196 



They are a large, well looking people, somewhat 

 inclined to corpulency. From this circumstance 

 they have acquired the name of G ens -de- Pans e, 

 but they call themselves All-ah-kaa-wiah. They 

 speak a different language from the Gross-Ven- 

 tres. Their arms consist of bows and spears, 

 with buffaloe skin targets, much larger than those 

 Blade use of by the Snake Indians, and so thick 

 and firm that an arrow will not pierce them. They 

 use a short bone dagger, and the war club. A few 

 of them had guns, but no ammunition. Many of 

 the Crow Indians and Gross- Ventres, are armed 

 in the same manner. 



On the 1 8th, our horses arrived, and we pro- 

 ceeded, passing many camps of Indians, and halted 

 at night on an island, where we killed a large 

 white bear. The river is rapid but has no obstruc- 

 tion. The ice now began to float, which ren- 

 dered our navigation dangerous in such slight 

 vessels. Here the Rocky mountains may be seen 

 at a distance to the westward ; but the land near 

 the river is mostly level, and though destitute of 

 timber, is apparently of a good soil. The general 

 course of the river is to the north, and sometimes 

 west of north. On the 22d, we arrived at the 

 mouth of a large branch which comes from the 

 southeast, and encamped to wait for the horses. 

 About six miles up this branch, a party of Crow 

 Indians were encamped, and intended to spend 

 the winter. On the 25th, the horses arrived, and 

 as the ice ran thick, took out our boats, and en- 



