SOURCE OF ST. PETEr's RIVER. 189 



liaved towards them, must be discontinued in our presence, 

 as to that we ascribed their forwardness. The men of this 

 village were distinguished from those observed in other 

 places, by their unusually dark and expressive eyes, the 

 playful smile of their mouth, and their well-formed nose. 

 We found them very short of provisions ; they offered us, 

 however, a bowlful of maize, which was very acceptable, 

 as our bread-corn had been consumed. One of the party 

 observed in the lodge a large basket, full of acorns intend- 

 ed no doubt for food. We proceeded that afternoon a few 

 miles further, and encamped on a beautiful spot near the 

 Pektannon ; it was on the verge of a fine wood. The ad- 

 joining prairie afforded our horses the finest pasture that 

 could be wished for ; an attempt to fish was made, but it 

 proved unsuccessful. It does not seem that these rivers 

 abound in fish, and the Indians place no dependence upon 

 the produce of the fishery for their support. While en- 

 camped this evening, we were visited by several Indians, 

 who came from the village, and who behaved themselves 

 in a very becoming mannei". In order to compare the lan- 

 guage of the Winnebagoes, as spoken here, with that con- 

 tained in the vocabulary obtained by Major Long in the 

 year 1817, and which is recorded in the " Account of an 

 Expedition to the Rocky Mountains," (vol. 2, p. Ixxxvi.) 

 we read to one of these Indians, who was a Winnebago, 

 the words as published in the vocabulary, with a view to 

 ascertain whether or not he understood them ; the attempt 

 was rather a difficult one, as he had to convey the mean- 

 ing of the Winnebago term in the Sauk language to Le 

 Sellier, who translated it into French to one of the party 

 by whom it was reduced into English. The result of 

 this threefold translation was, however, that he recog- 

 nised, without hesitation, about one-third of the words ; 



