Journal of John Work. 313 sing, as he is an excellent hand with the horses in the woods. The men were completely drenched with rain all day yes- terday and most of today, for though it did not rain today, the bushes are so charged; with wet that a continual shower was falling as we passed through them. The road, exceedingly harassing all day, and men and horses much fatigued. It was past sunset when the men arrived, that were seeking the stray mare, and taking the horses out of the bog. Had it not been for the delay caused by their misfortunes, we meant to have gone on a little further to a fine plain which our guides represent to be ahead a little way. Monday, May 31st. The horse which was dragged out of the bog yesterday evening was dead this morning. The other that was missing and another which had also strayed w^ere not found till 11 o'clock, when we started, and arrived at Fort Vancouver at 7 o'clock in the evening with 48 of our 50 horses, several of them nearly worn out * * * The road for some distance in the morning was as bad as usual until we got into a pretty boggy place which is so overflowed with water at this season that it may be called a swamp, where, though the road is soft, it is infinitely superior to the thickets we have been pass- ing for some time back. After passing this plain we had another part of woods, through which the road is good, then a fine dry plain, and another part of woods where the road is good, when we fell upon the plain on which the Fort stands, all the low parts of which is .now under water, the Columbia being unusually high at this season. We are glad
our difficult and troublesome journey is finished.----
