the top of these.  The whole is then wrapped up in mats, and made fast by cords, over which mats are again thrown.  Twelve of these baskets, each of which contains from ninety to one hundred pounds, form a stack, which is left exposed till it is sent to market.  The fish thus preserved keep sound and sweet for several years, and great quantities, they inform us, are sent to the Indians who live below the falls, whence it finds its way to the whites who visit the mouth of the Columbia.  We observe, both near the lodges and on the rocks in the river, great numbers of stacks of these pounded fish.  Besides fish, these people supplied us with filberts and berries, and we purchased a dog for supper; but it was with much difficulty that we were able to buy wood enough to cook it.”

On the twenty-third the voyagers made the descent of the great falls which had so long been an object of dread to them.  The whole height of the falls is thirty-seven feet, eight inches, in a distance of twelve hundred yards.  A portage of four hundred and fifty yards was made around the first fall, which is twenty feet high, and perpendicular.  By means of lines the canoes were let down the rapids below.  At the season of high water the falls become mere rapids up which the salmon can pass.  On this point the journal says:—­

“From the marks everywhere perceivable at the falls, it is obvious that in high floods, which must be in the spring, the water below the falls rises nearly to a level with that above them.  Of this rise, which is occasioned by some obstructions which we do not as yet know, the salmon must avail themselves to pass up the river in such multitudes that this fish is almost the only one caught in great abundance above the falls; but below that place we observe the salmon-trout, and the heads of a species of trout smaller than the salmon-trout, which is in great quantities, and which they are now burying, to be used as their winter food.  A hole of any size being dug, the sides and bottom are lined with straw, over which skins are laid; on these the fish, after being well dried, are laid, covered with other skins, and the hole is closed with a layer of earth twelve or fifteen inches deep. . . .

“We saw no game except a sea-otter, which was shot in the narrow channel as we were coming down, but we could not get it.  Having, therefore, scarcely any provisions, we purchased eight small fat dogs:  a food to which we were compelled to have recourse, as the Indians were very unwilling to sell us any of their good fish, which they reserved for the market below.  Fortunately, however, habit had completely overcome the repugnance which we felt at first at eating this animal, and the dog, if not a favorite dish, was always an acceptable one.  The meridian altitude of to-day gave 45’0 42’ 57.3” north as the latitude of our camp.