OCR Text |
Show 362 suckle, resembling in its general appearance and tht' shape of its leaf the small honeysuckle of the Missouri, except that it is rathet~ larger, and bea1·s a globular berry, about the size of a garden pea, of a white colour, and formed of a soft white mucilaginous substance, in which are several small brown seeds irregularly scattered without any cell, and enveloped in a smooth thin pellicle. They proceeded along a waving plain parallel to this val. ley for about four miles, when 1hey discovered two women, a man and some dogs on an cmiuence at the distance of a mile before them. The straugers first vi~wed them appa· rently with much attention for· a few minutes, and then two of them sat down as if to await ca}Jtain Lewis's arrival. He went on tiJI he reached within about half a mile, then order· ed his paa·ty to stop, put down Ids knapsack and rifle, and un· furling the flag advanced alone towards the Indians. The females soon r·etreated behind the hill, but the man remained till captain Lewis came within a hundred yards ft'om him, when he too went oil~ though captain Lewis called out tabba bone! loud enough to be heard distinctly. He hastened to the top of the hill, but they had all disappeared. 'rl1e dogs however were less shy, and came close to l&im; be tber,.fore thought of tying a handkerchief with some beads round their necks, and lhen let them loose to convince the fugitives of his friendly disposition, but they would not suffer him to take hGld of them, and soon left him. lle now made a signal to the men, who joined him, and then all followed the track of the Indians, which led along a continuation of the same road they had been already travelling. It was dusty and seemed to have been much tased lately both by foot passengers and horsemen. They had not gone alono- it more than a nu'L e when on a sudden they saw three fem~ ale Indians, from whom they had been concealed uy the deep ravines which intersected the road, till they we1·e now within thirty paces of each other; one of them a young woman immediately took to iight, the other two, an elderlJ' woman and a. Up the JUissonl'i. 563 little girl, seeing we were too near for them to escape, s~t. on the ground, and hohling down their heads sc~med as 1f · reconciled to the death which they supposed awaited them. The same habit of holding down the head and inviting the enemy to strike, when all chance of escape is gone, is preserved in Egypt to this day. Captain Lewis instantly 1mt down his 1·ifle, and advancing towal'ds tlH·m, took the woman by the hand, raise(\ her up, and repcat(:d the word tabba bone! at the same time stripping up his shirt sleeve to prove t}1at he was a while man, for his hands and face bad become by constant exposure quite as dal'k as thdL~ own. She appeared immediately relicYcd from her alarm, and Drewyer and Shields now coming up, captain Lewis gave tl1em some beads, a few awls, vewtcr miiTors, and a little paint, and told Drewyer to request the woman to recall her companion who had escaped to some distance, ami by alarming the In· diaos migl1t cause them to attack him without any time for explanation. She did as she was desirecl, and the young woman rct.ut·ncd almost out of breath: calltain Lewis gave her an equal portion of trinkets, and painted the tawny cheeks of all three of them with vermillion, a ceremony whic.h among the Shoshonees is emblematic of peae~. ~te.r tl~ey had become cODlllosed, he infot•med them by s1gns o{ Ius w1sh to go to their camp in 01·dcr to sec their chiefs and warriors; they readily obeyed, and con<luelcd the pat·ty along the same road down the river. In this way i.hcy marched two miles, when they met a troop or nearly sixty warriors mount~ ed on excellent horses 1·iding at full speed towards them. As they advanced captain Lewis 1mt down his gun, and went with the flag about fifty paces in advance. rrhc chief who with two men were riding in front of the main body, spoke to the women, who noW CXlllairtC(\that the party was composed of white men, and showed exultingly the llrescnt.s they bad received. The three men immediately leaped ft·om their horses, came up to captain Lewis and embraced him with great cordiality, putting their left arm over his right |