he lodge, and came out to bestow upon him the
envied title of 'medicine-man,' or 'doctor,' which he had so deservedly
won--wreaths were prepared to decorate his brows, and eagle's plumes and
calumets were in readiness for him--his enemies wore on their faces a
silent gloom and hatred; and his old sweethearts who had cast him off,
gazed intensely upon him, as they glowed with the burning fever of
repentance. During all this excitement, Wak-a-dah-ha-hee (or the white
buffalo's hair) kept his position, assuming the most commanding and
threatening attitudes; brandishing his shield in the direction of the
thunder, although there was not a cloud to be seen, until he (poor
fellow) being elevated above the rest of the village, espied, to his
inexpressible amazement, the steamboat ploughing its way up the windings
of the river below, puffing her steam from her pipes, and sending forth
the thunder from a twelve-pounder on her deck. 'The white Buffalo's
hair' stood motionless, and turned pale; he looked awhile, and turned to
the chief and to the multitude, and addressed them with a trembling
lip--'My friends, we will get no rain!--there are, you see, no clouds;
but my medicine is great--I have brought a _thunder-boat_! look and see
it! the thunder you hear is out of her mouth, and the lightning which you
see is on the waters!'

"At this intelligence, the whole village flew to the tops of their
wigwams, or to the bank of the river, from whence the steamer was in full
view, and ploughing along to their utter dismay and confusion. In this
promiscuous throng, chiefs, doctors, women, children, and dogs, were
mingled, Wak-a-dah-ha-hee having descended from his high place to mingle
with the frightened throng. Dismayed at the approach of so strange and
unaccountable an object, the Mandans stood their ground but a few
moments; when, by an order of the chiefs, all hands were ensconced within
the piquets of their village, and all the warriors armed for desperate
self-defence. A few moments brought the boat in front of the village,
and all was still and quiet as death; not a Mandan was to be seen upon
the banks. The steamer was moored, and three or four of the chiefs soon
after walked boldly down the bank, and on to her deck, with a spear in
one hand, and a calumet, or pipe of peace in the other. The moment they
stepped on board, they met (to their great surprise and joy) their old
friend Major Sanford, their agent, which circumstance p