Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 37.djvu/219

 the year past has been at Oahu, returned in the Neriade, benefited by his visit

"13th This morn visited the School to hear the children Sing It consists of about 50 Scholars, children who have French Fathers & Indian mothers & many orphans. All the labourers here are Canadian French, with Indian wives. Indeed some of the gentlemen of the Company have native wives & have adopted the costom of the country not to allow their wives to eat with them. French is the prevailing language here. English is spoken only by a few. Just before dinner we went on board the Ship. The First I ever saw. She is a man of war & goes to the North West Coast soon. The Com. have lost three ships on this Coast. The Columbia returns to London this fall.

"14th Were invited to a ride to see the farm have rode fifteen miles this afternoon Vancouver is finely situated on the Columbia 130 miles from the ocean, Just above the mouth of the Wallamut Called on maps Multnomah. We visited the barn stock &c They estimate their wheat crops at 4000 bushels this year peas the same oats & barley between 15 & 1700 bushels each. The potatoes & turnip fields are large & fine. Their cattle are numerous, estimated at 1000 head in all their settlements. Also sheep & goats. But the sheep are of an inferiour kind. We find also Hens Turkeys Pigeons but no geese. You will ask what kind of beds are used here. I can tell you what kind they made for us after we arrived, & I have since found it a fashionable bed for this country. The bedstead is in the form of a bunk with rough board bottoms, upon which were laid about one dozen of the Indians blankets. These with a pair of pillows covered with calico cases constitute our bed & covering. There are several feather beds in the place, but they are made of the feathers of wild game, such as ducks cranes wild geese &c. I intend to make me one of these materials as soon as I can obtain them, not this winter however. There is nothing here suitable for ticking the best & only material is brown linen sheeting. The Indian Ladies make theirs of deer skin. Could we obtain a pair of geese from any quarter I should thing much of them.

"16th Every day we have something new to see. Went to