ow
charcoal-fire, in baskets of this description, moving the basket about
in such manner that it is not injured, though every grain within it is
completely browned.

Among these Indians the women are well treated, and enjoy an
extraordinary degree of influence. On many subjects their opinions are
consulted: in matters of trade, their advice is generally asked and
pursued. Sometimes they even take upon themselves a tone of authority;
and the labours of the family are almost equally divided. No account is
given by Captain Lewis of the superstitions of these people; and no
inquiry seems to have been made concerning their religious belief.

_Narrative of the return of Captains_ LEWIS _and_
CLARKE, _from the Pacific Ocean to St. Louis._

The commanders of the expedition were desirous of remaining on the coast
of the Pacific till the arrival of the annual trading ships, hoping from
them to be able to recruit their almost exhausted stores of merchandise;
but, though these were expected in April, it was found impossible to
wait. The elks, on which they chiefly depended for subsistence, had
retreated to the mountains; and, if the Indians could have sold them
food, they were too poor to purchase it. The whole stock of goods, on
which they had to depend, for the purchase of horses and food, during a
journey homeward, of nearly four thousand miles, was so much diminished,
that it might all have been tied in two pocket-handkerchiefs. Their
muskets, however, were in excellent order, and they had plenty of powder
and shot.

On the 23d of March, 1806, the canoes were loaded, and they took a final
leave of their encampment. Previously to their departure, they
deposited, in the hands of the Indian chiefs, some papers specifying the
dates of the arrival and departure of the expedition. This was done in a
hope that at least some one of them might find its way into a civilized
country. The course homeward was, during the first month, by water; the
canoes being dragged, or carried overland, in places where the current
of the Columbia was too strong to be navigated. On these occasions, the
travellers were exposed to much annoyance from the pilfering habits of
the Indians; and their provisions were so scanty that they were obliged
to subsist on dog's-flesh: a diet which, at first, was extremely
loathsome to them, but to which they in time became reconciled.

The difficulties of the navigation made it expedient for them to leave
the can