send one of the young men
immediately to order the people to remain at the village till we arrive.

The two inferior chiefs then said, that they had wished to keep their
words and to assist us; that they had not sent for the people, but on
the contrary had disapproved of the measure which was done wholly by the
first chief. Cameahwait remained silent for some time: at last he said
that he knew he had done wrong, but that seeing his people all in want
of provisions, he had wished to hasten their departure for the country
where their wants might be supplied. He however now declared, that
having passed his word he would never violate it, and counter orders
were immediately sent to the village by a young man, to whom we gave a
handkerchief in order to ensure despatch and fidelity.

This difficulty being now adjusted, our march was resumed with an
unusual degree of alacrity on the part of the Indians. We passed a spot,
where six years ago the Shoshonees* suffered a very severe defeat from
the Minnetarees; and late in the evening we reached the upper part of
the cove where the creek enters the mountains. The part of the cove on
the northeast side of the creek has lately been burnt, most probably as
a signal on some occasion. Here we were joined by our hunters with a
single deer, which captain Lewis gave, as a proof of his sincerity, to
the women and children, and remained supperless himself. As we came
along we observed several large hares, some ducks, and many of the cock
of the plains: in the low grounds of the cove were also considerable
quantities of wild onions.

Monday 26. The morning was excessively cold, and the ice in our vessels
was nearly a quarter of an inch in thickness: we set out at sunrise, and
soon reached the fountain of the Missouri, where we halted for a few
minutes, and then crossing the dividing ridge reached the fine spring
where captain Lewis had slept on the 12th in his first excursion to the
Shoshonee camp. The grass on the hill sides is perfectly dry and parched
by the sun, but near the spring was a fine green grass: we therefore
halted for dinner and turned our horses to graze. To each of the Indians
who were engaged in carrying our baggage was distributed a pint of corn,
which they parched, then pounded, and made a sort of soup. One of the
women who had been leading two of our pack horses halted at a rivulet
about a mile behind, and sent on the two horses by a female friend: on
inquiring of Cam