LA BONTE'S ADVENTURES. 119 



ing this, in number some forty or more, commenced brand- 

 ishing their epears and guns, and whooping loud yells of 

 defiance. The trappers had formed a little breastwork of 

 their packs, forming a semicircle, the chord of which was 

 made by the animals standing in a line, side by side, closely 

 picketed and hobbled. Behind this defence stood the moun- 

 taineers, rifle in hand, and silent and determined. The In- 

 dians presently descended the bluff on foot, leaving their 

 animals in charge of a few of the party, and, scattering, ad- 

 vanced under cover of the sage bushes which dotted the 

 bottom, to about two hundred yards of the whites. Then a 

 chief advanced before the rest, and made the sign for a talk 

 with the Long-knives, which led to a counsultation among the 

 latter as to the policy of acceding to it. They were in doubt 

 as to the nation these Indians belonged to, some bands of the 

 Sioux being friendly, and others bitterly hostile to the whites. 



Gonneville, who spoke the Sioux language, and was well 

 acquainted with the nation, affirmed that they belonged to a 

 band called the Yanka-taus, well known to be the most evil- 

 disposed of that treacherous nation ; another of the party 

 maintained they were Brules, and that the chief advancing 

 toward them was the well-known Tah-sha-tunga or Bull Tail, 

 a most friendly chief of that tribe. The majority, however, 

 trusted to Gonneville, and he volunteered to go out to meet 

 the Indian, and hear what he had to say. Divesting himself 

 of all arms save his butcher-knife, he advanced toward the 

 savage, who awaited his approach enveloped in the folds of 

 his blanket. At a glance he knew him to be a Yanka-tau, 

 from the peculiar make of his moccasons, and the way in which 

 his face was daubed with paint. 



"Howgh!" exclaimed both as they met; and, after a 

 silence of a few moments, the Indian spoke, asking " Why 

 the Long-knifes hid behind their packs, when his band ap- 

 proached ? Were they afraid or were they preparing a dog- 

 feast to entertain their friends ? The whites were passing 



