Understanding their intentions, the Indians attempted to come over to
them, but having no canoe, were obliged to use a raft, which struck on a
rock, upset, and the whole store of roots and bread were destroyed.
This failure completely exhausted our stock of merchandise; but the
remembrance of what we suffered from cold and hunger during the passage
of the Rocky Mountains makes us anxious to increase our means of
subsistence and comfort, since we have again to encounter the same
inconvenience."
But the ingenuity of the explorers was equal to this emergency. Having
observed that the Indians were very fond of brass buttons, which they
fastened to their garments as ornaments, and not for the useful purpose
for which buttons are made, the men now proceeded to cut from their
shabby United States uniforms those desired articles, and thus formed a
new fund for trading purposes. To these they added some eye-water, some
basilicon, and a few small tin boxes in which phosphorus had been kept.
Basilicon, of which mention is frequently made in the journal, was an
ointment composed of black pitch, white wax, resin, and olive oil; it
was esteemed as a sovereign remedy for all diseases requiring an outward
application. With these valuables two men were sent out to trade with
the Indians, on the second day of June, and they returned with three
bushels of eatable roots and some cowas bread. Later in that day, a
party that had been sent down the river (Lewis') in quest of food,
returned with a goodly supply of roots and seventeen salmon.
Pages:
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332