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Show 126 Lewis and Clarke's Expedition November 10. 'Ve had again a raw day, a not·thwest wiud, but rose early in hopes of finishing our works before the extreme col<l begins. A chief who is a half Pawnee came to us and bt•ought a pt~escnt of half a buffaloe, in return for which we gave him souw small pt·es(•nts and a few at•ticles to his wife and son: he then crossed t.l1e river in a buffaloc skin canoe; his wife took the boat on her back ami carried it to the viHage three miles off. Large flocks of geese and brant, and also a few ducks are passing towards the south. Sunday 11. The weather is cold. We received tbe visit of two squaws, prisoners ft·om the Rock mountains, and pur· chased by Chaboneau. rrhe Mandans at this time are out hunting the buffaloe. ~londay 12 • . 'I'he last night had been cold and this morning we had a very hard frost: the wind changeable during the day, and some ice appears on the edges of the rivers; swans too are passing to the south. The Big 'Vhite came down to us, having packed Oft the back of his squaw about one hundt•ed pounds of very fine meat: for which we gave him as well as the squaw some presents, pal'ticularly an axe to the woman with which she was nwy much plcase.d. Tuesday 13. "' e tl1is morning unloaded the boat and stowed away the contents in a storehouse which we have built. At half past ten ice began to float down the river for the first time: iu the course of the morning we were visited by the Black Cat, Poscapsahe, who brought an Assiniboin ebief ami seven warriors to see us. 'rhis man, w holl!e name is Chrchawk, is a chief of one out of three bands of Assini, lwins who wander OYer the plains between the Mis~ouri and Assiniboin during the summer, and jn the winter carry the spoils of their hunting to the tradet·s on the Assiniboin river, ancl occasionally come to this place: the whole three bands consist of about eight hundr·ed men. w-e gave him a twist of tobacco to smoke with his peot,le, and a gold cord for himself: the Sioux also asked for whiskey which we refused to give them. It snowed all day and the air was very cold. Up t1le ~Iissozu-i. 127 Wednesday 14<. 'l'he river rose last night half an inch, a~d is a ow filled with floating ice. This morning was cloudy With some snow: about seventy lodges of Assiniboins and some K.nistenaux are at the Mandan village, and this being the day of adoption and exchange ofproperty between them all, it is accompanied by a dance, which prevents our seeing more than two Indians to-day: these Knistenaux are a band of Chippeways whose language they speak; they live on the .Assinihoin and Saskashawan rivers, and are about two hun< h·ed and forty men. 'Vc sent a man down on horseback to see what had become of our hunters, and as we apprehend a failure of provisions we have recourse to our pork this e vening. Two Frenchmen who had been below returned with twenty beaver which they had caught in traps. 'rltursday 15. '.rhc morning again ·cloudy, and the ice running thicket' than yesterday, the wind variable. The man came back with information that our hunters were about thirty miles below, and we immediately sent an order to them to make their way through the floating ice, to assist them in which we sent some tin for the bow of the pepe• ·iogue aud a towt•opc. The ceremony of yesterday sec~1 to continue still, fol' we were not visited by a single Imhan. 'l'he swan al'e still passing to the south. Friday 16. We had a very hard white frost this morning, the trees are all covered with icc, and the weather cloudy. 'rhe men this day moved into the buts, although they at·e not finished. In the evening some horses were sent down to the woods near us in order to prevent their being stolen by the Assiniboins, with whom some difficulty is now apprehended. An Indian came down with four buffaloe robes and some corn, wbich he offered for a pistoJ, but was refused. Saturday, November 17. Last night was veJ•y cold, and the ice in the river to-day is thicke1· tJaan hitherto. " 'e are totally occupied with our huts, but rc('eircd ,·isits f1·om several Indians. |