104i Expedition to the 



travelling, and were apparently satisfied with our answers, 

 though as afterwards appeared, they did not entirely credit 

 what we had told them of the purposes of our journey. 



To our inquiries concerning the river, they answered with- 

 out hesitation, that it was Red river; that at the distance 

 of ten days travelling, in the manner of Indians with their 

 lodges, (about one hundred miles) we should meet with the 

 permanent village of the Pawnee Piquas; that a large band 

 of Camancias were hunting on the river below, whom we 

 should fall in with in two or three days. Having describ- 

 ed to them the route we had pursued, and the great and 

 frequented road on which we had travelled, they said that 

 when we were at the point where that road first crosses the 

 river, we were three days ride from Santa Fe, which was 

 situated behind a low and distant range of hills, that we re- 

 membered to have seen from that place. 



We hesitated a little to comply with the request of the 

 chief, enforced as it was with some insolence, that we would 

 return and encamp with his party: but as we wished to pur- 

 chase horses and provisions, and to make the best use of an 

 opportunity to become acquainted with the savages, we at 

 length consented. The ground they chose for their encamp- 

 ment, was a beautiful open plain, having the river in front 

 and a small creek on the left. We were somewhat surprised 

 to witness the sudden manner in which this plain became 

 covered with their tall conic lodges, raised by the squaws, in 

 perfect silence and good order. 



For our accommodation a lodge was spread, enclosing as 

 much space as possible in a semi-circular area, in such a man- 

 ner, that the skin covering afforded a shade, which was all 

 the shelter needed. In order to enlarge this tent as much as 

 possible, the covering was raised so high upon the poles that 

 its lower margin did not extend to the ground by a space of 

 several feet. To remedy this the squaws brought bushes 

 from a neighbouring thicket, which they placed around the 



