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/153

 it under the coiled reptile, and succeeded in pitching it upwards of ten feet from the man's body. A shout of joy was the first intimation La Course received of his wonderful escape, while in the mean time the man with the stick pursued the snake, which he killed. It was three feet six inches long; and eleven years old, which I need not inform my readers we easily ascertained by the number of rattles. A general search was then commenced about the encampment, and under several rocks we found upwards of fifty of them, all of which we destroyed. There is no danger attending their destruction, provided a person has a long pliant stick, and does not approach them nearer than their length, for they cannot spring beyond it, and seldom act on the offensive except closely pursued. They have a strong repugnance to the smell of tobacco, in consequence of which we opened a bale of it, and strewed a quantity of loose leaves about the tents, by which means we avoided their visits during the night. We had however nearly as bad visitors—the musquitoes, which from the falls upwards annoyed us dreadfully. We were obliged to make a slight fire of rotten wood in the cul-de-sac of our tents, which merely caused a smoke without flame, and which effectually drove them