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Show 78 JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE have regretted more, as the wild fowl just began to return on the approach of spring. 9tb Marc/;, Sunday.-I examined into the conduct of my sergeant, and found that he was guilty an~ punished him by reduction, &c. Visited the }'ols Avom lodges and received a present of some tallow. One of my men arrived from the hunting camp with two deer. IOtb March Monday.-Was visited by the Fols Avoin chief and ;everal others of his nation. This chief was an extraordinary hunter; to instance his power, he killed forty elk and a bear in one day ; chasing the for. n1er from dawn to eve. We were all busied in prepar~ng oars, guns, mast, &c. by the time the ice broke up, which was opening fast. . . llth Marcb, Tuesday.-In a long conversatwn With a Reynard, he professed not to believe in an hereafter; but he believed that the world would all be drowned by water, at son1e future period ; he asked how it was to be re-peopled. In justice to his nation, however, I must ob· serve, that his opinion was singular. . 12tb Marcb, JiVednesday.-Made preparatwns; had fine chase with deer on the ice ; killed one. Since our return I received eight deer fron1 our camp. 13th Marcb, Tbursday.-Received two deer from 1~Y hunting camp. Went out with my gun on the opposite ~ide of the river. Ascended the Inountain which borders the prairie. On the point of it I found a stone, on which the Indians had sharpened their knives, and a war club half finished. Fr01n this spot you may extend the eye over vast prairies without, scarcely any, interruption, but clumps of trees which at a distance appeared like moun· tains ; from two or three of which the sn1oke n·s m· g I· ll the air' denoted the habitation of the wandering savage, .a nd. too often marked then1 out as victims to their enemtes' from whose cruelty, I have had the pleasure m· the TO THE SOURCES OF TUE MISSISSIPPI. 79 course of the winter, and through a wilderness of im. mcnse extent to r elieve them, as p 'ace has reigned through my mediation, from the prairie Des Cheins to the lower Red river. If a s ubaltern with but 20 men, at so great a distance from the seat of his governtnent could effect so important a change in the minds of those savao-cs what might not a great and independent power efrectb, if' instead of blowing up the flames of discord, they exerted their influence in the sacred cause of peace ? When I returned to the fort, I found the Fols Avoin chief who intended to remain all night. He told me that near the conclusion of the revolutionary war, his nation began to look upon him as a warrior; that they received a parole from Michilimackinac, on which he was dispatched with 40 warriors ; that on his arrival he was requested to lead them against the Americans. To which he replied " We " ha ve consi.d ered you and the Americans as one 'p eople. ,, y " . ou. are now . at w. ar; how arc we to decide who has JUStice on their Side ? Besides you white people arc " like the leaves on the trees for numbers. Should I " h . h " m~rc ~It ~y 4·0 warriors to the field of battle, they With thetr chtef, would be unnoticed in the multitude · " an d would be swallowed up as the big waters embo-' " ~om the small rivulets which discharge themselves into " It · N o, I '11 . WI return to my natwn, where my coun- "" trym. en ~ay b e o f servi·c e agam· st our red enemies, and their actions renowned in the dance of our nation." . 14th March, Friday. Took the latitude by an arti-fictal horizon , an(1 tneasured h · . t c n ver. Received one deer and a half from my hunting camp, Icc thinner. b lStb March, Saturday.-This was the day fixed upon Y Mr. Grant and the Chipeway warriors, for their arrival at my fort . a d I 11 d . r ' n was a ay auxwusly expectinrr them· lOr I kne h h n , w t at s ould they not accompany me down the peace · 11 ' part1a Y effected between them and the Sioux, would |