CHAPTER XXXIII.
Gloomy Council.-Exploring Parties- Discouraging Reports- Disastrous Experiment.-
Detachments in Quest of Succor.- Caches, How Made. -Return of One of the
Detachments- Unsuccessful.- Further Disappointments- The Devil's Scuttle Hole
MR. HUNT and his companions encamped upon the borders of the Caldron Linn, and
held gloomy counsel as to their future course. The recent wreck had dismayed even the
voyageurs, and the fate of their popular comrade, Clappine, one of the most adroit and
experienced of their fraternity, had struck sorrow to their hearts, for with all their levity,
these thoughtless beings have great kindness towards each other.
The whole distance they had navigated since leaving Henry's Fort was computed to be
about three hundred and forty miles; strong apprehensions were now entertained that
the tremendous impediments before them would oblige them to abandon their canoes.
It was determined to send exploring parties on each side of the river to ascertain
whether it was possible to navigate it further. Accordingly, on the following morning,
three men were despatched along the south bank, while Mr. Hunt and three others
proceeded along the north. The two parties returned after a weary scramble among
swamps, rocks, and precipices, and with very disheartening accounts. For nearly forty
miles that they had explored, the river foamed and roared along through a deep and
narrow channel, from twenty to thirty yards wide, which it had worn, in the course of
ages, through the heart of a barren, rocky country. The precipices on each side were
often two and three hundred feet high, sometimes perpendicular, and sometimes
overhanging, so that it was impossible, excepting in one or two places, to get down to
the margin of the stream. This dreary strait was rendered the more dangerous by
frequent rapids, and occasionally perpendicular falls from ten to forty feet in height; so
that it seemed almost hopeless to attempt to pass the canoes down it. The party,
however, who had explored the south side of the river, had found a place, about six
miles from the camp, where they thought it possible the canoes might be carried down
the bank and launched upon the stream, and from whence they might make their way
with the aid of occasional portages. Four of the best canoes were accordingly selected
for the experiment, and were transported to the place on the shoulders of sixteen of the
men. At the same time Mr. Reed, the clerk, and three men were detached to explore the
river still further down than the previous scouting parties had been, and at the same
time to look out for Indians, from whom provisions might be obtained, and a supply of
horses, should it be found necessary to proceed by land.
The party who had been sent with the canoes returned on the following day, weary and
dejected. One of the canoes had been swept away with all the weapons and effects of
four of the voyageurs, in attempting to pass it down a rapid by means of a line. The
other three had stuck fast among the rocks, so that it was impossible to move them; the
men returned, therefore, in despair, and declared the river unnavigable.
The situation of the unfortunate travellers was now gloomy in the extreme. They were in
the heart of an unknown wilderness, untraversed as yet by a white man. They were at a
loss what route to take, and how far they were from the ultimate place of their
destination, nor could they meet in these uninhabited wilds with any human being to
give them information. The repeated accidents to their canoes had reduced their stock
of provisions to five days' allowance, and there was now every appearance of soon
having famine added to their other sufferings.
This last circumstance rendered it more perilous to keep together than to separate.
Accordingly, after a little anxious but bewildered counsel, it was determined that
several small detachments should start off in different directions, headed by the several
partners. Should any of them succeed in falling in with friendly Indians, within a
reasonable distance, and obtaining a supply of provisions and horses, they were to
return to the aid of the main body: otherwise they were to shift for themselves, and
shape their course according to circumstances; keeping the mouth of the Columbia
River as the ultimate point of their wayfaring. Accordingly, three several parties set off
from the camp at Caldron Linn, in opposite directions. Mr. M'Lellan, with three men,
kept down along the bank of the river. Mr. Crooks, with five others, turned their steps
up it; retracing by land the weary course they had made by water, intending, should
they not find relief nearer at hand, to keep on until they should reach Henry's Fort,
where they hoped to find the horses they had left there, and to return with them to the
main body.
The third party, composed of five men, was headed by Mr. M'Kenzie, who struck to the
northward, across the desert plains, in hopes of coming upon the main stream of the
Columbia.
Having seen these three adventurous bands depart upon their forlorn expeditions, Mr.
Hunt turned his thoughts to provide for the subsistence of the main body left to his
charge, and to prepare for their future march. There remained with him thirty-one men,
besides the squaw and two children of Pierre Dorion. There was no game to be met
with in the neighborhood; but beavers were occasionally trapped about the river banks,
which afforded a scanty supply of food; in the meantime they comforted themselves that
some one or other of the foraging detachments would be successful, and return with
relief.
Mr. Hunt now set to work with all diligence, to prepare caches, in which to deposit the
baggage and merchandise, of which it would be necessary to disburden themselves,
preparatory to their weary march by land: and here we shall give a brief description of
those contrivances, so noted in the wilderness.
A cache is a term common among traders and hunters, to designate a hiding-place for
provisions and effects. It is derived from the French word "cacher", to conceal, and
originated among the early colonists of Canada and Louisiana; but the secret
depository which it designates was in use among the aboriginals long before the
intrusion of the white men. It is, in fact, the only mode that migratory hordes have of
preserving their valuables from robbery, during their long absences from their villages
or accustomed haunts, on hunting expeditions, or during the vicissitudes of war. The
utmost skill and caution are required to render these places of concealment invisible to
the lynx eye of an Indian. The first care is to seek out a proper situation, which is
generally some dry, low, bank of clay, on the margin of a water-course. As soon as the
precise spot is pitched upon, blankets, saddle-cloths, and other coverings are spread
over the surrounding grass and bushes, to prevent foot-tracks, or any other
derangement; and as few hands as possible are employed. A circle of about two feet in
diameter is then nicely cut in the sod, which is carefully removed, with the loose soil
immediately beneath it, and laid aside in a place where it will be safe from anything that
may change its appearance. The uncovered area is then digged perpendicularly to the
depth of about three feet, and is then gradually widened so as to form a conical
chamber six or seven feet deep. The whole of the earth displaced by this process,
being of a different color from that an the surface, is handed up in a vessel, and
heaped into a skin or cloth, in which it is conveyed to the stream and thrown into the
midst of the current, that it may be entirely carried off. Should the cache not be formed
in the vicinity of a stream, the earth thus thrown up is carried to a distance, and
scattered in such manner as not to leave the minutest trace. The cave, being formed, is
well lined with dry grass, bark, sticks, and poles, and occasionally a dried hide. The
property intended to be hidden is then laid in, after having been well aired: a hide is
spread over it, and dried grass, brush, and stones thrown in, and trampled down until
the pit is filled to the neck. The loose soil which had been put aside is then brought and
rammed down firmly, to prevent its caving in, and is frequently sprinkled with water, to
destroy the scent, lest the wolves and bears should be attracted to the place, and root
up the concealed treasure. When the neck of the cache is nearly level with the
surrounding surface, the sod is again fitted in with the utmost exactness, and any
bushes, stocks, or stones, that may have originally been about the spot, are restored to
their former places. The blankets and other coverings are then removed from the
surrounding herbage; all tracks are obliterated; the grass is gently raised by the hand
to its natural position, and the minutest chip or straw is scrupulously gleaned up and
thrown into the stream. After all this is done, the place is abandoned for the night, and,
if all be right next morning, is not visited again, until there be a necessity for reopening
the cache. Four men are sufficient, in this way, to conceal the amount of three tons
weight of merchandise in the course of two days. Nine caches were required to contain
the goods and baggage which Mr. Hunt found it necessary to leave at this place.
Three days had been thus employed since the departure of the several detachments,
when that of Mr. Crooks unexpectedly made its appearance. A momentary joy was
diffused through the camp, for they supposed succor to be at hand. It was soon
dispelled. Mr. Crooks and his companions had been completely disheartened by this
retrograde march through a bleak and barren country; and had found, computing from
their progress and the accumulating difficulties besetting every step, that it would be
impossible to reach Henry's Fort and return to the main body in the course of the
winter. They had determined, therefore, to rejoin their comrades, and share their lot.
One avenue of hope was thus closed upon the anxious sojourners at the Caldron Linn;
their main expectation of relief was now from the two parties under Reed and M'Lellan,
which had proceeded down the river; for, as to Mr. M'Kenzie's detachment, which had
struck across the plains, they thought it would have sufficient difficulty in struggling
forward through the trackless wilderness. For five days they continued to support
themselves by trapping and fishing. Some fish of tolerable size were speared at night
by the light of cedar torches; others, that were very small, were caught in nets with fine
meshes. The product of their fishing, however, was very scanty. Their trapping was
also precarious; and the tails and bellies of the beavers were dried and put by for the
journey.
At length two of the companions of Mr. Reed returned, and were hailed with the most
anxious eagerness. Their report served but to increase the general despondency. They
had followed Mr. Reed for some distance below the point to which Mr. Hunt had
explored, but had met with no Indians from whom to obtain information and relief. The
river still presented the same furious aspect, brawling and boiling along a narrow and
rugged channel, between rocks that rose like walls.
A lingering hope, which had been indulged by some of the party, of proceeding by
water, was now finally given up: the long and terrific strait of the river set all further
progress at defiance, and in their disgust at the place, and their vexation at the
disasters sustained there, they gave it the indignant, though not very decorous,
appellation of the Devil's Scuttle Hole.