Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/211

JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO N. W. AMERICA. 205 20 & the number of inhabitants was probably about 300. The houses were constructed of planks of fir & cedar, & thatched with Typha latifolia. Near the shore there were several large shades erected for drying salmon, & from the immense quantities of dry fish we saw, there was little probability they would experience any of the horrors of famine the ensuing winter. The method they adopt of curing the salmon is very simple ; the intestines are taken out & the spine & the remaining part of the fish is exposed to the sun. No salt is ever used by the Indians. 27th. We went ashore again this forenoon to make a short botanical excursion. We found the Indians busily employed in removing their provisions & furniture, even to the boards of their houses, to their winter quarters, which were a little way into the interior. My botanising was very unfortunate & I was about to go on board with- out a single plant; on advancing a little farther into the woods, I had the good fortune to find a fine species of Sanicula. On examining this plant I found it to differ from any of the sp. of Sanicula I was acquainted with. From the down on the lower part of the stem & on the leaves it may be called S. tomentosa. 28th. Towards evening we were becalmed of[f] Ta- tooche & several canoes carne of[f] to us with salmon & halibut. One man ventured on board, though with much apprehension. The reason of his terror was that he had been carried of[f] & sold as a slave by an American ship. We were already aware that such things had been done by an American vessel, but we had not seen any of his victims before. This villain, whose name is Ayres, once entered the Columbia & carried of[f] 12 men, seven of them, however, escaped by stealing the boat & making for the shore. (TO BE CONTINUED.)