[Lewis:]
Thursday April 10th. 1806.
We set out early and droped down the channel to the lower
end of brant Island from whence we drew them up the rapid
by a cord about a quarter of a mile which we soon performed;
Collins and Gibson not having yet come over we directed
Sergt Pryor to remain with the cord on the Island untill Gibson
arrived and assist him with his crew in geting his canoe up
the rapid, when they were to join us on the oposite side at a
small village of six houses of the Clah-clah′-lahs where we
halted for breakfast. in passing the river which is here about
400 yds. wide the rapidity of the currant was such that it boar
us down a considerable distance notwithstanding we employed
five oars. on entering one of these lodges, the natives offered
us a sheepskin for sail, than which nothing could have been
more acceptable except the animal itself. the skin of the head
of the sheep with the horns remaining was cased in such manner
as to fit the head of a man by whom it was woarn and
highly prized as an ornament. we obtained this cap in exchange
for a knife, and were compelled to give two Elkskins
in exchange for the skin. this appeared to be the skin of a
sheep not fully grown; the horns were about four inches long,
celindric, smooth, black, erect and pointed; they rise from the
middle of the forehead a little above the eyes, they offered
us a second skin of a full grown sheep which was quite as large
as that of a common deer. they discovered our anxity to purchase
and in order to extort a great price declared that they
prized it too much to dispose of it. in expectation of finding
some others of a similar kind for sale among the natives of
this neighbourhood I would not offer him a greater price than
had been given for the other which he refused. these people
informed us that these sheep were found in great abundance on
the hights and among the clifts of the adjacent mountains.
and that they had lately killed these two from a herd of 36, at
no great distance from their village. we could obtain no provision
from those people except four white salmon trout. at ten
oclock Sergt. Pryor and Gibson joined us with Collins who had
killed 3 deer. these were all of the blacktailed fallow kind.
we set out and continued our rout up the N. side of the river
with great difficulty in consequence of the rapidity of the current
and the large rocks which form this shore; the South side
of the river is impassable.
[14]
as we had but one sufficient toe-rope
and were obliged to employ the cord in geting on our canoes
the greater part of the way we could only take them one at
a time which retarded our progress very much. by evening
we arrived at the portage on the North side where we landed
and conveyed our bagage to the top of the hill about 200
paces distant where we formed a camp. we had the canoes
drawn on shore and secured. the small canoe got loose from
the hunters and went a drift with a tin vessel and tommahawk
in her; the Indians caught her at the last village and brought
her up to us this evening for which service we gave them a
couple of knives; the canoe overset and lost the articles which
were in her. saw the white pine at this place.
