s several degrees of
latitude; arriving at the regions of oaks and sycamores; of mulberry
and basswood trees; of paroquets and wild turkeys. This is one of the
characteristics of the middle and lower part of the Missouri; but still
more so of the Mississippi, whose rapid current traverses a succession
of latitudes so as in a few days to float the voyager almost from the
frozen regions to the tropics.

The voyage of Wyeth shows the regular and unobstructed flow of the
rivers, on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, in contrast to those of
the western side; where rocks and rapids continually menace and obstruct
the voyager. We find him in a frail bark of skins, launching himself
in a stream at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and floating down from
river to river, as they empty themselves into each other; and so he
might have kept on upward of two thousand miles, until his little
bark should drift into the ocean. At present we shall stop with him at
Cantonment Leavenworth, the frontier post of the United States; where he
arrived on the 27th of September.

Here his first care was to have his Nez Perce Indian, and his half-breed
boy, Baptiste, vaccinated. As they approached the fort, they were
hailed by the sentinel. The sight of a soldier in full array, with what
appeared to be a long knife glittering on the end of a musket, struck
Baptiste with such affright that he took to his heels, bawling for mercy
at the top of his voice. The Nez Perce would have followed him, had not
Wyeth assured him of his safety. When they underwent the operation
of the lancet, the doctor's wife and another lady were present; both
beautiful women. They were the first white women that they had seen, and
they could not keep their eyes off of them. On returning to the boat,
they recounted to their companions all that they had observed at the
fort; but were especially eloquent about the white squaws, who, they
said, were white as snow, and more beautiful than any human being they
had ever beheld.

We shall not accompany the captain any further in his Voyage; but will
simply state that he made his way to Boston, where he succeeded in
organizing an association under the name of "The Columbia River Fishing
and Trading Company," for his original objects of a salmon fishery and
a trade in furs. A brig, the May Dacres, had been dispatched for the
Columbia with supplies; and he was now on his way to the same point, at
the head of sixty men, whom he had