Page:The Columbia river , or, Scenes and adventures during a residence of six years on the western side of the Rocky Mountains among various tribes of Indians hitherto unknown (Volume 1).djvu/104

 *ing them any certain intelligence of the Tonquin. During this period it rained incessantly; and the Indians had withdrawn themselves from the banks of the Columbia to their winter-quarters in the sheltered recesses of the forests, and in the vicinity of springs or small rivulets.

They continued in this state of disagreeable anxiety until the 8th of January, 1812, when their drooping spirits were somewhat raised by the arrival of Mr. Donald M'Kenzie with two canoes from the interior. This gentleman was accompanied by Mr. M'Lellan, a proprietor, Mr. Read, a clerk, and ten men. He had left St. Louis in the month of August, 1810, in company with Mr. Hunt. They passed the winter of that year at a place called Nadwau, on the banks of the Missouri, where they were joined by Messrs. M'Lellan, Crooks, and Miller, three American traders, connected with Mr. Astor.

In the spring of 1811 they ascended the Missouri in two large barges, until they arrived on the lands of a powerful tribe named the Arikaraws. Here they met a Spanish trader, Mr. Manuel Lisa, to whom they sold their barges and a quantity of their merchandise.

Having purchased one hundred and thirty horses from the Indians, they set off in the begin