122 IN THE OLD WEST 



longed 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 they 

 belonged to a band called the Yanka-taus,* well 

 known to be the most evil-disposed of that treach- 

 erous nation ; another of the party maintained 

 they were Brules, and that the chief advancing 

 towards 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 towards 

 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 moccasins, 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-knives hid behind their 

 packs when his band approached? Were they 

 afraid, or were they preparing a dog-feast to en- 

 tertain their friends.? The whites were passing 

 through his country, burning his wood, drinking 

 his water, and killing his game; but he knew they 

 had now come to pay for the mischief they had 

 done, and that the mules and horses they had 



*Yanktons. (Ed.) 



