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Show Ltwis and Vlarl'e·s Expedition sashaco (or Brave ~lao) all Ottoes. These two tribes speak very nearly the same language: they all begged us to give them whiskey. · The next morning, August 20, the Indians mounted their bot•ses and left us, having received a cannister of whiskey at parting. 'Ve then set sail, and after passing two islands on the nol'th, came to on that side under some bluffs; the flrst near the l'ivet· since we left the Ayauwa village. llere we bad the misfortune to ,lose one of our scrgcan ts, Charles Floyd. He was yesterday seized with a bilious cholic, and all our eare and attention were ineffectual to relieve him: a little before his death, be said to captain Clark, "I am going to leave you," his strength failed him as he added "I want you to write me a letter;" but he died with a composure which justified the high 011inion we bad formed of his firmness and good conduct. lie was buried on the top of the bluff with the bonout·s due to a brave soldier; and the place of his in· terment marked by a cedar post, on which his"name and the day of his death were inscribed. About a mile beyond this Jllace, to which we gave his name, is a small t~iver about thirty yards wide, on the north, which we called Floyd's ri· ver, where we encamped. We h.ad a bt•eeze from the south· east, and made thirteen miles. August 21. Tbe same breeze fa·om the southeast carried us by a small willow creek on the north, about one mile and a half above Floyd's river. Here began a range of bluffs which continued till near the mouth of the great Sioux river, tbree miles beyond Floyd's. '!'his river comes in from the north, and is about one hundred and ten yards wide. Mr. Durion, our Sioux intcrpt·eter, who is well acquainted with it, says that it is navigable upwards of two hundred miles to the falls, and even beyond them; that its sources are near those of the St. Peters. He also says, that below the falls a creek falls in from the eastward, after 11assing through cliffs of red rock: of this the Indians make theit• pipes; and the necessity of procuring that article, bas intro• Up the .MissoUJ•i. 49 .Juced a sort of law of nations, by which the banks of the creek ai~e sacred, and even tribes at war meet without hos.tiHty at these quar1·ies, which possess a right of asylllDl. 'I'bus we find even among savages certain principles deemed sacr·cd, by which the rigours or the it· merciless system of warfare arc mitigated. A sense of common danger, where stronger tics are wanting, gives all the binding force ot' more solemn obligations. The importance of preset·ving the known and settled rules of warfare among civilized nations, in all their integrity, becomes strikingly evident; since even sava~ ges, with their few precal'ious wants, cannot exist in a state of peace or war where this faith is once violated. The wind became southerly, and blew with such violence tlmt we took a reef in our sail: it also blew the sand from the bars in such quantities, that we could not sec the channel at any distance ahead. At four and a quarter miles, we came to two willow islands, beyond which are several sandbars; and at twelve miles, a spot where the Mahas once had a village, now no longer existing. We again passed a number of sand~ bars, and encamped on the south; having come twenty-four and three quarter miles. The country through which we passed has the same uniform appearance ever since we left the river Platte: rich low-grounds ncar the rivet·, succeeded by umlulating prairies, with timbet~ near the waters. Some wolves were seen to-day on the sandbcaches to the south; we also pl'ocured an excellent fruit, resembling u. red cur~ rant, growing on a shrub like the privy, and about the height of a wild plum. August 22. About three miles distance, we joined the men who had been sent from the Maha village with our horses, ami who brought us two deer. The bluffs or bills which reach the river at this place, on the south, contain allum, copperas, cobalt which had the apl>earance of soft isin~ glass, pyrites, and sandstone, the two first very put·e. Aboye this bluff comes iu a small creek on the south, whiela we call Rologe errek. S(wen miles above is another cliff, on the YOL. T. Jl |
