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Show f ,. 1 j ,. l l I ~ ~ I.~ewis and Clat•kc's Expedition houses. Our guido now informed us that tbe next village' was at such a distance that we should not reach it this evening, and as we should be a hie to procure both dogs and woml at this place, we detenuinrd1 to t·n~amp. \Vc here purrhaS'ctl a. luu·sc. aml engaged for a. ser.ond in exchange for one or out• canoes, but as tht>y were on the opposite side of the l'iver, and the w.iud very higl•~ thr-y were not able to <'L'Oss liefore suns<'t. at which time the Indhm had retul'ned home to the next village above. rrhis cvc·ning. as well as at dinnertime, we were obliged to lmy wood to <•ook our meat, for there is no timb('l' in the c.:ountry, and all the fuel is hrought f1·om a great distance. \Ve obtained as much as answered our lllll'posrs on mmlca·ate terms, but as we are too J>oor to aflorl1 more than a single fire, and lie wHhout any shelter, we lirul the nights disagreeably cold, though the weather is warm during the daytime. The next morning, \Vednesday 23, two of the horses strayed away in consequence of neglecting to tic them as had been di1·ccted. One of them was recovered, but as we had a long ride to make bct'01·e reaching the next village, we could wait no longm· than eleven o'clock for the othc1·. Not being found a! that time we Ret out, and after mat•ching for twelve miles over the sands of a narrow rocky bottom on the north side or the river, came to a village nea1· the Rock rapid, at the mouth of a largo creek, which we had not observed in tlcsccnding. It consisted or twelve temporary huts ofmat,inllabitcd by a tribe called \Vahhow1mm, 'v ho speak a language very similar to that of the Uhopunnish, whom they resemble also in dress, both sexes being clad in robes and shil·ts as well as leggings and moccasins. 'J.1hese people seemed mucu pleased to see us, ami readily gave us four dogs and some chapclell and wood in exchange for small articles, such as llcwtcr-buUons, ~trips of tin, i1·on, and brass, and some twist· cd wit·c, which we had p•·cviously prepared fo•· our joua·ney uross the plains. These people, as weH as some more liv· iog in ftvc huts a liUlc below them, were waiting the return U11 the JUissouri. 251 of the salmon. )V c also found a Chollunnish returning l101Re with his family and a dozen young hot·ses, some of which he wanlrd us to hh·e, hut this we declined, as in that case we should be obliged to maintain him and his family on the coutr. After at·t·anging the ~amp we assembled all the war-rior5, and having smoked with them, the violins W('re produced, and some of the men danced. 'J'bis civility was rc~ turned bv the T ndians in a style of danC\ing such as we had not yet s~~n. The S(Wdators formed a circle round the dance1 ·s, who with the it· robes drawn tightly round the shoulders, and divi<lNl into parties of five ot· six men, pcrl'o1·m by eros~ sing in a line from one side of ttu~ cil'cle to the other. All the Jla.rties, pcd'ormet·s as well as spectators, sang, and after proceeding in this way for some time, the spectators join, and the whole concludes by a promiscuous dance and song. Having fini shed, the natives l'etia•cd at out' rcqut~st, after promi ing to baa·ter horses with U!i in the lnOI'Ilillg'. rJ'he river is by no means so difficult of passage nor obstt·ucted by so many rapids as it was in the autumn, the water being now sufficiently high to cover the rocks in the bed. In the mormng, Thursday .2·h we began early to look for our horses, but tlwy were not collected before one o'clock. In the meantime w<~ pt·cpaa·cll saddMs for three new ho1·scs which we purthascd fa·om the 'Vahhowpums, and agrt>ed to birc three more fa·om the Chopunnish lntlian who was to accompany us with his f<tmily. 1.'he natives also had promised to take our canoes in exchange for horses; but when they found that we were rcsolvctl on travelling by )and, they refused giving us any thing, in hopes that we would he forced to leave them. Disgusted at this conduct, we determined rathe1· to cut them to pieces than suffca· these peop1e to enjoy them, and actually hegnn to !i\plit them, on which Chey gave U! sev~ral &tJ·antls of' heads for each canoe. \Ve had now a sufficacnt number or horses to car•·y our baggage, and thercfor·e pro· ceerlrd wholly by land. At 1wo o·cJo~k we set out, and pass" I .. ·'" ~ ~ J l '~ J '~ ,, ) ' I ' . ' . I • ~ ; :.: ~ . - ' ..:- |