n use and for that of strangers who might visit them. They
amused themselves with rude sports. Among these La Verendrye mentions
a game of ball, but he does not describe it. Probably it was the game
of lacrosse, which was played by many of the Indian tribes long before
white men came to copy it from them.

After an absence of a few days, Francois de La Verendrye returned from
the village which he had visited. He had been warmly welcomed. He
reported that the village was much larger than the one his father was
living in, and that it was fortified in the same way. He had tried to
question the Mandans of this village, but could make nothing out of
their answers. They were so impatient to speak that they would
constantly interrupt one another; when asked about one thing they would
answer about another, because they did not really understand the
question. The Mandans tried to make up in hospitality for {68} their
inability to answer the Frenchman's questions. 'As we found that it
was a waste of time to question them, we had to fall back on feasting
the whole time we were with them, and even then we could not attend
nearly all the feasts to which we were invited.'

[Illustration: Mandan girls. From Pritchard's 'Natural History of
Man.']

Early in December La Verendrye decided to leave the Mandans and to make
the long return journey to Fort La Reine. He now saw that, even if he
could gain useful information from the Mandans about the nearest way to
the Western Sea, it would be impossible to attempt the journey without
a supply of presents for the tribes he should meet. To get these
presents he must return to the fort, but he would leave two of his men
with the Mandans for the winter, in order to learn the language. Then,
when he returned, he would have interpreters upon whom he could rely.
When he told the Mandans by signs that he must leave them, they seemed
sorry to lose him, and loaded him with provisions for his journey.
They also promised to take care of his two men during his absence. He
distributed among them all the small articles which he had in his
stores, particularly the needles, which they highly prized. To the
principal chief he gave a flag, and a lead tablet {69} bearing an
inscription to the effect that he had taken possession of the Missouri
country in the name of the king of France. This inscription the chief
promised to preserve as his greatest treasure.

Misfortune, however, still dogged