From
this island they showed him the entrance of the western branch of the
Columbia, called the Tapteal, which, as far as could be seen, bears
nearly west and empties about eight miles above into the Columbia, the
general course of which is northwest."
The Tapteal, as the journal calls it, is now known as the Yakima,
a stream which has its source in the Cascade range of mountains,
Washington. The party tarried here long enough to secure from the
Indians a tolerably correct description of the river upon which they
were about to embark. One of the chiefs drew upon the skin-side of a
buffalo robe a sketch of the Columbia. And this was transferred to paper
and put into the journal. That volume adds here:--
"Having completed the purposes of our stay, we now began to lay in our
stores. Fish being out of season, we purchased forty dogs, for which we
gave small articles, such as bells, thimbles, knitting-needles, brass
wire, and a few beads, an exchange with which they all seemed perfectly
satisfied. These dogs, with six prairie-cocks killed this morning,
formed a plentiful supply for the present. We here left our guide
and the two young men who had accompanied him, two of the three being
unwilling to go any further, and the third being of no use, as he was
not acquainted with the river below. We therefore took no Indians but
our two chiefs, and resumed our journey in the presence of many of the
Sokulks, who came to witness our departure. The morning was cool and
fair, and the wind from the southeast.
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