ng kind; and our first object was, of course, to ascertain
the practicability of descending it, of which the Indians discouraged
our expectations. It was therefore agreed that Captain Clark should set
off in the morning with eleven men, furnished, besides their arms, with
tools for making canoes: that he should take Chaboneau and his wife
to the camp of the Shoshonees, where he was to leave them, in order to
hasten the collection of horses; that he should then lead his men
down to the Columbia, and if he found it navigable, and the timber in
sufficient quantity, begin to build canoes. As soon as he had decided
as to the propriety of proceeding down the Columbia or across the
mountains, he was to send back one of the men with information of it to
Captain Lewis, who by that time would have brought up the whole
party, and the rest of the baggage, as far as the Shoshonee village.
Preparations were accordingly made at once to carry out the
arrangement. . . ."

"In order to relieve the men of Captain Clark's party from the heavy
weight of their arms, provisions, and tools, we exposed a few articles
to barter for horses, and soon obtained three very good ones, in
exchange for which we gave a uniform coat, a pair of leggings, a few
handkerchiefs, three knives, and some other small articles, the whole
of which did not, in the United States, cost more than twenty dollars;
a fourth was purchased by the men for an old checkered shirt, a pair
of old leggings, and a knife. The Indians seemed to be quite as well
pleased as ourselves at the bargain they had made. We now found that the
two inferior chiefs were somewhat displeased at not having received a
present equal to that given to the great chief, who appeared in a dress
so much finer than their own. To allay their discontent, we bestowed on
them two old coats, and promised them if they were active in assisting
us across the mountains they should have an additional present. This
treatment completely reconciled them, and the whole Indian party, except
two men and two women, set out in perfect good humor to return to their
home with Captain Clark."

Chapter XIV -- Across the Great Divide

Captain Clark had now left the water-shed of the Missouri behind him,
and was pressing on, over a broken, hilly country, to the lands from
which issue the tributaries of the Columbia. The Indian village which
Captain Lewis had previously visited had been removed two miles up the
stream on wh