the neighborhood. The upper part of Salmon River was represented as far
more eligible, besides being in an excellent beaver country; and thither
the captain resolved to bend his course.

The Salmon River is one of the upper branches of the Oregon or Columbia;
and takes its rise from various sources, among a group of mountains to
the northwest of the Wind River chain. It owes its name to the immense
shoals of salmon which ascend it in the months of September and October.
The salmon on the west side of the Rocky Mountains are, like the buffalo
on the eastern plains, vast migratory supplies for the wants of man,
that come and go with the seasons. As the buffalo in countless throngs
find their certain way in the transient pasturage on the prairies, along
the fresh banks of the rivers, and up every valley and green defile of
the mountains, so the salmon, at their allotted seasons, regulated by a
sublime and all-seeing Providence, swarm in myriads up the great
rivers, and find their way up their main branches, and into the minutest
tributory streams; so as to pervade the great arid plains, and to
penetrate even among barren mountains. Thus wandering tribes are fed in
the desert places of the wilderness, where there is no herbage for the
animals of the chase, and where, but for these periodical supplies, it
would be impossible for man to subsist.

The rapid currents of the rivers which run into the Pacific render the
ascent of them very exhausting to the salmon. When the fish first run
up the rivers, they are fat and in fine order. The struggle against
impetuous streams and frequent rapids gradually renders them thin and
weak, and great numbers are seen floating down the rivers on their
backs. As the season advances and the water becomes chilled, they are
flung in myriads on the shores, where the wolves and bears assemble to
banquet on them. Often they rot in such quantities along the river banks