The Home of tJie Wolverene and Beaver. 221 



wave of his arm the proffered token of amity was 

 thrust aside, but, nothing daunted, the trader, who 

 was thoroughly conversant with the Indian lan- 

 guage, made a speech, in which he fearlessly 

 acknowledged the object of their visit, and pro- 

 posed to give a couple of blankets, an axe, some 

 beads and tobacco, in exchange for the stolen rifle ; 

 the " great medicine " box he said nothing about, 

 for its contents were of little or no use to any 

 one. 



In unbroken silence the circle of motionless 

 figures listened to the white man, and when he had 

 finished, the chief, after an impressive pause, arose 

 and commenced an harangue, low in tone at first, 

 but becoming louder and louder as the orator 

 worked himself up, until at last he shrieked out the 

 words in the fury of his passion. He denounced 

 the Astorians as mean and stingy, upbraiding them 

 for their sordid conduct in using the river, and 

 never making the slightest acknowledgment to the 

 warriors dwelling on its banks, by whose sanction 

 alone they could pass and repass, unless the latter 

 had furs in their possession, when the white men 

 were glad enough to trade. He stigmatised their 

 conduct as paltry and low, and after raising the 

 indignation of his warriors by recapitulating the 

 circumstances attending the death of the man shot 



