35R LIFE OF AUDUBON. 



" June 4. The country we have seen to-day is a little better 

 than what we saw yesterday. We passed the old Riccaree 

 village, where General Ashley was beaten by the Indians, and 

 lost eighteen of his men, with the very weapons and ammuni- 

 tion he had sold the Indians, against the remonstrances of 

 his friends and the interpreter. It is said that it proved for- 

 tunate for him, for he turned his course in another direction, 

 where he purchased one hundred packs of beaver-skins for a 

 mere song. 



" Passpd the Square Hills, so called because they are more 

 level and less rounded than the majority of the hills. From 

 the boat the country looks as if we were getting above the line 

 of vegetation ; the flowers are scarce, and the oaks have hardly 

 any . leaves on them. We are now sixteen miles below the 

 Manda,n village, and hope to reach there to-morrow. 



" June 7. We are now at St. Clark and the Mandan village ; 

 a salute was fired from the Fort in honour of our arrival, and 

 we answered it. The Fort is situated on a high bank, quite a 

 hill ; here the Mandans have their mud huts, which are not 

 very picturesque, and a few enclosed iields, where they grow 

 corn, pumpkins, and beans. We saw more Indians here than 

 at any other place since we left St. Louis ; they have about one 

 hundred huts, and they resemble the potato winter-houses in 

 our Southern and Eastern States. As we approached the shore, 

 every article that could be taken conveniently was removed 

 from the deck and put under lock and key, and all the cabin- 

 doors were closed. The captain told me that last year, when 

 he was here, the Indians stole his cap, shot-pouch, hone, and 

 such-like things. These people appeared very miserable ; as 

 we approached the landing they stood shivering in the rain, 

 wrapped in buffalo-robes and red blankets ; some of them were 

 curiously besmeared with mud. They came on board, and 

 several shook me by the hand, but their hands had a clammi- 

 ness that was quite repulsive ; their legs were naked, feet 

 covered with mud ; and they stared at me with apparent 

 curiosity because of my long beard, which also attracted the 

 Indians at St. Pierre. It is estimated that there are three 

 thousand men, women, and children, who cram themselves into 

 these miserable houses in winter ; they are said to be the ne 



