Having made during the day thirty-four miles, we now spread
our mats on the ground, and passed the night in the rain. Here we were
joined by our small canoe, which had been separated from us during the
fog this morning. Two Indians from the last village also accompanied us
to the camp; but, having detected them in stealing a knife, they were
sent off."
It is not very easy for us, who have lived comfortably at home, or who
have travelled only in luxurious railway-cars and handsomely equipped
steamers, to realize the joy and rapture with which these far-wandering
explorers hailed the sight of the sea,--the sea to which they had so
long been journeying, through deserts, mountain-passes, and tangled
wildernesses. In his diary Captain Clark thus sets down some indication
of his joy on that memorable day, November 8, 1805: "Great joy in camp.
We are in view of the Ocean, this great Pacific Ocean which we have
been so long anxious to see, and the roaring or noise made by the waves
breaking on the rocky shores (as I suppose) may be heard distinctly."
Later, same day, he says, "Ocean in view! O! the joy!" Fortunately, the
hardships to be undergone on the shores of the ocean were then unknown
and undreamed of; the travellers were thankful to see the sea, the
goal of all their hopes, the end of their long pilgrimage across the
continent.
That night they camped near the mouth of the river in what is now known
as Gray's Bay, on the north side of the river, in the southwest corner
of Wahkiacum County.
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