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Show OPENING OF THE TRADE. 279 come from an expedition against the Crows, in which they had lost two of their people, and had no articles to trade with. They had traversed, without shoes, great tracts of prairie ; their feet were sore, and tired, yet he had taken part in the action, and neither he nor others had received any present from the Whites." Mr. Mitchell answered, that " he would make the chiefs some presents to-morrow; though he thought that he had done enough, as he had distributed among them, on the preceding day, a great quantity of powder and ball, and received those that were in need into the fort. Though it was true that the Whites possessed many medicines which they could employ to the ruin of the Indians, he had no such thoughts. He would, however, show them such a one to-day, to give them an idea of the power of the Whites. When a cannon was fired, they should pay attention. To-morrow he would have the colours hoisted, and a gun fired as a signal for the solemn reception of the chiefs." One of the Blackfeet chiefs had before observed, that " he was much surprised that the Whites always appeared in their common everyday clothes, whereas they (the chiefs) put on their handsomest dresses. They had never seen the fine clothes of the Whites." The chiefs having left us about six in the afternoon, the gate of the fort was shut, and, as soon as it was dark, Mr. Mitchell caused a gun to be fired, and then some skyrockets to be successively thrown up, which, as it happened, succeeded extremely well, rising to a great height, and bursting into stars. Most of the Indians, however, did not betray much astonishment at this exhibition, having already seen the same at the English posts. The Indians before the fort had already been dancing and singing to the sound of their drum ; they now retired, rejoicing, to their tents. It was a still, moonlight night, but the noise of the Indians continued, and a watch was kept in the fort. On the following morning we were surprised by the highly interesting appearance of the great Indian camp, consisting of about 400 tents, which stood close together, because the enemy was supposed to be still in the neighbourhood. (See the view of this great camp of the Piekanns in Plate XLIII.) News had been received that the Assiniboins were scattered, and perhaps concealed, in many small parties, in the adjacent country. On the 31st of August the sky was very gloomy, but the clouds dispersed, and at nine o'clock Mr. Mitchell had a gun fired as the signal for the opening of the trade ; on which about twenty-four of the chiefs and most distinguished warriors of the Piekanns, and with them the Blackfoot, Ihkas-Kinne, advanced, in slow procession, to the fort. Mr. Mitchell passed through a great crowd of women and children to meet the men, shook hands with them, and conducted them into the fort. They had put on their best dresses, and were received with a salute from the cannon of the fort; but the rain falling in torrents was extremely unfavourable to this interesting ceremony. At this moment, a numerous body of Blood Indians, with all their baggage, appeared on the heights on the other side of the river, who intended likewise to encamp near the fort; on this, Ninoch- |