MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



469 



for the whole party, wliich now 

 consisted of sixty men ; and be- 

 sides our. small ai'ms, we had a 

 swivel, and two howitzers. Any 

 attempt to avoid the Indians would 

 have been abortive, inasmuch as a 

 boat, in ascending the Missouri, 

 can only effect it by gx>ing along- 

 the edges of the river, it being 

 wholly impossible to stem the 

 middle current ; and as the banks 

 are in many places high and per- 

 jxendicular, we must inevitably be 

 in their power frequently, as they 

 might several times in the course 

 of a day shower a volley of anows 

 upon us, and retLre unseen. Our 

 alternative, therefore, was, as we 

 supposed, either to fight them or 

 return. The former was imme- 

 diately decided on, and \ye landed 

 nearly opposite to the main body. 

 Oui' first care was to put all the 

 arms in complete order : after- 

 wards the swivel and. the howit- 

 zers were loaded \^'ith powder 

 only, and fired to impress them 

 with an idea that we were well 

 prepared. They were then hea- 

 vily loaded, and with as many 

 bullets cis it was supposed they 

 would bear, aftei' which we crossed 

 the river. W'hen we arrived within 

 about one hundred yaids of them, 

 the boats were stationed, and all 

 seized their arms. The Indians 

 now seemed to be in confusion, 

 and when we rose up to fire, they 

 spread their buifaloe robes before 

 them, and mo\ed them from side 

 to side. i)uv inleipreter called 

 out, and desired us not to lire, as 

 the action indicate<l, on their part, 

 a wish to avoid an engagement, 

 and to come to a paiiey. We ac- 

 coiiliiigly desisted, and saw about 

 fourteen of the chiefs scpaiate 

 themselves from the crowd who 



were on the summit of the bank 

 and descend to the edge of the 

 river, where they sat dovvn on the 

 sand, forming themselves into a 

 portion of a circle, in the centre 

 of which we could see pi eparations 

 making to kindle a fire, evidently 

 with a design to smoke the calumet 

 witii us, and signs were made, 

 inviting us to land. Mr. Hunt 

 requested that Messrs. Crooks, 

 M'Kenzie, Miller, and M'Clellan, 

 would attend him in his boat, and 

 I accompanied Mr. M'Kenzie. The 

 object was to consider whether it 

 was advisable to place so much 

 confidence in so ferocious and 

 faithless a set, as to accept the in- 

 vitation. It did not require much 

 deliberation, as we found ourselves 

 under the necessity of eithei' fight- 

 ing or treating \vith them ; it w as 

 therefore determined to hazard 

 the experiment of going ashore. 

 The party who remained in the 

 boats were ordered to continue in 

 readiness to fire on the Indians 

 instantly, in case of treachery, and 

 Messrs. Hunt, M'Kenzie, Crooks, 

 Miller, and M'Clellan, with the in- 

 terpreter and myself, went ashore. 

 We found the chiefs sitting where 

 they had first placed themselves, 

 as motionless as statues ; and 

 without any hesitation or delay, 

 we sat down on the sand, in such 

 a manner as to complete the cir- 

 cle. \\'hen we were all seated, 

 tiie pipe was biought l)y an Indian, 

 who seenjed to act 'as priest on 

 this occasion ; he stepped witliin 

 the circle, and lighted the pipe. 

 The hea<l was made of a red stone, 

 known by mineralogists undci' the 

 term of killas, and is often found 

 to accomi)any cop])er ore ; it is 

 |)rocured on tlie river St. IVters, 

 one of the principal branches of 



the 



