AV THE FAR WEST. 71 



that I was wounded, and she gave me u glance in which there 

 was more of curiosity than sympathy. 



After resting for an hour or more I went out to get some 

 water with which to bathe my arm, as it was painful and 

 very stiff; and while on my way to the river 1 met an old 

 chief, and in response to his queries as to what ailed me, I 

 told him, in a few words, in Chinook. He asked me to 

 accompany him to his cabin and he would attend to the arm 

 at once, so that it should not become inflamed. I accepted his 

 invitation, and on reaching his place found that one of his three 

 wives had been making a decoction of some herbs, she having 

 heard of my accident from the woman to whom it was first told. 

 When I entered the women did not speak a word, and only lifted 

 their heads once, and from this I deduced that curiosity was not 

 a trait in Indian feminine nature. Their lord and master told 

 them what to do, and when I had taken a seat near the smoky 

 fireplace, the youngest unbound my arm and washed it co- 

 piously for ten or fifteen minutes with the prepared decoction. 

 No one made any comments on the wounds, and when the bath- 

 ingwas over the arm was bound up again, after having the leaves 

 of some plant, not unlike dog-leaves, placed over the wound. 



I waited in the chief's wigwam, or rather cabin, until 

 evening, smoking and chatting, but when 1 heard that the 

 hunters were coming in I went out to see them. The sight 

 they presented was striking, and certainly worth beholding, for 

 they were loaded with nearly all species of game found in the 

 forest, from a bear to a squirrel, and from a giouse to a robin. 

 They trooped in without any noise, or even the smallest 

 demonstration of pleasure, and each party as it arrived placed 

 its spoils in a common pile though fur and feather were kept 

 separate. The amount of game brought in was almost 

 incredible for one day's work, but when I considered that the 

 forests were fairly alive with animals, and that no foes 

 threatened them except an occasional red man, I could readily 

 understand the success of the party. The fishermen were also 

 fortunate, and came in laden with the spoils of the river. My 

 companion was among the last to arrive, and from him I 



