Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/270

 fort. Here, as at other places, land and boat expeditions were fitted out for survey and research. While surveying the Sacramento, Feather, and other rivers, it  was a beautiful sight to see the elks and deer coming  down from the mountains to the river to drink. The kiotes, or dog-wolves, were also very numerous. We used to build fires around the camps to keep them away;  but they would come, and that in droves, and stand  howling, yelling, and barking at us. It was enough to frighten a tribe of Indians. A few shots, however, from our guns and they skedaddled into the woods.

Grizzly bears were also very plenty. The little cubs were very cunning and playful as kittens. One must be careful not to hurt them, if he does he may expect a  tight hug from the mother.

We penetrated up the Sacramento as far as we could in the launch. The peak of Shasta is magnificent to view from here, rising as it does to a lofty height, its  steep sides emerging from the mist which envelops its  base and seems to throw it off to a great distance. It is at times an active volcano.

One day we witnessed the funeral of one of the Shasta Indians. Some wood was gathered, a fire built, and the dead body laid thereon. Then the Indians, dressed in blankets, with their faces painted, and their long, jet- black hair streaming in the air, danced, sang, wailed,  and made all kinds of hideous noises, and waved their  blankets in the air, in order to drive away all evil spirits. They believe that when the body is entirely burned up, and the heart consumed, that the spirit has flown to the  far-off hunting ground, there to enjoy everlasting peace.