Part 17 (1/2)
Captain Bonneville and his party advanced slowly, exchanging salutes of firearms When arrived within a respectful distance, they dismounted
The chiefs then ca to their respective characters and consequence, to offer the hand of good fellowshi+p; each filing off when he had shaken hands, to make way for his successor
Those in the next rank followed in the sae of friendshi+p During all this ti to custouests If any of his people advanced whoed unworthy of the friendshi+p or confidence of the white men, he motioned them off by a wave of the hand, and they would submissively walk away When Captain Bonneville turned upon hi look, he would observe, ”he was a badquite as concise, and there was an end of the ht, and a coers, where they were kept constantly supplied ood and water, and other necessaries; and all their effects were placed in safe keeping Their horses, too, were unsaddled, and turned loose to graze, and a guard set to keep watch upon the adjusted, they were conducted to the e, where an ample repast, or rather banquet, was spread, which seeastrono starvation; for here they beheld not merely fish and roots in abundance, but the flesh of deer and elk, and the choicest pieces of buffalo orously they acquitted themselves on this occasion, and how unnecessary it was for their hosts to practice the usual cra principle of Indian hospitality
When the repast was over, a long talk ensued The chief showed the saenerally, to obtain infor the United States, of which they knew little but what they derived through their cousins, the Upper Nez Perces; as their traffic is almost exclusively with the British traders of the Hudson's Bay Company
Captain Bonneville did his best to set forth the merits of his nation, and the importance of their friendshi+p to the red men, in which he was ably seconded by his worthy friend, the old chief with the hard na Hearts of the East
The chief, and all present, listened with profound attention, and evidently with great interest; nor were the important facts thus set forth, confined to the audience in the lodge; for sentence after sentence was loudly repeated by a crier for the benefit of the whole village
This custo by criers, is not confined to the Nez Perces, but prevails ae where there are no gazettes to publish the news of the day, or to report the proceedings of is And in fact, reports of this kind, viva voce,of all parties, and liable to be contradicted or corrected on the spot, are more likely to convey accurate inforh the press The office of crier is generally filled by soenerally several of these walking newspapers, as they are ter the news of the day, giving notice of public councils, expeditions, dances, feasts, and other cere lost While Captain Bonneville relove, handkerchief, or anything of similar value, was lost or e of the chief, and proclamation was made by one of their criers, for the owner to coet at the true character of these wandering tribes of the wilderness! In a recent work, we have had to speak of this tribe of Indians fro them, and who represented thes, and ; Captain Bonneville, on the contrary, who residedthe their real character, invariably speaks of them as kind and hospitable, scrupulously honest, and remarkable, above all other Indians that he had ion In fact, so enthusiastic is he in their praise, that he pronounces thenorant and barbarous as they are by their condition, one of the purest hearted people on the face of the earth
Some cures which Captain Bonneville had effected in si the Upper Nez Perces, had reached the ears of their cousins here, and gained for hi in the village, therefore, before his lodge began to be the resort of the sick and the infirm The captain felt the value of the reputation thus accidentally and cheaply acquired, and endeavored to sustain it As he had arrived at that age when everyof a physician, he was enabled to turn to advantage the little knowledge in the healing art which he had casually picked up; and was sufficiently successful in two or three cases, to convince the sierated his medical talents The only patient that effectually baffled his skill, or rather discouraged any atteh, and one leg in the grave; it being shrunk and rendered useless by a rheumatic affection This was a case beyond his mark; however, he comforted the old wo to relieve her, at the fort on the Wallah-Wallah, and would bring it on his return; hich assurance her husband was so well satisfied, that he presented the captain with a colt, to be killed as provisions for the journey: athese Indians, Captain Bonneville unexpectedly found an owner for the horse which he had purchased fro Wyer The Indian satisfactorily proved that the horse had been stolen from him some time previous, by soe, ”you got him in fair trade--you are more in want of horses than I aood horse; use him well”
Thus, in the continued experience of acts of kindness and generosity, which his destitute condition did not allow him to reciprocate, Captain Bonneville passed soood people, eneral excellence of their character
33
Scenery of the Way-lee-way--A substitute for tobacco-- Subliarrulous old chief and his cousin--A Nez-Perce --Mysterious conferences--The little chief--His hospitality--The captain's account of the United States--His healing skill
IN RESUMING HIS JOURNEY, Captain Bonneville was conducted by the sae of the country was i places He also continued to be accompanied by the worthy old chief with the hard na the honors of the country, and introducing him to every branch of his tribe The Way-lee-way, down the banks of which Captain Bonneville and his co through a succession of bold and beautiful scenes
Sohts that partook of subli the water side in fresh s valleys
Frequently in their route they encountered small parties of the Nez Perces, hoenerally, evinced great curiosity concerning them and their adventures; a curiosity which never failed to be thoroughly satisfied by the replies of the worthy Yo-mus-ro-y-e-cut, who kindly took upon himself to be spokes of pipes incident to the long talks of this excellent, but soth exhausted all his stock of tobacco, so that he had no longer a whiff hich to regale his white coency, he cut up the stes, which he mixed with certain herbs, and thus manufactured a te colloquies and harangues with the custorant cloud
If the scenery of the Way-lee-way had charrandeur, that which broke upon the Snake River, filled them with ad by dark and stupendous rocks, rising like gigantic walls and battle chasms, that seemed to speak of past convulsions of nature Solassy s in i cascades Here, the rocks were piled in the s and precipices; and in another place, they were succeeded by delightful valleys carpeted with green-award The whole of this wild and varied scenery was do their distant peaks into the clouds ”The grandeur and originality of the views, presented on every side,” says Captain Bonneville, ”beggar both the pencil and the pen Nothing we had ever gazed upon in any other region could for a moment compare in wild majesty and impressive sternness, with the series of scenes which here at every turn astonished our senses, and filled us with awe and delight”
Indeed, froather from the journal before us, and the accounts of other travellers, who passed through these regions in the memorable enterprise of Astoria, we are inclined to think that Snake Riverscenery of all the rivers of this continent From its head waters in the Rocky Mountains, to its junction with the Coluh every variety of landscape Rising in a volcanic region, auished craters, and mountains aith the traces of ancient fires, it reat plains of lava and sandy deserts, penetrates vast sierras or htful precipices, and croith eternal snows; and at other ti race and beauty Wildness and subli characteristics
Captain Bonneville and his companions had pursued their journey a considerable distance down the course of Snake River, when the old chief halted on the bank, and dis, recoraze, while he sues on the opposite side of the stream His summons was quickly answered An Indian, of an active elastic fororously plying the paddle, soon shot across the river Bounding on shore, he advanced with a buoyant air and frank deht hand to each of the party in turn
The old chief, whose hard name we forbear to repeat, now presented Captain Bonneville, in forret to say, was no less hard being nothing less than Hay-she-in-co The latter evinced the usual curiosity to know all about the strangers, whence they ca, the object of their journey, and the adventures they had experienced All these, of course, were ample and eloquently set forth by the corandiloquent account of the bald-headed chief and his countryreat attention, and replied in the customary style of Indian welcoing into his canoe, darted across the river In a little while he returned, bringing a most welcome supply of tobacco, and a s his intention of acco no horse, hethat he should procure a steed for hied on very sociably and cheerily together Notas one, who their residence a the Upper Nez Perces, and elcohborhood was the houide, who took leave of theood wishes for their safety and happiness That night they put up in the hut of a Nez Perce, where they were visited by several warriors from the other side of the river, friends of the old chief and his cousin, who came to have a talk and a sood old chief was overfloith good will at thus being surrounded by his new and old friends, and he talked withpassed away in perfect harood-humor, and it was not until a late hour that the visitors took their leave and recrossed the river
After this constant picture of worth and virtue on the part of the Nez Perce tribe, we grieve to have to record a circumstance calculated to throw a temporary shade upon the na just mentioned, one of the captain'sof a virtuoso in his way, and fond of collecting curiosities, produced a sreat rarity in the eyes ofthe visitors from beyond the river, who passed it from one to the other, examined it with looks of lively adreat , when the captain and his party were about to set off, the precious skin wasSearch was made for it in the hut, but it was nowhere to be found; and it was strongly suspected that it had been purloined by some of the connoisseurs from the other side of the river
The old chief and his cousin were indignant at the supposed delinquency of their friends across the water, and called out for them to come over and answer for their shameful conduct The others answered to the call with all the promptitude of perfect innocence, and spurned at the idea of their being capable of such outrage upon any of the Big-hearted nation All were at a loss on who the invaluable skin, when by chance the eyes of the worthies fro to the owner of the hut He was a gallows-looking dog, but not s, who, take theeneration of vipers Be that as itdevoured the skin in question A dog accused is generally a dog conde executed So was it in the present instance The unfortunate cur was arraigned; his thievish looks substantiated his guilt, and he was condeed In vain the Indians of the hut, horeat favorite, interceded in his behalf In vain Captain Bonneville and his coes were inexorable He was doubly guilty: first, in having robbed their good friends, the Big Hearts of the East; secondly, in having brought a doubt on the honor of the Nez Perce tribe He was, accordingly, swung aloft, and pelted with stones to es being thoroughly executed, a postwas held, to establish his delinquency beyond all doubt, and to leave the Nez Perces without a shadow of suspicion Great interest, of course, wasthis operation The body of the dog was opened, the intestines rigorously scrutinized, but, to the horror of all concerned, not a particle of the skin was to be found--the dog had been unjustly executed!