Astor, complained
of their selfishness, their extortion, and their thievish propensities.
The very reverse of those qualities prevailed among them during the
prolonged sojourns of Captain Bonneville.
The Lower Nez Perces range upon the Way-lee-way, Immahah, Yenghies, and
other of the streams west of the mountains. They hunt the beaver,
elk, deer, white bear, and mountain sheep. Besides the flesh of these
animals, they use a number of roots for food; some of which would be
well worth transplanting and cultivating in the Atlantic States. Among
these is the camash, a sweet root, about the form and size of an onion,
and said to be really delicious. The cowish, also, or biscuit root,
about the size of a walnut, which they reduce to a very palatable flour;
together with the jackap, aisish, quako, and others; which they cook by
steaming them in the ground.
In August and September, these Indians keep along the rivers, where they
catch and dry great quantities of salmon; which, while they last, are
their principal food. In the winter, they congregate in villages formed
of comfortable huts, or lodges, covered with mats. They are generally
clad in deer skins, or woollens, and extremely well armed. Above all,
they are celebrated for owning great numbers of horses; which they mark,
and then suffer to range in droves in their most fertile plains. These
horses are principally of the pony breed; but remarkably stout and
long-winded.
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