y
pines, about two hundred yards from the water, and thirty feet above the
level of the high tides."

Chapter XVIII -- Camping by the Pacific

Next in importance to the building of a winter camp was the fixing of
a place where salt could be made. Salt is absolutely necessary for the
comfort of man, and the supply brought out from the United States by the
explorers was now nearly all gone. They were provided with kettles
in which sea-water could be boiled down and salt be made. It would be
needful to go to work at once, for the process of salt-making by boiling
in ordinary kettles is slow and tedious; not only must enough for
present uses be found, but a supply to last the party home again was
necessary. Accordingly, on the eighth of December the journal has this
entry to show what was to be done:--

"In order, therefore, to find a place for making salt, and to examine
the country further, Captain Clark set out with five men, and pursuing a
course S. 60'0 W., over a dividing ridge through thick pine timber,
much of which bad fallen, passed the beads of two small brooks. In the
neighborhood of these the land was swampy and overflowed, and they waded
knee-deep till they came to an open ridgy prairie, covered with the
plant known on our frontier by the name of sacacommis (bearberry). Here
is a creek about sixty yards wide and running toward Point Adams; they
passed it on a small raft. At this place they discovered a large herd of
elk, and after pursuing them for three miles over bad swamps and small
ponds, killed one of them. The agility with which the elk crossed the
swamps and bogs seems almost incredible; as we followed their track the
ground for a whole acre would shake at our tread and sometimes we sunk
to our hips without finding any bottom. Over the surface of these bogs
is a species of moss, among which are great numbers of cranberries;
and occasionally there rise from the swamp small steep knobs of earth,
thickly covered with pine and laurel. On one of these we halted at
night, but it was scarcely large enough to suffer us to lie clear of
the water, and had very little dry wood. We succeeded, however, in
collecting enough to make a fire; and having stretched the elk-skin to
keep off the rain, which still continued, slept till morning."

Next day the party were met by three Indians who had been fishing for
salmon, of which they had a goodly supply, and were now on their way
home to their village on the sea