DAVID THOMPSON. 141 



On November 28th, he left McDonald's House on his way to the 

 Mandan villages on the Missouri River. On Dec. 7th, he reached old 

 Ash House on the Sduris River, " settled two years ago and abandon- 

 ed the following Spring." Having been unable to procure a guide here, 

 he himself assumed the lead, and struck across to Turtle Mountain, be- 

 yond which he again crossed to the Souris or Mouse River, which he 

 followed up to its " bight" whence he crossed the plains, a distance 37 

 miles to the Missouri River, reaching it on Dec. 29th at a point six 

 miles above the upper of the Mandan villages. These villages are 

 stated to have been five in number, and contained in all 318 houses and 

 7 tents, inhabited by Mandan and Willow Indians in about equal num- 

 bers ; and the number of Willow Indians in another place in his notes 

 (there called Fall Indians) is placed at 2,200 — -',500. He remained at 

 these villages till January 1 0th, trying to induce the Indians to come 

 north to trade, but with very little success, as they were afraid of the 

 Sioux. While here he wrote down a vocabulaiy of the Mandan lan- 

 guage, containing about 375 words. 



On January 10th, 1798, he left the village-;, but being delayed by 

 severe storms, it was the 24th before he reached the Souris River, and 

 February 3rd when he arrived at McDonald's House at the mouth of 

 Souris River. 



There he remained till Feb. 25th, plotting his work and preparing for 

 a long trip on foot to connect the waters of the Red River and the Mis- 

 sissippi, and thence over to Lake Superior, a trip which his companions 

 ridiculed as being impossible to accomplish before the advent of sum- 

 mer. On Feb. 25th, however, he started out on foot with a dog team, 

 and descended the Assiniboine to its mouth, making as he always did, 

 a survey of his route ; passing on his way Pine Fort and Popular House 

 both of which had been abandoned, and some houses a little below 

 the portage to Lake Manitoba. On March 7th he reached the mouth 

 of the Assiniboine, and, walking on the ice, turned up Red River : 

 and on the 9th reached Rat Brook, ^ mile up which was the N. W. 

 Coy's House of Mr. Chaboillez. On March 14th, he reached the 

 house of Mr. Charles Chaboillez, at the mouth of the Summerbuiy or 

 Pembina River, in Lat. 48° 58' 29", where he stayed till March 21st. 

 He then continued up the Red River past a IST. W. Coy's House, 

 kept by M. Roi, and turning into Red Lake River, ascended it to 



