A rapid march -- A cloud of dust -- Wild horsemen -- "High Jinks" -- Horseracing andrifle-shooting
-- The game of hand -- The fishing season -- Mode of fishing -- Table lands -- Salmon fishers --The
captain's visit to an Indian lodge -- The Indian girl -- The pocket mirror -- Supper -- Troubles ofan evil conscience.
"UP and away!" is the first thought at daylight of the Indian trader, when a rival is at handand
distance is to be gained. Early in the morning, Captain Bonneville ordered the half dried meat tobe
packed upon the horses, and leaving Wyeth and his party to hunt the scattered buffalo, pushed offrapidly to the east, to regain the plain of the Portneuf. His march was rugged and dangerous;through
volcanic hills, broken into cliffs and precipices; and seamed with tremendous chasms, where therocks rose like walls.
On the second day, however, he encamped once more in the plain, and as it was still earlysome of
the men strolled out to the neighboring hills. In casting their eyes round the country, theyperceived
a great cloud of dust rising in the south, and evidently approaching. Hastening back to the camp,they
gave the alarm. Preparations were instantly made to receive an enemy; while some of the men,throwing themselves upon the "running horses" kept for hunting, galloped off to reconnoitre. In alittle while, they made signals from a distance that all was friendly. By this time the cloud of dusthad swept on as if hurried along by a blast, and a band of wild horsemen came dashing at fullleap
into the camp, yelling and whooping like so many maniacs. Their dresses, their accoutrements,their
mode of riding, and their uncouth clamor, made them seem a party of savages arrayed for war;but
they proved to be principally half-breeds, and white men grown savage in the wilderness, whowere
employed as trappers and hunters in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Here was again "high jinks" in the camp. Captain Bonneville's men hailed these wildscamperers as
congenial spirits, or rather as the very game birds of their class. They entertained them with thehospitality of mountaineers, feasting them at every fire. At first, there were mutual details ofadventures and exploits, and broad joking mingled with peals of laughter. Then came on boastingof the comparative merits of horses and rifles, which soon engrossed every tongue. This naturallyled to racing, and shooting at a mark; one trial of speed and skill succeeded another, shouts andacclamations rose from the victorious parties, fierce altercations succeeded, and a general meleewas
about to take place, when suddenly the attention of the quarrellers was arrested by a strange kindof
Indian chant or chorus, that seemed to operate upon them as a charm. Their fury was at an end; atacit reconciliation succeeded and the ideas of the whole mongrel crowd whites, half-breeds andsquaws were turned in a new direction. They all formed into groups and taking their places atthe
several fires, prepared for one of the most exciting amusements of the Nez Perces and the othertribes
of the Far West.
The choral chant, in fact, which had thus acted as a charm, was a kind of wildaccompaniment to the
favorite Indian game of "Hand." This is played by two parties drawn out in opposite platoonsbefore
a blazing fire. It is in some respects like the old game of passing the ring or the button, anddetecting
the hand which holds it. In the present game, the object hidden, or the cache as it iscalled by the
trappers, is a small splint of wood, or other diminutive article that may be concealed in the closedhand. This is passed backward and forward among the party "in hand," while the party "out ofhand"
guess where it is concealed. To heighten the excitement and confuse the guessers, a number ofdry
poles are laid before each platoon, upon which the members of the party "in hand" beat furiouslywith short staves, keeping time to the choral chant already mentioned, which waxes fast andfurious
as the game proceeds. As large bets are staked upon the game, the excitement is prodigious. Eachparty in turn bursts out in full chorus, beating, and yelling, and working themselves up into sucha
heat that the perspiration rolls down their naked shoulders, even in the cold of a winter night. Thebets are doubled and trebled as the game advances, the mental excitement increases almost tomadness, and all the worldly effects of the gamblers are often hazarded upon the position of astraw.
These gambling games were kept up throughout the night; every fire glared upon a groupthat looked
like a crew of maniacs at their frantic orgies, and the scene would have been kept up throughoutthe
succeeding day, had not Captain Bonneville interposed his authority, and, at the usual hour,issued
his marching orders.
Proceeding down the course of Snake River, the hunters regularly returned to camp in theevening
laden with wild geese, which were yet scarcely able to fly, and were easily caught in greatnumbers.
It was now the season of the annual fish-feast, with which the Indians in these parts celebrate thefirst
appearance of the salmon in this river. These fish are taken in great numbers at the numerousfalls
of about four feet pitch. The Indians flank the shallow water just below, and spear them as theyattempt to pass. In wide parts of the river, also, they place a sort of chevaux-de-frize, or fence, ofpoles interwoven with withes, and forming an angle in the middle of the current, where a smallopening is left for the salmon to pass. Around this opening the Indians station themselves onsmall
rafts, and ply their spears with great success.
The table lands so common in this region have a sandy soil, inconsiderable in depth, andcovered
