to be "white, fine and very good," and a very agreeable
addition to their food, which had been eaten perfectly fresh for some
weeks past. Captain Clark, however, said it was a "mere matter of
indifference" to him whether he had salt or not, but he hankered for
bread. Captain Lewis, on the other hand, said the lack of salt was a
great inconvenience; "the want of bread I consider trivial," was his
dictum. It was estimated that the salt-makers could turn out three or
four quarts a day, and there was good prospect of an abundant supply
for present needs and for the homeward journey. An expedition to the
seashore was now planned, and the journal goes on to tell how they set
out:--

"The appearance of the whale seemed to be a matter of importance to all
the neighboring Indians, and as we might be able to procure some of it
for ourselves, or at least purchase blubber from the Indians, a small
parcel of merchandise was prepared, and a party of the men held in
readiness to set out in the morning. As soon as this resolution was
known, Chaboneau and his wife requested that they might be permitted
to accompany us. The poor woman stated very earnestly that she had
travelled a great way with us to see the great water, yet she had never
been down to the coast, and now that this monstrous fish was also to
be seen, it seemed hard that she should be permitted to see neither the
ocean nor the whale. So reasonable a request could not be denied; they
were therefore suffered to accompany Captain Clark, who, January 6th,
after an early breakfast, set out with twelve men in two canoes."

After a long and tedious trip, the camp of the saltmakers was reached,
and Captain Clark and his men went on to the remains of the whale, only
the skeleton being left by the rapacious and hungry Indians. The whale
had been stranded between two shore villages tenanted by the Killamucks,
as Captain Clark called them. They are now known as the Tillamook
Indians, and their name is preserved in Tillamook County, Oregon. The
white men found it difficult to secure much of the blubber, or the oil.
Although the Indians had large quantities of both, they sold it with
much reluctance. In Clark's private diary is found this entry: "Small
as this stock (of oil and lubber) is I prize it highly; and thank
Providence for directing the whale to us; and think him more kind to
us than he was to Jonah, having sent this monster to be swallowed by us
instead of swallowing us as J