ome remuneration." They were thus enabled to secure
the day's food, and to provide a little against the morrow. But severe
trials yet remained.

"May 6th [after taking up the trail].... It was now so difficult to
procure anything to eat that our chief dependence was on the horse
which we received yesterday for medicine; but to our great
disappointment he broke the rope by which he was confined, made his
escape, and left us supperless in the rain."

Upon falling in again (on May 8th) with the band of Nez Perces in whose
care they had left their horses in the autumn, they found the animals
to be now much scattered over the plain, where they had been turned out
to graze; but the chief promised to have them collected at once. He
said further that his people had been made aware of the approach of the
travelers, and of their being without provisions, and that he had a few
days before dispatched several of his men to meet them, bearing
supplies; but this relief party had taken another trail, and so missed
a meeting.

This old chief and his people showed themselves to be genuine friends.
After two or three days, when their guests had explained their
situation, and offered to exchange a horse in poor flesh for one that
was fatter and more fit to be eaten, the chief was deeply offended by
this conception of his hospitality, remarking that his tribe had an
abundance of young horses, of which the men might use as many as they
chose; and some of the warriors soon brought up two young and fat
animals, for which they would accept nothing in return.

To hold speech with this tribe was awkward. "In the first place," wrote
Captain Lewis, "we spoke in English to one of our men, who translated
it into French to Chaboneau; he interpreted it to his wife in the
Minnetaree language; she then put it into Shoshone, and a young
Shoshone prisoner explained it to the Chopunnish in their own dialect."
But the common impulses of humanity found expression in more direct
ways, without need for interpretation. Whether as friends or foes, the
Nez Perces have always been celebrated for their generosity; and in
those hard days they seemed to be just in their element. They could not
do enough to show their good will.

The expedition went into camp at a little distance from this village,
waiting for their horses to be assembled, and waiting for the melting
of the mountain snows, which now rendered further progress impossible.
In this camp they remained