Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/210

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204
Dr. John Scouler..

to the present time speak of it with horror, & are exceedingly anxious to obtain that medicine which protects the whites, meaning vaccination. Such is the dread of this disease that when about to plunder the tribes of the interior, they have been deterred by the threat of disseminating smallpox among them. It is, I believe, the benevolent intention of the H. B. Company to send missionaries among these untutored Indians; nothing would enable them to gain the goodwill of the Indians so much as introducing vaccination, & no gift would be more gratefully received.

25th.—We made another excursion to point Roberts. There was a pretty large party of Indians on the beach but they did not come near us, but I did not hesitate in going near them & employed a young man as a sort of assistant in my excursion. In this excursion I found a greater variety of plants than on the former, but none of them happened to be so new or interesting. Bidens, Galium, Polygonum hydropiperoides, Sparganium, Typha latifolia.

26th.—The object of our voyage up the Gulph of Georgia being now accomplished, we set out on our return to the Columbia & in the evening anchored of[f] the Lummie village, when our old friend Sahumkan [?] came on board. At this place we were plentifully supplied with fish & berries. Such is the abundance of provisions up the straits that since we anchored in Port Protection we have not had to use any salt provisions. The people have been plentifully supplied with salmon, & the supplies of the cabin have been often varied by ducks, venison & beaver.

In the afternoon we went ashore to visit the chief at his village, but found he was absent; his people, however, behaved with the greatest propriety & kindness. The village is situated at the extremity of a fine forest, under the shade of some large trees. Their lodges were about