352 LIFE OF AUDUBON. 



a famous Indian chief of this name was buried, and bis horse 

 buried alive with him at his request. 



" May 13. To-day we passed some beautiful bluffs, composed 

 of a iine white sandstone, of a soft texture, but beautiful to the 

 eye, and covered with cedars. We saw also many fine prairies ; 

 and the bottom lands appeared to be of an extremely rich soil. 

 Indians hailed us along the shore, but no notice was taken of 

 them : they followed us to the next landing, and boarded us ; 

 but our captain hates them, and they go away without a chew 

 of tobacco, and T pity the poor creatures with all my heart. 



"This evening we came to the Burial-ground Bluff; so called 

 by the ever-memorable expedition of Louis and Clark, because 

 here they buried Sergeant Floyd, as they were on the way to 

 the Pacific Ocean across the Eocky Mountains. The prairies 

 are now more frequent and more elevated ; and we have seen 

 more evergreens to-day than' in the two preceding weeks. 



" We have entered the mouth of the Big Sioux River, which 

 is a clear stream, abounding with fish : on one of its branches is 

 found the famous red clay of which the Indians make their 

 calmuts. We saw on the banks of the river several Indian 

 canoe frames, formed of bent sticks made into a circle, the edges 

 fastened together by a long pole or stick, with another one in 

 the bottom, holding the frame like the inner keel of a boat. 

 Outside of this frame the Indians stretch a buffalo-skin with the 

 hair on, and it is said to make a safe boat to convey two or three 

 persons, even when the current is rapid. Here, as well as on the 

 shores of the Mississippi and Missouri, the land along the river 

 banks is higher than further inland : tangled bushwood and tall 

 reeds grow along the margins, while the prairies abound with 

 mud and muddy water. Willows are plenty, and the general 

 aspect of the country is pleasing. 



" May 16. Came to an Indian log-cabin, which had a fence 

 enclosure around it. Passed several dead buffaloes floating down 

 the stream. A few hundred miles above here the river is con- 

 fined between high steep bluffs, many of them nearly per- 

 pendicular, and impossible for the buffalo to climb : when they 

 have leaped or fallen down these, they try to ascend them or 

 swim to the opposite shore, which is equally difficult ; but unable 

 to ascend them, they fall back time and again until they are 



