and
came rolling down upon them. The canoes, in one place, were at the mercy
of the waves; the baggage was in another place; and the men were
scattered upon floating logs, or were sheltering themselves in the
crevices of the rocks.

The travellers, having now reached the farthest limits of their journey,
once more began to look out for winter-quarters. But it was not till
after a long search, that they discovered, at some distance from the
shore, and near the banks of the Columbia, a situation in all respects
convenient. But so incessant was the rain, that they were unable to
complete their arrangements, till about the middle of December. Here, in
latitude 46 degrees, 19 minutes, they passed three months, without
experiencing any thing like the cold of the interior; but they were, in
other respects, exposed to numerous inconveniences. The supply of food
was precarious; being confined to the fish caught along the sea-coasts,
and to a few elks and other animals, which were killed in the adjacent
country.

The Indians, in this part of America, had been accustomed to traffic,
along the shore, with European vessels, and had learned to ask
exorbitant prices for their commodities. Their circulating money
consisted of blue beads; but with these, as well as with other
merchandise, their visitors were, at this time, very scantily supplied.
These Indians were unacquainted with the use of ardent spirits, but they
were no strangers to the vice of gaming.

During the winter, Captains Lewis and Clarke occupied much of their time
in acquiring information concerning the country; and obtained some
account of the number of tribes, languages, and population of the
inhabitants, for about three hundred and sixty miles southward, along
the coast; but of those in an opposite direction, they were unable to
learn any thing more than their names.

The people of the four nations with whom they had the most intercourse;
the _Killamucks_, _Clatsops_, _Chinnoocks_, and _Cathlamahs_, were
diminutive and ill-made. Their complexions were somewhat lighter than
those of the other North American Indians: their mouths were wide, their
lips thick, and their noses broad, and generally flat between the eyes.

All the tribes who were seen west of the Rocky Mountain, have their
foreheads flattened. The child, in order to be thus beautified, has its
head placed in a kind of machine, where it is kept for ten or twelve
months; the females longer than the mal