The Bets Are Doubled And
Trebled As The Game Advances, The Mental Excitement Increases
Almost To Madness, And All The Worldly Effects Of The Gamblers
Are Often Hazarded Upon The Position Of A Straw.
These gambling games were kept up throughout the night; every
fire glared upon a group that looked like a
Crew of maniacs at
their frantic orgies, and the scene would have been kept up
throughout the 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 the evening laden with wild geese, which were
yet scarcely able to fly, and were easily caught in great
numbers. It was now the season of the annual fish-feast, with
which the Indians in these parts celebrate the first appearance
of the salmon in this river. These fish are taken in great
numbers at the numerous falls of about four feet pitch. The
Indians flank the shallow water just below, and spear them as
they attempt to pass. In wide parts of the river, also, they
place a sort of chevaux-de-frize, or fence, of poles interwoven
with withes, and forming an angle in the middle of the current,
where a small opening is left for the salmon to pass. Around this
opening the Indians station themselves on small rafts, and ply
their spears with great success.
The table lands so common in this region have a sandy soil,
inconsiderable in depth, and covered with sage, or more properly
speaking, wormwood.
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