518 



Suppofed Welch Indians. 



[Jan. 1, 



found that five young nten of the tribe 

 had a defire of attempting to explore the 

 fources of the Miflburi. He prevailed up- 

 on them to admit him as one of the party. 

 They fet out with fix good rifles and with 

 fi\ pounds of powder a-piece, of which 

 they wcie of coiirfe veiy careful. 



On reaching the mouth of the Miffouri, 

 they were ftruck with the extraordinary 

 appearance occafioned by the intermixture 

 of the muddy waters of the MifTouri and 

 the clear trar.fparenr element of ihc Miffil- 

 fippi. They flaid two or three days 

 ainufing themfelves with the view of this 

 novel fight : they thvn determined on the 

 courfe which they (hould purlue, which 

 happeneii to be lo n-arly in the courfe of 

 the river, that they frequently came 

 ■witiii:i fight of it as they proceeded '.n 

 iheir journey. 



After travelling about thirty days 

 through pretty farming wood-land, they 

 came inti fine open prau'ies, on which no- 

 thing grew but long luxuriant grafs. — 

 There v\ as a fuccefrioir of thele, varying 

 in fizejfome beingeiglu or ten miles acrols, 

 but one of theni'fo long, tliat it occupied 

 three days to travel through it. In pafiing 

 throush this large prairie, they were much 

 diltrtll'ed for water snd provifions, for 

 they faw neither bealt nor bird j and, 

 though there was an abundance of fait 

 fprings, fiefh watf-r was very fcarce. In 

 ore of thefe prairies the fait- fpiings ran 

 into fmail ponds, in which, as the weather 

 was hot, the water had fur.Jc, and left the 

 edges of the ponds fo covered with frit, 

 that they fully fupplied themfelves with 

 that article, and might eafily have coileft- 

 cd bufVielsof it. As they were tiavellinor 

 through the prairies they had likev;ife the 

 g.jod fortune to kill an animal which was 

 nine or ten feet high, and of a bulk propor- 

 tioned to its heig!u. They had ken two 

 of the fame fpecies before, and they faw 

 four of them afterwards. They were 

 iwift-footed, and they had neither tuflcs 

 nor horns. After having pafTed through 

 the long prairie, they maue it a rule never 

 to enter on one which they could not fee 

 acrofs, till they had I'upplied themfelves 

 with a I'ufHciency of jerked venifon to laft 

 feveral days. 



Alter having t:avelled a confiderabie 

 time through the pniiiie', they came to 

 very extenlive lead mines, where they 

 melted the ore, and fumifhed themfcivts 

 with what lead they wanted. They after- 

 wards cime to two copper-mil es, one of 

 vvhich was three miies through j and in 

 feveral places they met with recks of cop- 

 per-ore at large as houfes. 



When about fifteen days Journey from 

 the fecond copper-mine, they came in fight 

 of white mountains, which, though it was 

 in the heat of fummer, appeared to them 

 to be covered with fnow. The fight na- 

 turally excited confiderable aftonilhment ; 

 but on their approaching the mountains 

 they difcovered, that, inftead of fnow, they 

 Were covered with immenfe bodies of 

 white fand. 



They had in the mean time patTed 

 through about ten nations of Indians, 

 from whom they received very friendly 

 treatment. It. was the prai'^ice of the 

 party toexercife the office of fpokefman ia 

 rotation ; and when the language of any 

 nafiun through which they paffed was un- 

 known to them, it was the duty of the 

 fpokefman, a duty in which the others ne- 

 ver intei fered, to convey their meaning by 

 appropriate figns. 



The libour of travelling through the 

 deep fandsof the mountains was excelTive; 

 but at length they relieved themlelves of 

 this difficulty, by following the c uirle of 

 a (h.illow river, the bottom of which being 

 level, they made their way to the top of 

 the mountains with tolerable convenience. 

 After paffing the mountains, they en- 

 tered a fine fertile traft of land, which 

 having travelled through for feveral days, 

 they accidentally met with three whue 

 men in the Indian drefs. Griffith imme- 

 diately underftood their language, as it 

 was pure Welch, though they occafionally 

 made ufe of a few words with which he 

 was not acquainted. However, as it hap- 

 pened to be the turn of one of his Shawnees 

 coiipaniors to aft as fpokefman or inter- 

 preter, he prefsrved a profound filence, and 

 never gave them any intimation that he 

 underffood the language of their new conr- 

 panions. 



After proceeding with them four or 

 five days journey, they came to the village 

 ot thefe white men, where they found 

 that the whole nation was of the fame co- 

 lour, having all the European complexion. 

 The three men took them through their 

 villages for about the fpace of fifteen 

 miles, when they came to the council- 

 hiiufe, at which an alTembly of the king 

 and chief men of the nation was immedi- 

 ately held. The council lal'ed three days, 

 anJ, as the Ifiangcrs were not fuppofed to 

 be acquainted with their language, they 

 wrre fuffered to be prefent at their delibe- 

 rations. 



The great queftion befjre the council 



was, what condufl (liould be ob!crveil to. 



wards the ftrangers. From their fire-arms, 



their knives, and their tomahawks, it was 



concluded 



