78 AUDUBON 



having discovered a small troop of them, they hid till the 

 next morning, when at daylight (this is always the time 

 they prefer for an attack) they rushed upon the enemy, 

 surprised them, killed one at the onset, and the rest took 

 to flight, leaving guns, horses, shields, lances, etc., on 

 the ground. The Assiniboins took several guns and 

 seven horses, and the scalp of the dead Indian. It hap- 

 pened that the man they killed had some time ago killed 

 the father of their chief, and he was full of joy. After 

 eating and resting awhile, they followed the trail of the 

 Blackfeet, hoping to again surprise them ; but not seeing 

 them, they separated into small parties, and it is one of 

 these parties that is now with us. The chief, to show his 

 pride and delight at killing his enemy, has borrowed a 

 drum; and the company have nearly ever since been yell- 

 ing, singing, and beating that beastly tambour. Boucher- 

 ville came to me, and told me that if the swamp over the 

 river was sufiSciently dried by to-morrow morning, he 

 would come early with a companion for two horses, and 

 would go after Bighorns. He returned this afternoon 

 from a Buffalo hunt and had killed six. These six ani- 

 mals, all bulls, will suffice for Fort Mortimer only three 

 days. A rascally Indian had stolen his gun and Big- 

 horn bow ; the gun he said he could easily replace, but 

 the loss of the bow he regretted exceedingly. 



July 7, Friday. This morning the dirty Indians, who 

 could have washed had they so minded, were beating the 

 tambour and singing their miserable scalp song, until 

 Mr. Culbertson ordered the drum taken away, and gave 

 them more tobacco and some vermilion to bedaub their 

 faces. They were permitted to remain about the fort the 

 remainder of the day, and the night coming they will 

 again be sheltered; but they must depart to-morrow 

 morning. After breakfast Sprague worked on the view 

 of the fort. I went on with the portrait of Mr. Culbert- 

 son, who is about as bad a sitter as his wife, whose 



