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/162

 *pied until eleven or twelve o'clock each day, also contributed to cause this delay. With the exception of small willow and cotton wood, there are no trees from the Columbia upwards. The ground is covered with loose grass, and abounds in great quantities of the prickly pear, the thorns of which are remarkably sharp, and strong enough to penetrate the leather of the thickest moccasins.

On the third day, while riding a short distance ahead of the men, my horse happened to stand on a bunch of the prickly pears, which pained him so much that he commenced plunging and kicking, and ultimately threw me into a cluster of them. My face, neck, and body, were severely pierced; and every effort to rise only increased the painfulness of my situation, for wherever I placed my hands to assist in raising my body they came in contact with the same tormenting thorns. In fact I could not move an inch; and to add to my disaster, I observed three rattlesnakes within a few feet of my head. The men who were in the rear driving the horses, hearing my cries, quickly came to my assistance, and with considerable difficulty disentangled me from my painful situation: the snakes in the mean time had disappeared. I immediately hailed the ca