were able to buy four horses from the Skilloots for which they paid
well in goods. It was now nearly time for the salmon to begin to run,
and under date of April 19 the journal has this entry:--

"The whole village was filled with rejoicing to-day at having caught a
single salmon, which was considered as the harbinger of vast quantities
in four or five days. In order to hasten their arrival the Indians,
according to custom, dressed the fish and cut it into small pieces,
one of which was given to each child in the village. In the good humor
excited by this occurrence they parted, though reluctantly, with four
other horses, for which we gave them two kettles, reserving only a
single small one for a mess of eight men. Unluckily, however, we lost
one of the horses by the negligence of the person to whose charge he
was committed. The rest were, therefore, hobbled and tied; but as the
nations here do not understand gelding, all the horses but one were
stallions; this being the season when they are most vicious, we had
great difficulty in managing them, and were obliged to keep watch over
them all night. . . .

"As it was obviously our interest to preserve the goodwill of these
people, we passed over several small thefts which they committed, but
this morning we learnt that six tomahawks and a knife had been stolen
during the night. We addressed ourselves to the chief, who seemed angry
with his people, and made a harangue to them; but we did not recover
the articles, and soon afterward two of our spoons were missing. We
therefore ordered them all from our camp, threatening to beat severely
any one detected in purloining. This harshness irritated them so much
that they left us in an ill-humor, and we therefore kept on our guard
against any insult. Besides this knavery, the faithlessness of the
people is intolerable; frequently, after receiving goods in exchange for
a horse, they return in a few hours and insist on revoking the bargain
or receiving some additional value. We discovered, too, that the horse
which was missing yesterday had been gambled away by the fellow from
whom we had purchased him, to a man of a different nation, who had
carried him off. We succeeded in buying two more horses, two dogs, and
some chappelell, and also exchanged a couple of elk-skins for a gun
belonging to the chief. . . . One of the canoes, for which the Indians
would give us very little, was cut up for fuel; two others, together
with some elk-s