Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/209

203 JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO N. W. AMERICA. 203 ance of Scirpus lacustris, growing to the height of 6 or 7 feet. Nearer the shore the soil consisted of a mixture of sand and peat, formed by the action of the sea & the decay of the musci which abounded here. The bay abounded in Scirpi carices & other aquatic grasses. In the dry sandy margins I found Spiraea salicifolia Guapha- lium, 2 sp. (Enothera biennis. The drift wood along the beach abounded with Coluber. They were perfectly harm- less & the ground seamed a mass of serpents. One could not overturn any piece of old wood without dislodging from 18 to 20 of them. 23d. The fresh taste of the water, although we were three miles from the shore, seamed to indicate the vicinity of large rivers. As this was the grand object of our enquir- ies, the long boat was dispatched & on its return in the evening confirmed our suspicions. The river is shut up from the access of vessels for a great way by sand banks & has not more than 6 feet water at its mouth. Qj^ili. The Cowitchen chief, Chapea, came on board to inform us that a part[y] of white people from the Colum- bia were in search of us, & that we would soon see them in three canoes. We were at first inclined to give a little attention to the report, but when he further informed us that two vessels had entered the straits, we were convinced that his object was to sell us news when his skins were disposed of. Chapea had in his retinue an Indian deaply marked with smallpox & was the only individual we had seen on the N. W. coast with this disease. The rarity of such an occurrence at once indicates the fatality of the disease & the dread they entertain of it. This epidemic broke out among them in 17 & soon depopulated the eastern coast of America, & those on the Columbia were not secure be- hind the Rocky Mountains, & the ravages of the disease were only bounded by the Pacific Ocean. The Cheenooks