CHAPTER II.


I was very young then--- not thirteen years old; but if I was young, I
had travelled much, and had gained that knowledge which is to be
obtained by the eye--perhaps the best education we can have in our
earlier years. I shall pass over the monotony of the voyage of eternal
sky and water. I have no recollection that we were in any imminent
danger at any time, and the voyage might have been styled a
prosperous one.

After five months we arrived off the coast, and with some difficulty we
gained the entrance of a river falling into Trinity Bay, in lat. 41°
north and long. 124° 28' west.

We anchored about four miles above the entrance, which was on the coast
abreast of the Shoshones' territory, and resorted to by them on their
annual fishing excursions. In memory of the event, the river was named
by the Indians--"Nu elejé sha wako;" or, the Guide of the Strangers.

For many weeks it was a strange and busy scene. The Prince Seravalle
had, during his former residence with the Shoshones, been admitted into
their tribe as a warrior and a chief, and now the Indians flocked from
the interior to welcome their pale-faced chief, who had not forgotten
his red children. They helped our party to unload the vessel, provided
us with game of all kinds, and under the directions of the carpenter,
they soon built a large warehouse to protect our goods and implements
from the effect of the weather.