being blocked up by an immense rock, through which the waters, forcing narrow passages, precipitate themselves. A dense and interminable forest protected us from the north winds, and a countless number of dead trees standing on all sides furnished us with abundant fuel for our fires during
the inclement season. We were encircled by ranges of lofty mountains, whose snow-clad summits reflected in the sun their brightness on all the surrounding country.
At the beginning of winter, as soon as the snow begins to fall in abundance, thousands of deer come down from the mountains. Sometimes the snow attains a thickness of two and three feet, and when the surface is frozen, it often happens that forty hunters will kill 300 in a day. You may judge of the great numbers of deer that fill the valleys and low places in winter. Where we were encamped we lived entirely on the chase. But if the snow is light, the Indians go hungry, and though the ground is frozen they have recourse to the Camas-root, which is very abundant in that region, and which the natives call Sxdaolot.t$
The place for wintering being determined, the first care of the Indians was to erect the house of prayer. While the men cut down fir trees, the women brought bark and mats to cover them. In two days this humble house of the Lord was completed - humble and poor indeed, but truly the house of prayer, to which pure, simple, innocent souls repaired, to offer to the Great Spirit their vows and the tribute of their affections. Here the missionaries continued with care and diligence their instructions preparatory to baptism. How consoling was it to see ourselves surrounded by this fervent band, who had renounced the chase of the buffalo - a pleasure so attracting to an Indian - and had come from various parts of the country to place themselves under our direction, in the well-founded hope of being speedily regenerated in the saving waters of baptism. They had al
is Apparently in the Kalispel or Pend d'Oreille language. In a Cceur d'Alene vocabulary, Father De Smet gives the name for the Camas as Sxa-o-lo-it-xoa.