And on the ninth is this entry:—­

“The wind having moderated, we reloaded the canoes and set out by seven o’clock.  We stopped to take up the two hunters who left us yesterday, but were unsuccessful in the chase, and then proceeded to the Wahclellah village, situated on the north side of the river, about a mile below Beacon Rock.  During the whole of the route from camp we passed along under high, steep, and rocky sides of the mountains, which now close on each side of the river, forming stupendous precipices, covered with fir and white cedar.  Down these heights frequently descend the most beautiful cascades, one of which, a large creek, throws itself over a perpendicular rock three hundred feet above the water, while other smaller streams precipitate themselves from a still greater elevation, and evaporating in a mist, collect again and form a second cascade before they reach the bottom of the rocks.  We stopped to breakfast at this village.  We here found the tomahawk which had been stolen from us on the fourth of last November.  They assured us they had bought it of the Indians below; but as the latter had already informed us that the Wahclellahs had such an article, which they had stolen, we made no difficulty about retaking our property.”

The Columbia along the region through which the expedition was now passing is a very wild and picturesque stream.  The banks are high and rocky, and some of the precipices to which the journal refers are of a vast perpendicular height.  On the Oregon side of the river are five cascades such as those which the journal mentions.  The most famous and beautiful of these is known as Multnomah Falls.  This cataract has a total fall of more than six hundred feet, divided into two sections.  The other cascades are the Bridal Veil, the Horsetail, the Latourelle, and the Oneonta, and all are within a few miles of each other.

On the ninth of April the voyagers reached the point at which they were to leave tidewater, fifty-six miles above the mouth of the Multnomah, or Willamette.  They were now at the entrance of the great rapids which are known as the Cascades of the Columbia, and which occupy a space on the river about equal to four miles and a half.  They were still navigating the stream with their canoes, camping sometimes on the north side and sometimes on the south side of the river.  This time they camped on the north side, and during the night lost one of their boats, which got loose and drifted down to the next village of the Wahclellahs, some of whom brought it back to the white men’s camp and were rewarded for their honesty by a present of two knives.  It was found necessary to make a portage here, but a long and severe rainstorm set in, and the tents and the skins used for protecting the baggage were soaked.  The journal goes on with the narrative thus:—­