This dreadful calamity may reasonably, we
think, be imputed to the constant reflection of the sun on the waters,
where they are constantly fishing in the spring, summer, and fall, and
during the rest of the year on the snows of a country which affords no
object to relieve the sight.
"Among the Sokulks, indeed among all the tribes whose chief subsistence
is fish, we have observed that bad teeth are very general; some have the
teeth, particularly those of the upper jaw, worn down to the gums, and
many of both sexes, even of middle age, have lost them almost entirely.
This decay of the teeth is a circumstance very unusual among Indians,
either of the mountains or the plains, and seems peculiar to the
inhabitants of the Columbia. We cannot avoid regarding as one principal
cause of it the manner in which they eat their food. The roots are
swallowed as they are dug from the ground, frequently covered with a
gritty sand; so little idea have they that this is offensive that all
the roots they offer us for sale are in the same condition."
The explorers were now at the entrance of the mighty Columbia,--"The
Great River" of which they had heard so much from the Indians. We might
suppose that when they actually embarked upon the waters of the famous
stream, variously known as "The River of the North" and "The Oregon,"
the explorers would be touched with a little of the enthusiasm with
which they straddled the headwaters of the Missouri and gazed upon the
snow-covered peaks of the Rocky Mountains.
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