Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/427

421 JOURNAL AND LRTTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 421 papers, proved so very fatiguing-, that I felt myself almost worn out. I reached the lodge at four, wet to the skin, and benumbed with cold, and humble as the shelter was, I hailed it with delight. Here a large fire dried my clothes, and I got something to eat, though, unluckily, my guides all lingered behind, and those who carried my blanket and tea-kettle were the last to make their appearance. These people have no thought or consideration for the morrow; but sit down to their food, smoke and tell stories and make themselves perfectly happy. The next day my two new acquaintances went out with their guns and shot a young bull, a few rods from the hut, which they kindly gave me for the use of my party. According to report, the grassy flanks of the mountain abound with wild cattle, the offspring of the stock left here by Capt. Vancouver, and which now prove a very great ben- efit to this island. A slight interval of better weather this afternoon afforded a glimpse of the summit between the clouds; it was covered with snow. At night the sky became quite clear, and the stars, among which I observed the Orion, Canis minor, and Canopus, shone with intense brilliancy. The next day the atmosphere was perfectly cloudless, and I visited some of the high peaks which were thinly patched with snow. On two of them, which were extinct volcanos, not a blade of grass could be seen, nor any thing save lava, mostly reddish, but in some places of a black colour. Though on the summit of the most elevated peak, the thermometer under a bright sun, stood at 40, yet when the instrument was laid at an angle of about fifteen degrees, the quicksilver rose to 63, and the blocks of lava felt sensibly warm to the touch. The wind was from all directions, East and West, for the great altitude and the extensive mass of beating matter completely destroy the Trade Wind. The last plant that I saw upon the mountain was a gigantic species of the Composite*? (Argyropliyton Douglasii, Hook. Ic. Plant, t. 75), with a column o/ imbricated, sharp-pointed leaves, densely covered with a silky clcoj ing. I gathered a few seeds of the plants which I met with, among them a remarkable Ranunculus, which grows as high up as there is any soil. One of my companions killed a young cow just on the edge of the wood, which he presented me with for the next day's consumption. Night arrived only too soon, and we had to walk four miles back to the lodge across the lava, where we arrived at eight o'clock, hungry, tired, .and lame, but highly gratified with the result of the day's expedition. The following morning proved again clear and pleasant, and every thing being arranged, some of the men were despatched early, but such are the delays which these people make, that I overtook them all before eight o'clock. They have no idea of time, but stand still awhile, then walk a little, stop and eat, smoke and talk, and thus loiter away a whole day. At noon we came up to the place where we had left the