to their neighbors in honesty as well as spirit.  No ill treatment or indignity on our part seemed to excite any feeling except fear; nor, although better provided than their neighbors with arms, have they enterprise enough either to use them advantageously against the animals of the forest, or offensively against the tribes near them, who owe their safety more to the timidity than the forbearance of the Chinooks.  We had heard instances of pilfering while we were among them, and therefore gave a general order excluding them from our encampment, so that whenever an Indian wished to visit us, he began by calling out ‘No Chinook.’  It is not improbable that this first impression may have left a prejudice against them, since, when we were among the Clatsops and other tribes at the mouth of the Columbia, they had less opportunity of stealing, if they were so disposed.”

The weeks remaining before the party set out on their return were passed without notable incident.  The journal is chiefly occupied with comments on the weather, which was variable, and some account of the manners and customs of the Indian tribes along the Columbia River.  At that time, so few traders had penetrated the wilds of the Lower Columbia that the Indians were not supplied with firearms to any great extent.  Their main reliance was the bow and arrow.  A few shotguns were seen among them, but no rifles, and great was the admiration and wonder with which the Indians saw the white men slay birds and animals at a long distance.  Pitfalls for elk were constructed by the side of fallen trees over which the animals might leap.  Concerning the manufactures of the Clatsops, they reported as follows:—­

“Their hats are made of cedar-bark and bear-grass, interwoven together in the form of a European hat, with a small brim of about two inches, and a high crown widening upward.  They are light, ornamented with various colors and figures, and being nearly water-proof, are much more durable than either chip or straw hats.  These hats form a small article of traffic with the whites, and their manufacture is one of the best exertions of Indian industry.  They are, however, very dexterous in making a variety of domestic utensils, among which are bowls, spoons, scewers (skewers), spits, and baskets.  The bowl or trough is of different shapes—­round, semicircular, in the form of a canoe, or cubic, and generally dug out of a single piece of wood; the larger vessels have holes in the sides by way of handles, and all are executed with great neatness.  In these vessels they boil their food, by throwing hot stones into the water, and extract oil from different animals in the same way.  Spoons are not very abundant, nor is there anything remarkable in their shape, except that they are large and the bowl broad.  Meat is roasted on one end of a sharp skewer, placed erect before the fire, with the other end fixed in the ground.