Volume 1

264 henry's wife's father's and mother's end.
and 100 pounds of
balls, to encourage them to revenge the
death of my beau-pere and his family. At this they said
among themselves that I had " almost as much sense as an
Indian "; and if I had added a few kegs of rum I should
have been considered fully as wise as themselves. This
manner of comparing a white man to an Indian is the
highest compliment they can pay. Let no white man be
so vain as to believe that an Indian really esteems him
or supposes him to be his equal. No—they despise us
in their hearts, and all their outward professions of respect
and friendship proceed merely from the necessity under
which they labor of having intercourse with us to procure
their necessaries.
On the day after my arrival, I went out with Mr. Langlois
to view the field of battle, and collected the bones in
a heap. My beau-pere was the only one buried ; his body,
having laid in the shade, was not in such a state of
corruption
as those in the plain, exposed to the hot sun. When
my people first came here they could not approach the
bodies to inter them. The wolves and crows, therefore,
answered that purpose. I gathered up the remaining bones
of my belle-m^re in a handkerchief. We followed the Sioux
road until we came to the place where they had stopped to
divide the spoils, put on new shoes, and prepare for flight.
We found the camp very extensive, and by the number of
small painted sticks, such as they generally leave behind
after a fight, we judged the party to have consisted of about
300 men, with a great many horses. Many old, worn-out
shoes were lying about.
I remained at Panbian river until Aug. loth, when I embarked
and returned to Bas de la Riviere with a cargo of
grease for Lake Winipic. Happening to meet my brigade
just as I neared Pointe au Sable, at the entrance of Winipic
river, I unloaded my cargo and returned with them.
raised wattap. Next day
Camped at Isle a la Biche ; men
we made the entrance of Red river, and went thence to the
Forks, where we were ten days amusing ourselves, and wait-