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 num-
bers 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 suc-
ceeded, 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 seacoast. They invited Captain Clark and his
men to accompany them; and the white men accepted
the invitation. These were Clatsops. Their village con-
sisted of twelve families living in houses of split pine
boards, the lower half of the house being underground.
By a small ladder in the middle of the house-front, the
visitors reached the floor, which was about four feet
below the surface. Two fires were burning in the middle
of the room upon the earthen floor. The beds were
ranged around the room next to the wall, with spaces
beneath them for bags, baskets, and household articles.

Captain Clark was received with much attention, clean
mats were spread for him, and a repast of fish, roots, and
berries was set before him. He noticed that the Clatsops
were well dressed and clean, and that they frequently

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