EXTRAVAGANT DELIGHT OF THE HEADMAN, 347 
They mixed with us in perfect confidence, (thougli they 
had at first mistaken us for Frenchmen come to bombard 
their town, and now only had our word to the contrary,) 
and examined every thing about us with the greatest 
curiosity. And there I was surprised to see how well the 
French were known, and how totally the English were 
^mknown. “Franco no dobre,” they would say, — French 
no good; but we could not get a word or even a look 
from them when speaking of the English. They drank 
a glass of brandy with undoubted gusto, and then com- 
menced to examine our clothes, boots, weapons, &c. &c. 
What surprised them most, and excited their admiration 
to the highest pitch, was the fineness of the grains of our 
powder, which the father of the party could not cease 
comparing with his own, asking by signs if we had any 
to give away. We gave him to understand in return that 
we would give him a capful of it if he would shoot us 
a mountain-elk and bring it on boai'd, upon which he 
danced around in frantic delight, partly from the eftects 
of brandy and partly from those of joy, I suppose, and, 
when he had in a manner recovered his composure, in- 
formed us that as soon as he could get a horse in from 
the country lie would mount him and ride away, after 
which we might soon expect to see him returning with a 
buck on said horse’s shoulders. Ilis manner of explain- 
ing to us that he was talking about a horse was simple in 
the extreme. He only straddled the forefinger of his left 
hand with the fore and middle finger of his right, neighed 
very horse-like, then clucked with his mouth, and, finally, 
belaboured an imaginary animal most unmercifull}' with 
his hide-covered heels. 
t 
