MONTHLY METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER, ST. MARTIN, ISLE JESUS, CANADA EAST-APRIL, 1856. (NINE MILES WEST OF MONTREAL.) Day. BY CHARLES SMALLWOOD, M. D. Latitude-45 deg. 32 min. North. Longitude-73 deg, 36 min. West. Height above the Level of the Sea-118 feet. 130.241 30.101 30.143 10.7 42.3 27.5 20 21 22 .500 -493 30 Clear, Zod.Light Do. 10, rain. Str. 10, sli't rain Cum. 10. MONTHLY METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER, ST. MARTIN, ISLE JESUS, CANADA EAST-MAY, 1856. (NINE MILES WEST OF MONTREAL.) BY CHARLES SMALLWOOD, M. D. Longitude-73 deg. 36 min. West. Height above the Level of the Sea-118 feet. Latitude-45 deg 32 min. North. REMARKS ON THE ST. MARTIN, ISLE JESUS, METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER Greatest Intensity of the Sun's Rays. Lowest Point of Terrestrial Radiation. Amount of Evaporation Mean of Humidity. No snow fell during the month, which is the only April on record here. 78° 1' 8° 5' 41° 24' 69° 6' .107-10' 8°00' .1.94 in. .800 Rain fell on 11 days, amounting to 2 830 inches; it was raining 37 hours 30 minutes. The amount of rain which fell in the month is much below the usual quantity for April on record here, for in April, 1855, 4.194 inches of rain fell, and 4.34 inches of snow; and in April. 1851, 7.886 inches of rain fell, and 4-03 inches of snow; and in April, 1853, 3.586 inches of rain fell, and 1.50 inches of snow. The first rain which fell since the 22nd of December, was on the 3rd of April, making a period of 103 days without rain. The amount of evaporation is + the average, and the relative humidity -the average amount. The most prevalent Wind was N E by E-1699.00 miles. The least prevalent Wind was S W by S--3.00 miles. The most windy day was the 21st; mean miles per hour, 32.41. The least windy day was the 6th; mean miles per hour, 0.40. Most windy hour, from 5 to 6 A. M. on the 10th day-3.650 miles. The whole miles traversed by the wind was 4579.10 miles, which being resolvéd into the four cardinal points, gives-- N-234.00 3-116.00 W-1644.00 E-2585.10 OZONE was in large quantity, amounting to saturation, on the 28th day. The electrical state of the atmosphere has indicated rather high tension. Frogs first heard on the 23rd day. REMARKS ON THE ST. MARTIN, ISLE JESUS, METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER Greatest Intensity of the Sun's Rays. Lowest Point of Terrestrial Radiation Mean of Humidity.. Amount of Evaporation Snow fell on 2 days, inapp. 30.163 29.092 29 727 1.071 83°.40 30°.00 52°.45 53°.40 110°.5 29°.6 .735 3.79 Rain fell on 13 days amounting to 5.973 inches; it was raining 42 hours and 50 minutes, and was accompanied by thunder on 2 days. Most prevalent Wind, the N. W. by N. Least prevalent Wind, the E. by S. Most windy day, the 3rd day; mean miles per hour 18.36. Least windy day, the 27th day; mean miles per hour, 0.49. Most windy hour from 11 to 12, A. M.. 31st day, 32.30 miles;-total mlles traversed by the wind, 4540.00-which being resolved into the Four Cardinal Points, gives N 1415.00. S 481.00, E 1321.00, W 1323.00 miles, Aurora Borealis visible on two nights. There were 179 hours calm during the month, and 4 days perfectly cloudless. The clectrical state of the atmosphere has been marked generally by moderate intensity. OZONE was in moderate quantity. THE CANADIAN JOURNAL. NEW SERIES. No. V. SEPTEMBER, 1856. NOTES OF TRAVEL AMONG THE WALLA-WALLA INDIANS. BY PAUL KANE, TORONTO. Read before the Canadian Institute, 5th April, 1856. In former selections from my notes, made during years of travel among the Indians of the North-West, I have communicated accounts of two Tribes presenting the most striking elements of contrast: the Chinooks, one of the numerous Tribes of the Flat Head Indians, inhabiting the tract of country at the mouth of the Columbia River; and the singular tribe of Half-breeds to be found. in the Hudson Bay Company's Territory, in the vicinity of the Red River. For the present communication, I have selected from my Journal notes relating to the Walla-Walla and Kye-use Indians, as possessing a peculiar interest, from the fact that I was present at some of the scenes in which the present war between these Tribes and the settlers in Oregon originated. On the 12th of July, 1847, on my return journey up the Columbia River, I arrived at Walla-Walla, about five hundred miles. from its mouth. It is a small Fort, built of Dobies, or blocks of mud baked in the sun, which is here intensely hot. Fort WallaWalla is situated at the mouth of the river of the same name, in the most sandy and barren desert that can well be conceived. Little or no rain ever falls here, although a few miles lower down the river it is seen from hence to pour down in torrents. Owing to its being built at the mouth of a gully, formed by the Columbia River through high mountainous land, leading to the Pacific Ocean, it is exposed to furious gales of wind, which rush through the opening in the hills with inconceivable violence, and raise the sand in clouds. so dense and continuous as frequently to render travelling impossible. I was kindly received by Mr. McBain, a clerk in the Hudson Bay Company's service, who, with five men, had charge of the Fort. The establishment is kept up solely for the purpose of trading with the Indians from the interior, as those about the Post have few or no peltries to deal in. The Walla-Walla Indians live almost entirely upon salmon throughout the whole year. In the summer season they inhabit lodges made of mats of rushes spread on poles. Owing to the absence of trees in their vicinity, they have to depend for the small quantity of fuel which they require, upon the drift wood which they collect from the river in the spring. In the winter they dig a large circular excavation in the ground about ten or twelve feet deep, and from forty to fifty feet in circumference, and cover it over with split logs, over which they place a layer of mud collected from the river. A hole is left at one side of this roofing, only large enough for one person to enter at a time. A stick with notches reaches to the bottom of the excavation, and serves as a ladder by means of which they ascend and descend into the subterranean dwelling. Here twelve or fifteen persons burrow through the winter, having little or no occasion for fuel, their food of dried salmon being most frequently eaten uncooked, and the place being excessively warm from the numbers congregated together in so small and confined a space. They are frequently obliged, by the drifting billows of sand, to close the aperture, when the heat and stench become insupportable to all but those accustomed to it. The drifting of the sand is a frightful feature in this barren waste. Great numbers of the Indians lose their sight, and even those who have not suffered to so great an extent, have the appearance of labouring under intense inflammation of these organs. The salmon, while in the process of drying, also become filled with sand to such an extent as to wear away the teeth of the Indians, and an Indian is seldom met with over forty years of age whose teeth are not worn quite to the gums. The day after my arrival at the Fort I procured three horses and a man, for the purpose of travelling into the interior of the country, and visited the Pavilion and Nez-perces Indians. The weather was excessively hot, and we suffered much from the want |