d and foot, and thrown into
one of the canoes. Here they lay in doleful fright, expecting summary
execution. Mr. Crooks, however, was not of a revengeful disposition, and
agreed to release the culprits as soon as the pillaged property should
be restored. Several savages immediately started off in different
directions, and before night the rifles of Crooks and Day were produced;
several of the smaller articles pilfered from them, however, could not
be recovered.

The bands of the culprits were then removed, and they lost no time in
taking their departure, still under the influence of abject terror,
and scarcely crediting their senses that they had escaped the merited
punishment of their offenses.

The country on each side of the river now began to assume a different
character. The hills, and cliffs, and forests disappeared; vast sandy
plains, scantily clothed here and there with short tufts of grass,
parched by the summer sun, stretched far away to the north and south.
The river was occasionally obstructed with rocks and rapids, but often
there were smooth, placid intervals, where the current was gentle, and
the boatmen were enabled to lighten their labors with the assistance of
the sail.

The natives in this part of the river resided entirely on the northern
side. They were hunters, as well as fishermen, and had horses in plenty.
Some of these were purchased by the party, as provisions, and killed on
the spot, though they occasionally found a difficulty in procuring
fuel wherewith to cook them. One of the greatest dangers that beset
the travellers in this part of their expedition, was the vast number of
rattlesnakes which infested the rocks about the rapids and portages, and
on which the men were in danger of treading. They were often found, too,
in quantities about the encampments. In one place, a nest of them lay
coiled together, basking in the sun. Several guns loaded with shot were
discharged at them, and thirty-seven killed and wounded. To prevent
any unwelcome visits from them in the night, tobacco was occasionally
strewed around the tents, a weed for which they have a very proper
abhorrence.

On the 28th of July the travellers arrived at the mouth of the
Wallah-Wallah, a bright, clear stream, about six feet deep, and
fifty-five yards wide, which flows rapidly over a bed of sand and
gravel, and throws itself into the Columbia, a few miles below Lewis
River. Here the combined parties that had thus far voyaged