Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 5.djvu/228

218 out the voyage. The vessel arrives opposite the mouth of the Columbia on February 12, 1825. It crosses the Columbia bar April 7th. For some two weeks botanical operations are carried on near the mouth of the river. Both sides are visited and expectations are realized. Fort George is about to be abandoned. Douglas makes the newly located Fort Vancouver his headquarters from April 20 to May 10. In company with Dr. Scouler he goes down the Columbia, Returning alone at the end of the month he departs up the Columbia June 20 to a point a few miles above Celilo Falls. On July 19 starts to return down the river that he may prosecute researches at the coast. Arrives at Vancouver August 5th. Dries and packs collections until the 18th. On August 19 ascends the Willamette, passing the falls and continuing for two days beyond to a village of Calapooia Indians twenty-four miles above the falls. Camps several days near a "saline" spring. A hunting party goes west over a ridge of mountains. At this camp Douglas's attention is first called to the seed of "a remarkably large pine." These seeds were carried by the natives in pouches and eaten by them as nuts. He learned that the tree grew in the mountains to the south. Returns to Vancouver "richly fraught" with "treasure collected."

Spends a few days in arranging specimens and drying seeds. On the 5th of September, with an Indian chief as guide, he proceeds to the Cascades, where he tries to reach the summits of the mountains, first on the north side and then on the south. On the 13th he re-embarks for Vancouver. Spends the rest of the month of August packing collections. Dr. Scouler returns from a voyage to the north. A wound in Douglas's knee, received in packing, disables him for several weeks. On October 22 he starts down the Columbia in a small canoe, accompanied by four Indians. He aims to visit Dr. Scouler and old shipmates on the William and Anne, which is about to weigh anchor for England. He misses the vessel and continues on a trip to Grays Harbor and the Chehalis River, as he had planned. Suffers great hardships,