States, he declined, saying
that there he had no acquaintance, and no chance of making a livelihood,
and preferred remaining among the Indians. This man had been very
serviceable to us, and his wife was particularly useful among the
Shoshonees: indeed, she had borne with a patience truly admirable the
fatigues of so long a route, encumbered with the charge of an infant,
who was then only nineteen months old. We therefore paid him his wages,
amounting to five hundred dollars and thirty-three cents, including
the price of a horse and a lodge purchased of him, and soon afterward
dropped down to the village of Big White, attended on shore by all the
Indian chiefs, who had come to take leave of him.

"We found him surrounded by his friends, who sat in a circle smoking,
while the women were crying. He immediately sent his wife and son, with
their baggage, on board, accompanied by the interpreter and his wife,
and two children; and then, after distributing among his friends some
powder and ball which we had given him, and smoking a pipe, he went with
us to the river side. The whole village crowded about us, and many of
the people wept aloud at the departure of their chief."

Once more embarked, the party soon reached Fort Mandan, where they had
wintered in 1804. They found very little of their old stronghold left
except a few pickets and one of the houses. The rest had been destroyed
by an accidental fire. Eighteen miles below, they camped near an old
Ricara village, and next day, as they were about to resume their voyage,
a brother of Big White, whose camp was farther inland, came running down
to the beach to bid Big White farewell. The parting of the two brothers
was very affectionate, and the elder gave the younger a pair of leggings
as a farewell present. The Indian chief was satisfied with his treatment
by the whites, and interested himself to tell them traditions of
localities which they passed. August 20 they were below the mouth of
Cannon-ball River, and were in the country occupied and claimed by the
Sioux. Here, if anywhere, they must be prepared for attacks from
hostile Indians. At this point, the journal sets forth this interesting
observation:--

"Since we passed in 1804, a very obvious change has taken place in the
current and appearance of the Missouri. In places where at that time
there were sandbars, the current of the river now passes, and the former
channel of the river is in turn a bank of sand. Sandbars