1 and to the Pacific Ocean. the black, white, brown, and brindle, The second division comprehends BIRDS. The birds which we have seen be. tween the Rocky mountains and the Pacific may be divided into two classes, the terrestrial and the aquatic. In the former class are to be arranged, 1. The grouse or prairie-hen. This is peculiarly the inhabitant of the great plains of the Columbia, and does not differ from those of the upper portion of the Missouri. 2. The cock of the plains is found on the plains of the Columbia in great abundance, from the entrance of the south-east fork of the Columbia to that of Clarke's river. It is about two and three-fourths the size of our ordinary turkey. 3. The pheasant, of which we distinguish the large black and white pheasant, the small speckled pheasant, the small brown pheasant, 4. The buzzard is, we believe, the largest bird of North America. One which was taken by our hunters was not in good condition, and yet the weight was twenty-five pounds. The aquatic birds are, the large blue and brown heron; the fishing hawk; the blue-crested fisher; several species of gulls; the cormorant ; two species of loons; brant of two kinds; geese; swan; and several spe. cies of ducks. FISH. The fish which we have had an opportunity of seeing, are the whale, porpoise, skait, flounder, salmon, red char, two species of salmon trout, mountain or speckled trout, bottlenose, anchovy, and sturgeon. Of shell-fish we observe the clam, periwinkle,common muscle, the cockle, and a species with a circular flat shell, 607 The reptiles of this country are the rattlesnake, the gartersnake, lizard, and snail. RETURN OF THE PARTY. Many reasons had determined us to remain at fort Clatsop till the 1st of April. Besides the want of fuel in the Columbian plains, and the impracticability of passing the mountains before the beginning of June, we were anxious to see some of the foreign traders, from whom, by means of our ample letters of credit, we might have recruited our exhausted stores of merchandise. About the middle of March, however, we became seriously alarmed for the want of food: the elk, our chief dependence, had at length deserted their usual haunts in our neighbourhood, and retreated to the mountains. We were too poor to purchase other food from the Indians, so that we were sometimes reduced, notwithstanding all the exertions of our hunters, to a single day's provision in advance. The men too, whom the constant rains and confinement had rendered unhealthy, might, we hoped, be benefited by leaving the coast, and resuming the exercise of travelling. We therefore determined to leave fort Clatsop, ascend the river slowly, consume the month of March in the woody country, where we hope to find subsistence, and in this way reach the plains about, the 1st of April, before which time it will be impossible to attempt crossing them: for this purpose we began our preparations. During the winter we had been very industrious in dressing skins, so that we now had a sufficient quantity of clothing, besides between three and four hundred pair of moccasins. But the whole stock of goods on which we are to depend, either for the purchase of horses or of food, during the long tour of nearly four thousand miles, is so much diminished, that it might all be tied in two handkerchiefs. We have in fact nothing but six blue robes, one of scarlet, a coat and hat of the United States' artillery uniform, five robes made of our large flag, and a few old clothes trimmed with ribbon. We therefore feel that our chief depend. ence must be on our guns, which, for tunately for us, are all in good order, as we had taken the precaution of bringing a number of extra locks, and one of our men proved to be an excellent artist in that way. The pow der had been secured in leaden canis ter WAPPATOO ISLAND. ters, and, though on many occasions the whole extent of the valley in which they had been under water, it remained we now are, but does not grow on the perfectly dry, and we now found our Columbia farther eastward. selves in possession of one hundred valley is bounded westward by the and forty pounds of powder, and twice mountainous country bordering the that quantity of lead, a stock quite coast, from which it extends eastward sufficient for the route homewards. thirty miles in a direct line, till it is closed by the range of mountains crossing the Columbia above the great Falls. Its length from north to south we are unable to determine, but we believe that, the valley must extend to a great distance: it is in fact the only desirable situation for a settlement on the western side of the Rocky mountains, and being naturally fertile, would, if properly cultivated, afford subsistence for forty or fifty thousand souls. The highlands are generally of a dark rich loam, not much injured by stones, and, though waving, by no means too steep for cultivation; and a few miles from the river they widen, at least on the north side, into rich extensive prairies. The timber on them is abundant, and consists almost exclusively of the several species of fir already described, and some of which grow to a great height measured a fallen tree of that species, and found that, including the stump of about six feet, it was three hundred and eighteen feet in length, though its diameter was only three feet. The dogwood is also abundant on the uplands: it differs from that of the United States in having a much smoother bark, and in being much larger, the trunk attaining a diameter of nearly two feet. There is some white cedar of a large size, but no pine of any kind. In the bottom lands are the cottonwood ash, large-leafed ash, and sweet willow. Interspersed with these are the pashequaw, shanataque, and compound fern, of which the natives use the roots; the red. flowering currant abounds on the upland, while along the river bottoms grow luxuriantly the water cress, strawberry, cinquefoil, narrowdock, sandrush, and the flowering pea, which is not yet in bloom. There is also a species of the bear's claw now blooming, but the large-leafed thorn has disappeared, nor do we see any longer the buckle-berry, the shallun, nor any of the other ever. green shrubs which bear berries, except the species the leaf of which has a prickly margin. The visit of Captain Clarke to the Multnomahs, now enabled us to com bine all that we had seen or learnt of the neigbouring countries and nations. Of these the most important spot is Wappatoo island, a large extent of country lying between the Multnomah, and an arm of the Columbia, which we have called Wappatoo inlet, and separated from the main land by a sluice eighty yards wide, which at the distance of seven miles up the Mult nomah connects that river with the inlet. The island thus formed is about twenty miles long, and varies in breadth from five to ten miles: the land is high and extremely fertile, and on most parts is supplied with a heavy growth of cottonwood, ash, the large-leafed ash, and sweet willow, the black alder, common to the coast, having now disappeared. But the chief wealth of this island consists of the numerous ponds in the interior, abounding with the common arrowhead (sagittaria sagittifolia) to the root of which is attached a bulb growing beneath it in the mud. This bulb, to which the Indians give the name of wappatoo, is the great article of food, and almost the staple article of commerce on the Columbia. It is never out of season; so that at all times of the year, the valley is frequented by the neighbouring Indians who come to gather it. It is collected chiefly by the women, who employ for the purpose canoes from ten to fourteen feet in length, about two feet wide, and nine inches deep, and tapering from the middle, where they are about twenty inches wide. They are sufficient to contain a single person and several bushels of roots, yet so very light that a woman can carry them with ease; she takes one of these canoes into a pond where the water is as high as the breast, and, by means of her toes, separates from the root this bulb, which on being freed from the mud rises immediately to the surface of the water, and is thrown into the canoe. In this manner these patient females remain in the water for several hours, even in the depth of winter. This plant is found through The trade of all the inhabitants is in anchovies, sturgeon, but chiefly in wappatoo, to obtain which, the inha bitants, and to the Pacific Ocean. bitants, both above and below them on the river, come at all seasons, and supply in turn beads, cloth, and various other articles procured from the Europeans. SINGULAR APPEARANCE. During the whole course of the Columbia from the Rapids to the Chilluckittequaws are the trunks of many large pine-trees standing erect in the wa. ter, which is thirty feet deep at present, and never less than ten. These trees could never have grown in their present state, for they are all very much doated, and none of them vegetate; so that the only reasonable account which can be given of this phenomenon is, that at some period, which the appearance of the trees induces us to fix within twenty years, the rocks from the hill sides have obstructed the narrow pass at the Rapids, and caused the river to spread through the woods. THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. The country along the Rocky mountains for several hundred miles in length, and about fifty wide, is a high level plain, in all its parts extremely fertile, and in many places covered with a growth of tall long-leafed pine. This plain is chiefly interrupted near the streams of water, where the hills are steep and lofty; but the soil is good, being unincumbered by much stone, and possesses more timber than the level country. Under shelter of these hills, the bottom lands skirt the margin of the rivers, and though narrow and confined, are still fertile, and rarely inundated. Nearly the whole of this wide-spread tract is covered with a profusion of grass and plants, which are at this time as high as the knee. Among these are a variety of esculent plants and roots, acquired without much difficulty, and yielding not only a nutritious but a very agreeable food. The air is pure and dry, the climate quite as mild, if not milder, than the same parallels of latitude in the Atlantic States, and must be equally healthy, for all the disorders which we have witnessed, may fairly be imputed more to the nature of the diet than to any intemperance of cli. mate. This general observation is of course to be qualified, since in the same tract of country, the degrees of the combination of heat and cold obey the influence of situation. Thus the rains of the low grounds near our camp are snows in the high plains, and while 609 the sun shines with intense heat in the confined bottoms, the plains enjoy a much colder air, and the vegetation is retarded at least fifteen days, while at the foot of the mountains the snows are still many feet in depth; so that within twenty miles of our camp we observe the rigours of the winter cold, the cool air of spring, and the oppressive heat of midsummer. Even on the plains, however, where the snow has fallen, it seems to do but little injury to the grass and other plants, which, though apparently tender and susceptible, are still blooming, at the height of nearly eighteen inches through the snow. In short, this district affords many advantages to settlers, and, if properly cultivated, would yield every object necessary for the subsistence and comfort of civilized man. The Chopunnish themselves are in general stout, well formed, and active; they have high, and many of them aquiline, noses, and the general appearance of the face is cheerful and agreeable, though without any indication of gaiety and mirth. Like most of the Indians they extract their beards; but the women only pluck the hair from the rest of the body. That of the men is very often suffered to grow, nor does there appear to be any natural deficiency in that respect; for we observe several men, who, if they had adopted the practice of shaving, would have been as well supplied as ourselves. The dress of both sexes resembles that of the Shoshonees, and consists of a long shirt reaching to the thigh, leggings as high as the waist, moccasins and robes, all of which are formed of skins. Their ornaments are beads, shells, and pieces of brass attached to different parts of the dress, or tied round the arms, neck, wrists, and over the shoulders: to these are added pearls and beads, suspended from the ears, and a single shell of wampum through the nose. The head-dress of the men is a bandeau of fox or otter skin, either with or without the fur, and sometimes an ornament is tied to a plait of hair, falling from the crown of the head: that of the women is a cap without rim, formed of bear grass and cedar bark; while the hair itself, of both sexes, falls in two rows down the front of the body. Collars of bears' claws are also common. But a personal sonal ornament most esteemed is a sort of breastplate, formed of a strip of otter skin, six inches wide, cut out of the whole length of the back of the animal, including the head; this being dressed with the hair on, a hole is made at the upper end, through which the head of the wearer is placed, and the skin hangs in front with the tail reaching below the knee, and ornamented with pieces of pearl, red cloth, and wampum; or, in short, any other fanciful decoration. Tippets also are occasionally worn. That of Hohastillpilp was formed of human scalps, and adorned with the thumbs and fingers of several men slain by him in battle, The Chopunnish are among the most amiable men we have seen. Their character is placid and gentle, rarely moved into passion, yet not often enlivened by gaiety. Their amusements consist in running races, shooting with arrows at a target, and they partake of the great and prevailing vice of gambling. They are, however, by no means so much attached to baubles as the generality of Indians, but are anxious to obtain articles of utility, such as knives, tomahawks, kettles, blankets, and awls for moccasins. They have also suffered so much from the superiority of their enemies, that they are equally desirous of procuring arms and ammunition, which they are gradually acquiring, for the band of Tunnachemootoolt have already six guns, which they acquired from the Minnetarees. The Chopunnish bury their dead in sepulchres, formed of boards, constructed like the roof of a house. The body is rolled in skins and laid one over another, separated by a board only, both above and below. We have sometimes seen their dead buried in wooden boxes, and rolled in skins in the manner above-mentioned. They sacrifice their horses, canoes, and every other species of property to their dead; the bones of many horses are seen lying round their sepulchres. THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER. The Rochejaune, or Yellowstone river, according to Indian information, has its remote sources in the Rocky mountains, near the peaks of the Rio del Norde, on the confines of New Mexico, to which, country there is a good road, during the whole distance along the banks of the Yellowstone. Its western waters are probably con3 nected with those of Lewis's river, while the eastern branches approach the heads of Clarke's river, the Bighorn, and the Platte; so that it waters the middle portion of the Rocky mountains for several hundred miles from north-west to south-east. During its whole course from the point at which Captain Clarke reached it to the Missouri, a distance which he computed at eight hundred and thirtyseven miles, this river is large and navigable for perioques, and even batteaux, there being none of the moving sandbars which impede the navigation of the Missouri, and only a single ledge of rocks, which, however, is not difficult to pass. Even its tributary waters, the Bighorn, Clarke's fork, and Tongue river, may be ascended in boats for a considerable distance. The banks of the river are low, but bold, and no where subject to be overflowed, except for a short distance below the mountains. The predominating colour of the river is a yellowish brown; that of the Missouri, which possesses more mud, is of a deep drab colour; the bed of the former being chiefly composed of loose pebble; which, however, diminish in size in descending the river, till, after passing the Lazeka, the pebble cease as the river widens, and the mud and sand continue to form the greater part of the bottom. Over these the water flows with a velocity constantly and almost equally decreasing in proportion to its distance from the mountains. From the mountains to Clarke's fork, the current may be estimated at four and a half miles per hour; thence as low as the Bighorn, at three and a half miles; between that and the Lazeka at three miles; and from that river to the Wolf rapid, at two and three quarter miles; from which to its entrance, the general rapidity is two miles per hour. The appearance and character of the country present nearly similar varieties of fertile, rich, open lands. Above Clarke's fork, it consists of high waving plains bordered by stony hills, partially supplied with pine; the middle portion, as low as the Buffaloe shoals, contains less timber, and the number diminishes still lower, where the river widens, and the country spreads itself into extensive plains. MUSQUITOES. Monday, August 4. The camp became Clarke's Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa. TRAVELS 611 In Various Countries of EUROPE, ASIA, and AFRICA, BY Became absolutely uninhabitable, in insects do not venture; but when EVAPORATION. We had here (at Whitecatfish camp) occasion to remark the wonderful evaporation from the Missouri, which does not appear to contain more water, nor is its channel wider than at the distance of one thousand miles nearer its source, although within that space it receives about twenty rivers, some of them of considerable width, and a great number of creeks. This evaporation seems, in fact, to be greater now than when we ascended the river, for we are obliged to replenish the inkstand every day with fresh ink, nine-tenths of which must escape by evaporation. EDWARD DANIEL CLARKE, LL.D. PART THE SECOND, SECTION THE SECOND. [No two works can present, in matter and manner, a greater contrast than that which here follows and that which has gone before. Both treat of the same human nature, yet under what different aspects! One exhibits man unaided by the combinations of civilization and art, and the other contemplates him as the vie tim of diseased and perverted society, in which his energies have been de stroyed by bad, corrupt, barbarous, and despotic governments! That part of the people of England, who are insensible of the value of liberty and peace, (the essence of which consists in inde pendant checks of the different branches of the government on each other, and on nations doing to each other as they would be done unto) will render themselves and their posterity justice by turning their attention to the condition of the once-flourishing people which now degrade the human character, on the shores of the Mediterranean, and to the wretched Indian nations, whose miseries are respectively produced by despotism in their governments, and by incessant and wanton aggressions of ambitious chiefs. But Dr. Clarke's book is not useful merely from the political lesson which it teaches; on the contrary, it presents a rich feast to every inquisitive lover of letters, and every classical scholar; and, as we turn over his pages, our surprise is extorted by the variety of his researches and observations on subjects of ethics, natural history, and archeology, and by the acuteness displayed in his various reasonings on topics which have long excited the controversies of the learned. His former volumes have, however, received the approbation of the highest court of criticism, and we predict that a similar fortune will attend the present. Indeed, as it includes the interesting countries of Egypt and southern Greece, it is, to our taste, much superior to either of the former. His next volume promises also considerable entertainment, as including the northern provinces of Greece, and the author's route home through France. If the work, thus extended, becomes voluminous, its extent has not at present exceeded its claims on the public attention; and, if it is one of the largest |