No record was kept
of the amount of fish consumed by the party; but they were obliged at
times to make fish their sole article of diet. Late in February they
were visited by Comowool, the principal Clatsop chief, who brought them
a sturgeon and quantities of a small fish which had just begun to make
its appearance in the Columbia. This was known as the anchovy, but
oftener as the candle-fish; it is so fat that it may be burned like a
torch, or candle. The journal speaks of Comowool as "by far the most
friendly and decent savage we have seen in this neighborhood."
Chapter XIX -- With Faces turned Homeward
The officers of the expedition had decided to begin their homeward march
on the first of April; but a natural impatience induced them to start
a little earlier, and, as a matter of record, it may be said that they
evacuated Fort Clatsop on the 23d of March, 1806. An examination of
their stock of ammunition showed that they had on hand a supply of
powder amply sufficient for their needs when travelling the three
thousand miles of wilderness in which their sole reliance for food must
be the game to be killed. The powder was kept in leaden canisters, and
these, when empty, were used for making balls for muskets and rifles.
Three bushels of salt were collected for their use on the homeward
journey.
What they needed now most of all was an assortment of small wares and
trinkets with which to trade with the Indians among whom they must
spend so many months before reaching civilization again.
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