 
 of mine, being a <laughter of Mr. Dease, the northern 
 discoverer, one of the gentlemen who had accompanied 
 me across the Atlantic. At St. Anne's rapid, on the 
 Ottawa, we neither sang our evening hymn nor bribed 
 the lady patroness with shirts, caps, &c., for a propitious 
 journey : — but proceeded. 
 
 In the Lake of the Two Mountains we found our 
 heavy canoes, now three days out from Lachine, still 
 wind-bound ; and, after bidding them good bye with 
 our lighter craft and stronger crews, we reached the 
 Hudson's Bay Company's establishment about half-past 
 six. On approaching the land, we were saluted by the 
 one cannon of the fort, while Mr. Mac Tavish waited on 
 the wharf to give us a hearty welcome ; and, on reaching 
 the house, we were kindly received by his lady. After 
 being resuscitated by warm fires and an excellent supper, 
 we spread our bedding on the floor. 
 
 Being trammelled by a roof, we indulged ourselves to 
 the unusually late hour of half-past two; and even then 
 we lost a little time in searching for some of our men, 
 who, according to custom in such cases, were out of the 
 way. In consequence of the height of the water, the 
 forests along the bank appeared to grow out of a lake. 
 At the foot of the Long Sault, a succession of rapids 
 of about twelve miles in length, we breakfasted. Soon 
 afterwards, we reached the Lock of Carillon, the first of 
 a series of artificial works, erected by government 
 to avoid the rapids in question ; passing through the 
 whole, without delay or expense, as part and parcel of 
 
 m 
 
 '^ 
 
 
 i^ 
 
!■■ 
 
 16 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 \: 
 
 I.. 
 
 i I 
 
 I ,' 
 
 I I* 
 
 Colonel Oldfield's suite. In the hike above Grenvillc, 
 into which these works conducted us, we met a steamer 
 gliding so gently and silently along, that she might 
 almost be supposed to have gone astray on these once 
 secluded waters. 
 
 Next morning, after toiling for six hours, we break- 
 fasted at eight, with the wet ground for our table, and 
 with rain, in place of milk, to cool our tea. By one in 
 the afternoon, while attempting to pass close under the 
 falls of the Rideau, w^e were swept into the middle of 
 the river by the violence of the current, our gunwales 
 being covered by the foam that floLt 3d on the water. 
 These Falls are about fifty feet in height and three 
 hundred in breadth, being at the time we saw them 
 more magnificent than usual by reason of the high state 
 of the waters. It is from their resemblance to a cur- 
 tain that they are distinguished as the Rideau ; and they 
 also give this name to thi3 river that feeds them, which 
 again lends the same appellation to the canal that con- 
 nects the Ottawa with Lake Ontario. 
 
 Through a wide and smooth reach of the stream we 
 came in an hour to the Chaudiere rapids, forming the 
 lowest of a series of impediments which extends up- 
 wards to the lake of the same name. Between the 
 Rideau and the Chaudiere there is a remarkable con- 
 trast. The former is a mere fall of water from one level 
 to another, but the latter presents a desperate struggle 
 of the majestic Ottawa, leaping, with a roar of thunder, 
 from ledge to ledge and from rock to rock, till at last, 
 wearied, as it were, with its buffetings, it sinks exhausted 
 into the placid pool below. 
 
 At the outlet of the canal, which is situated between 
 
 f§ 
 
 :i 
 
HOUND Tin: WORLD. 
 
 the Rideau and the Cluuuliere, stands Bytowii, nanu'd 
 after my late mucli valued friend, Colonel By of the 
 Engineers ; while on the oi)[)Osite bank the ground 
 above the Chaudiere is occupied by the once flourishing 
 village of Hull, the creation of an enterprising back- 
 woodsman of New England, named Wright. 
 
 Up to Chaudiere Lake the canoes were sent perfectly 
 light by water, while the baggage and passengers were 
 conveyed on wheels to the prettily situated village of 
 Aylmer. Being hero rejoined by our little stjuadron, 
 we encamped up the lake on the grounds of my friend 
 General Lloyd, from whose hospitable mansion our tea- 
 table, if the bottom of a tent couJd be deemed such, 
 Mas provided, not for the first time in my voyaging 
 experience, with the luxuries of milk and cream. 
 
 Here the bull-frogs, gathering new vigour from the 
 light of our fires, serenaded us all night, to our infinite 
 annoyance. Soon after sunrise, we made a portage 
 round Les Chutes des Chats into the rapids which ter- 
 minate the lake of the same name. In the course 
 of the day, we had heavy work with a succession of diffi- 
 cult portages, breakfasting on the first, and meeting on 
 the second my trusty half-bred guide Bernard, who 
 now came into my canoe, while Morin was transferred 
 to the other. The last of the series, the Grand Calumet, 
 we were obliged to leave for next morning's amusement, 
 though it was only half a mile distant. 
 
 Our encampment would have formed a rich and varied 
 subject for a painter's brush. The tents were pitched 
 in a small clump of pines, while round a blazing fire 
 the passengers were collected amid a medley of boxes, 
 barrels, pots, cloaks, &c. ; and to the left, on a rock 
 
 VOL. I. c 
 
 hii 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
18 
 
 OVIJtl.VNII .lOIKNIY 
 
 (* 
 
 i; 
 
 "i 
 
 ( I 
 
 uImivc til** romniii^^ rupitlH, wcro lyiiiu; tli(> ciiiiorN ; llu^ 
 iiini llittiii<7 atliwart (licir own s(>pariit(> liicas nctivcl)' un 
 it' tlicy li.'itl (Miio}'(<tl :i lioliiliiy, ami anxiously wat('liin;<: a 
 liii<;-(> caiiltliiMi that was NiisptMiilnl over (lio tlanirs l)y 
 tliiTO poles, 'j'lio l'orc;,M(>uii<l oonsisird of (wo or tlirco 
 inau^niliccnt trci's on a sli;>li( cniinrncf ; an<l tli(> liack- 
 ^HMinil WUH t'oi'in(>«l l>y tlcnsi* woo<ls and a glcamin;^ 
 lako. 
 
 It was six in tin* niorninnr l»'fon» we left the (Stand 
 Calumet l>eliind us; and tlience we jMoeeeded without 
 farther inipcMlinient to l<\)rt ('oulon|r(% distant uhout 
 two hundred and ten miles from IMtmtreal. Sonw^ of 
 us had looked forward to this plaee with a good deal of 
 interest, as a short halt would here he^ iieeessary in 
 onler to transact Itusiiu^ss and receive supplies, in 
 addition to Mr. SivcM-ight, who was in charge of tho 
 establishment, 1 here met Mr. Caineron, another of tho 
 Company's uHicers, who had come all the way from his own 
 station of Lake Temis-cameng to wait my arrival. As 
 the latter ••entlemaii accompanied us, on our dei)arture, 
 with his canoe and live men, our party now hecamo (]uite 
 formidable, mustering forty persons in all. After making 
 portages at several rapids, and among them the justly 
 admired Cullo Butte, racing round the base of a rocky 
 hill in a very narrow channel, we encam|)ed for tho 
 night at the entrauco of Lac des Allumottes. 
 
 In the morning— the morning, bo it observed, of tho 
 0th of May — the water was crusted with ice thick 
 enough to reipiire the aid of poles in order to break a 
 path for the canoes. After touching at tho Company's 
 post on tho borders of the lake, we halted at five, being 
 three hours earlier than usual, for breakfast, that the 
 
ROIINh TIIK woiti.n. 
 
 10 
 
 sun nii^'lit «l() our u«)rk for us l»y iiu'ltin^^ uway our U'y 
 harriiM*. VV^; nooii HturnM(Ml on uiioIIkm* oltstiurlt! in tlic 
 h\m\)o of a 1)00111 pliiccd iitliwart tho river hy tlio luin- 
 licrcrN of tlio nci;>flil)ourlioo(l. 
 
 Tlio cuNtoiii ainon^ tlicHo liunly fc^llows is for each 
 |MM'son to |)la(M> liiH mark on liis own tinilxM-, wlion iio 
 fells it in winter ; the lo^'s are then «lra^';,'(Ml to tho 
 hank of the river over the snow, then? roinainin;,' to he 
 wafted hy the risinj^ of the waters to the ncMirest hooin. 
 At this eoniinon point of union, each luinherer coni- 
 hines first his sticks into crihs an«l then his crihs into 
 rafts — the latter hein<«; like floating hanjlets, with four 
 or live huts and a population of twenty or thirty men. 
 In descen<lin;]f a rapid, the raft is a^ain separated into 
 its crihs, each crih ;rencrally carryin;? its own proportion 
 of the crew ; and in some places, at the doachin, for 
 instance, all fastenings arc untied so as to let the trees 
 take their chance, one hy one, down tho unmanayeuble 
 surges. 
 
 These lumberers may he considered as the pioneers 
 of that commerce, which cannot fail ero long to find its 
 way up this noble river, abounding, as it does, in every 
 conceivable requisite for trade and agriculture, such as 
 water-power, abundance of timber, good climate, and a 
 variety of soil, sandy, stony, and rich. The scenery is 
 generally picturesque, here rising in lofty rocks, and 
 there clothed with forests to the water's edge ; and the 
 whole, being now deserted by its ancient lords, is left 
 free to the civilizing influences of the axe and the 
 plough. 
 
 In the course of this day and the next, we made 
 several portages, reaching, about five in the afternoon, 
 
 c 2 
 
 V 
 
 'i (I'l 
 
 m 
 
■ 'fi g. <tm -wm r wp m i 
 
 20 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 the point at which the Matawa flows into the Ottawa 
 from the south-west. This spot might be considered as 
 the first grand hinge in our route. We were here to 
 leave the magnificent stream, on which we had accom- 
 plished the entire distance of nearly four hundred miles; 
 for even at Lachine, and still farther down, the two 
 great rivers of Canada, the Ottawa with its earthy 
 yellow, and the St. Lawrence with its lake-born blue, 
 are nearly as distinct from each other as when rushing 
 to their confluence down their respective channels. At 
 this place was a small post belonging to the Company, 
 where we left Mr. Bainbrigge to await the arrival of a 
 small canoe, which I had ordered to follow us from 
 Fort Coulonge to secure the retreat of Colonel Oldfield; 
 and, as soon as his little vessel arrived, he was to 
 follow, and, if possible, to overtake us. 
 
 At one of the rapids below Matawa, the heavy canoes, 
 which came up a few days after ourselves, lost a very 
 valuable chest of medicines, — one of the very few acci- 
 dents which could be imputed to the carelessness of a 
 voyageur during the long course of my experience. 
 This morning, however, we were reminded that serious 
 disasters had occurred and might occur again, for we 
 breakfasted near two crosses, that had been placed 
 over the bodies of two men, who were drow-ned, while 
 running the adjacent rapid. 
 
 Before bidding good bye to our old friend, the Ot- 
 tawa, let me here offer a description of a day's march, 
 as a general specimen of the whole journey. To begin 
 with the most important part of our proceedings, the 
 business of encamping for our brief night, we selected, 
 about sunset, some dry and tolerably clear spot ; and, 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 21 
 
 rs, the 
 
 immediutely on landin*^, the sound of the axe would be 
 rinsrino: throujrh the woods, as the men were felling 
 whole trees for our fires, and preparing, if necessary, a 
 space for our tents. In less than ten minutes our three 
 lodges would be pitched, each with such a blaze in front 
 as virtually imparted a new sense of enjoyment to all 
 the young campaigners, while through the crackling 
 flames were to be seen the requisite number of pots and 
 kettles for our supper. Our beds were next laid, con- 
 sisting of an oil-cloth spread on the bare earth, with 
 three blankets and a pillow, and, when occasion de- 
 manded, with cloaks and great coats at discretion ; and, 
 whether the wind howled or the rain poured, our pavi- 
 lions of canvass formed a safe barrier against the weather. 
 While part of our crews, comprising all the landsmen, 
 were doing duty as stokers, and cooks, and architects, 
 and chambermaids, the more experienced voyageurs, 
 after unloading the canoes, had drawn them on the 
 beach with their bottoms upwards, to inspect, and, if 
 needful, to renovate the stitching and the gumming; 
 and as the little vessels were made to incline on one 
 side to windward, each with a roaring fire to leeward, 
 the crews, every man in his own single blanket, managed 
 to set wind and rain and cold at defiance, almost as 
 effectually as ourselves. 
 
 Weather permitting, our slumbers would be broken 
 about one in the morning by the cry of " Leve, leve, 
 leve !" In five minutes, woe to the inmates that were 
 slow in dressing ; the tents were tumbling about our 
 ears ; and, within half an hour, the camp would be 
 raised, the canoes laden, and the paddles keeping time 
 to some merry old song. About eight o'clock, a con- 
 
 
i-( 
 
 1)m 
 
 I I 
 
 ii i 
 
 22 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 venient place would be selected for breakfast, about 
 three quarters of an hour being allotted for the mul- 
 tifarious operations of unpacking and repacking the 
 equipage, laying and removing the cloth, boiling and 
 frying, eating and drinking; and, while the prelimi- 
 naries were arranging, the hardier among us would 
 wash and shave, each person carrying soap and towel 
 in his pocket, and finding a mirror in the same sandy or 
 rocky basin that held the water. About two in the 
 afternoon we usually put ashore for dinner ; and, as 
 this meal needed no fire, or at least got none, it was 
 not allowed to occupy more than twenty minutes or half 
 an hour. 
 
 Such was the routine of our journey, the day, gene- 
 rally speaking, being divided into six hours of rest and 
 eighteen of labour. This almost incredible toil the 
 voyageurs bore without a murmur, and generally with 
 such a hilarity of spirit as few other men could sustain 
 for a single forei^oon. 
 
 But the quantity /of the work, even more decidedly 
 than the quantity, requires operatives of iron mould. 
 In smooth water, the paddle is plied with twice the 
 rapidity of the oar, taxing both arms and lungs to the 
 utmost extent ; amid shallows, the canoe is literally 
 dragged by the men, wading to their knees or their 
 loins, while each poor fellow, after replacing his drier 
 half in his seat, laughingly shakes the heaviest of the 
 wet from his legs over the gunwale, before he again 
 gives them an inside berth ; in rapids, the towing-line 
 has to be hauled along over rocks and stumps, through 
 swamps and thickets, excepting that, when the ground 
 is utterly impracticable, poles are substituted, and oc- 
 
 i'i.P 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 23 
 
 CJisionally also the bushes m the shore. Again, on the 
 portages, where the tracks are of all imaginable kinds 
 and degrees of badness, the canoes and their cargoes 
 are never carried across in fewer than two or three 
 trips — the little vessels alone monopolizing, on the first 
 turn, the more expert half of their respective crews. 
 Of the baffffajre, each man has to carry at least two 
 pieces, estimated at a hun<lred and eighty pounds avoir- 
 dupois, which he suspends in slings of leather placed 
 across the forehead, so that he has his hands free to 
 clear the way among the branches of the standing trees 
 and over the prostrate trunks. 
 
 But, in addition to the separate labours of the land 
 and the water, the poor fellows have to endure a com- 
 bination of both sorts of hardship at least three or four 
 times every day. The canoes can seldom approach 
 near enough to the bank to enable the passengers to 
 step ashore from the gunwale ; and, no sooner is a halt 
 made, than the men are in the water to ferry us on their 
 backs to dry ground. In this unique department of 
 their duties they seem to take a pride ; and a little 
 fellow often ambitiously tries to get possession of the 
 heaviest customer in the party, considerably exceeding, 
 as has often been the case in my experience, the standard 
 aforesaid, of two pieces of baggage. 
 
 To return to our voyage up the Matawa, I could 
 not help remarking the influence of the state of the 
 weather on a traveller's estimate of scenery. Under 
 our sunny sky, the winding banks, wooded, in every 
 bay and on every point, down to the waters' edge, were 
 charmingly doubled, as it were, in the smooth and 
 transparent stream ; while Captain Back, under the 
 
 I: 
 
 
 ''I 
 
 .1 v 
 
 t1 
 
' r 
 
 24 
 
 OVERLAND JOUIINLY 
 
 
 ■ c 
 
 
 I 
 
 it, 
 
 J *' ' 
 
 liorrors of a heavy shower, described this as the most 
 dismal spot on the face of the earth, as a fit residence 
 only for the demon of despair. Rain, be it observed, is 
 a comparative trifle, while one enjoys the shelter of an 
 oil-cloth in the canoe. The misery hardly begins to be 
 felt, till you are deposited, with all your seams exposed 
 to the weather, on the long grass, though even this 
 stage has the merit of being far less wretched than that 
 of forcing your way among the dripping branches. 
 Here, for the event is worth noting, we encountered the 
 first attack of the musquitoes. 
 
 Next day, we made eleven portages, crossing the 
 height of land and reaching a feeder of Lake Nipissing. 
 The only portage worthy of special notice was that of 
 the Falls of Lake Talon, where a large body of water 
 rushes through a narrow opening in the rocks from a 
 height of about fifty feet. Separated from the boiling 
 cauldron, into which the torrent throws itself by a pro- 
 jecting ledge, a silent pool, forming a kind of gloomy 
 recess, carries the canoes to the foot of a rock so 
 smooth and steep as to be almost impracticable to 
 novices. This declivity and a narrow platform at the 
 top constitute the portage. This spot furnishes a 
 striking proof that the waters of this country must 
 once have occupied a much higher level. The platform 
 must have been part of the bed of the stream ; the 
 declivity must have formed a section of the Fall ; and 
 the dark and stagnant recess must have been a foaming 
 whirlpool. Many other portages on the route present 
 similar features, though perhaps in an inferior degree. 
 We had now got fairly into the region of the fur-traders, 
 beyond the ken alike of the farmer and the lumberer ; 
 
ROUND THE WORI.D. 
 
 95 
 
 SO 
 
 to 
 
 the 
 
 lies a 
 
 must 
 
 ■orm 
 
 the 
 
 and 
 
 ming 
 
 esent 
 
 (gree. 
 
 and we here discovered the traces of beaver in the pieces 
 of willow, which had been barked by this extraordinary 
 animal. 
 
 To make the day's work with our eleven portages 
 still harder, we did not encamp till after ten at night, 
 while the closing division of our toil consisted of a 
 swamp of about three quarters of a mile in length, the 
 tract being, on the whole, the wettest and heaviest on 
 our journey. Our resting-place was bad — the ground 
 damp, the water muddy, the frogs obstreperous, and 
 the snakes familiar. In spite, however, of all these 
 trifles, fatigue was as good as an opiate ; and in sound 
 sleep we Hoon forgot the troubles of the day. 
 
 After indulging in the morning till half-past two, we 
 reached Lake Nipissing at daybreak. Here I left 
 Colonel Oldfield, instructing Mr. Cameron, at the same 
 time, to remain with him till Mr. Bainbrigge should 
 arrive. After seeing them safely planted by the side 
 of a glorious fire, we bade them adieu. In less, how- 
 ever, than half an hour our progress was arrested by a 
 field of ice ; and, having worked our way through it to 
 the shore with difficulty, we cleared our ground, pitched 
 our tents, and resigned ourselves to our fate. 
 
 After the fatigues of yesterday, our men, delighted 
 with the godsend, soon fell asleep on the bare ground, 
 even without the trouble of a wish, while we ourselves, 
 besides making up all arrears of shaving, washing, 
 dressing, &c., killed time with eating, drinking, chatting, 
 and strolling. From a native family in the neighbour- 
 hood we purchased some fish for a few biscuits ; and 
 we soon found that the biscuits might have been saved, 
 for we succeeded in spearing twenty or thirty dorey, 
 
 ri 
 
 
 It 
 
 
 1 
 
26 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 
 n-' I 
 
 1 I 
 
 averaging two pounds each. Having attempted in the 
 afternoon to find a path for our canoes, we were obliged 
 to encamp for the night with a gain of only three quar- 
 ters of a mile. 
 
 Making way next morning, we breakfasted on the 
 portage between Lake Nipissing and its outlet, French 
 River. On this stream we saw a few savages, who, 
 though poorly clad, appeared to be faring well. Here 
 we ran our first rapids ; and in the afternoon we made a 
 portage at the Recollet Fall, which, throwing itself 
 from a slanting ledge of rocks almost in the direction 
 of the river's breadth, leaves hardly room enough for a 
 canoe to pass between the vortex at its foot and the 
 perpendicular wall of the opposite bank. As we had 
 the current in our favour, and were but little impeded 
 by portages, we made our best march to-day, viz. : 
 ninety-five miles. Encamping for the night, within 
 a short distance of Lake Huron, we heard, for the first 
 time, our little friend the whip-poor-will, a sure har- 
 binger of warm weather ; and a pair of these favourites 
 of the voyageur serenaded us all night with their cheer- 
 ful cry, which so closely imitates the name, that one is 
 often inclined to suspect some person of imitating it. 
 
 Next morning we descended to Lake Huron through 
 some remarkable rapids, which, in form and breadth, 
 bear a close resemblance to canals cut in the solid rock. 
 In one of these we were nearly snagged, after a fashion 
 unknown on the Mississippi. While running down in 
 gallant style, we perceived, by the dim twilight, a tree 
 bridging the narrow current so as to form a complete 
 barrier. The paddles were immediately backed ; and 
 a few blows from an axe quickly cleared our passage. 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 27 
 
 Before sunrise we entered Lake Huron, having now 
 before us, with the single exception of Sault Sainte 
 Marie, seven or eight hundred miles of still water to 
 the head of Lake Superior. 
 
 We dined on an island celebrated for a stone 
 which, when struck, emits a musical or metallic sound ; 
 and about eight in the evening we reached the Com- 
 pany's establishment, taking the name of La Cloche 
 from the natural bell just mentioned. The northern 
 shore of Lake Huron consists of rocky hills, dotted with 
 stunted trees, chiefly pines ; and the adjacent waters 
 are closely studded with islands, varying from ten feet 
 in diameter to many miles in length. Though the 
 whole of this neighbourhood may be deemed an almost 
 hopeless desert, yet the southern side of the lake is 
 more fertile, as are also the Manitoulin Islands. These 
 more promising districts are pretty well peopled either 
 by Europeans or by Indians. 
 
 Next day, being the 16th of the month, and the 
 thirteenth from Lachine, we reached the Sault Sainte 
 Marie about five in the afternoon. This celebrated 
 strait empties Lake Superior into Lake Huron, having 
 a British settlement, with a post of the Hudson's Bay 
 Company on the one side, and an American village, 
 with an inconsiderable garrison, on the other. Having 
 left our baggage to be conveyed across the portage in 
 carts, we visited our establishment, under the charge of 
 Mr. Ballenden; and we were here mortified to learn 
 from Mr. J. D. Cameron, one of the Company's prin- 
 cipal officers, that the ice of Lake Superior was still as 
 firm and solid as in the depth of winter. 
 
 This was likely to be a far more serious and obstinate 
 
 l^ill 
 
 
 
hi 
 
 n 
 
 If 
 
 -. i 
 
 *- 
 
 28 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 business than that of Lake Nijjissing. We, however, 
 pushed forward, encamping at Pointc aux Pins, about 
 nine miles distant, without having seen the enemy. We 
 were accompanied by Mr. Cameron, who was bound for 
 Michipicoton as well as ourselves, and also by Mr. Bal- 
 lenden, who was to pass the night with us for the trans- 
 acting of business ; and, as a curious contrast to the 
 proximity of the ice, the night was so warm, that we 
 accomplished our reading and writing in the open air 
 by moonlight. 
 
 Next morning, after proceeding six or eight miles, 
 we found to our sorrow that Mr. Cameron's information 
 was too true ; and on landing at Gros Cap we discovered 
 that, as far as the eye could reach, the lake was clad in 
 its wintry garb. As our camp was likely to be a stand- 
 ing one, we arranged our housekeeping with more than 
 orduiary care, cutting plenty of firewood, and strewing 
 our tents with a fragrant carpet of the branches of the 
 white pine. We here saw our first tokens of returning 
 spring in many budding flowers ; and, as partridges and 
 other birds were plentiful, we contrived to pass this, 
 our first, day of detention very pleasantly. 
 
 Next morning, as we had " nae motive" for rising, 
 any more than the poet of the " Seasons" had, we 
 luxuriated in bed till the fashionable hour of seven. To 
 make amends for the delay, we had beautiful weather, 
 the ail" calm, the sky cloudless, and the sun powerful ; 
 but to show how little influence all this had on the one 
 thing needful, the thermometer, which stood at 73° in 
 the shade, was not far above the freezing point in the 
 water. In the afternoon, we managed to advance a mile, 
 in order to gain an elevated point, whence we could give 
 
ROUND TIIK WOULD. 
 
 29 
 
 our hopes and fears a wider range. We had really 
 become very impatient. The heat of the weather ap- 
 peared to be good for nothing excepting to broil our- 
 selves, for we found the ice, thus at once our bane and 
 antidote, a highly agreeable addition to our water and 
 wine. Our brightest prospect, in fact, was that of eating 
 our way through the luxury. 
 
 Early next morning, I received occupation enough for 
 one day at least. A boat from our establishment 
 brought me the journal and other papers of my late 
 lamented relative, Mr. Thomas Simpson, whose suc- 
 cessful exertions in arctic discovery and whose untimely 
 end had excited so much interest in the public mind. 
 By the same conveyance we got a supply of white fish. 
 This fish, which is peculiar to North America, is one of 
 the most delicious of the finny tribe, having the ap- 
 pearance and somewhat the flavour of trout. 
 
 In the afternoon, a trapper, who was proceeding to 
 the Sault Sainte Marie with some natives in a canoe, 
 informed us that there was open water for a little dis- 
 tance to the westward. This man's hint enabled us to 
 gain six miles — a great deal, by the by, where every 
 little helped. 
 
 During the night, a slight breeze broke the field, 
 though the masses still continued to be closely packed. 
 We started at three o'clock, and, after a hard day's 
 work, accomplished about thirty miles. Our progress 
 was much embarrassed by the mirage, which assumed 
 various forms, being at one time an island, at another 
 open water, and then again impenetrable icebergs. 
 
 Next morning, starting about seven, we made three 
 or four miles in six hours ; and then, as there was no 
 
 1 
 
 h 
 
 ^ W 
 
 h-i 
 
30 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 suitable spot for encamping, we were obliged to return 
 to our old quarters, having toiled eight hours in vain, to 
 great hazard of damaging our frail barks. Next day 
 we did nothing, being partly deterred from moving 
 by constant rain, and partly prevented by heavy fog 
 from seeing the state of the ice. Here we lay, with a 
 solid lake before us, within a month of midsummer, 
 and below the latitude of London. To aggravate the 
 evil, we had no provender remaining but biscuits, which, 
 such as they were, would not hold out many days 
 longer." Lord Mulgrave, however, fortunately knocked 
 down a hare and a partridge for our dinner; while, 
 curiously enough, Lord Caledon, when we were simi- 
 larly detained in Lake Nipissing, supplied our table 
 with iish. 
 
 Between three and seven in the morning, we advanced 
 two miles, being obliged, after this exploit, to make a 
 halt till noon, on account of the increase of the fog. 
 After our next move, we pitched our camp, about eight 
 in the evening, at the mouth of the Montreal River, not 
 more than eighteen miles distant from our last encamp- 
 ment. Our march had been extremely tedious, being 
 effected by forming a lane through the masses of broken 
 ice. But the last few miles were much less obstructed, 
 and we began to hope, in right earnest, that the trou- 
 bles of a week in Lake Superior were drawing to a 
 close. Resuming our course at two in the morning, 
 we found fewer difficulties than yesterday, excepting 
 that, soon after starting, we got enclosed in a field of 
 ice, which was drifting rapidly out to sea. This cir- 
 cumstance might have proved to be our worst luck of 
 all, for a heavy gale was blowing from the shore ; and 
 
 
\ 
 
 ROUND TIIK WOULn. 
 
 31 
 
 hcfore we could <^ot clonr of our dangerous neighbours, 
 we were about three miles from the land. The weather 
 was completely characteristic of this inland ocean, a 
 heavy rain for about ten hours in the morninnf, and then 
 a thick fo*:f for the remainder of the day. About four 
 in the afternoon, wo reached Michipicoton, the good 
 folks of the fort having been prevented by the mist 
 from knowing anything of our approach, till the fami- 
 liar song of the voyageurs struck their ears. 
 
 At this place, as I could not pay my usual visit to 
 Moose Factory in July, T was to hold a temporary 
 council for the Southern Department ; and accordingly, 
 after taking off our wet cloaks and coats, and stowing 
 away a substantial meal, Mr, Cameron and myself pro- 
 ceeded to business along with Mr. George Keith, the 
 gentleman in charge of the establishment, and Mr. 
 Cowie, another of the Company's officers. Feeling the 
 house uncomfortably close after so long an exposure to 
 the open air, we preferred sleeping in our tents ; and, 
 as the rain fell heavily during the night, wo found our- 
 selves next morning in something of a puddle. 
 
 Having completed my work by eleven in the fore- 
 noon, I again resumed my journey, and we kept pad- 
 dling away till eight in the evening, in spite of rain, 
 fog, and wind. For a great distance to the westward 
 of Michipicoton, the northern shore of Lake Superior 
 consists of rugged mountains of bare rock, with a few 
 scattered trees of stunted growth. The aboriginal po- 
 pulation is, of course, very scanty, subsisting almost 
 entirely on the produce of the waters, such as whitefish, 
 sturgeon, trout, pike, herring, &c. Occasionally, how- 
 ever, the fisheries fail through the caprice of the finny 
 
 n 
 
 
 
'( 
 
 82 
 
 OVKRLAND JOIIIXKY 
 
 
 
 tribes, or from other causes ; ninl in such cnsos the 
 iniserablo Jiativos are inaiiitaiiied, for weeks and months 
 at a time, at our posts, on potatoes and salted fish. 
 But it is not in this way alone that the poor savages 
 are indebted to the fur-traders. To '/wo them the be- 
 nefit of moral and religious instruction, the Company 
 has established a missionary of the Wesleyan persuasion 
 at the Pic, our next hiilting-placeon the lake, and it also 
 assists two other missionaries, who pay periodical visits 
 to the difierent camps. On this subject I do no more 
 than bare justice in reminding the reader tliat, on these 
 shores, as forming a part of Upper Canada, the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company neither enjoys the monopoly of 
 trade, nor bears the responsibilities of government. 
 
 In illustration of the beliv^f of the Indians in a special 
 Providence, the following story may be worth telling. 
 Some three or four years ago a party of Saulteaux, 
 being much pressed by hunger, were anxious to cross 
 from the mainland to one of their fishing stations, an 
 island about twenty miles distant ; but it was nearly as 
 dangerous to go as to remain, for the spring had just 
 reached that critical point, when there was neither open 
 water nor trustworthy ice. A council being held to 
 weigh the respective chances of drowning and starving, 
 all the speakers opposed the contemplated move, till an 
 old man of considerable influence thus spoke: — " You 
 know, my friends, that the Great Spirit gav6 one of 
 our squaws a child yesterday. Now, he cannot have 
 sent it into the world to take it away again directly ; 
 and I would, therefore, recommend our carrying the 
 child with us, and keeping close to it, as the assurance 
 of our own safety." In full reliance on this reasoning, 
 
 ;,:| 
 
iioi Ni) Tiir, woiu.i). 
 
 3a 
 
 ill an 
 You 
 
 ne of 
 have 
 
 ictly ; 
 the 
 
 vance 
 
 mmg, 
 
 Hourly tlio whole hand iiiiinodiiitcly coinniittod thoin- 
 M'lvoH to tho troju'lioi'ouM ico ; aii<l tlioy all porisluMl 
 iniserahly, to the iiuinher of oi«;ht and twenty. 
 
 Durin«; the next two days we nnule heautit'ul pro- 
 ^^ress, callin<^ at the l*ic, which is prettily situated at 
 the mouth of a HUiall river of the same name. Thou^di 
 we had not the pleasure of seeing' the resident nds- 
 siojiary, who was uhsent amon^y the Indians, yet we 
 carried oil* Mv. Mac Murray, the <!^entleman in ehar^ife, 
 to our dininu^-hall, a little rocky island in the vicinity 
 of his fort. Having a fair wind for part of the time, 
 wo hoisted sail, to the great relief of our men ; and, 
 with the benefit of the full moon, wo pressed forward 
 during the second ni' ' t, in the hope of reaching Fort 
 Williaui ahout sun use. By four o'clock, however, the 
 breeze became rather too much for us, particularly as 
 we had a long traverse ahead, and we accordingly took 
 shelter at the Thunder Mountain till ten in the morn- 
 ing. The Thunder Mountain is one of the most aj)- 
 palling objects of the kind that I have ever seen, being 
 a bleak rock, about twelve hundred feet above the level 
 of the lake, with a perpendicular face of its full height 
 towards the west ; and the Indians have a superstition, 
 which one can hardly repeat without becoming giddy, 
 that any person who may scale the eminence, and turn 
 thrice round on the brink of its fearful wall, will live 
 for ever. About two in the afternoon, we gladly stepped 
 ashore at Fort William, situated near the mouth of the 
 Kaministaquoia River. 
 
 Before saying good-bye to liake Superior, let me add 
 that, since the date of my visit, the barren rocks which 
 we passed have become an object of intense interest, 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
 '1! 
 
 •I -I' 
 
 ^ 
 
rV 
 
 84 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 i ! 
 
 in 
 
 
 :fi 
 
 i 
 
 h ; 
 
 a 
 
 'IS 
 
 i; 
 
 'li 
 
 promising to rival, in point of mineral wealth, the 
 Altai Chain and the Uralian Mountains. Iron had long 
 been known to abound on the northern shore, two 
 mines having been at one time worked, and abandoned 
 chiefly on account of temporary obstacles, which the 
 gradual advance of agriculture and civilization was sure 
 to remove; and more recently, the southern shore, 
 though of a much less favourable character in this re- 
 spect, was found to possess rich veins of copper and 
 silver. Under these circumstances, various enterprising 
 inhabitants of Canada have prosecuted investigations, 
 which appear to have satisfactorily proved that, in 
 addition to their iron, the forbidding wastes of the 
 northern shore contain inexhaustible treasures both of 
 the precious and of the useful metals, of gold and silver, 
 of copper and tin ; and already have associations been 
 formed to reap the teeming harvest. 
 
 At Fort William we exchanged our two canoes for 
 three smaller vessels of the same kind, inasmuch as the 
 waters would henceforward be shallower, and the navi- 
 gation more intricate. During the interval occupied in 
 arranging this important matter, with a new distri- 
 bution of crews and baggage, I had an interview with a 
 band of Saulteaux or Chippeways, who had been wait- 
 ing my arrival near the fort. The chamber of audience 
 was an empty floor in a large store, on one side of 
 which we took our seats, while the Indians, in all about 
 forty men, occupied the other, Mr. Swanston, the gen- 
 tleman in charge, acting as interpreter. The ceremony 
 of shaking hands with every person having been punc- 
 tiliously performed, the Indians squatted themselves 
 on the boards, excepting that their chief, known as 
 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 35 
 
 L'Espagnol, stood forward in the centre of the room. 
 The orator, a tall and handsome man, somewhat advanced 
 in years, was arrayed in a scarlet coat with gold epau- 
 lettes, the whole being apparently spick and span new, 
 for the bright buttons were still enveloped in their ori- 
 ginal papers ; and whether from the want of inexpres- 
 sibles, or from a Highland taste, the tail of his shirt 
 answered the purpose of a kilt. 
 
 Having again shaken hands with the air of a prince, 
 L'Espagnol delivered himself very fluently to the effect, 
 that he and his followers, after passing from the British 
 to the Americans, had soon found reason to reflect that 
 they had always been well treated by the Hudson's Bay 
 Company ; that, with our leave, they would now settle 
 near the fort, so that the smoke of their homes might 
 thenceforward rise among Canadian forests ; and that, 
 being all Catholics, they should like to have a priest 
 among them. This speech, at its conclusion, elicited 
 a unanimous grunt of approbation from L'Espagnol's 
 people. In reply, I briefly reminded them that, in de- 
 fiance of one promise already given, they had kept 
 wandering from place to place ; offering them, at the 
 same time, protection, if they should decide hence- 
 forward to remain here, but declining to interfere in 
 the matter of their religion. With the help of a pre- 
 sent, this answer appeared to satisfy them, and the high 
 contracting parties separated. 
 
 As the navigation for the first fifty miles was much 
 obstructed by rapids and shallows, we were to be ac- 
 companied to that distance by a fourth canoe, as a 
 tender; and at six o'clock, after a stay of six hours, 
 our little squadron, in full song, darted merrily up the 
 
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 m 
 
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 ll 
 
i I 
 
 r 
 
 1 
 
 "i 
 
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 i ■ 
 
 
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 86 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 beautiful liver, whose verdant banks formed a striking 
 and agreeable contrast with the sterile and rugged coast 
 of Lake Superior. About eight, we encamped at Pointe 
 de Meurou, the site of an establishment which was once 
 maintained here by the Hudson's Bay Company as a 
 check on Fort William, the grand rendezvous of the 
 Northwesters. 
 
 In the morning, there was a sharp frost lor some hours 
 after starting, our extremities being nipped by the cold 
 and the paddles being coated with ice. Early in the 
 forenoon, we reached the Mountain Portage formed by 
 the Kakabeka Falls. Out of sight of the main track — 
 the scene being accessible only by a tangled path — the 
 Kaministaquoia, here taking a sudden turn, leaps into 
 a deep and dark ravine, itself a succession of leaps, 
 while the spectator stands right in front, near enough 
 to be covered with the Fpray. Inferior in volume 
 alone to Niagara, the Kakabeka has the advantage of 
 its far-famed rival in height of fall and wildness of 
 scenery. About the middle of the descent, a beautiful 
 rainbow, at the time of our visit, spanned the charming 
 waters, harmonizing sweetly at once with the white 
 foam, the green woods, and the sombre rocks. 
 
 The river, during the day's march, passed through 
 forests of elm, oak, pine, birch, &c., being studded with 
 isles not less fertile and lovely than its banks; and 
 many a spot reminded us of the rich and quiet scenery 
 of England. The paths of the numerous portages were 
 spangled with violets, roses, and many other wild 
 flowers, while the currant, the gooseberry, the rasp- 
 berry, the plum, the cherry, and even the vine, were 
 abundant. All this bounty of nature was imbued, as it 
 
 r^ 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 37 
 
 ^; 
 
 rsL 
 
 were, with life by the cheerful notes of a variety of 
 birds, and by the restless flutter of butterflies of the 
 brightest hues. Compared with the a<lamiiiitine deserts 
 of Lake Superior, the Kaministaquoia presented a per- 
 fect paradise. 
 
 One cannot pass throu^rh this fair valley without 
 feeling that it is destined, sooner or later, to become 
 the happy home of civilized men, with their bleating 
 flocks and their lowing herds, with their schools and 
 their churches, with their full garners and their social 
 hearths. At the time of our visit, the great obstacle 
 in the way of so blessed a consummation was the hope- 
 less wilderness to the eastward, which seemed to bar 
 for ever the march of settlement and cultivation. But 
 that very wilderness, now that it is to yield up its long- 
 hidden stores, bids fair to remove the very impediments 
 which hitherto it has itself presented. The mines of 
 Lake Superior, besides establishing a continuity of 
 route between the east and the west, will find their 
 nearest and cheapest supply of agricultural produce in 
 the valley of the Kaministaquoia. 
 
 Li the course of the afternoon, my canoe struck a 
 rock in one of the rapids, tearing a hole in her bottom. 
 Soon, however, the wreck was docked on dry land, and, 
 with the aid of stitching and gumming, was again as 
 good as new in no time. The rock must have been a 
 sharp one, for the covering of bark is so tough, that a 
 round stone has often been known to smash the ribs of 
 the vessel without breaking the skin. 
 
 Next day, beinjr Sunday, the 30th of the month, we 
 
 lay, 
 
 crossed the Do<»- Porta<re, about two miles in lenjrth. 
 
 'e^'» 
 
 early in the morning. The view from the summit is 
 
 I 
 
 i'i • 
 
 Ik 
 
 m\ 
 
 )4| 
 
 U' M 
 
 y 
 
 ft! 
 
 
 11 III' 
 
 m 
 
« ■ ■ 
 
 i 
 
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 If . t ^ 
 
 38 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 justly admired by all who see it. At the spectator's 
 feet is stretched a panorama of hill and dale, chequered 
 with the varied tints of the pine, the aspen, the ash, 
 and the oak, while through the middle meanders the 
 silvery stream of the Kaministaquoia, often doubling 
 and turning as if willing to linger for ever on so lovely 
 a spot. According to the traditions of the natives, the 
 portage derives its name from the circumstance that 
 two enormous dogs, having taken a nap at the top of 
 the hill, left the impress of their figures behind them ; 
 and certain it is, that such figures have been marked 
 on the turf in the same manner as the white horse near 
 Bath. 
 
 On Monday, being the last day of May, we crossed 
 the height of land between Canada and the Hudson's 
 Bay Company's territories, consisting of three con- 
 siderable portages, the Prairie, the Milieu, and the 
 Savanne. At the commencement of the first, we left 
 behind us one of the thousand sources of the St. Law- 
 rence in the form of a shallow pool strewed with the 
 poles, which successive voyageurs, at this the head of 
 their uphill work, have thrown away as useless. The 
 last, which is nearly two miles long, lies through a 
 perfectly level swamp, which, as far back as " Auld 
 lang syne," has been paved with a triple row of round 
 rails, placed end to end. Where this bridge happens 
 to be entire, the traveller gets along wonderfully well 
 with a groove for each shoe ; where one rail has vanished, 
 he is pretty sure to put one foot into it ; and, where 
 only one stick remains, or no stick at all, he has no help 
 but to let both his legs take their chance of reaching 
 the bottom. Your novice generally takes a paddle as 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 39 
 
 a crutch ; and friends of mine have sometimes doubly 
 armed themselves in this way. 
 
 At the farther end of the Savanne, we descended the 
 little river Embarras, so named from the great number 
 of fallen trees lying across its narrow channel. We 
 sometimes cut through these obstructions, sometimes 
 crept under them, and sometimes pushed them back, 
 like swinging gates ; but occasionally we found them 
 so matted into dams, that we had to make portages 
 round them. 
 
 On the 1st of June, soon after passing through the 
 beautiful Lake of a Thousand Lakes, we descended a 
 small and troublesome river, something like our yes- 
 terday's Embarras, to the French Portage, generally 
 acknowledged to be the very worst in this part of the 
 country. The path lay over a succession of steep 
 ascents and descents, while the bottom was generally a 
 miry swamp, obstructed by underwood and fallen trees. 
 The length of two and a half miles cost even the unen- 
 cumbered passengers a struggle of nearly two hours. 
 Our troubles in wading through this combination of hill 
 and valley, of morass and forest, were aggravated by 
 clouds of sand-flies, which almost fatigued our arms in 
 sweeping them from our faces and feet. 
 
 In the morning, we passed down a small river and 
 through Sturgeon Lake into the Maligne, a stream 
 abounding in sharp stones and short portages. Thence 
 Ave proceeded through Lac la Croix to the Macan, which 
 strikingly resembles the Maligne. At nearly all the 
 rapids and falls on these two rivers, the Indians have 
 erected platforms, which stretch about twenty feet from 
 the shore ; and on these they fix themselves, spear in 
 
 
 '1 -1 
 

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 i ' 
 
 1 
 
 ■ 
 
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 40 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 hand, for hours, as silent and motionless as possible, till 
 some doomed fish comes within the range of their un- 
 erring weapon. If they take more sturgeon than what 
 they immediately require, they tether the supernume- 
 raries by a string, through the mouth and gill, to the 
 bank ; and this mode of confinement, at least for a week 
 or two, affects neither the weight nor the flavour of the 
 prisoners. 
 
 On the morrow, towards noon, we made a short port- 
 age from the Macan to a muddy stream, falling into 
 Lac la Pluie. As we were passing down this narrow 
 and shallow creek, fire suddenly burst forth in the woods 
 near us. The flames, crackling and clambering up each 
 tree, quickly rose above the forest ; within a few mi- 
 nutes more the dry grass on the very margin of the 
 waters was in a running blaze ; and, before we were 
 well clear of the danger, we were almost enveloped in 
 clouds of smoke and ashes. These conflagrations, often 
 caused by a wanderer's fire or even by his pipe, desolate 
 large tracts of country, leaving nothing but black and 
 bare trunks, and even these sometimes mutilated into 
 stumps, — one of the most dismal scenes on which the 
 eye and the heart can look. When once the consuming 
 element gets into the thick turf of the primeval wilder- 
 ness, it sets everything at defiance ; and it has been 
 known to smoulder for a whole winter, under the deep 
 snow. 
 
 After traversing Lac la Pluie and five or six miles of 
 the river of the same name, we reached our post between 
 ten and eleve^. ^be evening, being saluted by about a 
 hundred Saulte . ', the warriors of a band of about five 
 hundred souls and these savages, after accompanying 
 
 |:4 ii 
 
HOUND TIIK WORLD. 
 
 41 
 
 US to the fort with one of their wild songs, presented 
 nie with a letter written by one of their own nation, 
 who had been educated in Canada, and was now acting 
 as interpreter for the Wesleyan Missionary of the esta- 
 blishment. The document ran thus : 
 
 Father, 
 
 VVc, the undersigned chiefs and p'*i>'^'nnl men of the Indians, whom 
 you now see encamped around this* fo ao hereby present our good 
 wishes on your safe arrival. 
 
 It is not known to any of us that you ever was so requested by any of 
 the tribes inhabiting this country, as that which we now humbly request, 
 which is, that you will be pleased to hear the words of your children, 
 who are now awaiting to address you on things which concern the 
 welfare of themselves and their children. 
 
 And now, Father, we know that you are the Governor of this our 
 common country, and we know that your ear is open to the words of all 
 therein. 
 
 We humbly hope that it may be so to uswards. 
 Signed on behalf of our people, 
 
 Nawayahnaquah, 
 Matwayatii, 
 Kechenegah TE UN, 
 Masiionoya, 
 Wa na nie. 
 
 In accordance with this request, I invited my 
 *' children" to attend me at four in the morning ; and, 
 instead of pitching our tents among so many needy 
 friends, we made our beds within Fort Frances. But, 
 while I was napping, the enemy were pelting away at 
 me with their incantations. In the centre of a con- 
 juring tent — a structure of branches and bark forty 
 feet in length by ten in width — they kindled a fire ; 
 round the blaze stood the chiefs and medicine-men, 
 while as many of the others as could find room were 
 squatted against the walls ; then, to enlighten and con- 
 
 
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 u; 
 
 
 M ^ f 
 
 ^ ■ ii '\^ 
 
 
 ;fj* 
 
 
 43 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 vert me, charms were muttered, rattles were shaken, 
 and offerings were committed to the flames. After all 
 these operations were supposed to have done their best, 
 the hitherto silent spectators, at a signal given, started 
 from their hams vo their feet, and marched round the 
 magic circle, singing, whooping, and drumming in 
 horrible discord. With occasional intervals, which 
 were spent by the performers in taking the fresh air, this 
 exhibition was repeated during the whole night ; so that, 
 when the appointed hour arrived, the poor creatures 
 were still engaged in their superstitious observances 
 
 True to their time, two processions, one from e .mr 
 side of the establishment, met in the open square of the 
 fort, waving their banners and firing their guns. They 
 had all dressed, or rather decorated, themselves for the 
 occasion ; their costumes, being various enough to show 
 that fashion, as it is called, had not yet got so far to 
 the westward. Their glossy locks were plaited all round 
 the head into tails, varying in number according to the 
 thickness of the bush or the taste of the owner ; at the 
 ends of the different ties were suspended such valuable 
 ornaments as thimbles, coins, buttons, and clippings of 
 tin ; their heads were adorned with feathers of all sorts 
 and sizes ; and their necks were encircled with rows of 
 beads at discretion and large collars of brass rod. 
 
 As to clothing, properly so called, every one had 
 leggings and a rag round the loins, while some of the 
 chiefs, with the addition of scarlet coats and plenty of 
 gold lace, had very much the cut of parish-beadles. 
 The staple commodities, however, appeared to be paint 
 and chalk. The naked bodies of the commoners dis- 
 played an inexhaustible variety of combinations of red 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 43 
 
 igs of 
 
 had 
 f the 
 ty of 
 adles. 
 paint 
 i dis- 
 f red 
 
 and white, often surpassing in brilliancy as well as in 
 tightness of fit the dashing uniforms of the grandees ; 
 and every face, whether noble or ignoble, was smeared 
 entirely out of sight, the prevailing distribution appear- 
 ing to be, forehead white, nose and cheeks red, mouth 
 and chin black. 
 
 Meanwhile, we had been stirring, to the utmost of our 
 ability, not to be outdone in magnificence. Lord Caledon 
 and Lord Mulgrave had donned their regimentals ; 
 and we, civilians, had equipped ourselves like so many 
 mandarins in our dressing-gowns, which luckily hap- 
 pened to be of rather showy patterns and hues. After 
 much shaking of hands, about sixty of the Lidians 
 squeezed themselves into the apartment, while the others, 
 with the women and children, remained outside. When 
 all were seated, each chief, in turn, sent round his 
 calumet among us, in the costliness of which they 
 appeared to emulate each other. 
 
 All these preliminaries being concluded, the spokes- 
 man of the party stepped forward ; and, first ostenta- 
 tiously displaying a valuable present of sundry packs of 
 furs, he commenced his harangue, in a bold and manly 
 voice, with great fluency and animation. After a 
 tedious prelude, which I was obliged to cut short, about 
 the creation, the flood, &c., — the object probably being 
 to show how and why and when the Great Spirit had 
 made one race red and another \>hite, — he plunged at 
 once from this transcendental height into the practical 
 vulgarities of rum, complaining that we had stopped 
 their liquor, though we, or at least our predecessors, 
 had promised to furnish it " as long as the waters flowed 
 down the rapids." " Now," said he, in allusion to our 
 
 {• 
 
 'H;; 
 
 'lll.i' 
 
 I ^1 
 
l!i 
 
 44 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 I'' 
 
 
 A 
 
 ft. 
 
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 ii 
 
 empty caskis, " if I crack a nut, will water run from it?" 
 In reply, I explained to t'le Indians that spirits ha<l 
 been withdrawn, not to save expense to us but to benefit 
 them. I then pointed out the advantages of temperance, 
 promising them, however, a small gift of rum every 
 autumn, not as a luxury but as a medicine. In thanking 
 them for their present of furs, I told tlicin that, besides 
 receiving a suitable present in return, they would be 
 paid the usual price for every skin. In conclusion, there 
 was another shaking of hands; and then this grand 
 council between the English and Chipj)eways broke up 
 about six o'clock, to the satisfaction of both nations. 
 
 The Salteaux, a branch of the Chippeways, were for- 
 merly one of the most powerful tribes in this country. 
 By repeated visitations, however, of nieasles and small- 
 pox, they have dwindled down to three or four thousand 
 souls; and even this inconsiderable number, though 
 scattered over a vast extent of territory, can scarcely 
 keep body and soul together. As the fur trade, unless 
 under systematic and judicious management, naturally 
 tends to exhaust itself, the hunting-grounds of the Sal- 
 teaux, as being nearer to a market than those of any 
 other tribe, have been proportionally drained of their 
 natural wealth ; and, though the soil is fertile, producing 
 wild rice in great abundance, yet the savages in question 
 are at once too indolent and too proud to become, as 
 they loftily express themselves, " troublers of the earth." 
 This their love of a wandering life is the more deeply to 
 be regretted, inasmuch as, till they settle down as 
 agriculturists, they can derive little or no advantage 
 from the proffered labours of the missionaries, whom 
 the Hudson's Bay Company has introduced among them. 
 
 m <' 
 
 •44 < 
 
noiiNi) Tin: wouLn. 
 
 45 
 
 TIic follo\vin<; iiiciflont, which occurred during our 
 short stny at [iJic hi IMuio, may servo to illuHtrato, in 
 Komo important particuhiru, tlio character of these 
 Indians. IJeforo coniin;!,^ to take liis seat in council, 
 Lord iNIul^ravc left a dirk in his bedroom, near tiio 
 open window; hut, on his returning' to his apartment, 
 the weapon was nowhere to ho found. As the Indians, 
 exceptin**; our conscript fathers, had been han^'in<( about 
 all the niorninj;c, they were immediately suspectetl ; and 
 when the chiefs were upbraided with this treacherous 
 dishonesty, one of them addrcsse<l the peojde, ur<,nng 
 them, for the honour of the tribe, to give up the 
 offender. But, as neither the thief nor the booty was 
 forthcoming, we started, somewhat chagrined at the 
 occurrence. While preparing for breakfast, about ten 
 miles below the fort, we were overtaken by a small 
 canoe, from which throe youths joyously rushed towards 
 us with the missing dirk. The article having been dis- 
 covered in the store soon after our departure, the chiefs 
 despatched their myrmidons after us, with orders to 
 follow us, if necessary, all the way to Red River. 
 
 Having been rewarded with a hearty meal and some 
 tobacco, the three lads retraced their steps in excellent 
 humour. 
 
 The river which empties Lac la Pluie into the Lake 
 of the Woods is, in more than one respect, decidedly 
 the finest stream on the whole route. From Fort 
 Frances downwards, a stretch of nearly a hundred miles, 
 it is not interrupted by a single impediment, while yet 
 the current is not strong enough materially to retard an 
 ascending traveller. Nor are the banks less favourable 
 to agriculture than the waters themselves to navigation, 
 
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 46 
 
 OVERLAND JOl'RNEY 
 
 lit ' 
 
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 M 
 
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 resembling, in some measure, those of the Thames near 
 Uichmond. From the very brink of tlie river, there 
 rises a gentle slope of greensward, crowned in many 
 places with a plentiful growth of birch, poplar, beech, 
 elm, and oak. Is it too much for the eye of philan- 
 thropy to discern, through the vista of futurity, this 
 noble stream, connecting, as it docs, the fertile shores 
 of two spacious hikes, with crowded steamboats on its 
 bosom, and populous towns on its borders ? 
 
 In spite of a contrary wind, we next day got within 
 fifteen miles of the farther end of the Lake of the 
 Woods. Though the shores of this sheet of water are 
 more rocky than those of Lac la Pluie, yet tiiey are 
 very fertile, producing the rice already mentioned in 
 abundance, and bringing maize to perfection. The 
 lake is also literally studded with woody islands, from 
 which it 1ms doubtless derived its name ; and these 
 islands, being exempted from nocturnal frosts, which 
 exist chiefly in the neighbourhood of swamps, are better 
 adapted than the mainland for cultivation. 
 
 Before sunrise in the morning, we reached our esta- 
 blishment of Rat Portage, situated at the head of the 
 magnificent stream which empties the Lake of the 
 Woods into Lake Winipeg. This river, which takes 
 the same name as the inland sea that receives it, forms, 
 along its rocky channel, so many falls and rapids, many 
 of them of almost matchless grandeur, that its length 
 of more than two hundred miles is broken by no fewer 
 than thirty-seven portages. After an amphibious course 
 of two days and a half, about noon on Tuesday the 8th 
 of the month, we reached Fort Alexander, distant about 
 a mile and a half from Lake Winipeg. 
 
 ^N?r -^i 
 
ROrND THE WOULD. 
 
 47 
 
 Starting a^ain after a halt of a few hours, our pro- 
 jyreHs was nuich impeded hy a southerly wind, wliieh 
 hud also had the usual ellect of «hiving oil' the waters 
 from this end of the lake to such an extent, that we 
 were ohli<;ed to make a portage in a chaunel, which I 
 had usually passed under full paddle. 
 
 Next morning, we entered on the grand traverse, 
 leading to the mouth of the Red River. The adjacent 
 shores are so low, that there is /:onerally some <lifliculty 
 in striking the entrance of the stream ; hut on this 
 occasion we were assisted by a columii of Si»;oke, which, 
 as we were informed, would guid«; us in!'i our df Hned 
 haven. About seveu in the evening, we arrived !i« the 
 Lower Fort of Red River Settlement, having previously 
 passe<l a large village of Indians, set.lod as agricul- 
 turists under the charge of the Reverend Mr. Smithurst, 
 of the Church Missionary Society. So far as musqui- 
 toes, sand-flies, and bull-frogs were concerned, this was 
 our worst encampment on the whole rou^e. 
 
 Next afternoon, we reached Fort Garry, twenty- 
 three miles higher up the river, where we were kindly 
 welcomed by my relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Finlayson. 
 Thus had we accomplished in safety our long voyage of 
 about two thousand miles. <m! *he whole, we had been 
 fortunate with regard to the weather. During our 
 thirty-eight days, rain had fallen only on parts of six ; 
 and, though immediately on leaving Montreal we had 
 encountered piercing winds and chilly nights, yet we 
 soon had, in general, as delightful a temperature a? we 
 could wish. 
 
 About ten days after my arrival, I despatched Lords 
 Caledon and Mulgrave to the plains, under the escort 
 
 ft 1 
 
 fill 
 
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 48 
 
 OVEULAND JOURNEY 
 
 of Mr. Cutbbert Grant, an influential native of mixed 
 origin, and a party of hunters. Being desirous of en- 
 countering as many of the adventurers of the wilder- 
 ness as possible, these young noblemen had determined 
 on passing through the country of the Sioux to St. 
 Peter's on the Mississippi ; and for this purpose they 
 had provided themselves with guides, &c. Lord Caledon 
 succeeded in carrying his intentions into effect, gaining 
 golden opinions among the hunters by his courage, 
 skill, and affability ; but Lord Mulgrave, from indis- 
 position, retraced his steps, first to Fort Garry and 
 thence .to Sault ^ainte Marie, — that connecting link be- 
 tween the canoe and the steamboat. 
 
 
 :1. 
 
 \ ' 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 49 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FROM RED RIVER SETTLEMENT TO EDMONTON. 
 
 Red River Settlement, position, origin, condition — Departure from 
 Red River Settlement — Face of country — Salt lake — Fort Ellice — 
 Qu'appelle River, crank canoes — Wolverine Knoll, native legend — 
 Native lodges — Rain and swamps — Dog Knoll — Salt lakes — Native 
 lodge, hieroglyphics — Halt in heavy rain — ^^'anderings of Tom Taylor 
 — Bow River — Indian story — War in the plains — Carlton — The Saskat- 
 chewan — Picturesque country — Crees — Scarcity, of water — Red River 
 emigrants, love of native spot — Buffalo hunt — Turtle River — Scarcity of 
 water — Fort Pitt — Miseries of a native lodge — Alarm of Blackfeet — 
 Effects of hail — Extreme vicissitudes — Oddity of native names — Ed- 
 monton — Native tribes — Visitors of quality. 
 
 Having safely arrived at the Red River of Lake 
 Winipeg' — as narrated in the preceding chapter — I may, 
 previous to the continuation of my journey, take the 
 opportunity of here laying before my reader a brief 
 account of the British Establishment now settled on the 
 banks of that stream. 
 
 In the year 1811, the Hudson's Bay Company ceded 
 to the late Earl of Selkirk, in full right, a large portion 
 of their territories in North America. The tract of 
 land so granted was, in every respect, well calculated 
 for the purposes of agriculture ; and it was hoped that, 
 together with the cultivation of the soil, successful 
 measures might eventually be adopted to promote tiie 
 civilization of the Indian tribes in that quarter. 
 
 The grant in question extended chiefly along the 
 plains, watered by the Assiniboine and the Red Rivers, 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 and their tributary streams. From the former of these 
 two rivers the general district received the name of 
 Assiniboia, while the particular colony or settlement 
 was named after the latter and larger stream, into which 
 the waters of the former are discharged. 
 
 It was near the junction of these rivers — about forty 
 or fifty miles from Lake Winipeg (lat. 50°, long. 97° 
 west of London) — that Lord Selkirk first proposed to 
 try the important experiment connected with his plans 
 of British emigration. In the work which he published, 
 in 1805, upon that subject — with relation chiefly to 
 the highlands of Scotland at that time — ^lie had fully 
 developed his views as to the beneficial effects likely to 
 accrue to the mother country by relieving it cautiously 
 of its superabundant population. He had observed, 
 however, with anxiety, the extent to which the high- 
 landers were migrating from their native land, their 
 movements being unfortunately dilrected, not towards 
 British possessions abroad, where British colonies might 
 be advantageously formed, but to the territories of 
 foreign powers, and particularly to those of the United 
 States of America. Strongly impressed with objec- 
 tions to these ill-directed movements, he did all that 
 lay in his power to divert them into a better channel. 
 In his endeavours, however, he found that most of the 
 principal highland proprietors were averse to emicrration 
 of any sort, and that the successive administrations, and 
 heads of departments, to whom he had, at the time, 
 submitted his plans, held out to him little or no en- 
 couragement. The first memorial he had presented to 
 Government was in 1802, regarding not only the state 
 of the highlands of Scotland, but also that of Ire- 
 
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ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 51 
 
 land. Tt met, however, with no very favourable 
 reception. But this did not prevent him from per- 
 severing. He determined to support his theory by 
 practical exertion, and at his own expense. In more 
 recent times, however — and after his death — it would 
 appear that the views and opinions he had entertained 
 on this important subject tvere to receive a more im- 
 partial and unprejudiced consideration; and, accord- 
 ingly, for a considerable period, emigration, from Great 
 Britain and Ireland, has been aided, supported, and 
 directed, by the British Government. 
 
 With respect to the Red River Settlement, it may 
 be mentioned that the Hudson's Bay Company, after 
 making the grant of land alluded to, appointed, by 
 virtue cf the powers given to them by their royal charter, 
 a governor of the district in which the colony was to be 
 planted ; and Lord Selkirk nominated the same gentle- 
 man to take the principal and personal charge of his 
 settlers. The first body of emigrants was composed 
 chiefly of a small number of hardy mountaineers from 
 Scotland, a party well adapted to act as pioneers, to 
 encounter and overcome the difl[iculties they might meet 
 with in their route. When the new governor of the 
 district, thus attended, first arrived at the spot fixed 
 upon for the settlement, he immediately began to pre- 
 pare for the arrival of the first detachment of the re- 
 gular colonists and their families, building houses for 
 them, and making every practicable arrangement for 
 their reception. In the beginning of the year 1813, 
 the settlers amounted to about a hundred persons ; 
 early in 1814, there arrived about fifty more ; and, in 
 the autumn of the same year, their numbers amounted 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 to two hundred. An additional hundred soon after^vards 
 arrived at Hudson's Bay from the hi<^hlands of Scotland 
 to join the settlement; havin<j been encouraged to 
 migrate thither by letters they had received from their 
 friends settled at Red River. 
 
 During the first years of the establishment — owing to 
 occurrences of a peculiarly unfortunate nature, over 
 which the colonists had no control — the settlement 
 advanced but slowly. From about the year 1821, how- 
 ever, it seemed fixed and secure. A considerable num- 
 ber of. the Scotch, indeed, were, at various times, 
 tempted to remove to the United States ; but the ge- 
 neral body, consisting chiefly of highlanders, Orkney- 
 men, together with a number of half-breeds, remained 
 fixed at the settlement. The latter class, (half-breeds) 
 of every stock, derive their aboriginal blood generally 
 from the Swampy Crees, the similarity of whose lan- 
 guage to that of the Chippeways would make one sup- 
 pose they were branches of the same original trunk. 
 Exclusive of the settlers above-mentioned, many of the 
 old and retired servants of the Hudson's Bay Company 
 are in the habit of establishing themselves, with their 
 families, at the settlement. Lord Selkirk died in 1820, 
 since which event no efforts have been made to brins: 
 colonists to the Red River from Europe; but the 
 census, which is taken at regular intervals, numbers, at 
 present, above five thousand souls ; and, in spite of the 
 occasional emigrations from the Red River towards the 
 Mississippi and the Columbia, it appears that the popu- 
 lation is found to double every twenty years. 
 
 It was naturally to be expected, at the commence- 
 ment of a colony of this description, located at so great 
 
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 HOUND TIIK WORLD. 
 
 53 
 
 a dietaiice from any civilized district, tliiit many ob- 
 structions and inconveniences would unavoidably occur. 
 Every practicable step, however, was taken to alleviate 
 or remove the ditticulties. The heads oF families, as 
 they arrived, were put in possession of lots of land which 
 they immediately began to cultivate ; additional houses 
 were speedily built ; a mill was erected ; sheep and 
 cattle were sent up to the settlement ; and all means 
 adopted to promote the success of the colony. The 
 soil proved rich and productive, and the plough met 
 with no obstruction. The usual American step neces- 
 sarily taken for clearing away the forest previous to 
 tilling the land was not required. The plains adjoining 
 the settlement were not encumbered with wood, though, 
 upon the immediate banks of the rivers, there was gene- 
 rally to be found an abundance and variety of fine 
 timber. The rivers abounded with fish ; the adjoining 
 prairies with buffaloes, and the more distant woods with 
 elk, deer, &c. The hunting-grounds of the neighbour- 
 ing Indians were not interfered with ; and their neigh- 
 bours, the Saulteaux tribe, proved, from the first, 
 friendly and well-disposed towards the settlers. 
 
 Some years after the original formation of the colony, 
 it gradually extended itself down along the banks of 
 the Red River, reaching, at present, to no great distance 
 from the shore of Lake Winipeg. 
 
 Generally speaking, the Canadians occupy the Assini- 
 boine and the upper section of the Red River, while the 
 Europeans, more or less intermingled, are settled at 
 the lower section of the latter stream ; and, as the Cana- 
 dians are almost universally Roman Catholics, and all 
 the rest, including settled Indians, generally Protestants, 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 the local distribution of creeds and languages prevents 
 those embarrassments with respect to education and 
 religion, which perplex many other communities. 
 
 Among the Roman Catholics are a bishop and two or 
 three priests, who, in addition to an allowance from the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, receive tithes, amounting, as in 
 Lower Canada, to the twenty-sixth bushel of all kinds 
 of grain. Besides seminaries for elementary instruc- 
 tion, the bishop superintends a school of industry, where 
 the young females are taught to turn their wool into 
 cloth. 
 
 The Protestants have two clergymen of the Church 
 of England, who do duty in four places of worship, three 
 of them in the main settlement, and one among the 
 aboriginal proselytes ; and there are six principal schools 
 for the ordinary branches of a plain education, two of 
 them among the Indians, and four among the others. 
 The charges of religion are defrayed partly by the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, and partly by the Church 
 Missionary Society, — the flocks neither paying their 
 tithes nor wholly maintaining the sacred fabrics. As 
 to the charges of education, four fiifths of them fall on 
 the pious and chat" table association just mentioned, 
 . while the remaining fifth is borne by such individual 
 parents as are able and willing to spare fifteen shil- 
 lings a year for the moral and intellectual culture of a 
 child. 
 
 Fort Garry, the principal establishment in the 
 place, is situated at the forks of the Red River and 
 the Assiniboine, being about fifty miles from Lake 
 Winipeg, and about seventy-five from the frontier ; and 
 it occupies, as nearly as possible, the centre of the 
 
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ROUND Tllli AVORLU. 
 
 55 
 
 settlement. This, which is the officiul residence of tho 
 Governor of the colony, is a regularly built fortification, 
 with walls and bastions of stone. Nearly opposite, on 
 the right bank of the united streams, is the Roman 
 Catholic cathedral. The principal Protestant church 
 is about two miles further down, on the left bank. 
 
 In the immediate neighbourhood of this last-men- 
 tioned place of worship stands the Red River academy, 
 a large and flourishing school, kept by Mr. and Mrs. 
 Macallum, for the sons and daughters of gentlemen in 
 the service. Below Fort Garry many respectable dwell- 
 ings, most of them of two stories, belong to the wealthier 
 class of inhabitants. The lower fort, which is about 
 four times the size of the upper establishment, is in 
 process of being enclosed by loopholed walls and bas- 
 tions. This is my own head-quarters when I visit the 
 settlement ; and here al§o resides Mr. Thom, the Re- 
 corder of Rupert's Land — so named in the royal charter. 
 
 On entering Red River from Lake Winipeg, the 
 shores, for the first ten miles, are low and swampy, 
 abounding in wild fowl of every kind ; but, farther up, 
 they rise to a height varying from thirty to sixty feet. 
 On the eastern or right bank there is abundance of 
 poplar, birch, elm, oak, &c., pines also being plentiful 
 a few miles back ; while the western side, generally 
 speaking, is one vast prairie, with scarcely any timber. 
 Nearly as far up as the forks, the houses and farms of 
 the settlers are almost exclusively on the left bank, 
 while each occupier generally owns, within a con- 
 venient distance, part of the opposite bush as a wood-lot. 
 
 The soil of Red River Settlement is a black mould of 
 considerable depth, which, when first tilled, produces 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 extraordinary crops, as much, on some occasions, as 
 forty returns of wheat ; and, even after twenty suc- 
 cessive years of cultivation, without tiie relief of manure 
 or of fallow, or of green crop, it still yields from fifteen 
 to twenty-five bushels an acre. The wheat produced is 
 plump and heavy; there are also largo quantities of 
 grain of all kinds, besides beef, mutton, pork, butter, 
 cheese, and wool in abundance. Agriculture, however, 
 has not been Avithout its misfortunes. In the year 
 1826, in consequence of the heavy snows and continued 
 severity of the preceding winter, the thaws of the 
 spring flooded the whole country, not only filling the 
 channels of the two rivers, but also covering the ad- 
 jacent plains to a great depth. Every stream, from 
 mouth to source, was a torrent, and every swamp a 
 lake ; till, at last, swamp and stream, as they rose and 
 rose, united to drown nearly all the labours of pre- 
 ceding years. Fence after fence, and house after 
 house, floated away on the bosom of the deluge, while 
 the helpless owners were huddled tegether on spots 
 which the forbearance alone of the surging sea showed 
 to be higher than the rest ; and the receding waters 
 left, and that at a period too late for successful culti- 
 vation, little but the site of Red River Settlement. 
 
 But the temporary evil, as is generally the case with 
 the devastations of nature, brought with it a permanent 
 benefit. The ruined hovels, (for many of the original 
 settlers had been glad of any shelter) were gradually 
 replaced by dwellings of more convenient structure ; 
 and the submerged lands were irrigated and manured 
 into more than their natural fertility. For the next 
 three seasons, however, frogs were, if possible, more 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
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 mimeroua tlmn ever they were in Kirypt ; and, in 
 a snbscqneiit year, the crops were almost entirely <le- 
 vonred by caterpillars. Previously to the <^roat Hood, 
 whole armies of locusts most seriously damaged the 
 crops for three successive years. 
 
 The summers, though not quite so long as in Cana<la, 
 are yet pretty much the same in other respects. The 
 Avinters are not only more tedious but also more severe. 
 For weeks together, the thermometer shows, at some 
 hour or other of the four-and-twenty, upwards of thirty 
 degrees bebw zero ; and there is hardly a winter in 
 which the mercury escapes being solidly frozen. During 
 the hardest weather, however, horses may be left out of 
 doors to find provender for themselves under the snow, 
 provided they have been hardened by constant exposure 
 to the advancing cold. 
 
 But cattle, though bearing so much of a general re- 
 semblance to the buffalo, cannot forage for themselves 
 in this way ; being unable to scrape away the snow from 
 the grass. In the winter of 1833-4, I placed five hun- 
 dred head in the most favourable spots to pass the 
 winter in the open air. Two hundred of them die<l in 
 the experiment, most of them in a very singular way. 
 In order to guard against the wolves, the cattle were 
 confined at night within a narrow enclosure, where, 
 to say nothing of their mutilating or destroying 
 each other's horns, the accumulation of dung, by 
 freezing in their hoofs, lamed and disabled them. 
 Within the settlement, the cattle find food for them- 
 selves about seven months in the plains and woods ; 
 but, during the remainder of the year, they are main- 
 tained on the straw of the farms, and on hay cut on the 
 
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 buundless common behind the pasturing grounds of the 
 flocks and herds. 
 
 In addition to agriculture, or sometimes in place of 
 it, the settlers, more particularly those of mixed origin, 
 devote first the summer, and then the autumn, and some- 
 times the winter also, to the hunting of the buffalo, 
 bringing home vast quantities of pemmican, dried 
 meat, grease, tongu' , &c., for which the Company's 
 voyaging business atlords the best market ; and even 
 many of the stationary agriculturists send oxen and 
 carts, on shares, to help the poorer hunters to convey 
 their booty to the settlement. 
 
 The colony is governed by a corporation, called the 
 Council of Assiniboia, which, under an express pro- 
 vision of the Charter, exercises judicial powers as well 
 as legislative authority ; and, in order to put both 
 branches of the duty on a more satisfactory footing, the 
 Company, two years ago, introduced into the country 
 the professional gentleman already mentioned, as the 
 pioneer of legislation, and the organ of the court. 
 
 To resume my journal. I had intended to remain at 
 Red River till about the middle of July ; but, having 
 changed my contemplated route, in consequence of infor- 
 mation obtained on the spot, I was obliged to start ten 
 or twelve days earlier than I had proposed. As my new 
 road was to lie through the country of the Blackfeet In- 
 dians, I was happy to obtain, for the whole way to Fort 
 Vancouver, the escort of Mr. Rowand, who, having been 
 in charge of the Saskatchewan for many years, had great 
 influence among the tribes of the prairies. With that 
 gentleman's aid, and a well-appointed party of eighteen 
 
ROUND TIIK WOBLO. 
 
 59 
 
 or twenty men in all, we hud but little to fetir from any 
 Indians that we could meet. 
 
 As the country was practicable for wheels as far as 
 Edmonton, we resolved to relieve our hornes by taking 
 as much of our baggage as possible in light carts ; and, 
 in order to save us a day, or perhaps more, in calling 
 at Fort Polly for a relay of horses, we despatched three 
 men, about a week before our own start, to have the 
 requisite band of n.ags brought for us from that esta- 
 blishment to a conspicuous landmark in the sea of 
 plains, known as the Dutfc atw Chiens. Still farther 
 to expedite matters, we sent oft', about four days after- 
 wards, three carts of heavy baggage, with six men and 
 a few horses. 
 
 In addition to my fellow-travellers and myself, my 
 own immediate party was thus reduced to six men, 
 thirty horses, and one light cart; and accordingly, 
 about five in the morning of the 3rd of July, our caval- 
 cade left Fort Garry under a salute. While we defiled 
 through the gates into the open plains with an horizon 
 before us as well defined a*: that of the blue ocean, the 
 scene resembled the moving of an Eastern caravan in 
 the boundless sands of Arabia, — a medley of pots and 
 pans and kettles, in our single vehicle, the unruly pack- 
 horses prancing under their loads, and every cavalier, 
 armed to the teeth, assisting his steed to neigh and caper 
 with bit and spur. The effect was not a little heightened 
 by a brilliant sunrise, the firing of cannon, the stream- 
 ing of flags, and the shouting of the spectators. Mr. 
 Finlayson and his brother volunteered to accompany us 
 on our first stage, so as to see us fairly out of the 
 settlement. 
 
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 Soon after Kturtiiig, wo wore hroii^Mit to u halt by i.i\ 
 accident, wliioh, besides j)rodiiciii<i; more serious conso- 
 quonco8,nii^iit have altecled u\y comfort to a ;;roat extent. 
 Wiiilo coming out in the Caledonia, I had picked up, 
 with a Hpecial reference to my lon^ and arduoun journey, 
 a smart, active, and intelligent highlaiuler of the 
 name of JNI'Intyre, who also possessed the j)eculiar 
 recommendation of being able to commuiucate with me 
 in one of the unknown tongues, the (Jaelic of the north 
 of Scotland. Well, whether the horse was too frisky, 
 or the rider too ambitious to show olF the animal's 
 points, M^Intyre's charger, taking fright and becoming 
 unmanageable, contrived to dislodge its saddle, so as to 
 throw the poor fellow heavily on his head. Though he 
 was stunned for a few minutes, yet, on recovering his 
 consciousness, he appeared to be but little injured ; to 
 make assurance doubly sure, however, in so important a 
 matter, he had a little blood taken from him imme- 
 diately, an operation which entirely removed every un- 
 pleasant symptom. 
 
 We halted for breakfast near the Roman Catholic 
 chapel of the White Horse Plains, distant from Fort Garry 
 about twenty miles. This meal, contrary to the snapping 
 system of the aquatic part of our journey, now became 
 quite a luxurious lounge, inasmuch as the horses could 
 not eat, like the voyageurs, as fast as ourselves. On 
 the important occasion in question, we regularly tarried 
 three or four hours, turning our nags loose to make the 
 most of their time. Having completed the grand busi- 
 ness of internal improvement at our leisure, we killed 
 the remaining interval, each man according to his taste, 
 in dressing, or bathing, or sleeping, or reading, or 
 
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 ROUND Till', WORLD. 
 
 61 
 
 writings,', or doing nothing. Ah the iixlo of our cart 
 had broken at tlie very outset, it wuh here repaired by 
 the neighbouring blacksmith ; and, in order to provide 
 against the recurrence of such a cahunity under less 
 favourable circumstances, a second vehicle was engaged 
 to accompany us. 
 
 About two in the afternoon, the Messrs. Finlayson, 
 after many farewells, returned to Fort (jiarry, while wo 
 entered on our second stage. We had hardly started, 
 when, by a coincidence equally unexpected and un- 
 pleasant, our cart upset over perhaps the only stono 
 within twenty miles of us, — the country being nearly 
 as free of such impediments as the tidiest garden. In 
 fact, the mould, which, as already mentioned, forms the 
 soil, has nothing harder than itself to bind it together ; 
 so that the banks of every little creek melt under tho 
 ijifluencc of the freshets of spring, almost as readily as 
 if they were wreaths of snow. 
 
 As we never encamped, at least with our own will, 
 except in the vicinity of water, we kept marching along, 
 till we reached, about nine in the evening, a small lake, 
 and there, after a hearty supper, we turned in for the 
 night, or rather some of us did so, for most of my 
 friends slept in the open air. The musquitocs were so 
 troublesome, that the horses, hungry and tired as they 
 were, could neither feed nor rest. The scenery of the 
 day had been generally a perfect level. On the east, 
 north, and south, there was not a mound or tree to vary 
 the vast expanse of greensward, while to the west were 
 the gleaming bays of the winding Assiniboine, sepa- 
 rated from each other by wooded points of considerable 
 depth. 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 In the morning, we forded the Champignon. The 
 country generally bore the same appearance as yester- 
 day, excepting that our path occasionally ran through 
 a clump of trees. We also crossed the beds of many 
 shallow lakes, which contain water only during the 
 spring, brushing the luxuriant grass with our very 
 knees ; and, on the hard ground, the surface was beau- 
 tifully diversified with a variety of flowers, such as the 
 rose, the hyacinth, and the tiger-lily. The rankness of 
 the vegetation savoured rather of the torrid zone, with 
 its perennial spring, than of the northern wilds, which, 
 within two or three months, had been lying cold and 
 dead in the embrace of a hyperborean winter. 
 
 In the course, however, of our afternoon's ride, the 
 character of the country underwent a complete change. 
 The plains gave place to a rolling succession of sandy 
 hills, which were generally covered with brush ; and 
 now and then we passed through spots which looked 
 like artificial shrubberies. This ridge, evidently one of 
 Nature's steps from a lower to a higher level, may be 
 traced from Turtle Mountain, in the neighbourhood of 
 the international boundary, to tlie banks of Swan River 
 in lat. 52° 30', and even round to the Basqua Hill on 
 the waters of the Lower Saskatchewan. It appears to 
 have been, in former days, the shore of an inland sea, 
 comprising, in one undistingulshable mass, Lakes Wini- 
 peg, Manitoba, and Winipegos, with many of their 
 feeders. This view may perhaps derive confirmation from 
 the fact, that the largest of the three fragments of the 
 primeval sheet of water, namely, Lake Winipeg, still 
 continues to retire from its western side, and to encroach 
 on its eastern bank. 
 
 \W 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 63 
 
 In our evening's encampment, the musquitoes were 
 so numerous, that they literally mottled the poor horses 
 with black patches of great size, extending at the same 
 time a very unreasonable share of their attentions to 
 ourselves. We had some compensation, however, for 
 this annoyance in the excellence of the water, for we 
 had been fortunate enough to fix our halt on a running 
 stream, instead of being doomed to swallow the seeth- 
 ing dregs of half-dried lakes ; and we were the more 
 ready to appreciate the difference, as we had not yet 
 overtaken the heavy carts that contained our wine and 
 tea. 
 
 Breakfasting next morning on the banks of a small 
 rivulet, we found the last night's fires of our advanced 
 guard still burning, a discovery which diffused general 
 joy, for, to say nothing of the want of luxuries, even 
 our necessary provisions had begun to look very lean 
 upon it. On resuming our journey, we passed among 
 tolerably well wooded hills, while, on either side of us, 
 there lay a constant succession of small lakes, some of 
 them salt, which abounded in wild fowl. In the neigh- 
 bourhood of those waters, the pasture was rich and luxu- 
 riant ; and we traversed two fields, for so they might 
 be termed, of the rose and the sweetbriar, wliile each 
 loaded the air with its own peculiar perfume. On 
 reaching the summit of the hills, that bounded the pretty 
 valley of the Rapid River, we descried an encampment, 
 which we supposed to be that of our own people waiting 
 for us. On a nearer approach, however, we distin- 
 guished merely some lodges of Saulteaux. 
 
 Though we spent about an hour in fording the stream 
 under the very eyes of the savages, yet they offered us 
 
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 no assistance ; they endeavoured, on the contrary, to 
 mislead us as to the grand object of our inquiries, say- 
 ing that our friends ahead had passed before the snu 
 was high, till, on being accused of telling an untruth, 
 they admitted that the event in question had taken 
 place several hours later. Their object, as it was now 
 six o'clock, was to make us halt at the river for the 
 night, that they might have an opportunity of teasing 
 us for presents, besides the chance of ip creasing their 
 stock of horses. About an hour afterwards, on reaching 
 a slight eminence, we perceived our people just stopping 
 to encamp; and, with our imaginations full of hyson 
 and souchong, of tongues and biscuit, we quickly over- 
 took our commissariat, once more enjoying the wan- 
 derer's best consolation in the shape of a good supper, 
 washed down with tea at discretion. 
 
 Having now to regulate our pace by that of the 
 loaded carts, we were obliged next day to march much 
 more slowly than hitherto. Some of my utilitarian 
 friends brought a good supply of wild fowl, which were 
 very numerous in the small lakes among which we were 
 still winding our way. About eight in the morning we 
 came to a large lake, where we were prevented from at- 
 tempting to breakfast by the experience of Mr. Row- 
 and. While coming to meet me at Red River, in 
 the spring, that gentleman, attracted by the beauty 
 of the situation, had encamped for the night, with 
 his kettle bubbling and steaming all comfortably 
 about him, when, lo and behold ! — the first sip of 
 the welcome beverage revealed the horrible truth, 
 that the lovely lake was filled with salt water ! 
 
 We, therefore, jogged on for another hour, having to 
 
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 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
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 wait for our heavy carts till eleven at night ; a delay 
 wliich induced me to threaten, in case of a repetition, 
 the stopping of the drams of the delinquents. In the 
 morning we crossed the end of Shoal Lake, lying in a 
 hilly and well-wooded district. Our guide, George 
 Sinclair, having volunteered to conduct us to a fine en- 
 campment on Birdtail Creek, we urged forward our 
 jaded cattle till nine in the evening ; but, being still at 
 fault, we were obliged to stop at a stagnant lake, 
 swarming with musquitoes, and yielding very bad water. 
 Our horses were now beginning to be knocked up, 
 having often deviated from the track to-day, ani even 
 sometimes lain down with their loads and riders. 
 
 During the night, the poor animals, in order to get 
 rid of their tiny tormentors, strayed ro the top of a hill, 
 where the breeze Avas too much for the musquitoes ; 
 and this circumstance, as involving the delay of a search, 
 prevented us from starting before five o'clock. After 
 an hour's ride over hilly and rugged ground, we reaclK 1 
 George Sinclair's promised encan! !7ent on the Bird- 
 tail Creek, a rapidly flowi^^j l:ri^u<ary oV' the Assini- 
 boine; and beyond this stream wfi,s m unduajng prairie 
 of vast extent, with the rivt^r last mentioned in the 
 distance. 
 
 On a neighbouring height we saw three bfiuds of 
 antelopes. Some of our party attempted to approach 
 them by skirting round the valley ; but the watchful 
 animals, bounding away with characteristic eu gance and 
 rapidity, were quicklj out of sight, preserving their 
 venison for some move fortunate visitors. With the 
 exception of our own nags, and, of course, also of the 
 horrible musquitoes, tii'^se were the first animals that 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
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 III 
 
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 JiiiSl. 
 
 ^'rm 
 
 Vl 
 
66 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 
 I 
 
 
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 we had seen since leaving Red River Settlement ; but 
 we were now entering on prairies well known as the 
 home of many varieties of the deer. 
 
 On ascending the hills, which formed the eastern em- 
 bankment of the valley of the Assiniboine, we dis- 
 cerned, on the opposite side of the river, a large band 
 of steeds. Thinking that the animals might belong to 
 some of the daring tribes of the plains, we prepared our 
 lire-arms, &c., for the possible visit of the owners, in 
 their professional capacity of horsestealers ; but, after 
 firing signals, without attracting tlie attention of any 
 human being, we came to the conclusion, and as it 
 afterwards proved correctly, that the band in question 
 was the stud of Fort Ellice, quietly grazing at some 
 distance from the establishment. After breakfast we 
 forded the river, sending our carts and baggage across 
 in a battcau, which had apparently been left there for 
 our use ; then swimming the horses over ; and, finally, 
 making our own passage in the barge's last trip. About 
 noon we arrived at Fort Ellice, remaining there three 
 or four hours. 
 
 At this post, commonly known as Beaver Creek, 
 from the name of the brook on which it stands, we 
 obtained tidings of a large body of emigrants, who had 
 left Red River for the Columbia a few days previously 
 to our arrival from Montreal. They had reached Fort 
 Ellice on the 22nd of June, and started again next day. 
 As these people were pursuing the same route as our- 
 selves, and would beat a good track, we resolved, as far 
 as practicable, to follow their trail. In the first in- 
 stance, however, we had to go out of their path, in 
 order to keep our appointment aforesaid at the Butte 
 
 |H,| 
 
 I. .,1 i;!* 
 
'f 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 07 
 
 aux Chiens. To arrive more quickly at this rendezvous 
 of our relay of horses, we here engaged, as a special 
 guide, an old fellow of an Indian, who talked largely of 
 knowing a short cut across the country to the Dog 
 Knoll. Before staiiliig, we exchanged some of our cattle 
 and vehicles for fresher and better articles of the same 
 kind, recruiting and renovating our little brigade to the 
 utmost of our ability. 
 
 Passing through a swampy wood, we crossed the 
 Qu'appelle, or Calling River. Our horses and carts 
 forded the stream ; and we ourselves traversed it in a 
 canoe of alarmingly simple construction, being neither 
 more nor less than a few branches, covered with buffalo 
 robes. This makeshift barely served the purpose of 
 taking us over, before it got altogether filled with 
 water. On surmounting the steep hill which faced us, 
 we found ourselves on a level meadow, several thousand 
 acres in extent ; and here, being informed by our new 
 guide that we could not possibly reach any other water 
 that night, we reluctantly encamped at the early hour 
 of six in the evening. 
 
 To make up for the early halt of yesterday, we were 
 again in the saddle by half-past three in the morning, 
 trotting away with our fresh chargers through some 
 extensive prairies, studded with clumps of trees. We 
 soon stumbled on some lodges of Saulteaux, one very 
 talkative fellow accompanying us for a few miles. His 
 grandest piece of news was, that we were likely to 
 overtake a large party of Crees, who, after starting on 
 a campaign some time since, had been arrested in their 
 progress by a fearful and fatal malady. Though the 
 Indians have the kn.ick of inventing enormous fables, 
 
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 G8 
 
 OVERLAND JOUKNEY 
 
 and also of fortifying ihem with a formidable array of 
 circumstances, yet I issued a general order that every 
 person should carry his gun loaded with ball. We 
 were suffering considerable inconvenience, with regard 
 to our provisions, from the heat of the weather. Even 
 the meat which we had brought from Fort Ellice was 
 already tainted ; and we were, moreover, tantalized by 
 seeing some antelopes, which, with the best intentions 
 of hungry men, we failed to hit. 
 
 While we were encamped on a mound at breakfast, 
 we observed some fires in the plains around us, while a 
 solitary savage was seen firing signals. Our fears, or 
 perhaps our discretion, immediately identified these 
 symptoms with the Cree warriors, whom we were ex- 
 pecting to find in our patl;. Our people were quickly 
 on the alert, answering the signals, and preparing for 
 the reception of the enemy ; who, so far as we could 
 discern, turned out to be three poor Saulteaux, two 
 men and a boy, on their way to Fort Ellice. In the 
 vicinity of this mound there was a very remarkable 
 knoll, known as the Butte a Carcajar, which, though not 
 exceeding three hundred feet in height, is yet a con- 
 spicuous landmark in these generally level and open 
 prairies. Like almost every river, hill, and vale, in this 
 primitive country, it has its traditionary legend, which 
 run,* ihus : — 
 
 ]Mt;ny, many summers ago, a large party of Assini- 
 boine*^, pouncing on a small band of Crees, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of this knoll, nearly destroyed them. Among 
 the victors was the former wife of one of the van- 
 quished, who, in a previous foray, had been carried off 
 by her present husband from her ancient lor< nd 
 
 i ' 
 
 "-fi|D 
 
ROIND Tin: WORLD. 
 
 CO 
 
 )pen 
 I this 
 mich 
 
 sini- 
 
 ligh- 
 
 kong 
 
 ran- 
 
 off 
 
 nd 
 
 1 
 
 master. Whether it was that lier new friend was 
 yonnger than her ohl one, or that she was conscious of 
 having been a willing accomplice in the elopement, the 
 lady, rushing into the thickest of the fight, directed 
 every effort against the life of her first lover. In spite, 
 however, of the fiiithless Amazon's special attentions, 
 the Wolverine, for such was his name, effected his 
 escape from the field of carnage, while the conquerors 
 were gloating over the scalps of his brethren in arms. 
 Creeping stealthily along for the whole day, under 
 cover of the woods, he concealed himself at nightfall in 
 a hole on the top of the vising ground in question. 
 But, though he had thus eluded the vigilance of his 
 K;| national enemies, there was one who, under the influ- 
 
 ence of personal hatred, had never lost sight or scent 
 of his trail ; and no sooner had he sunk, exhausted by 
 hunger and fatigue, into a sound sleep, than the un- 
 swerving and untiring bloodhound sent an arrow into 
 his brain, with a triumphant yell. Before the morning 
 dawned, the virago proudly presented to her Assiniboine 
 husband the bleeding scalp of his unfortunate rival ; 
 and the scene of her desperate exploit was thence- 
 forward known as the Butte a Carcajar, or the Wol- 
 verine Knoll. In proof of the truth of the story, the 
 Indians assert that the ghosts of the murderess and her 
 victim arc often to be seen, from a considerable dis- 
 tance, struggling together on the very summit of the 
 height. 
 
 In our afternoon's march, we passed through a swampy 
 country, liich was beset by underwood. The old fel- 
 low, who had undertaken to guide us to the Dog Knoll, 
 was several times at fault ; and our compass was a very 
 
 
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 70 
 
 OVEKLAiND JOUUNEY 
 
 unsatisfactory substitute in the matter, inasmuch as our 
 route was constantly winding, like a river, round the 
 extremities of lakes and swamps. At night we made 
 our beds in a small hollow, where, in order to cheat, if 
 possible, the renowned horsestealers of the neighbour- 
 hood, we did our best to conceal our fires and cattle 
 from view. These rogues are so clever in their way, 
 that they have been known, even under the very noses 
 of a guard, to carry off every nag of a caravan at the 
 dead of night. 
 
 Next morning, the prairie became harder and more 
 open, while the grass M'as withering under the recent 
 drought, from the want of shelter and the absence of 
 inherent moisture. This was the very country for the 
 antelope ; and we accordingly caught many a glimpse 
 of these beautiful creatures, bounding over the hillocks. 
 On reaching the Broken-Arm River, we were obliged, 
 by reason of an impassable swamp on either side, to 
 lose a few hours in going round its sources. In the 
 evening, just as we came in sight of the spot where we 
 intended to halt for the night, we espied two lodges of 
 natives; and, after waiting to collect our party, we 
 advanced with due precaution. The savages, however, 
 were evidently more afraid than we were, for, after 
 much commotion, the men gradually disappeared, leaving 
 the women and children to take their chance. 
 
 Between the two tents there was a vapour-bath, 
 made of branches of willow, stuck in the ground and 
 bent forward, so as to form a dome about three feet in 
 height. This was covered with skins to confine the 
 steam, generated by throwing water on a hot stone. 
 On going up to the bath, we were much amused to see 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 71 
 
 the legs of a man hanging out like the tail of a snake, 
 while a wreath of billow round the body gave the fellow 
 the appearance of a statue of Bacchus. lie never 
 stirred at our approach ; and it was not till the steam 
 was subsiding, that he deigned to take any notice of us, 
 though we were certainly the largest body of whites 
 that he had ever seen in the country. When he con- 
 descended to move, one of the skins fell off, disclosing 
 another Indian quietly squatted at his ease, who was 
 just as regardless of our approach as his companion. 
 This affectation of an indifference, which the bathers 
 could not feel, any more than their fugitive brethren, 
 was more peculiarly characteristic of the Saulteaux, — 
 the tribe to which our new friends belonged. 
 
 The lodges of these people occupied a small knoll, in 
 the middle of a dried swamp, round which the plains 
 were on fire. Before we had pitched our tents in the 
 vicinity, the two bathers came dashing towards us on 
 horseback with turbans of otter skin, necklaces of 
 bear's claws, and various other ornaments of a similar 
 kind ; their grand object appeared to be to get presents, 
 if possible, from us. We traded with one of our visiters 
 to the extent of exchanging one of our exhausted hacks 
 for a fresh horse ; and, one of them having very grace- 
 fully thrown his turban over my arm, I gave him an 
 order on our nearest establishment for double its value. 
 After this trafficking, with the addition of a gift of 
 ammunition, we all parted excellent friends. In order 
 to please us, these men told us a flatteriuir tale, accord- 
 ing to their custom in su 
 
 respect 
 
 cases, wit 
 
 assuring us that we could 
 not fail to reach it next afternoon. 
 
 proximity of the Dog Knoll, 
 
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 OVKULANl) JOURNKY 
 
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 In the morning, we forded the White Sand River, 
 with the nind up to the bellies of our horses; and one 
 of the carts, perversely enough, mnimged, in this bot- 
 tomless mire, to upset over a stone, though luckily 
 without damaging its load. Hitherto our weather had 
 been dry, clear, and warm. Now, however, a cold rain 
 fell all the afternoon and Hi<>ht. To aggravate tiie 
 evil, our road lay through swamps and thickets, which 
 were often almost impassable to our carts ; and our 
 guide became quite bewildered, leading us a dance first 
 in one direction, then in another, and so on. What 
 with the wet, and the chilliness, and the uncertainty, 
 we were by no means in high spirits or good humour. 
 The weather also deprived us of an excellent supper, 
 for, though a red deer crossed the track within a few 
 yards of some of our people, he escaped with impunity, 
 inasmuch as every gun was unfit for service. 
 
 We spent a miserable night under tlie pouring tor- 
 rent, while the wolves and foxes rendered our position 
 more hideous by their howling, to tlie special discom- 
 fort of the novices, who considered the serenade 
 merely as a prelude to an attack, — a kind of war- 
 whoop on the part of the hungry quadrupeds. In the 
 morning, after being dragged by our blundering guide 
 through swamp and brushwood, and across two tribu- 
 taries of the White Sand river, we degraded the old 
 fellow to the ranks, placing ourselves once more under 
 the direction of Sinclair; and, before breakfast, we 
 caught a distant glimpse of the object of our long and 
 anxious search. Pushing forward with renovated 
 spirits, we speedily came in full view of the Butte aux 
 Chiens, towering, with a height of about four hundred 
 
ROUND Tin: WOULD. 
 
 7« 
 
 feet, over a boundless praiiio, us level and smooth as u 
 poiul. ThiH vast plain has evidently once been the 
 bed of a lake, Mith the l)o<5 Knoll as an islet in its 
 centre. It is covered with an alluvial soil of great fer- 
 tility ; it is strewed with water-worn stones ; and it 
 j)r('seuts various aqueous deposits. 
 
 Reaching- this giant among pigmies about noon, we 
 found at the top, in a bundle of brushwood, a note to 
 the effect, LJmt our pioplo ''♦er waiting there for three 
 days, had gone to encaii.j .vith their horses for three 
 days more on the borders of a neighbouring lake. 
 The note was dated on the 9th of July.; and as we got 
 it only on the 1 Ith, we began to fear that the men might 
 again shift their ground before we could catch theni. 
 They themselves, however, had seen us ; and we soon 
 had the satisfaction of receiving a valuable acquisition 
 in the nineteen fresh horses. This reinforcement just 
 came in time, for our poor animals were so jaded as to 
 be scarcely able to go beyond a walk ; and, this very 
 morning, the sight of a wolf, which started under their 
 noses, could not squeeze a canter or a trot out of the 
 whole band. 
 
 For several days, I had been distressed by what I 
 believed to be a rheumatic affection of the back ; but 
 an eruption soon showed itself on my side, depriving me 
 of sleep and rendering me almost unable to travel. 
 Still, however, I continued to press forward, deciding 
 in my own mind that the pain was less of an evil than 
 delay would have been. On leaving the Dog Knoll, we 
 traversed about twenty-five miles of prairie, among 
 several large and beautiful lakes. Our cavalcade now 
 consisted in all of nineteen persons, fifty horses, and six 
 
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 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-S) 
 
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 11.25 
 
 128 i25 
 
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 12.0 
 
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 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WCST MAIN STtllT 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. USM 
 
 (716)872-4503 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 carts, the order of our march being as follows. The 
 guide was followed by four or five horsemen to beat a 
 track ; then came the carts, each with a driver, attended 
 by one or two cavaliers ; and lastly followed the un- 
 mounted animals, whether loaded or light, under the 
 charge of the rest of our people. Our ordinary rate of 
 travelling was four or five miles an hour, for ten, twelve, 
 or fourteen hours a day, — the carts sometimes re- 
 quiring a longer time to accomplish the day's march. 
 
 Next morning, we followed, for about twenty miles, 
 the shores of Lac Sale, having waters as briny as those 
 of the Atlantic ; and we were actually obliged, for want 
 of fresh water, to ride along without any breakfast till 
 half-past eleven, while, even for this late meal, we had 
 pushed forward so rapidly as to leave our carts nearly 
 four hours behind us. What with hunger and thirst, 
 and the pain in my side, I had a wearisome forenoon 
 of it. 
 
 The most curious circumstance, with respect to these 
 saline lakes, is, that they are often separated from fresh 
 water only by a narrow belt of land. This reminds me, 
 by the by, of a somewhat similar phenomenon recorded 
 in the work of my friend. Baron Wrangell, on Siberia 
 and the Polar Sea. In the coldest parts of the country, 
 there may be found lakes of different levels, within two 
 or three feet of each other. In that case, the subter- 
 ranean communication may be supposed to be barred by 
 perpetual frost ; but, in the other case, the anomaly 
 cannot be so easily and satisfactorily explained. 
 
 For three or four days, the soil had been absolutely 
 manured with the dung of the buffalo, so that myriads 
 of these animals must recently have passed over the 
 
 

 \\[ 
 
 *v 
 
 KOUND THE WORLD. 
 
 75 
 
 , t 
 
 ground ; and wc hoped soon to meet with a herd of 
 them ; for, independently of the sport, we wished to 
 replenish our larder, which the heat of the weather did 
 more to clear than our kettles and frying-pans. 
 
 Having encamped for the night within view of a 
 native lodge, we sent a man to bring us intelligence as 
 to the true state of affairs. He found no other lodge 
 than the one which we had seen ; and even that was 
 deserted, while every thing betokened the rapid flight of 
 its inhabitants, — clothes and utensils being thrown about 
 in confusion, and the meat of a buffalo being scattered 
 on the ground. Shouting after the fugitives, but re- 
 ceiving no answer, our emissary left for them an epistle, 
 which he had written on a piece of bark, to this effect. 
 In the first place, he drew the figure of a man with a 
 hat on his head and a pipe in his mouth, thus presenting 
 to the savages the well-known emblems of civilized 
 beings and peaceable intentions ; and he then added, in 
 more mysterious hieroglyphics, " Why do you fly away 
 and distress your children without cans 3, for we are 
 your friends ?" In the course of the night, the poor 
 Saulteau, having read the letter, came to our camp, and 
 explained that, having mistaken us for hostile war- 
 riors, he and his had fled into the woods, almost in a 
 state of nudity. How wretched the lives of such poor 
 creatures, obliged to wander about almost in single 
 families for food, and scared at the sight of a fellow 
 man, as the sheep is scared on the approach of the 
 wolf! 
 
 Next morning, we marched till ten o'clock in a soak- 
 ing rain. An encampment in such weather is by no 
 means an exhilarating sight. On halting, we were wet 
 
 |!1 5 ^^It 
 
 #1 
 
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 f'' 
 
 76 
 
 OVKRI.AND JOURNEY 
 
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 I '■ 
 
 
 
 • 1 
 
 and chilly, but had no place to shelter ourselves from 
 the shower. After a drawn battle of nearly an hour 
 with the wind and rain in the way of making a fire, we 
 at last succeeded ; and then, heaping on whole piles 
 of wood, we contpved to keep ourselves tolerably com- 
 fortable till our tents were pitched. The horses were 
 the very picture of misery, as they huddled them- 
 selves together. To all this add drooping spirits and 
 a murky sky, and you have a pretty correct idea of that 
 kind of pic-nic breakfast on which the clou<ls drop their 
 fatness. 
 
 The weather improving in the afternoon, we travelled 
 a long distance through a picturesque country, crossing 
 the end of an extensive lake, whose gently sloping 
 banks of greensward were crowned with thick woods. 
 Near this lake, to our no small satisfaction, we fell upon 
 the trail of the emigrants already mentioned, vhich, 
 besiiles preventing any uncertainty as to our route, gave 
 us a well beaten track for both horses and carts. The 
 business of a guide is no trifle in these regions, pos- 
 sessing, as they do, so few distinctive features. Our 
 present leader, an Indian of the name of Mis-quas- 
 quisis, or Young Grass, was peculiarly cautious and 
 skilful, ascending every rising ground, and scanning 
 the different objects in view, hills, lakes, woods, &c. ; 
 and then, muttering a few words to himself, he would 
 wind his way, till he again reached some other point of 
 observation. 
 
 In the course of this day's march, we passed a spot, 
 whose little history, within my own experience, forcibly 
 illustrated the sameness of the scenery and the difficul- 
 ties of pilotage. On my return from the Columbia in 
 
 ) » 
 
■A[\ 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 77 
 
 1825, while the grass was still so short as hard j to re- 
 tain any trace of the footsteps of my party, my faithful 
 servant Tom Taylor, and another man of the name of 
 George Bird, dismounted to follow a red deer ; and, 
 after an unsuccessful chase, they resolved to return to 
 our party. After halting for twenty-four hours in order 
 to be joined by them, I gave them up for lost. At the 
 close of six weeks, I reached Norway House, on Lake 
 Winipeg, with a gloom on my spirits, which even the 
 completion of a long and arduous journey could not 
 remove. I stoppe<l ashore, with my mind full of the 
 sad occurrence, when who should advance to welcome 
 me but the invaluable Tom Taylor and his companion 
 in misfortune. Of the story of their wanderings, which 
 might fill a volume, the outline was as follows. 
 
 After abandoning all hope of falling upon the track 
 of our party, they set themselves seriously to work in 
 order to find their way to some encampment of the 
 savages, or to one of the Company's posts. After a day 
 or two, their ammunition was expended, and their flints 
 became useless, while their feet were lacerated by the 
 thorns, timber, stones, and prickly grass. They had no 
 other clothing than their trousers and shirts, having 
 parted from us in the heat of the day ; so that they 
 were now exposed to the chills of the night, without 
 even the comfort of a fire — a privation which placed 
 them, as it were, at the mercy of the wolves. From 
 day to day, they lived on whatever the chances of the 
 wilderness afforded them, such as roots and bark, and 
 eggs in every stage of progress. 
 
 At length, after fourteen days of intense suffering, 
 despair began to take possession of their minds, and they 
 
 
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 78 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 were strongly tempted to lie down and die. Next morn- 
 ing, however, the instinctive love of life prevailed, and 
 they slowly and painfully crept forward, when suddenly 
 the sight of our track revived their energies and their 
 hopes. Almost intoxicated with joy, they followed the 
 clue of safety ; till at length, after growing more and 
 more indistinct for a time, it entirely disappeared from 
 their eyes. At this awful moment of disappointment 
 and despondency, Tom Taylor, as if led by a merciful 
 Providence to the spot, slowly recognise<l the scenes of 
 his infant rambles, though he had never seen them since 
 his childhood. 
 
 Life was now in the one scale almost as certainly as 
 death was in the other ; and under the influence of this 
 definite motive for exertion, the two famished and lace- 
 rated wanderers reached before night the Company's 
 establishment on Swan River. Being well acquainted 
 with Mr.M'Donell, the gentleman in charge, they crawled 
 rather than walked to his private room, standing before 
 him with their torn and emaciated limbs, while their 
 haggard cheeks and glaring eyes gave them the appear- 
 ance of maniacs. After a minute inspection of his 
 visitors, Mr. M"Donell, with the aid of sundry expletives, 
 ascertained by degrees that one of his friends was " The 
 Governor's Tom ;" and, having thus penetrated to the 
 bottom of the mystery, he nursed them into condition, 
 with the kindness of a father and the skill of a doctor, 
 and then carried them to Norway House. 
 
 Next morning, we continued to follow the track of 
 the emigrants, which led us over a great deal of burnt 
 ground — a variety of surface, which, when it extends to 
 more than the length of a single march, is the most 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 70 
 
 embarrassing of all the obstacles to which a horseman 
 can be exposed. Men may trinmph over physical pri- 
 vations through moral influences, but horses, as Murat 
 said, have no patriotism. In this part of the country 
 we saw many sorts of birds, geese, loons, pelicans, ducks, 
 cranes, two kinds of snipe, hawks, owls, and gulls ; but 
 they were all so remarkably shy, that we were con- 
 strained to admire them at a distance. In the afternoon, 
 we traversed a beautiful country, with lofty hills and 
 long valleys, full of sylvan lakes, while the bright green 
 of the surface, as far as the eye could reach, assumed a 
 foreign tinge under an uninterrupted profusion of roses 
 and blue-bells. On the summit of one of these hills we 
 commanded one of th^? few extensive prospects that we 
 had of late enjoyed. One range of heights rose behind 
 another, each becoming fainter as it receded from tlie 
 eye, till the farthest was blended, in almost undistin- 
 guishable confusion, with the clouds, while the softest 
 vales spread a panorama of hanging copses and glitter- 
 ing lakes at our feet. 
 
 We were now within a day's march of Carlton, the 
 lowest of the Company's establishments on the Saskat- 
 chewan ; and, in order to make sure of reaching it on 
 the morrow, we selected, at our night's encainpment, 
 the best horses for ourselves, intending to go a-head of 
 our baggage in the morning, with no other incumbrance 
 than a single day's provisions. 
 
 By half-past four, our detachment of eight in all got 
 under way. Having passed over a hilly and partially 
 wooded district, we reached the Bow River, being the 
 south branch of the Saskatchewan, about ten o'clock. 
 This stream, taking its rise in the Rocky Mountains, 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 near the international frontier, is of considerable size, 
 without any physical impediment of any moment ; but 
 its upper waters are so much infested with warlike tribes, 
 that, though believed to be rich in game, it is yet seldom 
 ascended by traders. Some years back, indeed, three 
 or four posts were established on its banks ; but they 
 were soon abandoned, after the sacrificing of several 
 lives in their defence. In addition to these permanent 
 forts, a flying expedition on a large scale was projected 
 in the year 1 822, with the view of testing the truth of 
 the rumours as to the riches of Bow River. 
 
 The expedition in question, besides Messrs. M'Kenzie 
 and Rowand, the gentlemen in charge, consisted of eight 
 or ten subordinate officers and a hundred men. After 
 ascending to the utmost limits of the navigation for 
 boats, surveying detachments were despatched in every 
 direction, which met with many natives, who had never 
 seen a European before. These unsophisticated savages, 
 however, had their curiosity most strongly excited by a 
 negro of the name of Pierre Bungo. This man they 
 inspected in every possible way, twisting him about and 
 pulling his hair, which was so different from their own 
 flowing locks ; and at length they came to the conclu- 
 sion that Pierre Bungo was the oddest specimen of a 
 white man that they had ever seen. 
 
 These negroes, of whom there were formerly several 
 in the Company's service, were universal favourites with 
 the fair sex of the red race ; and at the present day, we 
 saw many an Indian that appeared to have a dash of the 
 gentleman in black about him. Finding that the re- 
 sources of the country had been overrated, our people 
 retired the following year, with the loss of a considerable 
 
'( 1 1 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD, 
 
 81 
 
 part of the original outlay of .€10,000, carrying with 
 them an enormous quantity of leather, but very few furs. 
 They had liveJ in the midst of plenty, having consumed, 
 during the winter, fifteen hundred buffaloes, besides great 
 quantities of venison of every kind. 
 
 About twenty years ago, a large encampment of 
 Gros Ventres and Dlackfeet had been formed in this 
 neighbourhood for the purpose of hunting during the 
 summer. Growing tired, however, of so peaceful and 
 ignoble an occupation, the younger warriors of the 
 allied tribes determined to make an incursion into the 
 territories of the Assiniboines. Having gone through 
 all the requisite enchantments, they left behind them 
 only the old men, with the women and children. After 
 a successful campnign, they turned their steps home- 
 ward in triumph, loaded with scalps and other spoils; 
 and, on reaching the top of the ridge that overlooked 
 the camp of the infirm and defenceless of their band, 
 they notified their approach in the proudly-swelling 
 tones of their song of victory. Every lodge, however, 
 was as sti^J and silent as the grave ; and, at length, 
 singing moit loudly, as they advanced, iu order to con- 
 ceal their emotions, they found the full tale of the 
 mangled corpses of their parents and sisters, of their 
 wives and chiWren. In a word, the Assiniboines had 
 been there to take their revenge. 
 
 Such is a true picture of savage warfare, and perhaps 
 too often of civilized warfare also — calamity to both 
 sides, and advantage to neither. On beholding the 
 dismal scene, the bereaved conquerors cast away their 
 spoils, arms, and clothes ; and then, putting on robes 
 of leather and smearing their heads with mud, they 
 
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 OVKIILANI) JOl'RNKY 
 
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 betook tlienisolvcH to the hills, for three days and nights, 
 to howl, and mourn, and cut their flesh. This mode 
 of expressing grief bears a very close resemblance to 
 the corresponding custom among the Jews in almost 
 every particular. 
 
 At our crossing-place, the Bow River was about a 
 third of a mile in width, with a strong current. About 
 twenty miles farther down, it falls into the Saskat- 
 chewan ; and the united streams then flow towards 
 Lake Winipeg, forming at their mouth the grand rapid 
 of about three miles in length, the finest thing of the 
 kind in the whole country. We passed the river with- 
 out difficulty in a bateau, which had been left there 
 for our accommodation and that of the emigrants, while 
 our horses swam over without any accident. After a 
 rest of four hours, of which our cattle stood much in 
 need, we had just mounted to resume our march, when 
 Pierre Dunomais, who had guided the emigrants to 
 Carlton, came up to us on his way back to Red River 
 Settlement. Not to miss so favourable an opportunity 
 of sending letters, we detained our new friend for a 
 day. 
 
 Pierre brought news of a war, which had just begun 
 to rage between the Crees and the Blackfeet, in the 
 very country which we were about to traverse. This 
 unwelcome business, in which several lives had already 
 been lost, arose from a very trivial cause. Peace having 
 been made, perhaps for the hundredth time, between the 
 two tribes, the Crees visited the Blackfeet, who were 
 then encamped near Fort Pitt, for the purpose of buy- 
 ing horses ; and, in return for the nags, they gave all 
 that they possessed, even their guns and ammunition. 
 
 u 
 
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 ROUND TIIK WOULD. 
 
 83 
 
 In order to celebmte their friendly meeting, according 
 to cnstoni, by a race — an aniusenient as keenly enjoyed 
 by these savages as by the enlightened jockeys of New- 
 market and Ascot — the two tribes laid down their 
 united stakes in a heap. The JUackfeot, inasmuch 
 as they had taken care not to sell their best chargers, 
 were, of course, victorious. On proceeding, however, 
 to appropriate the prize of victory, they were antici- 
 pated by a Cree, who rescued a tattere«l capot, doubt- 
 less an old friend of his own, from the pile of booty ; 
 and the IJlackfeet, viewing this as a violation of the 
 peace, betook themselves to their tents. On their way, 
 they met a celebrated chief of the Crees, known as the 
 Crow's Shoes, with two of his men, all unarmed ; and, 
 after a little conversation, they slaughtered all three 
 on the spot. In order to revenge the death of their 
 friends, the Crees, first seizing arms from the Black- 
 feet, slew nine of them, till, finding themselves out- 
 numbered, they fled. 
 
 Such was Pierre's story ; and, however improbable 
 or iniiccurate some of the details might be, the essen- 
 tial fact that we had to pass through a scene of mili- 
 tary operations was established beyond a doubt. In 
 fsict, I give all such narratives chiefly as a picture of 
 manners, for, whether true or false in themselves, they 
 are always sufficiently correct for that purpose. 
 
 A smart ride of four or five hours from the Bow 
 River, through a country very much resembling an 
 English park, brought us to Fort Carlton, on the Sas- 
 katchewan, where we found every soul in the establish- 
 ment enjoying a siesta with open gates — a conclusive 
 proof of either of the carelessness of our people or of 
 
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 tho peaceful (iiNpoHitioii of the neipfhbourin^ gavn^cM. 
 Our (lay'n work liad hecn roinarkahlc, alinoHt to a ludi- 
 crous jlopfree, from the number of falls that wo en- 
 countered, for each of ug had a roll or two on the turf, 
 NO hannleHs, however, as not to leave even a sinpflo 
 bruise to boast of. Besides the exhausted state of our 
 horses, the ground was drilled into a honeycomb by 
 bad^er-holes, which, bein^ pretty well-screene<l by 
 grass at this season of the year, could seldom be dis- 
 cerned soon enough to bo avoided. 
 
 At Carlton, we took up our quarters for a couple of 
 nights. We had accomplished about six hundred miles 
 in thirteen days — a very fair rate of travelling, con- 
 sidering that many of our horses had come the whole 
 distance heavily laden. This fort stands in latitude 
 53° north ; it is in the form of a lozenge, being sur- 
 rounded by wooden stockades of considerable height, 
 with bastions at each angle and over the gateway. In 
 the immediate vicinity, there are large gardens and 
 fields, which produce abundance of potatoes and other 
 vegetables; but wheat, though it has sometimes suc- 
 ceeded, has been far more frequently destroyed by the 
 early frosts of autumn, which, even on Red River, oc- 
 casionally blight the hopes of the less active among 
 the settlers. 
 
 The Saskatchewan is here upwards of a quarter 
 of a mile wide, presenting, as its name implies, a 
 swift current. It is navigable for boats, from Rocky 
 Mountain House, in longitude 115", to Lake Winipeg, 
 in longitude 98°, upwards of seven hundred miles in a 
 direct line ; but, by the actual course of the stream, 
 nearly double that distance. Though, above Edmonton, 
 
 the 
 
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 destroy 
 season. 
 The 
 writing 
 for the 
 main bo 
 Bow Riv 
 
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 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 80 
 
 the river is much ohstrucUnI by rapids, yet, from that 
 fort to Lake Winipe^, it is dosceiuled without » por- 
 ta;,'e alike hy hoatH and hy canooH, while, even on tl>o 
 upward voyap^e, the only break in the navigation \h the 
 Grand Rapid already mentioned. 
 
 The post of Carlton is visited by Saulteaux, Crces, 
 and Assiniboines in great numbers, about three hundred 
 of these ditterent tribes being, in some measure, at- 
 tached to the establishment as hunters; and occa- 
 sionally, though not of late years, the Bl-r'kfeet have 
 made hostile forays into the neighbouring country. In 
 this district, and indeed on the whole of the Saskat- 
 chewan, though red deer and moose are now becoming 
 scarce, yet the butfalo appears to multiply in spite of 
 perpetual persecution on the part alike of the whites 
 and the savages. Besides maintaining all our people 
 and all the natives, during the whole year, in an appa- 
 rently wasteful and extravagant manner, the animal in 
 question is made up, at our three principal posts of 
 Carlton, Pitt, and Edmonton, into pemmican and dried 
 meat for the general supply of the Company's service. 
 In spite of the abundance of the larger kinds of game, 
 the fur-bearing animals were at one time remarkably 
 numerous ; and even now the diminution has arisen 
 chiefly from the recklessness with which the Indians 
 destroy, often in mere wantonness, all ages at every 
 season. 
 
 The day after that of our arrival was devoted to the 
 writing of letters, and to the making of preparations 
 for the rest of our journey. Late in the afternoon, the 
 main body of our people arrived, having crossed the 
 Bow River with a good deal of difficulty and delay, in 
 
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 86 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 consequence of the extreme weakness of many of the 
 horses. As our route hence lay on the north or left 
 bank of the Saskatchewan, the carts &c., as soon as 
 they came, were despatched across the river in order to 
 save time in the morning. 
 
 About noon, on Saturday the 17th of July, we re- 
 sumed our journey, with about a week's work before us, 
 to Edmonton. In place of sixteen completely ex- 
 hausted horses, we received only six fresh steeds ; and, 
 as even they had strayed, we were obliged to start 
 without them, leaving two men to bring them after us. 
 Our route lay over a hilly country, so picturesque in 
 its character, that almost every commanding position 
 presented the elements of an interesting panorama. In 
 the course of the evening, our two men with the six 
 horses overtook us, while encamped for the night at a 
 distance of thirty miles from the fort. 
 
 We were now in the hunting grounds of the Crees, 
 probably the largest tribe in the country. Of this 
 nation there are two distinct branches, the Crees pro- 
 perly so called, and the Swampies, who occupy the 
 borders of Hudson's Bay, all round, from Churchill to 
 East Main, to a depth of two or three hundred miles; 
 Of the Swampies, nothing more is required to be said 
 than what I have already stated under the heat' of Red 
 River Settlement, while their inland brethren demand 
 more particular notice. 
 
 About forty years ago, they were described by Sir 
 Alexander M^Kenzie as having carried their victories 
 as far as the borders of the Arctic Circle and across the 
 Rocky Mountains, chiefly because the fire-arms, which 
 they had purchased from the whites, had not yet found 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 87 
 
 their way as an article of traffic to the northern tribes. 
 Thus formidably equipped, theCrees had a great advan- 
 tage over their comparatively defenceless neighbours, 
 whom they stigmatized as slaves, — a name still applied, 
 though without any offensive reference to its original 
 meaning, to the Chipewyans, the Yellow Knives, the 
 Hares, the Dogribs, the Loucheaux, the Nihanies, Daho- 
 tanies, and others on the shores of M°Kenzie's and 
 Liard's rivers and their tributaries. 
 
 Soon afterwards, however, the relative power of the 
 Crees was considerably diminished. The mejisles and 
 smallpox, finding their way into the country from the 
 Missouri, swept off a large portion of their tribe, while 
 the northern races, besides being exempted from this 
 scourge, had been provided with fire-arms through the 
 gradual advance of the white traders into the interior, 
 so as even to become the assailants, instead of being the 
 victims. Thus checked in one direction, the Crees, 
 branching off into a variety of bands, gradually ad- 
 vanced towards the south, no longer confining themselves 
 as hunters to the thickwood countries, but scouring the 
 open prairies on horseback, with the buffalo to feed and 
 to clothe them, and also, through the Company's esta- 
 blishments, to supply them with arms, ammunition, and 
 tobacco. They extend from the most southerly waters 
 of the Assiniboine to Athabasca, which forms part of 
 the basin of M'Kenzie's river, and to Isle a la Crosse, 
 which is situated on the most northerly feeder of any 
 magnitude of Hudson's Bay. 
 
 Down to 1818, the Crees were believed to be regularly 
 diminishing in numbers ; but, in that year and the next, 
 
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 88 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNKY 
 
 they were carrie<l off in thousands by a second visitation 
 of tlie measles. Since then they have been recruiting 
 their strength; and they are now perhaps fully as 
 numerous as they were in the days of Sir Alexander 
 M'Kcnzie. 
 
 Next day, the hottest that we had yet had, we expe- 
 rienced a good deal of inconvenience from thirst. In 
 the afternoon, after marching a considerable distance 
 without seeing a drop of water, we reached a small 
 lake ; but, as the hour was too early for encamping, we 
 passed it, more particularly as its stagnant surface was 
 by no means attractive ; but we soon regretted our fas- 
 tidiousness, for, when the evening began to darken, we 
 had seen neither lake nor brook, though searching for 
 the luxury on both sides of our track. Having sent 
 some men a-head to look for water, we were at length 
 delighted, about nine in the evening, to learn, that they 
 had discovered a large lake at some distance from our 
 road. Huge fires were immediately lighted to serve as 
 beacons to those who were behind ; but it was not till 
 eleven that the whole cavalcade reached the camp. 
 The fatigues an ' discomforts of the day, being speedily 
 drowned in oceans of tea, served only to make us relish 
 our suppers and beds the more. 
 
 Since we had fallen upon the trail of the emigrants, 
 we could observe, by the number of their encampments, 
 that we were marching at three or four times their 
 pace; so tb t, though they had started twenty-eight 
 days before us, they were overtaken by us next morn- 
 ing, after we had been out exactly sixteen in all. From 
 the information of Indians, we were looking out for 
 
 
 -1 i 
 
ROUND THE WORLD, 
 
 89 
 
 these people ; and accordingly, about two hours after 
 starting, we gained a view of their lengthened cavalcade, 
 winding its course over the plains. 
 
 These emigrants consisted of agriculturists and others, 
 principally natives of Red River settlement. There 
 were twenty-three families, the heads being generally 
 young and active, though a few of them were advanced 
 in life, more particularly one poor woman, upwards of 
 seventy-five years of age, who was tottering after her 
 son to his new home. This venerable wanderer was a 
 native of the Saskatchewan, the name of which, in fact, 
 she bore. She had been absent from this the land of 
 her birth for eighteen years ; and, on Ctatching the first 
 glimpse of the river, from the hill near Carlton, she 
 burst, under the influence of old recollections, into a 
 violent flood of tears. During the two days that the 
 party spent at the fort, she scarcely ever left the bank 
 of the stream, appearing to regard it with as much vene- 
 ration as the Hindoo regards the Ganges. 
 
 As a contrast to this superannuated daughter of the 
 Saskatchewan, the band contained several very young 
 travellers, who had, in fact, made their appearance in 
 this world since the commencement of the journey. 
 Beyond the inevitable detention, which seldom exceeded 
 a few hours, these interesting events had never inter- 
 fered with the progress of the brigade ; and both 
 mother and child used to jog on, as if jogging on were 
 the condition of human existence. 
 
 Each family had two or three carts, together with 
 bands of horses, cattle, and dogs. The men and lads 
 travelled on the saddle, while the vehicles, which were 
 covered with awnings against the sun and rain, carried 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 
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 the women and the young children. As they marched 
 in single file, their cavalcade extended above a mile in 
 length ; and we increased the length of the column by 
 marching in company. The emigrants were all healthy 
 and happy, living in the greatest abundance and enjoy- 
 ing the journey with the highest relish. 
 
 Before coming up to these people, we had seen evi- 
 dence of the comfortable state of their commissariat in 
 the shape of two or three still warm buffaloes, from 
 which only the tongues and a few other choice bits had 
 been taken. Tliis spectacle gave us hopes of soon 
 seeing the animal ourselves ; and accordingly it was not 
 long before we saw our game on either side of the road, 
 grazing or stalking about in bands of between twenty 
 and a hundred, to the number of about five thousand in 
 all. In spite of their fatigue, such of our steeds as had 
 been trained to the sport were quickly in the thick of 
 the herd ; and one old stager, that had been condemned 
 as unfit alike for pack and rider, maintained the chace so 
 eagerly, that he could not be brought back from the pursuit. 
 
 The buffalo is larger than the domestic cattle, except- 
 ing that its legs are shorter. Its large head, about a 
 third part of its entire length, gives it a very uncouth 
 appearance, while its shaggy beard and mane resemble 
 the lion's, though on a larger scale; and, when running 
 fast, it tosses its rugged frontispiece at every step. 
 But, notwithstanding its terrific looks, it is really a 
 timid creature, excepting that, when urged by despair 
 to do justice to its physical powers, it becomes a fearful 
 antagonist. 
 
 Several parties, of about six or eight men each, 
 having been formed for the occasion, each division ap- 
 
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 I 
 
 ' •.■ '; 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 91 
 
 preached its own chosen quarry cautiously, till, within a 
 few hundred feet of the devoted band, it rushed at full 
 gallop on its prey. Taking the alarm, the animals im- 
 mediately started off at a canter in single file, an old 
 bull usually taking the lead. When alongside, as they 
 soon were, the hunters fired, loading and discharging 
 again and again, always with fatal effect, without 
 slackening their pace. Tlie dexterity with which the 
 experienced sportsman can manage his gun is quite 
 wonderful. While his steed is constantly galloping, he 
 primes his lock, pours out the proper quantity of powder, 
 first into his left hand and then into the muzzle, drops 
 a ball upon the charge without wadding, having merely 
 wetted it in his mouth, and then knocks down the 
 fattest cow within his reach, — all in less than half a 
 minute. The morning's chace resulted in about fifty 
 killed ; but so abundant were provisions at this moment, 
 that, after taking the tongues, we left the carcases to 
 the mercy of the wolves. 
 
 The affair, however, is very different when the pro- 
 fessional hunters go in hundreds to the plains to make 
 as much as they can of the buffalo. When they meet 
 the herd, which often makes the whole scene almost 
 black with its numbers, they rush forward, pell-mell, 
 firing and loading as already mentioned ; and, while the 
 bullets fly, amid clouds of smoke and dust, the infuri- 
 ated and bewildered brutes run in every direction with 
 their tormentors still by their sides. By reason of the 
 closeness of the conflict, serious accidents from shots 
 are comparatively rare ; and nearly all the casualties are 
 the result of falls, which few riders have leisure either to 
 prevent or to soften. 
 
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 98 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 When the buffaloes are dispersed, or the horses ex- 
 hausted, or the hunters satisfied, then every man pro- 
 ceeds to recognise his own carcases, having marked one 
 with his cap, another with his coat, a third with his 
 belt, a fourth with his fire-bag, and so forth ; and then 
 come into play the science and art of curing what has 
 been killed. Sometimes dried meat is preferred, the 
 bones being taken out, and the flesh hung up in the 
 sun ; but, if pemmican be the order of the day, the lean, 
 after being dried, is pounded into dust, which, being 
 put into a bag made of the hide, is enriched with nearly 
 an equal weight of melted fat. 
 
 The buffaloes are incredibly numerous. In the year 
 18^9, for instance, I saw as many as ten thousand of 
 their putrid carcases lying mired in a single ford of 
 the Saskatchewan, and contaminating the air for many 
 miles round. They make yearly migrations from one 
 part of the country to another, reversing, in this respect, 
 the ordinary course of birds of passage. During the 
 winter, they go north in order to obtain the shelter of 
 the woods against the severity of the weather, while, on 
 the approach of summer, they proceed to the open 
 plains of the south with the view of eluding the attacks 
 of the musquitoes. At this time of the year, they had 
 deserted the country through which we had been tra- 
 velling of late ; and the wolves, thus deprived of their 
 staple food, were so wretchedly thin, that we could have 
 easily counted their ribs with the eye alone. During 
 the autumn, the buffaloes resort in large numbers to the 
 salt lakes, led thither by instinct to purge themselves. 
 
 While the hunting-parties were eagerly pursuing their 
 game, the rest of the cavalcade moved slowly forward 
 
 ing's 
 
 Liji 
 
ROUND TIIK WORLD. 
 
 98 
 
 till about noon, when we halted for breakfast at the 
 Turtle River, the emigrants still being in company. In 
 order to do honour to the day, — the first occasion per- 
 haps on which two large bands of civilized men had met 
 us friends in these vast prairies, — I put the men in high 
 spirits with a dram, while a donation of wine, tea, and 
 sugar rendered the women the merriest and happiest 
 gossips in the world. 
 
 The elders of this little congregation sat in council 
 with Mr. Rowand and myself on the subject of their 
 route and various incidental matters. On leaving Red 
 River, the emigrants had intended to perform the whole 
 distance by land. Hitherto, however, they had been so 
 slow in their movements, having taken forty-three days 
 to one third of their journey, that, in this way, they could 
 hardly reach their destination before the commencement 
 of the winter. We, therefore, proposed that they should 
 proceed by the Athabasca Portage of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains to the Boat Encampment, and thence descend the 
 Columbia to Vancouver. The people agreed to this 
 change of their plan ; but they subsequently, in accord- 
 ance with the original arrangement, followed our track 
 all the way to the westward. 
 
 Our breakfast was a complete specimen of a hunter's 
 meal, consisting of enormous piles of roasted ribs, with 
 marrow and tripe at discretion, — the spoils of the morn- 
 ing's chace. About three in the afternoon, we took 
 leave of our fellow-travellers with mutual wishes for a 
 prosperous journey, soon falling again upon the Turtle 
 River. Of this stream the tortuous windings are very 
 remarkable, sometimes flowing east, then north, next 
 west, and finally south, and returning again, after all, 
 
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 within a few paces of its original point of departure. As 
 wo were now on the verge of an immense prairie, where 
 no water couhl be obtained, we filled every pot and 
 kettle for our supper. During the whole day, compris- 
 ing a march of fifty miles, we saw no other water than 
 that of the Turtle River ; nor was there any, for more 
 than half that distance beyond our night's encampment. 
 
 Notwithstanding the scarcity of this necessary of life, 
 animals of various kinds were abundant. In addition 
 to the buifaloes, we saw wolves, badgers, foxes, beaver, 
 and antelopes. Of the last-mentioned species, one of 
 our men subceeded in bringing down a fine buck ; but, 
 as it was at some distance from the road, we were con- 
 tented, in the present state of our larder, with the tongue 
 alone. Soon after going to bed, we were startled by the 
 cry of " Indians are coming !" With our imaginations 
 full of horse-stealers, every man shook off his sleep, 
 cocked bis gun, and prepared himself for the worst. In- 
 dians did come, but they proved to be Crees, who, as their 
 tribe had no reputation in this way, were allowed to 
 remain with us all night. 
 
 It was the noon of next day before we found water, the 
 grass along our route being completely withered ; and, as 
 a general rule, any neighbourhood that refused drink to 
 our horses yielded them very little food. By five in the 
 afternoon, we again entered the immediate valley of the 
 Saskatchewan for the first time since leaving Carlton ; 
 and at this spot we came upon the only pines that we 
 had seen after our departure from Red River. We 
 reached Fort Pitt about dark ; and, before passing 
 through the gates, we were saluted by a volley from 
 eleven lodges of Crees, — an b.onour which our nags by 
 
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 ROl'ND TIIK WOULD. 
 
 .05 
 
 no means apprcciatc(l, for, tired as they were, they 
 evinced their terror by kicking and plunging. 
 
 These Crees, like all those that wo had previously 
 met with, were keeping out of the way of the Blackfeet. 
 We visited one of the lodges, where a favourite warrior, 
 who had been severely wounded at the battle of the race- 
 course, was lying. On betaking himself to flight with 
 his companions, this poor fellow had leant forward on his 
 horse's neck, receiving, in that position, a wound of the 
 most singular character. A ball hit him below the right 
 shoulder, passed in a curved direction across the spine, 
 and finally lodged near the joint of the left shoulder. 
 After an interval of thirl y-three days, we found his left 
 arm dreadfully inflamed and swollen, while the rest of 
 his body was a mere skeleton. With the view of ex- 
 tracting the bullet, the Indians, who profess surgery as 
 well as physic in their own way, had made several punc- 
 tures to no purpose ; and all that any of us could do for 
 the unfortunate suflerer was to administer a little medi- 
 cine for temporary relief. 
 
 The whole scene in this lodge was of a most melan- 
 choly nature. On one side lay the dying warrior, his 
 glassy eye and haggard looks revealing the agony which 
 neither voice nor gesture deigned to tell ; near him was 
 a child about three years old, with its shrivelled flesh 
 barely concealing its bones, whose ceaseless moaning 
 formed a striking contrast with the stubborn endurance 
 of its father ; and perhaps the most pitiable object in 
 the tent was the hapless wife and mother, sinking under 
 anxiety and fatigue, and blending, as it were, in her si- 
 lent dejection at once the apathy of her husband and 
 the sensibility of her boy. But this physical misery 
 
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 96 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 excited more of our sympathy on account of its super- 
 stitious accompaniments. During the night, the medi- 
 cine-man was plying his mystic arts to restore health to 
 the sick, while, to provide against the worst, drums were 
 beating to drive away all evil spirits. What a picture 
 of the fruits of barbarism and heathenism united ! 
 
 Fort Pitt is prettily situated on the north or left bank 
 of the river. It is frequented by the Crees, Assiniboines, 
 and Blttckfeet, having been planted among them only 
 about ten years before our visit ; and, as it is thus com- 
 paratively new among these dangerous tribes, it still 
 keeps up, both by day and by night, the system of watch 
 and ward, which has been discontinued at our older 
 establishments on the Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Carlton, 
 and Rocky Mountain House. At this place we exchanged 
 all our horses, with the exception of two or three of the 
 more hardy of the band ; most of them had been ren- 
 dered useless for any present purpose by soreness of 
 backs, weakness of joints, &c. 
 
 Soon after our arrival, several mounted men were ob- 
 served crossing from the opposite shore : they proved to 
 be the commissariat of the fort returning home perfectly 
 light. In the course of the morning, these hunters, 
 while watching for moose in the neighbourhood of a 
 wood and a lake, had discovered two Blackfeet crawling 
 towards their horses. They fired at the thieves, learning 
 immediately from a groan that they had not missed their 
 aim ; but, not knowing how many more of the enemy 
 might be at hand, they fled, without taking time even 
 to saddle their animals. However disagreeable this in- 
 telligence might be, we consoled ourselves by reflecting 
 that, if travellers were to be influenced by wars and 
 
 ii fi^ 
 
'J 
 
 ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 97 
 
 rumours of wars, they would never puss through tliese 
 pIuiiiM nt nil. 
 
 Thou^'h we were now on the Mutcr side of the Sas- 
 katehowan, in tlie country of the Crees, yet, in order to 
 save a day's march on the distance between Fort l*itt 
 and Kdmonton, we resolved to cross the river into the 
 territory of the Blackfeet, merely takiu}? care to move 
 in somewhat closer order than usual. 8tartin<^' accord- 
 ingly from the establishment about eleven in the morn- 
 ing, we had hardly gained the ojiposite shore, when an 
 Indian dog on the track, whose master could not be far 
 ott", excited our vigilance, if not our fears. 
 
 On passing the spot where the hunters had seen the 
 Blackfeet, we halted to make a search, but discovered 
 no trace of an enemy, whether living or dead. We tra- 
 velled about thirty miles through boMer scenery than 
 that which wo had previously traversed, breaking the axle 
 of one of our carts, and replacing it by a rough kind of 
 makeshift at the encampment. As unremitting caution 
 was now indispensable, our horses were hobbled, and a 
 guard mounted, for the night. 
 
 Next morning, being the 22nd of July, we had a sharp 
 frost before sunrise, and afterwards a heavy dew. The 
 whole country was so parched up, that no water could 
 be found for breakfast till eleven o'clock ; and again 
 in the afternoon we passed over a perfectly arid plain of 
 about twenty-five miles in length, encamping for the 
 night at the commencement of the Chaine des I^cs, a 
 succession of small lakes stretching over a distance of 
 twenty or thirty miles. During the afternoon, we saw 
 our first raspberries ; they proved to be of large size and 
 fine flavour. Two days previously, we had feasted on 
 
 vol.. 1. H 
 
 If 
 
 i M 
 
;i> 1 
 
 i-. 
 
 '!■ 
 
 /■ 
 
 08 
 
 OVEHLAND JOURNEY 
 
 the service-berry, or iniHnflquituniinn, a sort of cross 
 between the crsmberry nn<l the black currant ; mid, be 
 fore leaving llcil River, we had found wild strawberries 
 ripe. The luisaMquitoinina, by the by, is generally an 
 ingredient in the better sort of pcmrnican, which is made 
 with marrow-fat instead of ordinary grease. In the 
 course of the day, Mr. llowand's horse, stepping into a 
 badger-hole, gave him a very heavy fall, by which his 
 face was much cut, and by which also, as appeared some 
 months afterwards, his breastbone was broken. 
 
 Next afternoon we passed over a space of about four 
 miles in length, where the grass was thoroughly beaten 
 down, apparently the work of hail. Such storms, which 
 are almost always partial in their operation, are often 
 remarkably furious in this country. While travelling 
 from Red River to Canada in the fall of 1837, I was 
 overtaken near Lao la Pluie by a violent tempest of the 
 kind, which, if we had not gained the fort in time, 
 might have proved fatal. As the angular masses of ice 
 rattled on the roof, we entertained fears for the safety 
 of the building ; and, in point of fact, the lodges of the 
 Indians were thrown down and their canoes shattered ; 
 while their luckless dogs, tumbling about like drunken 
 men, scrambled away howling in quest of shelter. 
 Some of the pieces, measured in presence of Mr. Fin- 
 layson, of Red River, and Mr. Hargrave, of York Fac- 
 tory, we found to be fully five inches and a half in 
 circumference. 
 
 Throughout this country every thing is in extremes — 
 unparalleled cold and excessive heat; long droughts, 
 balanced by drenching rain and destructive hail. But 
 it is not in climate only that these contrarieties prevail ; 
 
 U\ 
 
KOUND THE WOULD. 
 
 99 
 
 at some seasons both whites and natives are living, in 
 wasteful abundance, on venison, buH'alo, fish, ami game 
 of all kinds; while at other times they are reduced to 
 the last degree of hunger, often passing several days 
 without food. 
 
 In the year 1 820, when wintering at Athabasca Lake, 
 our provisions fell short at the establishment, and on 
 two or three occasions I went for three whole days and 
 nights without having a single morsel to swallow ; but 
 then again I was one of a party of eleven men and one 
 woman, which discussed three ducks and twenty-two 
 geese at a sitting. On the Saskatchewan the daily 
 rations are eight pounds of meat a head, whereas in 
 other districts our people have been sent on long jour- 
 neys with nothing but a pint of meal and some parch- 
 ment for their sustenance. 
 
 Towards sunset we encamped on the confines of an 
 extensive forest, a tongue of which, stretching away to 
 the northward, is known as La Grande Pointe. In the 
 afternoon we had come upon a large bed of the eye- 
 berry, or oosquisikoomina, very nearly resembling tiie 
 strawberry in taste and appearance. It grows abund- 
 antly in Russia ; and flourishing, as it does, in the 
 same soils and situations as the strawberry, it would 
 doubtless thrive in England. The nights were getting 
 chilly ; and, whenever the sky was clear, a heavy dew 
 fell from sunset to sunrise on particular spots, so as to 
 look, when morning dawned, like large lakes in the 
 distance. As the power of the sun increased, these 
 mists gradually resolved themselves into streaks of 
 various shapes and sizes, which, rising from the ground 
 in the form of clouds, finally disappeared. 
 
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 100 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 Next morning, being anxious to reach Edmonton 
 before night, we proceeded in advance of our heavy 
 baggage. For the first three or four leagues the coun- 
 try appeared to have been the beil of some large lake ; 
 and many spots, of several miles in area, were as 
 smooth and flat as if they had been levelled by artificial 
 means. The whole plain was covered with a luxuriant 
 crop of the vetch, or wild pea, almost as nutritious a 
 food for cattle and horses as oats. As we drew near to 
 the Saskatchewan, we had to cross as many as five 
 creeks, with steep and lofty banks, the last, in parti- 
 cular, being a stream scarcely twenty feet in span, 
 between rugged declivities about two hundred feet in 
 height. 
 
 The summit of one of the rising grounds in the 
 neigh))onrhood of these creeks presented a man on 
 horseback, who, catching a glimpse of us, suddenly dis- 
 appeared down the opposite side of the hill. We urged 
 our horses forward at full speed, in order to overtake 
 the fugitive, closely examining every bush and every 
 hollow, till, on reaching the last five creeks, we found 
 the object of our pursuit in the shape of a native hunter 
 attached to the fort. This man, who rejoiced in the 
 name of Potato, while his brother was equally blessed 
 with the title of Turnip, had, in two days, knocked 
 down a n»oose, a red deer, and a buffalo — pretty good 
 wages for less than half a week's work. While speak- 
 ing of names, I cannot help mentioning that our guide 
 from Fort Pitt was one of three brothers, who bore the 
 congenial or uncongenial appellations of Sand-fly, Mus- 
 quito, and Napoleon Bonaparte. 
 
 On arriving in front of Edmonton, which was on the 
 
 iM f 
 
'■I ii 
 
 ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 101 
 
 opposite bank of the Saskatchewan, we notified our 
 approach by a volley of musketry, which was returned by 
 the cannon of the fort. A boat was quickly despatched 
 to convey us across the river ; and on landing we found 
 the residents of the establishment, and more particu- 
 larly Mrs. Rowand and her daughters, assembled to 
 receive us. 
 
 Edmonton is a well-built place, something of a hexa- 
 gon in form. It is surrounded by high pickets and 
 bastions, which, with the battlemented gateways, the 
 flagstaffs, &c., give it a good deal of a martial ap- 
 pearance ; and it occupies a commanding situation, 
 crowning an almost perpendicular part of the bank, 
 about two hundred feet in height. The river is nearly 
 as wide as at Carlton, while the immediate banks aie 
 well wooded, and the country behind consists of rolling 
 prairies. 
 
 This fort, both inside and outside, is decorated with 
 paintings and devices to suit the tastes of the savages 
 that frequent it. Over the gateways are a most fan- 
 ciful variety of vanes ; but the hall, of which both the 
 ceiling and the walls present the gaudiest colours and 
 the most fantastic sculptures, absolutely rivets the asto- 
 nished natives to the spot with wonder and admiration. 
 The buildings are smeared with a red earth found in 
 the neighbourhood, which, when mixed with oil, pro- 
 duces a durable brown. 
 
 The vicinity is rich in mineral productions. A seam 
 of coal, about ten feet in depth, can be traced for a 
 very considerable distance along both sides of the river. 
 This coal resembles slate in appearance ; and though it 
 requires a stronger dmught of air than that of an ordinary 
 
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 OVKIU.ANI) JOURNKY 
 
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 chiiimov, yot it ia fouiu! to anawer tolornbly well for 
 tlio blncksinitlfa for^'C. IVtrifjictiona jiro also found 
 hero in abundunco ; and at tlio fort tlien^ was a pure 
 stono, which had onco boon a lo^ of wood about six 
 foot in lonirth, and four or five in jjfirth ; the resofn- 
 blanoo boini; so ooniploto, as oven to docoivo the oye. 
 
 Tho storm, of wliioh wo yostorday observed the of- 
 fi^cts in tho lu'atina^ down of tho p^rass, had been severely 
 felt hero, though in tho shape rather of lightning than 
 of hail. One flash had fallen on the bank within a few 
 yards of tho walls, cutting two deep pulleys down to 
 the water's adf^o. 
 
 The nund>er of the native inhabitants of the Sas- 
 katchewan district may servo to <lemonstrato how 
 scanty is the aboriginal population of North America at 
 the present day, more particularly as the tract in ques- 
 tion is, })erhaps, the most populous in the country : — 
 
 SASKATCHEWAN DISTRICT. 
 
 • TKMIKS. 
 
 I' rocs 
 
 Assiniboinc!) 
 Hlackfoct . 
 
 DIoihI iiuliuus 
 Siircccs 
 (iro8 Ventres 
 
 SHtlltCtlUX 
 
 lliUt'.brecds 
 
 Totals 
 
 TKNTS. 
 
 vSOULS. 
 
 500 
 
 a,5oo 
 
 580 
 
 4,0(50 
 
 300 
 
 2,100 
 
 850 
 
 2,450 
 
 '250 
 
 1,750 
 
 50 
 
 350 
 
 300 
 
 2,100 
 
 •20 
 
 140 
 
 40 
 
 280 
 
 2,3i)0 
 
 16,730 
 
 li V 
 
 :r 
 
 Small as this censuo is for a territory at least as large 
 as England, the force of the Company's servants is in- 
 finitely smaller. But, in any case of inevitable colli- 
 
 t 'I 
 
in 
 
 ROUND TIIK WOUM). 
 
 103 
 
 Hion, our people never recede from their purpose. To 
 jifive un iiisUmco : — a baiul of AHsiiiiboincs luul carried 
 oir twenty-four liorsen from J^Mnionton ; an<l, bein^ 
 [)ur8ued, tlicy were overtaken at the Hinall river JJout- 
 hiere. One of the keepers of the animals, a very cou- 
 ra^i^cous man, of the name of Fran(;ois liUcie, plun^^cMl 
 into the stream, ^rrapplin^ in the midHt with a tall 
 8ava<;e ; and, in spite of his inferiority of strength, he 
 kept so close, that his enemy could not draw his bow. 
 Still, however, the Jndian contrived to strike his as- 
 sailant on the head with the weapon in (piestion, and 
 thereby to knock him ofl' his horse into the water. 
 Sprin^in^ immediately to his feet, Lucie was about to 
 smite the Assiniboine with his dajy^er, when the savage 
 arrested his arm by seizin'^ a whip which was han<ring 
 to his wrist by a loop, and then, turning round the 
 handle with a scornful laugh, he <lrew the string so 
 tight as to render the poor num's hand nearly power- 
 less. Fran(,'oi8 continued, nevertheless, to saw away 
 at the fellow's fingers with his dagger till he had nearly 
 cut them off; and when, at length, the Assiniboine, of 
 necessity, relaxed his grasp, Frauc^'ois, with the quick- 
 ness of thought, sheathed the deadly weapon in his 
 heart. 
 
 In the spring of the year, Mr. Howand had secured, 
 as a guide to conduct us as far as the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, a man of the name of Peechee, who, though him- 
 self a half-breed, had been brought up among the 
 savages, and was, in fact, a chief of the Mountain Crees. 
 Beyond Edmonton the country is impracticable for 
 carts, so that jiU our baggage would have to be con- 
 veyed on horseback ; and on this account we reduced 
 
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 104 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 our wardrobes to the smallest possible compass, taking 
 with us only such articles of clothing as were absolutely 
 necessary for the voyage. 
 
 On the third day after our arrival, the firing of guns 
 on the opposite side of the river, which was heard early 
 in tlie morning, announced the approach of nine native 
 chiefs, who came forward in advance of a camp of fifty 
 lodges, which was again followed by another camp of 
 six times the size. These chiefs were Blackfeet, Piegans, 
 Sarcees, and Blood Indians, all dressed in their grandest 
 clothes and decorated with scalp-locks. I paid them a 
 visit, giving each of them some tobacco. Instead of 
 receiving their presents with the usual indifference of 
 savages, they thanked me in rotation, and, taking my 
 hand in theirs, made long prayers to me as a high and 
 powerful conjurer. They implored me to grant, that 
 their horses might always be swift, that the buffalo 
 might constantly abound, and that their wives might 
 live long and look young. One of them vented his 
 gratitude in a song ; and another blessed the house in 
 which he had been so well treated. 
 
 Our nine visitors remained the whole morning, 
 smoking and sleeping : nor would they take their de- 
 parture till they had obtained a present for each of the 
 chiefs that were coming behind them. Though we had 
 resolved to make a start to-day, yet we could not safely 
 resume our journey while these Indians were hanging 
 about the place, inasmuch as they would have given 
 information to the approaching bands; and then we 
 should have been annoyed, and perhaps plundered, by 
 the fellows for whole days in succession. 
 
 In order to escape unseen and unsuspected, we 
 
''l^.tl 
 
 ;^l 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 105 
 
 adopted the following expedient. A boat, which was 
 loaded with our baggage, was sent about six miles up 
 the river in the evening with orders to be concealed as 
 much as possible ; and early next morning we were to 
 pre "^eed with the horses, under cover of the woods, along 
 the northern bank to join it. Then and there we were 
 to cross the Saskatchewan, and pursue our journey 
 towards the south-west. 
 
 On this our last afternoon, we made a tour of the 
 farm. The pasturage was most luxuriant ; and a large 
 dairy was maintained. Among the cattle was a buffalo 
 heifer seven years of age, procured for the purpose of 
 crossing the breed ; but every domestic bull had always 
 appeared to be afraid of her. Sheep could not be kept, 
 for, in addition to the severity of the climate, the packs 
 of dogs and wolves in the neighbourhood would have 
 destroyed them. Barley generally yielded a fair return ; 
 but wheat was almost sure to be destroyed by the early 
 frosts. The garden produced potatoes, turnips, and a 
 few other hardy vegetables. 
 
 
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 106 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 1 t< 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FROM EDMONTON HOUSE TO FORT VANCOUVER. 
 
 Departure from Edmonton — Rev. Mr. Rundle — Gull Lake — Native 
 gossips — Duck hunt — Red Deer's River — Unexpected meeting — March 
 through wet bush — Altered character of vegetation — State of commis- 
 sariat — Difficulties of march — Rugged scene — Peechee's home — Per- 
 pendicular rocks — Indian skirmish, courage of a woman — The spout 
 — Bow River Traverse — Porcupine — Natural gateway — Height of land 
 — Reminiscence of Scotland — Improvement in climate — Kootonais River 
 — Adventures of two of our men — Scarcity of water — Bad road — Co- 
 lumbia River — Search for horses — Gloomy ravine — Hieroglyphics — 
 Tenacity of musquitoes — Fresh horses — Scenery now softer — Flatbow 
 Indians — Hot springs — Burning forests — Park-like prairie — Kootonais 
 Indians, chief's son — Grande Quete Lake, missing companion — Grande 
 Quete River — Improvement in vegetation — Plunge of two loaded horses 
 — Use of a horse — Starvation among natives — Female horse-dealer — 
 Extensive and interesting view — March through wet bush — Kootonais 
 River Traverse — Peculiar canoe — Kootonais village — Food of natives 
 — Mr. and Mrs. Charlo — Natural pit — Burning woods — Kullespelm 
 Lake — Pend' d'Oreille River — Pend' d'Oreille Indians — Card-playing — 
 Results of ediication — Native dress — Fresh horses — Supper or no 
 supper ? — Mr.M'^Donald from Col vile — Excellent breakfast — Ludicrous 
 accident — Fort Colvile — Fine farm — Chaudiere Indians — Peechee — 
 Departure from Colvile — Chaudiere Falls — Grande Coulee — Oka- 
 nagan — Murder of Mr. Black — Scarcity of wood — Isle des Pierres 
 Rapids — Sault du Pretre — Rattlesnakes — Snake River — Wallawalla — 
 Rev. Mr. Mungh — M'^Kenzie's and Ross's Heads — Prairie fowl — Snake 
 Indians — Basaltic rocks — Cayuse chief in love — Les Chutes, past and 
 present — Petites Dalles — Long Narrows — Hair seals — Mission of 
 Whaspicum — Aquatic forest — Cascades — Pillar Rock — Arrival at 
 Vancouver. 
 
 About five in the morning of the 28th of July, we 
 started from Edmonton in high spirits, with a fresh band 
 
 ;ii I ^t 
 
 » ii 
 
 I ''i ^ 
 

 It '■; 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 107 
 
 of forty-five fine horses, and struck into the adjacent 
 woods, before the Indians made their appearance on the 
 opposite side of the river. Crossing the Saskatchewan 
 at the place, where we found our boat, we breakfasted 
 in a secluded spot ; and thence we pursued our course, 
 during the whole day, through a land of marshes and 
 thickets, forming a remarkable contrast with the rolling 
 prairies which we had recently traversed. As the 
 forests had been almost entirely destroyed by fire, the 
 fallen timber, often concealed alike from horse and 
 rider by the high grass, occasioned a good deal both of 
 delay and of danger. In spite, however, of all oui 
 difficulties, we contrived, with our new stud, to 
 accomplish sixty miles by eight in the evening. 
 
 In the afternoon, we had met Mr. Rundle, the 
 Wesleyan missionary of Edmonton, who had been visit- 
 ing a camp of Crees on the borders of Gull Lake ; and, 
 as that gentleman was anxious to have some commu- 
 nication with me, he returned with us to our encamp- 
 ment, which we made near the Atcheskapesequa Seepee, 
 or Smoking- weed River. This stream flowed in a deep 
 and shady valley ; and its clear water afforded us an 
 exquisite treat after our long and hot ride. 
 
 In the morning, Mr. Rundle accompanied us as far as 
 the Battle River, which falls into the Saskatchewan, 
 near Fort Pitt. We were now beyond the level prairie 
 with its badger holes, which have obtained for the 
 people of the Saskatchewan the name of Les Gens des 
 Blaireaux ; but we had woods instead, which, if they 
 were less perilous, were fully more embarrassing. The 
 scenery, as we approached the mountains, was becoming 
 bolder every hour. The plains were replaced by ranges 
 
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 108 
 
 OVERL\ND JOURNEY 
 
 of lofty hills ; and wo were strain in<^ our eyes to catch 
 the first glimpse of the perpetual snows of the mighty 
 barrier that lay in our path. The weather continued 
 to be exceedingly warm, the thermometer showing 83° in 
 the shade; and the flies of every species, from the bull- 
 dog, which takes out the bit from man and beast, to 
 the diminutive moustique, annoyed, to an almost insup- 
 portable degree, both ourselves and our cattle. To 
 make matters worse, we were this morning attacked, 
 for the first time, by wasps, which every now and then 
 made our poor animals dance and bolt, and roll on the 
 ground ; and so much did the horses dread the insect 
 in question, that not one in the band would approach 
 the spot where any other had been stung, — the whole of 
 them sometimes dashing off, in all possible directions, 
 at full gallop. 
 
 After passing two or three very beautiful lagoons, 
 we encamped for the night on the banks of the Gull 
 Lake, a tine sheet of transparent water of about twenty 
 miles in length by five or six in width, surrounded by 
 high hills, of which the remotest summits to the west- 
 ward command a view of the Rocky Mountains. Though 
 we saw no traces of Mr. Rundle's Crees, yet the report 
 of a musket, booming like that of a cannon along the 
 lake, indicated their vicinity ; and, on our answering 
 what was probably meant as a signal, we were visited 
 by a few of them, who proved to be relations of some 
 of our men. Our object in desiring an interview was 
 to obtain, if possible, a supply of fresh meat, inasmuch 
 as the small stock, which we had brought from Ed- 
 monton, was already exhausted. The Indians, who 
 were almost as badly off as ourselves, had nothing to 
 
 ti ;:i 
 
'V\\ 
 
 ROUND Tllli WUllLD. 
 
 109 
 
 spare but tlie mains, the inferior joints of course, of a 
 red deer; but tliese, such as they were, tlicy promised 
 to bring us in the morning. 
 
 On decamping, a heavy fog threatened us with a wet 
 day. Gradually, however, the sun dispersed the vapours ; 
 and, as there was no wind, the heat became excessive, 
 while our work grew harder in consequence of the gradual 
 rise of the country. After fording the Paskap Seepee, 
 or Blind River, we reached Reedy Lake ; and thence, 
 crossing a range of high hills, we breakfasted on an 
 extensive prairie beyond them. Our friends of Gull 
 Lake had brought us a little meat, and that not very 
 tempting in its appearance ; but, such as it was, it saved 
 our pemmican for one day longer. They remained with 
 us two or three hours, smoking and chatting ; and, our 
 guide Peecliee being a great man among them, they 
 formed a circle round him, whiffing and talking and 
 listening; for, notwithstanding the taciturnity of savages 
 among whites, they are, when by themselves, the most 
 loquacious of mortals, apparently regarding idle gossip 
 as one of the grand objects of life. In addition to the 
 venison, which we got from the Lidians, our breakfast 
 was enriched by the presence of a few ducklings — without 
 green peas. We had caught a sight of a colony of 
 ducks in a small swamp ; and, after scranibliug in the 
 high grass and shallow water with a most zealous com- 
 bination of all our talents and appetites, we succeeded 
 in bagging seven of the rising brood. The excitement 
 of such a hunt cannot possibly be appreciated by your 
 civilized sportsman, inasmuch as his larder is not mate- 
 rially interested in the question of failure or success. 
 Soon after the commencement of our afternoon's 
 
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 110 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 march, we had to cross the Red Deer's lliver, a lar^jo 
 and beautiful stream flowing between well wooded 
 banks of considerable height ; and, while we were riding 
 three or four miles down the current in quest of a ford, 
 we found on the bank perfectly fresh tracks of bear, 
 red deer, moose, antelopes, and wolves. Had we been 
 on a hunting excursion instead of travelling against 
 tine, we might here have enjoyed a few days of excellent 
 sport. While the horses were fording the river, we had 
 a pleasant bath, after which we continued our march 
 across a prairie almost covered with dwarf willows. 
 
 While quietly forcing our way through the bushes 
 with our party very much scattered, we suddenly 
 encountered a small band of Sarcees, the boldest of all 
 the tribes that inhabit the plains. The savages appeared 
 to be taken as much by surprise as ourselves ; and, in 
 a moment, the guns were uncovered on both sides. A 
 halt, of course, was made ; and a parley ensued, the 
 subject of discussion being the present war between the 
 Crees and the Blackfeet. The Sarcees, as allies of the 
 latter tribe, naturally blamed the former ; and we took 
 credit to the whites for having kept their common 
 enemy comparatively quiet. With the aid of a little 
 tobacco and ammunition, we prolonged the conversation 
 for a sufficient length of time to allow all our people to 
 get fairly out of sight ; and we then parted from our 
 fickle customers on the most friendly terms. We came 
 almost immediately to a small river, whose banks of 
 two hundred feet in height were so steep, that our horses 
 slid sideways the greater part of the distance to the 
 water's edge ; and, however troublesome the operation 
 was in itself, we were not sorry to place so formidable 
 
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 ROUND Till OHLl>. 
 
 Ill 
 
 a bftrrier between the Sarcees luul our-rlves. Ir) order 
 to give our somewhat doubtful friends as wide a berth 
 as possible, wc inarched more briskly than usual till the 
 evening, selecting for our night's encampment a rising 
 ground which commanded the view to a considerable 
 distance; and, to make assurance doubly sure, every 
 gun was loaded, while four men mounted guard. 
 
 Still remembering the Sarcees, we made an early 
 move, and marched vigorously for about seven hours. 
 Before breakfast, however, we met a new object of 
 alarm in the fresh trail of a large party of horsemen, 
 who must have passed as late as last ev^ing ; but, on 
 second thoughts, we were glad to observe that the band 
 in question had kept a good deal to the westward of 
 our track. In this same neighbourhood, we got up an 
 amusing scene in the shape of a hunt of some young 
 geese. Some of the men, without taking time to strip, 
 jumped into the water, splashing and tumbling about 
 after their prey, while the others from the bank kept 
 up a constant fire on the birds; and thus, between 
 killed, and wounded, and taken, the whole flock fell 
 into the hands of our cooks. 
 
 In the course of the afternoon, we descended into a 
 glen between ranges of steep and lofty hills, through 
 which flowed the river La Biche, at one place contracted 
 into a mere rivulet, and at another spread over a chan- 
 nel of two hundred feet in width. In forcing our way 
 through the tangled underwood of this valley, we were 
 almost as thoroughly drenched by the deposits of a 
 recent shower on the leaves, as if we had been actually 
 exposed to the rain itself; and this thicket again led us 
 into a dense forest of pines, through which the track, 
 
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 |. I 111 
 

 
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 OVKRLANU JOLRNKY 
 
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 beHidc^ hein^ obstructed by fallen timber, wns so iinr- 
 row as seriously to impede the pack-liorso8. 
 
 Wo encamped for the night in an opou space amid 
 an amphitheatre of towering hills, which were covered 
 with dark forests. Every hour of this day's njarch had 
 marked our ascent to a higher level. At Fort Pitt, as 
 already mentioned, we had seen our first pines; since 
 then wo had passed few trees of the kind, till they 
 began, this morning, to increase rapidly in number, 
 while, in the same proportion, every other species gra- 
 dually disappeared. The willow and poplar were the 
 last to dispute the sway of this evergreen child of the 
 mountains, though, before reaching our encampment, 
 even they had given up the contest ; and nothing was 
 to be seen but the black, straight, naked stem of the 
 pine, shooting up to an unbroken height of eighty or a 
 hundred feet ; while the sombre light, as it glimmered 
 along numberless vistas of natural columns, recalled to 
 the imagination the gloomy shades of an assemblage of 
 venerable cathedrals. 
 
 In the way of eating, we had now little to expect 
 beyond our own stores of pemmican and dried meat. 
 Our supper of to-day was the first meal, at which we 
 had not fresh viands of some kind or other ; and we 
 had no great reason to expect any considerable im- 
 provement for some time to come. Next day, indeed, 
 •we crossed several small plains, which are often well 
 stocked with buffalo, one of them in particular being on 
 this account distinguished as La Prairie de la Graisse ; 
 but, as our luck would have it, not a hoof was to be 
 seen. This disappointment was the more to be re- 
 gretted, inasmuch as the increasing cold — increasing 
 
 Li II ' ^' ' 
 
ROUND TIIK WORLD. 
 
 I 13 
 
 Ijotli with tho n(lvanc<^ of the seiiMuii nixl with our own 
 olovatioii — would now have kept any booty much 
 longer HOund and sweet. 
 
 In La Prairie tie la Uraisso wo can;;ht our first view 
 of tho white peaks of the mountains, looking like clouds 
 on the verge of the horizon. IJoyoml this point, our 
 track lay through swamps, which, even in this the 
 driest month of a dry season, were almost impracticable. 
 The horses constantly sank to their girths ; and, in en- 
 <leavouring to extricate themselves, they occasioiuilly 
 dislodged their packs or riders into the seething morass. 
 Nor was our progress nmch more expeditious in tho 
 woods than in the hogs. The horses were, every now 
 and then, diving into the pathless forest, with the 
 (Irivers at their heels, whose cries might be heard ring- 
 ing through the usually solitary glades for miles ; and 
 the fugitives, when overtaken, wer'» generally found to 
 have either slipped their packs altogether, or else to 
 have them hanging loose under their bellies. In ad- 
 justing all this, the men would lose the track, so that 
 we had to make occasional halts to collect our people. 
 One man in particular was missing for several hours 
 this morning ; and others, who were sent in search of 
 him, found him trying to drive three obstinate brutes 
 before him. Though this poor fellow had fired fifteen 
 signals for assistance, yet not one of them had been 
 heard by us ; and this was the more extraordinary, as 
 the report of one's own gun appeared to reverberate 
 through the woods like the discharge of a heavy piece 
 of ordnance. 
 
 About ten we halted for breakfast, that some of our 
 
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 114 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 hunters might follow u recent track of the buffalo ; but 
 they saw only three stragglers, which, however, were 
 out of reach. In the afternoon, we emerged from the 
 woods on a long open valley terminating in a high 
 ridge, whence we obtained one of those majestic views, 
 found only " 'midst mountain fastnesses." As far as 
 the eye could reach, mountain rose above mountain, 
 while at our feet lay a valley surrounded by an am- 
 phitheatre of cold, bare, rugged peaks. In these 
 crags, which were almost perpendicular, neither could 
 tree plant its roots nor goat find a resting-place ; 
 the " Demon of the Mountains" alone could fix his 
 dwelling there. On the stony bosom of the valley in 
 question we pitched our tents for the night. Here 
 we found one of the sources — in spring, a torrent, 
 but now almost dry — of the river La Biche ; and 
 here we bade adieu to that stream, which, during the 
 last three days, we had crossed at least forty times. 
 One of the overhanging peaks, from its bearing a rude 
 resemblance to an upturned face, is caL J the Devil's 
 Nose. 
 
 The path, which we had been following, was a track 
 of the Assiniboines, carried, for the sake of concealment, 
 through the thickest forests. The Indians and Peechee 
 were the only persons that had ever pursued this route ; 
 and we were the first whites that had attempted this 
 pass of the mountains. 
 
 In the morning, we entered a defile between moun- 
 tainous ridges, marching for nine hours through dense 
 woods. This valley, which was from two to three miles 
 in width, contained four beautiful lakes, communicating 
 
|i ^ '; 'I ; 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 115 
 
 with each other by small streams ; and the fourth of 
 the series, which was about fifteen miles by three, we 
 named after Peechee, as being our guide's usual home. 
 At this place he had expected to find his family ; but 
 Madame Peechee and the children had left their en- 
 campment, probably on account of a scarcity of game. 
 What an idea of the loneliness and precariousness of 
 savage life does this single glimpse of the biography of 
 the Peechees suggest ! 
 
 Having marched for nine hours over broken rocks 
 and through thick forests, we found, on halting for 
 breakfast, that six of our horses, three of them with 
 packs, were missing ; and we instantly despatched all 
 our men but two in quest of them, determining at the 
 same time to remain for the rest of the day in order to 
 await their return. The beauty of the scenery formed 
 some compensation for this loss of time. Our tents 
 were pitched in a level meadow of about five hnndred 
 acres in extent, enclosed by mountains on three sides, 
 and by Peechee's lake on the fourth. From the very 
 edge of the water, there rose a gentle ascent of six or 
 eight hundred feet, covered with pines, and composed 
 almost entirely of the accumulated fragments of the 
 adamantine heights above ; and on the upper border of 
 this slope there stood perpendicular walls of granite, of 
 three or four thousand feet, while among the dizzy 
 altitudes of their battlemented summits the goats and 
 sheep bounded in playful security. 
 
 As ill luck would have it, one of the missing horses 
 carried our best provisions ; but, by stewing two par- 
 tridges and making a little pemmican into a kind of 
 
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 116 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 ^ ■' 
 
 burgoo, we contrived to produce both breakfast and 
 supper for eight hungry travellers. Though we had 
 considerably increased our elevation by this morning's 
 march, yet tlie heat was great, reaching as high as 
 70° in the shade. 
 
 The defile, through which we had just passed, had 
 been the scene of an exploit highly characteristic of 
 savage life. One of the Crees, whom we saw at Gull 
 Lake, had been tracked into the valley, along with his 
 wife and family, by five youths of a hostile tribe. On 
 perceiving the odds that were against him, the man 
 gave himself up for lost, observing to the woman that, 
 as they could die but once, they had better make up 
 their minds to submit to their present fate without re- 
 sistance. The wife, however, replied that, as they had 
 but one life to lose, they were the more decidedly 
 bound to defend it to the last, even under the most 
 desperate circumstances; adding that, as they were 
 young and by no means pitiful, they had an additional 
 motive for preventing their hearts from becoming small. 
 Then, suiting the action to the word, the heroine 
 brought the foremost warrior to the earth with a bullet, 
 while the husband, animated by a mixture of shame 
 and hope, disposed of two more of the enemy with his 
 arrows. The fourth, who had by this time come to 
 pretty close quarters, was ready to take vengeance on 
 the courageous woman, with uplifted tomahawk, when 
 he stumbled and fell ; and, in the twinkling of an eye, 
 the dagger of his intended victim was buried in his 
 heart. Dismayed at the death of his four companions, 
 the sole survivor of the assailing party saved himself 
 
 .'1 1 
 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 117 
 
 by flight, after wounding his male opponent by a ball 
 in the arm. 
 
 It was six o'clock next morning before our people 
 returned with the missing horses, which they had found 
 about fifteen miles behind. On starting, we proceeded 
 up a bold pass in the mountains, in which we crossed 
 two branches of the Bow River, the south branch, as 
 already mentioned, of the Saskatchewan. From the 
 top of a peak, that rose perpendicularly at least two 
 thousand feet, there fell a stream of water, which, 
 though of very considerable volume, looked like a 
 thread of silver on the gray rock. It was said to be 
 known as the Spout, and to serve as a landmark in this 
 wilderness of cliffs. 
 
 About two in the afternoon, we reached, as Peechee 
 assured us, the Bow River Traverse, the spot at which 
 a fresh guide from the west side of the mountains, of 
 the name of Borland, was to meet us with a relay of 
 horses. But, whether this was the Bow River Tra- 
 verse or not, no Borland was here to be found. Think- 
 ing that the two guides might have different notions as 
 to the precise place of rendezvous, we despatched two 
 men to another crossing-place about two miles farther 
 up the stream, instructing them, according to circum- 
 stances, either to return to this point and pursue our 
 track, or else to cut across the country in order to join 
 us. The river, the same as that which we crossed be- 
 fore reaching Carlton, was here about a hundred and 
 fifty yards in width, with a strong and deep current. 
 We conveyed baggage and horses, and everything else, 
 on a raft covered with willows ; and, as we finished the 
 
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 118 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 operation only at sunset, we encamped for the night on 
 the south or right bank of the stream. 
 
 As we were always glad to make our guns save our 
 pemmican, we had to-day knocked down a porcupine 
 which, being desperately hungry, we pronounced to 
 be very good fare. We had also tried, but in vain, to 
 get within shot of some of the goats and sheep that 
 were clambering and leaping on the peaks ; the flesh of 
 the latter is reckoned a great delicacy ; but that of the 
 former is not much esteemed. 
 
 The water of the river was cold, being formed chiefly 
 of melted snow ; and the temperature of a small tri- 
 butary in the neighbourhood of our camp proved 
 to be only 42°, while, in the course of the after- 
 noon, the mercury had stood at 70° in the shade. We 
 enjoyed the coolness both for drinking and bathing, 
 though the water, like that of the Alps, was known to 
 give the goitres, even as far down as the fork of the 
 two grand branches of the Saskatchewan, to such as 
 might habitually and permanently use it. Our men, 
 poor fellows, had had quite enough of the luxury, in the 
 swimming way, for, in managing the raft, they had 
 been three or four hours in the current. 
 
 Next morning, we began to ascend the mountains in 
 right earnest, riding where we could, and walking where 
 the horses found the road too steep to carry us, while by 
 our side there rushed downwards one of the sources of 
 the Bow River. We were surrounded by peaks and crags, 
 on whose summits lay perpetual snow ; aiid the only 
 sounds that disturbed the solitude were the crackling of 
 prostrate branches under the tread of our horses, and 
 
.n •" 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 119 
 
 >ad 
 
 the roaring of the stream, as it leaped down its rocky 
 course. One peak presented a very peculiar feature in 
 an opening of about eighty feet by fifty, which, at a 
 distance, might have been taken for a spot of snow, but 
 which, as one advanced nearer, assumed the appearance 
 of the gateway of a giant's fortress. 
 
 About seven hours of hard work brought us to the 
 height of land, the hinge, as it were, between the 
 eastern and the western Avaters. We breakfasted on 
 the level isthmus, which did not exceed fourteen paces 
 in width, filling our kettles for this our lonely meal 
 at once from the crystal sources of the Columbia and 
 the Saskatchewan, while these feeders of two oppo- 
 site oceans, murmuring over their beds of mossy 
 stones as if to bid each other a long farewell, could 
 hardly fail to attune our minds to the sublimity of the 
 scene. But, between these kindred fountains, the com- 
 mon progeny of the same snow wreaths, there was this 
 remarkable difference of temperature, that the source 
 of the Columbia showed 40°, while that of the Sas- 
 katchewan raised the mercury to 53^°, the thermometer 
 meanwhile standing as high as 71° in the shade. 
 
 From the vicinity of perpetual snow, we estimated 
 the elevation of the height of land 1 be seven or eight 
 thousand feet above the level of the sea, while the sur- 
 rounding peaks appeared to rise nearly half of that 
 altitude over our heads. Still this pass was inferior in 
 grandeur to that of the Athabasca Portage. There, the 
 road, little better than a succession of glaciers, runs 
 through a region of perpetual snow, where nothing 
 that can be called a tree presents itself to relieve and 
 
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 120 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 cheer the eye. There, too, the relative position of the 
 opposite waters is such as to have hardly a parallel on 
 the earth's surface ; for a small lake, appropriately enough 
 known as the Committee's Punch-bowl, sends its tribute, 
 from one end to the Columbia, and from the other to 
 the M«=Kenzie. 
 
 In addition to the physical magnificence of the scene, 
 I here met an unexpected reminiscence of my own native 
 hills in the shape of a plant, which appeared to me to 
 be the very heather of the Highlands of Scotland ; and 
 I might well regard the reminiscence as unexpected, 
 inasmuch as, in all my wanderings of more than twenty 
 years, I had never found anything of the kind in North 
 America. As I took a considerable degree of interest 
 in the question of the supposed identity, I carried away 
 two specimens, which, however, proved, on a minute 
 comparison, to differ from the genuine staple of the 
 brown heaths of the " land o' cakes." We made also 
 another discovery, ,ibout which there could be no mis- 
 take, in a troublesome and venomous species of winged 
 insect, which, in size and appearance, might have been 
 taken for a cross between the bull-dog and the house- 
 fly. 
 
 On resuming our march, we had not descended half a 
 mile, before we felt a difference in the climate, a change 
 noticed by all travellers in these regions ; and the trees 
 were also of fine growth. Whatever may be the reason 
 of the sudden alteration, the same clouds have been 
 known to clothe the eastern side with hail and snow, 
 and to refresh the western with gentle rain. With 
 reference, however, to this state of the atmosphere, the 
 
 I i 
 
1 '1 
 
 
 'h'' 
 
 ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 121 
 
 temperature of the water is somewhat anomalous, for, 
 after a lapse of two or three days, the stream, which 
 we followed, was subsequently found to be still half a 
 degree cooler than the source of the Bow River on the 
 height of land. In the progress of our descent, we took 
 some interest in tracing, as it were. Nature's manufacture 
 of a river ; as every rill that trickled down the rocks, 
 with its thread of melted snow, contributed its mite to 
 the main current of various names, the Kootonais, or 
 the M^Gillivray, or the Flat-bow. Even at our first 
 encampment, after only half a day's march, the flood 
 had already gathered a breadth of fifty feet. 
 
 Next morning, we forded the river twenty-three 
 times, each attempt becoming, of course, more difficult 
 than the preceding one ; and we crossed it once more, 
 immediately before breakfast, near its confluence with 
 another stream of about equal magnitude. During this 
 single march, the fifty feet of yesterday evening had 
 swollen out into a hundred yards ; and the channel 
 was so deep, tliat the packs got soaked on the backs of 
 the horses. Here we made a meal of our third porcu- 
 pine, the only fresh meat that we could get ; for, 
 though our track bore the recent marks of the bear, 
 the buffalo, the antelope, the sheep, the moose, the red 
 deer and the wolf, yet the noise of our cavalcade seemed 
 to scare all these animals into the woods. 
 
 Our two men, who had been sent to the upper tra- 
 verse of the Bow River in quest of Berland, were here 
 to rejoin us ; and accordingly, just as we were mount- 
 ing for our afternoon's march, they arrived with the 
 unwelcome news that they had seen no trace either of 
 
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 122 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 horses or of guide. If Berland bad kept his appoint- 
 ment at all, our only remaining chance was to look for 
 him at a crossing place on the Bow lliver, about a day's 
 marcli below our own traverse ; and accordingly, as La 
 Graisse, one of the men who had just returned, gallantly 
 volunteered, along with an Iroquois of the name of Jose 
 Tyantas, to undertake this forlorn hope of an expe- 
 dition, we forthwith despatc'ied the hardy fellows with 
 a little pemmican and a few pairs of mocassins, leaving 
 them to supply all other wants with their guns. In 
 fact, they were not so liable to starve as ourselves ; for, 
 being on foot, they were less likely to frighten the 
 game of the country to a distance ; and, in proof of 
 this. La Graisse had brought us part of a red deer that he 
 had shot, which, though tough and hard, we relished as 
 a great luxury. 
 
 Our afternoon's work was exceedingly slow and labo- 
 rious, as we had to pass through an intricate forest 
 along the banks of the river. Having crossed a very 
 steep hill with the view of encamping, by Peechee's 
 advice, on the borders of a small lake, we were disap- 
 pointed to find nothing but its dried bed without a 
 single drop of water in it ; and, being alike unable to 
 advance and unwilling to return, we sent back our men 
 for water with the whole of our surviving stock of pots 
 and kettles. As an evidence of the difficulties of our 
 route, our whole day's march did not exceed twenty 
 miles. 
 
 Next morning, however, our bad roads surpassed 
 themselves. Besides being mountainous, the ground 
 was rugged and boggy; the forests were thick and 
 
„T^' 
 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 123 
 
 fi 
 
 tangled ; and prostrate trees of large dimensions, piled 
 and interlaced together, barricaded our track. Leading 
 our horses, we forced our way along by winding about 
 in every direction, by hewing or removing falleii trunks, 
 and by making the animals, according to circumstances, 
 leap, or scramble, or crouch. At the end of about 
 four hours, we had not accomplished more than two 
 miles. 
 
 Emerging from this labyrinth on a clear plain, where 
 a good road lay along the precipitous bank of the river 
 of about a hundred and fifty feet in height, one of the 
 horses, which fortunately had neither rider nor pack, 
 missed its footing, but was caught by the trees on its 
 way down. We breakfasted near a lofty mountain, 
 which was to form our afternoon's mark. Its base was 
 marked not only by the Kootonais but also by the 
 Columbia properly so called, the former sweeping far 
 to the south, and the latter still further to the north, in 
 order to unite their waters a little above Fort Colvile. 
 After marching about an hour, we reached the nearer 
 side of the mountain, where, in consequence of Peechee's 
 representations as to the impossibility alike of our cross- 
 ing it before dark, and of encamping on it for the night, 
 we reluctantly halted at the early hour of five o'clock. 
 Three wearied and disabled horses were here abandoned 
 with a faint hope of their being subsequently recovered, 
 if, in their present helpless condition, they could only 
 protect themselves from the wolves. 
 
 Soon after midnight, the people began to search for 
 the horses, some of which were found in the woods at a 
 distance of five or six miles ; and the mere fact that the 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 animals could be caught at all amid thick forests in the 
 dark, spoke volumes for the patience and steadiness, the 
 carefulness and sagacity, the skill and tact, of our half- 
 breed ay;endauts. Perhaps, all the grooms in an English 
 county could not have done that morning's work. After 
 all the delay, we were still able to start by five. 
 
 The ascent of the mountain was rugged and difficult. 
 Though the forests were more practicable than those of 
 yesterday, yet our track lay generally on the steep and 
 stony edg? of a glen, down which gushed the sources of 
 the Columbia. At one very remarkable spot, known as 
 the Red Rock, our path climbed the dry part of the 
 bed of a boiling torrent, while the narrow ravine was 
 literally darkened by almost perpendicular walls of a 
 thousand or fifteen hundred feet in height ; and, to 
 render the chasm still more gloomy, the opposite crags 
 threw forward each its own forest of sombre pines, into 
 the intervening space. The rays of the sun could 
 barely find their way to the depths of this dreary vale, 
 so as to render the darkness visible ; and the hoarse 
 murmur of the angry stream, as it bounded to escape 
 from the dismal jaws of its prison, only served to make 
 the place appear more lonely and desolate. We were 
 glad to emerge from this horrid gorge, which depressed 
 our spirits even more than it overawed our feelings. 
 
 Our road then lay over some high hills of parched 
 clay, where the reflection of the heat from below and a 
 scorching sun above almost roasted us alive; every 
 shrub and every blade of grass was brown and sapless, 
 just as if newly swept by the blast of a sirocco. During 
 the hottest part of the day, our thermometer was 
 
 Wei 
 that 
 tvventv 
 a tribu 
 lakes, 
 within 
 secure 
 in the 
 horse. 
 This 
 
■"'I 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 125 
 
 Stowed away in one of our packages ; but, when obtained 
 in the evening, it still stood at 81° in the shade. 
 
 From these hills an abrupt descent brought us into a 
 large prairie, through which our river wound a serpen- 
 tine course ; and, as the loaded horses did not arrive till 
 five o'clock, we here encamped for the night, making 
 one hearty meal for the day after a fast of twenty-four 
 hours. Our day's work of twenty miles had fatigued 
 us all to excess; for, by reason of the steepness and 
 ruggedness of the road, we had been obliged to walk, or 
 rather to climb and slide, a great portion of the way. 
 On one of the trees, however, we found something that 
 made us forget our toils — a hieroglyphic epistle, sketched 
 thus with a piece of burnt wood : 
 
 i?i^fr 
 
 C^-^ V^^^^i;;r< 
 
 We speedily interpreted this welcome letter to mean, 
 that Edward Borland was waiting us with a band of 
 twenty-seven horses at the point where our river received 
 a tributary before expanding itself into two consecutive 
 lakes. As the spot in question was supposed to be 
 within a few miles of us, Peechee was despatched to 
 secure our phantom guide ; and two men were also sent 
 in the opposite direction to bring up a missing pack- 
 horse. 
 
 This prairie had perhaps been selected by our corre- 
 
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 12() 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 spoiideiit us liis post-oHico, from its being the place at 
 which tho only two routes, by which wo could have 
 crossed tho height of land in this part of the 
 country, happened to converge. The emigrants, having 
 been treacherously deserted at Bow River by their 
 guide, a half-breed of some education, providentially met 
 an Indian of tho name of Bras Croche, who, being better 
 acquainted with the mountains than Peechcc, carried 
 them through a little to the southward by a pass infi- 
 nitely superior to ours ; and they fell upon our track 
 again near our present encampment. 
 
 The valley, for the prairie was surrounded by moun- 
 tains, swarmed with mustpiitoes to a greater degree than 
 any place that we had hitherto seen. These insects 
 were as formidable as they were numerous, for they 
 found our horses and ourselves such a treat in this their 
 lonely haunt, that they kept coolly and steadily sucking 
 our blood, after the whole of us, both men and beasts, 
 w^ere nearly sutibcated by the smoke that had been 
 raised in order to drive them away. We could neither 
 eat, nor write, nor read, our hands being constantly em- 
 ployed in repelling or slaughtering our small but power- 
 ful enemies. The Canadians vented their curses on the 
 old maid, who had the credit of having brought this 
 scourge upon earth, by praying for something to fill up 
 the hopeless leisure of her single blessedness ; and, if 
 the tiny tormentors would but confine themselves to 
 nunneries and monasteries, the world might see some- 
 thing more like the fitness of things in the matter. 
 
 Wherever the soil was composed of clay, we had 
 noticed large holes at the roots of trees, which had 
 
ROl'ND THE WOULD. 
 
 127 
 
 literally been ciiten out by the wild slioep. Those 
 nniinuls use ar^^illucoous earth as a medicine, just as the 
 do^ nibbleH ^Miiss and the fowl Hwallows ^jnivol ; and 
 probably their instinct teaches them that, in tlio situa- 
 tions in question, the ve;»etable fibres, 8omethin<^ in the 
 nature of yest, render the stuff both softer and li«>hter. 
 
 About nine in the mornin<^, Pecchee brought lierland 
 to us, who had been prevented, as he said, by illness, 
 but, as we suspected, by laziness, from going forward to 
 the Bow River. Of our new guide's horses, many, having 
 never carried either rider or pack, were comparatively 
 useless ; and we Mere, therefore, obliged to complete 
 our muster with a few of the best and hardiest of our old 
 band. We left three men to take back the remainder 
 to Edmonton ; and by them we forwarded letters to the 
 east side of the mountains. 
 
 It was eleven o'clock before we evacuated this fearful 
 nest of musquitoes. As wo advanced, the mountains 
 gradually became softer, while their summits were no 
 longer clad with snow. The scenery, from having been 
 sublime, was now merely picturesque. Our path lay 
 along a prairie of about two miles in width, skirted on 
 the right by sloping hills, and on the left by the moun- 
 tains, presenting at their bases an apparently artificial 
 arrangement of terraces and shrubberies. In conse- 
 quence of the recent drought, every horse raised such 
 a cloud of dust as almost to conceal itself from view ; 
 and as, through the same cause, the country was on 
 fire, the atmosphere was filled with smoke, which gave 
 the sun the same appearance of a red wafer which he so 
 often assumes in the murky skies of London. 
 
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 128 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 In the afternoon we saw a lodge of Flat-bow Indians, 
 our first natives on the west side of the continent. 
 Compared with the Crees, their skins were darker, their 
 features less pleasing, and their figures less erect. The 
 head of the house wore a robe thrown over his shoul- 
 ders ; the mother sported a chemise of leather, rather 
 short and dirty; the younger children had no other 
 dress than what nature had given them ; and two 
 grown lads, whose bodies were mapped with shreds and 
 patches, had decorated themselves with caps of green 
 baize and ■ plumes of feathers. We encamped at the 
 commencement of the second Kootonais Lake, obtain- 
 ing for supper a few small trout of excellent flavour, 
 absurdly enough called by the Canadians poisson connu. 
 
 About six in the morning, the two men returned with 
 the missing packhorse. Near our encampment we ob- 
 served that the stones in the bed of a little stream 
 were covered with a yellow crust. Before starting for 
 the day, Berland conducted us to three hot springs, 
 about three miles distant, which doubtless caused the 
 phenomenon in question. The waters tasted slightly 
 of alum, and appeared to contain a little magnesia; 
 and, though we had neglected to take our thermometer 
 with us, yet, on returning to the camp, we estimated 
 the three temperatures respectively at about ninety, a 
 hundred, and a hundred and twenty degrees. Two win- 
 ters back, Berland, while suffering from a severe illness, 
 inade a bathing-place of these springs ; and he either 
 actually was, or believed that he was, benefitted by them. 
 
 Our route lay at first along the face of a steep hill, 
 which rose abruptly from the shores of the lake ; and 
 

 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 1?9 
 
 the footing' was so bad, that two of the wild horses, 
 which had been loaded with packs by way of experi- 
 ment, slid or rolled down the rugged surface, thereby 
 lacerating themselves dreadfully. After getting beyond 
 the end of the lake, we crossed over a lofty mountain 
 to the well-wooded banks of the river. The forest, 
 which was still burning, had been on fire for some 
 weeks, and many a magnificent tree lay smouldering in 
 our path. We encamped in a thick and gloomy wood, 
 on an uncomfortable bottom of decaying vegetables and 
 mnk weeds. To-day we had left an Indian, with horses, 
 provisions, &c., for the use of our two men, who had 
 gone back a second time to Bow River; and on the 
 occasion of sending our tired cattle to Edmonton, we 
 had provided in the same way for the safety and com- 
 fort of our courageous .emissaries. 
 
 On decamping, we marched three hours through 
 burning forests, in which our track was blocked up by 
 fallen piles of still smoking timber. After crossing a 
 small river, we entered a prairie lying along the Koo- 
 tonais, which bore a considerable resemblance to a fine 
 park. Here and there were thick clumps, which yielded 
 an inviting shade ; in other places, the trees, standing 
 apart, formed themselves into grand avenues ; and the 
 open sward was varied with gentle slopes and mounds. 
 We here encamped for breakfast, a temperature of 
 85° in the shade imparting an exquisite zest to the cold 
 and clear water of the Kootonais; and the stream 
 afforded us a highly agreeable addition to our meal, in 
 the shape of some fine trout. 
 
 However dexterous our people were in collecting our 
 
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 130 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 horses from the pasture for each of our two daily starts, 
 they were rather reckless and cruel in their treatment 
 of the poor animals. We had an example of this 
 to-day, when one of our best horses had its skull wan- 
 tonly fractured by a blow. Continuing our march 
 along the prairie, we reached, towards sunset, a camp 
 of six or eiojht lodo-es of Kootonais Indians. The 
 whole premises appeared to be in a state of great con- 
 sternation, till Ave were ascertained to be only Avhites ; 
 and then ^11 the inhabitants, men, women, and children, 
 rushed forth, to the number of sixty or seventy, to 
 shake hands with us. They were a miserable set of 
 beings, small, decrepit, and di tj Though of the men 
 there were two that might be c ^ 1 handsome, yet of 
 the women there were none; t .; ~, in fact, the more 
 venerable members of the fair sex, particularly when 
 they shut their eyes and scratched their heads, hardly 
 bore the semblance of human beings. The camp was 
 under the command of an old chief, who, in virtue 
 of a long pigtail, had formerly got the name of Grande 
 Queue. Muny years ago, when selecting some boys to 
 be sent from the Columbia to Red River for their edu- 
 cation, I had taken a son of this chief as one of them, 
 naming him Kootonais Pelly, after his own tribe, and 
 the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. The 
 youngster, a fine, clever, docile lad, died — a blow from 
 which the father never recovered ; and though the men- 
 tion of the deceased would have been utterly repugnant 
 to savage etiquette, yet I was pretty sure that tlie 
 Grande Queue, as well as myself, was thinking rather 
 of the poor boy than of any thing else. 
 
 o» read 
 J^reakfasJ 
 
 
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 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 LSI 
 
 Being in great want of provisions, we offered a liberal 
 reward to such as would follow us to our next encamp- 
 ment with either meat or fish ; and though we tra^ lied 
 ten or twelve miles farther, till we reached Mac Donald's 
 River, near its confluence with the Kootonais, yet al- 
 most all our friends, young and old, male and female, 
 were there as soon as ourselves, bringing with them 
 some raspberries and a considerable qua tity of dried 
 moose. Hungry as we were, this meat was so dry and 
 tough as to be scarcely eatable. These people remained 
 with us the whole night, squatting themselves in a 
 double ring, the men in the inner circle, and the women 
 and children in the outer one ; and in this position they 
 were contented to smoke and sleep. While we were 
 <lrinking our wine, they looked very wistfully at the 
 flagon ; and, to humour their silent solicitations, we 
 gave a glass to two or three of the leaders, who drank 
 it, with all becoming gravity, as " Great Chief's Rum," 
 though they were evidently disappointed by the want of 
 pungency in the draught. They were all very dirty, 
 dressed in skins; but, squalid and poor as they were, 
 they possessed a band of about two hundred fine horses. 
 The hair of the oldest among them was as long, and 
 dark, and luxuriant as that of the young people — a 
 peculiarity observable among Indians in general, arising 
 probably from their knowing neither care nor thought, 
 or perhaps from their always going bareheaded. 
 
 After passing slowly through some woods in the 
 morning, we crossed a hill of considerable height ; and 
 on reaching the valley below, where we intended to 
 breakfast, we were surprised to find it preoccupied by 
 
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 132 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 a party of whites and their horses. Our new friends 
 proved to be a guide and two men, whom Mr. M*=Do- 
 nald, of Fort Colvile, immediately on hearing of Ber- 
 hmd's ilhiess, had sent to take his place. They, of 
 course, brought no horses, expecting to have to take 
 charge of the sick man's band. This was unfortunate, 
 for at this particular time we had far greater need of 
 cattle than of guides. The three men, however, did 
 bring us letters from the Columbia, which gave satis- 
 factory intelligence of both friends and business in that 
 quarter. 
 
 In the afternoon, we skirted along the shore of the 
 Grand Quete Lake of about twenty miles in length and 
 four in width. From the borders of this sheet of water 
 there rose abruptly on all sides lofty mountains of black 
 rock, covered from base to summit with cheerless forests 
 of pine, Avhile the fathomless depths of the mirror that 
 reflected them might have been taken for a lake of ink, 
 in which the very fishes might have been expected to 
 perish. Through the woods on the eastern side lay our 
 path, — if path it could be called, where fragments of 
 ironstone, with edges like scythes, were cutting the feet 
 of our poor horses at every step. 
 
 On encamping for the night at the southern end of 
 the lake, one of the party was found to be missing, a 
 circumstance which — considering the perils that we had 
 encountered even with the help of daylight — excited a 
 good deal of alarm. Signals were fired, and people were 
 sent to search for him. At length, about eleven o'clock, 
 the night being as dark as pitch, we were planning a closer 
 and more extensive exploration of the scene of our after- 
 
 '« 
 
 
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 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 138 
 
 had 
 jd a 
 vere 
 ock, 
 "oser 
 fter- 
 
 iioon's march, when, to our infinite relief, oar missing 
 companion was brought to the camp safe and sound. 
 Having lingered behind the party, he had lost his way, 
 which he succeeded in finding again only by the last 
 glimmer of the twilight ; and had not his good fortune 
 thus come to his aid, his night's lodging would have been 
 on the cold ground, with no other covering than what 
 he had been wearing during the heat of the day. This 
 little event reminded us more forcibly than ever of the 
 lon<r absence of our two men who had ffoue back to Bow 
 River ; and we could only hope and trust for the best. 
 Nor was this adventure the sole misfortune of the day, 
 for one of our horses had strayed with a valuable box of 
 papers, and had only been again caught, after an anxious 
 hunt of several hours. 
 
 Next morning, our new guide, a half-breed of the 
 name of Pion, was installed in office, while Berland was 
 sent ahead as far as the Kootonais River Traverse with 
 a letter, which he was thence to despatch to Fort Col- 
 vile by some of the neighbouring Indians. Our path 
 led us along the Grand Quete River, a stream which, in 
 depth and blackness, appeared to retain the characteristics 
 of its reservoir. The trees and underwood, however, 
 beset us so closely that we could catch only occasional 
 glimpses of anything beyond them. We were now 
 getting down into a region of varied vegetation. In 
 addition to the pine, of which one of our party counted 
 no fewer than sixteen sorts, there were the poplar, the 
 birch, the cedar, &c. ; and the underwood, which gave 
 us a vast deal of trouble, consisted of willow, alder, 
 thorn, rose, and poire. Of wild fruits we found a large 
 
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 134 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 choice, raspberry, service-berry, gooseberry, currant, bear- 
 pljiiitberry, grain de chapeau, grain d'original, atcheka- 
 pesequa, hips and haws, &c., with two almost unknown 
 berries — a red one, that was deemed poisonous, and a 
 white one, that was said to be eaten by the natives. 
 The blue berry, usually growing here in great abundance, 
 had this season entirely failed. 
 
 The banks of the river showed good signs of beaver, 
 that animal having been carefully protected against de- 
 structive waste by the comparatively thrifty and provi- 
 dent Kootonais; and there were also many fresh tracts 
 of deer and bighorn, which, as they crossed our line of 
 march in every direction and at every angle, were some- 
 times apt to be confounded with our own road — our 
 nags, in such cases, being generally better pilots than 
 ourselves. Some of our party, having got bewildered 
 to-day among the numerous paths, determined to follow 
 a couple of pack-horses that were trotting along before 
 them, when both the animals, probably thinking rather 
 of allaying their thirst than of prosecuting their journey, 
 suddenly dropped into the current through its screen of 
 brushwood. The foremost of those who were following 
 these faithless guides had barely time to rein up his 
 steed within a single step of the shelving bank, while 
 the apparently lost horses were seen swimming away as 
 if nothing had happened. With considerable difficulty 
 the animals were extricated from the deep water, though, 
 as ill luck would have it, one of them had soaked part 
 of our clothing, and the other our lighter provisions, 
 such as biscuit, tea, sugar, salt, and the like. The acci- 
 dent might have been more serious, for, if the two nags 
 
 »:*S>;<*M»-t*.%*.-'- 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 135 
 
 had not been followed in their aberrations, they would 
 have made a total loss of it. 
 
 Next mornino-, we met a few miserable Kootonais with 
 some horses, which tliey appeared to turn to profitable 
 account. Each of the animals mi<^ht well be styled a 
 1 uvii^ horse, bein<j led by the father, and loaded with 
 the mother and younger children, along with pots, ket- 
 tles, mats, &c. On asking one of them, who was more 
 destitute than the rest, how he came to be so wretchedly 
 poor, we were told by him, with a boastfulness of tone 
 and manner, that he had lost his all by' gambling, — the 
 grand amusement of Indians in general, but more par- 
 ticularly of those on the west side of the mountains. 
 Where we halted for breakfast, we were gradually joined 
 by thirty or forty more of these miserable savages, all 
 wending their way after their friends to the lake. These 
 unfortunate creatures were very grateful for some vic- 
 tuals and a little tobacco, which wc bestowed on them 
 out of our own rather meagre stores. They declared that 
 they were starving, while, even if their tongues had been 
 silent, their haggard faces and emaciated bodies would 
 liave told the same melancholy tale. 
 
 Before leaving these Indians, we had a specimen of 
 their ingenuity at a bargain. From a female chief we 
 had bought a fine mare with her colt of two years of 
 age, giving in exchange one of our own horses, a blanket, 
 twenty rounds of ammunition, and a fathom of tobacco. 
 When w^e were all ready, however, for starting on our 
 afternoon's march, the lady, who had doubtless come to 
 the conclusion that she had sold her favourite too cheap, 
 tried to jockey us into paying for the foal which the mare 
 
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 136 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 was to produce next spi'ing. Tliis demand, though most 
 seriously meant, we treated as an excellent jest, setting 
 out forthwith, in order to avoid any farther extension of 
 80 fertile a principle of extortion. 
 
 In the afternoon, while traversing some thick forests, 
 we met about fifty or sixty of the same tribe, all starving 
 like those that had gone before them, while the red 
 paint with which their faces were smeared did not at 
 all tend to improve their appearance. With but two or 
 three exceptions, the women were diminutive in size, and 
 absolutely ugly. O 'emale, who was tolerably comely, 
 was riding a beautiful horse, cross-legged, of course, with 
 a pet dog in her arms, and when we shook hands with her- 
 self, we drew forth her blandest smiles by patting her 
 little favourite also. 
 
 After several hours of execrable travelling, we ob- 
 tained, from the top of a high hill, a very extraordinary 
 view. At our feet lay a valley of about thirty miles in 
 length, and six in width, bounded on the western side 
 by lofty mountains, and on the eastern by a lower range 
 of the same kind, while the verdant bottom, unbroken 
 by a single mound or hillock, was threaded by a mean- 
 dering stream, and studded on either side with lakes, 
 diminishing in the distance to mere specks or stars. As 
 a recent fire had cleared the eminence on which we 
 stood, excepting that, towards the foot, the more abun- 
 dant moisture had preserved a rich belt of timber from 
 the flames, there was not a single tree or shrub to 
 obstruct our prospect. To heighten the interest of the 
 scene, the sun's rays gilded one part of the valley, while 
 the rain was falling in another; and, as the clouds flitted 
 
ROIND THE WORLD. 
 
 137 
 
 athwart the sky, the rapid succession of light and shade 
 gave an endless variety to the landscape. Before halt- 
 ing for the night, we passed through ground where the 
 tire was still raging in the woods ; and many a noble 
 tree lay prostrate, while other blackened trunks were 
 ready to fall under the first gale that might visit them. 
 
 Rain alone was wanting to complete the misery of 
 forcing our way through thick forests and prickly under- 
 wood, over almost impassable tracks ; and a heavy storm 
 during the night supplied this deficiency, for, in our 
 morning's march, every twig and every leaf gave forth 
 its little shower on the slightest touch. About noon 
 we reached the Kootonais River Traverse, whence Ber- 
 land had despatched my letter to Fort Col vile by two 
 of the natives the night before. We crossed the stream, 
 which was here very deep and wide, in canoes of a pe- 
 culiar construction. They are made of a slight frame- 
 work, covered with sheets, and sometimes even with a 
 single sheet, of the bark of the pine, the bottom being 
 broader and longer than the top. They will carry two 
 or three people, being both steered and propelled by 
 one man in the stern, who, with a single paddle, gives 
 a stroke first on one side and then on the other. These 
 little vessels, however, are so crank, that the least move- 
 ment will upset them ; and, while crossing the river, 
 we were afraid to budge an inch, lest we should have 
 capsized our frail bark. 
 
 In the immediate neighbourhood was a standing camp 
 of the Kootonais, beautifully situated within a furlong 
 of the river. An amphitheatre of mountains, with a 
 small lake in the centre, was skirted by a rich sward of 
 
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 138 
 
 OVKRLAND JOURNEY 
 
 about half a mile in depth, on which were chimps of as 
 iiol)le elms as any part of the world could i)roduco. Be- 
 neath the shade of these magnificent trees the white 
 tents were pitched, while lar<,'e bands of horses were 
 quietly grazing on the open glades. The spot was so 
 soft and lovely that a traveller fresh from the rugged 
 sublimities of the mountains might almost be tempted 
 here to spend the remainder of his days amid the sur- 
 rounding beauties of nature. We had the good fortune, 
 however, to sea this little paradise in its best state, for 
 the lake was said to rise in the spring to the height of 
 twenty feet — to form, in fact, one sheet of water out of 
 all the lower grounds. 
 
 The lake in question was the rendezvous, where Bor- 
 land, on behalf of the company, used to collect the hunts 
 of the Kootonais ; and, as he was now daily expecting 
 his goods, we left him here to commence his trading. 
 The people of this neighbourhood were superior in 
 appearance to such of their tribe as we had hitherto 
 met, while they were extremely ready to assist us in 
 carrying our baggage, catching our cattle, &c. They 
 numbered about a hundred and fifty souls in all, pos- 
 sessing, notwithstanding their apparent poverty, upwards 
 of five hundred fine horses, besides a large stud concealed 
 in the mountains from the inroads of the Blackfeet ; and 
 these marauders, when they openly show themselves, 
 are generally Y \ten off by the Kootonais, who, when 
 they must fight, are bold and unyielding. 
 
 After exchanging three of our horses, we resumed our 
 journey ; and, having passed the lake, we ascended a 
 very steep mountain, near the top of which we met a 
 
ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 lUf) 
 
 KootonniH on his way to the oiin]) with tlie meat of an 
 antolope, which ho had killed. He proved to be one of 
 three, wiioiii Jierland, iininediutoly on arriving among 
 them with my letter, had despatched to procure some 
 fresh provisions for us. Though the supply was thus 
 <lestined for us, yet we hesitated ahout depriving the 
 poor man of an article which he most probably required 
 for himself; and, when we asked him how much he 
 could spare, his only answer was to repeat several times, 
 " My children are starving, but take as much as you 
 please." We paid the man liberally for one half of his 
 booty, leaving the other half to his family ; and, as a 
 proof of the scarcity of game at this season, the two 
 other hunters either failed, or pretende<l to have failed, 
 to obtain any thing. This venison Mas a seasonable 
 relief, for, during several days, we had been reduced to 
 a skinny description of dried meat, which was little 
 better than parchment. 
 
 Along our route, and especially in the vicinity of 
 native camps, we found many large trees cut down, 
 which from their enormous size must have cost great 
 labour ; and as they had not obstructed the track, we 
 were very much at a loss to account for the expenditure 
 of so much toil. We afterwards learned, however, from 
 the Indians, that their object was to collect from the 
 branches a moss having the appearance of horse-hair, 
 which they used as food. By being boiled for three 
 days and nights, this moss is reduced to a white and 
 tasteless pulp ; and in this state it is eaten with the 
 kamraas, a root somewhat resembling an onion. To 
 these unsavoury viands are occasionally added insipid, 
 
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 140 
 
 OVi:ULAND JOURNEY 
 
 or rather nauseous, cakes of hips and haws. Such was 
 the principal, if not the only, food of tlieNC Indians at 
 the present time. 
 
 Just as we wore ready to start in the niornin;^, La 
 Graisse and Jose Tyantas made their appearance to our 
 preat satisfaction, havin<? been absent from us no less 
 than teft days in the second fruitless search for Berlaiid. 
 So far from suffering, as we dreaded on their behalf, 
 from hunger, they had never missed a single meal, 
 having killed partridges, porcupines, a red deer, &c., and 
 having moreover stumbled on Peechee's family, who, 
 out of their own abundant stock, supplied them with 
 provisions. 
 
 We had not proceeded far on our morning's march, 
 when we met a man of the name of Charlo, conveying 
 from Fort Colvilo the goods that Borland was expecting 
 at the grand camp of the Kootonais, in company with 
 Madame C'harlo and a child. The lady, a smart, 
 buxom woman of the Pend' d'Oreille trii)e, sat cross- 
 legged on a fine horse, while the youngster, about 
 four years old, Mas tied on his saddle on a steed of 
 his own, managing his reins and whip in gallant style. 
 Charlo had with him a bag of biscuit and another 
 of flour for our use; and he also informed us that 
 he had left a boat at the Kullespelm Lake to carry 
 us down the Pend' d'Oreille River to a place where 
 we should find a band of fresh horses waiting us. 
 This intelligence was highly agreeable in both its 
 branches. The exchange of the saddle for the boat 
 would be a great relief to ourselves ; and, as to 
 our present animals, to say nothing of mere exhaus- 
 
 'f , ;, if 
 
11 H 
 
 1 ' 
 
 (( ; 
 
 ROIND THE woiu.n. 
 
 141 
 
 tion, their backs were gulled und their legs were lu- 
 cerntcd. 
 
 During our afternoon's march, one of the loaded 
 horses was observed suddenly to disappear. On running 
 to the spot, one found a hole of about ten feet deep, 
 apparently too small to admit the body of a horse, and 
 could just distinguish the poor animal lying on its load 
 with its legs uppermost. This pitfall, perhaps the bed 
 of an old brook, had apparently been concealed from 
 view by the sprea<ling roots of trees, which had gradu- 
 ally got colored with mo^ ". After widening the mouth 
 of the cavity and e 'ting the straps which attached the 
 load, we drew th:i animal out of the pit first by cords 
 tied to its :< y.^. If a rider I fid occupied the place of the 
 pack, ho .nust have been crushed to death on the spot. 
 
 About six in the evening we rejiuhed the Kullespelm 
 Lake, a beautiful ^heet of water, embosomed in moun- 
 tains, to which the burning woods, more particularly at 
 night, gave the appearance of volcanoes. Our boat 
 proved to be a flat-bottomed bateau, capable of carry- 
 ing all our baggnge and ourselves, with a crew of five 
 men. The rest of our party went forward by land to 
 tl^e rendezvous, where we were to meet our fresh 
 uorses. 
 
 Starting about five in the morning, we crossed the 
 lake in two hours ; and, thence running down the 
 Pend' d'Oreille River, we reached our rendezvous about 
 eight in the evening. The banks were well covered 
 with excellent timber, while behind there rose on either 
 side a line of lofty hills. The soil appeared to be rich ; 
 and the stream was deep and navigable, excepting that, 
 
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 14:2 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 at one cascade, a portage was necessary. At our land- 
 ing-place we found an encampment of two or three 
 hundred Pend' d'Oreilles, who were preparing to go to 
 hunt the buffalo. We were soon visited by about a 
 dozen chiefs, who remained with us two or three hours. 
 They were handsomer in their appearance and more 
 stately in their manners than any savages that we had 
 yet seen on this side of the mountains; and their 
 graceful bow, as they shook hands, was rivalled only by 
 their bland. smile. In fact, their behaviour was elegant 
 and refined. Amongst our visitors was one individual, 
 who had been intrusted with Charlo's horses ; and he 
 promised to bring them to us next morning. 
 
 Near our encampment there was a native cemetery, 
 the neat little tombs being surrounded by pickets. We 
 were surprised, however, to see a wooden cross placed 
 at the head of each grave, the result of a recent visit of 
 some Catholic priests ; but, as a practical illustration of 
 the value of such conversions, we found on a neighbour- 
 ing tree a number of offerings to one of the departed 
 spirits, and a basket of provisions for its voyage to the 
 next world. If the Indians had any definite idea at all 
 of the cross, they put it merely on the same footing as 
 their other medicines or charms. 
 
 Next day, while we were waiting the arrival of such 
 of our people as were coming by land from the Kul- 
 lespelm Lake, we employed our leisure in paying a visit 
 to the native camp, crossing, for this purpose, a small 
 stream in canoes closely resembling those that we had 
 seen on the Kootonais River. On our arrival, all the 
 inmates of about twenty-five lodges, — at least, all such 
 
 H" 
 
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.f'^ 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 143 
 
 as could move, — rushed to shake hands with us. The 
 tents were of every conceivable shape, some oblong, 
 others round, and so on, whi.e the clumsy framework 
 was covered with mats, or bark, or boughs, or skins, or 
 any thing else that had come in the way. The interior, 
 to say nothing of swarms of vermin, contained a most 
 heterogeneous collection of mats, skins, guns, pots, pans, 
 baskets, kammas, berries, children, dogs, ashes, filth, 
 and rubbish ; and round the sides were arranged the 
 beds of mats, generally raised a little from the ground. 
 Though the men were doing little or nothing, yet the 
 women were all busily employed in preparing kammas 
 and berries, including hips and haws, into cakes against 
 the winter. 
 
 The kammas, which deserves a more particular de- 
 scription, is very like the onion, excepting that it has 
 little or no taste. It grows on swampy ground ; and, 
 when the plant, which bears a blue flower, has produced 
 its seed, the root is dug up by the women by means of 
 a stick about two feet long with a handle across the 
 head of it, and thrown into baskets slung on their backs. 
 As the article is very abundant, each of the poor crea- 
 tures generally collects about a peck a day. When 
 taken home, the kammas is placed over a gentle tire in 
 the open air, fermenting, after about two days and 
 nights, into a black substance, which has something of 
 the flavour of liquorice. After being pounded in a 
 trough, this stuff is formed into cakes, which, when 
 thoroughly baked, are stowed away in baskets for the 
 winter. After all this preparation, the kammas is but a 
 poor and nauseous food. These people, however, were 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 likely soon to have something better as a result of their 
 contact with civilization. In one of their lodges, we 
 were surprised to find several baskets of potatoes ; and, 
 in answer to our inquiries on the subject, we were 
 shown two patches of ground where they had been pro- 
 duced, the seed and implements having bem :.upplied 
 from Fort Colvile. 
 
 We next crossed the river, to a camp of about the 
 same size on the other side, where the men were 
 lounging and the women labouring pretty much in the 
 same way as those i':a,t we had just left. In one tent 
 a sight presented itself, which was equally novel and 
 unnatural. Surrounded by a crowd of spectators, a 
 party of fellows were playing at cards obtained in the 
 Snake Country from some American trappers ; and a 
 more "nelancholy exemplification of the influence of civi- 
 lization on barbarism could hardly be imagined than the 
 apparently scientific eagerness with which these naked 
 and hungry savages thumbed and turned the black and 
 greasy pasteboard. Though the men who sold the 
 cards might have taught the use of them, yet I could 
 not help tracing the wretched exhibition to a more 
 remote source, — a source with which I was myself, in 
 some measure, connected. In this same hell of the 
 wilderness, I found Spokan Garry, one of the lads 
 already mentioned as having been sent to Red River 
 for their education ; and there was little reason to 
 doubt that, with his superior knowledge, he was the 
 master spirit, if not the prime mover, of the scene. 
 On his return to his countrymen, he had, for a time, 
 endeavoured to teach them to read and write ; but he 
 
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 i 
 
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 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 14o 
 
 ' m 
 
 had gradually abandoned the attempt, assigning as his 
 reason or his pretext that the others "jawed hira so 
 much about it." He forthwith relapsed into his original 
 barbarism, taking to himself as many wives as he could 
 get ; and then, becoming a gambler, he lost both all 
 that he had of his own and all that he could beg or 
 borrow from others. He was evidently ashamed of his 
 proceedings, for he would not come out of the tent to 
 shake hands even with an old friend. 
 
 Some of the Indians were almost destitute of clothing ; 
 some had blankets, and others had shirts. The pre- 
 vailing dress, however, was the native costume, which, 
 when clean, might be deemed classical. It consists of 
 a tunic reaching to the knees, leggings of dressed skin 
 and moccasins, the whole being fringed and garnished 
 according to the taste or means of the wearer ; and the 
 head-gear is nothing more than the indigenous crop of 
 black locks, streaming over their shoulders. The ap- 
 parel of both sexes is pretty much the same, excepting 
 that the tunics of the ladies are longer and gayer than 
 those of the gentlemen. 
 
 Several individuals of both sexes were comely 
 enough ; and in particular, one girl of fourteen or 
 fifteen, the newly-married wife of a young chief, might 
 have passed for a beauty even in the civilized world. 
 On the whole, the Pend' d'Oreilles possessed more 
 regular features and better figures than any savages 
 that we had hitherto seen, excepting the tribes of the 
 plains. But how they had become so superior I could 
 not imagine, for the naked urchins of both sexes, that 
 were 'swarming in the camp like so many fleas, afforded 
 
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 146 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 very little promise of passable men and women, totter- 
 ing, as they were, on their spindle shanks under the 
 weight of enormous heads and bellies. 
 
 During our visit, the Indians showed us every atten- 
 tion. They explained all that we saw ; but, as our 
 knowledge of their language was limited to kammas and 
 patac, we profited very little by their communicative- 
 ness. Thinking that we might like a ride, they caught 
 horses for us ; and at the same time they made a still 
 greater sacrifice in offering us a share of their scanty 
 stock of food. But the most agreeable evidence of their 
 politeness was the fact, that many of them washed 
 themselves, but more especially their hands, before they 
 came to salute us. After rewarding them for their 
 civility with presents of tobacco, ammunition, provi- 
 sions, &c., we parted with mutual expressions of friend- 
 
 The Pend' d'Oreilles are generally called the Flat- 
 heads, the two clans, in fact, being united. They do 
 not muster in all more than a hundred and fifty families. 
 Like their neighbours, the Kootonais, they are noted for 
 the bravery with which they defend themselves and also 
 for their attachment to the whites. Still, the two races 
 are entirely distinct, their languages being fundament- 
 ally different. The variety of tongues on the west side 
 of the mountains is almost infinite, so that scarcely any 
 two tribes understand each other perfectly. They have 
 all, however, the common character of being very gut- 
 tural ; and, in fact, the sentences often appear to he 
 mere jumbles of grunts and croaks such as no alphabet 
 could express in writing. 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 Early in the .iftcrnooii our people anivctl from tlio 
 Kullespelin Lake, brin^injjf us sucli a report of the 
 roads as made us doubly thankful for the accommoda- 
 tion of the boat. Leaving our old band of horses under 
 the charge of the Lidians, we immediately started with 
 thirty-two fresh steeds. After crossing a prairie of two 
 or three miles in length, we spent two hours in ascend- 
 ing a steep mountain, from whose summit we gained an 
 extensive view of ranges of rocky hills ; and, while the 
 shadows of evening had already fallen on the valley at 
 our feet, the rays of the setting sun were- still tinging 
 the highest peaks with a golden hue. 
 
 We encamped at the foot of the mountain with wolf- 
 ish appetites, for, though we had a good deal of exercise 
 during the day, yet we had eaten nothing since seven 
 in the morning; but what was our disappointment to 
 find that six horses, — one of them, as a matter of course, 
 being the commissariat steed, — were missing ! Having 
 exhausted our patience, we went supperless to bed 
 about midnight ; but hardly had we turned in, when a 
 distant shout made us turn out again in better spirits. 
 The horses quickly arrived ; and, before an hour had 
 elapsed, we had despatched a very tolerable allowance 
 of venison-steaks and buffalo-tongues. 
 
 This had been a very hot day, the thermometer 
 standing at 85° in the shade. The night?, lowever, 
 were chilly, while in exposed situations there was even 
 a little frost. The power of the sun was very strikingly 
 evinced by the gradual rise of the temperature during 
 this forenoon. At eight the mercury was still down at 
 i'f ; by ten it had mounted to 67" ; and in two hours 
 
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 148 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 LL' li 
 
 more it stood, as already mentioned, at 18° higher. In 
 consequence of these rapid changes, we felt the heat 
 so much more oppressive, that we were obliged to 
 throw oft' nearly all our clothing. 
 
 Next morning, as Fort Colvile was only fifty miles 
 distant from our encampment, we resolved, in reliance 
 on fresh horses and tolerable roads, to wind up with a 
 gallop. We accordingly raced along, raising from the 
 parched prairie such a cloud of dust as concealed every 
 thing from our view. In about five hours we reached 
 a small stream, on the banks of which four or five hun- 
 dred of the Company's horses were grazing. Not to 
 lose so fine an opportunity of changing our sweating 
 steeds, we allowed our cavalcade to proceed, while each 
 of us caught the animal that pleased him best ; and 
 then, dashing off at full speed, we quickly overtook our 
 party at a distance of six miles. Being again united, 
 we here halted for breakfast. Meanwhile, Mr. McDonald, 
 who had received my letter at Fort Colvile on the pre- 
 ceding evening, had met our people, before we came up 
 with them, but, by mistaking the road, had missed us. 
 Sending a messenger after him, we had him with us in half 
 an hour, and along with him such materials for a feast as 
 we had not seen since leaving Red River. Just fancy, 
 at the base of the Rocky Mountains, a roasted turkey, 
 a sucking pig, new bread, fresh butter, eggs, ale, &c. ; 
 and then contrast all these dainties with short allowance 
 of pemmican and water. No wonder that some of our 
 party ate more than was good for them. 
 
 While breakfast was preparing, we went, according 
 to our custom, to bathe ; but, after our hard and dusty 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 149 
 
 ride, we were so much more impatient than usual, that 
 Mr. Rowand, after splashing about for some time and 
 descanting on the pleasures of swimming, struck against 
 his watch. Handing ashore the luckless chronometer, 
 he cast off his inexpressibles on the bank, but, as mis- 
 fortunes never come alone, he found, on attempting to 
 dress, that the soaked garment had drifted away of its 
 own accord to complete its bathe. In order to supply 
 Mr. Rowand's indispensable wants, a quarter of an 
 hour elapsed in searching for a superfluous pair of 
 trousers, — the enthusiastic swimmer enjoying all this 
 additional time in the water. 
 
 As soon as we had finished our morning's meal, we 
 set out for the fort, having an hour's good ride before us. 
 On reaching the summit of a hill, we obtained a fine 
 view of the pretty little valley in which Colvile is situated. 
 In a prairie of three or four miles in length, with the 
 Columbia River at one end, and a small lake in the 
 centre, we descried the now novel scene of a large farm, 
 barns, stables, &c., fields of wheat under the hand of the 
 reaper, maize, potatoes, &c. &c., and herds of cattle 
 grazing at will beyond the fences. By the time that we 
 reached the establishment, we found about eighty men, 
 whites and savages, all ready, in their Sunday's best, to 
 receive us at the gate. 
 
 Here, then, terminated a long and laborious journey 
 of nearly two thousand miles on horseback, across plains, 
 mountains, rivers, and forests. For six weeks and five 
 days, we had been constantly riding, or at least as con- 
 stantly as the strength of our horses would allow, from 
 early dawn to sunset ; and we had on an average been 
 
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 150 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 in the saddle about eleven hours and a half a day. 
 From Red River to Edmonton, one day's work with 
 another amounted to about fifty mites ; but, from 
 Edmonton to Colvile, we more generally than otherwise 
 fell short of forty. We had great cause to be thankful 
 that no serious accident had occurred to man or beast, 
 more particularly as we had traversed every kind of 
 ground, rocks, and swamps, rugged mountains, and 
 rapid rivers, tangled bush, and burning forests. Our 
 clothes were the only sufferers ; and, in fact, we made 
 our appearance among the men, who waited at the 
 gate to do us honour, with tattered garments and 
 crownless hats, sjich as many of them would not have 
 deigned to pick up at their feet. The weather bad been 
 such as we could hardly have anticipated, an almost 
 unbroken spell of cloudless skies. During seven weeks, 
 we had not had one entire day's rain ; and we had 
 been blessed with genial days, light winds, and cool 
 nights. 
 
 Colvile is a wooden fort of large size, enclosed with 
 pickets and bastions. The houses are of cedar, neatly 
 built and well furnished ; and the whole place bears a 
 cleaner and more comfortable aspect than any esta- 
 blishment between itself and Red River. It stands 
 about a mile from the nearest point of the Columbia, 
 and about two miles from the Chaudiere Falls, where 
 salmon are so abundant, that as many as a thousand, 
 some of them weighing upwards of forty pounds, have 
 been caught in one day with a single basket. Between 
 the salmon of this river and the fish of the same name 
 in Engliuul, there appears to be a slight difference. 
 
1 
 
 I 4 
 
 UOl'ND '"HE WORLD. 
 
 151 
 
 The flesh of the tbrnier is whiter, while its iioad i8 more 
 bulky and less pointed ; but its flavour, in the proper 
 season, is delicious. 
 
 The soil around Colvile is sandy ; and the climate is 
 so hot and dry, that there a fine season means a wet 
 one, — hardly any rain falling, with the exception of 
 occasional showers, in spring and autumn. Notwith- 
 standing these disadvantages, the farm is remarkably 
 productive. Cattle thrive well, while the crops are 
 abundant. The wheat, which weighs from sixty-three 
 to sixty-five pounds a bushel, yields twenty or thirty 
 returns ; maize also flourishes, but does not ripen till 
 the month of September ; potatoes, pease, oats, barley, 
 turnips, melons, cucumbers, &c., are plentiful. A grist 
 mill, which is driven by water, is attached to the esta- 
 blishment ; and the Iwead, that we ate, was decidedly 
 the best that we had seen in the wliole country. 
 
 Colvile stands in Latitude 48° 37' North, the winter 
 being many degrees milder than that of the same parallel 
 on the East side of the mountains. Amongst the wild 
 (lowers in the neighbourhood of the fort we noticed the 
 hclianthus, the lupine, the monkshood, and the fuschia 
 in great abundance. In the afternoon, we took a ride 
 round the farm, and were much gratified by an inspec- 
 tion of the buildings, crops, and cattle. The Indians 
 had now commenced agricultural operations on a small 
 scale ; but, having made a beginning, they might be ex- 
 pected to extend their labours in proportion to the 
 benefit which they might reap from their new pursuit. 
 
 The tribe in the vicinity is known as the Chaudiere, 
 wliose territory reaches as far up as the Columbia Lakes. 
 
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 152 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 The fort has doaliii;,'8 also with the Kootonais, the 
 Spokaiis, the Pond' d'Oreillcs, &c., who either visit the 
 establiishment or trade, as in the case of Borland, at 
 some distant rendezvous. Next morning, being the 
 19th of August, many of the Chaudieres came to visit 
 me. Among them was an aged chief, with a name far 
 too guttural to be written, who, in the year 1824, had 
 made me a formal cession of the neighbouring soil. On 
 that occasion, he had given the Company the land and 
 the woods, because the whites would make a better use 
 of them than himself; but he had reserved the Chau- 
 di6re Falls as necessary to his own people, remarking 
 that the strangers, being able to get food out of stones 
 and sand, could manage to live very well without fish. 
 During his visit, he recited the terms of the contract 
 with perfect accuracy ; and, at the close of half an hour, 
 the old fellow, whose whole wardrobe was the hide of a 
 buffalo, was sent away as happy as a king, ^vith a capote, 
 a shirt, a knife, and a small stock of ammunition and 
 tobacco. Finding that speeches were so well paid, the 
 chief's heir apparent and several others came to have 
 their talk out, taking care, of course, to continue the 
 palaver till the equivalents were forthcoming. 
 
 At Colvile we left our guide, Peechee, whom I made 
 the happiest of men, by presenting him with a telescope, 
 to which he took a mighty fancy. The old fellow after- 
 wards came to Vancouver, where, unaccustomed as he 
 was to any scene of such various occupations, he used to 
 complain bitterly that the unusual smells would kill 
 him. Poor Peechee, however, lived to die in a very 
 different way. Having lost a horse at gambling, and 
 
V 
 
 ROUND TIIK WOULD. 
 
 153 
 
 refused to give it up, ho was shot through the head for 
 his pains by the winner. How truly may every man, in 
 the savage state, be said to hold his life in his hand ! 
 Peechee's own previous experience suggests another 
 instance of this. A medicine-man, having dunned 
 Teechee in vain for a present of a fine horse, told him 
 that thenceforward all his stud would have large feet ; 
 and when Peecheo, suspecting foul play, found the knave 
 hammering away at the hoofs of his horses with a stone, 
 he very quietly sent a bullet through his head. 
 
 As the canoe, in which we were to descend the river, 
 was awaiting us below the Chaudi6re Falls, we set out 
 on horseback, on the morning of the 20th, for the 
 place of embarkation. These falls might more properly 
 be called a rapid, inasmuch as the highest of the three 
 leaps appeared to bo barely ten feet, while the whole 
 length of the broken water was about a furlong. The 
 name, which is to be found over the whole country, is 
 derived not from any supposed resemblance to the 
 boiling of a kettle, but from the shape into which the 
 perpetual eddy of the torrent moulds the stones. In 
 the Chaudiere Falls on the Ottawa, for instance, there 
 is a countless number of these water-worn cauldrons. 
 
 Our canoe was worked by six oars, besides bowsman 
 and steersman, being of the same construction as that 
 in which we had descended the Fend' d'Oreille River. 
 As the water was high, and the current strong, we 
 glided quickly down the stream. We were soon obliged 
 to lighten our craft, to enable her to run a rapid ; and 
 thence we proceeded without any interruption, save that 
 of dining ashore near the Spokan River, till half-past 
 
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 104 
 
 OVr.nLANII JOrilNKY 
 
 nine, Imviii/;if nccompliHlied more than a hundred miles in 
 tifVon hours. 
 
 The hunks of the Columhin, ns far back as tho oyo 
 conhl roach, wore «lnll and monotonous, consisting of a 
 succession of sandy flats, with very scanty herbage, and 
 still less wood, which were varied, in a few places, by 
 rocky hills. Tho drought had, as usual, parched the 
 whole country, which appeared to be pretty generally on 
 fire wherever there was anything to burn; and the 
 atmosphere was so charged with smoke, that we were 
 often unable to distinguish objects even at a short dis- 
 tance. The average breadth of the river was about 
 tliree quarters of a mile, though here and there was a 
 narrow channel between precipitous rocks, down which, 
 in spite of the proportional increase of the current, our 
 canoe (lew in perfect safety. 
 
 Along the banks we had seen a few natives encamped 
 for the purposes of fishing, while large bands of horses, 
 which, notwithstanding the dryness of the pasture, were 
 in very excellent condition, wore feeding near them. 
 From one of these camps four lads came ofl* to us in a 
 small canoe ; and, when we held out to them a present 
 of tobacco, they were so eager to seize it, that they 
 drove their tiny vessel against our craft, and pitched 
 their bowsman headlong into the stream. But the 
 youth, who seemed to be as much at home in the 
 water as on the land, was soon again in his place, at the 
 hazard, however, of nearly swamping his canoe ; and, 
 as the day was sultry, with the mercury at 86° in the 
 shade, we rather envied the youngster his cooling dip, 
 more i)articularly as he was quite prepared for it, being 
 
 '*: V 
 
HOUND THE WOUM). 
 
 155 
 
 unencutnl)orc(l with ii Hingle scrap of clotliinj?. Had we 
 passed two or tliroo weeks sooner, we hIiouM liave seen 
 a fur i^roater ninnhor of peojdc. l)urii)«i; three inoiitlis 
 of the snniiner, the Indians congregate from all parts to 
 the shores of the river to fish for salmon ; bnt, as the 
 season was now closing, most of them had retired into 
 the interior, to prosecute their other grand business of 
 gathering berries. 
 
 Next day, we accomplished upwards of a hundred and 
 twenty miles without any interruption whatever. Among 
 our rapids, down which we glided very pleasantly, the 
 most important was Les Petites Dalles. For about two 
 miles, the river was penned up between rocky shores, 
 with many stones in the stream ; and so impetuous was 
 the torrent, that it carried us down the whole distance 
 in six or eight minutes. The scenery was pretty much 
 the same as yesterday, alternately rock and san<i, with 
 little or no timber, and with the pasturage withered. 
 
 This morning, we passed the upper end of the Grande 
 Coulee, a dry channel, — apparently the ancient bed of 
 the river, — which again reaches the Columbia after a 
 course of more than a hundred miles. This parallel cut 
 is about three quarters of a mile in width, with high 
 banks and a fertile bottom, being, as nearly as possible, 
 a counterpart of the corresponding section of the actual 
 stream. Either the level of the Grande Coulee must 
 have been raised or its upper end must have been ob- 
 structed : of one or other of the two suppositions there 
 is but little room for reasonable doubt. 
 
 About eleven in the forenoon, we called at the Com- 
 pany's post of Okanagan, situated at the mouth of the 
 
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 156 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 stream of the same name, and maintained merely as an 
 entrepot for the district of Thompson's River. We 
 found the fort garrisoned by half a dozen women and 
 children, the person in charge being absent at the farm, 
 which, on account of the sterility of the immediate 
 neighbourhood, proved to be a few miles distant. 
 We remained only long enough tc rifle some pans of 
 milk. 
 
 At Okanagan we were concerned to learn, that the 
 Indians of the interior, as far back as New Caledonia, 
 principally the Schoushwaps, were in a state of con- 
 siderable excitement. The cause was as follows. In 
 the month of February last, a chief of the name of 
 Kootlepat visited Mr. Black, the gentleman in charge 
 of Thompson's River, at his post of Kamloops, when a 
 trivial dispute took place between them. Immediately 
 on returning to his camp, at a place called the Pavilion, 
 Kootlepat sickened and died, enjoining his people with 
 his last breath to keep on good terms with the whites. 
 Whether or not the chief's dying injunction was inter- 
 preted into an insinuation that he had perished in con- 
 sequence of having quarrelled with his white brother, 
 the Indians came to the conclusion that Kootlepat's 
 death had been caused by Mr. Black's magic or medi- 
 cine. In pursuance of this idea, the widow of the 
 deceased worked upon the feelings of her nephew, till 
 he undertook to revenge her husband's untimely fate. 
 The avenger of blood forthwith set out for Kamloops ; 
 and, when he arrived, both cold and hungry, he was, by 
 the orders of his destined victim, placed before a good 
 fire and supplied with food. 
 
 \hX 
 
 li: 
 
 fl'lfi 
 
 li 1^ ' 
 
I ■ 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 157 
 
 During the whole day, Mr. Black, who was a hard 
 student, remained writing in his own apartment ; but, 
 having gone out towards evening, he was returning 
 through the room where his guest was sitting, and had 
 just reached the door of his chamber, when he fell down 
 dead, with the contents of the savage's gun in his back. 
 In the appalling confusion that ensued, the murderer 
 was allowed to escape from the fort, betaking himself 
 immediately to the mountains. He was chased from 
 place to place like a wild beast, being obliged to aban- 
 don first his horses and lastly his wife and family ; but 
 it was not till after eight months of vigilant pursuit, 
 that he was finally hunted down on the banks of 
 Frazer's River by some of his own people. As a proof 
 of his comparative estimate of civilization and barbarism, 
 this miserable being, with the blood of Mr. Black on his 
 conscience, earnestly begged to be delivered up to the 
 whites ; and, on being refused this last boon, he leaped 
 into the stream, swimming away for his life, till he was 
 despatched, just like a sea-otter, by arrow after arrow. 
 It was in consequence of this event that the excite- 
 ment, of which we heard at Okanagan, had gained 
 a footing among the friends of Kootlepat and his 
 nephew, who had now to place two deaths at the white 
 man's door. 
 
 As we had more of the sun in the boat than on 
 horseback, three baths a day were scarcely sufficient to 
 make the heat endurable ; the thermometer stood at 
 85" even in the shade, while in the water it showed 
 only 65°. Cooking also was a more troublesome busi- 
 ness than it had ever been before. The scarcity of 
 
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 158 
 
 OVERLAND JOT'RNEY 
 
 bush was so ^^reat, that both yesterday an<l to-(h\y wo 
 h.ad to search along two or three Tiiilcs for fuel ; and, 
 after all, we had to make our fires of drift-wood. So 
 scarce, indeed, was timber here, that the pickets around 
 graves, generally deemed sacred, appeared to have been 
 pillaged, in order to be burned. 
 
 At our night's encampment we were visited by a 
 chief from the Isles des Pierres, and about a dozen fol- 
 lowers, who remained the greater part of the night 
 smoking round our fire, without giving us any trouble. 
 
 Shortly after starting in the morning, we ran down 
 the Isle des Pierres Rapids. For about two miles the 
 river rushed between lofty rocks of basalt, while the 
 channel was obstructed by rocky islets, against which 
 the eddying waters foamed in their fury. The descent, 
 of course, required all the skill and coolness of the 
 bowsman and steersman ; the vessel was tossed on the 
 surging waters, with the surf and spray continually 
 dashing over her bows ; and all at once, as if by magic, 
 we were gliding silently along, without even a ripple on 
 the surface. Soon afterwards, we came to the Sault du 
 Pretre, where the river was wide and shallow. Some 
 few years ago a boat struck on a rock in this rapid, 
 five men being drowned, and most of the valuable cargo 
 being destroyed. The accident must have arisen en- 
 tirely from the fault of the bowsman, inasmuch as the 
 fatal stone was at some distance from the proper 
 channel. 
 
 For the first twenty or thirty miles of our day's work 
 the banks of the river were bold and rocky, all the rest 
 being sandy, flat, and most uninteresting, excepting 
 
 >(' 
 

 KOUND THE WORLD. 
 
 lAO 
 
 that, for several miles, the southern shore was a saixly 
 cliff, known as the White Banks, of two or three hun- 
 dred feet perpendicular. We encamped a few miles 
 above the mouth of the Snake River, experiencinfif 
 much difficulty in obtaining firewood ; and, indeed, with 
 the exception of a dozen stunted cedars, we saw no 
 vegetation to-day. Though this sandy district was 
 believed to swarm with rattlesnakes, yet we had the 
 good fortune to see but a single specimen. One of our 
 men, while collecting drift-wood on the beach, had been 
 warned off in time by the rattle; and then, giving no- 
 tice of his discovery, he held the reptile by the throat 
 with a stick till we examined it. It was from four to 
 five feet in length, with a beautifully variegated skin ; 
 and nine joints in its rattle indicated its age to be nine 
 years. These creatures are decreasing in number near 
 the Company's posts, being eaten, according to general 
 belief, by the pigs. This was decidedly our hottest 
 period of twenty-four hours, the thermometer showing 
 89" ill ^ he shade at noon, and 83" near midnight. 
 
 We suv\ a few Indians, who, if we might judge from 
 their vu u^i.al f^'. ite of perfect nudity, felt the weather 
 as severely as ouiselves. Their caaoes were merely hol- 
 lo\\cd t^^runks, of about thirty feet in length by two or 
 three iu \»^idtli, and tho same in depth, and just large 
 enough to enable them to paddle on their hams. The 
 wonder was, how they prevented these shells from cap- 
 sizing, more especially in the whirling eddies of a rapid ; 
 and yet, while racing with us this morning in the Sault 
 du Pretre, they left us far behind. In the long run, 
 however, savages stimd no chance against whites, being 
 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 inferior alike in steadiness, and perseverance, and 
 strength. 
 
 A few miles of our next day's work brought us to 
 Snake River, known also as the South Branch, Lewis 
 and Clarke's, &c. Though, at the point of confluence, it 
 was equal in size to the Columbia, yet the stream below 
 did not appear to be larger than either of the united 
 floods. About eight or ten miles farther down, the 
 Wallawalla poured its tribute into the Columbia ; and 
 here we halted for breakfast at the Company's esta- 
 blishment. 
 
 A more dismal situation than that of this post can 
 hardlv be imagined. The fort is surrounded by a sandy 
 desert, which produces nothing but wormwood, except- 
 ing that the horses and cattle find a little pasturage on 
 the hills. As not a single tree grows within several 
 miles in any direction, the buildings are constructed 
 entirely of drift-wood, about which many a skirmish 
 has taken place with the Indians, just as anxious, per- 
 haps, to secure the treasure as ourselves. This district 
 of country is subject to very high winds, which, sweep- 
 ing over the sands, raise such a cloud of dust as renders 
 it dangerous, or even impossible, to leave the house 
 during the continuance of the gale. The climate is dry 
 and hot, very little rain falling at any season. 
 
 Shortly before our arrival, Mr. Pambrum, who was 
 in charge, had met a melancholy death, by being in- 
 jured by the raised pummel of his Spanish saddle, 
 leaving a wife and a large family of young children to 
 bewail his untimely fate. This event, of course, threw 
 a crloom over our visit. 
 
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 KOlNn THE WORLD. 
 
 ^^e met here in a • '^'^ 
 
 "'""ff with his fami,„ T,, '"" ^'""'^ ^ *i"> Columbia 
 d-appointed with .he' co„„„.f " ?T ""' ^"■''™""^ 
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 ■"--•«'ers of the Gospe ''"/'^"''-^-<""'-^"«- But the 
 Peculiar to themselves L?""- '"«' " ^"evanco 
 vases eager to embrace'^ Lr;'' """•"»"" "'-^ «a- 
 -=" «o expect, they saw a '^'. "^ "'^^ '""J ''een 
 
 ^■>ted people. tLZoI ''"''■'''''''' J^--"""^. ""O 
 gain converts only byw2.7 ""' ""' "'^^«<""d 
 -P-ehed by the' Jvatero' t"" ' """ '''' "-^ -- 
 -re really good me„,% LT " alf """' ""''' '' "^^ 
 
 Wankets for them from the Gr at i .'™'""''' ^"'"' ""^ 
 P'-ayers. I„ short, the J„,M !'?"'" "''■<"^ ''^ 'heir 
 
 ''"» religion did not render T' '''T''""^ tlmt the 
 '^Je,. any more th™ h '"''^PCndent of the 
 
 ae missionaries as noihin, ?„ "'"' '•<'«"''«'<' 
 Under these <ii.e„„ra; '"L„m '" """ '"P-'-'- 
 -^ desirous of retnr'ning ^"r T' f' *'""'"" 
 P""?, he aecompanied on o7'.,, ^^f""-"-"'/. 'ast 
 "es to the Snake Country i,L '7 ^"'"P'^Vs par- 
 -hieh used to come ™m st iT "''""^ " — " 
 ''"PPers; but, as the ealvan "'"' '"PP""^ ''» "'O 
 
 "epstoWallawalla ' "' '"'""•• ^' '^traced hi. 
 
 Soon after onr visit ,i , 
 
 dentally destroyed by fil d • '^*f' ^''™™' -vas acci- 
 
 P"ty. however was L 1 "f ! ""'"• ^'^ P™" 
 
 fjough the assistance of the r ' """ """' """•"'y 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNI.Y 
 
 protected the goods from pillage, and Mr. and Mrs. 
 M*^Kinlay from insult. This conduct of the savages 
 was equally creditable to both parties, indicating past 
 liberality on the one side, not less clearly than present 
 humanity on the other. With Indians, in fact, firmness 
 and management can do every thing. As a negative 
 proof of this, these same Cayuses, who had so zealously 
 exerted themselves on behalf of the Company, had a 
 fehovt time previously assaulted Dr. Whitman, by point- 
 ing his own gun against his breast, merely because the 
 worthy missionary's people had rudely turned one of 
 their tribe out of the doctor's house. Now, this same 
 kind of discipline is often enforced with perfect impu- 
 nity by the Company's servants, who contrive either to 
 carry their point without giving offence, or to soothe 
 any irritation which may be excited. Wood, as al- 
 ready mentioned, being caught at Wallawalla only by 
 fishing for it, Mr. M'Kinlay, with the aid of his abo- 
 riginal friends, was obliged to rebuild his establishment 
 with adobes, or unbaked bricks. 
 
 At Wallawalla we exchanged our craft, which was 
 very leaky, for another of the same size and build ; 
 and, as the Indians below were more likely to be trou- 
 blesome than any that we had hitherto seen, Mr. 
 M^Kiulay provided us with an interpreter. A short 
 distance below the fort we passed between basaltic 
 rocks ; and one of them, a truncated pyramid of about 
 a hundred and eighty feet in height, supported, on its 
 square platform, two oblong blocks of stone, some- 
 thing like chimneys, of about twenty-five feet in height, 
 aiid ten in width, 1 .n respectively as M'^Kenzie's 
 
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 nnd Ross's Heads, liolow these rocks our coni'se lay 
 through dreary phiins of sand, which presented no other 
 vegetation than wormwood and prickly pear, and pos- 
 sessed no other inhabitants than the mttlesnake and 
 the prairie fowl. In the spring, however, the plains 
 behind were said to be clothed with tine herbage, which, 
 as if to aggravate the withering influence of summer, 
 the Indians used to set on fire, in order to dry the seeds 
 of the helianthus, as part of their provender against 
 winter. 
 
 In consequence of a stiff breeze, which was blowing 
 right up the river, we were obliged to encamp by three 
 in the afternoon. Here our people shot a brace of 
 prairie fowl, a bird peculiar to this country : it appeared 
 to be a species of grouse, excepting that it had gayer 
 plumage, and was nearly twice as large. During the 
 day, we passed several encampments of Snake Indians, 
 a poor, miserable, degraded race. Their huts were 
 made of drift-wood, mats, &c. ; and, whether through 
 love of festivity, or from motives of superstition, drums, 
 which were audible from a groat distance, were beating 
 in one of them. 
 
 Soon after midnight, the wind having abated, we 
 resumed our journey, finding our way with ease by the 
 light of the stars. The character of the banks of the 
 river was now completely changed. The sandy plains 
 had given place to bold cliffs of basaltic rocks, not 
 merely along the narrow channels of the stream, but 
 even round its broader expanses. Some of the bays, 
 indeed, presented grand amphitheatres, whose columnar 
 tiers of seats comparatively reduced the Roman Coli- 
 
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 OVERLAND JOUIINEY 
 
 seuni to a toy; and doubtless, in times not very remote, 
 those who could enjoy the agonies of a dying gladiator 
 might here have found congenial recreation, in the vo- 
 luntary contests of bloodthirsty barbarians. 
 
 Being now in the country of the Cayuses, we saw a 
 few individuals of the tribe. Their chief, who rejoiced 
 in the name of Five Crows, was said to be the richest 
 man in the country, possessing upwards of a thousand 
 horse, a few cattle, many slaves, and various other 
 sources of wealth. Having, in addition to all this, the 
 recommendation of being young, tall, and handsome, he 
 had lately raised his eyes to a beautiful and amiable 
 girl, daughter of one of the Company's officers. After 
 enduring the flames of love for some time in silence, he 
 determined to make his proposals in proper form ; and 
 accordingly, having first dismissed his five wives, he 
 presented himself and a band of retainers, master and 
 men all as gay as butterflies, at the gates of the fort, 
 where the father of his " ladye love" resided. To his 
 dismay, and perhaps also to his astonishment, his suit 
 was rejected ; and, in the first transports of Lis an- 
 guish, he so far forgot himself as to marry one of his 
 female slaves, to the great scandal of his family and 
 his tribe. 
 
 As we descended, the rocks became loftier, and the 
 current stronger. About two in the afternoon, we 
 reached Les Chutes, where we made a portage, after 
 having run nearly four hundred miles without even 
 lightening our craft. As my own experience, as well 
 as that of others, had taught me to keep a strict eye on 
 the "Chivalry of Wishrum," always congregated here 
 
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 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
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 in considerable numbers, I marsliiiUed our party into 
 three well-armed bands, two to guard either end of the 
 portage, and the third to transport the baggage. 
 
 My own difficulties with these people occurred in 
 1820, on my upward voyage. About that same time, 
 ten Americans had been murdered in the Snake Coun- 
 try ; a party of twenty-one men had been destroyed on 
 the Umqua ; and the crew of one of the Company's 
 vessels, to the number of twenty-seven, were supposed 
 to have been butchered, after shipwreck, at the mouth 
 of the Columbia. As no means had been taken to 
 avenge these massacres, the Indians began to think of 
 rooting the whites out of the country ; and accordingly, 
 when they heard that I was to proceed up the river in the 
 summer, they assembled a force of four or five hundred 
 warriors at this very portage. My party consisted of 
 Mr. McMillan and Dr. Todd, and twenty-seven men. 
 We effected the lower two portages without difficulty, 
 but not without indications of hostility ; but, before 
 we arrived at Les Chutes, a friendly native warned Mr. 
 M'Millan of a plan laid to attack us here. We crossed, 
 however, to the upper end without interruption, where 
 the portage terminated in a steep rock, with a narrow 
 ledge below, on the immediate margin of the stream. 
 On the narrow ledge in question about two-thirds of 
 our party were busily occupied in the embarkation of 
 our baggage, while the remainder, consisting, besides 
 myself, of Mr. McMillan, Dr. Todd, Tom Taylor, al- 
 ready mentioned, and his brother, and about half-a- 
 dozen Sandwich Islanders, showed front to the enemy 
 on the platform above. When we were nearly ready to 
 
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 OVERLAND JOIUNI'.V 
 
 take our ilcjcirture, the IiuliaiiH, iiisua*! of squatting 
 tliemsolvos down to smoko the pipe of peace, crowded 
 round us, gradually forcing us to the edge of the de- 
 clivity, and then, as the concerted signal for com- 
 mencing the attack, ordered their women and children 
 to retire. 
 
 With a precipice behind us, and before us a horde of 
 reckless and bloodthirsty savages, our situation was 
 now most critical, more particularly as the necessity 
 of concealing our danger from our people below em- 
 barrassed our every movement. At this moment of 
 anxiety, the chief grasped his dagger. In the twink- 
 ling of an eye, our ten or eleven guns were levelled, 
 while some of my Sandwich Islanders, with the cha- 
 racteristic courage of their race, exclaimed, as if to an- 
 ticipate my instructions, " She broke him." With my 
 finger on my trigger, and my eye on that of the chief, 
 I commanded that no man should fire till I had set the 
 example, for any rash discharge on our part, though 
 each shot, at such close quarters, would have told 
 against two or three lives, might have goaded the 
 savages into a desperate and fatal rush. The chief's 
 eye fell, his cheek blanched, his lips grew livid ; and he 
 ceased to clutch his weapon. Still, however, he re- 
 tained his position, till, after again preparing to strike 
 and again quailing before the tube which to himself at 
 least would be certain death, he recoiled on his people, 
 who again, in their turn, retreated a few paces. The 
 distance to which we had thus driven the enemy by the 
 mere display of firmness, was less valuable to us in 
 itself than on account of the reaction of feeling which 
 
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 ROUND THL WOHLD. 
 
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 it evinced; nnd, avaiiin*^ ourselves of the favourable 
 opportunity, we ininiediatrly embarked, without huvin<r 
 cither sustained or inllictod any injury. 
 
 But now these ]»irates had degenerated into some- 
 lhin<,' like honesty and politeness. On o tt fij)proaching 
 the landing-place, an Indian, of short stutun.' and a bi<f 
 belly — the very picture of a grinniu'*; Bacrhus — waded 
 'int about two hundred yards, in order to bo the first 
 J shako hands with us. We were hardly ashore, when 
 we were surrounded by about a hundred and fifty 
 savages of several tribes, who were all, however, under 
 the control of one chief; and on this occasion the 
 " Chivalry of Wishrani" actually condescended to carry 
 our boat and ba^ujaifo for us, expecting merely to be 
 somewhat too well paid. The path, about a quarter of 
 a mile in length, ran over a rocky pass, whose hollows 
 and levels were covered with sand, almost the only soil 
 in this land of droughts. 
 
 The Chutes vary very much in appearance, according 
 to the height of the waters. At one season may be 
 seen cascades of twenty or thirty feet in height, while, 
 at another, the current swells itself up into little more 
 than a rapid, so as even to be navigable for boats. At 
 present, the highest fall was scarcely ten feet ; and as 
 the stream, besides being confined within a narrow 
 channel, was interrupted by rocks and islets, its foaming 
 and roaring presented a striking emblem of the former 
 disposition of the neighbouring tribes. At the lower 
 end of the portage, we intended to dine on salmon, 
 which we had procured from the Indians ; but, after 
 cooking it, we felt so incommoded by the crowd, that 
 
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 OVtRLAND JULIUNET 
 
 we pushed otl' to eat our dinner, while we were driftiiig^ 
 down the river. Our meal was brought to an abrupt 
 termination by our hiiving to run down Les Petites 
 Dalles Eupid. Some Indians on the bank were watch- 
 ing, spear in hand, for salmon ; and so intent were they 
 on their occupation, that they never even raised their 
 eyes to look at us, as we flew past them. 
 
 A short space of smooth water, like the cahn that 
 precedes the storm, brought us to Les Dalles or the 
 Long Narrows — a spot which, with its treacherous 
 savages of foriher days and its whirling torrents, might 
 once have been considered as embodying the Scylla and 
 the Charybdis of these regions. At the entrance of the 
 gorge, the river is suddenly contracted to one third of 
 its width by perpendicular walls, while the surgCo, thus 
 dammed up, struggle with each other to dash along 
 through its narrow bed. Our guide, having surveyed 
 the state of the rapid, determined to run it, recom- 
 mending to us, however, to walk across the portage in 
 order to lighten our craft. At the landing-place we 
 found about thirty women and children, all the men 
 being absent, fishing. These good folks, generally 
 speaking, were nearly as naked as when they were 
 born — a reniaik which would apply, with peculiar force, 
 to the natives between this an«l the sea, and along the 
 coast. With such a disregard of external decency, 
 chastity, of course, is a mere name, or rather it has 
 not a name to express it in any one of the native lan- 
 guages. We found the portage to consist of a heap of 
 volcanic rocks ; the hollows and levels, as on that of 
 Les Chutes, being covered with sand. 
 
UOLNU THE WOULD. 
 
 IGO 
 
 After shipping a good deal of water, our little vessel 
 reached the place of embarkation, opposite to a small 
 rocky island, where a melancholy accident happened a 
 few years ago. At a season when the water was very 
 high, one of the Company's boats was descending the 
 river ; and, through the rashness of an American who 
 happened to be on board, the crew were induced to run 
 this rapid, while the gentleman in charge more pru- 
 dently resolved to prefer the portage. Hurled madly 
 along by the boiling waters, the boat was just emerging 
 into a place of safety, when, in the immediate vicinity 
 of the island just mentioned, she was sucked, stern fore- 
 most, into a whirlpool ; and, in a single instant, a tide, 
 that told no tales, was foaming over the spot, where 
 eleven men, a woman, and a child, had found a watery 
 grave. 
 
 Below the Long Narrows, we saw numbers of hair 
 seals, as many as seventeen in one group ; and we suc- 
 ceeded in shooting one of them, which, however, was 
 lost to us — the creature sinking, if killed, at once ; but 
 floating, if dying, afterwards, of its wound. These 
 animals ascend the Columbia in quest of the salmon ; 
 and certainly that fish is sometimes taken with a hair 
 real's mouthful out of its side. 
 
 At a distance of two or three miles below the rapids, 
 we reached the American mission of Whaspicum, re- 
 markable to us as the place where we saw growing 
 timber, for the first time since leaving Okanagan. On 
 visiting the establishment, we were much pleased with 
 the progress that had been made in three years. Two 
 comfortable houses, in which five families resided, had 
 
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 170 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 been erected ; a field of wheat had this year yielded 
 about ten returns ; and the gardens had produced 
 abundance of melons, potatoes, and other vegetables, 
 while the dairy gave an adequate supply of milk and 
 butter. The missionaries said that they wore as happy 
 in their new home as they could expect to be in such a 
 wilderness, admitting, at the same time, that they had 
 not found the land of promise which they came to 
 seek. The climate, however, was, at least in point of 
 temperature, rather favourable than otherwise, the 
 greatest heat in the shade, during the past summer, 
 having been 101°, and the most intense cold of the 
 preceding winter having been 14° above zero. But 
 the soil was not good ; nor could it possibly be so, 
 where twenty-one rattlesutakes, reptiles delighting in 
 sands and rocks, had been killed within the last three 
 months. 
 
 Mr. Lee, the head of the mission, accompanied us to 
 our encampment to supper ; and while that meal was 
 preparing, we enjoyed a delicious bath by moonlight in 
 the stream that now glittered so placidly before us. 
 As we expected to reach Vancouver next day, we raised 
 camp immediately after satisfying our hunger, and, by 
 eleven o'clock, were once more pursuing our way to- 
 wards the Pacific. Wrapping our cloaks around us to 
 keep off the mists, we laid ourselves down on the bot- 
 tom of our craft to sleep. 
 
 In the morning, the banks of the river, no longer 
 sublime, were merely picturesque, being covered with 
 forests to the water's edge, or even farther, for there 
 were stumps or remains of large trees growing in the 
 
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 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 171 
 
 liger 
 
 ritU 
 
 lere 
 
 the 
 
 very stream. Tliis aquatic forest was there when the 
 country was first visited by Europeans ; and the Indians 
 then stated that the appearance had always been the 
 same as far back as their memory could carry them. 
 Doctors differ as to the probable cause of the pheno- 
 menon. Some think that the bed of the river must 
 have subsided, while others are of opinion that the 
 thing has drifted bodily, by what is called a land-slip, 
 from above. 
 
 We breakfasted on the lowest of the three portages 
 of the cascades ; the highf st point, by the by, reached 
 by the tide. At this succession of small cataracts, the 
 river falls about iifty or sixty feet in a distance of about 
 half a mile. We here saw some of the Company's men 
 curing salmon for exportation to the Sandwich Islands 
 and California. We also met here several Chinook 
 canoes, large and small, very elegantly formed, with an 
 elevated prow, out of a single log. 
 
 The rocks along the shore were bold and lofty ; and, 
 in the bed of the river, one detached mass, about a 
 hundred feet perpendicular on all sides, bore the ap- 
 propriate name of Pillar Rock. This part of the river 
 was about a mile and a half wide, receiving several cas- 
 cades — an index of a moister climate — from the cliffs 
 and its banks. About two in the afternoon, we met, in 
 the neighbourhood of a waterfall of some hundred feet 
 in height, a boat proceeding from Vancouver to Walla- 
 walla with letters, and we took out of her such as 
 belonged to ourselves. 
 
 About sunset, we called at the Company's saw and 
 grist mills, distant six miles from the fort, while the Com- 
 
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 OVEULAM) JOLHNEY 
 
 ji.'iiiv's schooner Cadlionl, that wus lyins,' there, honoured 
 us uith a salute, which served also as a si^nial of our 
 arrival to the j^ood folk^i of Vancouver, Hein*^ anxious 
 to approach head-quarters in proper style, our iren here 
 exchan^^ed the oar for the ])addle, which, besi<les lieini^ 
 more orthodox in itself, was better adapted to the 
 quick notes of the voya«(eur 8on<j^s. In less than an 
 hour afterwards, we landed on the beach, having thus 
 crossed the continent of North America at its widest 
 part, by a route of about five thousand miles, in the 
 space of twelve weeks of actual travelling. We were 
 received by Mr. Douglas, as Mr. M'Laughlin, the gen- 
 tleman in charge, was absent at Paget Sound. 
 
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HOLNU Tllli WOULD. 
 
 17» 
 
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 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FROM VANCOUVER TO SITKA. 
 
 Departure from Vancouver — The Willuniette — Wnppatoo Island— 
 Tlie Cowlitz — Variety of races in bateau — Cowlitz Farm — Enormous 
 trees — The Checuylis — Natural mounds — Fort Nisqually — Embark- 
 ation on Beaver Steamer — Frazer's River — Feveda, sujK'rior fuel — 
 Wooding and watering — Comouc fleet — Quakeolth chief — Johnston's 
 Straits — Dense fog — Quakeolth fleet — Trading — FoikI, &c., of 
 Qiuikeolths — Native pronunciation of English — Manners of natives 
 generally — Dishonesty and treachery of natives — Shushady harbour — 
 Trading with Newettees — Iliaquay shells — Humming-birds — Canoeing 
 alone with a native chief — Native blankets, canoes, &c. — Indignant 
 harangue of a chief — Dense fog, danger of shipwreck — Shark — Cal- 
 vert's Island — Sir Alexander M<^Kenzie — Fort M'^Loughlin — Balla- 
 boUa Indians — Large canoe — Lip-piece — Power of chiefs — Fort 
 Simpson — Ingenuity of natives, North-west Arrowsmith — Smallpox — 
 Fort Stikine — The Secatquouays — Humanity of female chief — Condi- 
 tion of Slaves — Messrs. Shakes and Quatkay — Ilanego Joe — Stephen's 
 Passage — Fort Taco — Abundance of deer — Big-horn sheep and moun- 
 tain goat — Taco River — Lynn's Canal — Anckc Indians — Arri\al at 
 Sitka. 
 
 At Vancouver, we found two vessels of the United 
 States exploring squadron, uniler the command of Com- 
 modore Wilkes, which had come hither with the view 
 of surveying the coast and river; and we here spent a 
 week all the more agreeably on this account. As I 
 should afterwards have a better opportunity of noticing 
 this fort in connexion with the neighbouring country, I 
 left my journal untouched, till I resumed my voyage, in 
 
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 174 
 
 OVERLAND JOl'RNFY 
 
 or(!er to inspect our own posts to the northward, and to 
 visit the Russians at Sitka. 
 
 On the 1st of S^eptcmber, my party, now strengthenc<l 
 by the accession of Mr. Douglas, took leave on the 
 beach of Commodore Wilkes and his officers with mutual 
 wishes for safety and success ; and, by eleven in the 
 forenoon, we were under way in a large and heavy 
 bateau with a crew of ten men. On reaching the mouth 
 of the Willamette, on the left side of the Columbia, we 
 ascended the stream, till, after rounding Multonomah 
 or Wappatoo Island, we were retracing our steps to the 
 main river by the lower channel of its tributary. Our 
 object in thus deviating from our proper course was to 
 call at the Company's dairy : and accordingly, after fol- 
 lowing the current of the west branch of the Willamette 
 for about five miles, we landed on the delta in question, 
 in the neighbourhood of our establishment. 
 
 This beautiful island is fifteen miles in length by 
 seven at its greatest breadth, covered with abundance 
 of timber and the richest pasturage; and it doubtless 
 owes much of its fertility to the fact, that it is regu- 
 larly overflowed in spring, with the exception of its 
 higher ridges, on one of which our dairies stand. It 
 consists entirely of alluvial soil, formed most probably 
 by the accumulation of mud and drift-wood against a 
 rock at its lower extremity. 
 
 At the dairy, we found about a hundred milch cows, 
 which were said to yield, on an average, not more than 
 sixty pounds of butter each in a year ; and there were 
 also two or three hundred cattle that were left, merely 
 with a view to their breeding, to roam about at will. 
 
uouNU Tin-: world. 
 
 1 
 
 t') 
 
 The whole were under the charge of three or four 
 fumilies that resided on tlie spot. 
 
 In addition to the rock already mentioned — the back- 
 bone, so to speak, of all the alluvial accretions — the 
 island contains, in its interior, a block of black basalt, 
 rudely chiselled by the Indians of ancient days into a 
 column of four feet in height and three feet in diameter. 
 Around such a curiosity superstition has, of course, 
 thrown her numtle. The savages, and indeed the dairy- 
 men also, religiously believe that any person who may 
 touch the lonely pillar will bring down on himself the 
 vengeance of its deity. Though we had not time at 
 present to enter the lists against this jealous spirit, yet 
 Mr. Douglas, a year or two ago, had been rash enough 
 to try to move his mysterious shrine from its place. On 
 returning to the dairy to sleep, he got out of favour 
 with the Canadian, who was in charge, for having thus 
 dared the demon of the stone to do his worst ; and, 
 after a good deal of argument, they parted for the night, 
 the master as sceptical, and the t lan as credulous, as 
 ever. The darkness, however, decid< 1 this drawn battle 
 in the Canadian's favour, for a fearful storm, the work, 
 of course, of the indignant goblin, almost pulled down 
 the house over the impious head of Mr. Douglas. 
 
 About sunset, we again entered the Columbia, en- 
 deavouring to reach Deer's Isluud for supper. Failing 
 in this attempt, we snapped up a hasty meal on the left 
 bank of the river ; and then, after wrapping ourselves 
 in a blanket each, we lay down to sleep in the boat, 
 while she should be drifting down the stream all night. 
 In the morning, we were toiling up the Cowlitz, a 
 
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 0VI:RLANU JULRNtY 
 
 nortluM-ly fecJor of the Columbia, its lofty banks beinjr 
 crowned with beautiful forests, whoso leafy bowers, 
 unincumbered by brushwood, realized the poet's "bound- 
 less continuity of shade." As a proof of the occasional 
 hei<rht of the waters of this narrow and rapid river, 
 drift-wood and other aqueous deposits were hanginn; 
 high and dry on the overshadowing branches at an alti- 
 tude of thirty or forty feet above the present level of 
 the stream. When the Cowlitz thus fills its bed, it 
 ce.isos to be navigable, at least for upward craft, by 
 reason of the violence of the current ; and ])erhaps the 
 same circumstance may explain the otherwise inex]>li- 
 cable fact, that, though the salmon enter this river 
 in autumn on their way from the sea, yet in spring, 
 when the waters are, of course, at their highest, they 
 never do so by any chance. 
 
 Even at present, the current was so powerful, that 
 our rate of progress never exceeded two miles an hour. 
 
 When I descended the Cowlitz, in 1828, there was a 
 large population along its banks ; but since then the 
 intermittent fever, which commenced its ravages in the 
 following year, had left but few to mourn for those 
 that fell. During the whole of our day's course, till 
 we came upon a small camp in the evening, the shores 
 were silent and solitary, the deserted villages forming 
 melancholy monuments of the generation that had 
 passed away. Along the river, large quantities of an 
 imperfect coal are found on the surface. 
 
 Our bateau carried as curious a muster of races and 
 languages as perhaps had ever been congregated within 
 the same compass in any part of the world. Our crew 
 
 1 .■;( 
 
s , 
 
 ROUND TIIK WOlM-n. 
 
 177 
 
 •i- 
 
 of ten men contnincd TroquoiH, who spoke their own 
 tongue; a Crce, hiilf-hreed of French ori<,Mn, who np- 
 |)earo<I to have borrowed \uh dialect from botii his 
 parents ; a North Briton, who understood only the 
 (iaelic of his native hills; Canadians who, of course, 
 knew French ; and Sandwich Islanders, who jabbered 
 a medley of Chinook, Enj^lish, &c., and their own ver- 
 nacular jargon. Add to all this, that the passengers 
 were natives of England, Scotland, Russia, Canada, 
 and the Hudson's Bay Company's territories : and you 
 have the prettiest congress of nations, the nicest con- 
 fusion of tongues, that has ever taken place since the 
 days of the Tower of Babel. At the native camp, near 
 which we halted for the night, we enriched our museum 
 with one variety more, by hiring a canoe, ami its com- 
 plement of Chinooks, to accompany us. 
 
 Next morning, Mr. Douglas, in company with our 
 Chinook allies, started a little before us, in order to get 
 horses, &c., ready for us at the landing-place ; and by 
 noon, when we reached the spot in question, we found 
 that, in his lighter craft, he had gained four hours on 
 us, having thus had time to bring our steeds from the 
 Cowlitz Farm, about ten miles distant. Right glad 
 were we to leave our clumsy bateau, after an impri- 
 sonment of eight and forty hours. 
 
 Between the Cowlitz River and Puget Sound, a dis- 
 tance of about sixty miles, the country, which is 
 watered by many streams and lakes, consists of an 
 alternation of plains and belts of wood. It is well 
 adapted both for tillage and for pasturage, possessing a 
 genial climate, a good soil, excellent timber, water 
 
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 178 
 
 OVKRI.AXn .1011 UN KY 
 
 power, iiiitural i'lcarin^s, nnd ii seaport, nnd tlmt, too, 
 within reacli of more than oiiu ti<lvanta<<;oouH inarkt't. 
 Wlion this tract was explored a few years a^ro, tlie 
 Company establish(Ml two farms upon it, which were 
 subsequently transferred to tiio Pu^ct Sound Agricultu- 
 ral Association, formed, under the Company's auspices, 
 with the view of producing wheat, wool, hides, and 
 tallow, for exportation. 
 
 On the Cowlitz Farm there were already about a 
 thousand acres of hind under the plough, besides a 
 largo dairy, an extensive park for horses, &c. ; and 
 the crops of this season had amounted to eight or nine 
 thousand bushels of wheat, four thousand of oats, with 
 due proportions of barley, potatoes, &c. The other 
 farm was on the shores of Puget Sound ; and, as its 
 soil was found to be better fitted for pasturage tlmn 
 tillage, it had been appropriated almost exclusively to 
 the flocks and herds ; so that now, with only two hun- 
 dred acres of cultivated land, it possessed six thousand 
 sheep, twelve hundred cattle, besides horses, pigs, &c. 
 
 In addition to these two farms, there was a Catholic 
 mission, with about a hundred and sixty acres under 
 the plough. There were also a few Canadian settlers, 
 retired servants of the Hudson's Bay Company ; and it 
 was to this same neighbourhood that the emigrants 
 from Red River were wending their way. 
 
 The climate is propitious, while the seasons are re- 
 markably regular. Between the beginning of April and 
 the end of September there is a continuance of dry 
 weather, generally warm and often hot, the mercury 
 having this year risen at Nisqually to 107° in the 
 
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 \ ' 
 
 %\ 
 

 
 ROUND TIIK WoKI.l). 
 
 170 
 
 hIiiuIc. Miircli mill ( )c'tol>or aiv uns(>ttlo<l iind showorv, 
 mill (lunn<]r tlio four inoiitlis of winter tliore is iiliiiOHt 
 coiiMtant rnin, \\\\\\v tlio tcinpcnituro is so iiiild that tlio 
 cattle and nIioo]) not only remain out of dooiN, but even 
 Hnd fresh grass for themselves from day to day. 
 
 Of the abori<;ines there are hut three snui!' tribes in 
 the neighbourhood — the Cowlitz, the CliecayHs, and 
 the 'Sijually — now all quiet, inotronsive, and inuMstrious 
 people ; and, as a proof of this their character, they 
 do very well as agricultural servants, thereby forming 
 an important element in estimating the advantages of 
 the district for settlement and cultivation. 
 
 Having halted five miles beyond the Cowlitz Farm, 
 we raised camp next morning at four. The belts of 
 wood, which separated the plains from each other, were 
 composed of stately cedars and pines, many of them 
 rising without a branch or a bend to a height of a hun- 
 dred and fifty feet. Some of these primeval children 
 of the soil were three or four hundred feet high, while 
 they measured thirty in girth at a distance of five feet 
 from the ground ; and, by actual measurement, one 
 fallen trunk, by no means the largest that could have 
 been selected, was found to be two hundred and fifty 
 feet long, and to be twenty-five round at eight feet 
 from the root. 
 
 Like the Meltonomah Island, these plains have their 
 mysterious stone. This rudely carved block, the only 
 thing of the kind in the neighbourhood, was carried to 
 its present position from a considerable distance by a 
 mighty man of old times, who could lift a horse by 
 stooping under its belly, and carry about the brute, all 
 
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 180 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 alive and kicking, for a whole day. It is perhaps a 
 blessing that the human race in these parts has de- 
 generated, for otherwise horses would have been us 
 likely to bridle and spur men, as men to bridle and 
 spur horses. The stone, which weighs about a ton, 
 still remains where the skookoom, to use the native 
 term, dropped it, a monument of the degeneracy of all 
 succeeding sojourners in the country, whether red or 
 white. 
 
 We bre.akfasted at the Checaylis, a navigable stream 
 falling into Gray's Harbour, about forty miles to the 
 north of Cape Disappointment. Near this river was a 
 narrow belt of wood, which divided the stronger soil, 
 that we had passed, from the lighter soil that lay before 
 us, no clay being found to the northward as far as 
 Puget Sound, and no sand to the southward as far as 
 the Cowlitz River. 
 
 Beyond the Checaylis the plains became more ex- 
 tensive, with fewer belts of wood, though there was 
 still more than a sufficiency of timber for every pur- 
 pose. 
 
 Towards the 'Squally, or, as the whites term it, by 
 way of elegance, the Nisqually River, we passed over 
 a space of ten or twelve miles in length, covered with 
 thousands of mounds or hummocks, all of a perfectly 
 round shape, but of different sizes. They are from 
 twelve to twenty feet in diameter, and from five to 
 fifteen in height : and they all touch, but barely touch, 
 each other. They must have been the work of nature, 
 for, if they were the work of man, there would have 
 been pits adiacent, whence the earth was taken ; but, 
 
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 1 ^' 
 
 ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 181 
 
 whatever has been their origin, they must be very an- 
 cient, inasmuch as many of them bear large trees. 
 
 After crossing the 'Squally river, we arrived at Fort 
 Nisqually, on the evening of our fourth day from Fort 
 Vancouver. Being unwilling to commence our voyage 
 on a Sunday, we remained here for six and thirty 
 hours, inspecting the farm and dairy, and visiting Dr. 
 llichmond, an American missionary, stationed in the 
 neighbourhood. The surrounding scenery is very beau- 
 tiful. On the borders of an arm of the sea, of about 
 two miles in width, are undulating plains of excellent 
 pasturage, presenting a pretty variety of copses of oak 
 and placid lakes, and abounding in chevreuil and other 
 game. 
 
 The sound yields plenty of fish, such as salmon, 
 rock cod, halibut, flounders, &c. The dogfish and the 
 shark are also numerous, some of the latter having been 
 caught here this summer of five or six feet in length. 
 
 Near the Fort there was a small camp of 'Squallies, 
 under the command of Lackalett, a good friend of the 
 traders. The establishment is frequented also by the 
 Clallams, the Paaylaps, the Scatchetts, the Checaylis, 
 and other tribes, amounting in all, the 'Sqallies in- 
 cluded, to nearly four thousand souls. 
 
 At noon, on Monday, the 6th of September, we 
 embarked on board of the Beaver steamer, Captain 
 M'Neill, leaving Mr. Hopkins in temporary charge of 
 Nisqually, along with Mr. Heath. Starting under a 
 salute of seven guns, we pushed along against a strong 
 breeze, till we anchored, about five in the afternoon, to 
 enable the engineer to repair some damage which the 
 
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 182 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 Hiachinery had sustained ; but the job being completed 
 by nine, we then steamed on all night. 
 
 About seven in the morning we passed along the 
 inner end of Fuea's Straits, the first of the numberless 
 inlets of this coast that was ever discovered by civi- 
 lized man. The neighbouring country, comprising the 
 southern end of Vancouver's Island, is well adapted for 
 cultivation ; for, in addition to a tolerable soil and a 
 moderate climate, it possesses excellent harbours and 
 abundance of. timber. It will doubtless become, in 
 time, the most valuable section of the whole coast 
 above California. 
 
 As a foul wind and a heavy sea prevented us from 
 making more than two miles and a half an hour, we 
 resolved to wood and water behind Point Roberts, near 
 the mouth of Frazer's River — a stream which, after 
 traversing New Caledonia on its way from the Rocky 
 Mountains, falls into the Gulf of Georgia in lat. 49°. 
 If this parallel, as proposed by the Americans, should 
 become the international boundary on the west side of 
 the height of land, Britain would not only be surren- 
 dering all the territory of any agricultural value, but 
 would also virtually cut off the interior and the coast 
 of her own shore from each other. Frazer's River had 
 never been wholly descended by whites previously to 
 1828, when, in order to explore the navigation all 
 the way to the sea, I started from uart's Lake with 
 three canoes. I found the stream hardly practicable 
 even for any craft, excepting that, for the first twenty- 
 five miles from its mouth, it might receive large vessels. 
 This river, therefore, is of little or no use to England 
 
ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 183 
 
 as a channel of communication with tho interior; and, 
 in fact, the trade of New Caledonia, the very country 
 which it drains, is carried on overland to Okanagan, 
 and thence down the Columbia. 
 
 l^ehind Point Roberts there was a large camp of 
 about a thousand savages, inhabitants of Vancouver's 
 Island, who periodically cross the Gulf to Frazer's 
 River, for the purpose of fishing. A great number of 
 canoes assisted us in bringing our wood and water from 
 the shore, some of them paddled entirely by young 
 girls of remarkably interesting and comely appearance. 
 These people offered us salmon, potatoes, berries, and 
 shell-fish for sale. 
 
 The wind having moderated, we weighed anchor 
 about one in the morning, and continued our course 
 between Vancouver's Island and tlie mainland till three 
 in the afternoon. The channel rarely exceeded six 
 miles in width, and the shores on both sides were so 
 mountainous, that the peaks, though situated only in 
 .50" of latitude, were covered with perpetual snow. In 
 the course of the forenoon, we crossed the parallel of 
 the once famous Nootka Sound, breasting the open 
 ocean on the other side of Vancouver's Island — an inlet 
 which, after nearly involving Spain and England in war, 
 was reduced into insignificance by the discovery of the 
 very path which we were traversing. So long as the port 
 in question was supposed to be on the solid continent, 
 it promised to be a channel of communication with the 
 interior, the more valuable on account of the absence of 
 any rival; while, with the help of the imagination, it was 
 magnified into the mouth of the great river of the west. 
 
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 184 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 We anchored in the snug little harbour of the Island 
 of Feveda, to take in wood and water. Captain M*Neill 
 generally preferred halting here on account of the supe- 
 riority of the fuel, which was both close in the grain 
 and resinous ; and he stated that a cord of it was 
 almost as durable as two cords of any other growth. 
 For this singular fact there must be a reason, which 
 may be expected to lurk rather in the soil than in the 
 climate ; and, whether or not the two peculiarities be 
 respectively cause and effect, the isle in question is 
 almost entirely" composed of limestone, which, if it 
 exist elsewhere on the coast, is found only in very small 
 quantities. 
 
 Rather with the view of beguiling the time than in 
 the hope of enriching our larder, we went ashore to 
 shoot deer, which were said to be here very numerous ; 
 and we certainly did see several chevreuil, which took 
 care, however, to keep at a safe distance from us. But 
 we found one object of interest in an old beaver-dam of 
 great extent; none of us had ever seen signs of the 
 beaver in a similar situation, or ever suspected any pre- 
 dilection on the part of the animal for salt water. 
 Perhaps, with so mountainous a coast and so narrow a 
 sea, Nature may have formed a congenial path over the 
 briny depths by means of the freshets of spring, just 
 as every rapid river overlays an extent of ocean pro- 
 portioned to the strength of its current. 
 
 Failing in our attempt on the deer, I resolved to 
 angle away the hours, without caring much what 1 
 might hook, and I succeeded to admiration in hauling 
 up several dogfish — the presence of those sharks in 
 
 i I. 
 
FOUND THE WORLD. 
 
 185 
 
 to 
 
 It 1 
 
 hug 
 
 miniature suflicieiitly accounting for the absence of more 
 delicate prey. 
 
 So far as utility was concerned, our failures in the 
 sporting way were remedied by an Indian, who, with 
 his pretty wife and a child, brought us off a brace of 
 deer ; and then the industrious fellow, for some trifling 
 consideration or other, assisted us in wooding and wa- 
 tering; a kind of help which, in order to save time, 
 Captain M'Neill was always glad to accept. 
 
 We were detained the whole of the next day by the 
 same indispensable business of supplying the steamer 
 with fuel. In fact, as the vessel carries only one day's 
 stock, about forty cords, and takes about the same time 
 to cut the wood as to burn it, she is at least as much at 
 anchor as she is under way ; a good deal of her delay, 
 however, being rendered necessary, without reference to 
 the demands of her furnace, by wind and weather, and 
 also for the purpose of dealing with the natives. Still, 
 on the whole, the paddle is far preferable to canvass in 
 these inland waters, which extend from Puget Sound to 
 Cross Sound, by reason of the strength of the currents, 
 the variableness of the winds, the narrowness of the 
 channels, and the intricacy and ruggedness of the line 
 of coast. We found Vancouver's charts so minute 
 and accurate, that, amid all our difficulties, we never 
 had to struggle with such as mere science could be ex- 
 pected to overcome ; and, in justice both to our own 
 navigator and to one of his successors in the same path, 
 I ought to mention, that Commodore Wilkes, after a 
 comparatively tedious survey from the mouth of the 
 Columbia to that of Frazer's River, admitted that he 
 
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 186 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 had required to make but few and inconsiderable cor- 
 rections. 
 
 Leaving Feveda early on the morning of the 10th, 
 we steamed against a strong wind, till at dusk we got 
 into the safe harbour of Port Neville. In the course of 
 the forenoon, three villages of Comoucs, that were op- 
 posite to Point Mudge, sent off forty or fifty canoes to 
 us, whose inmates, amounting perhaps to eight hundred 
 of all ages and both sexes, made all sorts of noises to 
 induce us to stop. They appeared to be a well-made 
 race, the Avomen in particular having a soft and pleasing 
 expression of countenance. The ladies, who obviously 
 appreciated their own beauty, attempted, by a liberal 
 display of iheir charms, and by every winning way that 
 they could devise, to obtain permission to come on 
 board. We did allow a chief of the Quakeolths to em- 
 bark, along with his wife and child ; as he was desirous 
 of obtaining a passage to his village, about seventy 
 miles distant, while his canoe, a pretty little craft of 
 about twelve paddles, was taken in tow. This was not 
 this grandee's first trip in the Beaver. On a former 
 occasion, he had made love to the captain's wife, who 
 was accompanying her husband ; and, when he found 
 her obdurate, he transferred his attentions to Mrs. Man- 
 son, who happened to be on board along with Mr. 
 Manson himself, till, on being sent by her to negociate 
 with her husband, he gravely backed his application by 
 offering him a large bundle of furs. On the present 
 occasion, also, this ardent admirer of the fair sex was 
 true to his system, for he took a great fancy to an 
 Englishwoman o*. board, while, at the same time, with 
 
 'i :; 
 
V I 
 
 ^t: 
 
 I' 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 187 
 
 more generosity than justice, he recoininenJed his own 
 princess, not to the woman's husband, but to myself. 
 
 In the fleet that swarmed around us we observed two 
 peculiarly neat canoes, with fourteen paddles each, 
 which savoured very strongly of honeymoon. Each 
 carried a young couple, who, both in dress and de- 
 meanour, were evidently a newly-married pair. The 
 gentlemen, with their '* arms around their dearies O," 
 were lavisliing their little attentions on the ladies, to 
 the obvious satisfaction of both parties. The brides 
 were young and pretty, tastefully decked out with 
 beads, bracelets, anklets, and various ornaments in their 
 hair, and, above all, with blankets so sweet, and sound, 
 and clean, that they could not be otherwise than new. 
 Tlie bridegrooms were smart, active, handsome fellows, 
 all as fine as a holiday, and more particularly proud of 
 their turbans of white calico. 
 
 In the afternoon, we passed another village, near the 
 narrowest point of Johnston's Straits. Here we were 
 greatly impeded by deep whirlpools and a short sea, 
 which were said generally to mark these narrows, and 
 to be caused by the collision of the tides or currents 
 flowing round the opposite ends of Vancouver's Island 
 from the open ocean. Johnston's Strait might be 
 reckoned, as it were, the height of land in the Gulf, of 
 Georgia. 
 
 Next morning, a dense fog threatened to detain us 
 all day, and might have detained us for weeks. In fact, 
 Mr. Finlayson, of Red River, was, in the year 1837, 
 held a prisoner for a fortnight within a few miles of his 
 home by a fog worthy of keeping Christmas in London. 
 
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 188 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 Luckily, however, we got out of limbo about noon, unJ, 
 passing within an hour the home of our Quakeolth 
 Lothario, we entered McNeill's Harbour for the purpose 
 of trading, where we were soon visited by thirty or 
 forty canoes, crowded with men, women, and children. 
 The standard of prices being fixed after two hours of 
 liiggling, the business then went on briskly. To avoid 
 the inconvenience and danger of a crowd, half a dozen 
 only of the savages were to be admitted on deck at 
 once ; and, in order to enforce the regulation, five sen- 
 tinels were stationed at the gangways, on the poop, 
 and on the paddle-boxes, while the boarding netting, as 
 amounting to a mystery or a medicine, formed a better 
 protection than all the watchmen put together. 
 
 Stationing himself at the steerage hatchway. Captain 
 McNeill threw down each skin, as he examined it, with 
 its price chalked on it — the equivalents being handed 
 up from below by the two or three men that were in 
 charge of the store. The natives, now that they no 
 longer dare to employ force against the whites, still oc- 
 casionally resort to fraud, practising every trick and 
 devise to cheat their trader. One favourite artifice is 
 to stretch the tails of land-otters into those of sea-otters. 
 Again, when a skin is rejected as being deficient in size, 
 or defective in quality, it is immediately, according to 
 circumstances, enlarged, or coloured, or pressed to 
 order, and is then submitted, as a virgin article, to the 
 buyer's criticism by a different customer. In short, 
 these artists of the north-west could dye a horse with 
 any jockey in the civilized world, or " freshen up " a 
 faded sole with the most ingenious and unscrupulous 
 
I ■ 
 
 HOUND THE WOULD. 
 
 180 
 
 of fishmongers. As he has neither mayor nor ahlcrmen 
 to invoke in such cases, Captain M'Neill dispenses sum- 
 mary justice on his own account, commissionin<j^ his 
 boatswain to take the law, and tlie rope's end as its em- 
 blem, into liis own hand. 
 
 Both men and women were well grown, with regular 
 and pleasing features ; indeed, the girls were exceed- 
 ingly pretty, and looked quite healthy. In fact, be- 
 sides living well on the best of fish and the best of 
 venison, these people have comparatively few diseases 
 among them. They have been exempted from the 
 smallpox, though their brethren, both to the south of 
 the Columbia and in Russian America, have suffered 
 severely from that terrible scourge. To secure to them 
 a continuance of this happy immunity, we begged 
 permission from the chiefs of the Quakeolths to vac- 
 cinate the children of the tribe; but, as they neither 
 did nor could appreciate the unknown blessing, we pre- 
 ferred leaving things as they were, knowing well, from 
 our experience of the native character, that our medi- 
 cine would get the credit of any epidemic that might 
 follow, or perhaps of any failure of the hunt or the 
 fishery. 
 
 Instead of letting their hair flow loosely over the shoul- 
 ders, as most of the aborigines of North America do, 
 these people brush it up all round, tying it in a bunch 
 at the crown of the head, or else hanging it down the 
 back in the form of a thick pigtail. This mode of dress- 
 ing the hair naturally gives the head something of a 
 conical appearance ; and, as custom always more or 
 less influences one's ideas of beauty, the Quakeolths 
 
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 190 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNKY 
 
 deliberately cherish this peculiarity of aspect by the ap}»li- 
 cation of li^^atures in infancy. Whether they are obliged 
 to sleep with their eyes open, like the drummer boy 
 who escaped a flogging for doing so by showing that 
 his queue held back his eyelids, I cannot tell. TIiIm 
 much, however, I did observe, that the denuding of the 
 face produced a good-humoured semblance of candour 
 and honesty which their whole history belied. 
 
 Speaking of the dressing of hair, there Mas on board 
 one of the ships of the American squadron a captive 
 chief of the Feejee Islands, who, when " forced from 
 home and all its pleasures," had begged, almost with 
 tears in his eyes, that his friseur might be allowed to 
 accompany him into exile. So careful are the grandees 
 of that group said to be of their well-curled locks, that, 
 to prevent any derangement of the same, they sleep with 
 their necks across a bamboo and their heads in free 
 space. 
 
 In addition to the mode of dressing the hair, the 
 people of this coast have several other peculiarities, 
 which appear to indicate an Asiatic origin. In taking 
 a woman to wife, the husband buys her from her father 
 for a price as his perpetual property ; so that, if she 
 separate from him, whether through his fault or her 
 own, she can never marry another during his life. 
 Again, with respect to funerals, the corpse, after being 
 kept for several days, is consumed by fire, while the 
 widow, if any there be, rests her head on the body, 
 till dragged from the flames, rather dead than alive, by 
 her relatives. If the poor creature recovers from the 
 effects of this species of suttee, she collects the ashes of 
 
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 ini 
 
 her deceased lord and master, which she carries about 
 her person for three lontj years ; and any levity on her 
 part during this period, or even any deficiency in grief, 
 renders her an outcast for ever. 
 
 Though these tribes no longer daro to massacre or 
 plunder white visitors, yet they are still as treacherous 
 as ever to each other. About a hundred and fifty of the 
 Quakeolths were recently proceeding by canoe to Nootka, 
 partly for the purpose of trading, and partly with the view 
 of paying off some old score or other to a hostile clan. 
 On their way they found a party of armed Sebassamen, 
 about thirty in number, on a small island, whom they 
 coolly determined to destroy by stratagem. Accord- 
 ingly, making signs of peace, and lying on their paddles, 
 they explained that they were going to make war in 
 the neighbourhood of Nootka; adding, at the same time, 
 that, with reference to this object of their expedition, 
 they would be glad to give the Sebassamen a capital 
 bargain of sea-otters in exchange for their guns and 
 ammunition. Conscious of their weakness, the Sebassa- 
 men accepted the insidious offer, and that the more 
 readily, inasmuch as the particular skins in question, 
 the only equivalent received at our forts for arms, &c., 
 might soon be made to double the stock that they were 
 surrendering. Meanwhile, the Quakeolths were landing, 
 one canoe after another, till at last, besides recovering 
 their sea-otters, they butchered four and twenty of their 
 credulous customers. The six wretches, whom the vil- 
 lains spared for a bondage worse than death, we saw in 
 the little fleet that was lying alongside of ourselves. 
 
 But the Quakeolths, notwithstanding all their guile 
 
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 102 
 
 OVKRLAND JOUUNKY 
 
 find ferocity, rfili<?i<)UHly ohservo, even towards their 
 fooH, tlio laws of hospitality. If a stray enemy, who 
 may find himself in the vicinity of one of their camps, 
 can proceed, before lie is recognised, to the ciiief's lodge, 
 he is safe, both in person and in property, on the easy con- 
 dition of making a small present to his protector. The 
 guest remains as long as he pleases, enjoying the festivity 
 of the whole village; and when he wishes to depart, ho 
 carries away his property untouched, together with a 
 present fully ecjual to what ho himself may have given. 
 Moreover, the Quakeolths, more honourable and con- 
 sistent than the Arabs, are so far from following their 
 guest, in order to plunder him, that they guarantee his 
 safety to the utmost limits of their territory. 
 
 To resume my narrative : our traffic continued till the 
 following noon ; and, meanwhile, such of our men as 
 were not occupied in trading or watching had been 
 cutting wood, which the Indians conveyed on board in 
 their canoes. The furs, amounting in value to about 
 five hundred pounds sterling, consisted of martens, 
 racoons, beaver, bears, lynxes, and both kinds of otters; 
 while the equivalents were blankets, tobacco, vermilion, 
 files, knives, a small quantity of cloth, and only two 
 guns, with a corresponding allowance of ammunition. 
 Generally speaking, the natives were tiresome in their 
 bargaining, and they were ever ready to suspend busi- 
 ness for a moment in order to enjoy any passing joke. 
 They appeared, however, to understand the precise 
 length to which they might go in teasing Captain 
 M'Neill. They made sad work, by the by, of his name ; 
 for, whenever his head showed itself above the bulwarks, 
 
 i t'i ) 
 
 jV i 
 
ROUND TIIK WOULD. 
 
 103 
 
 r\ i • 
 
 ri 
 
 yOi^jif and old, male and fenmle, vociferated, from 
 ovory canoo, Ma-tu-liell, Mn-ta-hoU, Ma-ta-lioll — a word 
 which, with the comparative indistinctness of its first 
 syUablo, sounded very like a request on their part that 
 their trader mi^ht »^o n great way beyond the engineer's 
 furnace. Their organs of speech are altogether too 
 feeble for the enunciation of rjiglish words ; and, as a 
 proof of this, Mnculmh and liinjins are stated in 
 " Astoria " to have been their cleverest imitations of 
 Vnm'ouvcr and Droughton. 
 
 Along the whole coast the savages generally live well. 
 They have both shell-fish and other fish in groat variety, 
 with berries, seaweed, and venison. Of the finny race, 
 salmon is the best and most abundant, while, at certain 
 seasons, the uUachan, very closely resend)ling the sar- 
 dine in richness and delicacy, is taken with great ease 
 in some localities. This fish yields an extraordinary 
 <|uantity of very fine oil, which, being highly prized by 
 tiie natives, is a great article of trade with the Indians 
 of the inteiior, and also of such parts of the coast as do 
 iiot furnish the luxury in question. This oil is used as 
 a sauce at all their meals — if snapping at any hour of 
 the day or night can be called a meal — with fish, with 
 seaweed, with berries, with roots, with venison, &c. 
 Nor is it less available for the toilet than for culinary 
 purposes. It is made to supply the want of soap and 
 water, smearing the face or any other part of the body 
 tliat is deemed worthy of ablution, which, when well 
 scrubbed with a mop of sedge, looks as clean as pos- 
 sible. In addition to this essential business of purifying 
 .nnd polishing, the oil of the ullachan does duty as bear's 
 
 VOL. I. O 
 
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 ■ I 
 
 194 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 grease for the liuir; and some of the young damsels, 
 when fresh from their unctuous labours, must be ad- 
 mitted to shine considerably in society. 
 
 While our people were chopping wood, they got one 
 of their axes stolen. They said nothing, however, 
 about it, till they came on board ; and then a beaver 
 was taken from a noisy fellow with a hint that, if he 
 wisheil to have his skin back, he had better find the 
 missing article before the return of the steamer. Though 
 these natives, when they are in our power, are perfectly 
 good-humoured, yet, when they have strength on their 
 side, they are the very reverse. Some years ago, my 
 late friend Captain Simpson was in this neighbourhood 
 with the Cadbord schooner, when the Indians, despising 
 the smallness and weakness of that vessel, attacked a 
 boat's crew, killing one man and wounding another ; 
 and about the same time, a little to the southward, near 
 Nisqually, the Clallams assassinated one of the Com- 
 pany's officers, and five men on their way from Fort 
 Langley to Vancouver with letters. In the absence of 
 any other means of obtaining redress, our people had 
 recourse to the law of Moses, which, after the loss of 
 several lives on the side of the natives, brought the 
 savages to their senses, while the steamer's mysterious 
 and rapid movements speedily completed their sub- 
 jugation. In fact, whether in matters of life and death 
 or of petty thefts, the rule of retaliation is the only 
 standard of equity which the tribes on this coast are 
 capable of appreciating. 
 
 Leaving the Quakeolths at one in the afternoon of 
 the twelfth, and passing through Queen Charlotte's 
 
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 ROUND TIIK WOULD. 
 
 11)") 
 
 hous 
 
 Isub- 
 
 leatli 
 
 only 
 
 Sound, \vc reached, by five o'clock, the harbour of 
 Sliushady Newettee, at the northern end of Vancouver's 
 Island, in a heavy fog. Several of the Indians, as usual, 
 (}anie off to us — the chief, a grave, pensive, handsome 
 man, and a garrulous old fellow of the name of Shell 
 Fish, being admitted on board. The chief brought to 
 the doctor a little boy of a son, who, by falling on the 
 point of a pair of scissors, had been stabbed in the ab- 
 domen about an inch and a half above the navel ; but, 
 as the wound had been received ten days previously, 
 and had not been followed by fever, we thought it better 
 to let the thing alone. The young patient was accom- 
 panied by the native surgeon, who had the gratification 
 to hear our praises of his dressing and bandaging — 
 practice that would have done him no discredit in the 
 civilized world. 
 
 During the night, the fog increased to such a degree, 
 that next morning we could not see a hundred yards; 
 from the ship. In spite, however, of the impenetrable 
 darkness, the Newettees returned to us in great num- 
 bers, and drove a brisk trade for an hour or two ; and 
 we thus got furs to the value of about two hundred 
 pounds sterling, in exchange for which the blanket was 
 the principal article hi demand. During the preceding 
 two years, the absence of competition in this quarter 
 had enabled us to put the tra<le on a much better foot- 
 ing, by the entire disuse of spirituous liquors, and by 
 the qualified interdiction, as already mentioned, of the 
 sale of arms and ammunition. These changes, however 
 unsatisfactory to the parties interested, may, neverthe- 
 less, be considered as a great blessing to the whole of 
 
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 196 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 the native population, arresting tiie progress at once of 
 the sword and of the pestilence. 
 
 We had a good deal of amusement to-day in en- 
 deavourinof to teach our savage visitors a few words of 
 English ; and wonderfully apt they were in acquiring 
 our language. The letter r plagued them most, getting 
 the better of them, in fact, after all their efforts, in 
 working about their lips and tongues in every manner 
 of way ; and the nearest approach that they made, amid 
 roars of laughter, to our fellow traveller's name, was 
 Wowatid. Among some of the tribes on the east side 
 of the mountains, this same consonant, as also its kin- 
 dred /, is disguised into n. Of their acquisitions, such 
 as they were, our Newettee pupils were very proud, 
 dragging them in by the head and shoulders on all occa- 
 sions. 
 
 After our friends had disposed of their furs, they 
 brought into the market a large number of hiaquays — 
 white shells, found only on the west side of Vancouver's 
 Island. These articles, thus practically corresponding 
 with the cowries of the East Indies, are used as small 
 change all along the coast and in many parts of the 
 interior ; and they are also applied to more fanciful 
 purposes in the shape of necklaces, ornaments for the 
 hair, and so forth, while occasionally a large hiaquay 
 may be seen balancing itself through the cartilage of a 
 pretty girl's nose. Our visitors also offered for sale 
 some specimens, rather inferior in their way, of the 
 humming-bird. There were said to be no fewer than 
 five varieties of that beautiful creature between the 
 mouth of the Columbia and the head of Vancouver's 
 
 > i 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 197 
 
 /ers 
 ling 
 
 the 
 Iciful 
 
 the 
 luay 
 lof a 
 
 Island ; but, with the exception of the neighbonrhood 
 of the hot springs of Sitka, the more northerly coast 
 did not possess the curiosity. 
 
 In the evening, I went out to fish with one of the 
 chiefs ; and, though we were quite alone, yet we con- 
 trived, partly by words of English and Chinook, and 
 partly by signs, to carry on an animated conversation. 
 The mode of proceeding was by dragging a line with a 
 baited hook at the end, while the canoe was paddled 
 through the water at the rate of two miles and a half 
 an hour ; and in this way we caught a salmon, a rock- 
 cod, much resembling a perch of about two pounds in 
 weight, and a curious animal, known among the sailors 
 as the devil's fish. Some few years back, no white man 
 would have gone out alone amidst twenty or thirty 
 native canoes ; but, besides that the savages, even on 
 general grounds, were now less likely to show the 
 cloven foot, I had the mysterious prestige of the steamer 
 and her guns in my favour, to say nothing of the com- 
 fortable consciousness of a brace of loaded pistols in my 
 belt. I returned on board about dusk, to the no small 
 relief of my friends, who, having lost sight of the canoe, 
 were afraid that the hope of a large ransom might tempt 
 the savages, according to old use and wont, to run 
 off with the great white chief. In former days, the 
 Indians of the north-west coast, before their views on the 
 subject of expediency were enlarged, frequently acted on 
 the simple principle, that a skipper, who could com- 
 mand untold treasures of guns and ammunition, blankets 
 and tobacco, was a more profitable, as well as an easier, 
 quarry than a bear or an otter. 
 
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 Hi 1 
 
 , 
 
 
 
198 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 We observed among tlieso people various ingenious 
 manufactures. They make light blankets for summer 
 from tlie hair of the dog, the wolf, the chamois goat, and 
 the big-horn sheep, while they weave also mats of sedge 
 as a very common wrapper for both men and women. 
 They also mould and carve their canoes with great 
 taste. These little vessels, which are likewise formed 
 out of single trunks, present, of course, a greater variety 
 of size in this land of colossal trees than craft of a 
 similar description present in any other country ; but, 
 whether large or small, they are all gracefully shaped, 
 with slightly elevated prows and sterns. They fly 
 through the water with the paddle, like so many wher- 
 ries, while such of them as are of any considerable size 
 are perfectly safe under sail. 
 
 It was noon of the next day, the 14th of the month, 
 before the weather cleared sufficiently for a start. Just 
 while gettiiig up the steam again. Captain McNeill dis- 
 covered that the capote of one of the wood-cutters had 
 been stolen in the bush on the previous evening. After 
 a great deal of fruitless clamour on both sides, the 
 captain took an axe from the chief, who, now that he 
 had a personal interest in the matter, instantaneously 
 informed against another grandee of the amiable and 
 innocent name of Nancy ; but as, in Mr. Nancy's 
 absence, we had no means of ascertaining the truth, we 
 still held on by the chief's axe. Our friend, who was 
 by this time in his canoe, opened against Captain 
 IVPNeill with the following harangue in Chinook: — 
 " The white men are very pitiful, since they have stolen 
 my axe. My axe must have been very good indeed, 
 
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 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 ion 
 
 lis- 
 
 fter 
 
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 Hid 
 
 otherwise the ship would not have stolen it. If tin 
 Indian steals anything, he is ashamed and hides his face ; 
 but the great ship-chief Ma-ta-hell steals my axe and is 
 not ashamed, but stands there scolding and laughing at 
 nie, whom he has robbed. It is good to be a white 
 chief, because he can steal, and, at the same time, show 
 his face. If he was not strong, with a large ship and 
 long guns, he would not be so brave. I am weak now, 
 but I may be strong by and by, and then peril ips I will 
 take payment for my axe. But it is very good to be a 
 white chief in a large ship with big guns ; — he can steal 
 from a poor Indian who is here alone in his canoe, with 
 his wife and child, and no big guns to protect him." 
 All this was said with provoking coolness, while a con- 
 temptuous smile played on the speaker's manly coun- 
 tenance ; and his pretty little princess, to whom he ever 
 and anon turned round for encouragement, was con- 
 stantly freshening the inspiration, as it were, by her 
 blandest looks. To detain the axe was impossible, after 
 so rich a treat ; and we restored it the more readily, as 
 we were convinced by the chiefs tone and manner that 
 he was guiltless with respect to the missing capote. 
 
 About one in the afternoon, we got under way. We 
 were soon nearly abreast of Smith's Inlet, where we 
 should have to encounter the unbroken swell of the 
 open ocean for upwards of twenty-five miles, being, in 
 fact, the only exposed part of the coast of any extent 
 between Fuca's Straits and Cross Sound ; and the pas- 
 sage would also be the more dangerous on account of 
 the presence of the Pearl and Virgin rocks. Just at 
 this point, to our great mortification, the fog again 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 gathered so thickly around \i^, that we could not see 
 to the distance of fifty yards ; and we had, therefore, 
 no other choice than tliat of endeavouring to regain the 
 safe ground that we had left. But we had hardly put 
 about, when we heard the sound of breakers almost 
 under our bows. *• Stop her and back !" was passed to 
 the engineer ; and it was well that a word could do the 
 needful, for a sailing vessel would have been knocked to 
 pieces in less time than we took to return stern fore- 
 most into fifteen fathoms. Here we remained at anchor 
 till five o'clock, when the dispersion of the mist showed 
 us that the current must have carried the steamer two 
 miles to the westward of her reckoning. Now that we 
 saw a clear route to carry us away from our imminent 
 danger, we lost no time in getting up the anchor, 
 though, from the defective state of the windlass, twenty- 
 two minutes, an age in our estimation, were spent on 
 thirty fathoms of chain. We proceeded to a secure 
 anchorage, under the northern end of Vancouver's 
 Island, near Bull Harbour, embracing the opportunity 
 of recruiting our stock of wood and water. On going 
 ashore, we saw two large sea-lions, which, however, 
 were too far off to be shot ; we also found a great 
 variety of zoophytes, numberless marine vegetables, 
 and inexhaustible stores of the muscle and other shell- 
 fish„ 
 
 Next morning, as the weather had cleared and was 
 promising well, wo entered on o".: 'lT,ngerous traverse 
 at an early hour ; and, though the haze soon again came 
 in our way, yet, as we saw the Pearl and Virgin rocks 
 to seaward, we held our course, reaching, about half- 
 
^' 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 I'Ol 
 
 past ten, the smooth wtiter of Fitzhugh's Sound. During 
 our run, we saw a large shark, lying with merely one 
 fin above the water, to mark its situation. When thus 
 basking in the sun, the monster is frequently killed by 
 the Indians. Some time ago, one of my fellow-travellers 
 across the Atlantic, Mr. Manson, seeing a shark at his 
 ease opposite to Fort MeLoughlin, pushed off in a 
 canoe ; and then, standing on the gunwale, he struck 
 his harpoon into the animal. Thus transfixed, the brute 
 swam off with a whole fleet of canoes in tow, and was 
 secured only after a dance of two or three hours. The 
 carcase measured twenty-four feet in length ; and the 
 liver yielded thirty-six gallons of oil. 
 
 After passing Calvert's Island, our channel was 
 formed by islands to seaward, and on the other side 
 partly by islands and partly by promontories of the 
 mainland. Between these promontories there were 
 generally deep inlets, known as canals, one of them 
 being deservedly sacred in the eyes of every Briton, as 
 that arm of the Pacific Ocean to which Sir Alexander 
 M<=Kenzie, with matchless prudence and fortitude, forced 
 his way across a continent never before trodden by 
 civilized man. This spot, by the bye, and the greater 
 part of the track by which it was reached, have been 
 claimed by some Americans as the property of their 
 republic. The force of imagination can no farther go. 
 In scudding along, we were hailed by a strongly-manned 
 canoe, with the usual salutation of Ma-ta-hell, Ma-ta- 
 hell, Ma-ta-hell; but, as we were anxious to get to 
 Fort M*Loughlin before sunset, we had no time for 
 parley, ^bout six o'clock, we came to anchor at the 
 
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 02 
 
 OVEHLANP JOURNEY 
 
 post just mentione«l, distant a few miles from iMillbaiik 
 Sound. 
 
 This very neat establishment was planned in 1837hy 
 Mr. Finlayson, of Red River, who left the place in an 
 unfinished state to Mr. Manson, who, in his turn, had 
 certainly made the most of the capabilities of the situa- 
 tion. The site must originally have been one of the 
 most rugged spots imaginable, — a mere rock, in fact, 
 as uneven as the adjacent waters in a tempest ; while its 
 soil, buried, as it was, in its crevices, served only to 
 encumber the surface with a heavy growth of timber. 
 Besides blasting and levelling, Mr. Manson, without the 
 aid of horse or ox, had introduced several thousand 
 loads of gravel, while, by his judicious contrivances in 
 the way of fortification, he had rendered the pl.ace 
 capable of holding out, with a garrison of twenty men, 
 against all the natives of the coast. Mr. Mansou's 
 successor, Mr. Charles Ross, had made considerable 
 additions to the garden, which was now of about three 
 acres in extent, with a soil principally formed of sea- 
 weed, and produced cabbages, potatoes, turnips, carrots, 
 and other vegetables. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of the fort was a village of 
 about five hundred Ballabollas, who spoke a dialect of 
 the Quakeolth language. At first, these savages were 
 exceedingly turbulent ; and one of our people, of the 
 name of Fran9ois Richard, having disappeared, the 
 chief was seized as a hostage for the restitution of the 
 white man. In a skirmish, which the retaliatory step 
 occasioned, one of the garrison was taken prisoner, and 
 two were wounded, while of the Indians several were 
 
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 HOUND Tin: WORM). 
 
 i:();l 
 
 wounded ami two killed. After much negociatioii, tho 
 chief, who was detained by the whites, was exchanged 
 for the man who had been captured by the natives. 
 The fate of Richard, however, remained a mystery, till 
 some women gradually blabbed the secret, that he had 
 been murdered by a certain individual. The murderer 
 having been pointed out to me, as ho walked openly and 
 boldly about the fort, I took measures for sending the 
 fellow to a distance, as an example to his friends. 
 
 The Ballabollas were all in mourning — the custom in 
 such a case being to lay aside all ornaments, and to 
 blacken the face. The present cause of national dis- 
 tress was said to be as follows. Between the llydus of 
 Queen Charlotte's Island and the Ballabollas a deadly 
 feud had long subsisted. About six weeks before our 
 arrival, the latter, to the number of three hundred, had 
 attacked a village of the former, butchering all the 
 inhabitants but one man and one woman. These two 
 the victorious chief was carrying away, as living tro- 
 phies of his triumph ; but, alas for the instability of all 
 human things ! — while standing in a boastful manner on 
 the gunwale of his canoe, and vowing all sorts of ven- 
 geance against his victims, he was shot down by a 
 desperate effort of his male prisoner. The Ballabollas, 
 their joy being now turned into grief, cut the throats of 
 the prisoners, threw the spoils overboard, and returned 
 home rather as fugitives than as conquerors. They 
 buried their leader in the garden of the fort, — the car- 
 case of the old warrior being well worth its room, as a 
 better safeguard against pilfering than pickets and 
 watchmen. According to the custom of the Ballabollas, 
 
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 201 
 
 OVKRLANl) JOURNEY 
 
 the widows of the deceased were transferred to his 
 brother's liarem — a more palatable arraiig:einoiit for the 
 poor women than the practice, as already mentioned 
 with respect to another tribe, of carrying about their 
 late lord's ashes during three long years of widowhood 
 and sorrow. 
 
 Talking of wives, the wife of Mr. Ross, of this fort, 
 a Saulteau half-breed from Lac la Pluie, lately dis- 
 played great courage. Some Indians, while trading, in 
 her husband's absence, with her sor in the shop of the 
 establishment, drew their knives upon the boy. On 
 hearing this, the lady, pike in hand, chased the cowardly 
 rascals from post to pillar, till she drove them out of 
 the fort. " If such are the white women," said the 
 discomfited savages, " what must the white men be ?" 
 
 In the garden I found one of the larger canoes of the 
 Ballabollas. It was sixty feet long, four and a half 
 deep, and six and a half broad, with elevated prow and 
 stem. This vessel would carry a hundred men, fifty 
 engaged in paddling, and fifty stowed away ; and yet, 
 notwithstanding its enormous capacity, it was formed, 
 with the exception of the raised portions of the extremi- 
 ties, out of a single log. 
 
 At Fort M^Loughlin, we first saw that disgusting 
 ornament of the fair sex, the lip-piece. A bit of wood 
 or ivory, of .in oval form, varying in size from the 
 dimensions of f'- small button to three inches long, and 
 an inch and a half wide, is introduced into a hole in the 
 lower lip, so as to draw it back, and thereby expose the 
 whole of the lower gum. This hideous ftishion, how- 
 ever, is now wearing out, having been found to be dis- 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 ting 
 
 agreeable to the whites, to whose opinions and feelings 
 the native ladies pay the highest possible respect. 
 
 The chiefs possess great power, compelling their 
 followers to do any thing, however trcacherons, and to 
 siifTer any thing, however cruel, without any other 
 reason than that such is their savage pleasure. The 
 chief of the Ballabollas, when he was lately very ill, 
 ordered one of his people to be shot ; and he forthwith 
 regained both health and strength through the operation 
 of this powerful medicine. They sometimes, too, call 
 religion to their aid, consecrating their most horrible 
 atrocities by pretending to be mad. In this state, they 
 go into the woods to eat grass, like Nebuchadnezzar, or 
 prowl about, gnawing at a dead man's ribs. Then, as 
 the fit of inspiration grows stronger, they rush among 
 their people, snapping and swallowing mouthfuls from 
 the arms or legs of such as come in their way. The 
 poor victims never resist this sharp practice, excepting 
 by taking to their heels as ftist as they can. One of 
 these noble cannibals was lately playing off his inspira- 
 tion at the gate of the fort, when a poor fellow, out of 
 whose arm he had filched a comfortable lunch, was 
 impious enough to roar out lustily ; and Mr. Ross's 
 dog, suspecting foul play, seized the chiefs leg, and held 
 it tight, in spite of his screams, till driven away by the 
 well-known voice of his master. Nero, instead of being 
 killed, according to Mr. Ross's anticipations, was, 
 thenceforward, venerated by the Ballabollas, as having 
 been influenced by the same inspiration as their chief. 
 
 About ten in the morning, we left Fort M'Loughlin, 
 passing through Millbank Sound, Grenville Canal, 
 
 ' J 
 
 ^^Aii 
 
 Wl' 
 
 i. 
 

 If 4 
 
 i' 
 
 tit 
 
 I ( 
 
 
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 '! 
 
 
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 2()<) 
 
 OVKIILANI) JOrUNlY 
 
 Clmltam Sound, nnd Pearl Harbour. AI>out four in 
 tlio afternoon, wc reached Fort Simpson, under tln» 
 char^'c of Mr. Work. TliiHCHtablislnncnt was original!}' 
 formed at the mouth of Nass lliver, but had been re- 
 moved to a poninsuhi, washed on three nides by Chaltam 
 SouikI, Port E8Hino;ton, and Work's Canal. Fort Simp- 
 son is the resort of a vast number of Indians, amountin<; 
 in all to about fourteen thousand of various tribes. 
 There are the Chimseoans, who occupy the country 
 from Douglas' Canal to Nass lliver, of whom about eight 
 hundred are settled near the establishment, as home 
 guards, under the protection of our guns. Then tliere 
 are the Sebassamen, from Bank's Island, and the inha- 
 bitants of Queen Charlotte's Island. In addition to 
 these, who live to the south of the international boun- 
 dary, many Russian Indians, such as the inhabitants of 
 Kygarnie, Tomgass, and the Isles des Clamelsettes, 
 likewise frequent the fort. Many of these natives pay 
 merely passing visits on their way to Nass Straits to fish 
 for the ullachan, whose oil has been already mentioned, 
 not only as a luxury for the great, but also as a neces- 
 sary of life to all classes. As this oil, by the by, was 
 free from smell, it mi^ht be applied to many purposes 
 in the civilized world ; and I accordingly ordered a few 
 jars of it to be sent to London by way of sample. All 
 these visitors of Fort Simpson are turbulent and fierce. 
 Their broils, which are invariably attended with blood- 
 shed, generally arise from the most trivial causes, such, 
 for instance, as gambling quarrels or the neglect of 
 points of etiquette. 
 
 Here the lip-piece was more generally in use than at 
 
 M^ 
 
1^ 
 
 nolNM) TIIK WOUI,!). 
 
 ?07 
 
 CO. 
 
 jiiiy otlier pnrt of the coast; Imt it wsis clearly ^joiiij*- 
 out of vo<;ue, for it was far more coininoii aiiioii^ the 
 ancient dailies than aiiion^ the young wouiuii. In other 
 resj)ects, the peojdo were peculiarly comely, strong, 
 aixl well grown. 'J'hey arc reniarkuhly clever and inge- 
 nious. They carve steamers, animals, ka. very neatly 
 in stone, wood, and ivory, imitating, in short, every 
 thing that they see, either in reality or in drawings ; 
 and I saw, in particular, a head fur a small vessel that 
 they were huilding, so well executed, that I took it for 
 the work of a white artificer. One man, kiiown as the 
 Arrowsmith of the north-east coast, had gone far beyond 
 his compeers, having prepared very accurate charts of 
 most parts of the adjacent shores. 
 
 Next morning, I visited the native village, and found 
 the lodges, both inside and outside, superior to any 
 others that I had seen on the coast. I observed among 
 the people traces of the smallpox, eight of them having 
 lost an eye each. That destructive pestilence had got 
 thus far south, but no farther, carrying olF about one 
 third of the population. Since then the wolves have 
 been very scarce ; and the Indians maintain that they 
 caught the malady by eating the dead bodies. This 
 voracity on the j)art of these ravenous beasts was likely 
 enough ; for the savages themselves, horrible and incre- 
 dible to tell, frequently ate the corpses of their relatives 
 that had died of the disease, even after they were putrid, 
 and, in some instances, after they had been buried. 
 Syphilis, I was sorry to observe, was very i)revalent, 
 entailing scrofula and similar distempers on the rising 
 generation . 
 
 1 1 
 
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lam 
 
 'II 
 
 ■r.} 
 
 ! m^. 
 
 I '\ 
 
 208 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 xVs Fort Simpson lay within the range of the compe- 
 tition of the Russians of Sitka, who used spirits in their 
 trade, we had not been able here to abolish the sale of 
 liquor; and, such was the influence of the simple fact, 
 that several of our crew, though not a drop was either 
 given or sold to them, yet contrived to become tolerably 
 drunk by " tapping the admiral." 
 
 Leaving Fort Simpson about one in the afternoon 
 of the 18th, we came to anchor for the night at the 
 southern entrance of the Canal de Reveilla. Both 
 mainland and islands became more and more rugged as 
 we advanced, rising abruptly from the very shores, in 
 the form of lofty mountains, with the ocean at their feet 
 and the snow on their summits. In perfect keeping 
 with the coast, the inland region consists of some of the 
 wildest scenery in nature, of alpine masses, in fact, 
 thrown together in tumultuous confusion. So uneven, 
 in short, is the whole country, that, within any reason- 
 able distance of a stream or a lake, a level site for a 
 fort can hardly be found. Moreover, this land of rocks 
 is as difficult of access, excepting on the immediate 
 margin of the sea, as it is impracticable in itself. Most 
 of the streams to the northward of Frazer's River are 
 mere torrents, which, being fed in summer by the 
 melting of the snows, and in winter by the untiring 
 deluges of this dismal climate, plunge headlong in deep 
 gulleys between the contiguous bases of precipitous 
 heights of every form and magnitude. Within the limits 
 just mentioned, the Babine, the Nass, and the Stikine, 
 are the only rivers that may be ascended to any distance, 
 and even they with considerable difficulty and danger. 
 
'I 
 
 ROUND TIIK WORLD. 
 
 1H)9 
 
 Since we left Nisqually, Mr. Rowand had been 
 sufTei'ing very severel}^ from ititerinittent fever and sea- 
 sickness. As he had been ranch worse last night, ^ve 
 wished to leave him at Fort Simpson ; but he insisted 
 on continuing the voyage along with us. 
 
 Next day, we passed through the Canal de IloveiHa 
 and Clarence Straits, respectively about thirty nnd 
 fifty-four miles long. On the morning thereafter, having 
 halted all night, on account of the narrowness of tlie 
 channel, we passed through Stikinc Straits into tlio little 
 harbour of Fort Stikine, where, about ciglit o'clock, we 
 were welcomed on shore by Mr. M^Loughlin, junior. This 
 establishment, originally founded by the Russian Ameri- 
 can Company, had been recently transferred to us on a 
 lease of t«n years, together with the riglit of hunting 
 and trading in the continent;-.! territories of the asso- 
 ciation in question, as far up as Cross Sound. Russia, 
 as the reader is, of course, aware, possesses on tlie 
 mainland, between lat. 54°, 40', and hit. TO", only 
 a strip, never exceeding thirty miles in depth ; and this 
 strip, in the absence of such an arrangement as has just 
 been mentioned, renders the interior comparatively use- 
 less to England. 
 
 The establishment, of which the site had not been 
 well selected, was situated on a peninsula barely large 
 enough for the necessary buildings, while the tide, by 
 overflowing the isthmus at high water, rendered any 
 artificial extension of the premises almost impracti- 
 cable; and the slime, that was periodically deposited 
 by the receding sea, was aided by the putridity and 
 filth of the native villages in the neighbourhood, in 
 
 VOL. I. p 
 
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 210 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 oppressing the atmosphere with a most nauseous per- 
 fume. The harbour, moreover, was so narrow, that a 
 vessel of a hundred tons, instead of swinging at an- 
 chor, was under the necessity of mooring stem and 
 stern ; and the supply of fresh water was brought by 
 a wooden aqueduct, which the savages might at any 
 time destroy, from a stream about two hundred yards 
 distant. 
 
 The Stikine, or Felly's River, empties itself into the 
 ocean by two channels, respectively four and ten miles 
 distant from the fort. One of them is navigable for 
 canoes ; while the other, though only in the season of 
 high water, can be ascended by the steamer about 
 thirty miles. 
 
 The establishment is frequented by the Secatquonays, 
 who occupy the mainland about the mouths of the river, 
 and also the neighbouring islands ; and, in addition to 
 these home guards, it is visited by the natives of three 
 more distant villages — Hanego, Kooyan, and Kayk. 
 The Secatquonays may be estimated at six hundred 
 men, or three thousand souls ; and four or five thousand 
 people, in all, are dependent on Fort Stikine for sup- 
 plies. Most of these Indians make trading excursions 
 into the interior, in order to obtain furs. Their grand 
 mart is a village sixty miles distant from Dease's Lake, 
 and a hundred and fifty from the sea, and thither they 
 resort three or four times a year. The inhabitants of 
 this emporium, known as the Niharnies, were under the 
 command of a female chief, who, in the winter of 
 1838-9, had behaved with great humanity to Mr. Camp- 
 bell, one of the Company's officers. That gentleman 
 
 » r. ,. 
 
rl • 1 
 
 ' h '-K: 
 
 HOUND THE WORLD ^jj 
 
 and pa«=hme„t at the'Je „T "'' "■''■■ *'"-<=»■■* 
 
 -ived b, this good .„: in sir: ' '"'^' "^" - 
 
 ness to distressed travellers A ,/ '•"= '''"• •^'"'J- 
 ""^hment was on C*" lie J' ' ^!,7'"'<'"'' -'- 
 coast, whose monopolv it „„ , ""'''lemen of the 
 
 b»%. either the a'tt or .,"■'"'' """' "-' P™" 
 -=-. which called the feir TT"'' "' ""« »«- 
 P%; and even the fema^^lhL ' ', ^^'"P^""'^^ '"'» 
 -■•»-> trips to the seTtoi r:' V" """'^ - 
 account, was almost as mul u- ''" "" ^^' «™ 
 
 the Secatquonays, as Mr rl ■" „ '"'" "^ •'^"'""^y to 
 been. ^ ' *" ^""'P'^^^ himself could have 
 
 One full third of *!,. i 
 a- slaves of the n,„s fhlT ""'"."'"'■"" »' «>- coast 
 .T'.ou,h some of the ot'Ttu^ ^.f ^ ^-->«- 
 '" war, yet most of them have. f P"'""'" 'aken 
 -t condition. Thes wrZ r"h ; '" "■"" P^ 
 
 »tantly the victims of cruel v!,'' *"""« "»'- 
 of n>alice or revenge if^ir f™ *•■« '"'truments 
 
 The principal chief of th» i„j- 
 neighbourhood of the fort 1 '^""^ """ «'«" i" the 
 -■ne of Shakes, who ht ' T " "'' '^^"»- »f the 
 f »' with too m'uch i dui™n'ce 1''" f' "^ *"« «- 
 
 "« -naged; and he was! n 'faT aT t' f""* '» 
 
 ' " '^ct, at the bottom of 
 
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 II 
 
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 li II 
 
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 ^l!»!'|:| 
 
 ;;n2 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNIY 
 
 every plot that was hatched against the whites, being 
 assisted in this matter — so much for the effects of edu- 
 cation — by a son, who had been taught to read and 
 write at Sitka. Unfortunately, the mode in which the 
 establishment was supplied with water placed us so 
 much at the mercy of the Indians, as almost to provoke 
 any troublesome individual to quarrel with us ; for a 
 few blows of an axe would immediately render our 
 wooden aqueduct useless, and leave our people either to 
 die of thirst, or to fight their way to the stream and 
 back again. Luckily, though Shakes was the principal 
 chief, yet he had comparatively little influence; while 
 the second ruler in the tribe, Mho was very friendly 
 towards us, possessed a strong party in the village. 
 The mutual jealousies of Quatkay and his lord para- 
 mount, which sometimes amounted to open hostilities, 
 formed something of a safeguard to the fort. Shakes 
 was from home, but Quatkay paid his respects imme- 
 diately on our arrival ; and, in consideration of his 
 general conduct, I presented him with an entire suit of 
 clothes. The absent chief was said to be very cruel to 
 his slaves, whom he frequently sacrificed in pure wan- 
 tonness, in order to show how great a man he was. 
 On the recent occasion of a house-warming, he exhi- 
 bited, as part of the festivities, the butchery of five 
 slaves ; and at another time, having struck a white man 
 in a fit of drunkenness, and received a pair of black 
 eyes for his pains, he ordered a slave to be shot, by 
 way, at once, of satisfying his own wounded honour, 
 and of apologizing to the person whom he had as- 
 saulted. His rival, on the contrary, was possessed of 
 
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ne- 
 liis 
 of 
 to 
 an- 
 as, 
 chi- 
 Ifive 
 [nan 
 lack 
 
 by 
 
 )ur, 
 
 as- 
 
 of 
 
 ROUND Tllli WORM). 
 
 213 
 
 such kindness of heart, that on grand holidays he was 
 more ready to emancipate his slaves than to destroy 
 them ; yet, strange to say, many hondmen used to run 
 away from Quatkay, while none attempted to escape 
 from Shakes; an anomaly which, however, was easily 
 explained, inasmuch as the one would pardon the re- 
 captured fugitives, and the other would torture and 
 murder them. 
 
 One Indian, of the name of Hanego Joe, who had 
 been taken to the United States in childhood, spoke a 
 little English. Pie was said to be very useful as a 
 pilot on the coast ; but, though we did not require his 
 services in that capacity, yet we employed him as in- 
 terpreter. 
 
 As Mr. Rowand continued to get worse, we left him 
 here to recruit his health, being the more anxious to 
 give him the benefit of rest and shelter, as the noto- 
 riously vile weather of the winter of the north-west 
 coast commenced to-day with its deluges of rain. Get- 
 ting under way about three in the afternoon, we anchored 
 for the night at the entrance of Wrangell's Straits. 
 
 Next morning we passed through Wrangell's Straits 
 and Prince Frederick's Sound, respectively twenty-two 
 and fifty-seven miles long, and halted for the night at 
 the entrance of Stephen's Passage. 7u'lie valleys were 
 lined with glaciers down to the water's edge ; and the 
 pieces that had broken off during the season filled the 
 canals and straits with fields and masses of ice, through 
 which the vessel could scarcely force her way. 
 
 Starting again at five in the morning, with a foul 
 wind and a thick fog, we ran "through Stephen's Pas- 
 
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 214 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 sjige; and, when the mist cleared sufticiently for the 
 purpose, the hind on either side displayed to us moun- 
 tains rising abruptly from the sea, and bearing a glacier 
 in their every ravine. Earlier in the season, these gla- 
 ciers would have been concealed by the snow, but now 
 they showed a surface of green ice. 
 
 At two in the afternoon we reached Taco, an esta- 
 blishment conducted by Dr. Kennedy, with an assistant 
 and twenty-two men. Here the little harbour is al- 
 most land-locked by mountains, being partially exposed 
 only to the south-east. One of the hills, near the fort, 
 terminates in the form of a canoe, which serves as a 
 barometer. A shroud of fog indicates rain; but the 
 clear vision of the canoe itself is a sign of fair weather. 
 
 The fort, though it was only a year old, was yet very 
 complete with good houses, lofty pickets, and strong 
 bastions. The establishment was maintained chiefly on 
 the flesh of the chevreuil, which is very fat, and has 
 an excellent flavour. Some of these deer weigh as 
 much as a hundred and fifty pounds each ; and they are 
 so numerous, that Taco has this year sent to market 
 twelve hundred of their skins, being the handsome 
 average of a deer a week for every inmate of the place. 
 But extravagance in the eating of venison is here a very 
 lucrative business, for the hide, after paying freight and 
 charges, yields in London a profit on the prime cost of 
 the whole animal. 
 
 Seven tribes, three of them living on islands, and 
 four on the mainland, visit Taco. They muster about 
 four thousand souls ; and they are subdivisions of the 
 Thlinkitts, speaking dialects of the language of that 
 
 ^j 
 
 !'■ «. 
 
)me 
 ice. 
 ^eiy 
 land 
 of 
 
 and 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 215 
 
 nation. These Indians were delighted to have us set- 
 tled among them ; and on this ground they viewed with 
 much jealousy the visits of more distant savages, to 
 whom they were desirous of acting as middlemen. As 
 our interest and feeling in the mr.tter were altogether 
 different, this jealousy of theirs had sometimes occa- 
 sioned misunderstandings between them and our people. 
 On one occasion, Dr. Kennedy's assistant, having chased 
 out of the fort a savage who had struck him, v/as im- 
 mediately made prisoner; while the Doctor himself, 
 who ran to his aid, shared a similar fate. Several shots 
 were fired from the bastions, though without doing, and 
 probably without intending to do, any mischief. And 
 this was fortunate : for though Taco, with a running 
 stream within its walls, was less at the mercy of the 
 natives than Stikine, yet its people, in the event of 
 any loss of life on the part of the savages, might have 
 8'' Tered severely from the workings of treacherous re- 
 venge. At length, the affair was amicably settled by 
 ransoming the two captives with four blankets. Still, 
 notwithstanding these little outbreaks, Kakeskie, chief 
 of the home guards, had been a good friend to the 
 trade; and accordingly, though he was absent, yet I 
 ordered that a present should be made to him, in my 
 name, on his return. 
 
 The bighorn sheep and the mountain goat are very 
 numerous in this neighbourhood. The latter has an 
 outer coat of hair, not unlike that of Ihe domestic va- 
 riety of the species, and an inner coat of wool, beau- 
 tifully white, soft, and silky. Instead of wool again, 
 the bighorn has a thick covering of hair, pretty much 
 
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 210' 
 
 UVEULANU JOL'RMIY 
 
 resembling timt of the red deer ; but, with the excep- 
 tion of this peculiarity, and with the exception also of 
 tiie size of the horns, it is obviously the same animal as 
 the domestic sheep. 
 
 After beinfr detained at Taco Jfrom Wednesday after- 
 noon to Saturday morning-, by an uninterrupted storm 
 of hiyli wind and heavy rain, we started at daybreak, 
 with about fifteen miles more of Stephen's Passage 
 before us. liavin*^ accomplished this distance, we 
 crossed the entrance of the Gulf of Taco, so called 
 from its reeoivini>: the river of the same name. This 
 stream, aceonliiio; to Mr. Douglas, who had ascended 
 it for about thirty-five miles, pursued a serpentine 
 course between stupendous mountains, which, with tiie 
 exception of a few points of alluvial soil, rose abruptly 
 from the water's edge with an uninviting surface of 
 snow and ice. In spite of the rapidity of the current, 
 the savages of the coast proceed about a hundred 
 miles in canoes ; and thence they trudge away on foot 
 the same distance to an inland mart, where they drive 
 a profitable business, as middlemen, with the neigh- 
 bouring tribes. Besides facilitating this traffic, one of 
 the best guarantees of peace, the establishment of our 
 fort had done much to extinguish a branch of com- 
 merce of a very different tendency. Though some of 
 the ?kins previously found their way from this neigh- 
 bourhood to Sitka and Stikine, yet most of them used 
 to be devoted to the purchasing of slaves from the 
 Indians of Kygarnie and Hood's Bay. 
 
 We next passed the Douglas Island of Vancouver 
 by the western passage, which was from two to four 
 
^v 1^ 
 
 m \ 
 
 HOUND THE WORLD. 
 
 217 
 
 miles in width ; while the eastern passage, besides 
 being still nanower, was generally obstructed by ice. 
 Hounding the head of Admiralty Island, wo descended 
 (.'hatliam Straits, along the back of the Sitka Archi- 
 pelago, and thus passed, of course, the inner entrance 
 of Cross Sound, the limit of the countless islands 
 which commence at the Straits of Fuca. Opposite to 
 tlie ui)i)er end of Admiralty Island is Lynn's Canal, 
 the higliest of the numerous inlets on this part of the 
 coast. It receives a river, which the Indians ascend 
 about fifty miles, to a valley running towards ]\[ount 
 Fairvveather, and containing a large lake, which pours 
 its waters into the open ocean at Admiralty Bay. Tiie 
 natives of this valley are called the Copper Indians, from 
 the abundance of virgin copper in the neighbourhood. 
 
 On Douglas and Admiralty Islands we saw two vil- 
 lages of Anckes, under the command of rival chiefs. 
 These branches of the same family had lately quarrelled 
 about some trifle or other, and, after destroying ten or 
 twelve on either side, had resolved again to live in 
 friendship, as they might have lived from the beginning, 
 without breaking each other's heads. Let the reader 
 change the names, and he will have a pretty correct 
 idea of the British and the Americans going to war 
 about Oregon. 
 
 Though the weather was very fine during the earlier 
 part of the day, yet it again returned to its fogs to- 
 wards evening, so that, even with the assistance of 
 Hanego Joe, we were obliged to anchor at the inner 
 entrance of Peril Straits, where the tide rose and fell 
 as much as tvvo-and-twenty feet. The fog having dis- 
 
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 m' ' 
 
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 \ - ' ' f I 
 
 V 
 
 218 
 
 OVKHLAM) JOIIIINEY 
 
 persed next rnornin<|f ubuut six, we proceeded up Pi'iil 
 Straits, slaekeiiiiig our pace to half speed on reachiii<>- 
 the narrower part of the passage, distinguished as Little 
 Peril Straits ; and soon after three in the afternoon we 
 came in sight of the Russian American Company's 
 establishment of New Archangel. We saw in the har- 
 bour five sailing vessels, ranging between two hundred 
 and three hundred and fifty tons, besides a large barque 
 in the offing in tow of a steamer, which proved to be 
 the Alexander, from Ochotsk, bringing advices from 
 Petersburg down- to the end of April. Before we an- 
 chored. Captain Lindenberg came off to us, conveying 
 Governor Etholine's compliments and welcome. Salutes 
 being exchanged, Mr. Douglas and I soon after- 
 wards landed, and were accompanied to his excellency's 
 residence, situated on the top of a rock, by Captain 
 Lindenberg and the captain of the port. 
 
•^* F ^ 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD, 
 
 'J 1.0 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 I 1 
 
 i- lii I 
 
 FROM SITKA TO VANCOUVER. 
 
 Sitka — Trade — Fur-seals, &c. — Count Baronoff — Northern discovery 
 — Departure from Sitka — Glaciers and floating ice — Fort Stikine — Fort 
 Simpson — Indian fight about potatoes — Sebussamcn — Fort M<=Loughliu 
 — Gigantic seaweed — Newettees, names of chiefs — Quakeolth fleet — 
 Native jeolousy — Johnston's Straits — Dense fog — Catalogue of dangers 
 and disasters — Abundance of herring spawn — Influence of white fist on 
 savages — Nisqually — Captain Berkeley, Juan de Fuca, and Admiral 
 Fonte — Steam, its physical and moral power — Condition of slaves — 
 Rev. Mr. Demers — Arrival at Vancouver — A stranger — Vancouver — 
 Willamette Settlement, position and condition — Civilization of natives. 
 
 Governor Etholine's residence consisted of a suite of 
 apartments, communicating, according to the Russian 
 fashion, with each other, all the public rooms being- 
 handsomely decorated and richly furnished. It com- 
 manded a view of the whole establishment, which was, 
 in fact, a little village ; while about half way down the 
 rock two batteries on terraces frowned respectively over 
 the land and the water. Behind the bay, which forms 
 the harbour, rise stupendous piles of conical mountains, 
 with summits of everlasting snow. To sea'.rard. Mount 
 Edgecumbe, also in the form of a cone, rears its trun- 
 cated peak, still remembered as the source of smoke 
 and flume, of lava and ashes, but now known — so various 
 
 5 'i :' : 
 
 
 
 r 1 
 
 in 
 
 :(i 
 
220 
 
 OVIRLVM) JOniNKY 
 
 are tlio onoi'n:io.s of nature — to be the repository of tlie 
 Jiceuiimlated hiiows of an age. 
 
 We returned to the steamer for the nl«;lit. Next 
 morning, (lovernor Ktlioline, in full uniform, came on 
 hoard in his gig, numned by six oars and a coxswain, 
 and was, of course, received with a salute. We accom- 
 panied liiin on shore, our vessel and the fort simul- 
 taneously exchanging, as it were, their noisy welcomes 
 with each other ; and wo had now the honour of being 
 introduced to IMadanie Etholine, a native of Ilelsingfors 
 in Finland ; so that this pretty and ladylike woman had 
 come to this her secluded home from the farthest ex- 
 tremity of the empire. 
 
 We sat down to a good dinner in the French style, 
 the party, in addition to our host and hostess and our- 
 selves, coniprisjing twelve of the Company's oflieers. We 
 afterwards visited the schools, in which there were 
 twenty boys and as many girls, principally half breeds ; 
 such of the children as w^ere orphans were supported by 
 tlie Company, and the others by their parents. The 
 scholars appeared to be clean and healthy. The boys, 
 on attaining the proper age, would be drafted into the 
 service, more particularly into the nautical branch of 
 the same ; and the girls would, in due time, become 
 their wives or the wives of others. 
 
 Nor did religion seem to be neglected at Sitka, any 
 more than education. The Greek church had its bishop, 
 with fifteen priests, deacons, and followers ; and the 
 Lutherans had their clergyman. Here, as in other parts 
 of the empire, the ecclesiastics were all maintained by 
 the Imperial Government without any expense, or at 
 
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 h "i ' 
 
 II 
 
 ^'' 
 
 i::il 
 
KOINI) TIIK WORI.I). 
 
 ooi 
 
 my 
 
 Ithe 
 
 irts 
 
 by 
 
 at 
 
 least witliout nny direct cxpoiiso, to tlic Ilusaian Amo- 
 ricjiii CoiniKUiy. 
 
 Tlio fiUtliorans woro numerous beyond their just pro- 
 portion with reference to the popuhition (A' the eni]»ire 
 at larnfc. Most of the seamen and sonic of the hiboincrs 
 were from I'inlnnd ; and, besides ^fachune Mtholine, two 
 other hidies, the wife of Lieutenant l^ertrani and her 
 sister, wore natives of that same province. 
 
 In achlition to Sitka, which is the principal depot of 
 the Russian American Company, there is a smaller 
 establishment of the same kind at Alaska, which sup- 
 plies one post in liristol Bay and three posts in Cook's 
 Iidet, all the four bein^ connected with subordinate 
 stations in the i' Lorior ; and there exists another depot 
 ill Norton Sound, which has also its own inland depen- 
 <lencic9. Beyond the limits of Russian America, pro- 
 perly so called, the Company has either ])ermanent forts 
 or flying parties in the Aleutian and Kurilo Islands, 
 over and above a chain of agencies, extending from 
 Ochotsk to Petersburg, for the purposes of transporting 
 goods and engaging servants. 
 
 The operations of the Company were becoming more 
 extensive than they had previously been. Its exclusive 
 license had been extended for a farther term of twenty 
 years ; the direction was about to be remodelled ; and, 
 generally, an improved oj'der of things w^as in progress. 
 
 At the date of my visit, the returns of the trade 
 were pretty nearly as follows : — 
 
 10,000 Fur Seals 
 1,000 Sea Otters 
 12,000 Beaver 
 
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 2,500 Land Otters 
 Foxes, Martens, &c. 
 
 20,000 Sea-horse teeth. 
 
 Some twenty or thirty years ago, there was a most 
 wasteful destruction of the fur-seal, when young and old, 
 male and female, were indiscriminately knocked on the 
 head. This improvidence, as every one might have ex- 
 pected, proved detrimental in two ways. The race was 
 almost extirpated ; and the market was glutted to such 
 a degree, at the rate, for some time, of two hundred 
 thousand skins a year, that the prices did not even pay 
 the expenses of carriage. The Russians, however, have 
 now adopted nearly the same plan which the Hudson's 
 Bay Company pursues in recruiting any of its exhausted 
 districts, killing only a limited number of such males 
 as have attained their full growth — a plan peculiarly ap- 
 plicable to the fur-seal, inasmuch as its habits render 
 the system of husbanding the stock as easy and certain 
 as that of destroying it. 
 
 In the month of May, with something like the regu- 
 larity of an almanack, the fur-seals make their appear- 
 ance at the Island of St. Paul, one of the Aleutian 
 group. Each old male brings a herd of females under 
 his protection, varying in number according to his size 
 and strength ; the weaker brethren are obliged to con- 
 tent themselves with half-a-dozen wives, while some of 
 the sturdier and fiercer fellows preside over harems that 
 lire two hundred strong. From the date of their ar- 
 rival in May to that of their departure in October, the 
 whole of them are principally ashore on the beach. The 
 females go down to the sea once or twice a day, while 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. ??.S 
 
 tlie male, morning, noon, and night, watches his charge 
 with the utmost jealousy, postponing even the pleasures 
 of eating, and drinking, and sleeping, to the duty of 
 keeping his favourites together. If any young gallant 
 venture by stealth to approach any senior chiefs bevy of 
 beauties, he generally atones for his imprudence with 
 liis life, being torn to pieces by the old fellow ; and 
 such of the fair ones as may have given the intruder any 
 encouragement are pretty surd to catch it in the shape 
 of some secondary punishment. The ladies are in the 
 straw about a fortnight after they arrive at St. Paul's ; 
 about two or three weeks afterwards, they lay the single 
 foundation, being all that is necessary, of next season's 
 proceedings ; and the remainder of their sojourn they 
 devote exclusively to the rearing of their young. At 
 last, the whole band departs, no one knows whither. 
 The mode of capture is this. At the proper time, the 
 whole are driven, like a flock of sheep, to the establish- 
 ment, which is about a mile distant from the sea ; and 
 there the males of four years, with the exception of a few 
 that are left to keep up the breed, are separated from 
 the rest and killeu. In the days of promiscuous mas- 
 sacre, such of the mothers as had lost their pups would 
 ever and anon return to the establishment, absolutely 
 harrowing up the sympathies of the wives and daughters 
 of the hunters, accustomed as tliey were to such scenes, 
 with their doleful lamentations. 
 
 The fur-seal attains the age of fifteen or twenty years, 
 but not more. The females do not bring forth young 
 till they are five years old. The hunters have fre- 
 quently marked their ears each season ; and many of 
 
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 224 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 the animals have been notched in this way ten times, 
 but very few of them oftener. 
 
 Under the present system, the fur-seals are increasing 
 rapidly in number. Previously to its introduction, the 
 annual hunts had dwindled down to three or four 
 thousand. They have now gradually got up to thrice 
 that amount ; and they are likely soon to equal the full 
 demand, not exceeding thirty thousand skins, of the 
 Russian market. 
 
 Latterly, the sea-otters have again begun to be more 
 numerous on the north-west coast, between latitude CO" 
 and 65°f on the Aleutian and Kurile Islands, and on 
 the shores of Kamschatka. To the south of the parallel 
 of sixty degrees, they have become pretty nearly ex- 
 tinct. In California, in particular, where they were 
 once extremely numerous, they were destroyed with 
 unusual facility, inasmuch as they were generally found 
 in the Bay of San Francisco and other inlets ;' whereas, 
 to the northward, they delighted in the most exposed 
 situations, so as to render the pursuit of them a service 
 of danger. It was the lamented Cook, or rather his 
 crews after his death, that introduced the sea-otter into 
 the civilized world. Though, from 1780 to 1795, the 
 British shared in the fur-trade which their countrymen 
 had thus opened, yet, from the latter date to 1828, the 
 Russians and the Americans between them monopolized 
 nearly the whole of it. Since 1828, however, the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company came with energy to the coast ; 
 and now, while the Russians confine themselves to their 
 own territory, not a single American is engaged in the 
 branch of commerce in question. 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 22.") 
 
 Of land-otters, in ad<lition to the produce of its own 
 wildernesses, the Russian American Company purchases 
 a considerable quantity from us ; besides that, it re- 
 ceives two thousand skins a year as the rent of the strip 
 of continent leased to us between the intemational 
 boundary and Cross Sound. 
 
 The sea-horse teeth weif^h, on an average, one pound 
 each. As the animal produces only two, ten thousand 
 head must be destroyed to produce the full tale of 
 twenty thousand ; and the whole of the slaughter, so 
 far as the Company is concerned, must go to the ac- 
 count of ivory, for the carcases themselves are com- 
 mercially of very little value. 
 
 The Company's hunters, who are chiefly Aleutians, 
 are peaceful even to cowardice, being in great dread of 
 the Indians of the coast, who are numerous, treacherous, 
 and fierce. In fact, previously to the formation of the 
 present establishment of New Archangel, the savages 
 had, on one and the same day, destroyed two forts in 
 this neighbourhood, and butchered the unfortunate gar- 
 risons, of twenty-five men each. At that time, the 
 Company's principal depot was at Kodiack, whence 
 eight hundred of the pusillanimous Aleutians, together 
 with a few Russians, were sent to punish these out- 
 rages; but the expedition, as any one might have 
 expected, proved abortive, and returned without spill- 
 ing human blood. Soon afterwards. Count Baranoff, 
 who was then at the head of the Company's affairs in 
 this quarter, proceeded with three vessels and a large 
 body of people to form the depot of Sitka. Protected 
 by a breastwork, the natives repulsed the Russians as 
 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
226 
 
 OVERLAND JOUUNEY 
 
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 often as they attempted to carry the fortification by 
 storm ; but, in spite of all their skill and bravery, they 
 sustained much loss of life under the heavy fire of the 
 ships, consequently evacuating- their position by night, 
 and accepting an honourable peace. 
 
 Immediately under the guns of the fort, there is a 
 village of Sitkaguouays, or people of Sitka, who are a 
 subdivision of the great tribe of the Thlinkitts. These 
 Sitkaguouays are the most wretched Indians in appear- 
 ance that I have ever seen, being bedaubed with filth 
 and paint, and covered with the scars of syphilis ; and, 
 to make matters worse, at least with respect to the fair 
 sex, the loathsome lip-piece is here in almost universal 
 use. 
 
 In trading with the Indians, the Russians, as I have 
 already had occasion to mention, use spirituous liquors, 
 our neighbouring posts being obliged, as a matter of 
 course, to employ the same pernicious medium of traffic. 
 Knowing the mischiefs that ensued at our own esta- 
 blishments, and having reason to believe that more fatal 
 results occurred at Sitka, I suggested to Governor Etho- 
 line, who promptly acceded to the proposal, that, on or 
 before the last day of the year 1 84,3, both companies 
 should entirely abandon the practice of trading with 
 the savages in spirituous liquors. An earlier limit 
 would have been fixed, had not Governor Etholine and 
 myself thought that the establishments would meanwhile 
 require to be strengthened, in order to provide against 
 the possibility of any consequent outrages among the 
 involuntary " teetotallers " of the coast. Such was our 
 arrangement ; but, during my second visit, which took 
 
iffainst 
 \cr the 
 hs our 
 took 
 
 ROUND THK WORLD. 
 
 227 
 
 place in the ensuini^ spnng, a scene presented itself 
 which led, as hereinafter described, to an immediate 
 and unconditional stoppage of rum and all its kindred. 
 
 The good folks of New Archangel appear to live well. 
 The surrounding country abounds in the chevreuil, the 
 finest meat that I ever nte, with the single exception of 
 moose ; while halibut, cod, herrings, flounders, and 
 many other sorts of fisli, are always to be had for the 
 taking, in unlimited quantities. In a little stream, 
 which is within a mile of the fort, salmon are so plen- 
 tiful at the proper season, that, when ascending the 
 river, they have been known literally to embarrass the 
 movements of a canoe. About a hundred thousand of 
 the last-mentioned fish, equivalent to fifteen hundred 
 barrels, are annually salted for the use of the establish- 
 ment ; they are so inferior, however, in richness and 
 flavour, to such as are ctnight farther to the southward, 
 that they are not adapted for exportation. 
 
 I visited the Alexander with some degree of interest, 
 as being the vessel in which I was to sail to Ochotsk 
 next summer, and found that her accommodations for 
 officers, crew, and passengers, were superior to those of 
 any merchantman that I had ever seen. On this voyage 
 I was to have the ht nour, though in this I was after- 
 wards disappointed, of being accompanied by a Russian 
 princess of talents and accomplishments, the wife of 
 M. Ratscheff, the gentleman in charge of Bodega, in 
 California. When I came to see and feel the roads of 
 Siberia, whether in the saddle or on wheels, I could not 
 but marvel that delicately bred females could endure so 
 much of pain and fatigue. 
 
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 228 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 While at Sitka, I took a bath, which might be a very 
 good thing for those that liked it. On entering tlie 
 building, I was much oppressed with the steam and 
 heat, while an ill-looking, long-legged, stark-naked 
 fellow was waiting to officiate, as master of the cere- 
 monies. Having undressed in an antechamber, so far 
 as decency would permit, I made my way into the bath- 
 room, which was heated almost to suffocation. Having 
 thus got me into his power, the gaunt attendant threw 
 some water on the iron furnace, while, to avoid, as far 
 as possible, the clouds of steam that were thus raised, 
 I squatted myself down on the floor, perspiring pro- 
 fusely at every pore. I next seated myself on a bench, 
 while bucket after bucket of hot water was thrown on 
 my head ; and then, making me stretch myself out, my 
 tormentor soaped me all over, from head to foot, rub- 
 bing and lathering me with a handful of pine-tops. 
 Once more taking his bucket, the horrid operator kept 
 drenching me, the successive pailfuls descending gra- 
 dually from nearly a boiling heat to the temperature of 
 fifty degrees. The whole process occupied about an 
 hour. I then returned to the antechamber, where, after 
 being dried with hot towels, I was very glad to put on 
 dry clothes. It was impossible, however, to make my 
 escape immediately, for I was so relaxed as to be 
 obliged to recline on a sofa for a quarter of an hour ; 
 and then I withdrew, inwardly resolved never again to 
 undergo '^ch another castigation. 
 
 During .ir stay at Sitka, we slept on board, but 
 spent thf day ashore. At dinner, Governor Etholine 
 generall; assembled nearly all his officers, to the number 
 
W»»»*'5^ ( 
 
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 ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 
 gra- 
 
 of about sixteen. Amongst them, I met u half-breed 
 native of the country, who had been leader of an expe- 
 dition, equipped some years ago, by the Russian Ame- 
 rican Company, for the discovery of what would be 
 here styled the north-east passage. The party consisted 
 of two divisions, the one advancing by sea and the other- 
 by land. The Russians re !...d Point Barrow shortly 
 after Mr. Thomas Simpson had reached the same spot 
 from the opposite direction, and learned that my 
 lamented relative had unconsciously escaped in time 
 from the natives who were assembling for the purpose 
 of destroying him. The Russians themselves had also 
 made a precipitate retreat, partly through the fear of 
 the hostility of the savages, and partly through the 
 dread of the smallpox, which had just begun to rage 
 among them. 
 
 Nor has the Hudson's Bay Company, as all the M'orld 
 knows, been backward in the cause of geography any 
 more than the Russian American Association. It was 
 in its service that Lieutenant Hearne commenced the 
 career of northern discovery, by penetrating to the 
 mouth of the Coppermine, through untrodden wilder- 
 nesses, with a courage approaching to heroism ; it was 
 in its service that Messrs. Dease and Simpson, by ad- 
 vancing in one season from the M^Kenzie to Point 
 Barrow, and in another from the Coppermine to Boothia 
 Felix, achieved more than all their modern predecessors 
 put together; and in its service, also, "before these 
 pages see the light, a young man of talent and energy, 
 Dr. John Rae, Avill be exploring the hitherto unknown 
 coast from the Straits of the Fury and Ilecla to the 
 
 
 
 
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 280 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 eastern limit of the surveys of my lamented relative 
 and bis colleague. 
 
 During our four d.iys at Sitka, with the exception of 
 part of a day, theio was one continued fall of rain ; and, 
 in fact, since we reached Taco, we had had almost con- 
 stant wet — a remarkable contrast to the generally fine 
 weather which we had enjoyed from Montreal upwards. 
 
 Having taken leave of our kind friends on the pre- 
 vious evening, we weighed anchor about five in the 
 morning of the 30th of September, but were obliged to 
 bring up for the night about half past three ' the 
 afternoon in Lindenberg's Harbour. 
 
 In the morning, when we got under way, the weather 
 was cold and squally, while a little snow, that fell in the 
 night, had partially whitened the green ice that filled 
 the ravines of the mountains ; and the channels were 
 traversed by many restless masses which had broken off 
 from the glaciers. In short, nothing could exceed the 
 dreariness of this inhospitable coast. To make matters 
 still worse for some of us, a tumbling sea deranged the 
 stomachs of our landsmen. Having passed through 
 Chatham Straits, we anchored for the night at Point 
 Rowand, in Prince Frederick's Sound. 
 
 Next day, after grounding slightly on a mud bank in 
 Wrangell's Straits, we reached 'Stikine at three in the 
 afternoon, where we were delighted to find our fellow- 
 traveller, Mr. Rowand, pretty nearly recovered from his 
 serious illness. Most of the Indians had gone to the 
 interior ; of the chiefs. Shakes was absent on a hunting 
 excursion, and Quatkay was in search of six runaway 
 slaves. 
 
HMi 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 231 
 
 Fourteen or fifteen of the men of the estahlishment 
 asked permission to take native wives ; and leave to 
 accept tlie worthless bargains was granted to all such as 
 had the means of supporting a family. These matrimo- 
 nial connections are a heavy tax on a post, in conse- 
 quence of the increased demand for provisions, but 
 form, at the same time, a useful link between the 
 traders and the savages. 
 
 We here experienced a singular instance of the pil- 
 fering disposition of the natives. Some of them had 
 been employed to carry wood and water on board ; and 
 one fellow, doubtless thinking that a thing, for which he 
 had been paid, must be worth stealing, paddled off after 
 dusk with a load of fuel. 
 
 Before starting in the morning, we nearly lost a man 
 through the apparent indifference of others. A Sand- 
 wich Islander fell overboard, but, being deemed amphi- 
 bious, attracted hardly any notice. The poor fellow, 
 however, proved not to be in swimming trim. Besides 
 that the temperature of the water was very different 
 from that in which he had been accustomed, he was 
 encumbered with boots, great coat, &c. ; and, in conse- 
 quence, he was saved only when he was at his last gasp. 
 
 Having again taken Mr. Rowand on board, we reached 
 Fort Simpson at seven in the morning of the second day 
 thereafter. Before landing, we passed three canoes 
 under sail, one of them containing full twenty people ; 
 and in another we recognised Quatkay of Stikine, who 
 had been searching, as already mentioned, for his run- 
 away slaves. Though the little squadron luffed, yet we 
 had no time for giving or receiving news. On entering 
 
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 OVEULAND JOURNEY 
 
 the establisliineiit, wo. lei.rnod that a fight among the 
 savages had occurred during our absence. A Chiniseean 
 had purchased some potatoes from a Queen Charlotte 
 Islander, who, on second thoughts, refused to fulfil his 
 contract, being probably of opinion that the article 
 would rise in the market, lliis breach of agreement 
 provoked a blow from the disappointed purchaser, who 
 immediately fell under the knives of the faithless seller 
 and his countrymen. The vulgar transaction thus 
 became a point of honour to two nations ; and, after the 
 belligerent powei-s had counted four killed, and many 
 more wounded, a peace was negociated by Mr. Work, 
 lejiving, according to the civilized custom in the gene- 
 rality of such cases, the grand question of potatoes 
 bargained and sold precisely as it stood. Besides 
 quarrelling with each other, these wild men occasionally 
 display towards us their fearfully low estimate of human 
 life. One of them, having recently attempted to steal 
 something from the blacksmith's shop, was then and 
 there chastised by the son of Vulcan ; and though the 
 fihief, who had thus been affronted in the person of his 
 vassal, did not dare to attack the fort, yet he proposed 
 that Mr. Work should kill the blacksmith, while he 
 himself, as if to make up for the difference between the 
 offence and the punishment, would sacrifice a slave to 
 our man's manes. 
 
 Starting at hdf past five next morning we anchored 
 for the night in a cove in Grenville Canal. This delay 
 was entirely owing to the miserably thick weather ; for, 
 with a clear atmosphere, we could have run in the dark, 
 inasmuch as the channel presented deep water and bold 
 
ROIND TIIK WORIJ). 
 
 2. S3 
 
 shores. In the vicinity of our anch()rn!j,o waa a villa^a» 
 of Sebassaiueii, a numerous trihe, which was said to 
 consist, in a groat measure, of runaway shives, whom 
 the chief, like another Romulus, always received with 
 open arms; and, if he should continue this policy, he 
 Mould be not unlikely to render his village the Home of 
 the adjacent coasts. 
 
 In passing, next day, through Grenville Canal, wo 
 saw some beautiful waterfalls, which had been greatly 
 increased by the late heavy rains, tumbling down the 
 sides of the mountains, where they found so little soil, 
 that they carried their foam to the sea just as pure as 
 thoy had received it from the clouds. We anchored 
 within sight of Millbank Sound. 
 
 About eight in the morning, we reached Fort 
 ]\PLoughlin, where we remained during the rest of the 
 day. Tiie murderer of Francois Richard was still 
 walking about as audaciously as ever. Like every other 
 criminal of the same class that I had seen among 
 Indians, this fellow, Tsoquayou by name, was so smooth, 
 placid, and mild in his manner, as .almost to belie his 
 guilt. He was, as already mentioned, soon to be re- 
 moved for ever from his own people, as a commutation 
 of the capital punishment which he so richly deserved. 
 
 We were glad here to bid farewell to the odious lip- 
 piece, which would render the most lovely face on earth 
 an object of disgust. In one respect, too, this ornament 
 is as inconvenient to the wearers as it is offensive to the 
 spectators. When the ladies fair come to blows, as 
 they always do when drunk, and sometimes when sober, 
 each pounces on her antagonist's lower lip as at once 
 
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 ovEKLVNU jolum;y 
 
 beinpf tlio most viilnemblo ro;^ion, and fiiniishin^ tlio 
 beat hold ; and, at the close of u fi'ay, the whole college 
 of surgeons are sure to be busily engaged in doctoring 
 lips and replacing lip-pieces. 
 
 Leaving Fort M'Loughlin next morning, wo were 
 obliged, by four in the afternoon, to take refuge for the 
 night in Safety Cove, on Calvert's Island, by reason of 
 our being unable to reach any other known shelter with 
 daylight. Alter anchoring, I amused myself, as was 
 my custom, by fishing, ray ordinary prey being halibut, 
 rock-cod, flounders, &c. In this neighbourhood I 
 noticed what was to me a very remarkable phenomenon, 
 a sea-weed growing to the surface from a depth of 
 thirty or forty fathoms. 
 
 Next day, after being once driven back to Calvert's 
 Island, wo succeeded, on a second attempt, in crossing 
 the grand traverse, already mentioned as the only 
 exposed part of the coast, to Shushady Harbour in 
 Vancouver's Island. As the swell of the ocean was 
 here met by a high wind from the shore, no fewer than 
 ten of our crew and passengers were laid up with sea- 
 sickness. During the squalls, the paddles made seven- 
 teen revolutions in a minute ; but, during the lulls, they 
 accomplished twenty-two. The proportions of actual 
 speed, however, were very different — two or three 
 miles an hour in the one case, and six or seven in the 
 other. 
 
 The northern end of Vancouver's Island would be an 
 excellent position for the collecting and curing of 
 salmon, which, being incredibly numerous in these 
 waters, might easily be rendered one of the most im- 
 
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 HOINI) TIIK \V()IU,r». 
 
 saf) 
 
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 ir in 
 was 
 than 
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 ctiial 
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 Ibe an 
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 these 
 It ini- 
 
 Tlie neiy;li' 
 
 poi'tant uiticlos of trade in iIuh country, i lie 
 boiuin^r Newettt'eH, u bravo uiul friomlly tribe, woiihl 
 bo valuable auxiliaries, not only in aidin^if the csHontial 
 oi>erations of the ostaldiHhnient, but also in furniHliing 
 supplies of venison. As a proof of their industry, they 
 brou<,'ht to us, in the evenin<r, sonic wood tliat they had 
 themselves cut for us duriujir our absen'*e. By the by, 
 it was the principal chief c f this tribe tlat made the 
 lonf,' speech about his axe against the ship with the big 
 guns. He himself has taken t.hj fa.-liionable name of 
 Looking Glass ; his second in commr.id is appropriately 
 distinguished as Killum ; and the third, an o a fellow of 
 sturdy form and facetious countena .;^e, glories in 1 'iig 
 Shell Fish. In one respect, the last-ni>utioned grandee 
 resembles the Wandering Jew, having, as I was told, 
 undergone no change in appearance during the last 
 twenty years. 
 
 In spite of the deluges of rain tnat fell during the 
 night and morning, our wooding and watering were 
 completed, the ladies lending their assistance while the 
 gentlemen were engaged in trading. A little after sun- 
 set, we anchored in front of a village of Quakeolths. 
 We were soon visited b^ ; w . Ive or fifteen canoes, in one 
 of which we noticed the indiscriminate admirer of the 
 fair sex, who had been our fellow-passenger for a little 
 distance on our upward voyage. The favour which was 
 granted to him had since then involved him in a deal of 
 trouble. After getting rid of the amorous old fellow, 
 we had passed a village of Comoucs without stopping ; 
 and these people, giving our Quakeolth friend the credit 
 of having suggested the slight, took their revenge by 
 
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 23G 
 
 OVF.RLAND JOUIJNEY 
 
 murdering three of his slaves. As the insulted poten- 
 tate could not let matters rest here, he had now a large 
 party of his thralls prowling about for an opportunity 
 of retaliation, assuring us that nothing less than the as- 
 sassination of two slaves for one would satisfy him, 
 unless, indeed, the aggressors should come forward with 
 a handsome offer of sea-otters in the way of expiation. 
 
 At the request of the chief, we consented to remain 
 till next day, for the purpose of trading. Before the 
 fleet left us, the .female mariners, whether from inqui- 
 sitiveness or acquisitiveness, or any other motive, ex- 
 pressed a strong desire to come on board, and were by 
 no means pleased with Ma-ta-hell's unqualified rejection 
 of their proposal. 
 
 Before daybreak, the vessel was surrounded by about 
 fifty canoes, whose fair inmates were as affable as if 
 they had not been affronted the night before. After a 
 great deal of noise and negociation, we procured a small 
 quantity of inferior furs, blankets being, as usual, the 
 grand equivalent. The Quakeolths, as well as the 
 Newettees, had long been anxious that we should form 
 a permanent establishment among them. But the 
 mysterious steamer, ii^j-ainst which neither calms nor 
 contrary winds were any security, possessed, in our esti- 
 mation, this advantage over stationary forts, that, be- 
 sides being as convenient for the purposes of trade, she 
 was the terror, whether present or absent, of every tribe 
 on the coast. 
 
 Starting at two in the afternoon, we were soon obliged, 
 in consequence of the distance of any other harbour, to 
 anchor for the night in a small bay, into which a pretty 
 
 I 
 
 V^ I 
 
 i^l 
 
i^MPvemii 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 237 
 
 stream emptied itself. The wooding and waterintj, us 
 usual, commenced, while, by way of varying the even- 
 ing's amusements, we ourselves made an unsuccessful 
 attack on the ducks and plovers. 
 
 Next morning, we passed two or three canoes without 
 stopping, merely throwing them out some pieces of 
 tobacco attached to billets of wood. About three in 
 the afternoon, we entered the whirlpools of Johnston's 
 Straits,, the water being tolerably smooth, and had got 
 down nearly abreast of Point Mudge, when we became 
 enveloped in a fog, which in density surpassed anything 
 of the kind that I ever saw out of London. Under 
 these circumstances, to advance along a channel of only 
 two miles in width was impossible; and accordingly, 
 slackening the speed of the engine, we endeavoured to 
 grope our way out of the strength of the current to an 
 anchorage on the shore of Vancouver's Island. After a 
 few casts of the lead without finding bottom, we soon 
 got into twelve, eleven, ten, and eight fathoms ; and, 
 thinking that we were now quite near enough, we backed 
 out again, and dropped the small bower in eighteen 
 fathoms. We then dragged over a rocky bottom, pay- 
 ing out gradually seventy-five fathoms, while the tide 
 was running up from twelve to fourteen knots an hour ; 
 and at last we dropped the best bower, which jerked 
 over the ground to such a degree as to endanger the 
 windlass. About half past six, the best bower held 
 with its chain as stiff as a bar, whereas, the small bower, 
 of which the chain was slack, was supposed to be broken 
 or parted. We now plucked up courage to take tea, 
 supposing ourselves secure for the night ; but about 
 
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 238 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 nine, the vessel again began to drag for an hour or so, 
 till the tide slackened. Immediately on stopping, we 
 attempted to heave in the small bower, without, how- 
 ever, being able to raise a single link. About eleven 
 at night, we repeated t'le effort ; and, after fifty mi- 
 nutes of hard labour, we got hold of our small bower, 
 all dislocated and shattered. 
 
 Next day, about noon, we dragged again over sand, 
 running out into the gulf with the ebb tide. Soon 
 afterwards, our sand was succeeded by rock, when we 
 felt a jerk, which made us all suppose that the vessel 
 had struck. The cause of the shock was soon sus- 
 pected. Down to this time, the anchor, as it scraped 
 and thumped against the bottom, had been very dis- 
 tinctly heard from the poop, as if it was astern instead 
 of being five hundred feet ahead ; but now we discerned 
 nothing but the clanking of the chain, as it rattled along 
 the inequalities of the ground. In a word, we had 
 every reason to believe that we had lost our best bower. 
 About three in the afternoon, in consequence of our 
 having drifted into deep water, the chain was no longer 
 heard any more than the anchor. About four, we 
 caught a glimpse of land, supposed to be Point Mudge, 
 while we were reeling wildly out into the gulf, the mere 
 sport of the whirlpools. About six in the evening, the 
 wind, shifting from north-east to south-east, dispersed 
 the fog ; and, after our poor fellows had been toiling at 
 the windlass for nearly an hour and a half, they verified 
 our fears, by bringing up the chain without the anchor, 
 leaving us in no enviable condition at this boisterous 
 season. Getting up the steam, we hoped to reach the 
 
 A^^y 
 
we 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 239 
 
 aiichorage between Sangster's and Feveda Islands, with 
 the view of procuring a new stock for our small bower ; 
 but our south-easter soon began to blow so hard as to 
 make us bear away for Beware Harbour, at the north end 
 of Feveda ; and there we rendered ourselves as snug as 
 possible for the night, by dropping our small bower 
 with some temporary repairs, and our stream and kedge 
 lashed together. 
 
 We had passed a most anxious time of it, driving 
 helplessly, as we were, in the midst of impenetrable 
 darkness, with a current almost equalling tlie speed of a 
 racer, with a bottom where no tackle could find holding 
 ground, and with a coast where a touch would have 
 knocked the stoutest ship to pieces. Nor was man 
 likely to be more hospitable than nature. Even if we 
 had survived the perils of shipwreck, we should have 
 had to enter on a fearful struggle for our lives with 
 savages, whose cruelty had never yet acknowledged any 
 check but that of power and force. 
 
 To give an idea of the strength of the current, no 
 bottom at times could be found with two deep-sea lead 
 lines fastened together, even when the actual depth did 
 not exceed thirty or forty fathoms. 
 
 The bay in which we were anchored was said to be 
 famous for the abundance of its herring spawn. The 
 native mode of collecting it, is to lay pines on the beach 
 at low water, where, after the next flood has retired, 
 they are found to be covered with the substance in 
 question to the thickness of an inch. When dry, the 
 spawn is rubbed off with the hand into large boxes for 
 future use. Previously to being eaten, it is washed in 
 
 
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 240 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 fresh water, in order to remove the taste of tlie pine ; 
 and it is then eaten, in the form of cakes, with flesh, 
 fish, or fowl. 
 
 Next day, a chief and ten of his people were caught 
 in the act of thieving from the wood-cutters, and were 
 forthwith thrashed by the sufferers. However expert 
 the Indians may be at the knife, or the spear, or the 
 gun, they are invariably taken aback by a white fist on 
 their noses, or, as it is technically termed, by a muzzier. 
 Even the Blackfoot, one of the most ferocious speci- 
 mens of the race, is so much astonished at that homely 
 and simple style of fighting, that, vihen struck, he 
 places his hands on the part affected, instead of pitching 
 them into his assailant's carcase. 
 
 On the second day thereafter, being Sunday, the 
 17th of October, we had a beautiful run, with smooth 
 water and fine weather. We passed close along Whid- 
 bey's Island, being about forty miles long. It is well 
 fitted for settlement and cultivation. The soil is good, 
 the timber is excellent, and there are several open 
 plains, which have been prepared by nature for the 
 plough. We anchored for the evening about five miles 
 to the south of this island ; and, by making a very 
 early move, we breakfasted ashore at Nisqually, about 
 five in the morning. 
 
 Thus had I twice traversed the most extraordinary 
 course of inland navigation in the world. The first 
 that opened its mysteries in more modern times was 
 Captain Berkeley, an Englishman sailing under the 
 Portuguese flag. There is reason, however, for be- 
 lieving that, in a comparatively remote age, Berkeley 
 
 ) 1 
 
 
 .r- « 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 241 
 
 hiul been anticipated by Spanish navigators. Juan de 
 Fuca discovered the strait which bears his name ; and 
 Admiral Fonte penetrated up some of the more northerly 
 inlets. Though both these explorers mingled a vast 
 deal of fable with the truth, pretending to have made 
 their way right through to the Atlantic Ocean, yet they 
 clearly ascertained the general character of the coast to 
 the extent just stated. 
 
 According to the whole tenour of my journal, this 
 labyrinth of waters is peculiarly adapted for the powers 
 of steam. In the case of a sailing vessel, .our delays 
 and dangers would have been tripled and quadrupled — 
 a circumstance which raised my estimate of Vancouver's 
 skill and perseverance at every step of my progress. 
 But, independently of physical advantages, steam, as I 
 have already mentioned, may be said to exert an almost 
 superstitious influence over the savages ; besides acting 
 without intermission on their fears, it has, in a great 
 measure, subdued their very love of robbery and vio- 
 lence. In a word, it has inspired the red man with a 
 new opinion — new not in degree but in kind — of the 
 superiority of his white brother. 
 
 After the arrival of the emigrants from Red River, 
 their guide, a Cree of the name of Bras Croche, took 
 a short trip in the Beaver. When asked what he thought 
 of her — " Don't ask me," was his reply : " I cannot 
 speak ; my friends will say that I tell lies when I let 
 them know what I have seen; Indians are fools and 
 know nothing ; I can see that the iron machinery makes 
 the ship to go, but. I cannot see what makes the iron 
 machinery itself to go." Bras Croche, though very 
 
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 VOL. I. 
 
 11 
 
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 242 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 I ' 
 
 
 intelligent, and, like all the Crees, partially civilizecl, 
 was nevertheless so full of doubt and Avonder, that he 
 would not leave the vessel till he oot a certificate to 
 the effect, that he had been on board of a ship which 
 needed neither sails nor paddlers. Though not one of 
 his countrymen would understand a word of what was 
 written, yet the most sceptical among them would not 
 dare to question the truth of a story which had a docu- 
 ment in its favour. A savage stands nearly as much in 
 awe of paper, pen, and ink, as of steam itself; and, if 
 he once puts his cross to any writing, he has rarely 
 been known to violate the engagement which sucii 
 writing is supposed to embody or to sanction. To 
 him the very look of black and white is a powerful 
 " medicine." 
 
 Before leaving Nisqually, let me still farther illus- 
 trate the character of the tribes of the north-west coast 
 by a summary sketch of the condition of their slaves. 
 These thralls are just as much the property of their 
 masters as so many dogs, with this difference against 
 them, that a man of cruelty and ferocity enjoys a more 
 exquisite pleasure in tasking, or starving, or torturing, 
 or killing a fellow-creature, than in treating any one of 
 the lower animals in a similar way. Even in the most 
 inclement weather, a mat or a piece of deer-skin is the 
 slave's only clothing, whether by day or by night, whe- 
 ther under cover or in the open air. To eat without 
 permission, in the very midst of an abundance Avhicli 
 his toil has procured, is as much as his miserable life is 
 worth ; and the only permission which is ever vouch- 
 safed to him, is to pick up the offal thrown out by his 
 
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 ■ Mi' 
 
 ROUND TIIK WORLD. 
 
 94S 
 
 unfeeling and imperious lord. Whcthor in open war or 
 in secret assassination, this cold and hungry wretch 
 invariably occupies the post of danger. 
 
 But all this is nothing, when compared with the 
 purely wanton atrocities to which these most helpless 
 and pitiable children of the human race are subjected. 
 They are beaten, lacerated, and maimed — the muti- 
 lating of fingers or toes, the splitting of noses, the scoop- 
 ing out of eyes, being ordinary occurrences. They arc 
 butchered — without the excuse or the excitemei\t of a 
 gladiatorial combat — to make holidays ; and, .is if to 
 carry persecution beyond the point at which the wicked 
 are said to cease from troubling, their corpses are often 
 cast into the sea, to be washed out and in by the tide. 
 To show how diabolically ingenious the masters are in 
 the work of murder, six slaves, on the occasion of a 
 late merry-making at Sitka, were placed in a row, with 
 their throats over a sharp ridge of a rock, while a pole, 
 loaded with a chuckling demon at either end, ground 
 aw.ay at the backs of their necks till life was extinct. 
 What a proof of tiie degrading influence of oppression, 
 that men should submit in life to treatment, from which 
 the black bondmen of Cuba or Brazil would be glad to 
 escape by suicide ! 
 
 To return to my narrative : we almost immediately 
 departed from Nisqually in the steamer for the Chutes 
 River, about five miles farther up Puget Sound, having 
 despatched a band of horses to meet us there. At the 
 Chutes, which give name to the stream, the fall is 
 about twenty feet, where grist and saw-mills might be 
 erected with great advantage. 
 
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 241 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 Next day wo readied tlie Cowlitz Farm, where, on 
 the followint,^ morninjLf, the Rev. Mr. Deiners, of the 
 Roman Catholic church, breakfasted with us. lie had 
 just returned from visiting the country situated between 
 Nisqually and Frazer's River. At Fort Langley he had 
 seen upwards of three thousand inhabitants of Van- 
 couver's Island, who had been fishing during the sum- 
 mer in the stream just mentioned. Everywhere the 
 natives received him with the greatest respect. They 
 had, however, been very much puzzled with regard to 
 the sex of their visitor. From his dress they took him 
 for a woman, but from his beard for a man ; but, feel- 
 ing that such inconsistencies could not both be true, 
 they pursued a middle course, by referring him to a 
 distinct species. 
 
 About noon we embarked in a bateau on the Cow- 
 litz, and encamped about eight in the evening at its 
 mouth, where we met Mr. Steel, the principal shepherd 
 of the Paget Sound Company, driving a flock of rams 
 to Nisqually. 
 
 By two in the morning we were again on the water, 
 and with the first daAvn descried the Hudson's Bay 
 Company's barque Columbia, which was returning, 
 like ourselves, from the north-west coast, beating her 
 way up the stream. Having overtaken her near the 
 lower branch of the Willamette, we boarded her in time 
 for breakfast, to the satisfaction of all parties ; and, as 
 a specimen of the delays and difficulties of this intri- 
 cate river, we learned that, in addition to her usuid 
 fthare of detention at its mouth, she had already been a 
 fortnight within the bar. After doing ample justice to 
 
 : I ^ 
 
 Mm m 
 
V :, i • 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 245 
 
 I V li 
 
 the ship's good thinos, we ngain shot ahead as far ns 
 the Cuttlcpootle River ; and, having there ghidly 
 exchanged the bateau for horses, we enjoyed an exhi- 
 larating ride across a succession of luxuriant prairies, 
 which are better adapted for pasturage than tillige, being 
 periodically flooded by the high waters of the month of 
 July. Ten or twelve miles of this beautiful country 
 brought us, by four in the afternoon, to Fort Vancouver, 
 where we found that the intermittent fever, which had 
 been raging at our departure, had lost much of its 
 virulence during our northern trip. 
 
 Hardly had the Columbia reached Vancoaiver, when 
 the Cowlitz, which had made a voyage to the Sandwich 
 Islands and California, was reported to be off the bar ; 
 and soon afterwards her papers came up by boat from 
 Fort George, along with a passenger of the name of 
 Do Mofras, who represented himself, for he had no cre- 
 dentials, as an attach^ of the French embassy in Mexico. 
 Though this gentleman professed to be collecting infor- 
 mation for the purpose of making a book, yet, with the 
 exception of accompanying us to the Willamette, he 
 scarcely went ten miles from the comfortable quarters 
 of Fort Vancouver, while, in conversation, he was more 
 ready to dilate on his own equestrian feats, than to 
 hear what others might be able to tell him about the 
 country or the people. 
 
 Fort Vancouver, the Company's grand depot on the 
 west side of the Rocky Mountains, is situated about 
 ninety miles from the sea, the Columbia, in front of it, 
 being about one mile in width. Within an oblong en- 
 closure of upwards of six hundred feet by two hundred, 
 
 
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 246 
 
 OVERLAND JO I UN KY 
 
 uliich is HurrouiHlc'd by pickets, there arc contained 
 several houses, stores, m.i^azines, granaries, work- 
 shops, &c. ; while the dwellings of the servants, the 
 stables, the hospital, &c., form a little village on the 
 outside of the walls. 
 
 The ])eople of the establishment, besides officers and 
 native labourers, vary in number, according to the 
 season of the year, from a hundred and thirty to more 
 than two hundred. They consist of Canadians, Sand- 
 wich Islanders, Europeans, and half-breeds ; and they 
 contain among them agriculturists, voyageurs, black- 
 smiths, tinsmiths, carpenters, masons, tailors, shoe- 
 makers, &c., &c. Their weekly rations are usually 
 twenty-one pounds of salted salmon and one bushel of 
 potatoes, for each man ; and, in addition to fish, there 
 are also venison and wild fowl, with occasionally a little 
 beef and pork. 
 
 Most of the men are married to aboriginal or half- 
 breed women ; and the swarms of children in the little 
 village already mentioned present a strongly suggestive 
 contrast with the scantiness of the rising generation in 
 almost every native village on the Lower Columbia. 
 
 Amid so large a population, the surgeon of the esta- 
 blishment finds ample employment ; to the hospital 
 already mentioned the most serious cases are removed, 
 seldom exceeding eight or ten in number, and generally 
 consisting of fevers, fractures, and neglected syphilis. 
 
 There is an elementary school for the children of both 
 sexes. Though at present there is no clergyman at 
 Vancouver, yet divine service is regularly performed 
 every Sunday in English to the Protestants, and in 
 
HOUND THE WOULH. 
 
 247 
 
 Froiich to tlie Ciitholics. Tlio stiine duipol — a build- 
 iiiy-, by the by, unworthy of the establishment — served 
 both purposes at the time of our visit; but separate 
 phices of worship were about to be erected for the two 
 denominations. 
 
 The farm of Fort Vancouver contains upwards of 
 twelve hundred acres muiov cultivation, which have this 
 year produced four thousand bushels of wheat, three 
 thousand five hundred of barley, oats, and peas, and a 
 very large quantity of potatoes and other vegetables. 
 The wheat, which has yielded ten returns, is of very 
 fine quality, weighing from sixty-five to- sixty-eight 
 pounds and a half a bushel. There are, moreover, 
 fifteen hundred sheep, and between four and five hun- 
 dred head of cattle. 
 
 During my sojourn at Vancouver, I made a short 
 excursion to the rapiilly rising settlement on the Wil- 
 himette. This nucleus of civilization is perhaps more 
 completely isolated than even the colony of Red River. 
 From the inhabited parts, of the United States it is 
 separated by deserts of rock and sand on either side of 
 the dividing range of mountains — deserts, with whose 
 horrors every reader of Washington Irving's " Astoria" 
 is familiar ; or, if the maritime route be preferred, the 
 voyage from New York to the Columbia occupies about 
 two hundred degrees of latitude, and, by the actual 
 course, about a hundred and fifty of longitude ; while 
 the navigation of the river itself, up to the mouth of 
 the Willamette, including the detention before crossing 
 the bar, amounts, on an average, to far more than the run 
 of a sailing packet across the Atlantic. Again, to look 
 
 
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 ill the <llrc(!ti()n of Calilbrniji — ft direction, by tho by, in 
 wliicli the Willamotte nettleinent is more likely to send 
 forth lulventurcrs than to receive them — tho country, 
 if less barren than that to the enntwanl, is far more 
 rugi,'eii. With respect, moreover, to the savage tribes, 
 the former track is more danjijerous than the latter, 
 though certainly less dangerous than once it was. It 
 was, in fact, on this southern route that the massacre of 
 twenty-one Americans on the Umqua, already men- 
 tioned in a general way, took place. A trapper of the 
 1 ame of Smith, a remarkably shrewd and intelligent 
 man, had encamped on the left bank of the last-men- 
 tioned river with twenty followers, and had ascended 
 the stream in a canoe with two companions of his own 
 party and a native of the neighbourhood, to find a 
 Oimvenient place for crossing. On his return, his Indian 
 was hailed by another from the shore, who spoke to 
 him in his own language, which was unknown alike to 
 Smith and to his people. A sufficiently intelligible 
 interpretation, however, soon followed; for Smith's 
 savage upset the conoe by a jerk, thereby pitching the 
 guns of the white men, as well as the white men them- 
 selves, into the current. Under a heavy fire. Smith and 
 one of his men found their way to the bank, the other 
 man having fallen a victim either to the enemy's shot, 
 or to the depths of the Umqua. On reaching the banks 
 of the river opposite to his camp, the trapper found his 
 men murdered, and all his property rifled. Smith, 
 after encountering many dangers, and enduring many 
 hardships, reached one of our forts ; and, at great 
 inconvenience to our own business, we compelled the 
 
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 <■ /ir 
 
 ROrND TIIK WORLD. 
 
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 savages, by a doinoiiMtration of force, to surrender to 
 liiiii their booty. 
 
 To return to the settlement on tho Willamette : the 
 river in question may be ascended by any such vessel as 
 can navigate the Columbia, to its falls, which are about 
 sixteen miles from its mouth, while farther up it is not 
 subject to any obstacle or interruption capable of im- 
 peding iidand craft. The neighbourhood of the falls, 
 as being the only portage between the sea and the fer- 
 tile valley above, has since then become the site of 
 what is called Oregon City. 
 
 The settlement, to refer exclusively to the time of 
 my visit, extends from the falls for a considerable dis- 
 tance up both banks of the stream, containing about a 
 hundred and twenty farms, varying in size from a hun- 
 dred to five hundred acres each. The produce of this 
 season has been about thirty-five thousand bushels of 
 excellent wheat, with due proportions of oats, barley, 
 j)cas, potatoes, &c. The cattle are three thousand, the 
 horses two thousand five hundred, and the hogs an 
 indefinite multitude. 
 
 This settlement was formed about ten years ago, 
 under the auspices of the Hudson's Bay Company, as a 
 retreat for its retiring servants. Of these, who are 
 principally Canadians, there are now sixty, with their 
 half-breed families ; there are, moreover, sixty-five new 
 settlers from the United States, most of them with 
 wives and children. The whole population, therefore, 
 amounts to about five hundred souls, besides about a 
 thousand natives of all ages, who have been domesticated 
 as agricultural servants. In connexion with this settle- 
 
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 250 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 iiient, or rtlic" in the anticipation of establisliiii<r it, 
 the Hudson's Buy Company took possession of the 
 ground near the falls as far back as 1828. 
 
 Even now, when the American citizens have out- 
 numbered the British subjects, the Willamette settle- 
 ment is, in a great measure, dependent on the Hudson's 
 Bay Company. Of the wheat we have this season 
 bought four thousand bushels; and from us almost 
 every setller receives his supplies of imported goods, at 
 prices not mucli higher than those paid by our own 
 servants. 
 
 We rode over a great part of the settlement, visiting 
 many of the colonists, by whom we were very kindly 
 received. They all appear to be comfortably lodged, 
 with abundance of provisions ; and, if not rich, they are 
 at least independent. This colony, if colony it can be 
 called, in the absence of any political relation with a 
 mother country, will doubtless rapidly rise in import- 
 ance, and soon be enabled to supply a large quantity of 
 wheat, hides, and tallow, for exportation to a foreign 
 market. 
 
 Between the valley of the Willamette and the sea lie 
 the Palatine Plains, an extensive district of rich pas- 
 ture ; while again, towards the interior, to the eastward 
 of the agricultural settlement, a land of hill and dale 
 presents one of the finest tracts for grazing within the 
 same parallels in the world. Throughout the whole 
 country, cattle may find food for themselves all the year 
 round, the expense and labour of housing the animals 
 and of funiishing them with fodder being thus saved. 
 What an ac' untage over the frosts and snows on the east 
 
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 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
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 side of the Rocky Mountains ! But perhaps the most 
 agreeable feature in the case is the prospect which it 
 holds out with respect to the civilization of the Indians. 
 ►Savages, accustomed, as they necessarily are, to pur- 
 suits in which the reward immediately follows the toil, 
 may be said to have an inherent distaste for the slow 
 returns of agriculture ; and even pastoral life is more 
 than they can bear, provide 1 it involve the necessity, as 
 in the Hudson Bay Company's territories, of hard labour 
 in the hottest season, and of incessant care in th? coldest. 
 But, on the west side of the mountains, the aborigines 
 may have all the pleasure of property — without which 
 there can be no civilization — and hardly any of its 
 cares. 
 
 In this matter, there is the greater room for hope, 
 inasmuch as savages, having but few internal influences 
 to guide them, are peculiarly the creatures of external 
 circumstances — so far, at least, as their constitutional 
 indolence does not stand in the way. Thus the cha- 
 racter of the gregarious horsemen of the plains is dif- 
 ferent from that of the solitary prowler of the woods; 
 and that again is different from the character of those 
 who exclusively or principally draw their living from 
 the waters. So unerring is this principle, that, from 
 external circumstances alone, an intelligent man may 
 generally ascertain, within certain limits, tlie habits and 
 dispositions of a tribe. But experience, by changing 
 circumstances and character together, has placed the 
 point beyond dispute. The Sarcces, now inhabiting the 
 banks of Bow River, were originally Chipewyaiis from 
 Athabasca ; an<l they ' esemble rather tlie Blackfeet 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 than their own original stock. Again, the Crees, on 
 migrating from the bush into the plains, exchanged the 
 characteristics of their race for those of the tribes 
 among which their southerly advance placed them. 
 Lastly, the Chipewyans, as a body, having occupied 
 much of the ground which the Crees had abandoned, 
 form, as it were, an intermediate link between what 
 they themselves have lately been, and what their de- 
 scendants, the Sarcees, noAV are. 
 
 ''^^*ii-.ikl! 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 253 
 
 !i 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ill/ ill; I 
 
 FROM VANCOUVER TO SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 Departure from Vancouver — Boating clown the Columbia — Embark- 
 ation on board of the Cowlitz, the grand epoch of my journey — Damage 
 from lightning — Bar of the Columbia — Discovery of Columbia; compa- 
 rative merits of Ileceta, Meares, and Gray — Disputed' territory, claims 
 of United States — Christmas Day, home and abroai. — -Whales — Cape 
 Mendocino — New Albion and California — Bodega and Ross, Russian 
 American Company, Russian Sovereignty — Russian discoveries — Russia 
 and England — Sir Francis Drake, past and present — First glance of 
 California — Port of San Francisco, discovered by land — Upper California, 
 • motives for colonizing it — San Francisco, entrance of harbour — Presidios 
 — Siege of a mud kitchen — General description of harbour — Russians 
 and English, compared with Californians — Yerba Buena. 
 
 Towards the close of Xovember, the tw-: barques 
 dropped down the river : iiivi , the Cohimbia, bound for 
 England; and then ihe CowUtz, destined to convey me 
 to California, the SjM^dwich Is-\uds, and Sitka. In 
 the latter were Mr. Hnles, of the American exploring 
 squadron, Mr. de Mofras, ful Mrs. Rae and family, all 
 passengers for California, while my own immediate 
 party remained behind at Vancouver, to make the most 
 of our time while the vessel should be creeping along to 
 the lowest point for safe embarkatioa. 
 
 Accordingly, on the last day of tiie month, we left 
 the fort about three in the afternoon, with a boat and len 
 
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 OVRRLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 men. As the r.ain was pouring in torrents, we mado 
 very little |)rooress, so that it was dark before we were 
 abreast of the upper branch of the Willamette, opposite to 
 wliich we encamped, on the right bank of the Columbia, 
 paying pretty well for very indilferent accommodation. 
 This portion of the river presents nothing but swampy 
 tracts in every direction, the ancient and most probably 
 the perpetual freehold of millions of wild fowl of every 
 name ; and no sooner had they ascertained the presence 
 of squatters from our watch-fires, than they set up a 
 serenade of several miles in diameter, in which their 
 treble appeared to become shriller by practice. Sleep 
 was, of course, almost out of the question, our only con- 
 solation being that each of us, for his own share, kept at 
 least some myriads of the enemy out of bed ; and, though 
 the weather had not by any means improved during the 
 night, yet we were glad enough by four in the morning 
 to give our tormentors the slip. 
 
 After passing the Cowlitz River and the Coffin Rock, 
 we reached Oak Point about two in the afternoon. As 
 a gale was now beginning to rise, besides that we were 
 ourselves wet and chilly, we determined at once to make 
 for an eligible encampment, which \^ as known to be at no 
 great distance below us ; but so much were we impeded 
 by the rain and wind, that we were overtaken by the 
 night before reaching the desired spot, and were about 
 to return to the Indian village of Oak Point, when a 
 heavy squall, in which hail and rain took the pelting of 
 us by turns, suddenly burst upon us, nearly swamping 
 our clumsy craft. In spite of the pitchy darkness, and 
 of the probability of our being unable to land, we ha<I 
 
 ^ ; i 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 2.55 
 
 110 other choice tliaii to run ashore from the storm, and 
 to let the boat's head take its chance among the hushes. 
 Fortunately, we got footing, and, after literally groping 
 our way, were deliglitcd to discover room for one tent ; 
 and when, after two hours, the wet wood was coaxed 
 into a, tolerable blaze, we contrived to find space for the 
 otVicr also. We could now have slept well, more par- 
 ticularly after the sleeplessness of the previous night ; 
 but, besides worrying ourselves with the possibility that 
 the tide might rise upon us, we were kept awake by a 
 concert more horrible than that of the denizens of tlio 
 bog — the crash of trees falling around us before the vio- 
 lence of the storm. jMoreover, the tempest, without 
 abating its fury in any respect, embodied fresh elements 
 of terror and mischiyif. For the first time since we 
 crossed the mountains we were visited by tlmnder and 
 lightning, which on this coast are in season only during 
 wdnter; and, to crown the climax, \xq felt, or fancied, a 
 slight shock of an earthquake. In this state of affairs, 
 we durst not budge before daylight; and on starting, 
 about six in the morning, we were mortified to find that 
 we had stopped short of M*=Kenzie's encampment, the 
 object of our yesterday's search, by only three or four 
 hundred yards. 
 
 The river was absolutely covered with swans, pelicans, 
 geese, cranes, loons, ducks, cormorants, eagles, gulls, &c. 
 — the swans, in particular, presenting themselves in 
 flights of a hundred, or even two hundred at a time. 
 These birds inhabit numerous bushy islands, which ap- 
 pear to have been originally formed by accumulations 
 of driftwood, and which, being regularly flooded at 
 
 
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 256 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 high tide, are still almost as amphibious as most of their 
 tenants. 
 
 We breakfasted on the site of what had once been a 
 native village, one of those sad monuments of a perish- 
 ing race which are of so frequent occurrence on the 
 Lower Columbia, and thence made a traverse to Tongue 
 Point, on the left bank of the river, amid a succession 
 of squalls, accompanied by rain, and hail, and sleet. 
 This traverse occupied the whole remainder of this mi- 
 serable day; and it was as dangerous as it was tedious and 
 disagreeable ; for the Columbia, now an estuary of five 
 times its own proper width, exhibited sea enough to do 
 full credit to the rudest gusts of the fitful storm. 
 Tongue Foiut, where we encamped, being very few 
 miles fi'jove Fort George, the ir>tended place of our 
 embarkation, we found that we had timed our departure 
 from Vancouver to admiration, for, in the course of tlie 
 afternoon, we saw the Cowlitz beating down against the 
 same south-wester that was distressing and retarding 
 ourselves. 
 
 Next morning, being the 3rd of December, we 
 reached Fort George, formerly Astoria, about nine 
 o'clock, wet, cold, and comfortless, as, in fact, we had 
 been, with little or no intermission, during the three 
 days and nights of our downward passage. If we had 
 onjoycd at Vancouver a week longer than our friends 
 who had staifed in the Cowlitz, we had paid quite 
 enough for our whistle. Tlie Columbia had already 
 arrived at Astoria; and, as the Cowlitz joined her in 
 the course of the afternoon, we immediately embarked, 
 and, on comparing notes M'ith her passengers, found 
 
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 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 So? 
 
 nine 
 I'o liad 
 three 
 ive hail 
 triends 
 quite 
 llreiidy 
 lier in 
 parked, 
 found 
 
 that, on the whole, the balance, as we had anticipated, 
 was in their favour. 
 
 To myself, my embarkation on board of the Cowlitz 
 formed the principal epoch of my journey. Hitherto, I 
 had, with few exceptions, traversed scenes which, to say 
 nothing of their comparative barrenness of interest, >vere 
 either in themselves familiar to me, or differed only in 
 degree from such as were so. But from Astoria every 
 step would impart to me the zest of novelty towards ob- 
 jects essentially attractive and important. In California, 
 I had before me a fragment of the grandest of colonial 
 empires ; in the Sandwich Islands, I was to contemplate 
 the noblest of all triumphs, the slow but sure victory of 
 the highest civilization over the lowest barbarism ; and 
 to Russia I looked forward with the peculiar feelings of 
 an Englishman, as the only [)Ossible rival of his country 
 in the extent and variety of moral and political in- 
 fluence. 
 
 Next morning we ran across to Baker's Bay with a 
 fair wind, and were there obliged to drop anchor ; for, 
 though the breeze might have served us, yet the sea was 
 breaking too heavily on the bar. During fourteen days, 
 one south-easter followed another, each bringing its 
 deluges of rain, at mid-winter ; while, to mark the dif- 
 ference of climate between the two sides of the conti- 
 nent, the good folks of Montreal, though occupying a 
 lower parallel than ourselves, were sleighing it merrily 
 through the clearest and driest of atmospheres. But, 
 towards the close of the fortnight, the weather occa- 
 sioned something much worse than mere detention. On 
 ihe 16th of the month — the montli, be it observed, of 
 
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 December — our mainmasts were simultaneously struck 
 by li^htninii", that of the Cowlitz escaping with a 8li<rht 
 scorching, but that of the Columbia being so severely 
 shattered as perhaps to require replacing at the Sand- 
 wich Islands, before she could safely proceed to Eng- 
 land. 
 
 About the 18th of the month, the wind veered to the 
 northward, with frost and clear weather ; but it was 
 not before the 21st that the bar became sufficiently 
 tranquil. Tlie.re being now a favourable breeze from 
 the north-east, as well as smooth water, we prepared to 
 escape from the prison, which had held us in durance 
 vile for seventeen days ; and accordingly, about two in 
 the afternoon, both vessels got under way. We weie 
 all, even the most experienced among us. anxiously ex- 
 cited at the prospect of encountering a spot already 
 pre-eminent, among congenial terrors of much older 
 fame, for destruction of property and loss of life — its 
 unenviable trophies consisting of three ships wrecked 
 and several others damaged, to say nothing of ooats 
 swamped with all their crews. Even under the condi- 
 tions of fair wind and smooth water, we had reason for 
 not feeling quite secure. On a depth of four or five 
 fathoms, the river and the ocean, even in their mildest 
 moods, could hardly meet without raising a swell, the 
 more dangerous on account of its shallowness ; and the 
 slightest caprice of the breeze, while we Avere entangled 
 amid the intricate and narrow channels, might have left 
 us to be driven by an impetuous tide on sands, where 
 the stoutest ship, in the finest weatlier, would be knocked 
 to pieces in very few hours. We contrive<l, however, to 
 
■«^.', 
 
 
 ROUND THE WORI.D. 
 
 250 
 
 < ■ J 1 
 
 turn our consort to good account. The Columbia, 
 having' been anchored nearer to the bar, took the lead ; 
 and the Cowlitz, of course, was careful to make some- 
 thing of a pilot out of her wake, professional pilots being 
 clearly out of the question. On gaining the safe side 
 of the passage, the Columbia hoisted her colours and 
 fired a salute for Old England — a signal of safety which, 
 in a few minutes, we had the happiness of returning. 
 Here the vessels separated for their immediate destina- 
 tions of Woahoo and California; and, as our present 
 breeze was a perfectly fair wind for both, they diverged 
 so rapidly, that, before the day failed them, they had 
 pretty nearly lost sight of each other. As the Cowlitz, 
 though she had started from Vancouver five days later 
 tlian the Columbia, had yet spent four weeks in coming 
 about a hundred miles, our spanking progress along tlie 
 coast was quite delightful, in spite of an occasionally 
 intruding suspicion that such luck was too good to last, 
 south-easters being as much the rule in winter as north- 
 westers are during the rest of the year. 
 
 The detention of our two ships had by no means ex- 
 ceeded the average delay, more particularly considering 
 the season. During the winter, vessels often lie in 
 Baker's Bay from three to seven weeks, for the indis- 
 pensable conjunction of fair wind and smooth water. 
 The difficulties, too, of ingress, as compared with those 
 of egress, are necessarily aggravated by the circum- 
 stance that a vessel cannot so snugly watch her oppor- 
 tunity in the open ocean as in Baker's Bay ; and the 
 danger of her position would be still greater, were she 
 not exempted from the hazards of a lee-shore by the 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 openness of the adjacent coasts, and the directions of 
 the prevailing gales. 
 
 But these obstructions, in proportion as tliey lessen 
 the value of this river, enhanced at the same time the 
 merit of the man who first surmounted thorn — a merit 
 which cannot be denied to the judgment, and perse- 
 verance, and courage, of Captiiin Gray of Boston. 
 Whether or not Captain Gray's achievement is entitlcil 
 to rank as a discovery, the question is one which a bare 
 sense of justice, without regard to political conse- 
 quences, requires to be decided by facts alone. First, 
 in 1775, ITeceta, a Spaniard, discovered the opening i)0- 
 tween Cape Disappointment, on the north, and Point 
 Adams, on the south — u discovery the more worthy of 
 notice, inasmuch as such o})oning can hardly be observed, 
 excepting when approached from the westward ; and, 
 being induced partly by the appearance of the land, and 
 partly by native traditions, as to a great river of tlie 
 west, he filled the gap by a guess with his Rio de San 
 Roque. Secondly, in 1788, Meares, an Englishman 
 sailing under Portuguese colours, approached the open- 
 ing in question into seven fathoms of water, but pro- 
 nounced the Rio de San Roque to be a fable, being 
 neither able to enter it nor discern any symptoms of its 
 existence. Thirdly, in 1791, Gray, though, after an 
 effort of nine days, he failed to effect an entrance, was 
 yet convinced of the existence of a great river by the 
 colour and current of the water. Fourthly, in April, 
 1792, Vancouver, while he fell short of Gray's convic- 
 tion, then, however, unknown to him, correctly decided 
 that the river, if it existed, was a very intricate one, 
 
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ROUND TIIK WOIIMI. 
 
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 iiiid not a siifo, iiiivii^nblo hsirbour for vessels of the bur- 
 den of his ship. Fifthly, in May, 1702, (J my, voturnin'^ 
 expressly to roniplele his discovery of the previous 
 year, entered the river, findin^j;- the channel very narrow, 
 and not navii^mblc more than fifteen miles upwards, even 
 for his Colund)ia, of two hundred and twenty tons. 
 Accord in ry to this summarv statement of incontrovertible 
 facts, the inquiry ro K'es itself into three points, the 
 discovery of the c \<jr by lleceta, the discovery of 
 the river by Gray on liis first visit, and the discovery of 
 a practicable entrance by the same individual revisitini^ 
 the spot for the avowed purpose of confirming and ma- 
 turing his previous belief. Of the three points, the 
 most important two, the two also which are least in- 
 debted to accident, are in Gray's favour, wdiile the 
 value of Heceta's elementary and fortuitous step in the 
 process is still farther diminished by the very inconsi- 
 derable light vhich it afforded to Meares. 
 
 An Englishman is the less tempted to do injustice to 
 Gray, inasmuch as his success, however creditable to 
 himself as a bold and skilful mariner, cannot be made 
 to support the territorial claim of his nation. He dis- 
 covered one point in a country, which, as a whole, other 
 nations had already discovered; so that the pretensions 
 of America had been already forestalled by Spain and 
 England. Supposing a Frenchman to have been the 
 first to enter the harbour of Honolulu, would he have 
 secured to France the whole of the Sandwich Islands, 
 even on the ground, admitted on all hands to be correct, 
 that the port in question was more valuable than all the 
 voiyt of the group? To take a still more apposite in- 
 
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 Stance : supposini»; :i iins.siaii to have been the first to 
 enter the harl)oiir of San Francisco, woiikl he have 
 secured to Russia the whole of California, even on the 
 ground, admitted on all hands to he correct, that the 
 port in question was more valuable than all that had 
 previously been discovered on either side by England or 
 Spain? But Gray's su'.'cess was as defective in form as 
 it M as impotent in substance. Discovery confers merely 
 a preferable right of taking j»ossL'ssion within a reason- 
 able time, requiring, even for this limited purpose, to 
 be accompanied by a claim, as expressive of an inten- 
 tion to maintain and enforce such right. Now, neither 
 Gray nor his government ever meditated any such claim 
 till after the lapse of nearly twenty years, the journey 
 of Lewis and Clarke, in 1 805, across the continent, 
 neither having reference to any previous discovery, nor 
 being itself meant to be thefoun(hition of any territorial 
 pretension ; nor conld the coast of the Pacific, so long- 
 as it was separated from the republic by the foreign 
 colony of Louisiana, have been possessed or claimed on 
 any ground whatever, without doing violence to the 
 constitution of the United States. J5ut the claim, even 
 if validly made, would have been forfeited by subsequent 
 j)roceedings. Though Astoria and some other posts 
 were planted, not, however, by the government, but by 
 individuals, yet they were all voluntarily abandoned 
 dnring the war, so as to lend a positive sanction to the 
 negative argument, founded on lapse of time — a sanc- 
 tion rendered only the more conclusive by the second 
 voluntary abandonment of Astoria, when restored under 
 the treaty of peace. Nor has the Willamette settlement, 
 
ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 26rJ 
 
 in wliich Americans liavo no\vl)en:uii to plant tliemsclvos, 
 altoiit fifty years after the date of fl ray's discovery, 
 improved in this respect the position of the United 
 States, for that colony Mas oriufinally formed by British 
 suhjects, acting nnder IJritish authority, its nationality 
 bein<r as little afU'cted as that of Canada, in the eye of 
 public law, by American immiurration. 
 
 In truth, the ari,ninient of discovery was never 
 broached till the acquisition of Louisiana, which took 
 place in 1803, had brouu^ht the rej)nblic to the height 
 of land between the Missonii and the Ctdumbia, an 
 acqni'^ition which gradually nursed into life the ma- 
 ruudor's plea of contiguity — in other words, when tho 
 Americans found the north-west coast within their 
 roach, then, but not till then, did they try to find pre- 
 texts for grasping it. l>ut the end was as impracticable 
 as the means were unjustifiable. The Uiuted States 
 will never possess more than a nominal jurisdiction, nor 
 long possess even that, on the west side of the Rocky 
 ^Mountains ; and supposing the country to be divided 
 to-morrow to the entire satisfaction of the most unscrn- 
 pulous patriot in the Union, I challenge Congress to 
 bring my prediction and its own power to the test, by 
 imposing the Atlantic tariff on tho ports of the Pacific. 
 
 But the Americans profess to have fortified their own 
 rights of discovery by those of Spain, having obtained, 
 in 1819, a cession of all the claims of that power to 
 that portion of the coast which lies to the north of the 
 parallel of forty-two degrees. Now, as against Eng- 
 land, America could hold such claims only on the same 
 footing as that on which Spain herself held them — 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 miinely, under the stipulations of the treaty of 170 
 between the two monarchies. According to the third 
 article of that international compact, neither of the 
 contracting parties was to disturb the other in the for- 
 mation of settlements ; and, according to its fifth article, 
 the inherent sovereignty of such settlements was 
 restricted only by the reciprocal right of access for the 
 purposes of trade. 
 
 As this treaty has not been affected by the temporary 
 convention between England and the United States, for 
 the latter substantially re-echoes the provisions of the 
 former, it necessarily renders British 'sovereignty co- 
 extensive with British possession, as existing at any 
 point of time, whether present or future — a conclusion 
 which, considering the number of British posts and the 
 range of their operations, cuts the knot with all its 
 intricacies at a single blow. Clearly, therefore, America 
 would rather weaken than strengthen her claim by 
 tacking to it the rights of Spain. But, in point of fact, 
 Spain was not competent to substitute a stranger for 
 herself with respect to England. The international 
 relations, as just now quoted, were, so to speak, purely 
 personal ; nor could any thing be more certain than 
 that, in 1790, neither Spain would have accepted Ame- 
 rica for England, nor England have accepted America 
 for Spain. But the relations in question, even if not in 
 their own nature personal, were practically rendered 
 incapable of being transferred to any third party by the 
 correlative provisions ; for the treaty of 1 790 professed 
 to ascertain and define the relative position of the two 
 powers throughout the whole of the Pacific Ocean and 
 
"» * ' 
 
 ROUND Tin: WOULD. 
 
 *^()r) 
 
 silso aIon<^ the otistcni coast of South America. The 
 north-west coast, therefore, was merely a part of a 
 whole ; and the allege*! transfer of 1819, even if admis- 
 sible on other grounds, would have operated as a fraud 
 against England by forcing on her a substitute incom- 
 petent to discharge the obligations of the principal. 
 
 As against England, however, the treaty of 1819 did 
 not contemplate the substitution of Anioriea for Spain, 
 after drawing the boundary between IMexico and the 
 United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the 
 third article concluded with a clause of mutual renun- 
 ciation and cession — a clause which, if not expressed, 
 Mould have been understood as a necessary corollary to 
 the substantive adjustment of the line. At all events, 
 the cession to America could not have force ajjainst 
 England, unless the renunciation on the part of Spain 
 had force also in her favour ; but so far was this from 
 being the case, that Spain was still entitled to trade 
 with the English settlements, and tilso, so far as Eng- 
 land was concerned, to form settlements of her own on 
 any unoccupied portions of the north-west coast, so that, 
 in pledging herself to America, as she virtually did, not 
 to form any such settlements, she made a cession, if not 
 in favour of the United States, at least in favour of 
 Great Britain, under the guarantee of the republic. 
 
 To conclude with one word, this assumption of Spanish 
 rights, however it may promote American interests, 
 does little to establish American candour in the premises; 
 for, though it dated its origin only from 1819, yet 
 vVmerica had, as far back as 1814, demanded, in reliance, 
 forsooth, on her o\> n proper claims, fully as much as she 
 
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 Mould even now be <>;l!i(l to accept, — the whole country 
 to the south of the jjaraliel of forty-nine iloi>roc's. 
 
 In tliis (li«rivssion, which has no pretensions to the 
 clmracter of u C()inj)!eto discnssion, I have confined 
 myself to the most prominent points of the American 
 side of the question, and to the most palpable <lefects of 
 the same. On behalf of England, direct arguments arc 
 superfluous, for, until sojne other power puts a good 
 title on paper, actual possession must be held to be of 
 itself conclusive in her favour. 
 
 J>ut to return to my narrative, which left us scudding 
 down the coast before a fair wind : we again encountered, 
 during the night, our old enemy the south-easter, with 
 its usual acconii)animents of heavy sea and wet weather ; 
 but, having now plenty of elbow-room, we made the bef»t 
 of our bad fortune and left the land behind us, keeping 
 as much to the south of south-west as possible. For 
 three days tiiis state of things remained unchanged — 
 our oidy relief from the monotony of misery being that 
 we were now and then able to amuse ourselves with the 
 unwieldy gambols of a few sperm whales. 
 
 Fortunately, on the 2.5th, I'lO gale moderated suffi- 
 ciently to let us enjoy, in comparative comfort, the 
 national fare of roast beef and plum-pudding, washed 
 down, of course, with the ship's choicest bottles, to the 
 health and happiness of absent friends. On this d.ay, 
 sacred to the domestic ties, from how many spots of 
 land and water do Englishmen indulge in one and the 
 same train of homeward aspirations; and from how many 
 crowded hearths does England, in return, send forth 
 yearnings of affectionate regret to all the corners of the 
 
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 ROUND Tin: WORLD. 
 
 yc; 
 
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 caitli ! What other empire ever did so much, on this 
 or any other day, to bind the worhl into one witli tlie 
 mutually responsive emotions of its children ! 
 
 Xext morninir, the j^outh-easter, as if it had suspended 
 business merely to keep Christ nu'is, returned in full 
 force. On the 27th, however, the sea became calm, 
 the sun was brii,dit, and the wind changed to the north- 
 west, so that we were enabled to make for the land with 
 studdinf>;-sails and sky-scrapers all set. Several whales 
 favoured us with their visits; and, as there was now 
 some pleasure in saunterin«>; on deck, we made the most 
 of their vagaries to beQ:uile our idle hours. "Thoui>h we 
 liad been driven out to sea at least a hundred and fifty 
 miles, so as to [>ass unseen fully six or seven deurees of 
 coast, yet we had not missed any other object of interest 
 than Cape Mendocino, the extremity of a snowy range 
 — a spur of the Rocky ^lountains — Mhich forms the 
 height of land between the Columbia on the one side, 
 and the Colorado and the Sacramento on the other. 
 l>ut it is not merely by dividing the waters that this 
 ])romontory and the chain, which it terminates, con- 
 stitute a natural boundary between the north and the 
 south. In soil, the separated regions diHTor as w idely as 
 the Shetland Islands and the Isle of Wight, while, in 
 climate, they present as striking a contrast as the 
 mountains of Scotland and the valleys of Spain. 
 
 With daylight, on the 28th, we again came in sight 
 of the coast between Cape Mendocino and Bodega Bay, 
 our vessel being surrounded by land-birds, that flut- 
 tered and played about us as if to welcome our arrival. 
 Whatever may be the extent of New Albion, as the 
 
 
 m\\ 
 
 , V 
 
 i il 
 
2C« 
 
 OVi;RLAM) JOURNEY 
 
 H 
 
 theatre of Drake's discoveries, the iiei^jiibouring coast 
 certainly forms part of it ; but, as this iiatne lias prac- 
 tically become unimportant, in a political sense, since 
 the date of the treaty already mentioned between Eng- 
 land and Spain, it appears to have been gradually super- 
 seded by the Spanish term California, as far to the 
 northward as the parallel of forty-two degrees. This 
 latter term, which was originally appropriated to the 
 peninsula, situated on the gulf of the same name, and sup- 
 posed, down to the beginning of the eighteenth century, to 
 be an island, was gradually extended by the Spaniards to 
 the whole of the north-west coasts being supplanted, 
 however, in its turn by other names, as far to the south 
 as the forty-second parallel aforesaid. The peninsula 
 and continental divisions of California are respectively 
 known as Old and New, or Lower and Upper — the for- 
 mer distinction being somewhat out of place where all 
 is new, and the latter being significant only in the 
 mechanical sense of the map-maker, without the usual 
 reference to the course of any common stream. 
 
 In the couree of the morning, we passed Bodega and 
 Ross, respectively the harbour and the fort of the Rus- 
 sian American Company. That association, which as- 
 sumed its present form towards the close of the last 
 century, under the patronage of the Emperor Paul, 
 could not find any native supply of bread-stuffs nearer 
 than the central steppes of Asia, to be transported 
 thence over about a hundred and twenty degrees of lon- 
 gitude and thirty of latitude, by barges from the head 
 of the Sena to Yakutsk, on horses from Yakutsk to 
 Ochotsk, and in ships from Ochotsk to Sitka. So ex- 
 
1 
 
 1 
 
 ROUND TIIK WOULD. 
 
 26.0 
 
 ^i 
 
 pensive and tedious a route operating almost as a pro- 
 hibition, the Company's establishments were, of course, 
 very inadequately supplied with that which, to a Rus- 
 sian, is peculiarly the staff of life, so that a design was 
 naturally formed of planting an agricultural settlement 
 on the adjacent coast of America. 
 
 With this view, in IMarch, 1806 — the very month, by 
 the by, in which Lewis and Clarke left their winter's 
 encampment of Clatsop Point to retrace their steps 
 across the continent — Von ResanofT, who was then the 
 Company's principal representative, attempted to enter 
 the Columbia, but was baffled in the attempt by the 
 same circumstances which had so long retarded the dis- 
 covery of the river. Eight years afterwards, however, 
 the extensive and beautiful valley of Santa Rosa, which 
 opens into Bodega Bay, was actually occupied — Spain 
 being too busy elsewhere with more serious evils to 
 repel the intrusion. 
 
 As compared with the Columbia, California, besides 
 its greater fertility and its easier access, pc ossed the 
 additional recommendation of literally teem"ng with 
 sea-otters, thus securing to the Company an incidental 
 advantage, more important, perhaps, in a pecuniary 
 sense, than the primary object of pursuit. Since 1814, 
 the Russians have sent to market from California the 
 enormous number of eighty thousand sea-otters, besides 
 a large supply of fur-seals, having thereby so far dimi- 
 nished the breeds as to throw nearly all the expense of 
 their establishments on the agricultural branch of the 
 business — an expense far exceeding the mere cost of 
 production, with a reasonable freight. The Californian 
 
 \ ■ I 
 
 mu 
 
 \ ! 
 
 'i =^ 
 
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 il 
 
 , I 
 
 270 
 
 (JVI'ULAM) JOIRNHY 
 
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 settlomoiit required sljips exclusively for itself; and, 
 tli<)ui,'li tlio llussiiins liiid ho fur conciliated the local 
 uutlioiities as to l»e permitted to hunt both on the const 
 and in the interior, they were yet obliged, hy the un- 
 disujuised jealousy and dislike of their ])rescnce, con- 
 stantly to nniintain a military attitude, with stron;^ for- 
 tifications and considerable pirrisons. Under those 
 circumstances, the llussiajis lately entered into an 
 arranti^ement with the Hudson's Bay Company for oli- 
 tainiuj:!^ the recjuisite suj)ply of ^jrain and other pro- 
 visions at a moderate price ; and they have accordin;;ly, 
 within these few weeks, transferred their stock to a 
 Swiss adventtirer of the name of Sutter, and are now 
 enga<»ed in withdrawing all their j>eoplo from the 
 country. 
 
 That the Russians ever actually intended to claim the 
 sovercio'nty of this part of the coast, I do not believe. 
 The term Ilosf; was certainly suspicious, as bein<^ the 
 constant appelhtion of the ever- varying phases of Russia 
 from the days of Ruric, the very name under whicli, 
 nearly ten centuries ago, the red-bearded dwellers on 
 the Borysthenes, who have since spread themselves witli 
 resistless pertinacity over more than two hundred de- 
 grees of longitude, carried terror and desolation in thoir 
 crazy boats to the gates of Constantinople, a city 
 destined alike to be their earliest quarry and their 
 latest prey. So expansive a monosyllable could hardly 
 be a welcome neighbour to powers so feeble and jealoi:s 
 as Spain and Mexico. 
 
 In justice, however, to Russia, I have no hesitation in 
 saying that, under the recognised principles of coloiii- 
 
 
 'l i 
 
 J'! i„ 
 
 
W.A 
 
 \ '1 i< 
 
 ROINU TIIK WOKLl). 
 
 271 
 
 zation, she is fully entitled to all tlint nhe hoMs in 
 Aniorica. As early as 17 H, ileeriiii; and Tseliirikoir 
 had visited the eontinent respectively in 5[)" and 5(j", 
 ahout a degree ahove Sitka, and ahoiit a degree below 
 it — the former, moreover, seeing many islands, and per- 
 haps the peninsula of Alaska, on his return; and, l»y 
 the year 17<)3, private adventurers had explored the 
 whole wiilth of the ocean, discovering the intermediate 
 chain of islands, from the scene of Beering's shipwreck, 
 in the vicinity of Kamschatka, to Alaska, then erro- 
 neously supposed to bo an island, and thence still further 
 eastward to Kodyak — no other nation having j)roviousIy 
 penetrated, or even j)retonded to have penetrated, far- 
 ther north than the parallel of Hfty-threo decrees. 
 
 But the Russian discoveries were distinguished bv 
 this favourable peculiarity, that they were, in a great 
 measure, achieved independently of the more southerly 
 discoveries of Spain, being the result of rumours of a 
 neighbouring continent, which, in the beginning of the 
 century, the Russian conquerors had found to be rife in 
 Kamschatka. Moreover, in the case of the Russians, 
 discovery and possession had advanced hand in hand. 
 The settlement of Ivodyak was formed four years beibre 
 Mcares erected his solitary shed in Xootka Sound ; and 
 Sitka was established fully ten or twelve years earlier 
 than Astoria. 
 
 According to this plain summary of undeniable facts, 
 Russia had clearly a better claim, at least down to the 
 parallel of 56°, than any other power could possibly 
 acquire ; and this is, in truth, all that has been con- 
 ceded to her, for the parallel of Si", 40', which has been 
 
 
 ii I 
 
 i*:it 
 
 \\ 
 

 1 ' I 
 
 272 
 
 OVKRLANI) JOl'RNKY 
 
 . / ■ i,i 
 
 fixed by tlio treaty ns the international boundary on 
 the coant, is necessary, in order to include the whole 
 of a certain island, which the parallel of 50" intereects. 
 
 In ofTerin^ tiiis defence of what a mistaken patriotism, 
 on the part of English writers, is too apt to stigmatize 
 as aggression and intrusion, I have in view no other 
 object than to do what I believe to be right ; for, con- 
 sidering that Russia and England meet each other, and 
 the world at large, on far more points than any other 
 two nations have ever done or are ever likely to do, I 
 cannot but feel that policy and philanthropy alike de- 
 mand on either side the habitual exercise of candour 
 and moderation. Their continued harmony would be 
 the surest guarantee of the general tranquillity and 
 amelioration of mankind ; while a really national contest 
 between them, such as would prompt each to put forth 
 all her strength, and to exert all her influence, would 
 involve, mediately or immediately, almost every other 
 power in Europe and Asia, Protestant or Catholic, 
 Christian or Infidel, Mohammedan or Pagan. In a 
 word, England and Russia, whether as friends or as 
 foes, cannot fail to control the destiny of the human 
 race, for good or for evil, to an extent which com- 
 paratively confines every other nation within the scanty 
 limits of its own proper locality. 
 
 In the afternoon, we passed Drake's Bay, supposed 
 by some to be the spot where the galhant discoverer of 
 New Albion lay at anchor, in 1579, for a considerable 
 time. What an instructive contrast between the past 
 and the present ! Hardly had Drake returned from the 
 buccaneering expedition, which the restrictive policy and 
 
n 
 
 'V 
 
 Uosed 
 
 KOl'M) Tin; WOUI.D. 
 
 9T.\ 
 
 exclusive pretensions of llio Sjianisli ciown exulted into 
 a roti'il)Ution, if not into ii virtue, w lion iMiiii|) the Sirontl, 
 !>}' mlding the Purtugue.se nionarcliv to his piitornal ilo- 
 niinioiiH, became sole arbiter of the coinnierco of the old 
 world, from tiie IJay of HiHcay to the Chinese seas, and 
 uiidi»4i)Uted lord of the new, from the (Julf of Mexico to 
 the Strait of Magellan, notoidy hohling, in fact, but also 
 chiiming of right, the intermediate oceans as wholly his 
 own. How completely has our little party turned his 
 Majesty's flanks, and broken his line-of-battle to boot, in- 
 vading his most private close by such roetes as he least 
 suspected, to say nothing of the aggravation of our being 
 all tlescended from one or other of the two races that 
 Philip hated most ! Some of us have crossed a breadth 
 of continent, to which the Isthmus of Darieu is but a 
 leap ; others have sailed from the Atlantic into the 
 Pacific by a passage, to which Magellan's Strait is but 
 a ditch ; and one of us has penetrated through Mexico 
 in a capacity which recognises Spain's richest colony 
 as an independent republic. What a pregnant theme 
 for a dialogue of the dead, with the proud old don as 
 one of the interlocutors ! 
 
 The southern point of Drake's Bay is formed by a 
 projecting headland, called Punto de los Reyes. About 
 ten miles from this point, somewhat to the southward, 
 are two groups of rocks, known as the Gallerones, 
 which, during thick weather, are dangerous to vessels 
 approaching San Francisco. On these rocks the Rus- 
 sians formerly took a large number of fur-seals. 
 
 After doubling this point, the wind dropjjed, leaving 
 us becalmed about ten miles from the harbour. Wo 
 
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 274 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 now began sensibly to feel the influence of a more 
 genial climate ; and, as the night was clear as well as 
 warm, we could enjoy a b?ene which forcibly struck the 
 imagination as an emblem of the lazy grandeur of the 
 Spanish character. The sails flapped listlessly against 
 the masts, the vessel heaved reluctantly on the sluggish 
 waters ; and the long swell slowly rolled the weight of 
 this giant ocean towards the whitened strand. 
 
 During the whole of the 29th, we lay in this state of 
 inac.ivity about five miles from the shore, which pre- 
 sented a level sward of about a mile in depth, backed 
 by a high ridge of grassy slopes — the whole pastured 
 jy numerous herds of cattle and horses, which, without 
 a keeper and without a fold, were growing and fatten- 
 ing, whether their owners waked or slept, in the very 
 middle of winter, and in the coldest nook of the pro- 
 vince. Here, on the very threshold of the country, was 
 California in a nutshell, Nature doing every thing and 
 man doing nothing — a text on which our whole sojourn 
 proved to be little but a running commentary. While 
 we lay like a log in the sea, we were glad to be sur- 
 rounded by large flights of birds — ducks, pelicans, cor- 
 morants, gulls, &c. ; and we experienced quite an ex- 
 citement in boarding a tiny schooner, formerly the 
 property of the Russian American Company, which was 
 now stealing along the coast towards Bodega. 
 
 The Port of San Francisco, one of the finest harbours 
 in the world, was singularly enough discovered by an 
 inland expedition, and that, too, as late as about the 
 year 1770. To recapitulate a few points, which, how- 
 ever, will be found to bear closely on much of the 
 
 f" 
 
 Hr 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 27'> 
 
 sequel, the career of northerly exploration, whicli had 
 been set on foot by Cortez, after his conquest of Mexico, 
 terminated in 1603, with Vircaiiio's discovery of the 
 ports of San Diego and Monterey. During the seven- 
 teenth century, the pearl-fishery, at the mouth of the 
 gulf, and the silver-mines at the foot of the peninsula — 
 the very objects to attract a Spanish American — drew 
 a good deal of attention to the country, on the part 
 both of the government and of the merchants, each 
 party making many attempts to colonize it, but uni- 
 formerly failing through the almost utter barrenness of 
 its rocky surface. 
 
 At length, in or about 1697, the country was handed 
 over to the Jesuits, who had earned their claim to this 
 distinction by their spiritual conquest of Paraguay; but 
 so many and various were the difficulties to be en- 
 countered, that, notwithstanding the characteristic zeal, 
 and patience, and talent of their order, the fathers, 
 when expelled from the Spanish dominions at the end 
 of seventy years, had not advanced beyond the limits 
 of the lower province. In 1767, the Jesuits were re- 
 placed by the Franciscans, to whom the Marquis de 
 Croix, then viceroy of Mexico, proposed the spiritual 
 invasion of Upper California — both His Excellency and 
 the friars having their peculiar reasons for promoting 
 this extension of the enterprise. In addition, perhaps, 
 to better and purer motives, the friars had doubtless 
 heard that the new land flowed with milk and honey, 
 while the old might, on the contrary, be characterized, 
 in the language also of Scripture, as being cursed with 
 an earth of iron and a heaven of brass ; and they, more- 
 
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 276 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 over, longed to eclipse the renown of their hated pre- 
 decessors, for the two orders had always been as bitterly 
 opposed to each other as the decencies of a united 
 church permitted them to be. 
 
 On the other hand. His Excellency knew that France 
 and England, in the persons of Bourgainville and Cook, 
 were already taking a national interest in the isles of 
 the Pacific Ocean, aud that even Russia — a power 
 which, when California was discovered, had not yet 
 emerged from Europe — was silently continuing a pro- 
 gressive march of two centuries along the western shores 
 of the new continent ; and, in order to keep such in- 
 truders at as great a distance as possible from the vitals 
 of Spanish America by a stronger right than an obsolete 
 pretension, the viceroy really felt in the new expedition 
 of the Franciscans a degree of interest, such as his pre- 
 decessors had never even professed in the original inroad 
 of the Jesuits. 
 
 Accordingly, missions were forthwith planned for 
 San Diego and Monterey, the only two ports then known 
 to exist in the upper province ; but, as the wind on 
 this coast blows from the north-west durinor three- 
 fourths of the year, and as the Spaniards had not yet 
 learned to evade the difficulty by gaining an offing, the 
 three vessels that sailed from the gulf for San Diego 
 were eminently unfortunate — one being lost, and the 
 others spending respectively three and four n. .iths at 
 sea. Under these circumstances, the remainder of the 
 contemplated distance was undertaken by land ; and, 
 though the explorers did not succeed in finding Mon- 
 terey, or rather in recognising it when found, they yet 
 
-«-«-» — "Xa 
 
 i' '• 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 277 
 
 made a far more valuable discovery in the miniature 
 mediterranean that lay to the north. 
 
 To the reverend sharers in the expedition, the dis- 
 covery in question must have been as interesting as it 
 was important. Before the vessels sailed from Loreto, 
 the leading fathers had formally subdivided their new 
 field of labour, so far as it was known to them, among 
 such saints of the calendar as were in the highest odour 
 with the Franciscans ; and, when the chief of the con- 
 clave was reminded that St. Francis himself had been 
 overlooked, he was ready with an answer to the effect, 
 that their patron must first earn the compliment, by 
 showing them a good port. Having thus put the saint 
 to his mettle, the way-worn priests were in duty bound 
 to acknowledge his guidance on hailing the magnificent 
 inlet ; and they were, in all probability, more highly 
 delighted with their founder's triumph than with the 
 intrinsic qualities of his harbour. 
 
 On the morning of the 30th, a light breeze enabled 
 us again to get under way, and to work into the port. 
 After crossing a bar, on which, however, there is a suf- 
 ficient depth of water, we entered a strait of about two 
 miles in width, — just narrow enough for the purposes of 
 military defence,— observing, on the southern side of 
 the mouth, a fort well situated for commanding the 
 passage, but itself commanded by a hill behind. This 
 fort is now dismantled and dilapidated; nor are its 
 remains likely to last long, for the soft rock, on the very 
 verge of which they already hang, is fast crumbling 
 into the undermining tide beneath. A short distance 
 beyond the fort, and on the same side of the strait, is 
 situated a square of huts, distinguished by the lofty title 
 
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 si 
 
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 278 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 Ir :1 
 
 I : 1 
 
 of the Presidio of Saii Francisco, and tenanted, for gar- 
 risoned it is not, by a commandant and as many soldiers 
 as might, if all told, muster the rank and file of a cor- 
 poral's party ; and though here the softness of the rock 
 does nothing to aid the national alacrity in decaying, 
 yet the adobes, or unbaked bricks, of which Captain 
 Prado's stronghold is composed, have already succeeded 
 in rendering this establishment as much of a ruin as the 
 other. 
 
 In adilition tp this presidio, there are three others in 
 the upper province, situated respectively at Monterey, 
 Santa Barbara, and San Diego. But their principal 
 occupation is gone. From the very commencement of 
 the system, the pious fathers had deemed it rash and 
 inexpedient to encounter the heathen with spiritual 
 arms only ; and, as neither the Jesuits nor the Fran- 
 ciscans could themselves lawfully carry carnal weapons, 
 both the orders remedied this defect in their consti- 
 tutions by enlisting soldiers in their service, — a kind of 
 fellow-labourers unknown to St. Paul's missionary expe- 
 rience. Now it was as the head-quarters of these 
 booted and spurred apostles of the faith that the pre- 
 sidios were primarily introduced, though each of them 
 incidentally became the seat of government for its own 
 subdivision of the province. 
 
 On the first settlement of either section of the country 
 these troopers had no sinecure of it. In the lower pro- 
 Tince, the natives had suffered much from the cupidity 
 of adventurers, who had forced them to dive for pearls 
 and perhaps also to toil in the mines ; and, in both 
 provinces, they were roused into hostility, partly by the 
 jealousy of their conjurors, and partly by the hopes of 
 
 
! ■ I 
 
 ROUND THE Nt'OULD. 
 
 270 
 
 '6' 
 
 ts own 
 
 ountry 
 er pro- 
 upidity 
 
 pearls 
 ^n both 
 
 by the 
 opes of 
 
 plunder. Many were the battles and sieges that resulted 
 from such a state of feeling on the part of the natives ; 
 and it may not be out of place to borrow at full length 
 from Father Palou, the biographer of the founder of the 
 missions in the upper province, a graphic sketch of an 
 attack made on the infant establishment of San Diego. 
 After stating that the devil had stirred up the savages to 
 resistance, and marshalled them in two bands to the 
 number of a thousand, the reverend historian thus 
 proceeds : — 
 
 " They arrived at the bed of the river on the night 
 of the 4th of November, whence the two divisions took 
 their respective routes ; the one for the presidio, and 
 the other for the mission. The party destined for the 
 latter arrived at the huts of the converts without being 
 observed ; putting some Indians as guards to prevent 
 the inmates from going out or giving any alarm, and 
 threatening them with death if they attempted to do 
 so. Some of them proceeded to the church and sacristy, 
 for the purpose of robbing the ornaments, vestments, 
 and whatever else they might find ; while others laid 
 hold of lights, and endeavoured to set the quarters of 
 the soldiers on fire. These, who consisted only of a 
 corporal and three men, were soon awakened by the 
 horrid yells of the Indians, and immediately armed 
 themselves; the Indians having already begun to dis- 
 charge their arrows. The Father Vincente joined the 
 soldiers, together with two boys. The Father Luis, 
 who slept in a separate apartment, on hearing the noise, 
 went towards the Indians, and, on approaching them, 
 made use of the usual salutation, * Lore God, ntif 
 
 
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 280 
 
 OVERLAND JOIRNEY 
 
 'i^ '%\ 
 
 children ;' wlien, obsoivin<^ it was the father, they laid 
 I'.old of him as a wolf wouhl hiy hold of a lamb, and 
 carried him to the side of the rivulet. There they tore 
 off his holy habit, commenced giving him blows with 
 their clubs, and discharged innumerable arrows at him. 
 Not contented with taking away his life, with so much 
 fury, they beat and cut to pieces his face, head, and the 
 whole of his body, so that from head to food nothing 
 remained whole except his consecrated hands, which 
 were found entire in the place where he was murdered. 
 
 " Meanwhile^ others of the Indians proceeded to the 
 pl.ace where two carpenters and the blacksmith were 
 sleeping, and who were awakened by the noise. The 
 blacksmith ran out with his sword in hand, but was 
 immediately shot dead with an arrow ; one of the car- 
 penters followed with a loaded musket, and shot some 
 of the Indians, who were so much intimidated, that he 
 was allowed to join the soldiers; the other carpenter, 
 who was ill, was killed in bed by an arrow. 
 
 " The chief body of the Indians now engaged the 
 soldiers, who made such good use of their fire-arras, by 
 killing some and wounding others, that the Indians 
 began to waver, but they at last set fire to the quarters 
 of the Spaniards, which were only of wood, and who, in 
 order to avoid being roasted alive, valiantly sallied forth 
 and took possession of another small hut which had 
 served for a kitchen, and which was constructed of 
 dried bricks. The walls, however, were little more 
 than a yard in height, and oidy covered with branches 
 of trees and leaves to keep out the sun. They defended 
 themselves by keeping \\\. a continual fire upon the 
 
''•r '• ' 
 
 ii(. • 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 281 
 
 multitude, who, however, annoyed them much with 
 tlieir arrows and wooden spears, more particularly at 
 one side of the hut which was without a wall. 
 
 " Seeing the damage that by this means they were 
 suffering, the soldiers resolved to take out of the house 
 that was on fire some bales to fill up the open part of 
 the kitchen. In doing this, two of them were wounded, 
 and disabled from giving any more assistance, but they 
 succeeded in fetching the bales and filling up the breach 
 with them. There then only remained the corporal, 
 one soldier, the carpenter, and Father Vincente. The 
 corporal, who was of great valour and a good marksman, 
 ordered that the others should load and prime the 
 muskets, he only firing them off; by which method he 
 killed or wounded as many as approached him. 
 
 " The Indians, now seeing that their arrows were of 
 no avail, owing to the defence of the walls and bales, set 
 fire to the covering of the kitchen ; but, as the mate- 
 rials were very slight, the corporal and his companions 
 were still enabled to keep their position. They were 
 greatly afraid lest their powder should be set on fire ; 
 and this would have been the case, if Father Vincente 
 had not taken the precaution to cover it over with the 
 skirt of his habit, which he did in disregard of the risk 
 he ran of being blown up. 
 
 " The Indians, finding that this mode of attack did 
 not oblige their opponents to leave their fort, com- 
 menced throwing in burning faggots and stones, by 
 which Father Vincente was wounded, but not very dan- 
 gerously. The whole night passed in this manner, till, 
 on the rising of the sun, the Indians gave up the 
 
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 ^i 
 
 282 
 
 OVERLAiNU JOURNEY 
 
 contest and retired, carryiii<5 olf all their killed and 
 wounded. The whole of the defenders of the kitchen 
 were wounded, the corporal concealing his injuries until 
 the Indians had retired, in order to avoid discouraging 
 his companions." 
 
 Few skirmishes have ever exhibited a higher degree 
 of dogged intrepidity on both sides, though, as a matter 
 of course, the superior discipline and the better cause 
 prevailed on almost every occasion of the kind. Soon, 
 however, the piping times of peace gave the soldiers 
 leisure to commence the proper operations of the spi- 
 ritual conquest, such as the maintaining of domestic 
 order, the recapturing of runaway converts, and the 
 catching of fresh pupils. For these services the pre- 
 sidios were, in a great measure, supported at the ex- 
 pense of the missions ; so that when the missions were 
 spoiled and dissolved, in a manner to be hereafter 
 noticed, the presidios, deprived of the best part, at 
 once, of their functions and of their resources, natu- 
 rally fell into their present state of neglect and decay. 
 
 On proceeding along the strait, one of the most 
 attractive scenes imaginable gradually opens on the 
 mariner's view, — a sheet of water, of about thirty miles 
 in length by about twelve in breadth, sheltered from 
 every wind by an amphitheatre of green hills ; while an 
 •atermediate belt of open plain, varying from two to 
 six miles in depth, is dotted by the habitations of 
 civilized men. 
 
 On emerging from the strait, which is about three 
 miles long, we saw on our left, in a deep bay, known 
 as Whalers' Harbour, two vessels, — the Government 
 
 V" 1 
 
v 
 
 ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 283 
 
 schooner California and the lliishiiin h\'\<i; Constantine, 
 now bound to Sitka, witli the hist of the tenants of 
 Bode<^a and Ross on board. As we observed the Rus- 
 sians getting under way, I despatched Mr. Hopkins in 
 one of our boats, in order to express my regret at 
 being thus deprived of the anticipated pleasure of pay- 
 ing my respects in person. 
 
 Mr. Hopkins found about a hundred souls, men, 
 women, and children, all patriotically delighted to ex- 
 change the lovely climate of California for the ungcnial 
 skies of Sitka, and that too at the expense of making 
 a long voyage i»» an old, crazy, clumsy tub, at the 
 stormiest season of the year ; but to this general rule 
 there had been one exception, inasmuch as they had 
 lost two days in waiting — but, alas ! in vain — for a young 
 woman, who had abjured alike her country and her 
 husband for the sake of one of the dons of San 
 Francisco. 
 
 Mr. Hopkins farther learned that, though it was 
 Thursday with us, yet it was Friday with our northern 
 friends ; a circumstance which, besides showing that 
 the Russians had not the superstition of our tars as to 
 days of sailing, forcibly reminded us that between them 
 the two parties had passed round the globe in opposite 
 directions to prosecute one and the same trade in furs, 
 which the indolent inhabitants of the province were too 
 lazy to appropriate at their very doors. 
 
 On our right, just opposite to the ground occupied 
 by the Constantine and the California, stretched the 
 pretty little bay of Yerba Buena, whose shores are 
 doubtless destined, under better auspices, to be the site 
 
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 S84 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 of a flourishing town, though at present they contain 
 only eight or nine houses, in addition to the Hudson's 
 Bay Company's establishment. Here we dropped an- 
 chor in the neighbourhood of four other vessels, the 
 American barque Alert and brig Bolivar, the British 
 barque Index and the Mexican brig Catilina ; and, after 
 firing a salute, went ashore to visit Mr. Rae, the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company's representative in this quarter. 
 
 i;fi i 
 
 I M 
 
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■'■ '■ % 
 
 UOl'ND THE WOULD. 
 
 285 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 More detailed description of harbour — Native balsa — Whalers, 
 San Francisco and Sandwich Inlands — Trade in hides — Foreigners — 
 Indolence of people, its causes — liranding, &c., of cattle — Value of 
 herds — Missions, their rise and fall — Express by land to Monterey — 
 Timothy Murphy — Father Quigas — Summary justice -^ General Val- 
 Icgo — Breakfast, cookery — Valley of Sonoma — Lasso — Civilization of 
 aborigines — General Vallego's buildings, troops, garden, &c. — Dinner, 
 ball, and Captain Prado— " Auld Lang Syne" — Paradise of wild fowl — 
 Captain Sutter's history and prospects — Angliflcation of San Francisco — 
 Californian justice — Mission of San Francisco, old and new times — 
 Mission of Santa Clara — Prospects of priesthood — Revenue laws. 
 
 The sheet of water, as already described, forms only 
 a part of the inland sea of San Francisco. Whalers' 
 Harbour, at its own northern extremity, communicates 
 by a strait of about two miles in width with the Bay of 
 San Pedro, a circular basin of ten miles in diameter ; 
 and again, this extensive pool, at its north-eastern end, 
 leads, by means of a second strait, into Freshwater 
 Bay, of nearly the same form and magnitude, which is 
 full of islands, and forms the receptacle of the Sacra- 
 mento and the San Joachin. Large vessels, it is said, 
 may penetrate into Freshwater Bay ; and as the San 
 Joachin and the Sacramento, which drain vast tracts of 
 country respectively to the south-east and to the north- 
 east, are navigable for inland craft, the whole harbour, 
 
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 286 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 besides its matchleHs ((uulities an a port of refuj^o on 
 this surf-beaten const, is the outlet of u vnst breadth of 
 fair and fertile hmd. 
 
 In tlio face of all these advantages and temptations, 
 the pfood folks of San Francisco, priests as well as lay- 
 men, and laymen as well as priests, have been contented 
 to borrow, for their aquatic excursions, the native 
 balsa — a kind of raft or basket, which, when wanted, 
 can be constructed in a few minutes with the bulrushes 
 that spring so luxuriantly on the niarn^ins of the lakes 
 and rivers. In this miserable makeshift they contrive 
 to cross the inland waters, and perhaps, in very choice 
 weather, to venture a little way out to sea, there bein<^, 
 I believe, no other floating thing besides, neither boat 
 nor canoe, neither barge nor scow, in any part of the 
 harbour, or, in fact, in any part of Upper California, 
 from San Diego, on the south, to San Francisco, on the 
 north. 
 
 In consequence of this state of things, the people of 
 the bay have been so far from availing themselves of 
 their internal channels of communication, that their 
 numerous expeditions into the interior have all been 
 conducted by land, seldom leading, of course, to any 
 result commensurate with the delay and expense. But, 
 inconvenient as the entire want of small craft must be 
 to the dwellers on such an inlet as has been described, 
 there are circumstances which do, to a certain extent, 
 account for the protracted endurance of the evil. 
 Horses are almost as plentiful as bulrushes ; time is a 
 perfect glut with a community of loungers ; and, under 
 the plea of having no means of catching fish, the faith- 
 
A > 
 
 I 
 
 ROT'ND THE WORLD. 
 
 287 
 
 fill enjoy, by ft ^nndinii; tlisponsution, the comfortaldo 
 privilege of fsiHtinij, at meagre times, on their heca- 
 tombs of boof. 
 
 The worM at largo has hitherto made nearly as little 
 use of the peculiar facilities of San Francisco as the 
 Cjilifornias themselves. Thoujjh, at one time, many 
 whaling ships, as the name of Whalers' Harbour would 
 imply, frequented the port, yet, through the operation 
 of various causes, they have all gradually betaken them- 
 selves to the Sandwich Islands. In point of natural 
 capabilities for such a purpose, the Sandwich Islands 
 are, on the whole, inferior to San Francisco. If they 
 excel it in position, as lying more directly in the tract 
 between the summer-fishing of the north and the winter- 
 fishing of the south, and also as being more easy of access 
 and departure by reason of the steadiness of the trade- 
 winds, they are, in turn, surpassed in all the elements 
 for the refreshing and refitting of vessels by a place, 
 where beef may be procured for little or nothing, where 
 hemp grows spontaneously, where the pine offers an 
 inexhaustible supply of resin, and where suitable timber 
 for ship-building invites the axe within an easy distance. 
 But, though Nature may have done more for San 
 Francisco than for the Sandwich Islands, yet man has 
 certainly done less to promote her liberal intentions. 
 The Sandwich Islands afford to the refitting whaler an 
 ample supply of competent labour, both native and 
 foreign, at reasonable wages ; while San Francisco, 
 turning the very bounty of Providence into a curse, 
 corrupts a naturally indolent population by the super- 
 abundance of cattle and horses, by the readiness, in 
 
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 288 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 short, with which idleness can find both subsistence and 
 recreation. Moreover, even on the score of fiscal regu- 
 lations, the savage community has as decidedly the 
 advantage of the civilized as in point of industrious 
 habits. In the Sandwich Islands, the whaler can enter 
 at once into the port which is best adapted for his pur- 
 poses, while in San Francisco he is by law forbidden to 
 remain more than forty-eight hours, unless he has pre- 
 viously presented himself at Monterey and paid duty on 
 the whole of his cargo. What wonder then is it, that, 
 with such a government and such a people. Whalers' 
 Harbour is merely an empty name ? 
 
 Few vessels, therefore, visit the port, excepting such 
 as are engaged in collecting hides or tallow, the tallow 
 going chiefly to Peru, and the hides exclusively either to 
 Great Britain or to the United States. It was in the 
 latter branch of the business that most of the vessels 
 which we had found at anchor were employed, — the 
 mode of conducting it being worthy of a more detailed 
 description. 
 
 To each ship there is attached a supercargo, or clerk, 
 who, in a decked launch, carries an assortment of goods 
 from farm to farm, collecting such hides as he can at 
 the time, and securing, by his advances, as many as pos- 
 sible against the next matanzas, or slaughtering season, 
 which generally coincides with the months of July and 
 August. The current rate for a hide is two dollars in 
 goods, generally delivered beforehand, or a dollar and a 
 half in specie, paid, as it were, across the country ; and 
 the great difference arises from the circumstance that 
 the goods are held at a price sufficient to cover the 
 
 !ii! 
 
IHIL 
 
 ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 289 
 
 5 and 
 regu- 
 y the 
 trious 
 entev 
 s puv- 
 den to 
 IS pre- 
 uty oil 
 , that, 
 ^balers' 
 
 ng sucli 
 e tallow 
 ;ither to 
 5 in tlie 
 e vessels 
 jd,— the 
 detailed 
 
 [)r cleik, 
 of goods 
 ^e can at 
 ly as pos- 
 r season, 
 July and 
 loUars in 
 [lar and a 
 [try; and 
 ince that 
 ;over the 
 
 bad debts which the system of credit inevitably pro- 
 duces, the punctual debtor beini^ thus obliged, in Cali- 
 fornia as well as elsewhere, to pay for the defaulter. 
 But even without this adventitious increase of their 
 nominal value, the goods could not be sold for less than 
 thrice their prime cost, so as to enable the vessel to meet 
 a tariff of duties averaging about a hundred per cent., in 
 addition to very high tonnage-dues, and the accumu- 
 lating expenses of two tedious voyages with a far more 
 tedious detention on the coast. Thus, under the exist- 
 ing state of things, the farmer receives for his hide 
 either about as many goods as may have been bought in 
 London for half-a-crown or two shillings, or about as 
 much hard cash as may here buy the same at ready 
 money rates. 
 
 The detention on the coast, to which I have alluded 
 as an element in the price of goods, is occasioned by 
 various circumstances. In the first place, there are too 
 many competitors in the trade. The provincial exports 
 of hides do not exceed, at the utmost, the number of 
 60,000; and, though such a vessel as our neighbour 
 the Index has room for two-thirds of the whole, yet 
 there are, at present, on the coast, fully sixteen ships of 
 various sizes and denominations, all struggling and 
 scrambling either for hides or for tallow. Supposing 
 half of them to be engaged in the latter branch of busi- 
 ness, there still remain eight vessels for such a number 
 of hides as must take at least three years to fill them ; 
 and, in illustration of this, I may mention that our 
 neighbour the Alert, belonging to one of the oldest and 
 most experienced houses in the trade, has already spent 
 
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290 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 '41 ]i 
 
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 eighteen months on the coast, but is still about a third 
 short of her full tale of 40,000. 
 
 In the second place, the very nature of things neces- 
 sarily involves considerable delay. As a vessel, whether 
 large or small, cannot possibly load herself at any single 
 point, she must keep peddling from post to pillar and 
 from pillar to post, taking the chances of foul winds and 
 bad anchorages through all the five ports of San Fran- 
 cisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Pedro, and San 
 Diego. But, even if hides were more plentiful, the 
 climate would, in a great measure, impose a similar 
 necessity. As the hides are all green or nearly so, for 
 the skinning of the animal is pretty much the extent of 
 Californian industry, each vessel must undertake the 
 process of curing them for herself; and, as the upper 
 half of the coast to a depth of about fifteen miles is 
 peculiarly exposed during the summer, which is of course 
 the best time for the purpose, to the rains and fogs of 
 the prevailing north- westers, the hides of each season, 
 in order to be cured, must be carried to the drier 
 climate of the southern ports, more particularly of Sau 
 Diego. Moreover, the mere task of curing a cargo causes 
 a great loss of time, — a task too laborious to be under- 
 taken by the sellers, and too nice to be entrusted to them. 
 
 In a recent able publication' of a scholar, who had 
 gone to sea as a common sailor for the benefit of a con- 
 stitution impaired by study, I have read, with a good 
 deal of interest, a graphic account of the process, drasMi 
 from his own experience ; and I make no apology for 
 
 , " Two Years before the Mast. A Personal Narrative of Life at 
 Sea." New York, Harper and Brothers, 1840. 
 
 » ' 
 
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 bird 
 
 eces- 
 
 BtVier 
 
 lingle 
 
 V and 
 
 Is and 
 
 Fraii- 
 
 d San 
 
 il, tlie 
 
 similar 
 
 so, for 
 
 ctent of 
 
 ike the 
 
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 miles is 
 
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 I fogs of 
 
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 ■^le drier 
 of San 
 vo causes 
 »e under- 
 to tliem. 
 who had 
 |of a cou- 
 |th a good 
 fss, drasvn 
 lology foi" 
 -e of Life at 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 201 
 
 submitting to the reader a sketch, which so advan- 
 tageously contrasts the English race with the Spaniard, 
 even on his own ground : — 
 
 " When the hide is taken from the bullock, holes are 
 cut round it, near the edges, by which it is staked out 
 to dry. In this manner it dries without shrinking. 
 After they are thus dried in the sun, they are received 
 by the vessels, and brought down to the depot. The 
 vessels land them, and leave them in large piles near 
 the houses. Then begins the hide-curer's duty. 
 
 " The first thing is to put them in soak. Tins is 
 done by carrying them down at low tide, and making 
 them fast, in small piles, by ropes, and letting the tide 
 come up and cover them. Every day we put in soak 
 twenty-five for each man, which, with us, made a hun- 
 dred and fifty. There they lie forty-eight hours, when 
 they ar3 taken out, and rolled up, in wheelbarrows, and 
 tlirown into vats. These vats contain brine, made very 
 strong, being sea-water, with great quantities of salt 
 thrown in. This pickles the hides, and in this they lie 
 forty-eight hours ; the use of the sea- water, into which 
 they are first put, being merely to soften and clean them. 
 From these vats they are taken, and lie on a platform 
 twenty-four hours, and then are spread upon the ground, 
 and carefully stretched and staked out, so that they may 
 dry smooth. 
 
 "After they were staked, and while yet wet and 
 soft, we used to go upon them with our knives, and care- 
 fully cut off all the bad parts : the pieces of meat and fat, 
 which would otherwise corrupt and affect the whole if 
 stowed away in a vessel for months ; the large flipjiers, 
 
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 292 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 the ears, and all other parts that prevent close stowage. 
 This was the most difficult part of our duty, as it 
 required much skill to take everything necessary off, and 
 not to cut or injure the hides. It was also a long pro- 
 cess, as six of us had to clean a hundred and fifty, most 
 of which required a great deal to be done to them", as the 
 Spaniards are very careless in skinning their cattle. 
 Then, too, as we cleaned them while they were staked 
 out, we were obliged to kneel down upon them, which 
 always gives beginners the back-ache. The first day I 
 was "so slow and awkward, that I cleaned only eight ; at 
 the end of a few days I doubled my number, and in a 
 fortnight or three weeks could keep up with the others, 
 and clean my proportion, twenty-five. 
 
 *' This cleaning must be got through with before noon, 
 for by that time they get too dry. After the sun has 
 been upon them for a few hours, they are carefully gone 
 over with scrapers, to get off all the grease which the 
 sun brings out. This being done, the stakes are pulled 
 up, and the hides carefully doubled, with the hair side 
 out, and left to dry. About the middle of the afternoon 
 they are turned upon the other side, and at sundown 
 piled up and covered over. The next day, they are 
 spread out and oi)ened again, and at night, if fully dry, 
 are thrown upon a long, horizontal pole, five at a time, 
 and beat with flails. This takes all the dust from them. 
 Thus, being salted, scraped, cleaned, dried, and beaten, 
 they are stowed away in the house." 
 
 But, to return to San Francisco, the trade of the bay, 
 and, in fact, of the whole province, is entirely in the 
 hands of foreigners, who are almost exclusively of the 
 

 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 295 
 
 In the missions, beef was occasionally cured for ex- 
 portation ; but so miserably is the case now reversed, 
 that, though meat enough to supply the fleets of England 
 is annually either consumed by fire or left to the carrion 
 birds, yet the authorities purchased from us, along with 
 tlie flour just mentioned, some salted salmon as in- 
 dispensable sea-stores for the one paltry vessel which 
 constituted the entire line of battle of the Californian 
 navy. 
 
 In the missions, a great deal of wine was grown, good 
 enough to be sent for sale to Mexico; but, with the ex- 
 ception of what we got at the mission of Santa Barbara, 
 the native wine that we tasted was such trash as no- 
 thing but politeness could have induced us to swallow. 
 
 Various circumstances have conspired to render these 
 dons so very peculiarly indolent. Independently of 
 innate differences of national tastes, the objects of colo- 
 nization exert an influence over the character of the 
 colonists. Thus the energy of our republican brethren, 
 and the prosperity of the contiguous dependencies of the 
 empire, are to be traced, in a great degree, to the original 
 and permanent necessity of relying on the steady and 
 laborious use of the axe and the plough ; and thus also 
 the rival colonists of New France, — a name which com- 
 prehended the valleys of the St. Lawrence and the Mis- 
 sissippi, — dwindled and pined on much of the same 
 ground, partly because the golden dreams of the fur 
 trade carried them away from stationary pursuits to 
 overrun half the breadth of the continent, and partly 
 because the gigantic ambition of their government 
 regarded them rather as soldiers than as settlers, rather 
 
 
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 296 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 as the liistriiments of political aggrandizement than as 
 the germ of a kindred people. In like manner, Spanish 
 America, with its sierras of silver, became the asylum 
 and paradise of idlers, holding out to every adventurer, 
 when leaving the shores of the old country, the pro- 
 spect of earning his bread without the sweat of his 
 brow. 
 
 But the population of California in particular has 
 been drawn from the most indolent variety of an indolent 
 species, being composed of superannuated troopers and 
 retired office-h' Iders and their descendants. In con- 
 nexion with the establishment of the missions, at least 
 of those of the upper province, there had been projected 
 three villages or pueblos, as places of refuge for such of 
 the old soldiers as might obtain leave to settle in the 
 country ; but, as the priests were by no means friendly 
 to the rise of a separate interest, they did all in their 
 power to prevent the requisite licenses from being 
 granted by the crown, so as to send to the villages as 
 few denizens as possible, and to send them only when 
 they were past labour, as well in ability as in inclination. 
 These villages were occasionally strengthened by cou- 
 genial reinforcements of runaway sailors ; and, in order 
 to avoid such sinks of profligacy and riot, the better 
 sort of functionaries, both civil and military, gradually 
 established themselves elsewhere, but more particularly 
 at Santa Barbara, while both classes wpio frequently 
 coming into collision with the fathers, whose vexatious 
 spirit of exclusiveness, even after the emancipation of 
 the veterans, often prompted them nominally to pre- 
 occupy lands which they did not require. 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 29.3 
 
 being 
 
 when 
 
 English race. Of that race, however, the Amerirans are 
 considerably more numerous than the British — the former 
 naturally flocking in greater force to neutral ground, 
 such as this country and the Sandwich Islands, wliile 
 the latter find a variety of advantageous outlets in their 
 own national colonies. At present, the foreigners are 
 to the Californians in number as one to ten, being about 
 six hundred out of about seven thousand ; while, by their 
 monopoly of trade, and their command of resources, to 
 say nothing of their superior energy and. intelligence, 
 they already possess vastly more than their numerical 
 proportion of political influence; and their position in 
 this respect excites the less jealous\% inasmuch as most 
 of them have been induced, either by a desire of shaking 
 oft* legal incapacities or by less interested motives, to 
 profess the Catholic religion, and to marry into pro- 
 vincial families. 
 
 The Californians of San Francisco number between 
 two thousand, and two thousand five hundred, about 
 seven hundred belonging to the village or pueblo of San 
 Jose de Guadalupe, and the remainder occupying about 
 thirty farms of various sizes, generally subdivided among 
 the families of the respective holders. 
 
 On the score of industry, the good folks, as also their 
 brethren of the other ports, are perhaps the least pro- 
 mising colonists of a new country in the world, being, 
 in this respect, decidedly inferior to what the savages 
 themselves had become under the training of the priests ; 
 so that the spoliation of the missions, excepting that it 
 has opened the j)rovince to general enterprise, has 
 directly tended to nip civilization in the bud. 
 
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 (3VliHL\Nl) JOURNEY 
 
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 Ill the missions, there were hirge flocks of sheep ; but 
 HOW there are scarcely any left, the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany having, last spring, experienced great difficulty in 
 collectinff about four thousand for its northern settle- 
 ments. 
 
 In the missions, the wool used to be manufactured 
 into coarse cloth ; and it is, in fact, because the Cali- 
 fornians are too lazy to weave or spin, — too lazy, I sus- 
 pect, even to clip and wash the raw material, — that the 
 sheep have been literally destroyed to make more room 
 for the horned cattle. 
 
 In the missions, soap and leather used to be made ; 
 but in such vulgar processes the Californians advance 
 no farther than nature herself has advanced before them, 
 excepting to put each animal's tallow in one place, and 
 its hide in another. 
 
 In the missions, the dairy formed a principal object 
 of attention ; but now, neither butter nor cheese, nor 
 any preparation of milk whatever, is to be found in the 
 province. 
 
 In the missions, there were annually produced about 
 80,000 bushels of wheat and maize, the former, and per- 
 haps part of the latter also, being converted into flour ; 
 but the present possessors of the soil do so little in the 
 way of tilling the ground, that, when lying at Monterey, 
 we sold to the government some barrels of flour at the 
 famine rate of twenty-eight dollars, or nearly six pounds 
 sterling, a sack, — a price which could not be considered 
 as merely local, for the stuff was intended to victual 
 the same schooner which, on our first arrival, we had 
 seen at anchor in Whalers' Harbour. 
 
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ROUND TIIK WORLD. 
 
 1209 
 
 but 
 Jom- 
 ty in 
 }ttle- 
 
 tured 
 Cali- 
 
 1 8U9- 
 
 at the 
 I room 
 
 made ; 
 dvance 
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 ce, and 
 
 object 
 
 sse, nor 
 
 in the 
 
 about 
 md per- 
 flour ; 
 
 in the 
 onterey, 
 
 at the 
 i pounds 
 nsidered 
 
 victual 
 
 we had 
 
 marks still remained, as stolen property, to the no small 
 astonishment of their real owners. 
 
 The income of every farmer may be pretty accurately 
 ascertained from the number of his cattle, excepting 
 that the owners of small stocks, as is the case at present 
 with many of the plunderers of the missions, do not 
 venture to kill so large a proportion of the whole as 
 their more wealthy neighbours. The value of a single 
 animal, without regard to the merely nominal wortli of 
 its beef, may average about five dollars, the hirle fetch- 
 ing, as already mentioned, two dollars and two or three 
 arobes of tallow of twenty-five pounds, each yielding a 
 dollar and a half by the arobe ; and as the fourth part 
 of a herd may generally be killed off every year without 
 any improvidence, the farmer's revenue must be, as 
 nearly as possible, a dollar and a quarter a head. Thus, 
 General Vallego, who is said to possess 8,000 cattle, must 
 derive about 10,000 dollars a year from this source alone ; 
 and the next largest holders, an old man of the name of 
 Sanches and his sons, must draw rather more than half 
 of that amount from their stock of 4,500 animals. 
 
 On the same principles of calculation, the incomes of 
 the missions must have been enormous, San Jose having 
 possessed 30,000 head and Santa Clara nearly half the 
 number, and San Gabriel to the south being said to 
 have owned more cattle than both Santa Clara and San 
 Jose put together ; and even now, after all the pillage 
 that has taken place for the benefit of individuals, the 
 secularized wrecks of the establishments, if honestly 
 administered, as they are not, would yield large returns 
 to the government, Santa Clara alone, as an average 
 
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 300 
 
 OVEPLVND JOURNEY 
 
 instance, still musteriiifr nboiit 4,000 cattle. In addi- 
 tion to the value of lii<les and tallow, such of the farmers 
 as understand the breaking of horses may turn their 
 skill in this way to profitable account. A well-trained 
 steed sometimes brings a hundred and fifty dollars, the 
 worth of thirty head of cattle, while the wild animal 
 may be had, at no great distance, lor the trouble of 
 noosing him. In fact, horses had at one time become 
 so numerous as to encroach on the pasturage of the 
 cattle ; and accordingly they were partly thinned by 
 slaughter, and partly driven eastward into the valley of 
 the San Joachin. 
 
 There are five missions in all at San Francisco : San 
 Francisco de los Dolores towards the south-west, Santa 
 Clara to the south, and San Jose de Guadalupe towards 
 the south-east, while San Raiael and San Francisco 
 Solano extend from Whalers' Harbour along the west 
 and north 'of the Bay of San Pedro. Previously to the 
 Mexican Revolution, the missions of the upper province 
 had regularly increased in number ; San Francisco 
 Solano, which was founded even after the establishment 
 of independence, being the twenty-first in order of 
 erection. Nor had their advance in wealth failed to 
 keep pace with their increase in number. In addition 
 to their annual stipends of four hundred dollars each, 
 the monks possessed in Mexico a considerable property 
 in lands and money, composed of donations and bequests, 
 and known as the " Pious Fund of California ;" while in 
 their twenty-one missions they had acquired, to say 
 nothing at present of cattle and crops, the cheap labour 
 of about 18,000 converts. But, when Mexico esta- 
 
\ 
 
 ROUND Tlir, WORLD. 
 
 I;f07 
 
 mldi- 
 Tincrs 
 their 
 rained 
 rs, the 
 aniroi^l 
 iible of 
 t)ecome 
 of the 
 med hy 
 alley of 
 
 JO : San 
 it, Santa 
 towards 
 'rancisco 
 the west 
 ly to the 
 province 
 rancisco 
 dishment 
 1 order of 
 [failed to 
 addition 
 |ars each, 
 property 
 bequests, 
 while in 
 , to say 
 lap labour 
 :ico esta- 
 
 Such settlors of either class were not likely to toil 
 for much more than what the cheap bounty of nature 
 alForded them, — horses to ride and beef to eat, with hides 
 and tallow to exchange for such other supplies as they 
 wanted. In a word, they displayed more than the pro- 
 verbial indolence of a pastoral people, for they did not 
 even devote their idle hours to the tending of their 
 herds. As one might have expected, the chihlren im- 
 proved on the examjde of the parents through the influ- 
 ence of a systematic education, — an education which 
 gave them the lasso as a toy in infancy, and the horse as 
 a companion in boyhood, which, in short, trained them 
 from the cradle to be mounted bullock-hunters and 
 nothing else; and if anything could aggravate their 
 laziness, it was the circumstance, that many of them 
 dropped, as it were, into ready-made competency, by 
 sharing in the lands and cattle of the plundered 
 missions. 
 
 The only trouble which the Californians really take 
 with their cattle, is to brand them, when young, with 
 their respective marks ; and even this single task 
 savours more of festivity than of labour. Once a year, 
 the cows and calves of a neighbourhood, which, by 
 reason of the absence of fences, all feed in common, are 
 driven into a pen, or coralle, that every farmer may 
 select his own stock for his own brand, at the same 
 time keeping, if he is wise, a sharp eye upon the pro- 
 ceedings of his associates ; and, after the cattle are all 
 branded and again turned out to their pastures, the 
 owners and their friends wind up the exciting business 
 of the day with singing, and dancing, and feasting. In 
 
 ) .< 
 
 \. ■ 
 
 I '. 
 
 IV 
 
208 
 
 OVKllLAM) J(3UUNEY 
 
 11 I I. ( 
 
 I ; 
 
 ■I ' I 
 
 addition, however, to this, each fjirmer does occasionally 
 collect his own cattle into his pen, partly to prevent 
 thoin from becoming too Avild, and partly to ascertain 
 how far his neighbours have kept the eighth command- 
 ment before their eyes. 
 
 On this latter point, a man must be pretty vigilant in 
 California, for a centaur of a fellow with a running 
 noose in his hand is somewhat apt to disregard the dis- 
 tinctions between tnfiitm and fta/m ; and so common, in 
 fact, is this free and easy system, that even passably 
 honest men, merely as a precautionary measure of self- 
 defence, occasionally catch and slay a fat bullock Avliich 
 they have never branded. In order to break the scent 
 in such cases, the fortunate finder, knowing that the 
 hide alone of a dead animal can tell any tales, obli- 
 terates the owner's mark by means of a little gunpowder, 
 and overlays it with his own in its stead. In the absence 
 of evidence to the contrary, these brands are held to be 
 a conclusive proof of property ; and on this account, a 
 transfer, in order to be valid and safe, requires a sale- 
 brand to be placed over the seller's mark, so as to give 
 the buyer's mark all the force of an original brand. In 
 ignorance of this custom, Mr. Douglas, one of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company's officers, lately committed a 
 capital mistake. After collecting the sheep, which I 
 have already mentioned, he bought some horses for his 
 drivers, which were subsequently sold on the Columbia to 
 Commodore Wilkes for the use of his party that went by 
 land from the Willamette to San Francisco ; and no 
 sooner did the animals make their appearance in their 
 old haunts than they were claimed by the sellers, whose 
 
ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 301 
 
 blislied her imtioimlity, tlu» priests, jmrtly from a feoling 
 of loyjilty and partly from a senso of interest, were hy 
 no means nnanimous in swearing allegiance to the 
 newly-constituted authorities ; and this spirit of resist- 
 ant'o, naturally strengthening the tendency of every 
 revolution to make the church its first victim, provoked 
 the Mexican government not oidy to withdraw the 
 stipends and confiscate the pious fund, but also to dis- 
 tribute part of the lands and cattle of the missions 
 among such of the proselytes as had learned a trade and 
 conducted themselves well. 
 
 This happened in 182." ; but the emancipated natives 
 no sooner became their own masters than they showed 
 that their steadiness and industry ha<l been the result 
 of external control rather than of internal principle. 
 They wasted their time and property in gambling, with 
 a recklessness proportioned to the duration of their pre- 
 vious restraint ; and, having acquired at least the indi- 
 vidual helplessness of civilization, they knew no other 
 means of relieving their hunger and nakedness than a 
 mingled course of mendicancy and theft. In this way, 
 they became such a nuisance to the civilized population, 
 that, after a year or two, the more innocent of them 
 were sent back into the varnished servitude of the mis- 
 sions, while the more guilty were condemned, as public 
 convicts, to do the most laborious drudgery in irons. 
 This miserable failure, if not actually desired by the 
 priests, must at least have been anticipated by them, as 
 the legitimate fruit of a discipline which, whether neces- 
 sarily or not, regarded the natives as children for life ; 
 and, under cover of the reaction, they made up matters 
 
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 302 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 with the authorities, taking the oath of allegiance, an«l 
 being left unmolested in their missions. During the 
 ensuing nine or ten years, the fathers contrived to main- 
 tain at least a precarious footing with respect to Mexico, 
 sometimes threatened and assailed, and sometimes pa- 
 tronized and protected ; and meanwhile, as they felt 
 themselves to be only tenants at will, some of them 
 made the most of their leases by licensing worldly skip- 
 pers to flay and disembowel their herds without stint, 
 at so much a head. 
 
 But, at last, the provincial population made short 
 work with the establishments — all classes of this body, 
 as I have already hinted, being fundamentally and per- 
 manently jealous of the fathers. What fanned the 
 smouldering ashes into a flame was an abortive attempt 
 on the part of Mexico to distribute a considerable share 
 of the lands and cattle of the missions among a colony 
 of strangers ; and, now perceiving that they had no 
 time to lose, the Californians, in 1836, rose against the 
 general government, appointed provincial rulers, ex- 
 pelled the Mexicans as intruders, and, as the phrase 
 went, secularized the missions. After fuming a good 
 deal in her own impotent way, Mexico ratified all tliat 
 had been done, on the single condition of the renunciation 
 of separate independence ; and thus the missions, perhaps 
 as a retribution for having relied on aid that savoured 
 more of the Koran than of the Bible, were trodden under 
 foot by the sons of the very men, or by the very men 
 themselves, whom worldly wisdom had introduced into 
 the province for their protection and assistance. The 
 existing state of the establishments in question will be 
 
 J" I 
 
Ilk. ' 
 
 llOUiND THE WOULD. 
 
 303 
 
 detailed in the sequel, when we come to describe San 
 Francisco Solano, San Francisco de los Dolores, San 
 Carlos, and Santa Barbara. 
 
 To resume the pro<^ress of my journal. On the 3 1st 
 of December, Mr. Hales and Mr. de Mofras took their 
 departure for IN^onterey, in the brig Bolivar, hoping 
 there to find some vessel bound to San Bias, whence 
 they would make tlieir way by land to the city of 
 Mexico; and on the same day, notwithstanding this 
 opportunity, we despatched a courier across to Mon- 
 terey, intimating to Governor Alvarado the arrival of 
 the Cowlitz, and requesting special permission, as an 
 exception to the general rule, to land some articles of 
 merchandize in the port of San Francisco, without first 
 visiting the seat of government. In fact, the overland 
 route is the main channel of communication between 
 the twc places ; for, to say nothing of the want of ves- 
 sels, the sea is almost impracticable, where time is of 
 any importance, by reason of the baffling winds and 
 currents ; and the same result, w hether from the same 
 or different causes, has been exhibited along the whole 
 coast since the days of Cortez and Pizarro, an un- 
 broken chain of posts having extended, in the times 
 of Spanish supremacy, from San Francisco, in Cali- 
 fornia, to Baldivia, in Chili. 
 
 Having celebrated New Year's-day to the best of our 
 ability, we made preparations for starting on Monday, 
 the 3rd of the month, to pay our respects to General 
 Vallego, who was residing at the mission of San Fran- 
 cisco Solano, situated, as already mentioned, on the 
 northern side of the Bay of San Pedro ; and accord- 
 
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 304 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 ingly, at nine in the morning of the day appointed, we 
 left the Cowlitz in the long and jolly boats, accompa- 
 nied by Mr. Rae, and also by Mr. Forbes, living near 
 the mission of San Jcse de Guadalupe, and acting, in 
 that neighbourhood, as an agent of the Hudson's Bay 
 Company, to whom we were much indebted during our 
 stay, not only for his general politeness, but also for his 
 special assistance as interpreter. 
 
 After a heavy pull of some hours against a stiff 
 breeze, we reached the strait which communicates be- 
 tween Whalers' Harbour and the inner waters, having 
 the point of San Pedro on our left, and that of San 
 Pablo on our right ; and as we here found the tide as 
 well as the wind opposed to us, we were obliged to en- 
 camp on the former point a good while before it was 
 dark. The place of our encampment, once a part of 
 the lands of the mission of San Rafael, was now the 
 property of an Irishman of the name of Murphy ; and, 
 as we had started without any stock of provisions, we 
 were glad to find ourselves the guests of a gentleman, 
 who, besides our claims on him as his fellow-subjects, 
 had got his cattle on so easy terms. Having made up 
 our minds, therefore, to share with Mr. Murphy in the 
 spoils of the church, we sent out several hunters to 
 bring home a bullock for our supper ; but, to our great 
 mortification, we were less successful in plundering our 
 host than he had been iu plundering the priests ; for 
 our emissaries had not been able to approach within 
 shot of a single animal, a man on foot being such a pro- 
 digy in this land of laziness, as to make the very cattle 
 scamper off in dismay. In addition to the want of beef, 
 
 » '• 
 
ROUND THE WOPLD. 
 
 305 
 
 ited, we 
 jcompa- 
 njr near 
 jting, in 
 )n's Buy 
 ring our 
 so for liis 
 
 t a stiff 
 cates be- 
 3, having 
 it of San 
 le tide as 
 •ed to en- 
 ore it was 
 a part of 
 ( now tlie 
 )liy; and, 
 isions, we 
 [entleman, 
 sr-subjects, 
 made up 
 )hy in the 
 lunters to 
 our great 
 dering our 
 riests; for 
 ach within 
 iuch a pro- 
 very cattle 
 mt of beef, 
 
 one of those heavy fogs, which here a north-wester so 
 frequently brings in its train, enveloped us in complete 
 darkness, at the same time soaking through our clothes. 
 In fact, our old fortune, whenever we slept ashore, 
 seemed to pursue us from the Columbia to San Fran- 
 cisco. 
 
 Timothy Murphy, who unconsciously played the part 
 of so inhospitable a landlord on this occasion, resides at 
 the mission of San Rafael as administrador on behalf of 
 General Vallego, to whom, as one of the prime movers 
 in the revolution of 1836, there fell the lion's share of 
 prize-money, in the shape of the two nice snuggeries of 
 San Rafael and San Francisco Solano. The General, 
 who shows his sagacity by systematically allying himself 
 with foreigners, selected Mr. Murphy as a fitting mate 
 for one of his sisters, the prettiest girl of the family, 
 giving him in advance, as an earnest of the bargain, the 
 management of San Rafael, with a good slice of the 
 booty for his own private use. The lady, however, 
 could not, or would not, fancy Timothy ; and the matter 
 ended by the General's acquisition of two foreigners in- 
 stead of one, Mr. Leese having obtained the Donna's 
 hand, and Mr. Murphy having kept her dowry. 
 
 But the jilted administrador is not without his share 
 of pleasant society, in the person of one of the few 
 priests who remained in the country after the confisca- 
 tion of their establishments. Father Quigas is one of 
 those jovial souls, who show that, in the new world as 
 well as in the old, power and wealth are more than a 
 match for monastic austerities ; nor has the removal of 
 the corrupting influences re/idered his reverence a more 
 
 VOL. I. X 
 
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 306 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 rigid observer of his vows, excepting always — thanks to 
 Murphy and Vallego — the single article of poverty. 
 The two friends lately led each other into trouble in a 
 way which forcibly illustrates the state of government 
 in general and the character of Vallego in particular. 
 
 As the bay of San Pedro is separated only by a ridge 
 of green hills from the valley of Santa Rosa, in which 
 are situated the settlements of Bodega and Ross, Murphy 
 and Quigas, whether it was that the former was in search 
 of stray bullocks, or that the latter wished to ease the 
 schismatics of a little of their brandy, fell into the snare 
 of visiting the Russians, against all rule and precedent. 
 The treason soon came to the General's ears ; and, on 
 the very evening after their return, the delinquents were 
 politely invited to attend at head-quarters by a Serjeant 
 and five troopers. As the night was wet and stormy, 
 they tried to bribe the soldiers with their best fare into 
 a respite of a few hours, pleading, at the same time, the 
 want of horses. But, while the Serjeant disclaimed all 
 official knowledge of wind and weather, the troopers 
 caught the requisite number of nags, and next morning 
 the luckless wights were thrown, all drenched and 
 splashed, into the General's calabozo^ or dungeon, to 
 chew the cud, in hunger and thirst, on the contraband 
 hospitalities of Bodega and Ross. So much for the 
 freedom and equity of Californian republicanism ! 
 
 Early next morning we got under way, with a breeze 
 from the south-east; and, though the ebb-tide was 
 sweeping and tumbling through the straits like a rapid, 
 yet we succeeded in crossing the bay to the entrance of 
 the creek of Sonoma, which here flows, as do several 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 307 
 
 other creeks in the neighbourhood, through one of the 
 flats or marshes so common on the shores of the inlet of 
 San Francisco. We toiled up the windings of this 
 stream against a powerful current, looking in vain for a 
 dry spot to put ashore, the banks being so low that 
 they are regularly overflowed at high tide ; and it was 
 six in the evening before we reached the landing-place, 
 distant about ten miles from the bay and about three 
 from the mission. Our standing luck here stuck to us, 
 for we had no sooner pitched our tents and secured our 
 baggage, than the south-easter, after the day's reprieve, 
 brought down its usual accompaniment of heavy rain. 
 Finding an Indian at the landing-place, we despatched 
 him with a note to the General, explaining the object 
 of our visit, and requesting the favour of his sending us 
 horses to enable us to pay our respects to him in the 
 morning. During the night, a north-west wind had 
 taken the place of our south-easter, bringing, at this 
 distance from the ocean, not the chilly fogs of the coast, 
 but beautifully clear weather, rendered perhaps more 
 pleasant by the bracing air of a sharp frost. 
 
 The sun, however, had hardly risen, when the air be- 
 came agreeably warm ; and, while we were making the 
 most of a light breakfast, the Indian returned with a 
 polite message from the General, to the effect that horses 
 would be with us immediately. In fact, before he had 
 well delivered his errand, a band of thirty chargers came 
 in sight, and soon after a still larger herd, the whole 
 escorted by a serjeant and two troopers, with a rabble 
 of native auxiliaries. Out of this supply, nine or ten of 
 the best-looking animals were quickly caught for us 
 
 X 2 
 
 
 ' ' 
 
I ) 
 
 308 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 ^h- 
 
 . Ii:l^ 
 
 tfe, 
 
 with the lasso ; and the whole of the motley cavalcade 
 now proceeded over a rich plain, studded with scrub 
 oaks, and embosomed within well-wooded hills of consi- 
 derable height. In consequence of heavy rains, and 
 more particularly the bursting of a water-spout, the 
 roads were flooded ; for the plain, being low and level, 
 not only receives far more than its share of whatever 
 falls, but also retains nearly all that it receives — a cir- 
 cumstance which, however inconvenient to the traveller, 
 is, in general, peculiarly beneficial to agriculture. In 
 fact, so dry is the climate during all the best seasons of 
 the year, that the valley is intersected in every direction 
 by artificial ditches, which are fed from the creek for the 
 purposes of irrigation. These artificial ditches, by the 
 by, were the first symptom of human energy that we 
 had seen in California ; but on inquiry we found that 
 they had been dug, under the direction of the priests, 
 by the reluctant labour of the converts. 
 
 At Sonoma, for the very name of the mission has been 
 secularized, we were received by the firing of a salute, 
 and the hoisting of the colours, — the former mark of 
 respect being complimentary in proportion to the scarcity 
 of gunpowder in this land of lassos. Through a gate- 
 way and a courtyard, we ascended a half-finished flight 
 of steps to the principal room of the General's house, 
 being of fifty feet in length, and of other dimensions in 
 proportion. Besides being disfigured by the doors of 
 chambers, to which it appeared to be a passage, this 
 apartment was very indifferently furnished, the only 
 tolerable articles on the bare floor being some gaudy 
 chairs from Woahoo, such as the native islanders them- 
 
ROUND TIIE WORLD. 
 
 309 
 
 selves often make. This was California all over, — the 
 richest and most influential individual in a professedly 
 civilized settlement obliffed to borrow the means of 
 sitting from savages, who had never seen a white man 
 till two years after San Francisco was colonized by the 
 Spaniards. Here we were received by Don Salvador 
 Vallego and Mr. Leese, our host's brother ar.d brother- 
 in-law ; and immediately afterwards, the General, being 
 somewhat indisposed, received us very courteously in 
 his own chamber. 
 
 General Vallego is a good-looking man of about forty- 
 five years of age, who has risen in the world by his own 
 talent and energy. His father, who was one of the 
 most respectable men in California, died about ten years 
 ago at Monterey, leaving to a large family of sons and 
 daughters little other inheritance than a degree of intel- 
 ligence and steadiness almost unknown in the country. 
 The patrimonial estate, such as it was, descended to the 
 eldest son, while the second, now the prop of the name, 
 was an ensign in the army, with the command of the 
 Presidio of San Francisco. Having acquired consider- 
 able influence in the party, which styled itself demo- 
 cratic, and aimed at something like independence, he was 
 promoted by a conciliatory governor to be commandant 
 of the frontier of Sonoma ; and soon afterwards, taking 
 advantage of this same governor's death, he became the 
 leader in the revolution of 1836, securing for a nephew 
 of the name of Alvarado the office of civil governor, 
 and reserving to himself the important post of com- 
 mander of the forces. As to the rest of the family, 
 Don Salvador became a captain of cavalry, and another 
 
 i-liillr 
 
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 r y' 
 
 310 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 I I 
 
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 HI 
 
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 U * 
 
 brother was made administrador of the mission of San 
 Jose de Guadalupe, while the girls were married off, — 
 most of them to foreigners, — with a shrewd view to the 
 strengthening of the General's influence. 
 
 In addition to what I have already said as to the 
 power and value of foreigners, the revolution, which has 
 made Vallego a great man, was brought to a crisis by 
 the spirited conduct of an individual of that class. The 
 insurgents, having entered the Presidio of Monterey, 
 were brought to a stand by the Mexican commandant's 
 refusal to surrender ; but one of their foreign associates, 
 after apostrophizing their " eyes," and ejaculating some- 
 thing about " humbug," loaded a gun to the muzzle, 
 and shot off part of the roof of the commandant's place 
 of retreat ; — ^a hint to capitulate, which could no longer 
 be misunderstood or neglected. The foreigners were 
 pretty nearly unanimous in favour of the insurgents, some 
 of them from the love of a row, many through matrimonial 
 connexions, and the Americans in the hope of seeing the 
 new republic hoist the Stars and Stripes of the Union. 
 
 After spending about half an hour with our host, we 
 left him to partake of a second breakfast, at which we 
 were joined by the ladies of the family. First in honour 
 and in place was Seiiora Valiego, whose sister is married 
 to Captpm Wilson, of the barque Index, an honest Scot 
 from " l5onny Dundee ;" next came one of her sisters- 
 in-law, who is the wife of Captain Cooper, of the schooner 
 California, and resides at Sonoma, as a pledge for the 
 fidelity of the provincial navy ; and lastly followed Mrs. 
 Leese, with an unmarried sister, and Mrs. Cooper's 
 daughter. It won't be the General's fault, if the English 
 
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 u\ 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 311 
 
 San 
 the 
 
 the 
 
 ch has 
 
 1818 by 
 
 . The 
 
 [iterey, 
 
 [idant's 
 
 aciates, 
 
 T some- 
 
 muzzle, 
 
 's place 
 
 longer 
 
 jrs were 
 
 its, some 
 
 itimonial 
 
 seing the 
 
 Union, 
 host, we 
 rhich we 
 
 |u honour 
 married 
 ^est Scot 
 sr sisters- 
 schooner 
 e for the 
 [wed Mrs. 
 Cooper's 
 lie English 
 
 race does not multiply in California ; so far as names 
 went, we might have supposed ourselves to be in London 
 or in Boston. 
 
 In front of Mr. Leese, who sat at the head of the 
 table as master of the ceremonies, was placed an array 
 of five dishes, two kinds of stewed beef, rice, fowls, and 
 beans. As all the cooking is done in outhouses, — for 
 the dwellings, by reason of the mildness of the climate, 
 have no chimneys or fireplaces, — the dishes were by no 
 means too hot when put on the table, while, by being 
 served out in succession to a party of about twenty 
 people, they became each colder than the other, before 
 they reached their destinations. It was some consolation 
 to know that the heat must once have been there, for 
 every thing had literally been seethed into chips, the 
 beans ov fri<roles in particular having been first boiled, 
 and lastly fried with an intermediate stewing, to break 
 the suddenness of the transition. Then every mouthful 
 was poisoned with the everlasting compound of pepper 
 and garlick ; and this repast, be it observed, was quite 
 an aristocratic specimen of the kind, for elsewhere we 
 more than once saw, in one and the same dish, beef, and 
 tongue, and pumpkin, and garlick, and potatoes in their 
 jackets, and cabbage, and onions, and tomata, and pepper, 
 and Heaven knows what besides, — this last indefinite 
 ingredient being something more than a mere figure of 
 speech, considering that all the cookery, as one may 
 infer from the expenditure of so much labour, is the 
 work of native drudges, unwashed and uncombed. When 
 to the foregoing sketch are added bad tea and worse 
 wine, the reader has picked up a perfect idea of Califor- 
 
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 .112 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 iiian breakfast, Ciiliforninn dinner, and Califoniiau sup- 
 per, and is quite able to estimate the sacrifice which a 
 naturalized John Bull makes for the pleasures of matri- 
 mony and the comforts of Roman Catholicism. Such 
 varieties as cheese, and butter, and milk, and mutton, 
 and fish are, as I have already mentioned, here unknown ; 
 even game, whether of the land or of the water, is at a 
 discount not only as a matter of business but also as an 
 object of amusement ; and the very beef has been par- 
 boiled in the feverish blood of the unfortunate bullock 
 
 » 
 
 first heated and infuriated by the chace, and then tor- 
 tured and strangled with the lasso. 
 
 Immediately after breakfast, our horses were brought 
 to the door ; and we started to see the country, accom- 
 panied by Don Salvador and an escort of three or four 
 soldiers. We first ascended a steep hill at the back of 
 the mission, whence we obtained an extensive view of 
 the surrounding region. In the distance there lay the 
 waters of the magnificent harbour, while at our feet 
 stretched a plain, for it exhibited nothing of the valley 
 but its wall of mountains, about fifteen miles long and 
 three broad. This plain is composed of alluvial soil, 
 which is so fertile as to yield about fifty returns of 
 wheat; and the hills present abundance of willow, 
 poplar, pine, chestnut, and cedar. If one may judge 
 from appearances, this valley once formed an arm of 
 the bay of San Pedro ; and, in fact, the whole harbour, 
 in remote ages, was most probably an inland lake, which 
 has forced its way to the ocean, through the same 
 barrier of soft rock, which, as already mentioned, still 
 continues to melt into the tide. 
 

 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 313 
 
 In the course of our ride, we saw Hovonil Jeer on tlio 
 road, these animals being so tame as often to approach 
 the liouses in large herds. For beasts of chace, if here 
 the plirase is not a misnomer, California is a perfect 
 paradise. The Californian is too lazy to hunt for 
 anmsement; and, as to any necessity of the kind, his 
 bullocks supply all his wants, excepting that the red 
 deer is occasionally pursued on account of the peculiar 
 hardness and whiteness of its tallow. Hence the num- 
 ber of wild animals is very considerable. Beaver and 
 otter have recently been caught within half a mile of 
 the mission ; and there are also the red deer, the wild 
 bear, the panther, the wolf, the fox, the rabbit, &c. 
 
 Having descended from the hill, we traversed a great 
 portion of the plain. The waterspout, which has been 
 already mentioned, had done a great deal of damage, 
 sweeping away the newly-sown seed from several large 
 fields of wheat. These fields had been highly prized 
 by the General, as the grain had been procured from 
 the Columbia river, and was superior in quality to his 
 own. As one might expect, from the abundance of 
 land, the fertility of the soil, and the indolence of the 
 people, agriculture is conducted in the rudest poesible 
 way. As the surface of the plain presents so few ob- 
 stacles to cultivation, the same land is never cropped 
 for more than two successive years ; and as Vallego's 
 farm contains from five to six hundred acres, he thu8 
 annually breaks up about three hundred acres of what 
 may be called wild land, either fresh from the hands of 
 nature, or refreshed by rest. In the fields that had 
 been stripped by the waterspout, we saw several ploughs 
 
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 I 
 
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814 
 
 OVIIRLAND JOI'RNKY 
 
 iil i 
 
 at work, or rather at what expects to bo called work 
 in this country. The machine consistM of little more 
 than a lo^ of wood, pointed with iron, from the top of 
 which rises, in a sloping direction, a long pole for the 
 oxen, while an upright handle for the ploughman is 
 fixed to the unpointed end of the share ; or, if possible, 
 is formed out of the same piece of timber as the share 
 itself. The oxen, as if to prevent oven them from putting 
 forth their strength, are yoked by the horns ; and, con- 
 sidering that there are only two such animals to so 
 clumsy a piece of workmanship, the topsoil alone is 
 scratched, to a depth of not more than two or three 
 inches. 
 
 Having learned from us, during our excursion, that 
 we wished to see an exhibition of the lasso, Don Sal- 
 vador had kindly sent back orders to make the requi- 
 site preparations; and accordingly, on our return to 
 the mission, we found every thing ready for action. A 
 band of wild horses had been driven into a pen, or 
 coralky of very strong build. The door being thrown 
 open, Don Salvador and one or two others entered on 
 horseback ; and the former, having his lasso coiled up 
 in his hand, swung it round his head to give it an im- 
 petus, and then, with a dexterous aim, secured in the 
 noose the neck of a fiery young steed. After plunging 
 and rearing in vain, the animal was at length thrown 
 down with great violence. Soon, however, it was again 
 on its legs, and its captor, having attached the lasso to 
 his saddle-bow, dragged it, tottering, out of the coralle, 
 till, with eyes starting from its head, and nostrils fear- 
 fully distended, it fell panting and groaning to the 
 
i: 
 
 ROUND TIIK VVOIILI). 
 
 313 
 
 j;rouii(l. The Ijihso l»ein;r now Mluckoncd, the uniiiml 
 regiiiiieJ its breath, and, infuriated with rage, started 
 away at its utmost speed, Don Salvador, of course, fol- 
 lowing at an equal pace. One of the asHistants now 
 spurred forward his steed, and, overtaking the victim, 
 seized it by the tail with his hand ; and at length, 
 watching a favourable moment, he threw the animal by 
 a jerk to the earth with such force, as threatened to 
 break every bone in its body. This cruel operation was 
 repeated several times, till we begged hard that the 
 wretclied beast should be released from farther torture. 
 A second horse was then caught, and tiirown down 
 in a manner still more pm'nful. The captor suddenly 
 stopped his horse when it full gallop, which, being well 
 trained, threw its weight towards one side, in expec- 
 tation of the impending jerk, while the captive steed 
 was instantaneously pitched, head over heels, to a dis- 
 tance of several yards. 
 
 Cruel as the sport was, we could not but admire the 
 skill of the Californians in the management of their 
 horses. One of the people, whether by accident or 
 design, dropped his lasso, of which the other end was 
 attached to a wild horse in full career ; and following, 
 till he came up with it as it trailed on the ground, he 
 stooped to it from his saddle, and picked it up without 
 slackening his pace for a moment. But, with all their 
 dexterity and experience, the riders often meet with 
 serious, and even fatal accidents, by being thrown from 
 their horses. Don Salvador himself had had his full 
 share of this kind of thing ; he had broken two ribs, 
 and fractured both his thighs, the one in two places, 
 
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 316 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 and the other in three, so that he had now very little 
 left in reserve but his neck. There is, moreover, one 
 peculiar danger to which the thrower of the lasso is 
 exposed. The saddle of the country has an elevated 
 pummel, round which the lasso, after noosing its victim, 
 is rapidly twisted ; and in this operation the captor not 
 unfrequently sees the first finger of his right hand torn 
 off in an instant. These evils are, of course, often ag- 
 gravated by the want of proper assistance — our host's 
 present indisposition being a curious instance of this. 
 While engaged with the lasso, the General had dislo- 
 cated his hip. The joint, however, was replaced ; and 
 he was doing well, till he bruised it slightly. He sent 
 a messenger to the only practitioner at San Francisco, 
 one Bail, from Manchester, for a strengthening plaster ; 
 but the Doctor, who sometimes takes doses very diffe- 
 rent from those which he prescribes, sent by mistake a 
 blister of cantharides, which, being supposed to be 
 salutary in proportion to the pain of its application, 
 was allowed to work double tides on the poor General's 
 bruise, so as to turn it into a very pretty sore, which 
 had confined him to his bed. 
 
 During the day we visited a village of General Val- 
 lego's Indians, about three hundred in nnmber, who 
 were the most miserable of the race that I ever saw, 
 excepting always the slaves of the savages of the north- 
 west coast. Though many of thern are well formed 
 and well grown, yet every face bears the impress of 
 poverty and wretchedness ; and they are, moreover, a 
 prey to several malignant diseases, among which an 
 hereditary syphilis ranks as the predominant scourge 
 
 i 
 
't ; - 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 317 
 
 alike of old and young. They are badly clothed, badly 
 lodged, and badly fed. As to clothing, they are pretty 
 nearly in a state of nature ; as to lodging, their hovels 
 are made of boughs, wattled with bulrushes, in the 
 form of beehives, with a hole in the top for a chimney, 
 and with two holes at the bottom, towards the north- 
 west and the south-east, so as to enable the poor crea- 
 tures, by closing them in turns, to exclude both the 
 prevailing winds ; and as to food, they eat the worst 
 bullocks' worst joints, with bread of acorns and chest- 
 nuts, which are most laboriously and carefully prepared 
 by pounding, and rinsing, and grinding. Though not 
 so recognised by the law, yet they are thralls in all but 
 the name; while, borne to the earth by the toils of 
 civilization, superadded to the privations of savage life, 
 they vegetate rather than live, without the wish to 
 enjoy their former pastimes, or the skill to resume their 
 former avocations. 
 
 This picture, which is a correct likeness, not only of 
 General Vallego's Indians, bv.t of all the civilized abori- 
 gines of California, is the only remaining monument of 
 the zeal of the Church and the munificence of the State. 
 Nor is the result very different from what ought to have 
 been expected. In a religious point of view, the priests 
 were contented with merely external observances ; and 
 even this semblance of Christianity they systematically 
 purchased and rewarded with the good things of this 
 life, their very first step in the formation of a mission 
 having been to barter maize-pottage, by a kind of re- 
 gular tariff, for an unconscious attendance at church, 
 and the repetition of unintelligible catechisms. 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 With regard, again, to temporal improvement, the 
 priests, instead of establishing each proselyte on a farm 
 of his own, and thus gradually imbuing him with know- 
 ledge and industry, penned the whole like cattle, and 
 watched them like children, at the very most making 
 them eye-servants, through their dread of punishment 
 and their reverence for a master. In truth, the Indians 
 were then the same as now, excepting that they shared 
 more liberally in the fruits of their own labour, and 
 possessed spirit enough to enjoy a holiday in the songs 
 and dances of their race. The true tendency of the 
 monkish discipline was displayed by the partial eman- 
 cipation which took place, as already mentioned, in 
 1825 ; and, when the missions were confiscated in 
 1836, the proselytes, almost as naturally as the cattle, 
 were divided among the spoilers, either as menial 
 drudges or as predial serfs, excepting that some of the 
 more independent among them retired to the wilderness, 
 in order, as the sequel will show, to avenge their wrongs 
 by a life of rapine. 
 
 These sons and daughters of bondage — many of them 
 too sadly broken in spirit even to marry — are so rapidly 
 diminishing in numbers, that they must soon pass away 
 from the land of their fathers ; a result which, as it 
 seems uniformly to spring from all the conflicting 
 varieties of civilized agency, is to be ultimately as- 
 cribed to the inscrutable wisdom of a mysterious Pro- 
 vidence. If anything could render such a state of 
 things more melancholy, it would be the reflection that 
 many of these victims of a hollow civilization must have 
 been born in the missions, inasmuch as, even at San 
 
 rtli » 
 
 1 ' 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 319 
 
 int, the 
 
 a farm 
 1 know- 
 tie, and 
 making 
 ishment 
 
 Indians 
 y shared 
 our, and 
 he songs 
 jy of the 
 ial eman- 
 ioned, in 
 seated in 
 the cattle, 
 
 ts menial 
 
 le of the 
 [vilderness, 
 
 lir wrongs 
 
 Francisco, those establishments had taken root sixty 
 years before the revolution ; and it was truly pitiable 
 to hear Vallego's beasts of burden speaking the Spanish 
 language, as an evidence that the system, wherever the 
 fault lay, had not failed through want of time. 
 
 Previously to dressing for dinner, we took a closer 
 survey of the buildings and premises. The General's 
 plan seems to be to throw his principal edifices into the 
 form of a square. The centre is already filled up with 
 the General's own house, flanked on one side by a 
 barrack, and on the other by Don Salvador's residence ; 
 but as yet the wings contain respectively only a billiard- 
 
 ■m and Mr. Loose's dwelling opposite to each other. 
 l>n the outside of this square are many detached build- 
 ings, such as the Calaboso, the church, &c. The Cala- 
 boso is most probably a part of the original establish- 
 ment, for every mission had its cage for refractory 
 converts ; but the church, which even now is large, has 
 been built by Vallego, to replace a still larger one, 
 though no priest lives at Sonoma, and Father Quigas, of 
 San Rafael, after his experience of the dungeon, has 
 but little stomach for officiating at head-quarters. 
 
 All the buildings are of adobes^ or unbaked bricks, 
 which are cemented with mud instead of mortar ; and, 
 in order to protect so perishable materials from the 
 rain, besides keeping off the rays of the sun, the houses 
 are very neatly finished with verandahs and overhang- 
 ing eaves. If tolerably protected, for a time, the walls, 
 which are generally four or five feet thick, become, in 
 a measure, vitrified, and are nearly as durable as stone. 
 To increase the expenditure of labour and materials, the 
 
 
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 320 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 partitions are nearly as thick as the outer walls, each 
 room of any size having its own separate roof — a cir- 
 cumstance which explained what at first surprised us, 
 the great length and breadth of the apartments. 
 
 At this season of the year, we found the houses very 
 comfortless in consequence of the want of fireplaces, 
 for the warmth of the day only rendered us more sen- 
 sible of the chilliness of the night. The Californians 
 remedy or mitigate the evil by the ludicrous makeshift 
 of wearing their cloaks ; and even among the foreigners, 
 not more than two or three dwellings with chimneys 
 will be found from one end of the province to the other. 
 
 The garrison of Sonoma is certainly well officeried, 
 for the General and the Captain have only thirteen 
 troopers under their command — this force and Prado's 
 corps, if they could only get balsas enough to effect a 
 junction, forming a standing army of about twenty men 
 for San Francisco alone. The absurdity of the thing 
 consists not in the number of soldiers, for they are six- 
 teen times more numerous in proportion than the army 
 of the United States ; the essential folly is this, that a 
 scattered population of seven thousand men, women, 
 and children should ever think of an independence, 
 which must either ruin them for the maintenance of an 
 adequate force, or expose them at one and the same 
 time to the horrors of popular anarchy and of military 
 insubordination. 
 
 If one may judge from the variety of uniforms, each 
 of the thirteen warriors constitutes his own regiment, 
 one being the " Blues," another the " Buffs," and so 
 on ; and, as they are all mere boys, this nucleus of a 
 
 Z. .«jJIBSf^.''ffWC^.'!)y W.*f itr V. ^ 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 321 
 
 Is, each 
 -a cir- 
 •ised us, 
 
 ises very 
 replaces, 
 lore sen- 
 lifornians 
 makeshift 
 breigners, 
 chimneys 
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 ofRceried, 
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 nd Prado's 
 :o effect a 
 wenty men 
 f the thing 
 ley are six- 
 n the army 
 this, that a 
 jn, women, 
 lependence, 
 nance of an 
 d the same 
 of military 
 
 formidable cavalry lias at least the merit of being a grow- 
 ing one. The only articles common to the whole of this 
 baker's dozen are an enormous sword, a pair of nascent 
 moustaches, deer-skin boots, and that everlasting *(?rcr/>e, 
 or blanket, with a hole in the middle of it, for the 
 head. This troop the General turns to useful account, 
 being clearly of opinion that idleness is the very rust of 
 discipline; he makes them catch his cattle, and, in 
 short, discharge the duty of servants-of-all-work — an 
 example highly worthy of the imitation of all military 
 autocrats. The system, however, has led to two or 
 three revolts. On one occasion, a regiment of native 
 infantry, being an awkward squad of fifteen Indians, 
 having conspired against the General, were shot for 
 their pains ; and more recently the Californian soldiers, 
 disdaining to drive bullocks, were cashiered on the spot, 
 and replaced by new levies. Besides the garrison, the 
 General possesses several field-pieces and carronades, 
 which, however, are, by reason of the low state of the 
 ammunition, rather ornamental than useful. 
 
 There is a small vineyard behind the house of about 
 three hundred feet square, which, in the days of the 
 priests, used to yield about one thousand gallons of 
 wine. The General, on coming into possession, re- 
 planted the vines, which bore abundantly in the third 
 season ; and now, at the end of only five years, they 
 have just yielded twenty barrels of wine and four of 
 spirits, equal to sixteen more of wine, of fifteen gallons 
 each, or about five hundred and forty gallons of wine in 
 all. The peaches and pears also, though only three 
 years old, were from fifteen to twenty feet high, and 
 
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 322 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 had borne fruit this season. In short, almost any 
 plant might here be cultivated uith success. 
 
 Durinuf the short winter, snow is never seen, except- 
 ing- occasionally, on the summits of the highest hills, 
 while at noon the heat generally ranges from 65° to 70° 
 in the shade ; and, in summer, the average temperature 
 of the day is seldom lower than 00°. As the north- 
 west fogs do not penetrate into the interior more than 
 fifteen miles, there are, in fact, two climates ?t San 
 Francisco ; and General Vallego has chosen the better 
 one for himself, as also for his brother, the administrador 
 of San Jose de Guadalupe. 
 
 At dinner, the General made his appearance, wrapped 
 in a cloak ; and we had now also the pleasure of being 
 introduced to the Dowager Seiiora, an agreeable dame of 
 about sixty ; and we could not help envying the old 
 lady the very rare luxury of being immediately sur- 
 rounded, at her time of life, by so many as five grown 
 sons and daughters. This meal was merely a counter- 
 part of the breakfast — the same Mr. Leese, the same 
 stews, the same frixoles, and the same pepper and 
 garlick, with the same dead and alive temperature in 
 every morsel ; and the only difference was that, as we 
 were a little better appetized, we took more notice of 
 the want of attendance, the only servant, besides my 
 own, being a miserable Indian, dressed in a shirt, with 
 bare legs and v._ -led hair. 
 
 Immediately v v dinner, the ladies retired, the gen- 
 tlemen at the f ime time going out for a stroll ; but 
 soon afterward , the ladies again met us at tea, rein- 
 forced by one r. two of the more juvenile donnas of the 
 
 ?i 
 
 
 : i 
 
ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 323 
 
 establishment. Dancing was now the order of tlie day ; 
 Don Salvador and one of his troopers |)layed tlie guitar, 
 while we were " toeing it and heeling it," at the fan- 
 dango, the cotillon, and the waltz. The scene was 
 rather peculiar for a ball-room, both gentlemen and 
 ladies, when not on active service . omoking furiously, 
 with fully more, in some cases, than the usual acconi- 
 paniments. 
 
 Among the persons present was a very fierce, punchy 
 little man, enveloped in an immense cloak, lie proved 
 to be no less a personage than Commandant Prado, of the 
 Presidio of San Francisco, successor, in fact, of Vallogo 
 in the same office which formed the stepping-stone to 
 his present elevation. Besides having been engaged in 
 many skirmishes against both Californians and Indians, 
 he has had several narrow escapes with his life in private 
 brawls. About two years ago, a religious festival was 
 celebrated at the mission of San Francisco de los Do- 
 lores, in honour of the patron saint, passing through all 
 the usual gradations of mass, bull-fight, supper, and 
 ball. In the course of the evening, Guerrero, the 
 steward of the mission, stabbed Prado with the ever- 
 ready knife, for presuming to interpose in an altercation 
 between himself and his mistress ; but the corpulent 
 commandant was not to be so easily run through ; for, 
 though breadth of beam is not generally an advantage 
 to a soldier, yet, on this occasion, Prado's fat did suc- 
 ceed in saving his bacon. Such a termination of a reli- 
 gious festival is so much a matter of course, that, at one 
 which took place a few months back, one of Prado's 
 numerous enemies came up to him, and, drawing his 
 
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 324 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 knife, said — " What ! here's daylight, and no one yet 
 stabbed !" and it required all the fnfluence of Valle«yo, 
 who happened to be p sent, to nip so very promising a 
 quarrel in the bud. On such occasions, the cloak is 
 often invaluable as a shield ; and in fact, when both 
 parties are on their guard, there is commonly far more 
 of noise than of mischief. 
 
 Our evening, however, passed over most amicably 
 and agreeably, winding up, after several other songs, 
 with " Auld Lang Syne," in which the Californiar 
 joined the foreigners very heartily ; so that, as next d. j 
 was Old Christmas, I could almost have fancied that I 
 was welcoming "Auld Yule" in the north of Scotland. 
 
 On the morning of the 6th, we left the mission about 
 seven o'clock, under a pretty heavy rain, to the great 
 surprise of its amiable and hospitable inmates. We 
 breakfasted at the landing-place, on the site of our ohl 
 camp, after which we made our way to the mouth of 
 the creek with the ebb-tide ; but, as the wind was blow- 
 ing hard from the south-east, Ave could not face the 
 bay, and were obliged to retrace our steps, encamping 
 for the third time at the landing-place, after nearly a 
 whole day's exposure and toil. In all the course of my 
 travelling, I never had occasion to go so far in search of 
 an encampment as I did this day ; but between our en- 
 campment and the bay there really was not a single 
 spot where, even in the direst necessity, we could have 
 obtained a footing. The banks of the creek were a 
 mere marsh; and we saw and heard thousands upon 
 thousands of cranes, geese, ducks, curlew, snipe, plover, 
 heron, &c. These birds enjoy a perpetual hohday. 
 
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 ri « 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 325 
 
 They, of course, are quite nafe from the hisso ; and so 
 h>i)g as the Californians can get beef without gun- 
 ])OW(ler, they are not likely to expend it on any less 
 profitable quarry. 
 
 By next morning the wind had returned to the north- 
 west. We accordingly got under way at six o'clock ; 
 and, after a pleasant run down the creek, wo st()0<l 
 across the bay of San Pedro, passed our old encamp- 
 ment on jMurphy's estate, and, at four in the afternoon, 
 arrived in safety on board of the Cowlitz. 
 
 It had been our intention, on this trip, to have visited 
 Captain Sutter, the purchaser, as already mentioned, of 
 the Russian American Company's stock in Ross and 
 Bodega, who had settled, under the sanction of the 
 government, on the banks of the Sacramento ; but, as 
 this prolongation of our excursion wouhl have occupied 
 us at least eight or ten days, we were reluctantly obliged 
 to return without beating up the captain's quarters. 
 Besides having thus lost the opportunity of seeing a 
 little of the interior, we had reasons of a less romantic 
 character for regretting our disapi)oijitment ; as Sutter, 
 a man of a speculative turn and good address, had given 
 to the Hudson's Bay Company, in common with many 
 others less able to pay for the compliment, particular 
 grounds for taking an interest in his welfare and pro- 
 sperity, lie was understood to have served in the body- 
 guard of Charles the Tenth, and to have emigrated, 
 after the three glorious days of 1830, to the United 
 States — a country which, by its acquisition of Loui- 
 siana, offers far more powerful inducements to French 
 enterprise than any one of the rickety colonies of the 
 
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 ^^tind nation. He had nnccessively tried \m fortune in 
 St. Louis, among tlie Shawnee Indians, in the Snake 
 Country, on the Colunihia Uiver, at the Sandwich 
 Ishmds, at Sitka, and at San Francisco, uniformly illus- 
 trating the proverb of the rolling stone, but yet gene- 
 rally contriving to leave anxious and inquisitive friends 
 behind him. 
 
 Sutter was now living on a grant of land about sixty 
 miles long and twelve broad, trapping, farming, trading, 
 bullying the government, and letting out Indians on 
 hire ; being, in short, in a fairer way of figuring in the 
 world as a territorial potentate than his royal [)atron'8 
 heir, the Duke of IJourdeaux. [f he really has the 
 talent and the courage to make the most of his position, 
 he is not unlikely to render California a second Texas. 
 Even now, the Americans only want a rallying point for 
 carrying into effect their theory, that the English race 
 is destined by " right divine " to expel the Spaniards 
 from their ancient seats — a theory which has already 
 begun to develop itself in more ways than one. 
 
 American adventurers have repeatedly stolen cattle 
 and horses by wholesale, with as little comi)unction as 
 if they had merely helped themselves to an instalment 
 of their own property. American trappers have fre- 
 quently stalked into the Californian towns wit'> their 
 long rifles, ready for all sorts of mischief, practically 
 setting the government at defiance, and putting the in- 
 habitants in bodily fear; and, in 1836, the American 
 residents, as also some of the American skippers on the 
 coast, supported the revolution, in the hope of its merely 
 transferrin"' California from Mexico to the United States. 
 
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 I « 
 
 ( 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 327 
 
 Now, for foHterin^' and inatuiin<,' Ilrother Joimtluin's 
 ambitious views, Cai)tain Siitttu-'s ostabliHhment is ad- 
 iiiiiably situated, liu^idcs lyinj? on the direct route 
 between San FninciHCo, on the one hand, and the Mis- 
 souri and tlio WiUarnette, on the other, it virtually ex- 
 cludes the Californians from all the best parts of their 
 own country, the valleys of the San Joachin, the Sacra- 
 mento, and the Colarado. Hitherto, the Spaniards hi; ve 
 confined themselves to the comparatively barren islip of 
 land, varyino; from ten to forty miles in width, which 
 lies between the ocean and the first range of mountains ; 
 and beyond this slip they will never penetrate with their 
 j)resent character and their present force, if Captain 
 Sutter, or any other adventurer, can gather round him a 
 score of such marksmen as won Texas on the field of 
 San Jacinto. Hut this is not all ; for the Americans, if 
 masters of the interior, will soon discover that they 
 have a natural right to a maritime outlet; so that, 
 Miiatever may bo the fate Oi Monterey and the more 
 southerly ports, San Francisco will, to a moral cer- 
 tainty, sooner or later, fall into the possession of Ameri- 
 cans — the only possible mode of preventing such a result 
 being the previous occupation of the port on the part of 
 Great ]3ritain. English, in some sense or other of the 
 word, the richest portions of California must become : 
 either Grct Britain will introduce her well regulated 
 freedom of all classes and colours, or the people of the 
 United States will inundate the country with their own 
 peculiar mixture of helpless bondage and lawless insub- 
 ordination. Between two such alternatives, the Cali- 
 fornians themselves have little room for choice; and. 
 
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 OVKRLVNU JOUKNKY 
 
 evtMi if there wore grountl for hesitation, they wouhl, I 
 iiin convinced, Hnd in their uctual experience sufficient 
 reason for (lcci<lin'f in fjivour of the British ; for they 
 especially and (Mnphatieally complain that the Ameri- 
 cans, in their mercantile dealinj,^s, are too wide awake 
 for such drowsy customers, as would rather be cheated 
 at once than i>rotect themselves by any unusual expen- 
 diture of vigilance and caution. So much as to Captain 
 Sutter's history and prospects. 
 
 On our return to Verba IJucna, we made arrange- 
 ments with Don Francisco Guerrero, already mentioned 
 in connexion with Commandant l*rado, for visiting him 
 at the mission of San Francisco, the oldest establish- 
 ment of the kind on the bay, and the nearest to our 
 anchorage. This gentleman, who had been steward of 
 the mission till the progress of pillage and dilapidation 
 rendered stewardship unnecessary, now resided here us 
 an alcalde for the .leighbouring district, or one of the 
 local organs for the administration of Californian justice. 
 In California, and, I believe, throughout Spanish Ame- 
 rica, the judicial system is rotten to the core. Even 
 the fundamental distinction between executive and ju- 
 diciary is practically unknown. In cases of real or 
 fictitious importance, the alcalde reports to the pre- 
 fect of his district, the prefect to the governor of the 
 province, and the governor to the central authorities of 
 Mexico; and, while all this tedious process advances at 
 a Spanish pace, the accused party, even if innocent, is 
 enduring, in some dungeon or other, a degree of mental 
 torture more than adequate, in most instances, to the 
 expiation of his alleged guilt. 
 
Il' 
 
 I « 
 
 I 
 
 UOL'NI) TIIK W()1U,1). 
 
 320 
 
 IJut this is only a Hiimll puit of tlio evil. The 
 onliniiiy result, when time and tide have done their 
 worst, is a rescript either for disinissiii<»- or for punish- 
 in;,' without trial, perhaps for punishing' the innocent 
 and for dismissing the Lcuilty ; so that the system, to 
 say nothin;;' of the iiardships of individual cases M' op- 
 pression, utterly fails in the ;?rand mkI and aim of every 
 penal code, the identifying of crime and sutler'-n^' in the 
 minds of the jteople. Fre«juently, ho^^ over, the sub- 
 ordinate functionaries, under the iiulueuce A' pers' : al 
 feelings, such as caprice, or viiidictiveness, or indigfuv i.n, 
 or love of popularity, pronounce and excci^n judgment 
 on their own responsibility; exhibiting uii-l about as 
 much e([uity and impartiality as might be expected in a 
 country, where there is neither a professional bar nor i; 
 free press, where education is hardly known, an*! jjovorn- 
 ment exists only in name, where the lav.- is scarcely 
 distinguished from the judge, and evidence is generally 
 confounded with suspicion. Thus a prefect of the name 
 of Castro, being informed that a man had murdere<l his 
 wife in a fit of jealousy, caused the ottender to be 
 instantly destroyed under this "Mitence : " Let him be 
 taken out and shot before my blood cools ;" and a 
 commandant, of the name of Garaletta, similarly dis- 
 posed of a person suspected, but not convicted, of 
 murder, on the curiously cumulative principle, that he 
 had once before been accused of another crime of the 
 same dye. 
 
 It is difficult to say whether this system is rendered 
 better or worse by the occasional inability of the 
 government to carry into effect even its own ideas of 
 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 justice. Previously to the successful revolution of 
 1836, an abortive attempt of the kind had been excited 
 by Governor Victoria's having condemned a man to be 
 executed for the murder of his child; and, in 1837, 
 when the foreign residents of the Pueblo de los Angelos 
 carried before Governor Alvarado some wretches who 
 had confessed the murder of a German, they received, 
 and fulfilled as well as received, this unique commission 
 of oyer and terminer : " I have not suflficicnt force to 
 carry the law into execution against them i but, if you 
 have evidence of their crime, do as you consider 
 right." 
 
 To return, in conclusion, to our friend Guerrero, the 
 reader must now understand pretty clearly what sort of 
 a ma'j'istrate an Alcalde is in California. The word is 
 of oriental origin, being part of the legacy left by the 
 Moors in Spain, while, true to his order, the Californian 
 Alcaide resembles the Turkish Cadi as closely on most 
 other points as in name. 
 
 On the morning of Monday the 10th of the month, 
 Guerrero's horses were in attendance ; and a pleasant 
 ride of three miles over some sandy hills, covered with 
 the dwarf oak and the strawberry tree, brought us to 
 the Mission of San Francisco. In the case of San 
 Francisco Solano, the remains of the original establish- 
 ment had been replaced or eclipsed by the more am- 
 bitious buildings of General Vallego ; but here one 
 wilderness of ruins presented nothing to blend the pro- 
 mise of the future with the story of the past. This 
 scene of desolation had not even the charm of antiquity 
 to grace it, for, as it was only in 1776 that the mission 
 
 1 h^- ^. 
 
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■fMMmilJHi 
 
 <•. 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 331 
 
 was founded, the oldest edifice that now crumbled before 
 us had not equalled the span of human life, the age of 
 threescore years and ten ; and yet, when compared with 
 the stubborn piles which elsewhere perish so gradually 
 as to exhibit no perceptible change to a single genera- 
 tion of men, these ruins had attained a state of decay 
 which would have done credit to the wind and weather 
 of centuries. Oddly enough, the endemic laziness of the 
 country had, in this instance, run ahead of Old Time, 
 with his jog-trot and his scythe, and had done his work 
 for him at a smarter pace and with more formidable 
 tools. In plain English, the indolent Californians had 
 saved themselves a vast deal of woodsman's and carpen- 
 ter's labour, by carrying oft' doors, and windows, and 
 roofs, leaving the unsheltered adobes, if one may name 
 small things with great, to the fate of Nineveh and 
 Babylon. 
 
 But these good Catholics did set a limit, and that, 
 too, a characteristic one, to their sacrilege. They could 
 appropriate the cattle, and dismantle the dwellings, of 
 the missions, robbing both priests and proselytes of 
 what they had earned in common by the sweat of their 
 brows ; but they respected the churches with a super- 
 stitious awe, even after they had degraded them into 
 baubles by the expulsion at once of the pastors and 
 their flocks. They left the mint, and the anise, and the 
 cummin untouched, but trampled on the w-eightier 
 matters of the law , they reverenced the altar, but dis- 
 claimed the mercy of which it was the emblem. Of 
 this hollow show, however, the friars should partly bear 
 the blame. It was an external religion that they had 
 
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 332 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 taught : they had sown the wind, and were reaping the 
 whirlwind. 
 
 In former days, there resided here, besides the priests 
 and soldiers, about seven hundred domesticated con- 
 verts, of whom we saw only three marked, dirty, miser- 
 able creatures. In 1776, the mission had commenced 
 operations with five cattle, the ancestors of the thousand 
 herds that now crowd the shores of the bay ; but, to- 
 wards the close of its career, it had acquired about fif- 
 teen thousand descendants of the original stock for its 
 Cvvii single share, besides considerable flocks of sheep 
 and large bands of horses. When times of trouble, 
 however, arrived, the priests, as I have filready stated in 
 a general way, so successfully forestalled the spoilers by 
 killing off their animals, that the first administrador of 
 the Mission of San Francisco came into possession of 
 not more than five thousand cattle ; and this number 
 has been since reduced to about three hundred, that are 
 now running wild on the hills. 
 
 Priests, cattle, savages, and dwellings, had all vanished. 
 Nor were the spiritual results of the system more con- 
 spicuous than its material fruits, consisting, as they 
 did, of nothing but a negative veneration for the 
 ornaments and appendages of a deserted place of 
 worship. 
 
 But the mission, though dead, still spake through its 
 interesting associations. As I had perused, during our 
 tedious voyage in the Cowlitz, " Forbes's History of 
 California," with its many curious details, in the shape 
 of the authentic records of tlie establishments, every 
 object in the present solitude, not even excepting the 
 
ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 333 
 
 nionlderin*^ adobe, had its own tale to tell of the motley 
 life of bygone days. In making the tour of the ruins, 
 we first entered the apartment in which the priests took 
 their meals and received visits, — two branches of busi- 
 ness which they understood to perfection. To say 
 nothing of the grand staples of heefandfricvoks, their 
 tables groaned under a profusion of mutton, fowls, 
 vegetables, fruits, bread, pastry, milk, butter, and 
 cheese ; of every thing, in short, which a prolific soil and 
 an almost tropical climate could be made to yield to 
 industry and art; and, as their dining-room was con- 
 nected with their kitchen by a small closet, which served 
 merely to intercept the grosser perfumes, they had evi- 
 dehtly known, contrary to modern use and wont, how 
 to heighten the zest of these good things by attacking 
 them hot and racy from the fire, and cooling them, if 
 necessary, for themselves, with the juice of their own 
 
 grapes. 
 
 Tliose were the times for travelling in California. 
 Besides its agreeable society and its hospitable board, 
 every mission was more ready than its neighbour to 
 supply the stranger with guides and horses and pro- 
 visions, whether for visiting the immediate neighbour- 
 hood, or for prosecuting his journey through the pro- 
 vince ; and, if one did not look too critically below the 
 surface, the contrast between the untamed savages and 
 the half-civilized converts could htirdly fail to complete, 
 in the eyes of the hasty wayfarer, a kind of terrestrial 
 paradise. Witness LangsdorfTs artless picture, drawn 
 from the life in 1806, of the placid existence of the 
 presidency and missions of the Harbour of San Francisco. 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 Passing through the dining-room, we were conducted 
 into a square surrounded with buildings, in which, to 
 say nothing of less important avocations, the natives 
 used to be employed in manufacturing the wool of the 
 establishment into blankets and coarse cloths; their 
 wheels and looms having been made by themselves under 
 the direction of their zealous teachers, who had derived 
 their knowledge on the subject from books. It was, in 
 fact, chiefly by means of books that the missionaries had 
 contrived to overcome all the difficulties of their isolated 
 position : — from the preparing of the adobes to the de- 
 corating of the churches ; from the constructing of the 
 plough to the baking of the bread ; from the shearing 
 of the sheep to the fulling of the web. But, in addition 
 to their ingenuity in planning, they toiled more dili- 
 gently than any of their unwilling assistants in the actunl 
 execution of their various labours, striving at the same 
 time to render their drudgery morally available as an 
 example. Thus, for instance, did the astute and inde- 
 fatigable fathers temper the mud with measured ste})s 
 and merry ditties, in order to beguile, if possible, their 
 indolent and simple pupils into useful labour by the 
 attractions of the song and the dance. 
 
 The praise of all this, however, should, in a great 
 degree, be awarded to the Jesuits, who, before they 
 were supplanted by the Franciscans, had covered the 
 sterile rocks of Lower California with the monuments, 
 agricultural, and architectural, and economical, of their 
 patience and aptitude ; not only leaving to their suc- 
 cessors apposite models and tolerable workmen, but 
 also bequeathing to them the invaluable lesson, that 
 
ROTUND TlIK WORLD, 
 
 335 
 
 nothinof was impossihle to energy and perseverance. 
 Still, the systom, in spite of all the sacrifices of the two 
 foremost orders of the Romish Church, was but a show, 
 in which the pui)pets ceased to dance when the wire- 
 pullers were withdrawn ; it was a body without a soul 
 of its own, which could move only by the infusion of 
 extraneous life ; it was, in a word, typified by its own 
 adobe, which nothing but constant care and attention 
 could prevent from returning to its elementary dust. 
 
 From the factory we went to the church. This was 
 a large edifice, almost as plain as a barn,' excepting in 
 front, where it w\as prettily finished with small columns, 
 on which was hung a peal of bells. The interior, how- 
 ever, of the building presented a prodigality of orna- 
 ment. The ceiling was painted all over; the walls 
 were covered with pictures and pieces of sculpture ; and 
 the altar displayed all the appointments of the Romish 
 service in a style, which, for this country, might well 
 be characterized as gorgeous. Even to our Protestant 
 tastes, the general effect was considerably heightened by 
 the " dim religious light " of two or three narrow 
 windows, which themselves appeared to be buried in the 
 recesses of a wall between five and six feet thick. The 
 church, as I have already said, remained in perfect pre- 
 servation, amidst the contrast of the surrounding ruins ; 
 and considering the solidity of the walls, which, to say 
 nothing of their thickness, had become vitrified by time, 
 it could hardly be destroyed in any other way than by 
 the removal of its roof. This church is sometimes, but 
 not often, opened by Father Quigas of San Rafael, or 
 by the priest of Santa Clara. 
 
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 330 
 
 OVERLAND JOUllNKY 
 
 Thus have the zeal and industry of the fathers hecome 
 useless alike to Californians and Indians. But, with 
 respect to these deserted places of worship, the mere 
 erection of the sacred edifice formed a small part of the 
 exertions of the missionaries. The harder task was to 
 fill them with reverential listeners, more particularly in 
 early times. Even after consenting, for a consideration, 
 to swell the muster-roll of the flock, the savages fre- 
 quently indulged in noisy ridicule ; and an authentic 
 anecdote is told of one of the Jesuits, who, being a 
 stalwart fellow, effectually put the whole of his congre- 
 gation on their best behaviour by seizing one gigantic 
 scoffer, who was in front of the reading-desk, by the 
 hair of his head, and swinoiii": him to and fro in the 
 sight of his astonished compam'ons. 
 
 In the vicinity of the church was formerly situated 
 the garden, which, being within the ordinary range of 
 the north-west fogs, had always been inferior to the 
 gardens of the more inland missions. It was now choked 
 with weeds and bushes; and the walls were broken 
 down in many placet, though, by a characteristic exer- 
 tion of Californian industry, piles of skulls had filled up 
 some of the gaps, reminding one of the pound of 
 buffalo-bones, a hundred feet square and five or six feet 
 high, which had been constructed, a year or two ago^ 
 by the Indians of the prairies on the eastern side of the 
 mountains. 
 
 The soil appeared to be light and sandy ; but it 
 had, as usual, the priests to thank for the means of 
 artificial irrigation, a small stream having been brought 
 from the hills under their direction, and made to 
 
 > :| 
 
ROUND THE V/ORI-D. 
 
 337 
 
 become 
 it, with 
 le meve 
 ft of the 
 k was to 
 ularly in 
 deration, 
 ages fre- 
 authentic 
 
 being a 
 s congre- 
 
 siigantic 
 k, by the 
 'i-o in the 
 
 y situated 
 f range of 
 or to the 
 [)\v choked 
 broken 
 istic exer- 
 fiUed up 
 pound of 
 or six feet 
 two ago, 
 side of the 
 
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 means of 
 en brought 
 I made to 
 
 flow in tiny channels wherever water could be re- 
 quired. 
 
 We felt highly gratified by our visit, the more so as 
 the day was bright and warm ; and, after paying our 
 respects to Seiiora Guerrero, a pretty young woman 
 with black eyes and white teeth, we returned to Yerba 
 Buena on the alcalde's steeds. 
 
 We should most probably have made an excursion as 
 far as the mission of Santa Clara, had not the return of 
 our courier, who arrived on the following day, hastened 
 our departure for Monterey. It is one of the few esta- 
 blishments that still possess a resident priest; and 
 Father Gonzales, a very different man from his reverence 
 of San Rafael, is a truly worthy representative of the 
 early missionaries. As tlie poor friars still continue to 
 hope for better times, they generally strive, with a 
 degree of zeal proportioned to their respective cha- 
 racters, to do their best for such buildings as may be 
 under their own eyes ; and, accordingly. Father Gon- 
 zales's mission is in a more perfect state of preservation 
 than almost any similar establishment in the country. 
 Besides that the church is said to be decorated with 
 more than usual skill and magnificence, the neighbour- 
 hood presents one feature which reflects peculiar credit 
 on the piety and energy of the Franciscans. Between 
 the Pueblo of San Jose de Guadalupe and the mission 
 of Santa Clara there lies an impassable swamp nearly 
 five miles long ; and in order to enable the inhabitants 
 of the village to attend to their devotions, the fathers 
 of their own accord bridged the morass from side to 
 side with an excellent path of dry earth. Not con- 
 
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 S38 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 tented with mere utility, they planted either side of the 
 mound with a row of trees; and now, to mark the 
 difference between the disinterestedness of the authors 
 of the gift and the ingratitude of its objects, some of 
 the vagabonds of the Pueblo have begun to make un- 
 sightly gaps in the avenue, as being more temptingly 
 situated for supplying them with timber than the natural 
 forest. 
 
 The hopes of the future, in which the poor friars, as 
 I have just mentioned, still indulge, had, at this time, 
 derived considerable encouragement, from the appoint- 
 ment of a bishop in the person of a former colleague 
 of Father Gonzales ; and, while we lay at Yerba Buena, 
 we had much pleasure in complying with that amiable 
 man's request, that we should fire a salute, and hoist 
 cur colours, in honour of the arrival of his friend and 
 superior at San Diego. The Bishop of the Californias 
 is supposed to have made some arrangement with the 
 Mexican Government for, at least, the partial restora- 
 tion of the missions — a circumstance which affords hi<rli 
 satisfaction, not only to the priesthood, but also to the 
 more respectable portion of the laity. That the mis- 
 sions can recover their cattle and resume their lands, is 
 morally impossible ; and that the priests will break new 
 ground in some of the inland valleys, with the certain 
 prospect of future spoliation before them, is very im- 
 probable. But the original establishments, with com- 
 paratively limited means, may still be devoted, under 
 the light of past experience, to a more useful purpose 
 than before. Let the priests treat the savage not as a 
 child but as a man ; let them consider him not as a 
 
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ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 339 
 
 mmtm 
 
 
 
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 1 
 
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 Ml 
 
 mere machine but as a rational being ; let them train 
 him, not by physical coercion, but by motives ad- 
 dressed to his head and heart, to think and act for 
 himself in the various relations of life. Above all, let 
 them humanize the whites by the influences of religion ; 
 for, without the hearty co-operation of the colonists, 
 the civilization of the savages can be neither complete 
 nor permanent. 
 
 The expedition of our couriar to Monterey, except- 
 ing that the interval had been agreeably spent by us at 
 San Francisco, had been fruitless, for he returned with 
 orders that the Cowlitz should instantly proceed to the 
 seat of government, without landing any thing at Verba 
 Buena, and the strict letter of the law, notwithstand- 
 ing the peculiarities of our case, was to be enforced 
 against us; the real truth, probably, being, that Alva- 
 rado thought that the duties would be safer if paid 
 under his own eye, than if left at the mercy of the 
 other king of Brentford, his uncle, Vallego. 
 
 The law in question is oppressive to strangers, and 
 pernicious to the government. As a striking instance 
 of its oppression, a schooner, which was entirely laden 
 with goods for San Francisco, lately became a wreck in 
 Drake's Bay, which she had mistaken for her harbour, 
 losing nearly the whole of a cargo, on which she had 
 just paid fifteen thousand dollars of duty at Monterey. 
 With regard, again, to the effect of the law on the 
 interests of the government, a vessel, after entering 
 herself, and obtaining an unconditional and unlimited 
 permission to trade in the country, not unfrequently 
 contrives to receive additional goods from an unlicensed 
 
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 340 
 
 OVERLAND JOl RNHY 
 
 consort, or to pick them up, where, perhaps, she has 
 herself left them, in some distant nook or other of the 
 coast, or in some of the adjacent islands. This evil is, 
 of course, agff^ravatcd by the extravagance of the tariff, 
 inasmuch as such extravagance renders the temptation 
 to smuggle almost irresistible ; and so well aware are 
 the atithorities of this fact, that they are generally glad 
 to compound for the duties with all but the novices, 
 and to accept the composition not in specie but in 
 goods. 
 
 V, 
 
ROUND Tin: WORLD. 
 
 3n 
 
 CHAPTER Vlll. 
 
 ;i 
 
 i^!l 
 
 i\ 
 
 MONTEREY. 
 
 Voyage to Monterey — Landing — Town, buildings and furniture, &c. 
 — Neigiibourhood — Christening of bridge — Mr. Spcncc — Governor 
 Alvarado — Unsophisticated cockney — Culifornian ignorance — ]Mr. 
 Ermatinger's journey from Vancouver to Monterey — Californians and 
 Indians — Murderous desecration of baptism — Selfishness and indifll'er- 
 cnce of public authorities — Compromise with custom-house — Schooner 
 California, untried convicts — Revenue law, impolitic and oppressive — 
 Spanish America in general, its fiscal and political condition — Contrast 
 between Spanish and English colonies — Fruits of Spanish American 
 independence — Pueblo of Branciforte — Mission of Santa Cruz — Mission 
 of San Carlos, past and present. 
 
 At three in the afternoon of the 12th we left Yerba 
 Buena, exchanging salutes with Captain Wilson, of the 
 Index. We passed the presidio and fort under the 
 influence of a strong ebb-tide, which, after rounding 
 the southern side of the entrance, rushes to the south- 
 ward at the rate of six knots an hour. In the very 
 direction of the current there lay some rocks ; and, as 
 the wind failed us just at the point, the vessel, which 
 no longer had any way upon her, was hurried towards 
 them like a log. The anchor was dropped with thirty 
 fathoms of chain, but dragged till we were within a 
 few yards of the object of our fears ; and when at last 
 it did hold, it was raised so as barely to touch the 
 bottom, that, by thus counteracting, in some degree, 
 
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 OVERLAND JOIHNKY 
 
 tlie action of tlio tide, it might eiinble the ship to obey 
 her iielni. By this operation of kedifing, as it is, I 
 believe, technically termed, Ave steered clear of the 
 rocks, when the wind freshened sufficiently to enable 
 us to stand oft' fvom the shore, which was not above a 
 cable's length distant. Luckily, the rocks in question 
 show all their danger above water, for there is a depth 
 of seven fathoms round each of them ; so that the 
 Catilina, now lying at Verba Buena, was lately carried 
 in safety between them. 
 
 During the greater part of the voyage, the appear- 
 ance of the coast was very uninteresting, consisting, as 
 it did, of a chain of sandy hills, covered with a scanty 
 verdure. By the morning of the 14th we passed the 
 point of Santa Cruz, forming the northern extremity 
 of the Bay of Monterey, which resembles a segment of 
 a circle with a chord of about eighteen miles ; but, in 
 consequence of the lightness of the winds, it was eight 
 in the evening, of the ISth, before we came abreast of 
 the castle, and cast anchor in the neighbourhood of 
 four vessels — the American barque Fama, schooner 
 Julia Ann, and brig Bolivar, and the Mexican schooner 
 California. 
 
 The harbour, if harbour it can be called, is merely 
 the southern end of the bay, protected from the west 
 by the northerly inclination of Point Pinop. It is 
 sheltered from only one of the prevailing winds, the 
 south-easter of the short winter; and so little is it 
 land-locked, that, in the most favourable state of wind 
 and weather, the whole beach presents nearly as trouble- 
 some a surf as the shore of the open ocean. Well was 
 
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 ROUND TFIK WOULD. 
 
 343 
 
 it (lescril)C(l l»y one of the hand of Franciscans, who 
 HiHt visited it after the days of Vizcaino, us " this 
 horrible j>ort of IMontcrcy." 
 
 Next inorninijf, hy ei;,dit o'clock, wo oxchaii^'cd a 
 ealuto of seven ^iins with the castle, which was at pre- 
 sent so flush of ;^un|)owder as to return our coinpliinent 
 without l)orrowinf]f from us, as it sometimes condescends 
 to do, the needful for the i)urpose ; and soon after- 
 wards we were boarded by six officers of the customs, 
 who flocked down to our vessel like vultures to their 
 prey. As they came up the side of the ship, they 
 exhibited a superabundance of bowing and 8milin<j^ ; 
 and, after the ordinary ceremonies were exhausted, they 
 were conducted into the cabin, in order to proceed to 
 business. When told that we had paid our tonnage 
 dues at San Francisco, and had no cargo to land in 
 Monterey, they looked like a disappointed batch of 
 expectant legatees, leaving the table, on which the 
 wine was already placed, with dry lips and lengthened 
 faces. 
 
 To ourselves, however, the visit was by no means 
 unwelcome, as a necessary preliminary to our going on 
 shore — an operation which we effected by waiting on 
 the outer edge of the surf, till a comber, as it is tech- 
 nically distinguished, wafted our boat into a little cove 
 at the foot of the custom-house ; and then one or two 
 of the sailors, jumping out, dragged her up, so that, 
 when the wave retired, we were high and dry on the 
 beach. 
 
 Though infinitely inferior, as a port, to San Fran- 
 cisco and San Diego, yet Monterey, from its central 
 
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 344 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 position, has always ^en the seat of government. It 
 was, however, only alter the revolution of 1836 that it 
 could be compared with the other settlements in point 
 of commercial importance, having suddenly expanded 
 from a few houses into a population or about seven 
 hundred souls. 
 
 The town occupies a very pretty plain, which slopes 
 towards the north, and terminates to the southward, 
 in a tolerably lofty ridge. It is a mere collection of 
 buildings, scattered as loosely on the surface as if they 
 were so many bullocks at pasture ; so that the most 
 expert surveyor could not possibly classify them even 
 into crooked streets. What a curious dictionary of 
 circumlocutions a Monterey Directory would be ! The 
 dwellings, some of which attain the dignity of a second 
 story, are all built of adobes, being sheltered on every 
 side from the sun by overhanging eaves, while, towards 
 the rainy quarter of the south-east, they enjoy the ad- 
 ditional protection of boughs of trees, resting, like so 
 many ladders, on the roof. In order to resist the action 
 of the elements, the walls, as I have already mentioned 
 with respect to the mission of San Francisco, are re- 
 markably thick ; though this peculiarity is here partly 
 intended to guard against the shocks of earthquakes, 
 which are so frequent that a hundred and twenty of 
 them were felt during two successive months of the 
 last summer. This average,, however, of two earth- 
 quakes a day is not so frightful as it looks, the shocks 
 being seldom severe, and often so slight, according to 
 Basil Hall's experience in South America, ■:• i' to escape 
 the notice of the uninitiated stranger. 
 
 '<i I 
 
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 ;i,'Mi 
 
 
 m 
 
nOl'ND THE WOULD. 
 
 345 
 
 :! 1-1 
 
 
 Externally, the habitations have a cheerless aspect, 
 in consequence of the paucity of windows, which are 
 almost unattainable luxuries. Glass is rendered ruin- 
 ously dear by the exorbitant duties, while parchment, 
 surely a better substitute than a cubic yard of adobes, is 
 clearly inadmissible in California, on account of the 
 trouble of its preparation ; and, to increase the expense, 
 carpenters are equally extravagant and saucy, charging- 
 three dollars for such a day's work as one is likely to 
 get from fellows that will not labour more than three 
 days in the week. After all, perhaps the Californians do 
 not feel the privation of light to be an evil. While it 
 certainly makes the rooms cooler, it cannot, by any 
 possibility, interfere with the occupations of those who 
 do nothing ; and, even for the purposes of ventilation, 
 windows are hardly needed, inasmuch as the bedding, 
 the only thing that requires fresh air, is daily exposed 
 to the sun and wind. Among the Californian house- 
 wives, the bed is quite a show, enjoying, as it does, the 
 full benefit of contrast. While the other furniture con- 
 sists of a dual-table and some badly-made chairs, with 
 probably a dutch clock and an old looking-glass, the 
 bed ostentatiously challenges admiration, with its snowy 
 sheets fringed with lace, its pile of soft pillows covered 
 with the finest linen or the richest satin, and its well- 
 arranged drapery of costly and tasteful curtains. Still, 
 notwithstanding the washings and the airings, this bed 
 is but a whited sepulchre, concealing in the interior a 
 pestilential wool-mattress, the impregnable stronghold 
 of millions of las pulgas. 
 
 As to public buildings, this capital uf a province 
 
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 316 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 may, with a stretch of charity, be allowed to possess 
 four. First is the church, part of which is goiii^^ to 
 decay, while another part is not yet finished ; its only 
 peculiarity is that it is built, or rather h;ilf-bu It, of 
 stone. Next comes the castle, consisting of a small 
 house, surrounded by a low wall, all of adobe?. It 
 commands the town and anchorage, if a garrison of five 
 soldiers and a battery of eight or ten rusty and honey- 
 combed guns can be said to command anything. Third 
 in order is- the guard-house, a paltry mud-hut, without 
 windows. Fourth and last stands the custom-house, 
 which is, or rather promises to be, a small range of 
 decent offices ; for, though it has been building for five 
 years, it is not yet finished. 
 
 The neighbourhood of the town is pleasingly diver- 
 sified with hills, and offers abundance of timber. The 
 soil, though light and sandy, is certainly capable of cul- 
 tivation ; and yet there is neither field nor garden 
 to be seen. If one were to judge from appearances, 
 even the trouble of fencing would exceed the limits of 
 Californian patience, for we here and there saw pre- 
 mises enclosed, after a fashion, by branches of trees 
 stuck in the ground ; and this miserable makeshift was 
 the less excusable, as the adjacent pastures were in- 
 conveniently overgrown with the prickly pear, growing 
 to the height of twelve feet, and armed with spikes too 
 formidable for either uian or beast to encounter. 
 
 Monterey is badly supplied with water, which, in con- 
 sequence of the extraordinary drought of last year, 
 lately brought a dollar a pipe. The small stream, 
 which runs through the town, is generally dry in 
 
 'I.- t'l 
 
 JiL , 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 847 
 
 summer, the very season when its water is most 
 wanted. 
 
 On landing, we found that the good folks were all 
 engaged at mass ; and, accordingly, though rather late 
 for the service, we followed them to church. There 
 was a tolerable congregation of about two hundred 
 people, principally females, who were all dressed alike, 
 with a shawl over their heads, hanging down on their 
 shoulders ; and the priest was attended by two or three 
 Indians, who appeared to be well versed in kneeling and 
 crossing, &c., to be perfect masters, in short, of all the 
 ceremonial drudgery of thr Romish service. W? en- 
 tered the edifice only in time to receive his reverence's 
 benediction, which, I am afraid, profited us but little, as 
 Father Jesus Maria Real was said to bear a far stronffer 
 resemblance to Quigas of San Rafael than to Gonzales 
 of Santa Clara. After mass, the pastor and his flock 
 went to christen a bridge, which had been lately thrown 
 over the little river of the towri, :nu\ was now g^ily 
 decorated with banners, &c., for thr m casion. In Cali- 
 fornia, every spot, Monterey alone t \ceptf 1, is dedi- 
 cated to some saint or other- -a mocke v (f names, 
 which forms a curious contrast v/ith the pilLii^o of every 
 thing else. General Vallego has h<f<in the only con- 
 sistent spoiler, having substituted, as I have already 
 said, the old term Sonoma for the name of the saint 
 whom he had robbed of lards, and herds, and priests — 
 San Francisco Solano. 
 
 As vv'e took very little interest in the christening of 
 the bridge, we readily attached ourselves to ]\Ir. Spence, 
 a native of Huntly, in Aberdeenshire, who had con- 
 
 
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 348 
 
 OVEllLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 ducted a flourishing: business here for more than nine 
 years. After being introduced by that gentleman at 
 the door of the church to several of the principal inha- 
 bitants, we were carried by him to the residence of 
 Governor Alvarado. Making far less display than his 
 compeer Vallego, the Governor has no soldiers about 
 him, and lives in a small house, which is but poorly 
 furnished. We were ushered into his Excellency's best 
 apartment, which contained a host of common chairs, a 
 paltry table, a kind of a sofa, a large Dutch clock, and 
 four or five cheap mirrors, boasting, however, the 
 unique feature of three large windows that reached to 
 the floor, and communicated with a balcony overlooking 
 the town and bay. 
 
 We found the governor lame, as we had already found 
 the commander of the forces, the cause in the one in- 
 stance being not less characteristic than in the other. 
 Vallego had been thrown from his horse, while amusing 
 himself with the lasso ; but, about a month ago, Alva- 
 rardo, who had been entertaining the priest and some 
 other friends, in honour of the saint of the day — pro- 
 bably the very saint who had been forced to contribute 
 the wine — managed, by means of his windows and his 
 balcony, to fall to the ground and dislocate his ankle. 
 The nephew, in fact, possesses little of the talent and 
 decision of the uncle, being, at least according to his 
 present practice, more remarkable for love of convi- 
 viality than for anything else. Whatever ability he 
 may have displayed in rising from an inferior rank to 
 be the first man in California, he has not allowed the 
 rares of government to prey on his vitals, for the revo- 
 
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 ability he 
 or rank to 
 llowed the 
 r the revo- 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 349 
 
 lution of 1836, amid its other changes, has metamor- 
 phosed its champion from a thin and spare conspirator, 
 into a plump and punchy lover of singing, and dancing, 
 and feasting. He received us very politely, but de- 
 clined, on account of his lameness, my invitation to 
 dine with us next day on board of the Cowlitz. 
 
 After half an hour's chat, we took our departure for 
 Mr. Spence's house, where we had the pleasure of being 
 introduced to his pretty and lively wife, a donna, of 
 course, of thj country. Thence we boxed the compass 
 through the town, tacking and beating in every direc- 
 tion, in order to pay our respects to some of the inha- 
 bitants at their own homes. Among others, we visited 
 an unsophisticated cockney of the name of Watson, 
 from *' Red riff," whose father had been " in the public 
 line," and had kept " the Noah's Hark, 'tween the 
 Globe Stairs and the 'Orse Ferry." Though he had been 
 eighteen years in California, yet he was apparently un- 
 conscious of any lapse of time, for his notions of persons 
 and places were pretty much the same as he had imbibed 
 under the paternal roof. He talked as if the church- 
 yards had enjoyed a sinecure, and as if docks and rail- 
 Avays had committed no trespasses ; and yet, while he 
 supposed all the rest of the world to be standing still, 
 he himself had contrived to scrape together the largest 
 fortune in the province. Watson's simplicity did not 
 greatly surprise us ; for, even if he had been less deeply 
 immersed in hides and tallow, and perhaps more deli- 
 cate speculations, he would hardly have obtained the 
 means of regular and continuous information. To take 
 our own case, we had left the Atlantic nine months be- 
 
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 350 
 
 OVERLAND JODllNEY 
 
 fore, havinnf tarried one month on Red River, and at 
 least two months on the Cohimbia, besides making- an 
 offset to Sitka ; and yet, in all California, we found no 
 later news than our own from Great Britain or the 
 United States. The demand for knowledge is necessa- 
 rily inconsiderable in California. The only seminary of 
 education in the province is a petty school at Monterey ; 
 and though under the old syr^cem, parents were, by law, 
 obliged to send their children to the nearest mission 
 for instruction, yet very few individuals of any age can 
 either write or read. 
 
 While returning to our boat, we were saluted by a 
 horseman in Spanish costume, whom we at length re- 
 cognised, through his disguise, to be Mr. Ermatinger, 
 one of the Hudson's Bay Company's officers, who had 
 left Vancouver for California about the time of our 
 return fiom Sitka, in command of our annual party of 
 trappers. Having heard at Sonoma that he had arrived 
 on the banks of the Sacramento, I requested him by 
 letter to follow me, if necessary, to Monterey, that we 
 rajo-ht have an interview on matters of business ; and he 
 had accordingly hastened to Yerba Buena, whence, find- 
 ing that the Cowlitz had got the start of him by a few 
 hear', he had pursued his journey by land to this place. 
 After tracing the ^Vdlamette to its sources, Mr. Erma- 
 tinger had crossed the height of land into the valley of 
 the Calamet River, thence making his way to the snowy 
 chain wdiich terminates in Cape Mendocino. The latter 
 portion of this route ran through the country which had 
 '^een the scene of the cowardly atrocities of some Ameri- 
 cans ; but, though the Indians did, for a time, make 
 
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 ;, I 
 
ROUND THE WUIILD. 
 
 351 
 
 the Company'8 innocent servants pay the penalty of the 
 guilt of others, yet, through the influence of kindness 
 and firmness combined, they have, within these last two 
 years, permitted our people to pass unmolested. Mr. 
 Ermatinger then crossed the snowy chain aforesaid by 
 the Pit Mountain, so called from the number of pitfalls 
 dug by the neighbouring savages for the wild animals ; 
 and here, partly in consequence of the lateness of the 
 season, he and his men had to march for three days 
 through snow, which, in some places, was two feet 
 deep. In fact, this mountain was notorious as the worst 
 part of their journey ; for about ten years before, our 
 trappers, beinjr overtaken by a violent storm, had lost, 
 on this very ground, the whole of their furs, and nearly 
 three hundred horses. 
 
 The party now entered the valley of the Sacramento, 
 described by Mr. Ermatinger as presenting, in a length 
 of eighty leagues, the richest and most verdant district 
 on the western side of the Rocky Mountains. The 
 country, however, is subject to inundations. On the 
 lOtli of December, while we were experiencing such 
 heavy weather in Baker's Bay, Mr. Ermatinger and his 
 people had encamped on a pretty tributary of the Sa- 
 cramento, when, in consequence of torrents of rain, the 
 stream rose nine feet during the night, swelling in to a 
 tide that threatened to overflow, or sweep away, its 
 banks. In the morning, they proceeded towards some 
 rising ground, about five miles distant ; but the inter- 
 vening plain had become a perfect bog, so that it was 
 eleven o'clock at night before the party assembled, with 
 the exception of one poor squaw and several horses ; 
 
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 352 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNKY 
 
 and, before duyliglit returned, their green knoll stood 
 . as an island in a considerable lake. The unfortunate 
 woman was discovered to have died in the night ; and 
 the missing animals were standing, stiff and ghastly, 
 upon their legs, with their loads on their backs. 
 
 Hence, Mr. Ermatinger proceeded to another tribu- 
 tary of the Sacramento, known as the Riviere la Cache ; 
 and here he despatched his hunters in different direc- 
 tions, witb orders to meet him at a certain spot, about 
 two days distant from Sonoma, by the 25th of April, 
 the latest date at which the swarms of musquitoes would 
 allow them to carry on their trapping in the haunts of 
 the beaver and the otter. To the appointed place 
 Mr. Ermatinger immediately went in person, with two 
 or three men, and the wives and children of the party ; 
 and, having there met the messenger with our letters, 
 he first announced his arrival to General Vallego, and 
 . then made his way to Yerba Buena. 
 
 From Yerba Buena Mr. Erraatinger's route lay along 
 the bay as far as the Pueblo of San Jose de Guadalupe, 
 thence advancing to the mission of Santa Clara ; and 
 from this establishment again it carried him through a 
 beautiful district upwards of a hundred miles long, 
 varied with hills and plains, woods and streams, all in a 
 state of nature. I had myself intended to travel by 
 this road from Yerba Buena to Monterey ; and the more 
 that I heard of it from Mr. Ermatinger, the more did I 
 regret that I had permitted myself to be deterred froiii 
 undertaking the journey by exaggerated accounts of the 
 danger and discomfort which, at this season, the state of 
 the waters was likely to occasion. 
 
HOUND THE WORLD. 
 
 ^r)^ 
 
 What a contrast does Mr. Ennatin^er's brief narra- 
 tive present to tlie position which the Spaniards occupy 
 with respect to the Indians ! Wliile a handful of 
 strangers leaves women and children almost unprotected 
 in the wilderness, and sends forth solitary hunters in 
 every direction, the permanent colonists of the country 
 — nianv of them he'mjx themselves children of the soil — 
 are the victims of a systematic course of savage depre- 
 dation. In the palmy days of the missions, the practice 
 of sending out soldiers to bag fresh subjects for civili- 
 zation tended to embitter the naturally unfriendly feel- 
 ing of the red man, more particularly as the aborigines 
 of the interior were constitutionally more restless and 
 energetic than the- savages of the coast ; and the revo- 
 lution of 1836 aggravated the evil by turning loose into 
 the woods a multitude of converts, whose })o\\er of 
 doing mischief, besides being increased by knowledge 
 and experience, was forced into full play by a sense of 
 the injustice and inhumanity of the local government. 
 But the Indians of all tribes are, from day to day, ren- 
 dered more audacious by impunity. Too indolent to be 
 always on the alert, the Californians overlook tlie con- 
 stant pilferings of cattle and horses, till they are roused 
 beyond the measure even of their patience, by some 
 outrage of more than ordinary mark ; and then, instead 
 of hunting down the guilty for exemplary punishment, 
 they destroy every native that falls in their Avay, with- 
 out distinction of sex or age. The bloodhounds, of 
 course, find chiefly women and children, for, in general, 
 the men are better able to escape, butchering their 
 helpless and inoffensive victims, after the blasphemous 
 
 vol.. I. A A 
 
 Vj 
 
 l,:'!ii 
 
:' ,«^fc;',,; 
 
 354 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNKY 
 
 Vi 'I'M 
 
 mockery of baptism. The sancLlfying of murder by the 
 desecration of a Christian rite, however incredible it 
 may seem, is a melancholy matter of fact, the performers 
 in the traj^edy doubtless believing that, if there bo any 
 truth in the maxim that the end justifies the means, 
 surely the salvation of the soul is suflficient warrant for 
 the destruction of the body. I subjoin a more detailed 
 description, on the authority of an eye-witness. 
 
 When the incursions of the savages have appeared to 
 render a crusade necessary, the alcalde of the neigh- 
 bourhood summons from twelve to twenty colonists to 
 serve, either in person or by substitute, on horseback ; 
 and one of the foreign residents, when nominated, about 
 three y jars before, preferred the alternative of joining 
 the party himself, in order to see something of the in- 
 terior. After a ride of three days, they reached a vil- 
 lage, whose inhabitants, for all that the crusaders knew 
 to the contrary, might have been as innocent in the 
 matter as themselves. But, even without any conscious- 
 ness of guilt, the tramp of the horses was a symptom 
 not to be misunderstood by the savages ; and accord- 
 ingly, all that could run, comprising, of course, all that 
 could possibly be criminal, fled for their lives. Of 
 those who remained, nine persons, all females, were tied 
 to trees, christened, and shot. With great difficulty and 
 considerable danger, my informant saved one old woman, 
 by conducting her to a short distance from the accursed 
 scene ; and even there he had to shield the creature's 
 miserable life by drawing a pistol against one of her 
 merciless pursuers. She ultimately escaped, though not 
 without seeing a near relative, a handsome youth, who 
 
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 ROUND IIIK WOULD. 
 
 355 
 
 iiurder by the 
 incredible it 
 the performers 
 [ there be any 
 ie8 the means, 
 !nt warrant for 
 t more detailed 
 itness. 
 
 ive appeared to 
 of the neigh- 
 nty colonists to 
 on horseback; 
 ominated, about 
 ative of joining 
 thing of the in- 
 >y reached a vil- 
 crusaders knew 
 innocent in the 
 it any conscious- 
 was a symptom 
 res ; and accord- 
 f course, all that 
 their lives. Of 
 emales, were tied 
 :eat difficulty and 
 -d one old woman, 
 from the accursed 
 Leld the creature's 
 •ainst one of her 
 caped, though not 
 isome youth, who 
 
 had been captured, slau^j^htered in fold blood before her 
 eyes, with the outward and visible sign of regeneration 
 still glistening on his brow. 
 
 Before any reader rejects the testimony of my in- 
 formant on account of its intrinsic improbability, let 
 him read, mark, and inv.aidly digest an anecdote told 
 with much zest by the uit hi^«toiian of French 
 Canada, — an anecdote of uiuch the more horrible fea- 
 tures, let us in charity believe, must have been veiled 
 from the pious writer himself by the lofty phraseology 
 of the Latin lan<>uage. 
 
 The Christian Ilnrons had captured some of the 
 heathen Iroquois, and had doomed them, according to 
 custom, to die by the most cruel tortures. Without 
 once exhorting his proselytes to the graces of mercy 
 and forgiveness, the attendant missionary was contented 
 to implore, and even to bribe them, that he might be 
 permitted to baptize their victims. Christened the 
 Iroquois were accordingly, reciting, either by rote or by 
 inspiration, their new-born belief amid the torments of 
 the fire and the knife, while their chief, who had re- 
 ceived the name of Peter, rushed from the stake after 
 his ligatures were consumed, and, with a blazing billet 
 in either hand, scattered his circle of persecutors like a 
 flock of sheep. It was to the foolhardy valour of this 
 chief that the capture of himself and his countrymen 
 had been owing ; and, with reference to this fact, the 
 Jesuit historian closes his extraordinary narrative, which 
 occupies four pages of classical diction, by expressing 
 his opinion that to the reckless courage of their leader 
 the prisoners were indebted for their salvation, — an 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 opinion which, if entertained also by the attendant 
 missionary, may sufficiently account both for what he 
 did and for what he left undone, both for his anxiety to 
 christen the Iroqtiois and for his indifference about 
 humanizing the Ilurons. In truth, cruelty, when thus 
 varnished, becomes mercy in its loveliest form; the 
 butchers of California, as well as those of Canada, having 
 adopted the best means of doing the greatest good to 
 those that hated them. 
 
 Under these circumstances, the two races live in a 
 state of warfare that knows no truce. The Indian 
 makes a regular business of stealing horses, that he may 
 ride the tame ones, and eat such as are wild. Some- 
 times, however, he raises his eyes to the young brunettes 
 themselves, one girl having been actually carried off 
 from San Diego, and no less a person than Seiiora 
 Vallego's sister having almost been the victim of a con- 
 spiracy which the General, with all his taste for foreign 
 alliances, took care to defeat. In his turn, the Cali- 
 fornian treats the savage, wherever he finds him, very 
 much like a beast of prey, shooting him down, even in 
 the absence of any specific charge, as a common pest 
 and a public enemy, and still more decidedly disdaining, 
 in a case of guilt, the aids of such law and justice as the 
 country affords. In the latter event, he not merely 
 punishes him on his own responsibility, but does so, in 
 some degree, according to judicial forms ; Mr. Spence's 
 brother, who has a farm at a little distance from Mon- 
 terey, having hanged two horse-stealers, who had con- 
 fessed the crime, the very night before our arrival in 
 the port. 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 3r)7 
 
 For such a state of things, liowever, the public autho- 
 rities arc far more to blame than private individuals. 
 Contented with extorting the amount of their own 
 salaries from the missions and the foreign trade, they 
 care little for the general welfare and security, though 
 a band of fifty resolute horsemen, provided they chas- 
 tised only the actual marauders, would hold at bay all 
 the savages, with their wretched bows and arrows, 
 between Sonoma and San Diego. In the Hudson's 
 Bay Company's territories, it is no uncommon thing 
 for twelve or fifteen men to maintain, with proper 
 management, an isolated post in peace and safety against 
 larger numbers of more formidable neiijlibours. 
 
 After being joined by Mr. Ermatinger, we made our 
 way through the surf with some difficulty, and found, 
 on board of the Cowlitz, two custom-house officers, one 
 of them a brother of General Vallego. They remained 
 with us all night, keeping a close watch on our move- 
 ments. 
 
 Next morning, we were again boarded by the M'hole 
 gang ; and, after a good deal of chaffering and higgling, 
 we entered into a compromise for transshipping into 
 the Fama, which was bound for San Francisco, some 
 necessary supplies for our establishment at Verba Buena, 
 paying exorbitant duties on some articles, and obtaining 
 leave to pass others free. As an instance of the hard- 
 ship to which vessels are subjected, in not being allowed 
 to break bulk without visiting Monterey, we had to pay 
 a freight of about two hundred dollars for carrying 
 back part of our cargo to San Francisco, being at least 
 15 per cent, on the value of the shipment. 
 
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 358 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 In all probability, the want of funds for fitting out 
 the schooner California had rendered the authorities 
 somewhat more pliable. As provisions were needed as 
 well as money, Alvarado, as I have already mentioned, 
 purchased from us some flour and salmon as sea-stores ; 
 all this preparatory fuss being necessary for the voyage 
 of a paltry tub to San Bias, the nearest port in Mexico 
 to California. 
 
 This national vessel, a mere apology for a coasting 
 cruiser, is an old, cranky craft, not mounting a single 
 gun, and so badly manned that she is unable to make 
 any progress by beating against the wind. I have 
 already mentioned that the skipper's wife, a sister of 
 General Vallego, resides at Sonoma, so that, as soon as 
 he casts anchor in Whalers' Harbour, Captain Cooper 
 starts off with the boat and the bulk of the crew across 
 the Bay of San Pedro, to see his friends ; and, as the 
 victualling department, which is never in a flourishing 
 condition, is peculiarly low at the end of a voyage, the 
 mate has been known to starve three days at a tims, in 
 sight of herds of cattle. 
 
 Besides our friend, Mr. Hales, who had been kicking 
 his heels in Monterey in expectation of the sailing of 
 the schooner, and some other passengers, the California 
 had on board seven convicts, if men, who had not been 
 tried, could be so called, who were to be transported by 
 order of the executive government, on charges of murder 
 and robbery, and to be left, as was supposed, on the 
 uninhabited inland of Santa Guadalupe, lying to the 
 south of San Diego. On this spot there was said to be 
 plenty of water and wild goats, though, in all proba- 
 
ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 3.")!) 
 
 bility, Alvarado did not care even if the fellows slionld 
 die of hunger, or live by eating each other. 
 
 To return to the question of duties, the revenue of 
 the province is by no means considerable, having 
 amounted, last year, to about one hundred and ten 
 thou8.ind dollars. As the securalized missions, besides 
 having seen their best days, are always fleeced by the 
 adininistrudors, whose " nails" are proverbially worth 
 more than their pay, the treasury of course depends 
 chiefly on the tariff for its supplies, — a tariff of which 
 the whole burden falls at last op the colonists them- 
 selves. As the Californians enjoy no such monopoly of 
 hides and tallow, as to influence the prices of those 
 commodities in the market of the world, the foreign 
 trader, in his dealings with them, must, of course, deduct 
 from the actual value of his purchases at least the full 
 tale of the dollars which the government has previously 
 exacted from him. To give an instance, without aiming 
 at extrerot accuracy, the goods which are now given for 
 three hides would, if untaxed, be paid for two. Thus, 
 to sum up, in one word, the proceedings of the citizens 
 and rulers of this teeming land, the rapacity of the 
 latter fearfully depreciates the only equivalents which 
 the indolence of the former enables them to offer for all 
 the comforts and luxuries of civilized life. To make 
 matters worse, the Californians receive little or no re- 
 turn for the virtual confiscation of one third of their 
 substance; for the whole of the spoil is devoured by 
 the mere semblance of a government, which, as we have 
 elsewhere seen, has neither the power nor the inclination 
 to protect the two thirds that are left. 
 
 
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 ir 
 
 '. ii. • 
 
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 I ! 
 
 360 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 As an example of the profli«i;ate expenditure of the 
 public money, the custom-house of Monterey, though it 
 has to deal only once for all with every vessel that 
 trades on the coast, musters twelve leeches, that suck 
 the blood of the country to the tune of fifteen thousand 
 dollars a year. The whole of the fiscal business might 
 be equally well done, at a third part of the expense, by 
 a collector, a comptroller, and a clerk ; and it is a 
 mere pretext to say that the present twelve are main- 
 tained to be a check on each other by the Mexican 
 government, which, as it draws no revenue from the 
 province, has nearly as little interest in the matter as 
 the Emperor of China. In truth, the revolutionary func- 
 tionaries of California, after seizing the reins of power 
 in defiance of the central authorities, make, as is to be 
 expected, a mere convenience of the laws of the re- 
 public, enforcing them to-day against others, but dis- 
 pensing with them to-morrow in favour of themselves. 
 
 But the state of things, which has been just de- 
 scribed, is not peculiar to California. Throughout the 
 whole of Spanish America, the machine, which is called 
 a government, appears to exist only for its own sake, 
 the grand secret of office being to levy a revenue and 
 consume it ; and public men have little or no object in 
 life but to share the booty, while private individuals 
 look with apathy on intrigues which promise no other 
 change than that of the names of their plunderers. 
 Hence, in the absence of any balancing power, such as 
 public opinion, between those wdio possess the spoil and 
 those who covet it, almost every change of rulers is 
 elfected by a successful rebellion, by the triumph of 
 
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 \r 
 
 UOL'NU THE WORLD. 
 
 S61 
 
 I of the 
 
 liougU it 
 
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 lat suck 
 
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 from tlie 
 
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 1 just de- 
 
 urhout the 
 •h is called 
 own sake, 
 cvenue and 
 10 object in 
 individuals 
 le no other 
 plunderers, 
 er, such as 
 le spoil and 
 of rulers is 
 triumph of 
 
 force over law. In a word, the whole country either 
 always is, or is always liable to be, the prey of violence 
 and disorganization, one part of it dillering from another 
 only in this characteristic way, that the elements of 
 anarchy are numerous and powerful, in proportion to 
 the nearness of the seat of government. Nor ought 
 such a system of misrule to surprise us. In the days 
 of Spanish domination, no native of the country, even 
 if the proudest blood of Castile alone flowed in his 
 veins, was competent to fill the lowest office under the 
 crown ; while the old Spaniards, who were the local 
 rulers of every colony, were universally expelled, under 
 the new order of things, by those who, besides envying 
 them as a privileged class, hated them us the instru- 
 ments of an intolerable despotism. Thus, after the 
 achievement of independence, the country found itself 
 almost utterly destitute of political experience, while 
 the entire remodelling of its institutions rendered such 
 a qualification necessary in its highest possible degree. 
 Hitherto ruled by an oligarchy of strangers, who were 
 themselves the slaves of the most arbitrary sovereign in 
 Europe, the Spanish colonies, as if by a leap, emerged 
 at once into the position of independent republics with 
 hardly any other definite principles to guide them in 
 the selection of what was new than the indiscriminate 
 hatred of all that was old. The result was inevitable. 
 Liberty degenerated into licentiousness, while power 
 was merely another name for tyranny ; and, though tlie 
 reality of government nowhere existed, yet the form of 
 the thing was multiplied beyond all former example, 
 either by the constant succession of sectional struggles. 
 
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 362 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 or by the occasional disruption of a wliolo into its 
 parts. 
 
 As S[)ain is deeply responsible for the miseries of her 
 transatlantic children, so has Enn:land reason to claim 
 much of the merit of the very dilFerent career of her 
 revolted colonies. Founded chiefly by various sects, 
 that left England to avoid a persecution which, in 
 Spain, would have been hailed as mercy, the revolted 
 colonies were, from their very commencement, governed 
 by themselves on principles which were republican in 
 everything but the name. Their revolutionary war, 
 therefore, affected little or nothing of their laws and 
 institutions, but the tie that connected them with the 
 old country, leaving, on the whole, the same men to 
 keep the same machinery in motion ; and, to illustrate 
 and to establish this by an instance, Rhode Island re- 
 tained, and, I believe, still retains, her royal charter, 
 without comment or alteration, as her republican con- 
 stitution. 
 
 Now, mark the result, as contrasted with the con- 
 dition of Spanish America. In spite of the essential 
 evils of pure democracy — a government which can be 
 efficient only where the virtue and patriotism of the 
 great mass of a people are such as to render govern- 
 ment almost superfluous — the citizens of every state in 
 the confederation enjoy a degree of security for pro- 
 perty, liberty, and life, such as is utterly unknown in 
 any portion of Spanish America ; again, instead of con- 
 stantly fluctuating, at the expense of much blood and 
 treasure, between centralism and federation, our trans- 
 atlantic kindred have, for more than fifty years, exhi- 
 
 Ir ?, i 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 3C3 
 
 bited a union of their own making, wliicli, without 
 trenching on the rights of its component parts with re- 
 spect to internal proceedings, curiously blends in itself 
 the principles of a consolidated dominion with those of 
 a federal republic ; and, last, though not least, the 
 United States, in all that constitutes the material pro- 
 sperity of a nation, have surpassed every country but 
 the one that gave them birth, standing before the world 
 as the most formidable rival of England in the race that 
 has made her what she is — a position which accounts, 
 more satisfactorily than anything else, for the undis- 
 guised and incurable jealousy, on the part of the Ame- 
 ricans, of the land of their fathers. 
 
 But to return to the Spanish colonies : there appears 
 to be reasonable room for doubting whether their inde- 
 pendence has not cost them more than it is worth in an 
 anarchy, which, inherent as it seems to be in every 
 man's mind, threatens to be as durable as it is general. 
 If Spain ruled her sons with a rod of iron, bhe secured 
 to them, in a pre-eminent degree, the blessin ■ s of peace 
 and order ; ii she burdened and fettered them, she 
 guaranteed the undisturbed enjoyment of all the energy 
 and freedom that she left ; if she enhanced the price 
 of imported goods by taxes and restrictions, she took 
 care that the resources, which were to buy them, should 
 not be wasted by the locust-like marches and counter- 
 marches of alternately victorious factions. In truth, 
 the emancipation of Spanish America has been an un- 
 mixed good to the English races alone, for on them it 
 has conferred, not only the monopoly of the trade, but 
 also, through such monopoly, the virtual sovereignty of 
 the country and of its adjacent oceans. 
 
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 OVKKLANl) JoniNKY 
 
 To resume the tliroad of my journal : the Catilinn 
 arrived to-day, tlie 1 7tli of tlie month, from San Fran- 
 cisco, swelling the numhcr of vessels in port to six. 
 The air was cool, with heavy rain, from morning to 
 ni<^ht; and the tops of the distant mountains were 
 coveretl with snow. It was quite the weather for a 
 fire ; and, as there was no pleasure in ^o'lug ashore to 
 he drenched, we took care to have our full allowance of 
 the luxury of a blaze on board. Several whales were 
 sporting near our vessel, the bay of Monterey being a 
 favourite resort of that fish ; and we were told that the 
 shark, the thresher, the cod, and the sardine, also 
 abounded. The sardine, by the by, furnishes an admi- 
 rable illustration of the industry of the good folks of 
 this province. The Californians, as has been elsewhere 
 stated, eat no fish, because thay luive no boats to catch 
 them ; but, when a westerly gale has driven millions 
 of sardines on the strand, they do take the trouble of 
 cooking what Dame Nature has thus poured into their 
 laps. 
 
 The only places in the neighbourhood which are 
 worthy of notice are, the Pueblo of Branciforte, and the 
 Missions of Santa Cruz and San Carlos, the first two 
 lying on the Bay of Monterey, and the last on the River 
 Carmelo. 
 
 Branciforte contains barely a hundred and fifty inha- 
 bitants ; and, as being the least populous, it is also, of 
 course, the least profligate of the three pueblos of the 
 upper province. But the deficiency of the pueblo in 
 this respect is said to have been in some measure sup- 
 plied by the uncanonical proceedings of some of the 
 fathers of the neighbouring mission. In 1823, one 
 
 U 
 
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IIOLND Tin: WOULD. 
 
 3(]'y 
 
 Qiiintanes, then ii priest of Ssiuta Cruz, forgot one of liis 
 vows in the society of a certain squaw, who, through 
 penitence, or in{ii<ifnation, or vanity, or some other mo- 
 tive, lot her husband into tiie secret of her conquest. 
 After watching his opportunity, tlie man at hist suc- 
 ceeded in inutihiting the lover in the most brutal manner, 
 leaving him insensible, but was himself dragged to the 
 calabozo, whence, according to conunon rumour, he was 
 soon afterwards carried ott* by the devil for his imjjiety. 
 Quintanes, on the contrary, died with the fame of a 
 martyr, for a long time elapsed before the truth was 
 known through the confessions of a Moman who had 
 been privy to the injured savage's fatal revenge. Tread- 
 ing in the footsteps of Quintanes, though with more 
 caution and greater success, his present reverence of Santa 
 Cruz, brother of the jovial priest of Monterey, finds 
 pleasant relaxation, to say nothing of his bottle, in a 
 seraglio of native beauties, which is said to be, in general, 
 more numerously garrisoned than the Castle of Monterey. 
 I need hardly add, that the mission in question is in the 
 usual state of decay and dilapidation ; and, in fact, 
 being so close to the seat of government, it was sure to 
 be one of the first to suffer, — for a Californian is not 
 likely to advance one step faster or farther than is neces- 
 sary even in the pleasant and profitable path of spolia- 
 tion. 
 
 Originally, the mission of San Carlos also stood on 
 the bay, being the second that was established in the 
 upper province. In a former passage, I have noticed 
 that an expedition, which had been sent from San Diego 
 by land to discover Monterey, had failed in its imme- 
 
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 366 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 diato ohjoct, t1iOu<;h it siicccoilcd in iniiking the more 
 valuable discovery of the llarhonr of San Francisco. 
 Next year, however, two expeditions, the one by hmd, 
 and tlie other by sea, reached tiio <lesired spot ; and a 
 p^rai)hio letter — whose second paragraph is a curiosity 
 well worth preservin«jf — conveyed from Father Junipero 
 Serra to Father Palou the following account of their 
 proceedings. 
 
 " My dearest friend and sir. On the 31st day of 
 May, by the favour of God, after rather a painful voyage 
 of a month and a half, this packet, San Antonio, com- 
 manded by Don Juan Perez, arrived and anchored in 
 this horrible port of Monterey, which is unaltered in 
 any degree from what it was when visited by the expe- 
 dition of Don Sebastian Vizcaino, in the year 1 603. It 
 gave me great consolation to find that the land expedi- 
 tion had arrived eight days before us, and that Father 
 Crespi and all others were in good health. On the 3rd 
 of June, being the holy day of Pentecost, the whole of 
 the officers of sea and land, and all the people, assem- 
 bled on a bank at the foot of an oak, where we caused 
 an altar to be raised, and the bells to be rung : we then 
 chanted the Veni Creator^ blessed the water, erected 
 and blessed a grand cross, hoisted the royal standard, 
 and chanted the first mass that was ever performed 
 in this place ; we afterwards sang the Salve to Our 
 Lady, before an image of the most illustrious Virgin, 
 which occupied the altar; and at the same time I 
 preached a sermon, concluding the whole with a Te 
 Deum* After this, the officers took possession of the 
 country in the name of the King our lord (whom God 
 
ROUND Tin; WORLD. 
 
 S()7 
 
 preserve !). We then nil dined to«!;ether in ii sliady plnoo 
 on the beach ; the whole ceremony being acconipuniod 
 by many volleys and salutes by the troops and vessels. 
 
 " As in lust May it is a whole year since I have re- 
 ceived any letter from a christian country, your reve- 
 rence may suppose in what want we are of news ; but 
 for all that, I only ask you, when you can get an oppor- 
 tunity to inform nie, what our most holy father, the 
 reigning pope, is called, that I may put his name in the 
 canon of the mass ; also to say if tlie canonization of 
 the beatified Josej»h Cupertino and Serafino Asculi has 
 taken place ; and if there is any other beatified one, or 
 saint, in order that 1 may put them in the calendar, and 
 pray to them ; we having, it would appear, taken our 
 leave of all printed calendars. Tell me also if it is true 
 that the Indians have killed Joseph Soler in Sonora, and 
 how it happened ; and if there are any other friends de- 
 funct, in order that I may commend them to God, with 
 anything else that your reverence may think fit to com- 
 municate to a few poor hermits, separated from human 
 society. We proceed to-morrow to celebrate the feast, 
 and make the procession of Corpus Christie (although 
 in a very poor manner,) in order to scare away whatever 
 little devils there possibly may be in this land. I kiss 
 the hands, &c. 
 
 " Fr : Junipero Serra." 
 
 As all this happened, at the earliest, in the year 1770, 
 some of the younger witnesses of the solemn and ambi- 
 tious pomp may have lived, and may still be alive, to 
 mark the contrast. To say nothing more of the expul- 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 sion of tlie friars, aiil the desecration of their labours, 
 the Spanish crown, which, by its recent acquisition of 
 French Louisiana, then possessed it colonial empire 
 stretching in length from the sources of the Missouri to 
 the confluence of the Atlantic and the Pacific, and, in its 
 breadth, generally embanking either ocean, was left in 
 about half a century without a single province, or even a 
 single partisan, on the American Continent. This revo- 
 lution, more extensively influential than any other that 
 the world had ever seen, was far too improbable to enter, 
 at that time, into any human calculations of the future. 
 The United States had not yet given life and form to 
 the opinion, that distant dependencies must sooner or 
 later become independent ; the colonial rulers, whether 
 civil or military, were, through the prejudices of birth 
 and station, more deeply attached to Spain than to her 
 provinces, while the colonists themselves, sunk in igno- 
 rance and luxury, were contented to hug the muffled 
 chains that checked their growth and impeded their 
 movements ; and, though here and there liable to be plun- 
 dered by foreign assailants, yet Spanish America, as a 
 whole, had proved herself to be more decidedly impreg- 
 nable than perhaps any other country on the face of the 
 globe. But, as if in mockery of man's foresight, the 
 axe was already laid to the root of the tree. In 1763, 
 the cession of Canada to England, and the transfer of 
 Louisiana to Spain, by relieving the English colonies 
 from their hereditary terror of France, had broken the 
 strongest tie that kewt them to their allegiance ; and in 
 1765, within three short years, they had practically ex- 
 hibited, in forcibly resisting the execution of an imperial 
 
si 
 
 Rorxn THE WOULD. 
 
 SGO 
 
 statute, the rebellious tendency of their new-honi ease 
 and security, — a tendency which, in eleven years more, 
 ripened into the declaration of independence. 
 
 Again, the American war, partly by inspirin^^ the 
 French auxiliaries with an enthusiasm for liberty, and 
 partly by embarrassing the French finances beyond the 
 hope of remedy, was one main and immediate cause of 
 that great European revolution, which, by placing Spain 
 under the armed heels of a foreign dynasty, gave to 
 Mexico and South America, at once, a favourable op- 
 portunity and a plausible p'/etext for rebellion ; thus 
 sending back to the one-half of the new world the 
 same impulse which it had itself originally received 
 from the other. 
 
 The heavy rain on Monday was on Tuesday succeeded 
 by bright and warm weather, and we gladly went 
 ashore, though at the cost of upsetting one of our boats 
 in the surf. Such an accident is quite common, par- 
 ticularly with men unaccustomed to the work — our 
 captain, for instance, and a whole party of friends, who 
 had been dining on board, having been comfortably 
 capsized into a cold bath, no farther back than last 
 evening. 
 
 Though I was myself detained by business in the 
 town, yet most of my friends started off to visit the 
 mission of San Carlos, which, in this its second situa- 
 tion, is about four miles distant from Monterey, lying- 
 near the sea, on the Carmelo. The intervening country 
 was very picturesque, presenting a succession of grassy 
 slopes, with a sufficient sprinkling of timber to relieve 
 the monotony : while in the distance there appeared, in 
 
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 370 
 
 OVKRLAND JOUUNKY 
 
 pleasing- contrast, the illimitable ocean on the one hand, 
 and the snow-capped mountains on the other. The 
 number of cattle that grazed on the rich pasturage 
 was very considerable. In fact, throughout the whole 
 country, the herds roam so much at will, as to be 
 dangerous to those who are not well mounted ; and 
 instances are not uncommon, in which solitary indi- 
 viduals have been " treed," for several hours at a time, 
 by some ferocious rascal of an old bull. 
 
 Near the mission there is a very distinct rent in the 
 earth, of a mile or so in length, and of thirty or forty 
 feet in depth, the result of one of the recent earth- 
 quakes. The mission itself, in addition to the hand of 
 the spoiler, has also had this same subterranean enemy 
 to encounter; for the beautiful church, which, as usual, 
 superstition has wrested from rapacity, has had one 
 side pretty severely shattered by a recent shock. The 
 exterior of this sacred edifice is more highly finished 
 tlian is generally the case in the missions, inasmuch as 
 the skill and taste of the good fathers have, in most 
 instances, been reserved for the interior decorations. 
 Two elegant towers sustain a peal of six bells ; and on 
 the walls of the same are two or three monuments; 
 one of them, which reminded us that we too were 
 strangers in the land, in memory of a m ine of the 
 " Venus," closing an appropriate inscription with the 
 characteristic request, " Priez pour lui." In the in- 
 terior, among other images, are two of the Virgin Mary, 
 each holding a beautifully-dressed doll, to represent the 
 infant Saviour. In addition to the images there are 
 several excellent pictures, each surmounting a tablet, 
 
:;\ ' 
 
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 ne hand, 
 er. The 
 )asturage 
 he whole 
 IS to be 
 ited; and 
 ;ary indi- 
 at a time, 
 
 mt in the 
 r or forty 
 ent earth- 
 e hand of 
 ean enemy 
 1, as usual, 
 ^ had one 
 ock. The 
 ily finished 
 asmuch as 
 , in most 
 lecorations. 
 ,s; and on 
 lOnuments ; 
 too were 
 ine of the 
 ,n with the 
 In the in- 
 iirgin Mary, 
 present the 
 there are 
 g a tablet, 
 
 ROUND TIIE WORLD. 
 
 .1 I 
 
 M'hich bears some description of it, generally terse and 
 pithy; for instance, underneath the representation of 
 Christ carrying his cross, the reader finds a homily ir 
 the line, " Thy sins were the cause of this misery." 
 Several paintings portrayed, for the edification of the 
 savages, the torments of purgatory and hell ; and op- 
 posite to them was a realization of heaven, with an 
 amusing preponderance of popes, priests, and nuns. 
 
 With the exception of the church, the immense 
 ranges of buildings were all a heap of ruins. Here 
 again, as in the case of Santa Cruz, tlie proximity of 
 the ruling powers bad hastened the work of destruction, 
 the last tile having been rifled from the roofs, .and sold 
 to adorn the houses of Monterey. Of the seven hun- 
 dred converts residing here, according to Humboldt, in 
 1802, not one remained ; and the only living tenants of 
 the establishment were a man and his wife, whose single 
 duty was to take care of a church that had no priest. 
 
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 372 
 
 0VKIILAN[) JOrilNl'.Y 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SANTA BARBARA. 
 
 Voyage from Monterey — Mrs. Wilson — Von Resanoff and Donna 
 Conception' — Town, its situation and buildings, &c. — Inhabitants, man- 
 ners, and dress, and customs, &c. — Resemblance of Spanish colonist to 
 old Spaniard — Californian happiness and case — Compadres and Com- 
 madrcs — Californian hospitality — Bishop of Santa Barbara — Episcopal 
 pomp— Roman see, its estimate of distant dependencies — Home-made 
 wine and brandy — Church — Santa Guadalupe and the miraculous 
 blanket — Organist — Candlemas-day, gunpowder — Valley of Santa Bar- 
 bara — Aqueducts and cisterns — Grist-mill — Garden — Indian village, 
 remarkably old woman — Ball, with Scotch reel — Embarkation — Carcase 
 of right whale — Perfect paradise for fish — Bishop's present of wine — 
 San Pedro, pueblo of Nuestra Senora, with its bulls and its bears — 
 Mission of San Gabriel — ^Valley of the Tulares, bands of horses — 
 " Police" of California — San Diego — Concluding remarks on California 
 — Gradual spread of English race in new world — Ultimate destiny of 
 California — British claims, financial and territorial — ^Arrival in region 
 of trade-winds. 
 
 On the 19th of the month, having completed our 
 business in Monterey, we prepared to take our leave. 
 But, as there was not a breath of wind all day, it was 
 ten in the evening before we got under way, in com- 
 pany with the Fama and the Bolivar, and the two 
 schooners California and Julia Ann, leaving the port 
 and its twelve tax-gatherers deserted by every vessel 
 except the Catilina. By next morning, the wind was 
 right ahead, with the south-easter's usual accompani- 
 ment of thick and rainy weather — a state of things 
 
 ! 1 *■ 
 
 »': 
 
■(1 
 
 noi'ND TIIK WOHI.l). 
 
 37a 
 
 and Donna 
 itants, man- 
 I colonist to 
 'S and Com- 
 I — ^Episcopal 
 -Home-made 
 i miraculous 
 f Santa Bar- 
 idian village, 
 ion — Carcase 
 nt of wine — 
 i its bears — 
 of horses — 
 on California 
 te destiny of 
 val in region 
 
 )leted our 
 lour leave, 
 [ay, it was 
 in com- 
 the two 
 the port 
 i^erv vessel 
 wind was 
 iccompani- 
 of things 
 
 which continued with no other change than an increase 
 of the gale, till, towards evening on the 22nd, the sky 
 began to clear, and the wind hauled round to the west- 
 ward. At this time, according to our dead reckoning, 
 we were off Point Conception, a remarkable promon- 
 tory, whence the coast, instead of continuing to run a 
 little to the east of south, trends nearly due east for a 
 very considerable distance. Besides this peculiarity, 
 the headland in question possesses the more practical 
 distinction of terminating the belt of coast, which, 
 during nine months of the year, is affected, more parti- 
 cularly in the mornings, by the north-west fogs ; and, 
 in fact, the sudden turn of the land places all, that is, 
 below Point Conception, in the same position as the 
 interior, with respect to the prevailing breezes of the 
 summer. It is, moreover, probably with a precise re- 
 ference to this cape, that San Francisco and Monterey, 
 on the one hand, and Santa Barbara, San Pedro, and 
 San Diego, on the other, are respectively classified as 
 the windward and the leeward ports. 
 
 About thirty miles to the eastward of Point Con- 
 ception lies Santa Barbara, with four islands abreast of 
 it in the distant offing ; and, in reliance on our dead 
 reckoning, we ran boldly before the wind, so as to 
 make a straight course for our destined port. About 
 eleven in the evening, the first of the islands, as we 
 supposed, was seen on our starboard bow ; but, before 
 midnight, the cry of "Land ahead!" — land so near, 
 that we could discern the surf breaking on the beach — 
 came just in time to prevent us from running ashore in 
 the bay of San Luis Obispo, situated forty miles to the 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 north of Point Conception. To us, the error in our 
 calculations appeared to be the more unaccountahle at 
 the time, inasmuch as we had been taking for granted 
 that the current on the coast uniformly set towards the 
 south, and was, therefore, always in our favour. But 
 we soon came to the natural conclusion, that the cur- 
 rent must be affected in its direction by the wind ; and, 
 besides our own experience in corroboration of this 
 view, we found, from Langsdorff, that Von. Resanoff's 
 vessel, already mentioned, had been repeatedly carried 
 to the northward, in the month of March, by the cur- 
 rents having, on one occasion, drifted imperceptibly, in 
 a single night, from the mouth of the Columbia to the 
 entrance of Whidbey's Harbour. In fact, where there 
 do not happen to be any disi!irbing causes, this con- 
 nexion between winds and currents may be regarded as 
 a physical law, whether it be that the air moves the 
 water, or the water the air. Thus the easterly trade- 
 wind forces the Atlantic into the Carribbean Sea and the 
 Gulf of Mexico, with a current accelerated by the 
 comparative narrowness of the intermediate channels ; 
 while this same current, forced to the north-eastward, 
 under the name of the Florida Stream, by the opposing 
 continent, is doubtless assisted in clearing its Mell- 
 defined way to the banks of Newfoundland, by the 
 general prevalence of the south-westers on the ad- 
 jacent waters. 
 
 Having escaped from the danger of the baffling cur- 
 rents, — almost the only Janger on this part of the coast, 
 for, at least to the north of Point Conception, the 
 terrors of a lee-shore are hardly known, — we next 
 
Ik 
 
 ROUND THE WUULD. 
 
 375 
 
 iuorniii<5 doubled Point Conception in real eiunest ; but, 
 as the wind was light, it was dark before we could 
 reach the roadstead. Seeing the Julia Ann standing 
 into the port, we fired a rocket and blue liglit for 
 signals to guide us ; but, though the schooner took the 
 hint, yet she was too far off for us to benefit by her 
 answers. We, therefore, lay-to for the night. 
 
 In the morning, we found ourselves distant about 
 ten miles from the mission of Santa Barbara, which, 
 being situated on an eminence witlrin a quarter of an 
 hour's walk from the town, forms, with its white- 
 washed walls, an excellent landmark for steering into 
 the harbour. Being almost becalmed, with the prospect 
 of not gaining an anchorage for several hours, we low- 
 ered the whaleboat, and stowed away as many of our 
 party as she could accommodate, boarding the Julia 
 Ann on our way, to thank her owner, Mr. Thompson, 
 for his politeness of the previous evening. It was well 
 that we did so ; for, unless that gentleman had added to 
 his kindness by accompanying us in his own boat to the 
 proper landing-place, we should have had considerable 
 difficulty in getting ashore. During the season of the 
 south-easters, the surf is sometimes so heavy as to pre- 
 vent boats from landing, to say nothing of their 
 grounding on the sands and being entangled in the sea- 
 weed. In summer, however, the surf is less dangerous, 
 while the shallows are said to be deepened by the bank- 
 ing up of the sand on the beach in the absence of the 
 seaward gales. 
 
 With the pilotage of Mr. Thompson and the assist- 
 ance of his boat's crew, which luckily happened to 
 
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 OVliKLAND JULRNtl 
 
 consist chiefly of Sandwich islanders, perfect ducks of 
 fellows, we surmounted all obstacles without any 
 mishap; and our guide, after conducting us to his resi- 
 dence and introducing us to Mrs. Thompson, handed us 
 over to Mr. Scott, a native of Perth, to whom we had 
 letters of introduction from his partner. Captain Wilson 
 of the Index. Mr. Scott, who is one of the most pro- 
 sperous merchants in the country, received us in such a 
 manner as to make us feel that we were among friends, 
 — an impression which every face that we saw in Santa 
 Barbara only tended to confirm. 
 
 We immediately started to pay our respects to the 
 principal inhabitants, amongst others Don Antonio 
 Oreaga, Don Antonio Aguire, Don Carlos Carillo, and 
 Mrs. Burke, by all of whom we were received with 
 great cordiality ; and then, returning to Captain Wil- 
 son's house, where Mr. Scott resided, we had the 
 f)leasure of being introduced to Mrs. Wilson, whom we 
 already knew by name as a sister of Seiiora Vallego, 
 and whom we now found to be one of the prettiest and 
 most agreeable women that we had ever met either 
 here or elsewhere. Before she became Mrs. Wilson, 
 she had been the wife of Captain Pacheco, one of the 
 few persons that have lost their lives in consequence of 
 the revolutionary troubles of California, — a country in 
 which, from various causes, intestine commotions have 
 hitherto been comparatively harmless. Having been 
 comrades in the same service, or being the sons of such 
 as were so, the Californians cherish, either by habit or 
 by inheritance, feelings of mutual regard, while their 
 simplicity of character and contentedness of disposition 
 
 H i ^ 
 
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 itv 
 
■([ 
 
 HOUND TIIK WORLO. 
 
 .'377 
 
 1 
 
 ucks of 
 lit any 
 tiis resi- 
 iiJed U8 
 we bad 
 I Wilson 
 lost pvo- 
 n such a 
 1 friends, 
 in Santa 
 
 ts to the 
 Antonio 
 rillo, and 
 ved with 
 .tain Wil- 
 had the 
 whom we 
 I Vallego, 
 ttiest and 
 let either 
 J. Wilson, 
 me of the 
 quence of 
 ;ountry in 
 ions have 
 msr heen 
 IS of such 
 y habit or 
 bile their 
 lisposition 
 
 tend to prevent tbeni from being split into petty cliques 
 by social vanities and commercial rivalries. Again, 
 even when they are divided against each other by poli- 
 tical excitement, they possess but scanty means of 
 doing miscbief. Gunpowder, as we have seen, is always 
 a scarce article; the sword is an awkward weapon to 
 wield wbere there is so little of personal animosity ; 
 and as to the lasso, the Californians bave not yet ele- 
 vated it, I believe, to the dignity of noosing men, bow- 
 ever cleverly it can disable a fellow witbout either 
 killing or wounding him. To return to Mrs. Wilson, 
 she insisted on our making her bouse our boad-qnarters, 
 while Mr. Scott devoted the whole of bis time to our 
 service in the double capacity of interpreter and guide. 
 After dinner, we were joined by the remainder of our 
 party, the Cowlitz having by this time come to anchor ; 
 and we again sallied forth to see a few more of the 
 lions. Among the persons whom we met this after- 
 noon, was a lady of some historical celebrity. Von 
 Resanoff, having failed, as elsewhere stated, in bis 
 attempt to enter the Columbia in 1806, continued bis 
 voyage as far as San Francisco, where, besides pur- 
 chasing immediate supplies for Sitka, he endeavoured, 
 in negociation with the commandant of the district and 
 the governor of the province, to lay the foundation of a 
 regular intercourse between Russian America and the 
 Californian settlements. In order to cement the national 
 union, he proposed uniting himself with Donna Concep- 
 tion Arguello, one of the commandant's daughters, bis 
 patriotism clearly being its own rewardif halfof Langs- 
 dorfTs description was correct : " She was lively and 
 
 
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 378 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 animated, had sparkling, love-inspiring eyes, beautiful 
 teeth, pleasing and expressive features, a fine form, and a 
 thousand other charms ; yet her manners were perfectly 
 simple and artless." 
 
 The chancellor, who was himself of the Greek Church, 
 regarded the difference of religion with the eyes of a 
 lover and a politician ; but, as his imperial master might 
 take a less liberal view of the matter, he posted away 
 to St. Petersburgh with the intention, if he should there 
 be successful, of subsequently visiting Madrid, for the 
 requisite authority to carry his schemes into full effect. 
 But the Fates, with a voice more powerful than that of 
 emperors and kings, forbade the bans ; and Von Re- 
 sanoff died, on his road to Europe, at Krasnoyarsk in 
 Siberia of a fall from his horse. 
 
 Thus at once bereaved of her lover, and disappointed 
 in her hope of becoming a pledge of friendship between 
 Russia and Spain, Donna Conception assumed the habit, 
 but not, I believe, the formal vows, of a nun, dedicating 
 her life to the instruction of the young and the consola- 
 tion of the sick. Tliis little romance could not fail to 
 interest us ; and, notwithstanding the ungracefulness 
 of her conventual costume and the ravages of an interval 
 of time, which had tripled her years, we could still 
 discover in her face and figure, in her manners and 
 conversation, the remains of those charms which had 
 won for the youthful beauty Von Resanoff's enthusiastic 
 love and Langsdorff's equally enthusiastic admiration. 
 Though Donna Conception apparently loved to dwell 
 on the story of her blighted affections, yet, strange to 
 say, she knew not, till we mentioned it to her, the im- 
 
■(' 
 
 !» 
 
 ROUND TIIK WOIU.I). 
 
 .'J 70 
 
 mediate eniise of tlic cliunccllor's sudden death. This 
 circumstance might, in some measure, be exphiined by 
 y the fact, that Langsdorlf's work was not published be- 
 fore 1814; but even then, in any other country than 
 California, a lady, who was still young, would surely 
 have seen n book, Avhich, besides detailing the grand 
 incident of her life, presented so gratifying a portrait 
 of her charms. 
 
 Santa Barbara is somewhat larger than Monterey, 
 containing about nine hundred inhabitants, while the 
 one is just as much a maze without a plan as the other. 
 Here, however, any thing of the nature of resemblance 
 ends, Santa Barbara, in most respects, being to Monterey 
 what the parlour is to the kitchen. 
 
 The site of the town has doubtless been fixed by the 
 position of the port, if port it can be called. In the 
 offing, as already stated, lie four islands, the nearest of 
 them, however, being too distant to afford any shelter ; 
 the bay, as the shore of the mainland may perhaps be 
 termed, is exposed at every point to the worst winds of 
 the worst season of the year ; and, to crown all, the 
 bottom is not to be trusted in the hour of trial, being 
 hard sand covered with sea-weed. But the port, such 
 as it was, had been selected for want of a better, while 
 the superiority of the climate, which was at once drier 
 than that of San Francisco and Monterey, and cooler 
 than that of San Pedro and San Diego, rendered the 
 neighbourhood the favourite retreat of the more respect- 
 able functionaries, civil and military, of the province. 
 Hence, among all the settlements as distinguished from 
 the rascally pueblos, Santa Barbara possesses the double 
 
 
 
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 1';! 
 1 
 
 
 

 <(( ll 
 
 380 
 
 OV'EIILANU JOLUNKY 
 
 atlvantagc of Imng liotli tlie oMchI mid the most nrin- 
 tocmtic. 
 
 The housos are not only well fiiiisliod at first, bnt aro^ 
 throujifliout ko[)t in good order ; and the whitewashed 
 adobes end the painted balconies and verandahs form a 
 pleasing' contrast with the overshadowing roofs black- 
 ened by means of bitumen, the produce of a neighbouring 
 spring. Compared with the slovenly habitations of San 
 Francisco and Monterey, the houses of Santa Barbara 
 are built and maintained at an addition of cost the 
 greater on this account, that nearly the whole of the 
 dirterence iminodiiitely resolves itself into that most ex- 
 pensive of all articles in this indolent country, the time 
 of hired labourers and mechanics. In spite of the 
 abundance and cheapness of most of the materials, a 
 comfortable dwelling of two stories cannot be erected 
 for less than five or six thousand dollars in hard cash, 
 while to the interest of the capital which is thus already 
 sunk must be added the annual expenditure in repairing 
 the inroads of wind and weather. But it is internally 
 that the houses of Santa Barbara are seen to the great- 
 est advantage. The rooms are, in general, handsomely 
 furnished, many of them with carpets ; and, indeed, the 
 saloon of Don Antonio Aguire quite struck us with sur- 
 prise, set off, as it was, by the presence of his young 
 wife and her black-eyed beauty of a sister. In Santa 
 Barbara, as elsewhere, the beds appear to be the grand 
 point of attraction, and to embody all the skill and 
 taste of the females of families ; though the farther that 
 one advances to the south, the linen and the lace, and 
 the damask, and the satin, and the embroidery, serve 
 
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R(!i M) rm woiti.D. 
 
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 only to en^lii'ine more j/H|>uloti« aixl lively eoloni«'N of 
 LasPu/fffis, — (ltri'l«'(lly tlio lu'st lodj^ed, ami, ns wo found 
 to our coHt, not tlio worst fod dctiizons of ruliforniii. 
 
 Nor is the HUpcnority of tlio inluibitantH loss Htriking 
 than that of thoir houHOf;). 
 
 Of tho women, with their witchery of nnmncr, it 
 is not easy, or rather it is not possible, for a stran^jfer 
 to speak with impartiality, inasmuch as our solf-lovo is 
 naturally eidisted in favour of those who, in every look, 
 tone, and gesture, have apparently no other end in view 
 than the pleasure of pleasing us. With regard, how- 
 ever, to their physical charms, as distinguished from the 
 adventitious accomplishments of education, it is diHicult 
 even for a willing pen to exiiggerate. Independently 
 of feeling or motion, their sparkling eyes and glossy 
 hair are in themselves suflicient to negative the idea of 
 tameness or insipidity ; wdiilo their sylph-like forms 
 evolve fresh graces at every step, and their eloquent 
 features eclipse their own iidierent comeliness by the 
 higher beauty of expression. Though doubtless fully 
 conscious of their attractions, yet the women of Cali- 
 fornia, to their credit be it spoken, do not " before their 
 mirrors count the time," being, on the contrary, by far 
 the more industrious half of the population. In Cali- 
 fornia, such a thing as a white servant is absolutely un- 
 known, inasmuch as neither man nor woman will barter 
 freeuom in a country, where provisions are actually a 
 drug, and clothes almost a superfluity ; and, accord- 
 ingly, in the absence of intelligent assistance, the first 
 ladies of the province, more particularly when treated, 
 as they too seldom are by native husbands, v. ith 
 
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 382 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 kindness and consideration, discharge all the lighter 
 duties of their households with cheerfulness and pride. 
 Nor does their plain and simple dress savour much of 
 the labour of the toilette. They wear a gown suf- 
 ficiently short to display their neatly-turned foot and 
 ankle, in their white stockings and black shoes, while, 
 perversely enough, they bandage their heads in a hand- 
 kerchief, so as to conceal all their hair except a single 
 loop on either cheek ; round their shoulders, more- 
 over, they twist or swathe a shawl, throwing over all, 
 when they walk or go to mass, the " beautiful and 
 mysterious mantilla." 
 
 The men are generally tall and handsome, while 
 their dress is fiir more showy and elaborate than that 
 of the women. Round a broad-brimmed hat is tied a 
 parti-coloured cord or handkerchief; a shirt, which is 
 usually of the finest linen, displays on the breast a pro- 
 fusion of lace and embroidery ; and over the shirt is 
 thrown a cotton or silk jacket of the gayest hues, with 
 frogs on the back, and a regiment of buttons on the 
 breasts and cuffs. To come next to the nether man, 
 the pantaloons are split on the outside from the hip to 
 the foot with a row of buttons on either edge of the 
 opening, which is laced together nearly down to the 
 knee; round the waist is a silken belt which, to say 
 nothing of its value as an ornament, serves the utili- 
 tarian purpose of bracing up the inexpressibles ; and 
 underneath, through the gaps aforesaid, there peer out 
 a pair of full linen drawers and a boot of untanned 
 deerskin, the boot on the right leg invariably forming 
 the scabbard for that constant companion, the knife. 
 
 1 ' 
 

 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 383 
 
 But our dashing friend, to be appreciated by the 
 reader, must be placed on horseback, — the quadruped 
 being generally as gay as his master. The saddle, 
 which is encumbered with trappings, rises both before 
 and behind, wliile at either side there swings a wooden 
 shovel by way of stirrup. Thus comfortably deposited 
 on his easy chair and pair of footstools, the human half 
 of the centaur propels the whole machine by means of 
 enormous spurs, with rowels to match, setting rain at 
 defiance from head to heel, without the help of any of 
 your patent waterproofs. To say nothing of the broad- 
 brimmed hat, his legs are protected by a pair of goat- 
 skins, which are attached to the saddle-bow, and tied 
 round the waist, while his bo<!y is covered by a blanket 
 of about eight feet by five, with a hole in the centre for 
 the head. This blanket, or serape, appears to be to the 
 vanity of the men what the bed is to that of the women. 
 It varies in price, from five dollars to a hundred, sixty 
 dollars being the ordinary rate for a fine one; it is 
 made of cloth of the most showy colours, sometimes 
 trimmed with velvet and embroidered with gold. With 
 such painted and gilded horsemen, anything like indus- 
 try is, of course, out of the question ; and, accordingly, 
 they spend their time from raoming to night in billiard- 
 playing and horse-racing, aggravating the evil of idle- 
 ness by ruinously heavy bets. 
 
 Implicit obedience and profound respect are shown by 
 children, even after they are grown up, towards their 
 parents. A son, though hirasfdf the head of a family, 
 never presumes to sit, or smoke, or remain covered in 
 presence of his fiither ; nor does the daughter, whether 
 
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 .384. 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNKY 
 
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 jnarried or unmarried, enter into too great familiarity 
 with the mother. With this exception, the Californians 
 know little or nothing of the restraints of etiquette; 
 generally speaking, all classes associate together on a 
 footing of equality ; and on particular occasions, such 
 as the festival of the saint after whoui one is named, or 
 the day of one's marriage, those who can jiffbrd the ex- 
 pense give a grand hall, generally in the open air, to 
 the whole of the neighbouring community. 
 
 In such a country, singing and dancing may be ex- 
 pected to be as common as eating and sleeping. The 
 balls, in fact, look more like a matter of business than 
 anything else that is done in California. For whole 
 days beforehand, sweetmeats and similar delicacies, of 
 which the fair Senoras are doatingly fond, are laboriously 
 prepared in the greatest variety, the li(tle flour that can 
 be got being almost exclusively devoted to the compo- 
 sition of such dainties ; and from beginning to end of 
 the festivities, which have been known to last several 
 consecutive nights, so as to make tlie performers, after 
 wearing out their pumps, trip it in sea-boots, both men 
 and women display as much gravity as if attending 
 the funeral obsequies of their most intimate friends. 
 Again, with respect to music, no one can enter a house 
 without finding one or more of the family playing on 
 the guitar and singing. From the fiither and mother, 
 down to the youngest child, all are musicians, every 
 one strumming away in turn till relieved by another ; 
 and, though one may have too much even of a gcod 
 thing, yet it must, in justice, be owned that they gene- 
 rally possess correctness of ear and sweetness of voice. 
 
 ii 
 
Mi 
 111'! 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 38.5 
 
 niliarity 
 ifoniians 
 :iquette ; 
 her on a 
 )ns, sucii 
 amed, or 
 :l the ex- 
 ;n air, to 
 
 [ly be ex- 
 ng. The 
 iness than 
 'or whole 
 icacies, of 
 aboriously 
 ir that can 
 lie compo- 
 to end of 
 st several 
 ners, after 
 both men 
 attendhig 
 ;e friends, 
 er a house 
 laying on 
 d mother, 
 ns, every 
 another ; 
 of a good 
 hey gene- 
 of voice. 
 
 They play nothing but national music, the fandangos, 
 boleros, and baccaroles of Old Spain, having, in this 
 respect, as in almost every other, had little opportunity, 
 and perhaps as little inclination, for deviating from the 
 customs of their fathers. 
 
 In all but the place of their birth, the colonists of 
 Spain have continued to be genuine Spaniards, the same 
 causes operating to produce uniformity of character on 
 either side of the water. Throughout Spanish Ame- 
 rica, the temperature does not, in general, materially 
 differ from that of the old country, while something like 
 the same alternation of mountain and valley tends still 
 farther to make the one a physical counterpart of the 
 other. Nor have moral influences led the two branches 
 of the race in different directions. Spain and Spanish 
 America, by the mildness of their climates and the 
 abundance of their resources, have equally fostered 
 indolence and improvidence; they have equally been 
 the votaries of a church which practically, if not inten- 
 tionally, checks mental culture, and impedes material 
 improvement; they have equally passed through the 
 successive tyrannies of individual despotism and popular 
 licentiousness. 
 
 To bring all these points of resemblance to bear with 
 greater weight on the uniformity of character, both 
 Spain and Spanish America were studiously shut out 
 from the rest of the world, almost as studiously as 
 China or Japan, this policy of the government having 
 been seconded by the prejudices of the people. In this 
 respect, however, the new country has been induced, by 
 the necessities of its situation, to relax the bigotry and 
 
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 11 
 
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 386 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 pride of the old; for it is only by freely communicating 
 with foreigners that Mexico and South America can 
 realize commercial prosperity — the main object and prin- 
 cipal fruit of a 1 their sacrifices of property and life, of 
 peace and order. In California, this tendency of the 
 grand revolution has been more peculiarly powerful, in- 
 asmuch as the province depends more exclusively than 
 any other portion of Spanish America on extraneous 
 supplies ; and here, accordingly, foreigners and natives 
 cordially mingle together as members of one and the 
 same harmonious family. 
 
 In a word, the Californians are a happy people, pos- 
 sessing the means of physical pleasure to the full, and 
 knowing no higher kind of enjoyment. Their happiness 
 certainly is not such as an Englishman can covet, though 
 perhaps a Californian may with reason disparage much 
 of what passes under the name in England — the accu- 
 mulating of wealth for its own sake ; the humouring of 
 the caprices of fashion; and the embittering even of 
 the luxuries of life by blended feelings of envy and 
 pride. But, whatever may be the merits or the demerits 
 of Californian happiness, the good folks thrive upon it. 
 They live long, warding off the marks of age for a 
 period unusual even in some less trying climates; and 
 with regard to the women this is the more remarkable, 
 inasmuch as they are subjected to the wearing effect of 
 early wedlock, sometimes marrying at thirteen, and sel- 
 dom remaining single after sixteen. In the matter of 
 good looks, both sexes merely give nature fair play, 
 scouting as well the cares as the toils of life. 
 
 To make these toils and cares, if possible, sit more 
 
 8 
 
 Ui'. 
 
•. I' 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD, 
 
 387 
 
 inicating 
 srica can 
 ind prin- 
 id life, of 
 y of the 
 rerful, in- 
 vely than 
 xtraneous 
 id natives 
 3 and the 
 
 sople, pos- 
 B full, and 
 ■ happiness 
 /et, though 
 rage much 
 —the accu- 
 louring of 
 Lor even of 
 envy and 
 le demerits 
 ive upon it. 
 age for a 
 ites; and 
 •emarkable, 
 lor effect of 
 in, and sel- 
 matter of 
 fair play, 
 
 le, sit more 
 
 lightly upon them, men and women have respectively 
 their sworn allies, under the names of compadres and 
 commadres — a custom which bases temporal friendship 
 on a spiritual foundation. The name appears to be de- 
 rived from the circumstance that the compadres are bound 
 to stand godfathers, and the commadres godmothers, 
 to the children of each other, so as to render the spi- 
 ritually connected pair fellow-fathers or fellow-mothers 
 of one and the same infant, who in turn is bound to re- 
 gard the adoptive parent and the natural one with equal 
 veneration. As between the parties themselves, the 
 engagement is a most important and momentous one, 
 each being bound to assist the other under any circum- 
 stances, and at any inconvenience, trouble, or expense. 
 To men, particularly when travelling, or when borne 
 down by misfortune, the custom in question is highly 
 beneficial ; and as to the fair sex, one can easily ima- 
 gine in how many ways a confidante, pledged to fidelity 
 by this holy alliance, can become useful and agreeable. 
 Perhaps nothing can give a better idea of the closeness 
 of the connexion, than that brothers and sisters often 
 sink their natural relation in the conventional titles of 
 compadres and commadres. 
 
 Among the light-hearted and easy-tempered Cali- 
 fornians, the virtue of hospitality knows no bounds; 
 they literally vie with each other in devoting their time, 
 their homes, and their means, to the entertainment of a 
 stranger. This we found to be more particularly the 
 case in Santa Barbara, where accommodations were 
 pressed on our acceptance in almost every house ; and 
 as we were unwilling to lose an hour of the agreeable 
 
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 18 
 
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388 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 society of the place, to say nothing of the discomfort of 
 embarking and disembarking through surf, and shallows, 
 and sea- weed, we gladly distributed ourselves among our 
 friends for the night. Next morning, the 25th of the 
 month, we again met at Mrs. Wilson's breakfast-table, 
 and immediately afterwards, having been provided with 
 horses through the attention of Dr. Den, a true son of 
 Erin, we started off for the mission of Santa Barbara, 
 about a mile distant from the town, where the Bishop 
 of the Californias, whose arrival in his diocese we had 
 already honoured with a salute, had taken up his resi- 
 dence. Independently of the central position of this 
 establishment, Father Garcia Diego had reasons for his 
 choice, which were peculiarly creditable to the neigh- 
 bouring community. Unlike the Vandals of San Fran- 
 cisco and Monterey, the inhabitants of Santa Barbara 
 had evinced something of taste and feeling in sparing 
 the buildings of the mission, a disposition which doubt- 
 less formed a stronger ground of the bishop's preference 
 than even the ready-made home which it gave him. In 
 fact, all but the better classes were unfriendly to the 
 bishop : the provincial authorities regarded him with 
 an eye of jealousy as a creature and partisan of the 
 central government ; and the mass of the people dreaded 
 any symptom of the revival of a system which had, in 
 their opinion, sacrificed the temporal interests of the 
 colonists to the spiritual welfare of the aborigines. 
 
 Even in this his day of small thlT?'^8, the bishop 
 received us with much pomp and ceremony, attended 
 by two monks, three or four graduates, and a train of 
 servants. In addition to the episcopal costume, which. 
 
■ AJW. il 
 
 1. 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 389 
 
 besides its intrinsic gorg-eonsness, doubtless looked till 
 the better for being new, he wore, to say nothing of 
 more vulgar jewels, a diamond ring, which had been 
 presented to him in the name of the pope on the occa- 
 sion of his consecration. The churches of the remote 
 east and west have always been special pets of the 
 Roman see. The discoveries of Portugal and Spain, 
 the most zealous supporters of the Catholic faith, just 
 came in time to console the pope for the loss of half of 
 Europe, with a far more extensive dominion in India 
 and America ; so that, by the earlier part of last cen- 
 tury, his Holiness, who had just grasped California and 
 still held China, had made Rome the centre of a spi- 
 ritual empire, which, in the largest sense of the expres- 
 sion, literally stretched from sea to sea. If this do- 
 minion has, since that time, seen its limits contracted 
 and its strength broken, the successor of St. Peter, of 
 course, clings with the greater tenacity to all that re- 
 mains of it ; while, through the instrumentality of 
 France, he is striving to find compensation for this his 
 second loss in the clustering isles of the Pacific Ocean. 
 It is thus that the erection of a transatlantic bishopric 
 is hailed at Rome as a peculiar triumph of the church ; 
 and it is a curious fact that the illustrious genius of 
 Columbus has conferred a more durable authority in the 
 new world on his own native Italy, than on the Castile 
 and Leon of his royal mistress, Isabella. In fact, almost 
 from the very beginning, the papacy indirectly swayed 
 the destinies of the new world ; and not only did Spain 
 and Portugal vie with each other, but even France, with 
 less reason for gratitude, rivalled their zeal in establish- 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 ing beyond the setting sun a Roman empire that was to 
 outlive their own. Compared with England, those 
 powers certainly made far greater sacrifices for the con- 
 version of the heathen ; though, to place the compari- 
 son on juster grounds, we should remember the important 
 facts, that England herself had no foreign influence at 
 work to clothe her in the garb of piety, and that most 
 of her continental colonies, at least as far as religion 
 was concerned, were the very reverse of national esta- 
 blishments. 
 
 From the gate, where we were received by the bishop, 
 we were conducted into an apartment of ordinary size, 
 lighted by a small grated window. This room and its 
 contents presented a contrast which, besides being agree- 
 able in itself, was interesting as an evidence at once of 
 the simplicity of the old fathers, and of the ostentation 
 of their episcopal successor. The walls were white- 
 washed, and the ceiling consisted of rafters, while articles 
 of furniture that would not have disgraced a nobleman's 
 mansion occupied the floor. The carpet was the work 
 of the Indians of Mexico ; the table was covered with 
 crimson velvet, on which lay a pillow of the same ma- 
 terial, adorned with gold ; and the sofa and chairs had 
 seats of the same costly and showy description. But 
 the gem of the whole was a throne, with three steps in 
 front of it. It was hung with crimson velvet, which 
 was profusely trimmed with tissue of gold ; and its back 
 displayed an expensively framed miniature of the reign- 
 ing pope, painted by a princess, and sent by Gregory to 
 the bishop, along with his diamond ring, as a gift. In 
 this his own chair of state, the good prelate insisted on 
 
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 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 391 
 
 lat was to 
 nd, those 
 r the con- 
 
 compari- 
 important 
 ifluence at 
 
 that most 
 as religion 
 ional esta- 
 
 the bishop, 
 dinary size, 
 jom and its 
 )eing agree- 
 B at once of 
 ostentation 
 vere white- 
 hile articles 
 , nobleman's 
 as the work 
 jovered with 
 le same ma- 
 d chairs had 
 iption. But 
 iree steps in 
 relvet, which 
 and its back 
 of the reign- 
 y Gregory to 
 a gift. In 
 ;e insisted on 
 
 l)lacing me, though I am afraid that, in thus planting a 
 heretic before his most highly valued memorial of Ills 
 Holiness, he must have sacrificed in some degree his 
 orthodoxy to his politeness. 
 
 Between the bishop and his two monks there was a 
 contrast not less striking than that between the apart- 
 ment and its furniture. While the former Mas over- 
 loaded witli finery, the latter were arrayed in the coarse 
 and simple habit of their own mendicant order, even to 
 the sandals on their feet, and the ropes round their 
 waists. One of them, Father Narcisse Duran, was from 
 old Spain, a pious and laborious man, and prefect of the 
 missions ; and the other. Father Antonio Ximenes, was 
 a Mexican by birth, who was more a man of the world 
 than his companion, and endeavoured to interest us in 
 favour of the missions against the spoliation of the local 
 authorities. 
 
 While we were engaged in an agreeable and amusing 
 conversation, some of the attendants brought in a table, 
 placing on it, among other refreshment, a pile of cakes, 
 the work of Donna Conception. The wine was the pro- 
 duce of the vineyard of the mission, rather sweetish, but 
 of excellent quality ; the brandy, also home-made, was 
 superior to the wine, being flavoured with fruit into a 
 perfectly colourless cordial ; and the cigars, as the 
 bishop assured us, had been selected by himself in 
 Mexico. After our repast, which was seasoned and re- 
 commended by the hospitable pleasantries of the bishop 
 and Father Antonio, we proceeded to take a view of the 
 establishment. 
 
 We first entered the vestry, a spacious room hung 
 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 with pictures and crucifixes, where the good prelate 
 toolc evident deli«rht in showinjr the rich vestments and 
 the massive plate, more particularly a pix of solid gold 
 for the consecrated host. From tlie vestry we followed 
 the bishop into the church, crossing ourselves, and kneel- 
 ing, according to hi^ example, as we passed the altar. 
 This edifice, which far outshone everything that we had 
 previously seen in the country, was large, but well pro- 
 portioned. The altar-piece was at once simple and ele- 
 gant. A pair of full curtains of spotless white, springing 
 from a crown of glory over the commir.tion-table, were 
 held open by two well executed statues of seraphs, so as 
 to disclose a portrait of Santa Guadalupe, cased in a 
 golden frame. 
 
 Encouraged by the admiration which we could not 
 refrain from expressing, the good bishop detailed to us 
 such a history of the paintiii^', as convinced us that the 
 new world had its miracles as well as the old. Upwards 
 of three hundred years ago, the saint made her appear- 
 ance in the spirit, to a Mexican Indian, daguerreotyping 
 on his blanket a likeness of herself, of which the portrait 
 before us was a copy. The blanket was forthwith sur- 
 rounded with a border of cloth of gold, and enshrined 
 in one of the principal churches of the City of Mexico ; 
 and, though the border has often required to be renewed, 
 yet both the representation of the saint and the fabric 
 that bears it have hitherto triumphed over time, with 
 all its moths and aamps. But the miraculous durability 
 of the saint's work has been subjected to a peculiarly 
 severe test, a bottle of vitriol having been lately broken 
 by accident, so as to soak the inestimable blanket with- 
 
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 ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 393 
 
 prelate 
 inta nnil 
 li.l ffold 
 bllowed 
 1 knecl- 
 lie altar. 
 ; we had 
 veil pio- 
 and ele- 
 ipringing 
 ble, were 
 phs, so as 
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 iould not 
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 s that the 
 Upwards 
 ir appear- 
 reotyping 
 le portrait 
 iwith sur- 
 enshrined 
 Mexico ; 
 renewed, 
 the fabric 
 |time, with 
 durability 
 peculiarly 
 dy broken 
 iket with- 
 
 out doing any injury. The good father, during his recent 
 visit to the capital, had iiimself soon this blanket, and 
 told us with a kind of whispered awe that the impres- 
 sion, though it assumed at a distance the appcaranco of 
 a Hnished painting, yet presented on closer examination 
 a number of unmeaning stains. To the faith of our in- 
 formant, the proof of the prodigy was completed by the 
 fact that the many artists who had critically examined 
 the marks had unanimously decided that they were not 
 the work of human skill. 
 
 To continue our survey of the church, the walls were 
 covered with the usual assortment of pictures and images, 
 while from the ceiling were suspended several beautiful 
 chandeliers by means of flags of silk of various colours, 
 spangled with silver and gold. In the music-gallery 
 there was a small but well-tuned organ, on which a 
 native convert was executing several pieces of sacred 
 music with considerable taste, and amongst them, to our 
 great surprise, Martin Luther's hymn. This man was 
 almost entirely self-taught, possessing, like most of his 
 race, a fine ear, and great aptitude ; and, though his 
 countenance was intelligent enough, yet his dress was 
 rather a singular one for an organist on active service, 
 consisting of a handkerchief that confined his black locks, 
 and a shirt of rather scanty longitude, belted round his 
 waist. 
 
 Besides the organ, the choir mustered several violins, 
 violoncellos, triangles, drums, flutes, bells, &c., with a 
 strong corps of vocalists ; and had we been able to wait 
 to the 2nd of February, we should have enjoyed a grand 
 treat in the musical way, as the bishop was then to 
 
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304 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 celebrate pontifical mass with the full force of voices 
 nut! instruments. Iinincnso preparations were making 
 for this rcli<?ious festival, some of them boin^jf, according 
 to our notions, of a very peculiar kin»l. Fireworks, for 
 instance, wore, if possible, to be exhibited ; and, as 
 gunpowder could not be obtained for love or money 
 cither for this purpose or for the giving of signals, we 
 won the hearts of bishop, priests, graduates, servants, 
 and all, by promising to present them with a barrel of 
 the needful from our ship. 
 
 When Roger Bacon invented gunpowder, he little 
 thought that he was providing future friars of his order 
 with an engine for propagating the faith ; but, whether 
 the sublime or the ridiculous predominated in the 
 bishop's contemplated show, he was at least making a 
 more innocent use of the deadly composition, than 
 many zealots of orthodoxy had made before him, in the 
 cause of religion. 
 
 From the body of the church we ascended into the 
 belfry, which commanded the most extensive view of 
 the valley in which the mission stood, running to the 
 sea from a parallel range of rocky hills at the distance 
 of five or six miles ; while there rose immediately under 
 our feet two elegant towers, containing a large peal of 
 bells, the heaviest weighing about four tons and a half. 
 
 The church, with its appendages, as just described, is 
 said to have cost the priests several years of toil with 
 about two thousand native workmen, the fathers them- 
 selves discharging the multifarious duties, — self-taught 
 in all, — of architects, masons, bricklayers, carpenters, 
 and labourers. To close the description of the build - 
 
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ROUND THK WORLD. 
 
 Mf)5 
 
 in<,^H, the dwollinga of the natives and the workshops 
 were, hero as well as elsewhere, hastening to decay. 
 
 This mission is plentifully supplied with excellent 
 water, brought down all the way from the rocky hills 
 already mentioned, by the labour of the priests an«l 
 their converts. About a quarter of a mile from tiio 
 dwellings, the grand reservoir, which is sheltered from 
 the sun by an edifice of stone, is fed by a single conduit, 
 while again it sends forth two channels, the one open 
 and the other covered. The open channel flows into a 
 vast cistern, about sixteen feet <leep and about a hun- 
 dred feet square, which, as adobes cannot bear the wet, 
 is, of course, built of solid masonry ; and as a crowd of 
 natives, if left to their own notions of cleanliness, would 
 have engendered a pestilence, this cistern was intended 
 to afford them the greatest possible facilities for the 
 washing of their clothes and their persons. The covered 
 channel, which rests partly on an artificial aqueduct, 
 terminates in front of the church with a classical urn, 
 throwing out a number of graceful jets into a circular 
 basin that surrounds it ; this basin empties itself into a 
 second, through the mouth of a grotesque figure of a man 
 lying on his belly ; and the second again, through the 
 jaws of a lion, pours its water into a third, which, over- 
 flowing its brim, sends forth in every direction a number 
 of rivulets to irrigate the gardens and fields. 
 
 In addition to these works, which, whether in point 
 of taste or of utility ^ might well be deemed wonderful, 
 the fathers had brought from the hills another stream 
 for the comparatively vulgar purpose of driving the 
 grist-mill of the mission. But now the water was 
 
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 396 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 stopped and the reservoir choked witli weeds and bushes ; 
 while, to express in one word the present state of agri- 
 culture, the best use which the Californians had been 
 able to find for a ready-made grist-mill was to unroof 
 it. The fathers themselves, too, had for a long time 
 discountenanced the introduction of such machinery, 
 not because they had no wheat to grind, but because, 
 even without the means of economizing labour, they 
 often hardly knew how to employ their proselytes. 
 This narrow policy, of course, tended to defeat its own 
 object, for the mere drudgery of beasts of burden could 
 not teach human beings to be spontaneously industrious. 
 It, in fact, lost sight of one grand distinction between 
 civilization and barbarism ; the latter knowing no other 
 expedient to lighten toil than the forced assistance of 
 the slave, but the former enlisting in its service not only 
 the creatures of earth and air, but also the very elements 
 themselves. 
 
 The garden, which is walled all round, consists of 
 five or six acres. Notwithstanding the neglect of 
 several years, it contained figs, lemons, oranges, pears, 
 apples, grapes, quinces, raspberries, strawberries, melons, 
 pumpkins, plums, prickly pears, and whole avenues of 
 olives. In the days of the priests, fruits were to be 
 obtained here at every season, more particularly rasp- 
 berries and grapes, from the spring to the close of 
 autumn, and strawberries all the year round. But, ever 
 since 1836, not only had the branches been left un- 
 pruned, but even their very produce had been allowed to 
 fall to the ground ; so that now most of the trees were 
 in a deteriorated condition, and the figs in particular 
 
 Hi 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 
 had, on the recent arrival of the nnssion, been cut down 
 to their stumps. Of esculent vegetables there was an 
 almost endless variety, — potatoes, sweet and common, 
 cabbnf^e, tomata, garlick, onions, chili pepper, and, of 
 course, the everlasting frixole, &c. Of plants and 
 flowers, even in the depth of winter, we saw the follow- 
 ing in bloom : — the jonquille, the marigold, the lily, the 
 wallflower, the violet, the hollyhock, &c. The priests 
 had just begun to turn their attention to the garden, 
 after having made the requisite preparations for accom- 
 modating the bishop ; and they had accordingly repaired 
 the water-trenches, cleared away weeds and underwood, 
 and pruned the trees and vines. 
 
 After bidding farewell to the bishop with mutual 
 thanks and good wishes, we were presented by his priests 
 with a curious pile, in the form of a beehive, made of 
 the seeds of the pine, all baked and ready for eating, as 
 a pecimen of both the food and the ingenuity of the 
 natives. With many apologies for making so poor an 
 offering, they regretted that they could no longer do as 
 they could once have done, and referred to the old times 
 when they could have supplied us with provisions, fruit, 
 wine, &c., for our voyage to the Sandwich Islands ; 
 " and, perhaps," added Father Antonio with a good- 
 natured nod, "with more than you wanted." 
 
 Before returning to the town, we extended our ride 
 through the undulating and picturesque valley. It was 
 carpeted with an unusually close sward, which had un- 
 doubtedly been owing to the constant pasturing of the 
 cattle; and it displayed a great profusion of clover. 
 Both here and in the garden the soil was evidently ex- 
 
 
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 398 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 cellent; and the priests had assured us that, on the 
 farm of the mission, twenty-five returns of wheat were 
 a poor crop, and eighty or a hundred by no means un- 
 common. 
 
 Wo visited a village of free Indians, situated in the 
 valley. The inhabitants were the miserable remains of 
 the two thousand natives that once swarmed here ; 
 and they now found room in eight or ten hovels of 
 bulrushes, similar in every respect to those which we 
 had seen at Sonoma. They appeared, however, to be, 
 on the whole, more comfortable than General Vallego's 
 serfs, possessing enclosures of land, with a few cattle 
 and horses ; and yet they were engaged in the wretched 
 expedient of making bread of acorns. Among them, 
 there was one woman so old that she must have been 
 well advanced in life at the first settlement of the upper 
 province, and must have seen the missions rise, and 
 ripen, and decay before her. Her skin was shrivelled, 
 so as to look, in the absence of other clothing, like a 
 case of parchment ; her eyes were dim and sunken ; 
 her body was bent double ; but, nevertheless, amid all 
 these signs of age, her head, the more hideous, perhaps, 
 on that account, displayed a thick and tangled bush of 
 black hair. 
 
 We returned to Mrs. Wilson's in time for dinner, 
 without having visited, as we had intended, the mineral 
 springs, hot and cold, in the neighbourhood. In the 
 afternoon, we were honoured with a visit by the bishop. 
 He was drawn by four mules, in an antique carriage, 
 and was attended by a band of outriders, in the persons 
 of Father Antonio, aud several graduates and servants. 
 
I I 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 399 
 
 After half an hour's chat, during which he reiterated 
 his professions of friendship, he again betook himself to 
 his rickety conveyance, and rattled off with all the 
 pomp and circumstance of episcopal dignity. 
 
 In the evening, we attended a ball, given on the occa- 
 sion of a wedding. We were highly amused with the 
 serious looks of the dancers ; nor were we less highly 
 gratified by their graceful movements, as they went 
 through some of their mysterious figures, tying them- 
 selves into a knot, which they again untied without 
 separating hands. Previously to our departure, the en- 
 tertainments were, in compliment to us, varied by a 
 Scotch reel, to which the solemn gravity of the Cali- 
 fornians, who shared in it, gave additional zest in our 
 eyes. After having been gratified at Sonoma with the 
 national song of " Auld Lang Syne," we were the less 
 surprised at receiving this mark of attention from the 
 people of Santa Barbara — the head-quarters, as it were, 
 of foreign influence in the province. In fact, on ac- 
 count of its central position, the superiority of its cli- 
 mate, and the respectability of its population, this little 
 town is the favourite resort of the supercargoes, cap- 
 tains, and owners on the coast, many of whom, as we have 
 seen in the cases of Mr. Thompson and Captain Wilson, 
 have selected it as the permanent home of their families. 
 
 Next morning, being the 26th of the month, we paid 
 farewell visits to our hospitable and agreeable friends, 
 and embarked on board of the Cowlitz, with the inten- 
 tion of leaving the port immediately. In sleeping 
 ashore, by the by, we had run some risk of being de- 
 tained longer than we could well afford to stay. To 
 
 11^ 
 
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 400 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 
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 Tib 
 
 the southerly winds, which prevail during the winter, 
 every point of the bay, as I have elsewhere stated, is a 
 lee-shore ; so that, when the push comes, the vessels in 
 port have no other choice than that of making the 
 best of their way past Point Conception into the open 
 ocean, and there remaining till the storm has blown 
 over. 
 
 Just as we embarked, the wind failed us, so that we 
 were unable to move ; and, to turn our detention to 
 the best account, we went to examine the carcase of 
 a right whale that was floating near. It had been 
 killed by threshers, which, small as they are, are more 
 than a match for their unwieldy victims, their mode of 
 operation being to burke the monster by pummelling 
 his air-holes with their tails — while such of them as 
 prefer the anatomical department effect a diversion by 
 nibbling at his belly from below. The huge animal 
 was weltering like a small island among the sea-weed, 
 being large enough for five or six people to stand high 
 and dry on him ; for, though small of his kind, ho yet 
 measured from fifty to sixty feet in length. Had he 
 been taken alive, he would have yielded about a hun- 
 dred barrels of oil ; but the best of his bladder had 
 been carried off by the shark, the sword-fish, &c., while 
 the remainder of it was by no means in prime condition. 
 Such, however, as he was, the crew of the Julia Ann 
 had made prize of him, and expected to wring about 
 forty barrels out of him. His body was puffed up with 
 wind, which the stroke of a knife let out with a hissing 
 noise and an insufferable smell ; and indeed the whale 
 has been known to burst among his human persecutors 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 401 
 
 with the report of a cannon, and ahnost to suffocate 
 them with the stench. 
 
 Of fish for the table, there was an abundant variety 
 in our neighbourhood, though, for the reasons already 
 mentioned, they were left undisturbed in their native 
 element. Even the approach of Lent made no difference 
 to them, beef being orthodox for both laity and priest- 
 hood all the year round ; but, taking pity on the 
 consciences of Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Scott, we sent 
 each of them a tierce of salted salmon from our sea- 
 stores. 
 
 In the evening, the brig Catilina, which we had left 
 alone at Monterey, came to anchor. I have been the 
 more particular in recording the arrivals and departures 
 of vessels, with the view of explaining more in detail 
 the nature of the trade in which they are engaged. 
 
 Early next morning, we received on board, as a pre- 
 sent from the bishop, a barrel of wine, the produce of 
 the vineyard of the mission. Most of the stuff which 
 we had tasted we should have carried away without 
 compunction, thinking that we were doing the owners a 
 service ; but we were sorry to deprive the very reverend 
 donor, in the present state of his cellar, of a really good 
 article, which might have been at least as available as 
 our gunpowder for the festivities of Candlemas Day. 
 
 It was afternoon before the wind suited us; and 
 then, under the influence of a fine breeze, we rapidly 
 made for the island of Santa Cruz, leaving the little 
 town of Santa Barbara behind us, with many recollec- 
 tions of the kindness and hospitality of its inhabitants. 
 As the intermediate channel, or, rather, according to 
 
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 402 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 the nomenclature of the whole coast, the intermediate 
 canal, is only twenty-five miles wide, we soon passed, 
 not only the island just mentioned, but also that of San 
 Nicholas, on which the Russians formerly killed vast 
 numbers of sea-otters. 
 
 We were now steering our course for the Sandwich 
 Islands, though, had we not been very much pressed for 
 time, we should not have hurried away from a country 
 which had afforded us so much interest and amusement, 
 without visiting the remaining ports of San Pedro and 
 San Diego. 
 
 San Pedro is an open bay, which has no better claim 
 to the character of a harbour than almost any other 
 point on the coast, being exposed to both the prevailing 
 winds, and being destitute of every thing in the shape 
 of a house, or even of a shed. Its only recommenda- 
 tion is, that it affords access to the pueblo of Nuestra 
 Senora, about eighteen miles distant, which contains a 
 population of one thousand five hundred souls, and is 
 the noted abode of the lowest drunkards and gamblers 
 of the country. This den of thieves is situated, as one 
 may expect from its being almost twice as populous as 
 the two other pueblos taken together, in one of the 
 loveliest and most fertile districtt of California ; and 
 being, therefore, one of the best marts in the province 
 for hides and tallow, it induces vessels to brave all the 
 inconveniences and dangers of the open and exposed 
 bay of San Pedro. 
 
 In this village, the custom of making the bull and 
 the bear bait each other, though common to the whole 
 province, is peculiarly popular and fashionable ; a 
 
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 f' 
 
ROUND TIIK WORLD. 
 
 403 
 
 custom which, by excluding human combatants from 
 the arena, banishes entirely that hii,^her interest which 
 arises from the introducing of " man, and man's avenging 
 arms," into the national entertainment of the old coun- 
 try. In Spain, the cruel spectacle involves the display 
 of dexterity and courage ; while, in California, it pos- 
 sesses no redeeming quality to raise it above the dignity 
 of a cock-fight. Between the two animals there is a 
 natural antipathy, which often leads them, even in a 
 state of nature, into deadly contests, and in these case-; 
 the bull is generally the assailant ; for the bear, when 
 let alone, is contented to carry on the war only against 
 the calves. Having the advantage of choosing his time 
 and place of attack, the bull often disables the bear at 
 once ; but even when bruin is all but gored to death, 
 he cunningly seizes his enemy, while exulting in his 
 victory, by the tongue, or any other tender part, and 
 destroys him. When the two animals, however, are 
 pitted by their common enemy against each other, the 
 bear, seeing no means of escape, encounters the bull 
 with more determined front ; but even here the terms 
 are not equal, for bruin, unless sufficiently reduced, as 
 he almost always is, by fatigue and rage, is tied by the 
 leg, so as to reach his adversary only with his claws. 
 The savage sport ends with the death of one or other of 
 th«=> combatants, and perhaps of both. For the tortures 
 which, when at Sonoma, we saw inflicted by means of 
 the lasso, we could find something of an excuse in the 
 well-founded pride of the performers; brt we could 
 fancy no palliation for the delight with which the Cali- 
 fornians, on the safe side of an impassable barrier, were 
 
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 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 said to gloat on the dying throes of at least one of two 
 caged brutes. 
 
 The best evidence of the fertility of the soil in the 
 neighbourhood of the village just named, is to be found 
 in the once flourishing condition of the mission of San 
 Gabriel, distant about eight miles. That establishment 
 is said to have possessed, in the palmy days of its pro- 
 sperity, the almost incredible number of eighty thousand 
 cattle, and to have forced at once into the market, on 
 the approach of evil times, nearly fifty thousand head. 
 After making due allowance for exaggeration, the dis- 
 trict must be a splendid one to have yielded pasture for 
 such multitudes, over and above the hundreds of smaller 
 herds belonging to the pueblo. The garden of this 
 mission was justly celebrated for the excellence of its 
 fruits and the flavour of its wine, producing, in the 
 greatest abundance, grapes, oranges, lemons, olives, 
 figs, bananas, plums, peaches, apples, pears, pome- 
 granates, raspberries, strawberries, &c., &c. ; while at 
 the mission of Santa Buenaventura, not far distant, 
 there were, in addition, tobacco, the plantain, the cocoa- 
 nut, the indigo plant, and the sugar-cane. In fact, 
 there is hardly a vegetable or fruit which cannot be 
 produced in California. Such, to give a particular 
 instance, is the bounty of Nature, that, amid the richest 
 profus"' jn of the ordinary elements of soap, she furnishes 
 a ready-made substitute in the bulbous root of a certain 
 plant, called the amole ; and such is the laziness of the 
 inhabitants, that they almost universally use the free 
 gift of mother Earth in spite of its decided inferiority. 
 
 To return to San Gabriel. This mission was founded 
 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 40 J 
 
 under circumstances which, if they do not involve a 
 miracle, serve at least to explain why the Church of 
 Rome is peculiarly successful with ignorant savages. 
 I quote the words of Father Palou, the biographer of 
 Father Junipero Serra. While Father Pedro Canibon 
 and Father Angel Somera were selecting a site for the 
 mission, under the safeguard of ten soldiers, " a mul- 
 titude of Indians, all armed, and headed by two cap- 
 tains, presented themselves, setting up horrid yells, and 
 seeming determined to oppose the establishment of the 
 mission. The fathers, fearing that war would ensue, 
 took out a piece of cloth with the image of our Lady 
 de los Dolores, and held it up to the view of the bar- 
 barians. This was no sooner done than the whole were 
 quiet, being subdued by the sight of this most precious 
 image; and, throwing on the ground their bows and 
 arrows, the two captains came running with great haste 
 to lay the beads which they brought about their necks 
 at the feet of the sovereign queen, as a proof of their 
 entire regard." 
 
 In the neighbourhood of the mission of San Gabriel 
 commences the valley which pours the San Joachin 
 into Freshwater Bay, the receptacle also of the Sacra- 
 mento. This region, by far the finest in the province, 
 is distinguished as the Tulares from the number of bul- 
 rushes, called tide by the natives, to be found in its 
 waters. Though it has hardly been trodden by civi- 
 lized man, yet it is capable of supporting millions of 
 inhabitants. Its lakes and rivers all teem with fish, 
 while most of them afford the means of communicating 
 with the ocean. Its undulating surface is studded with 
 
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 406 
 
 OVEKLAND JOURNEY 
 
 forests, generally free from the encumbrance of under- 
 wood, of cedar, bastard maple, mulberry, ash, poplar, 
 birch, sycamore, beech, plane, yellow and white pine, 
 and mountain, live, and scrub oak. The size of trees 
 in California, as is also the case on the more northerly 
 coast, is occasionally quite incredible. 
 
 One tree is mentioned by Humboldt as being a hun- 
 dred and eighteen feet in girth ; but this is a walking- 
 stick to another tree at Bodega, described to me by 
 Governor Etholine, of Sitka, as being thirty-six Russian 
 fathoms of seven feet each in span, and seventy-five in 
 length ; so that, even if it tapered into a perfect cone, 
 it must have contained nearly twenty-two thousand tons 
 of bark and timber. In addition to more than all the 
 beasts of chace, which have already been enumerated 
 under the head of Sonoma, the magnificent valley of the 
 Tulares contains immense multitudes of wild horses, 
 which are often seen in bands of several thousands each. 
 Enveloped in clouds of dust, these enormous troops in- 
 dicate their approach chiefly by making the ground 
 tremble beneath their tramp ; and, as a proof of the 
 extent of the tumultuary columns, one person has been 
 known, while a band was galloping past him, to lasso 
 and bind five horses in succession. 
 
 Nor are the birds inferior in number and variety to 
 the quadrupeds. In the Tulares there are the eagle, 
 the turkey-buzzard, the falcon, the goshawk, the spar- 
 row-hawk, the large-horned owl, the partridge, the 
 crane, the heron, the goose, the duck, the pelican, the 
 cormorant, the water hen, the humming-bird, the golden- 
 crested wren, the wood pigeon, the plover, the snipe, the 
 
 pill I 
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 In 
 
 1*1 : 
 
ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 407 
 
 goat-sucker, the bee-eater, the woodpecker, the crested 
 quail, and the condor. Though most of these are seen 
 in other portions of the province, yet the condor is said 
 to be rarely observed beyond the limits of this teeming 
 valley, where he has been found measuring twelve feet 
 in breadth between the tips of his wings. The crested 
 quail, which is said to be peculiar to California, is deli- 
 cious eating. It appears in flocks of two or three hun- 
 dred at a time. It is not unlike a small partridge, 
 excepting that it has a beautiful spotted plumage and a 
 tuft of feathers on its head, somewhat resembling a pea- 
 cock's crest. Some of the larger birds are of incalcu- 
 lable utility in devouring the myriads of carcoses, which 
 the farmers are too lazy even to burn, and which, being 
 most numerous in the hottest months of the year, must 
 otherwise generate a pestilence ; and the turkey-buzzard 
 in particular, being so tame as to be knocked down with 
 a stick at the very doors of the houses, is familiarly 
 distinguished as the " Police of California." 
 
 To return to the coast. The last of the five ports, 
 San Diego, is, next to San Francisco, the safest and 
 best harbour in the province, being land-locked, with 
 deep water and a good bottom. The soil of the neigh- 
 bourhood is sandy, while its climate is remarkably dry, 
 two features which, as already stated, admirably fit it 
 for the curing of hides. 
 
 Thus, at its opposite extremities, Upper California 
 possesses two of the best ports on the Pacific Ocean ; 
 while each of them is greatly enhanced in value by the 
 distance of any other harbours worthy of the name, Sun 
 Francisco being nearly a thousand miles from Port Dis- 
 
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 408 
 
 OVliULAND JOUKNEY 
 
 Covery, to tlie north, and Sun Diego being about six 
 huiKlred miles from tlio Bay of Magdaiena, to the south. 
 What a Hplendid country, whether we regard its in- 
 ternal resources or its connnercial capabilities, to be 
 thrown away on its present possessors — on men who do 
 not avail themselves of their natural advantages to n 
 much higher degree than the savages whom they have 
 displaced, and who are likely to become less and less 
 energetic from generation to generation and from year 
 to year ! Sooner will the Ethiopian whiten his skin, 
 than the Californian lay aside his indolence; and in 
 fact, without such a change of pursuits us he has at 
 present no motive for attempting, he can find no em- 
 ployment for industry in the possession of cattle, that 
 need no care, and of horses, that involve no expense. 
 The love of labour must be nursed, as well as acquired, 
 by real or imaginary necessity. If Scotchmen are in- 
 dustrious, they have had to contend with a rugged soil 
 and an ungenial climate ; and if Dutchmen are indus- 
 trious, they have had to pay a rent to nature for their 
 country, in the expense of embanking seas and rivers ; 
 but neither Dutchmen nor Scotchmen could retain their 
 laborious habits, and still less could they communicate 
 them to their children, in California, were it not that 
 they would long continue to consider as necessaries of 
 life many other things besides the daily supply of their 
 physical wants. 
 
 The English race, as I have already hinted, is doubt- 
 less destined to add this fair and fertile province to its 
 possessions on this continent — possessions which, during 
 the last eighty years, have grown with unexampled 
 
 lM, 
 
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ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 409 
 
 rapidity. Previously to the capture of Quebec, English- 
 men were conKned to the comparatively narrow strip of 
 land between the Atlantic and the Alleghanies, being, in 
 effect, surrounded by inveterate foes — by the Spaniards, 
 towards the south, and by the French, towards the north 
 and west. At the peace of 1763, they became undis- 
 puted masters of Florida, the eastern half of Louisiana, 
 and the whole of Canada ; thus reaching, as if by a 
 single leap, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi, and the 
 remotest sources of the St. Lawrence; and, in the first 
 quarter of the present century, the younger branch of 
 the race extended its dominion to the Rocky Mountains, 
 while the elder, carrying its commerce across this for- 
 midable barrier, occ pied with its trading posts a country 
 of a thousand miles in length, as far as the shores of 
 the Pacific Ocean. In this state of things, the south 
 alone remained to its ancient possessors ; and, as Texas 
 has been wrested from Mexico on the one side of the 
 continent, so will California be speedily lost to her on 
 the other ; either province, too, being only the first step 
 in a march, of which the rate of progress appears to be 
 merely a question of time. 
 
 The only doubt is, whether California is to fall to the 
 British or to the Americans. The latter, whether one 
 looks at their seizure of Texas or at their pretensions to 
 the Oregon, have clearly the advantage in an unscrupu- 
 lous choice of weapons, being altogether too ready to 
 forget that the fulfilment of even the most palpable de- 
 crees of Providence will not justify in man the employ- 
 ment of unrighteous means. But, though England 
 cannot afford to acquire additional territory by such 
 
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 410 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 measures as would shake that reputation for integrity 
 on which her empire is founded, yet she has one road 
 open to her by which she may bring California under 
 her sway, without either force or fraud, without either 
 the violence of marauders, or the effrontery of diplo- 
 matists. 
 
 Mexico owes to British subjects a public debt of more 
 than fifty millions of dollars, which, though never form- 
 ally repudiated by her, is a burden far too heavy for 
 her to bear. By assuming a share of this debt, on con- 
 sideration of being put in possession of California, Eng- 
 land would at once relieve the republic and benefit 
 the creditors, while the Californians themselves would 
 eagerly prefer this course to the only other possible 
 alternative of seeing their country follow in the wake of 
 Texas. 
 
 In fact, under the treaty of 1790, which has been 
 already cited, England is even now entitled to colonize 
 a considerable portion of the upper province. As Ame- 
 rica has renounced every thing that lies below the 
 parallel of forty-two degrees, England and Mexico, as 
 the successor of Spain, are regulated in their reciprocal 
 relations to the southward by the stipulations of the 
 international compact aforesaid ; so that England, with- 
 out being questioned by any one, may immediately oc- 
 cupy the coast from the forty-second parallel of latitude 
 down to the due range of the settlement of San Fran 
 Cisco. 
 
 Now, the due range of a settlement varies in direction 
 according to itsjposition. If unconnected, like Mon- 
 terey, with the interior, a settlement must be presumed 
 
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 iHiV'' 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 411 
 
 to be likely to spread along the coast ; while, if situated, 
 like San Francisco, at the outlet of many navigable 
 waters, it will, in all probability, creep along the shores 
 of its lakes and rivers. Neither on principle, therefore, 
 nor in fact, does San Francisco extend many miles to the 
 northward of the mouth of its harbour ; so that, to take 
 an instance, England may to-morrow justifiably occupy 
 the valley of Santa Rosa, which opens into Bodega Bay. 
 To return to my narrative, which left us on the 27th 
 of the month. Making our way from Santa Barbara to 
 the southward, we soon lest sight of California and its 
 adjacent islands, while a fine breeze from the north- 
 west carried us in three or four days into the region of 
 the north-east trades. 
 
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 41!2 
 
 OVERLAND JOUKNEY 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 VOYAGE TO HONOLULU, &C. 
 
 Course and distance — Appropriate name of Pacific Ocean — Gradual 
 increase of temperature — Bottle-nosed porpoise and flying fish — Alba- 
 tros and tropic bird — Amphibious voyage, its literary advantages — 
 Volcanic mountains of Hawaii — Early discovery of Sandwich Islands by 
 Spaniards — Cook's discovery accidental — Mutual relations of the islands 
 of the group — Volcanic origin of group — Volcanic agency, its general 
 direction — Lahaina, residence of king — Communication between ialands 
 in days of barbarism — Peopling of Polynesia — Brig Joseph Peabody — 
 Ruggedness of Woahoo — First impression of torrid zone — Distant view 
 of Honolulu — Harbour, its discovery — English pilots— Coral reefs — 
 Every thing to remind us of England, contrast between us and early 
 navigators — Harbour, general description — Towing through channel — 
 Governor Kckuanaoa and others — Our residence— Honolulu, population 
 and buildings, climate, &c. — Valley of Nuannau, scene of important 
 battle. 
 
 Oiii" course from Santa Barbara had been so nearly 
 due south, that, on catching the trades in about latitude 
 27", we were only in about longitude 1 1 8°, rather to 
 the east than otherwise of the meridian of our point of 
 departure ; and as between our present position and the 
 port of Honolulu the difference of latitude was barely 
 six degrees, while the difference of longitude amounted 
 to forty, we now steered west-south-west, under all our 
 canvass, on a voyage of fully two thousand three hundred 
 miles. This immense distance we accomplished pretty 
 much in the line of the crow's flight ; for, during the 
 
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ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 41.5 
 
 ^ 
 
 twelve days of our run, our breeze, though it ranged 
 from north-east to east-south-east, was yet uniformly 
 fair; and so equable was the weather, that we never 
 took in either studding-sail or sky-sail during the whole 
 of our course. The only thing that broke that monotony 
 of progress, which becomes almost tiresome in the swift- 
 est steam-ship, was the circumstance that our rate of 
 sailing varied from six to eleven knots an hour. 
 
 If it was under similar circumstances, as is said to 
 have been the case, that Magellan, the first European 
 that traversed this ocean, and probably the first navi- 
 gator that spanned it at a stretch, made his way from 
 South America to the Philippines, he could not possibly 
 have bestowed on it, so far as his own knowledge went, 
 a name at once so appropriate and so expressive as that 
 of the Pacific. Nor did his individual experience differ 
 from the general fact. Excepting in its more northerly 
 and more southerly latitudes, this boundless sea, em- 
 bracing, as it does, as much of the equator as all the 
 rest of the world put together, is ordinarily so calm, 
 that open boats may cross it with safety ; and, in fact, 
 its least sheltered portion, lying between the Polynesian 
 Islands and Spanish America, and almost equalling the 
 breadth of the Atlantic, has actually been so traversed. 
 Captain Hinckley, whom we met at San Francisco, 
 having carried a number of horses, — rather ugly cus- 
 tomers, by the by, for the occasion, — in an undecked 
 vessel from California to Woahoo. It is doubtless this 
 characteristic tranquillity of the Pacific Ocean which 
 has been the means, under Providence, of peopling 
 almost every islet that floats on its bosom, — a fact 
 
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 414 
 
 OVERLA>'T> JOURNEY 
 
 which appears to be in itself truly remarkable, with- 
 out reference to the times and modes of its gradual 
 accomplishment. 
 
 As we edged away towards the south, the heat became 
 more oppressive from day to day. The skies were 
 usually a little overcast, coming down upon us now and 
 then with a flying shower ; so that, even when our breeze 
 was at its freshest, the air felt close and sultry. In the 
 very draft that ventilated the cabin, the thermometer 
 ranged from 70° to 74° of Fahrenheit, seldom showing 
 a difference of more than one degree between day and 
 night. 
 
 Of the finny creatures we saw very few ; not a whale, 
 not a shark, not a dolphin, — the bottle-nosed porpoise 
 and the flying fish alone showing themselves. The liver 
 of the former is said to be very good eating, and the 
 latter to be a delicacy, excepting that it partakes of the 
 dryness and insipidity of the deep-sea tribes. All this, 
 however, we were obliged to take on trust, for we 
 caught neither the one species nor the other ; nor wouM 
 the flying fish, while It whisked through the air perhaps 
 a furlong at a time, condescend to heighten our amuse- 
 ment by falling exhausted on our deck. 
 
 Among the tenants of air, we had no companions save 
 the albatros and the tropic bird. The latter is the most 
 elegant creature of these regions : it is beautifully white, 
 with a dash of pink; and, as it generally soars high 
 in the heavens, it looks almost transparent in the sun- 
 shine, glittering like a speck of silver, or a flake of 
 snow. The albatros, again, is of various colours, brown, 
 gray, and speckled, the largest measuring eight or nine 
 
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ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 415 
 
 feet between the tips of the wings; though, in the 
 Southern Pacific, it is sometimes found broader by half, 
 and as white as snow. When skimming the surface of 
 the water with expanded pinions, it surpasses the swan 
 in gracefulness ; but on the deck of a vessel it is a mere 
 waddler, besides that it becomes sea-sick, and pumps up 
 a most unromantic cascade of yellow oil. Bat this 
 curious bird would not come to our relief any more than 
 the flying fish; and, in fact, excepting within ten 
 degrees of Cape Horn, where it has keen air and short 
 commons, it is too dainty to be hooked by means of a 
 bait. 
 
 In such a state of affairs, books were our best aux- 
 iliaries in the grand business of killing time ; and, 
 during these my wanderings, I have often felt that an 
 amphibious voyage possesses this singular advantage, 
 that the leisure of the water, besides being itself be- 
 guiled by the task, prepares one, by means of reading, 
 to profit by what one may see and hear on the land. 
 
 On the evening of the 9th of February, we felt 
 tolerably certain that the next day's sun would find us 
 within the visual range of Hawaii ; though, as nothing 
 but the clearest atmosphere could serve our purpose, we 
 were rather likely than otherwise to be prevented from 
 actually seeing it. In the morning, however, this last 
 anticipation was agreeably disappointed. At a distance 
 of a hundred and ten miles, we descried the snowy 
 summit of Mouna Kea, the nearer as well as the loftier 
 of the two volcanic mountains, which, with the table- 
 land between them, occupy the entire centre of the 
 island. Its height is variously estimated from about 
 
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416 
 
 OVKRLAND JOURNEY 
 
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 fourteen thousand to about sixteen thousand feet, — a 
 calculation which, independently of other modes of 
 measurement, tallies pretty accurately with the fact, 
 that it has been distinctly seen from positions more 
 remote than our own by a score of miles ; so that, in 
 the extent of visible horizon, Mouna Kea falls very little 
 short of the stupendous St. Elias, on the north-west 
 coast, which Vancouver continued to see in his wake, 
 still *' like a lofty mountain," at a distance of fifty nau- 
 tical leagues. For several hours, we discovered no other 
 symptom of land than Mouna Kea, swelling, as if a 
 solitary iceberg in breadth and height, out of the blue 
 ocean : not a single winged messenger came to salute 
 us ; and our only companions on the borders of this 
 archipelago were the albatrosses and tropic birds that 
 had followed us all the way from California. 
 
 Mouna Loa, the more distant of the two central 
 mountains of Hawaii, is very little inferior in height to 
 Mouna Kea, being, according to most calculations on 
 the subject, more than thirteen thousand feet above the 
 level of the sea. Its visible horizon, therefore, must 
 have reached, if it did not overleap, the track of the 
 galleons running before the trade-wind from Acapulco 
 to Manilla ; and the chances of its being seen by the 
 Spaniards in early times were considerably increased, if 
 the crater on its summit, as was most probably the case, 
 was then in a state of activity. Even if there were no 
 direct evidence of the discovery, the contrary suppo- 
 sition would be all but incredible ; for the mere silence 
 of a jealous ptji- with respect to islands, which, though 
 useless to Spair . ^'ght yet have furnished an impreg- 
 
 i .1' 
 
KOUND THE \YOUI.D. 
 
 417 
 
 nable shelter to the plunderers of her coinmerco, would 
 not have even a negative bearing on the fact. To give 
 an analogous example, Xuotka Sound had, in all pioba- 
 bility, been known to the Spaniards before it was dis- 
 covered by Cook; and it was perhajis the same nervous 
 dislike of publicity that enabled Aniericus Vespucius, as 
 the first person who detailed the wonders of the new 
 world to the old, to usur^ .* it would have been 
 Columbus's I'ichest reward. 
 
 But there is ample proof of a general description, that 
 the Sandwich Islands h;id bocMi .seen, and visited too, by 
 the Spaniards in the sixteenth century, or, at the latest, 
 in the seventeenth. Among the-natives there have been 
 found to exist traditions of the occasional appearance 
 among tliem of a race different from their own, too 
 numerous and too circumstantial to bo explained by 
 any thing but their essential truth ; and perhiips such 
 traditions carry more of verisimilitude in them on this 
 account, that they almost exclusively refer to Haw^aii, 
 the very island which, as being at once the largest and 
 the loftiest and the most southerly of the group, was 
 the most likely to attract the notice of the Spaniards. 
 Again, the Spanish charts, however carefully they were 
 kept out of the hands of the enemy, contained still 
 more positive, if not more interesting, proof of the hypo- 
 thesis ; one chart in particular, which was found by 
 Anson on board of his great prize, having been the 
 means of revealing for the first time to the world at 
 large a cluster of islands in the latitude; and, con- 
 sidering the instruments and the science of the times, 
 pretty correctly in the longitude of the Hawaiian 
 
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 418 
 
 OVERLAND JOUUNKY 
 
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 group ; and of this cluster, by the by, one island was 
 distinguished as La Mesa, or The Table, the most natu- 
 ral and appropriate of all names for the truncated sum- 
 mit of Mouna Loa, the first, uiid for hours the only, 
 landmark to a vessel approaching from the south. 
 Moreover, besides such charts and traditions, circum- 
 stances, more conclusive in their nature so far as their 
 number goes, confirm the same view. The helmets and 
 cloaks of the natives resemble these of the Spaniards ; 
 their military tactics, as compared with those of the 
 other savages of Polynesia, bear the impress of civilized 
 instruction ; and perhaps in the Hawaiian languf> a 
 careful investigation might detect many worus of 
 Spanish origin. 
 
 Though Cook must have been acquainted with Anson's 
 chart, yet he would appear to have discovered the Sand- 
 wich Islands, without reference to its information. As 
 the error in the longitude, on the part of the Spaniards, 
 which has been already mentioned, placed the group 
 considerably too far to the east, our celebrated navigator, 
 if he had been looking for La Mesa, would have kept so 
 much to the windward of Hawaii as most probably not 
 to be within the visual range of either of its landmarks, 
 while, in reality, he had bent his course so far to tlie 
 west, that he barely descried the island which terminates, 
 in that direction, a group occupying nearly three degrees 
 and a half of latitude, and fully five degrees and a half 
 of longitude. 
 
 In fact, though neither Cook nor the Spaniards had 
 discovered the archipelago, some vessel or other must 
 soon have stumbled on it. Each of the four principal 
 
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 'I 1 ;) 
 
 islands, Hawaii, Moweo, Woalioo, Kauai, pieseiits points 
 high enough to prevent any seaman from passing in clear 
 weather between any two without seeing at least one of 
 them; so that, generally speaking, the group, as a 
 whole, was as little likely to remain hid as an ordinarily 
 level country of the size of Great Britain would have 
 been to remain so in the same neighbourhood. 
 
 Next morning, the 11th of the month, gave us a full 
 view of Mowee, with its rugged hills of about eleven 
 thousand feet in height, this island ranking next to 
 Hawaii as well in elevation as in extent and position, — 
 a remark which may also be applied to Woahoo with 
 respect to Mowee, and to Kauai with respect to Woahoo. 
 In fact, the whole group appears to have been thrown 
 up from the deep by volcanic action, advancing from 
 the north-west to the south-east, and increasing in force 
 as it advanced ; so that, while island rose after island, 
 each grew at once in height and in breadth according 
 to the intensity of the power that heaved it upwards 
 from the waters. Thus, Bird Island, a barren rock taking 
 its name from its only inhabitants, and lying about as 
 far to the north-west of Kauai as Kauai lies of Woahoo, 
 must be considered as the germ of the archipelago, — as 
 the first fruits of a submarine energy that was here only 
 kindling its fires ; while the other main links in the 
 chain, Kauai, Woahoo, Mowee, and Hawaii, not only 
 differ, as I have just mentioned, at once in extent and 
 in elevation, but also present as they proceed less and 
 less evidence of antiquity in their gradually diminishing 
 proportions of land capable of cultivation, — a proof the 
 more conclusive, inasmuch as the soil of the whole group 
 
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 ifti 
 
 
 420 
 
 OVKRLAM) JOLHNIY 
 
 iindoniahly consists of the successive ;iifts of years, aii<I 
 nijes, and centuries. IMoroovor, the vlsihle laboratories 
 of the Huhterrnnenn fire, which are scattered over the 
 nrchi|)ehiL>o, confirm the same view; the craters are all 
 extinct, excejjting' on Hawaii ; and even on Hawaii, 
 Afonna Loa, the most south-easterly of its three ^reat 
 safety-valves, alone bears living testimony to the crea- 
 tive impulse that has called the whole chain into exist- 
 ence, and bears it, too, only throu!>h its lateral volcano 
 of Kilauea, which, besides itself lookinf;^ to the east, 
 appears, by the <^ra<lual advance of subsidiary outlets 
 down its eastern declivities, to be rolling' the hidden 
 sources of its ptrcnL>th, — peradventure there to forge 
 fresh islands, — under the bed of the ocean. But in 
 whatever order or at whatever times the Sandwich Is- 
 lands came into beinif, they must in all probability have 
 sprung from the ocean. Coral and shells are said to 
 have been found on f^ome of the mountains of Kauai ; 
 and the whole group is known, from a careful compa- 
 rison of minute changes in different localities, to be 
 slowly but surely continuing to rise, — to be still, as it 
 were, in the throes of creation. 
 
 It is a curious coincidence, which it would be unphi- 
 losophical to ascribe to cbance, that the direction of 
 volcanic agency, as just described, has, generally speak- 
 ing, been one and the same in this archipelago and on 
 the neighbouring continent. The general line of the 
 western shore of America from Behring's Straits to the 
 equator is as nearly as possible parallel with the chain 
 of the Sandwich Islands, — the opposite coast of Asia, 
 by the by, running with a similar inclination to the 
 
 hV^\ 
 
 ril 
 
 'I 
 
ROUND TIIE WORLD. 
 
 421 
 
 ars, and 
 )ratorH^s 
 over tlio 
 s are all 
 Hawaii, 
 ee great 
 ;lic erea- 
 to exist- 
 [ volcano 
 ;lie cast, 
 : outlets 
 3 hidden 
 to forge 
 But in 
 Iwicli Is- 
 ility have 
 e said to 
 f Kauai ; 
 [I coinpa- 
 ?s, to be 
 still, as it 
 
 )e unphi- 
 ection of 
 y speak- 
 and on 
 ne of the 
 ts to the 
 the chain 
 t of Asia, 
 m to the 
 
 southern extremity of Malacca, so as to coniplcto an 
 isosceles triangle with half the circumference of the 
 earth as its hase ; and on the said western shore of 
 America, volcanic agency appears to have travelled from 
 the north-west to the south-east; for Mount K(lgocinnl)e, 
 in the neighbourhood of Sitka, and Saddle Hill, near 
 the mouth of the Columbia, have exhausted themselves, 
 and the craters of California are diminishing in activity, 
 while the more southerly Hres continue to blaze us 
 fiercely as ever. 
 
 In corroboration, or at least in illustration, of the 
 last two paragraphs may he cited other physical jihe- 
 nomena from the history of the Sandwich Islands. In- 
 undations of the sea, as if the water periodically strug- 
 gled to recover the land annually escaping from its 
 grasp, have often flooded the lower shores of the gionj), 
 flowiu"- and ebbinij with a force that seemed to coneon- 
 trate into a few minutes the tides of a week ; an<l on 
 one of these occasions, which caused a heavy loss of 
 property and life, the great volcano of Kilauea, — for 
 great it confessedly is, M'ith whatever other volcano on 
 the earth's surface it may be compared, — palpably ex- 
 hibited a sympathy with the ocean in a fiery inundation 
 of more than ordinary magnitude. Now the very last 
 instance of the kind happened just about nine months 
 before our arrival ; and we afterwards ascertained that 
 an abaost simultaneous flood had assailed the shores of 
 Kamschatka, a country whose southern extremity is 
 situated in a line with the general direction of the 
 Hawaiian archipelago and its volcanic agency. Here 
 again it would be by no means philosophical to consider 
 the coincidence as fortuitous. 
 
 
 u 
 
 
 'I 
 
 
 F. 
 
 iF 
 
 •■; 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 K 
 
 

 1 1 
 
 I 
 
 I ! 
 
 |i;^ 
 
 49'? 
 
 OVKRI.ANI) JOURNEY 
 
 To return to Mowee : I^lmina, on tlie leeward side of 
 its western extremity, has boon for a consideralde tiino 
 the residence of the kinjf. In the days of Cook, as all 
 the world knows, each island, or at least each of the 
 four principal islands with its adjacent islets, had its own 
 kin«(, who would appear, however, rather to have been 
 the lord paramount of the chiefs than the immediate 
 sovereign of the people. After a lapse of thirteen years, 
 Vancouver found the political condition of the archi- 
 I)elngo to be pretty nearly the same, excepting that the 
 king of Hawaii was obviously on the point of becoming 
 the master of the whole group. His island was about 
 twice as extensive and perhaps also twice as populous as 
 all the other islands, large and small, put together: 
 he had the whole force of his little monarchy at his 
 disposal, for he held Hawaii at once by inheritance 
 and by conquest, having vanquished and slain in self- 
 defence the rightful occupant of the throne, whose heir 
 he was, and having subsequently crushed the rebellions 
 of various chiefs who envied his elevation, — and though 
 last, not least, he had earned the sympathy and assist- 
 ance of foreigners by the humanity and integrity, which, 
 in spite of the example of the other kings, and of the 
 suggestions of his own chiefs, he had uniformly dis- 
 played in his intercourse with them. 
 
 Accordingly, in 1795, the very year after Vancouver's 
 final departure, Kamehameha acquired by force of arms 
 permanent possession of Mowee and Woahoo, while he 
 soon after received the voluntary submissions of his royal 
 brother of Kauai. But Hawaii, as has often happened 
 elsewhere, gradually became a dependency of its own 
 
 
HOUND TlIK WORLD. 
 
 49.'J 
 
 conquests. Its victorious chief roniovod tlio seat of 
 government to Honolulu in VVoahoo, which, on account 
 of the superiority of its harbour, was the favourite re- 
 sort of forei<?n vessels ; and, thou^di he did pass the last 
 few years of his life in his native island, yet neither 
 of his successors has imitated this his later example. 
 Honolulu was indeed speedily found to hv. too trou- 
 blesome a home for youths, who, being destitute of 
 their father's commanding character, wi^ihed to escape 
 from the importunities and assusiiptioiis of white resi- 
 dents and white visitors ; and, at lust, Lai; .ina vvas 
 selected as the ordinary abode of IlawaiiT. iuojesty, 
 affording perhaps the most central pc ition in the arc' i- 
 pelago, with Mowee and Hawaii to tlie e !st, and Woahoo 
 and Kauai to the west. 
 
 As we proceeded on our voyage, we had in sight, at 
 one and the same time, the four islands of Mowee, 
 Lanai, Molokoi, and Woahoo, the fir 4 three on our left, 
 and the last on our right. We were, in fact, now sail- 
 ing along one of the eight seas, as the native ditties 
 designate the channels of various width, which separate 
 the islands from each other, — a form of expression which, 
 even if it stood alone, ■^'ouii indicate not merely that 
 the islanders knew the extent of their secluded group, 
 but also that they were habitually impressed with a 
 sense of common ra ionality. In the case of this archi- 
 pelago, mutual communication was doubtless facilitated 
 by the circumstance that the north-east trades, falling 
 pretty nearly at right angles to the general direction of 
 the group, seldom presented to the voyager the obstacle 
 of a head-wind, whether he was running to the north-west 
 
 
 u 
 
 h 
 
 h 
 
(\l 
 
 fl 
 
 > 
 
 t " ; 
 
 45 t 
 
 OVKRLANl) JOl'UNKY 
 
 i.h^ 
 
 hi 
 
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 M ! 
 
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 m 
 
 ,11 
 
 1^1^ 
 
 K 
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 • ■ I! 
 
 or to the south-east ; and even in the case of such other 
 archipelagoes of the Pacific as possessed not the same 
 advantage, mutual communication between island and 
 island seems to have been maintained, if not with equal 
 ease, at least to such an extent as evinced considerable 
 skill and boldness in navigation. 
 
 In all probability, the gregarious disposition, if one 
 may so speak, of the Polynesian Isles has been an in- 
 strument in the hands of Providence for the peopling 
 of this vast ocean. Besides rendering the natives all 
 but amphibious, it multiplied, to an infinite degree, the 
 chances of their being involuntarily carried to neigh- 
 bouring clusters, and that, too, while transporting from 
 one island to another the fruits and the animals of their 
 original homes. Whether Polynesia, as a Avhole, has 
 derived the germs of its population from Asia or from 
 .\merica, its parts are demonstrably proved by points of 
 identity, which may hereafter be noticed, to have been 
 colonized from each other by successive families of one 
 and the same race — families which must often have 
 accomplished voyages fully as long as the voyage of 
 Columbus from the Azores to the Bahamas. As an 
 instance of this, the Sandwich Islands, according to the 
 traditionary belief of the inhabitants, were peopled from 
 Tahiti, distant from the most southerly extremity of 
 Hawaii upwards of thirty-six degrees of latitude ; and, 
 whether this traditionary belief be correct or incorrect, 
 the rude minstrelsy of the group, certaiidy more ancient 
 than the visits of civilized navigators, makes household 
 Avords, not merely of Tahiti, but also of Nuliahira of 
 the Marquesas, as well as of the names of other islands 
 of other groups. 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 hi 
 
 n 
 
ROUND TIIK WORLD. 
 
 45") 
 
 lira of 
 
 But the mere accomplishment of lon^ voyages was 
 not the most wonderful feature in the grand scheme of 
 colonizing the Polynesian Isles. Their successful re- 
 sult, as I have already hinted in a former passage, ap- 
 pears to be far more wonderful. When we consider 
 liow many civilized mariners, with all the light of science 
 and experience to guide them, traversed the length and 
 breadth of the Pacific before each of the now known 
 groups was revealed to the world — when, for instance, 
 we reflect that one section of the Marquesas was visited 
 in 1.595, and the other, sometimes distinguished as the 
 Washington Islands, only in 1791 — how marvellous, or 
 rather how miraculous, that ignorant savages, with 
 their frail and tiny barks, should have so uniformly 
 reached the same goals, forestalling, as it were, those 
 honours Avhich are deemed worthy of being a bone of 
 contention between the rival navigators and rival na- 
 tions of modern times ! Either the primeval adven- 
 turers must have possessed a secret, which is now lost, 
 for discerning some symptoms or other of distant land, 
 or they must often have perished miserably in their 
 blind pursuit of unknown shores, or, what is far more 
 probable than either supposition, they must have been 
 led by a special Providence to their respective havens 
 through means as unerring, though not so palpable, as 
 a pillar of cloud or of fire. 
 
 To give a definite form to this last hypothesis, might 
 not birds, while retracing their flight to clusters pre- 
 viously visited, have lent the pilotage of their own mys- 
 terious instinct across the trackless wjiste of waters ? 
 
 In the channel between Molokoi and Woahoo, we 
 
{ * 
 
 lli. 
 
 426 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 ii 1 
 
 'I ' ! 
 
 iH'i ' 
 
 were joined by the American brig, Joseph Peabody, 
 bound for Honolulu from Mazatlan — a vessel which, 
 ' carrying on trade between Mexico and the Sandwich 
 Islands, brought under our notice one instance more of 
 the ubiquity of the English race in the very ocean which 
 was once closed against it as an inland lake of the 
 Spanish Indies. In company with this ship, we passed 
 the south-eastern point of Woahoo, forming, of course, 
 the boundary between the windward and the leeward 
 coasts of the island. 
 
 In our present position, Woahoo bore a remarkably 
 sterile and rugged aspect, exhibiting, at least to our 
 comparatively distant view, nothing but desolate rocks, 
 which varied in form, and in form only, between the 
 truncated crater and the towering peak — the sandal- 
 wood, which once clothed them, having been literally 
 extirpated. Of the craters, the most perfect and con- 
 spicuous was the headland, which bounded our prospect 
 of the coast towards the west. It was distinguished by 
 the natives as Leahi, which was merely translated into 
 Diamond Hill, from a notion that it contained, or had 
 once contained, precious stones. On rounding this cape, 
 we saw immediately before us a belt of level ground, 
 washed in front by the sea, and skirted in rear by the 
 continuation of the mountains, of which, however, the 
 lower slopes partook, in some measure, of the verdure 
 of the plain below. This belt appeared to extend as 
 far as the eye could reach, and was studded with 
 clumps and groves of trees, among which the tall and 
 straight stem of the cocoa-nut could not be mistaken ; 
 and this noble palm, to me the first peculiar symptom 
 
 i 
 
 w' 
 
ROUND Tllli WORLD. 
 
 427 
 
 of a tropical climate, electrified me, as it were, with 
 the consciousness of having now entered a new world, 
 of being now surrounded by a hitherto unknown crea- 
 tion. At its nearer extremity, just within the promon- 
 tory, lay the village of Waikiki, while, at a distance of 
 about six miles, the town of Honolulu presented a 
 strange admixture of the savage and the civilized, 
 stacks of warehouses rising amid straw-huts, and the 
 whitewashed Mariners' Chapel, with its stunted tower, 
 overtopped by still remaining specimens of primeval 
 vegetation. 
 
 Wuikiki Bay used to be a favourite place of resort 
 among the earlier voyagers, possessing the only essential 
 requisites for a port of refuge and refreshment ; shelter 
 from the trade-winds ; a beach that would afford a 
 landing ; and ground that would hold an anchor. In 
 1794, however, Waikiki Bay was supplanted, in com- 
 mon with most of the frequented anchorages in the 
 group, though, of course, more completely than any of 
 the others, by the dock-like harbour of Honolulu, 
 which was, in that year, entered and surveyed by an 
 English skipper of the name of Brown ; so that, so far 
 as the right of discovery went, not only the whole 
 group, but also its most valuable part, had fallen to the 
 lot of our country. Within a few months, Brown met 
 the same fate as Cook, without having, like his more 
 distinguished predecessor, done anything to provoke it, 
 being murdered, for the sake of booty, by the savage 
 tenants of the very spot which he had fitted to be, not 
 only the metropolis of Polynesia, but also the empo- 
 rium of the Pacific. Happily, Brown's death was the 
 
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 m 
 
< I ! fl 
 
 ni! 
 
 
 S{ 
 
 I"',/' 
 
 ■l ^p 
 
 
 p '• 
 
 
 ■'4 
 
 I i;. 
 
 'm 
 
 I I 
 
 f 
 
 498 
 
 OVl'.RLAND JOrjRNKY 
 
 last act of bloodthirsty treachery that disgraced the 
 shores of Woahoo, for, in 17Po, the very year in which 
 our countryman fell, Kamehameha, the friend of tlie 
 whites, became, as I have already mentioned, the un- 
 disputed lord of the'island. 
 
 On coming in sight of Honolulu, we had made signals 
 for a pilot by hoisting our colours and firing two guns, 
 our companion having done the same ; and very shortly 
 two came off to us, Reynolds, an American, boarding 
 the Joseph Peabody, and "Old Adams," an English 
 tar who has lived on the islands these thirty or forty 
 years, and appears to have been appointed to his post 
 by a British man-of-war, taking the Cowlitz under his 
 charge. " Old Adan.s," who knows his work well, is 
 very tenacious of his official dignity ; and we were told 
 that, when he was last autumn piloting the Vincennes, 
 he flared up at some interference or other on the part of 
 Commodore Wilkes, called his boat alongside, and left 
 the vessel and her commander's superior judgment to 
 boot, in the lurch. 
 
 The harbour, which is capable of containing about 
 forty vessels, appears to owe its existence to the pecu- 
 liar habits of the lithophyte. The coral reefs, such as 
 generally gird the Polynesian Islands, though they are 
 less coJitinuous in this group than elsewhere, form a 
 natural breakwater, while a gap in the work of the 
 submarine architects is wide enough for the passage of 
 ships without being so wide as materially to diminish 
 the amonnt and value of the shelter. Generally, though, 
 as Sir Edward Belcher has shown, not universally, such 
 openings are to be found only on the leeward sides of 
 
 ill' 
 
 ^li 
 
 I 
 
 ,1 
 
-m., ., ^ . — ^-. . *- 
 
 ROLND THE WOULD. 
 
 429 
 
 the islands, while their precise position on the same is 
 said to be coinmoidy, if not exelnsively, opposite to the 
 inoutlis of streams, the tenii)oratiirc of the fiesh water 
 being supposed to be too low for the taste and health 
 of the little builders. With both these conditions, the 
 harbour of Honolulu Uterally complies. To say no- 
 thini;: of its hcuvy; on the southerly coast of the island, 
 it receives a brook that has just escaped from the almost 
 frigid atmosphere of the mountains, formed, as it is, 
 from the numberless cascades which rush down the 
 sides of the valley of Nuannau, or Great Cold, in tlie 
 very rear of the town. Whether or not the proximity 
 of cold water satisfactorily explains the i)henomenon in 
 question, the antipathy of the insect to that element 
 seems to be a matter of fact beyond denial or doubt. 
 It is almost entirely within thirty degrees of latitude 
 on either side of the equator, within the range, in fact, 
 of the trade-winds, that the labours of the lithophyte 
 abound ; while, even within such assigned limits, they 
 are far more widely spread in the Asiatic section of the 
 ocean, on which the current flows from the south, than 
 on its American section, on which the current comes 
 down from the arctic se:.s. 
 
 As the entrance of the basin is too intricate to be 
 attempted with anything but a fair wind, we were re- 
 luctantly obliged to wait for the sea-breeze, which 
 generally blows in the morning, from a little before 
 sunrise to about nine o'clock ; and we accordingly an- 
 chored for the night in the outer roads, where we weie 
 soon visited by Mr. Pelly, the Hudson's Bay Company's 
 agent in the archipelago, and Mr. Allan, an officer in (iur 
 
. 1 
 
 if 
 
 
 I'"'! 
 
 it- 
 
 :i :-v 
 
 IM 
 
 
 
 I( ill! 
 
 i" 
 
 i I 
 
 
 ll^^i 
 
 
 430 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 regular service. We had met pilots who spoke our 
 language as their vernacular tongue ; we now enjoyed 
 the society of English visitors ; and, as if still further 
 to remind us of home, and also to make amends for our 
 not landing at once, we were favoured by Captain 
 Dominis, of the American brig, which was in company, 
 with several English and American newspapers, bringing 
 intelligence down to the 9th of December. These 
 journals were an inestimable treat to wanderers, who 
 had received no tidings from the civilized world of more 
 recent date than April ; and we heard, with much in- 
 terest, of the burning of the tower of London, of the 
 accession of the Conservatives to power, of the birth of 
 the Prince of Wales, and of a thousand topics more, of 
 which even the least important yielded a peculiar 
 pleasure, which "gentlemen of England, who live at 
 home at ease," can never appreciate, when communi- 
 cated to us in our own idiom, at the distance of nearly 
 half the globe from our native land. 
 
 What a contrast between our own times and the days 
 of the discoverers of this group ! " Whilst we were at 
 dinner," says Captain King, the friend and companion 
 of Cook, " in this miserable hut, on the banks of the 
 River Awatska, the guests of a people with whose ex- 
 istence we had before been scarce acquainted, and at 
 the extremity of the habitable globe, a solitary, half- 
 worn pewter spoon, whose shape was familiar to us, 
 attracted our attention ; and, on examination, we found 
 it stamped on the back with the word London. I cannot 
 pass over this circumstance in silence, out of gratitude 
 for the many pleasant thoughts, the anxious hopes, and 
 
ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 4;51 
 
 tender remembrances it excited in us. Those who have 
 experienced the effects that long absence and extreme 
 distance from their native country produce on the mind, 
 will readily conceive the pleasure such a trifling incident 
 can give." But the personal contrast, if I may presume 
 so to speak, between us and our celebrated navigator 
 himself was still more striking. We had just anchored 
 in front of a large and flourishing town, into which the 
 enterprise of the English race had attracted upwards of 
 eight thousand comparatively civilized natives ; and, on 
 the self-same day, the 11th of February, in the year 
 ] 779, did Cook return to Kalaikeakua Bay, after what 
 had appeared to be his final departure, to seal, ere half 
 a week should have elapsed, his discovery with his 
 blood ! 
 
 On the morning of the 12th, we were all stirring 
 betimes. While the vessel was preparing to enter the 
 harbour before a fair wind, we took a more careful look 
 of the town, observing in particular a fort well provided, 
 to all appearance, with guns, and admirably situated 
 for commanding the narrow and intricate passage ; and, 
 in the event of hostilities, we could not help thinking 
 that even the most formidable visitor would be wise, 
 while on the safe side of the reef, to begin by smashing 
 so ugly a customer into silence. But the harbour is 
 said to have worse enemies to dread than shot and shells. 
 In consequence of the gradual rising of the islands, to 
 which I have already alluded, the opening in the reef is 
 supposed to be diminishing in depth, a difference of three 
 feet having been actually observed and ascertained about 
 fifteen or sixteen years after Brown's exploration ; while 
 
 ; ll: 
 
 il 
 
•A 
 
 iii'2 
 
 OVKRLAND JOrRiXKY 
 
 fl 
 
 ■f . :t, 
 
 < I 
 
 1 i- 
 
 ■> 
 
 
 «1 
 
 the very brook, to which, in all probability, the gap in 
 the lithophyto's labour is owin^r, is generally believed to 
 be, to a certain extent, neutralizing its own work by 
 washing down mud to elevate the bottom of the basin. 
 To ])rovide against the possible results of such causes, 
 the basin might easily be dredged, and the reef might, 
 by some means or other, be cut to a sufficient depth ; 
 and at all events there has been found, at a distance of 
 a few miles to the westward, a harbour equal to that of 
 Iloiiolulu, though its shores are by no means so well 
 fitted to be the site of a town. It seems hardly worth 
 while to mention another candidate for future honours 
 in a convenient basin with a beautiful country round it, 
 situated on tlio windward side of Woahoo ; for its reef, 
 V Idch has only nine or ten feet of water on the opening, 
 would require far more cutting at the very outset, than 
 tliat of Honolulu would require for ages yet to come. 
 
 On entering the channel, whose breadth did not exceed 
 twice the length of the Cowlitz, we could almost ha ■ 
 touched with an oar a crowd of natives who were elbow- 
 ing each other on the reef up to their middles in water, 
 all the while jabbering, and shouting, and bellowing, in 
 their outlandish tongue, which, by reason of the nume- 
 rical superiority of its vowels and the softness and 
 indistinctness of its consonants, resembled rather a con- 
 tinuous howl than an articulate language. On our 
 handing out a hawser to these fellows, who, if suffi- 
 ciently numerous, could, I verily believe, tow a vessel 
 swimming, we were speedily hauled close to the wharf; 
 and, after mooring our ship and saluting the town, we 
 prepared to go ashore. 
 
 f' 'i 
 
 ■ ' 1-1 1 m 
 
ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 433 
 
 ho gap in 
 elieved to 
 work by 
 the basin. 
 Li 1 1 causes, 
 ef might, 
 it depth ; 
 istance of 
 to that of 
 IS so well 
 dly worth 
 B honours 
 round it, 
 r its reef, 
 B opening, 
 itset, than 
 p come, 
 ot exceed 
 iiost ha 
 re elbo>7- 
 in water, 
 owing, in 
 he nume- 
 ness and 
 er a con- 
 On our 
 if suffi- 
 V a vessel 
 e wharf; 
 ;own, we 
 
 On landing, we immediately proceeded to pay our 
 respects to several of the inhabitants, beginning, as in 
 duty bound, with Governor Kekuanaoa, one of the 
 natives who accompanied the late king and qu;>3n to 
 England : we were much pleased with the shrewdness 
 of this old gentleman, who in fact has, by his official 
 ability, raised himself from the rank of a subordinate 
 chief to be one of the principal rulers of the archipelago. 
 We next called in succession, for etiquette of that kind 
 is requisite in Honolulu, on the British, French, and 
 American consuls, and some of the principal residents. 
 
 Mr. Pelly, being aware beforehand of the probability 
 of our arriving about this time, had procured a house 
 for accommodating us during our visit, being nothing 
 less than a royal palace. It had been originally built 
 by the king, Kauikeaouli, or Kamehameha III., for his 
 own use ; and when his majesty, for the sake of retire- 
 ment, removed his court from Honolulu to Lahaina, it 
 was transferred to Haalilio, who, like Kekuanaoa, has 
 risen in the world by his talents, till at last, after Haa- 
 lilio, in his capacity of secretary, followed his master to 
 Mo wee, it was reserved as a kind of caravansera for 
 receiving such of the principal chiefs as might visit Ho- 
 nolulu. The lower flat, however, had been devoted to 
 vulgar and utilitarian purposes, being occupied as a 
 store; and the upper flat, which, in addition, of course, 
 to kitchen, outhouses, yard, &c., was our share of the 
 palace, consisted of four apartments, two large and two 
 smaller. 
 
 Having collected together furniture, &c. &c., we 
 established ourselves in our new domicile. The walls 
 
 VOL. I. F F 
 
 i ' n 
 
434 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 
 of the rooms were hung with several good engravhigs of 
 the American Declaration of Independence, a portrait of 
 the King of Prussia badly executed in oil, and various 
 daubs of coloured engravings. These paltry embellish- 
 ments, however, were an evidence not of savage but of 
 civilized taste, for they had been presented, always ex- 
 cepting, of course, the symbols of democracy, by His 
 Prussian Majesty, who must have borrowed his idea of 
 the Kamehamehas from the good old times when a gallon 
 of beads would have bought up half the hogs of a whole 
 valley. This gift, from one king to another, could not 
 have cost the donor much beyond five pounds ster- 
 ling. In this our temporary home we received visits 
 from all the missionaries and foreign residents in the 
 town. 
 
 Honolulu contains a population of about nine thousand 
 souls, nearly one thousand perhaps consisting of pretty 
 equal proportions of foreigners and half-breeds. It is 
 about half a mile long and about a quarter of a mile 
 broad ; and it consists of one good street, which, having 
 been but recently opened, is only half finished, with a 
 number of narrow and irregular alleys. Most of the 
 houses are built in the native fashion, which will be 
 described at large in the sequel ; but there are also 
 many substantial edifices, some of them of two stories, 
 of wood, adobes, coral, and stone, with tinned roofs, 
 which, generally speaking, are finished with balconies, 
 verandahs, and Jalousies^ and enclosed within small 
 gardens of ornamental plants, indigenous and exotic. 
 
 But already has this incipient metropolis begun, like 
 its older models, to go out of town. The more respect- 
 
HOUND THE WOULD. 
 
 435 
 
 able of the foreign resiilents have their rural boxes up 
 the adjacent valleys ; but more particularly up the valley, 
 elsewhere mentioned, of Nuannau, or Great Cold, as being 
 the nearest and most accessible. 
 
 The very name of this principal retreat of the Poly- 
 nesian Cockneys explain^ the matter at once : they find 
 their city too hot to hold them ; not because the heat is 
 very intense, but because it is tolerably uniform and 
 constant, with little or no regard to the distinctions of 
 day and night, or of summer and winter. This cannot 
 be made clearer than by borrowing from the Hawaiian 
 Spectator a table of the average temperatures at Hono- 
 lulu of every month of two successive years, expressed 
 decimally in degrees of Fahrenheit : — 
 
 
 
 
 7 A.M. 
 
 2 P.M. 
 
 10 P.M. 
 
 MONTH. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1837. 
 
 1838. 
 
 1837. 
 
 1838. 
 
 1837. 
 
 1838. 
 71-5 
 
 Jnmiary . . 
 
 67-9 
 
 693 
 
 766 
 
 756 
 
 71-3 
 
 February 
 
 
 
 711 
 
 71-2 
 
 77-7 
 
 753 
 
 727 
 
 721 
 
 Marcli . 
 
 
 
 O'J-G 
 
 720 
 
 76-6 
 
 751 
 
 72 4 
 
 725 
 
 April . 
 
 
 
 72 1 
 
 715 
 
 78-4 
 
 76-7 
 
 73 7 
 
 728 
 
 May 
 
 
 
 73-4 
 
 732 
 
 80-2 
 
 803 
 
 750 
 
 75-5 
 
 June . 
 
 
 
 70- 1 
 
 75-5 
 
 81-9 
 
 81-7 
 
 77 5 
 
 771 
 
 July . 
 
 
 
 76-4 
 
 76-4 
 
 81-5 
 
 82-5 
 
 77 3 
 
 77-'^ 
 
 August 
 
 
 
 76-9 
 
 77-2 
 
 82 8 
 
 83-2 
 
 781 
 
 78-4 
 
 September 
 
 
 76.5 
 
 76-7 
 
 83-0 
 
 82-6 
 
 77-0 
 
 78'4 
 
 October 
 
 
 74-8 
 
 75-0 
 
 80-6 
 
 80-1 
 
 76 
 
 76-9 
 
 November 
 
 
 727 
 
 72-3 
 
 77-9 
 
 76-6 
 
 73-8 
 
 73-7 
 
 December 
 
 
 69-9 
 
 71-5 
 
 765 
 
 76-3 
 
 711 
 
 73-3 
 
 Average of Year 
 
 731 
 
 73-5 
 
 79-5 
 
 78-8 
 
 74-8 
 
 751 
 
 These temperatures, besides being almost as regular 
 as clockwork, are decidedly low for a place which is 
 
 FF 2 
 
43C 
 
 OVERLAND JOURNEY 
 
 
 fully two degi'ces within the tropics, — both their lowness 
 mid their regularity being caused cliieHy by the trade- 
 winds, which, blowing over so little land on even the 
 broadest of the islands, sweep the leeward coasts with 
 the same purity and coolness, generally speaking, as 
 they have brought from the ocean to the windward 
 shores. If at any point to the leeward the temperature 
 is materially higher than at the corresponding point to 
 windward, the difference may be traced to the fact, that 
 there the wall of mountains is at once so near and so 
 continuous as to screen from the trade-winds all that 
 lies between it and the sea, with occasionally a belt of 
 the sea itself into the bargain. This is more or less the 
 case at Lahaina; whereas, at Honolulu, on the contrary, 
 the valley of Nuannau, which opens directly on the 
 town, forms a natural funnel for the free and easy pas- 
 sage of the north-east gales. 
 
 To return to the suburban villas, the diminution of 
 heat has its accompanying drawbacks, which make it 
 cost fully as much, perhaps, as it is worth. The change 
 is too sudden to be agreeable, for a walk of three or 
 four miles up the gentle ascent of the valleys makes 
 one glad to substitute thick woollens for the lightest 
 and scantiest covering, merely jacket, and shirt, and 
 trousers, of grass-cloth ; and this change is entirely 
 owing to the abruptness with which one rises above the 
 level of the sea ; for the city of Mexico, which is nearly 
 in the latitude of Woahoo, and almost twice as high as 
 its loftiest peaks, enjoys, on her inland table-land, at 
 least the average temperature of the very shores of that 
 island. But the suddenness of the change in question 
 
eiv lowness 
 the tratlc- 
 I) even the 
 coasts with 
 )euking, as 
 ( windward 
 ;cinperature 
 ug point to 
 le fact, that 
 near and so 
 nds all that 
 tlly a belt of 
 re or less the 
 the contrary, 
 jctly on the 
 md easy pas- 
 
 liminution of 
 hich make it 
 The change 
 of three or 
 alleys makes 
 the lightest 
 id shirt, and 
 |e is entirely 
 ises above the 
 fhich is nearly 
 ice as high as 
 |table-land, at 
 shores of that 
 [e in question 
 
 KOL'NI) THE WOULD. 
 
 437 
 
 is lens objeetionahlo than the niinH, which so frequently 
 (Irencli tlie valleys. Heing intercepted at alinoHt every 
 point l>y the niountaiiis, the clouds which have been 
 wafted hither on the win;^s of the trade-winds exhaust 
 themselves on the windward si<le and central region of 
 each islnnd, leaving little for the leeward coast but a 
 few flying drizzles; so that the inhabitants of Honolulu 
 are frequently tantalized by the sight of showers ad- 
 vancing down Nuannau, but arresting their course on 
 tlie very verge of the parched plain of the town. 
 
 It is chiefly during the winter—- the months of Fe- 
 bruary, March, and April — when the trades arc either 
 interrupted by calms, or supplanted by breezes from 
 the south and west, that the south-western shores re- 
 ceive their share of rran ; while, in proportion as the 
 leeward coast llius becomes the windward, the wind- 
 ward also becomes the leeward coast. But, disagree- 
 able as is the drought of summer at Honolulu, the 
 moisture of the winter is still more so ; and, in fact, so 
 much is the wet disliked, that, throughout the whole 
 group, even the native villages have always been more 
 numerous to leeward than to windward ; thus, for the 
 sake of a pleasanter atmosphere, sacrificing productive- 
 ness of soil, and submitting to the labour of irrigation. 
 The leeward side, it is true, possesses the advantage of 
 more favourable shelter for its fishing-grounds ; and, 
 perhaps, the circumstance is worthy of notice, that this 
 very advantage of Kamehameha's district of Kona, by 
 exciting the cupidity of some rival chiefs, led to the 
 war in which that truly magnanimous savage laid the 
 foundations of his supremacy. 
 

 "; 
 
 ' 
 
 ' K 
 
 438 
 
 OVKULAND JOURNEY, &C. 
 
 The name of this firs', iid be^t monarch of the archi- 
 pehigo leads me, in concluding my genera) account of 
 Honolulu, to notice, that the valley of Nuannau is 
 classic, nay, sacred ground, in the annals of the Sand- 
 wich Islands, as having been the theatre of the decisive 
 battle, in which civilization actually achieved its real 
 triumph over barbarism. Kamehameha was here op- 
 posed by his own lieutenant, Kiana, who had traitor- 
 ously united his division of the army with the forces of 
 Woahoo — a chief who had visited the civilized world, 
 and was the grand patron of the plundering and mur- 
 dering policy which, if successful, would have rendered 
 the islands not a blessing, but a curse to the trade of 
 the world; and the first shot on Kamehameha's side, 
 fired too by an English tar, in the person of the well- 
 known John Young, laid Kiana prostrate, with all his 
 schemes of massacre and spoliation. From that day 
 forward, the whole group, witli one exception in Kauai, 
 which, as the island was "still independent, only con- 
 firmed the rule, afforded greater security to foreigners 
 than most countries in Christendom ; and Honolulu, in 
 particular, is more deeply indebted for its wealth and 
 prosperity to the victory, which protected its civilized 
 visitors from treachery and violence, than to tlie dis- 
 covery which sheltered them from the perils of the 
 ocean. If Young had not, under the auspices »of the 
 only sincere friend of the whites, rid the island of 
 Kiana, Brown's Harbour would have continued to be 
 rather a snare than a refuge to strangers. 
 
 KM) Ol-' VOL. I. 
 
 
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 HISTORY OF THE LANDED GENTRY; 
 
 A GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY 
 
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 
 
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 LIVES OF THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND, 
 
 FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST, 
 
 WITH ANECDOTES OF THEIR COURTS; 
 
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 Documents, private as well as public. 
 
 BY AGNES STRICKLAND. 
 
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 especially. It contains a mass of v:vii ' kind of historical m^t;,-T of 
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 pains have been taken to make it lat i iatereKlin;j and valuable," — 
 Literary Gazette. 
 
 ",\ charming work— full of ii.'ertr', at onct serious and pleating." 
 —Monsieur Guizot. 
 
 *' This work is written by j i; i y cf considerable loarring, indefati* 
 gable industry, and careful judgmeu! j'W those qualitications for a 
 biographer and an historian sLe has brcight to bear upon ;he subject 
 of her volumes, and from them has resulted a narrative interesting to 
 all, and more particularly interesting to that portion of the community 
 lo whom the more refined researches of literature afford pleasure and 
 instruction. The whole work should be read, and no doubt will be 
 read, by all ivho are anxious tor information. It is a lucid arrange- 
 ment of facts, derived from authentic sources, exhibiting a combina- 
 tion of industry, learning, judgment, and impnrtirfity, not often met 
 with in biographers of crowied heads." — Times. (Thit(\ Notice.) 
 
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 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN 
 
 or 
 
 KING GEOEGE THE SECOND; 
 
 BY HORACE WALPOLE, EARL OF ORFORD. 
 
 EDITED, "WITH A PREFACE AND NOTES, BV THE LATE LORD 
 HOLLAND. 
 
 The manuscript of these " Memoirs of the Reign of George the 
 Second" was found at Strawberry Hill on the death of Horace Walpole, 
 along with that of the " Memoirs of the*lieign of George the Third," 
 lately published by Sir Denis Le Marchant, in two chests, relative to 
 whi the author left written directions that they were not to be 
 opened till a considerable period after his decease. That time having 
 arrived, the seals were removed, and the nobleman to whom the 
 Memoirs bad been bequeathed (the Earl of Waldegrave), decided on 
 giving them to the public ; and that they might possess every possible 
 advantage it was arranged that they should appear under the editorial 
 auspices of the late Lord Holland, whose intimate acquaintanco with 
 the period illustrated, family connexion with the most celebrated indi- 
 viduals of the time, and distinguished scholarship, appeared to point him 
 out as above all men peculiarly fitted for the task of preparing them 
 ibr the press. 
 
 There can be no question that the -' Memoirs of the Reign of 
 George II." far exceed in public interest any of the numerous 
 productions of the same accomplished pen. The writer was in a 
 position either to obsorve the extraordinary events then occurring, or 
 to command intelligence from tbe most secret sources. Known as the 
 son of the ablest "liuister the age produced (Sir Robert Walpole) and 
 having many of his nearest friends and relatives members at different 
 periods either of the government or of the opposition, it is impossible 
 to imagine an individual more favourably circumstanced to record the 
 stirring scenes and great events that made the reign of George II. 
 so remarkable. But to these advantages must be added a talent in 
 portraying the characteristics of bis contemporaries, and a vivacity in 
 describing the scenes in which they figured so conspicuously, in which 
 he is without a rival. 
 
 '* The intimacy which," as Lord Holland most truly observes in his 
 introductirn to this work, " tiie author enjoyed with many of the 
 chief personages of the times, and what he calls his propensity to 
 
HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 fnctioii, maJe him acquainted with the most secret intrigues and nego- 
 tiations of parties," and \:i^ lnrH«hip jjoea on to state that the period 
 of which lie treats is a part of our liistory little known to us, yet 
 well desnrvin"' our curiosity, as it forms a transition from the expiring 
 struggles of Jac-.)hitism to the more important contests that have 
 since engaged and still occupy, our attention. " His account of par- 
 liamentary "iebates alone," he adds, " would be a valuable addition to 
 our histo.y," On the same subject the author himself says in the 
 postscript to these memoirs, " For the facts, such as were not public, 
 I received them chiefly from my father and Mr. I'ox, both men of 
 veracity ; and some from communication with the Duke of Bedford 
 at the very lime they were in agitation. I am content to rest their 
 authenticity on the sincerity of such men. The speeches I can affirm, 
 nay, of every one of them, to be still more authentic, as I took 
 notes at the tim^, and have delivered the arguments just as I heard 
 them." 
 
 It may bo as well to remind the reader that the reign of George II. 
 was rendered memorable by tlio dawning of the greatness of Pitt, and 
 the minority of George III. ; by the struggles of the grandson of James 
 II., commonly called "The Young Pretender," to win back the for- 
 feited throne of the Stuarts ; by the opposition to the reigning king of 
 his son Frederick Prince of Wales ; by the remarkable trial and exe- 
 cution of Admiral Byng, and the no less celebrated court-martial on 
 Lord George Sackville; by the splendid victories of Wolfe in America, 
 and Lord Olive in India; the capture of Cherbourg, the acquisition of 
 Cape Breton, and the naval triumphs of Boscawen, Howe, Hawke, 
 Watson, Vernon, and Saunders. The most distinguished of contem- 
 porary sovereigns were Frederick the (Jreat, Louis XV., Augustus 
 King of Saxony, the Czarina Elizabeth, and the Empress Maria 
 Theresa ; and in consequence of the interest George II. took in his 
 Hanoverian dominions, the English were continually engaged in the 
 war then raging in Germany, in wh-ih these sovereigns wore involved. 
 
 These incidents are chronicled with a masterly hand by Walpole ; 
 and the reader wil' look in vain elsewhere for the spirited sketches 
 that enrich the narrative of the var'ous actors in them at home and 
 abroad. In no other work can he hope so thoroughly to become ac- 
 quainted with the features of such statesmen as Sir Robert Walpole, 
 Boliiigbroke, Fulteney, John Duke of Bedford, the Pelhams, the Towns- 
 hends, the Grenvilles, Chatham, Fox, and the other great names tliat 
 adorned the cabinet and the senate — or of Chesterfield, Bubb Dodding- 
 ton, George Selwyn, and Hanbury Williams ; politicians, however, 
 who seemed to care much more for the reputation of wits than the 
 fame of senators, though they possessed considerable pretensions to both 
 characters, But the careful chronicler omits no link in the social 
 scale that may serve to characterise the curious age he delineates. The 
 result is a history which, with the veracity of a chronicle, affords equal 
 entertainment with the most vivacious romanco, and though sufhciently 
 attractive in its own merits to all classes of readers, is essential to every 
 library containing any portion of the Walpole Works and Corres- 
 pondence. 
 
' '. , .pi 
 
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 : If 
 
 
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 Now complete, in Seven Volumes, price lOs. 6rf. each, bound with 
 
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 THE DIARY AND LETTERS OF 
 
 MADAME D ' A R B L A Y, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " EVELINA," " CECILIA," &c. 
 Including the period of lior residence at the Court of Queen Charlotte, 
 
 EDITED BY HER NIECE. 
 
 • CRITICAL OPINIONS. 
 
 *' Madame d'Avblay lived to be a clastic. Time set oa her fame, 
 before rhe went hence, that seal which if. seldom set except on the 
 fame of the departed. All those whom we have been accustomed to 
 revere as intellectual patriarchs seemed children when compared with 
 her; for Burke had sat up all oi^ht to reiid her writings, and Johnson 
 had pronounced her superior to Fielding, when Hugers was still a 
 schoolboy, and Southey still in petticoats. liur Diary is written in 
 her earliest and best manti'.r ; in true '.. oman's English, clear, oatural, 
 and lively. It ought to be consulted by every person who wishes to 
 be well acquainted with the history of uur literature and our manners, 
 i'he account which siio gives of the king's illness will, we think, ba 
 more valued by the historians of a future age than any equal portions 
 of Pepys' or Evelyn's Diaries." — Edinburyh lieview. 
 
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 LIFE OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, 
 
 Bv THOMAS ROSCOE, Esq. 
 
 One volume, small 8vo, with Portrait, price 10*. 6d. bound. 
 
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 LETTERS OF ROYAL & ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES 
 
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 ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND; 
 
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 his great work), Lavoisiek, Gianosr, Sir J. Banks and D'Alembeht. 
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 DOROTHEA, 
 
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 NOW FinST PUBLTSHED FROM THE ORIGINALS. 
 
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 WITH NOTICES OF THE REBELLION IN 1745. 
 
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 LETTERS OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND. 
 
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 ML,f 
 
HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 
 
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 F 
 
 \Y of 
 ERT. 
 
 oubt 
 
 anly 
 
 iT 
 
 and 
 
 om 
 O. 
 
 lu. 
 
 by 
 [ire 
 
 IIISTOIIY OF 
 
 THE CAPTIVITY OF NAPOLEON 
 
 AT ST. HELENA. 
 
 BY GENERAL COUNT MONTIIOLON, 
 The Emperor's Companion in Exile, and Testamentary Execiitor, 
 Now first trunslaterl and published from the author's original manu- 
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 M. A. THIERS' HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CONSULATE AND THE EMPIRE 
 
 OF FRANCE UNDER NAPOLEON. 
 
 A sequel to his History of the French Revolution. Translated, with 
 the sanction and approval of the Author, by D. Forbes Cami>dell, Esq. 
 
 Having filled at different times, the high offices of Minister of the 
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 M. Thiers has enjoyed facilities beyond the reach of every other 
 biographer of Napoleon, for procuring, from exclusive and authentic 
 sources, the choicest materials for bis present work. As guardian to 
 the archives of the state, he had access to diplomatic papers and other 
 documents of the highest importance, hitherto known only to a privi- 
 leged few, and the publication of which cinnot fail to produce a great 
 sensation. From private sources, M. Thiers, it appears has also de- 
 rived much valuable information. Many interesting memoirs, diaries, 
 and letters, all hitlierto unpublished and most of them destined for 
 political reasons to remain so, have been placed at his disposal ; whilo 
 all the leading characters of the empire, who were olive when the 
 author undertook tlie present history, have supplied Iiira with a mass 
 of incidents and anecdotes, which have never before appeared in print, 
 and the accuracy and value of which may be inferred from the fact of 
 these parlies having been themselves eye-witnesses of, or actors in, the 
 great events of the period. 
 
 %• To prevent disappointment, the public are requested to be par- 
 ticular in giving their orders for "Colburn's Authorised Edition, 
 
 TRANSLATED BY D. FoRBES CaMPBELL." 
 
'jl 
 
 10 
 
 MR. COLBURN'S new rUBLICATIONS. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 
 
 Comprising the Lives of the Spcivkers and Eminent Statesmen, and 
 Lawyers, from tlic Convention rarlianicnt of 1688-9, to tlie passing of 
 the Keforni Billin 1832; 
 
 BY \VM. CHARLES TOWNSEND, ESQ., M.A. 
 
 RECOKUER OF MACCI.EBFIKLU. 
 
 Dedicated by iierniissiDn to Sir Uouert Teel. 
 2 vols. 8vo, i)rice 28*. bound. 
 " We have here a collection of biograpliicul noticeR of oil the Speakers 
 who have presided diirint; the hundred and forty-four yeiirs above 
 defined, and of several Members of i'lirliiimeut the most distinguiahed 
 in that period. Mu(;h useful nnd curious informutioa ia auattertd 
 throughout the volumes." — Quarterly licview. 
 
 ■ \ii \ 
 
 ^ ^ ^lll 
 
 ll' 
 
 k \ 
 
 '! I 
 
 h\f 
 
 WOMAN AND HER MASTER; 
 
 OR, THE HISTORY OF THE FEMALE SEX FROM THE 
 
 EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT DAY. 
 
 BY LADY MORGAN. 
 
 1 tvo vols., jiost 8vo, price 21s. 
 
 'i^ady Morgan has im|iarted to history the charm of romance. 
 
 We have read her series of rapid but brilliant and vigorous sketches 
 
 witli an interest which maoy a Novel fails to excite." — Weekly Chronicle. 
 
 AND 
 
 PRINCE ALBERT; 
 
 THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. 
 
 BY FREDERICK SHOBERL, ESQ. 
 
 Second Edition, revised, with Additions, by Authority. In one vol. 
 post 8vo, with a Portrait of the Prince, 8s. 6rf. bound. 
 " The best and most authentic Work on tlie subject of the Prince 
 Consort and hia i'amily.' — John Bull. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENS OF FRANCE. 
 
 BY MRS. FORBES BUSH. 
 Second Edition, dedicated, by permission, to her Majesty the Qufen 
 OF THE French, nnd including a Memoir of her Majesty. In 2 vols, 
 amall 8vo, with Portraiis, 21s. bound. 
 
 " This cliarmiiig Work comprisrs a separate Memoir of every Queen 
 of France from the earliest of her annals to the fall of Napoleon. The 
 work of Mrs. Bush cannot fail of being a desirable acquisition to every 
 library in the kingdom." — Sun. 
 
 t T 
 
HISTORY AND IHOGRAPHY. 
 
 11 
 
 LEHERS OF MARY, QUEEiV OF SCOTS. 
 
 EDITED, WITU AN IIISTOniCAL INTUODUCTION AND NOTJiS, 
 
 By AGNES STRlCKLANDj 
 
 And compri»in(f Letters from tlie Imperial Library nt St. Peteri- 
 burg, tlio I'lhliotht'que <l'i Hoi I'aris, and iiuineroiis otljer sources, 
 PrivHte aa well ns l'uli<ic, i.ow fi> liiihed from tlm Uriginals. 
 
 New and Cheaper Edition ^ aumerous Additions, uniform with 
 
 Miss Strickland's "Lives of tliu Queens of Unglund," in ij vols., with 
 Portrait, &c., '-Hn. bound. 
 
 " No public or privnte lihrury can be considered complete without 
 this vnlualde work." — Murninij Post. 
 
 "The best colicctiou of authentic momoriiils relative to the Queen 
 of Scots that bos ever appeared." — Mvrniny CItronick, 
 
 BURKE'S rEi:RAGE AND BARONETAGE, 
 
 FOR 1847, 
 
 New and Revised Edition, containing all the New Creations 
 to the Present Time, and corrected ihrougliout from the personal commu- 
 nications of the Nobility, &c. In 1 vol. (comprising: at> much matter 
 8s twenty ordinary volumes), with upwards of 1600 Engravings of 
 Arms, &c., price .'iS.s. bound. 
 
 " J\Ir. Burko's 'Peerage and liaronetiigo' is the most complete, the 
 most convenient, and the cheapest work of the kind ever oflered to the 
 public." — Sun. 
 
 *' Mr. Burke's • Peerage and Baronetage' is certainly the most perfect 
 and comprehensive encyclopaedia of personal and national history ever 
 given to the public; combining surprising accuracy and important in- 
 formation, with the greatest brevity and clearness, and exhibiting, in a 
 condensed and lucid form, the lives and achievements of the many 
 eminent men, who have shed lustre on the rolls of our nobility, from (he 
 steel-clad barons of Creasy and Agincourt, to the heroea of Blenheim 
 and Waterloo."— G/o6e. 
 
 BURKE'S DICTIONARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 EXTINCT, DORMANT, AND ABEYANT 
 
 PEERAGES OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND 
 IRELAND. 
 
 A COMPANION TO ALL OTHER PEERAOES. 
 
 It should be particularly noticed that this work appertains nearly as 
 mnch to extant as to extiuct persons of distinction ; for though dignities 
 pass away, it rarely occurs that whole families do. 
 
 Cheaper Edition, beautifully printed, in one volume, bvo, containing 
 800 double column pages, price 21s. bound. 
 

 
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 12 
 
 MR. COLBURN'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF LADY HESTER STMITOPE, 
 
 A8 RELATED BY HERSELF, IN CONVERSATIONS WITH HER PHYSICIAN, 
 
 Comprising her Opinions, and Anecdotes of the most reniarkahle 
 
 Persons of lierTinie. 
 Second Edition, 3 vols, small 8vo, witli portraits, &c., price 31«. Cid. 
 
 bound. 
 
 These memoirs must interest all clnsses of readers. Throughout 
 the whole of the hrillinnt period of the lite of !ier uncle, Mr. Pitt, 
 Lady Hester Stiiihopo (who was the pnrtner of his secret counsels) 
 wu drawn into dMily intercourse with the most remarkable people of 
 the age — statesmen, wits, diplomatists, men of letters and science, 
 women of fashion and celebrity, and all the niember« of the royal 
 family, with whom she was upon terms of familiar intimacy. 
 
 Among the nunterous remarkable personages of whom interesting 
 particulars and anecdotes are given in these volumes will he found 
 the followiucr: — George III., Ueorge IV., Queen Caroline, Pitt, Fox, 
 Canning, Sheridan, the Duke of Wellington, the Manj'us of Aber- 
 corn. Lords Chatham, Bute, Liverpool, Hawkesbury, Hood, St Asaph, 
 Bridport, Brougham, I'ulmerston, Carriogton, Kbrington, Suffolk, 
 Byron, and Camelford, Sir Edward Sugden, Sir Francis Hurdelt, Mr. 
 Abercrombie, W>*Uer Scott, 'J'homas Moore, Beau Brummell, Lady 
 Chsrlolte Bury, Mrs. Fitzherbert, &c. 
 
 <■ I'hese volumes are such as no one who takes them up can easily lay 
 iowa."—Quarterfy Review. 
 
 SECOND SERIES OF THE STANHOPE 
 MEMOIRS, 
 
 COHFRISINO 
 
 THE SEVEN YEARS' TRAVELS OF LADY HESTER 
 
 STANHOPE. 
 3 vols, small 8vo, with numerous Illustrations. 31«. 6(/. bound. 
 
 " This work is intended to complete the ' Memoirs of Lady Hester 
 Stanhope.' As the ' Memoirs' embraced a period of about fifteen years, 
 in which were traced the causes which led to the ' decline and fall' of 
 her Ladyship's somewhat visionary Empire in the East, the ' Travels' 
 take up her history from the time she quitted England, and, by 
 a faithful narrative of her extraordinary adventures, show the rise 
 and growth of her Oriental greatness. A distinct line may at once be 
 drawn between this and ail other books of travels in the East — for it 
 boasts of a heroine who marches at the head of Arab tribes throu!<;h 
 the Syrian Desert — who calls Governors of Cities to her aid while she 
 excavates the earth in searcn of hidden treasures — who sends Generals 
 with their troops to carry fire and sword into the fearful passes of h 
 mountainous country to avenge the death of a murdered traveller — 
 and who then goes defenceless and unprotected to sit down a sojourner 
 in the midst of them ' 
 
 W'' 
 
iier 
 
 VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 13 
 
 UOCHELAGA; 
 
 OR, 
 
 ENGLAND IN THE NEW WORLD. 
 
 Edited by ELIOT WAKBURTON, Esq., Author of " THE CRES- 
 CENT AND THE CROSS." 
 Third Edition. 2 Vols., small 8vo, with Illustrations, 21s. bound. 
 
 ECHOES FROM THE BACKWOODC 
 
 OK, 
 
 SKETCHES OF TRANSATLANTIC LIFE. 
 
 By CAPTAIN LEVINGE. 
 
 2 Vols., small 8vo., with Illustrations, 21«. bound. 
 
 REVELATIONS OF RUSSIA IN 1846. 
 
 By an ENGLISH RESIDENT. 
 
 Tbird edition, revised by llie Author, with additional Notes, and 
 brougbt down to the present time. 2 vols., small Sro, with Illustra- 
 tions, 21s. bound. 
 
 " Such books as the ' Revelations of Russia' are to be had only for 
 their weight in gold ; and I know an instance where as much as 
 500 roubles (about 22/.) were paid for the loan of a copy." — Letter from 
 St. Petersburg!), in the Athenaum, 
 
 THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS; 
 
 OR, 
 
 ROMANCE AND REALITIES OF EASTERN TRAVEL. 
 
 By ELIOT B. G. WARBURTON, Esq. 
 
 Sixth edition, in 2 vols., with numerous Illustrations, 2Is. bound. 
 
 " Mr. Warburton brings to his work an accomplished mind and 
 well-trained and healthful faculties. As we read, we are proud to 
 claim him as a countryman, and are content that bis book shall go 
 all over the world, that other countries from it may derive a just im- 
 pression of our national character. Our author sailed up the Nile, 
 beyond the second cataract, and inspected those wonders of barbarian 
 art in Nubia, whose origin is lost in their antiquity : visited the great 
 cities and monuments of Egypt, then crossed to Beyrout, made a 
 pilgrimage in the Holy Land, and on his homeward voyage touched at 
 C)[pru8 and Greece. His volumes are full of just perception and 
 spirited detail. They greatly increase our acquaintance with Eastern 
 scenes, and to the traveller afford a variety of information which ha 
 could hardly elsewhere find in so interesting a ah^pe."— Britannia, 
 
"I- 
 
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 14 
 
 MR COLBURN'S new PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 VISC^ FEILDeG & CAPT. KENNEDY'S 
 
 TRAVELS IN ALGERIA IN 1845. 
 
 2 Vols, with Illustrations, ^1«. bo\ind. 
 
 *' Captain Kennedy and Lord Feildiog appear to bare visited every 
 place of note in Nortliern Africa; and the gallant author gives a most 
 graphic and picturesque account of tbeir adventures, including (hose 
 among the wild Arabs and Bedouins of the deaert. At the present 
 time, when the recent unhappy events in Africa have attracted so 
 much attention, we feel special pleasure in recommending this inter* 
 eating and entertaining woric as one which throws much light on the 
 customs and condition of a brave but unfortunate people, and affords 
 much valuable information as to all that is remarkable in the country 
 they inhabit." — Hood's Magazine. 
 
 RUSSIA UNDER THE AUTOCRAT 
 NICHOLAS I. 
 
 By IVAN GOLOVINE, a Russian SimjECT. 
 
 2 Vols, small 8vo, with a full length Portrait of the Emperor, 21c. bound. 
 
 " These are volumes of an extremely interesting nature, emanating 
 from the pea of a Russian, noble by birth, who has escaped beyond 
 the reach of the Czar's {lovrer. The merits of ii<e work are very con- 
 siderable. It throws a new light on the state of the empire — its 
 aspect, political and domestic — it manners ; the employes about the 
 palace, court, and capital ; its police ; its spies j its depraved society, 
 &c. The details on all these subjects will be found peculiarly valuable, 
 as the author has enjoyed ample means of observation and has 
 availed himself of them to the utmost." — Sundai/ Time$. 
 
 REVELATIONS OF SPAIN IN 1846. 
 
 By T. M. HUGHES, Esq. 
 
 Second edition, revised and corrected. In 2 rols, post 8ro, 21«. 
 
 bound. 
 
 " A very clever book—the result of considerable ezperienee."-~£«- 
 aminer, 
 
 " Aa a picture of the actual state of Spain, this work is inteneely 
 interesting. We cannot too strongly recommend it to the notice of 
 the reader. There is scarcely any subject of interest conneeted with 
 Spain and its inhabitants that the author has not handled ia detail." 
 —John Bull. 
 
 ' 'S' 'i 
 
 li \ 
 
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 «it 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 15 
 
 OOMPLBTB HISTORY OF THB OHINBBB WAR, *o. 
 
 Third and Cheaper Eoitiok, with a new Introduction, in one 
 Volume, witli Maps and Plates, price 12«. bound. 
 
 THE NEMESIS IN CHINA; 
 
 COHPRISIKO 
 THE MOST COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE WAR IN THAT COITNTRT ; 
 
 With a Particular Account of the Colony of Hono-Kong. 
 
 From the Notes of Capt. W. H. HALL, R.N,, and the Personal Obser- 
 vations of W. D. BERNARD, Esq., A.M., Oxon. 
 
 " This is the most important publication tliat bas appeared respecting 
 our late contest with China. In oil that relates to the Nemesis espe- 
 cially, and to the naval operations of the Expedition, it is replete 
 with the most lirely and stirring interest." — Naval and Military 
 Gazette. 
 
 " This book is, in effect, a complete history of the operations and 
 results of the Chinese war. It is written with greater care than nny 
 similar work we have seen. The author Las produced a book of evi- 
 dently good auihority, which clears off a quantity of misrepresentation, 
 and gives an altogether calmer and steadier view of the origin, progress, 
 and results of our warlike dealings with the false and flowery people."— 
 Examiner. 
 
 " We recommend this work to all our readers who may wish to under- 
 stand the progress of this Chinese war, and to possess the clearest and 
 fullest narrative of the incidents which accompanied our victories. Tba 
 writer also made a long excursion into the interior of the Chinese prt>< 
 vinces, and describes the country well. His notices of the iiuperial 
 court are also at once original and picturesque." — Messenger. 
 
 " This is an extremely interesting and valuable narrative. All de- 
 tails which might prove tedious are omitted. There are no lengthened 
 disquisitions, no elaborate or minute pictures, but a constantly varying 
 recital which, with all the satisftictoriness of truth, has the charm of 
 fiction. Jf we except the old voyages of discovery, which carry the 
 mind over an unknown and mysterious ocean, where new regions are 
 every moment expected to develop their features before us, we scarcely 
 remember to have read any maritime relation with so much pleasure aa 
 this. The Nemesis, it is well known, acted a distinguished part in the 
 war in China, but the details are now for the first time accessible. 
 They will be read with pleasure proportioned to their importance, 
 and the simplicity and ability with which they are given. What 
 we have said will, we trust suffice to recommend to our readers 
 the Voyage of the Nemesis, which we regard as, in every respect 
 one of the best woiks of the class to which it belongs." — Sunday 
 Times. 
 
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 16 
 
 MR. COLBURN'S new PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 LETTERS OF A GERMAN COUNTESS; 
 
 Written during her Travels in Turkey, Egypt, the Holy Land, Syria, 
 
 Nubia, &c., in 184.'{-4. 
 
 By IDA, COUNTESS HAHN-HAHN. 
 
 Translated by H. Evans Llotd, Esq. In 3 vols., small 8vo. Price 
 
 31s. <j</. bound. 
 
 " A charming book." — Atltenaum. 
 
 " We place this book in the very first rank of works of its class. It 
 is full of genius, yet softened by feminine feeling and sentiment."— 
 Sritannia. 
 
 THREE YEARS IlTcONSTANTINOPLE 
 
 OR, DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE TURKS. 
 
 By CHARLES WHITE, Esq. 
 Second and Cheaper Edition, in 3 vols., with 34 Illustrations, from 
 Original Drawings, price 24«. bound. 
 " Mr. White's useful work is well worthy of the attentive study of 
 all who would know Turkey as it is. It may be safely taken as a text 
 book, with respect to Turkey, its people, and its manners. Full, 
 searching, complete, it will dissipate many prejudices, dispel many 
 vague notions popularly entertained of the much maligned Turks."— 
 Morning Chronicle, 
 
 LORD LINDSAY'S LETTERS ON THE HOLY 
 
 LAND. 
 
 Fourth Edition, revised and corrected, in one vol., small 8vo. 
 " Lord Lindsay has felt and recorded what he saw with the wisdom 
 of a philosopher, and the faith of an enlightened Christian." — Quar- 
 terly Review. 
 
 ADVENTURES IN "GEORGIA, CIRCASSIA, 
 AND RUSSIA. 
 
 By Lieut.-Colonel G. POULETT CAMERON, C.B., K.T.S., &c. 
 Employed on a Special Service in Persia. 
 
 Two vols., small 8vo, price 21<. bound. 
 " Colonel Cameron had many facilities afforded him while in Russia 
 of seeing every thing worth seeing, and his racy manner of telling 
 what he has observed is sure to recommend his book to the gener^ 
 reader. Personal adventures have a peculiar charm for the seekers 
 after amusement ; and they may seek with confidence in pages that 
 tell of that favoured region of beauty and gallantry that supplies the 
 harems of the East with the matchless beauties of Georgia, and in the 
 invincible tribes of Circassia furnishes an armed force that sets at 
 nought the gigantic resources of the greatest military power in the 
 world." — New Monthly. 
 
i:SS; 
 
 Land, Syria, 
 8vo. Price 
 
 ts class. It 
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 OPIE 
 
 rRKS. 
 
 ions, from 
 
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 n as a text 
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 spel many 
 Turks."— 
 
 IIOIY 
 
 llSvo. 
 e wisdom 
 " — Quar- 
 
 lSSIA, 
 
 Q Russia 
 
 f telling 
 
 general 
 
 seekers 
 
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