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/151



Party commence eating horses—Remarkable escape from a rattlesnake—Kill numbers of them—Arrive among the Wallah Wallah tribe—Description of the country—The Pierced-nose Indians—Author's party proceeds up Lewis River—Purchase horses for land-travelling—Prickly pears—Awkward accident—Leave the canoes, and journey inland.

The day after quitting the encampment at the end of the rocky island we stopped about one o'clock at a village, where we purchased five horses. The value of the goods we paid for each in England would not exceed five shillings. As these horses were intended for the kettle, they were doomed to instant destruction. Our comparatively recent separation from the land of "bread and butter" caused the idea of feeding on so useful and noble an animal to be at first highly repugnant to our feelings; but example, and above all, necessity, soon conquered these little qualms of civilization; and in a few days we almost brought ourselves to believe that the animal on which we fed once carried horns, was divided in the hoof, and chewed the cud. A curious incident occurred at this spot to one of our