Volume 1

;
400 MISSOURI RIVER WATER.
resemblance, and the same is the case with the Sioux
language ; furthermore, there are in Mexico many original
names of places and towns which are similar to several
words in all the above languages. The Pawnees must be
considered a distinct nation [middle group of Caddoan
family], their language being totally different.
We remained with the Crows till nearly sunset, when we
returned to our quarters, more disgusted with those rascally
Big Bellies than ever. The weather was hot and sultry
during our stay at those villages, which gave us a perpetual
thirst. The quantity of water we drank was astonishing
at first we disliked the looks of it, and could scarcely taste
it ; but we were obliged to use it, and soon found it palatable.
The water of the Missourie is so impregnated with
earth, as the rapidity of the current washes away the shores
and turns up the mud from the very bottom, that a stranger
would scarcely venture to drink it ; but the continual use
the inhabitants make of it without any bad consequences
proves it is not pernicious to the constitution. In the
winter, and sometimes in the fall
when the water is not so terribly thick, it
during a very dry season,
is not to the liking
of the natives, and they frequently mix a certain quantity of
clay with the water they drink.
In the spring, when the ice
drifts down, the water is very thick and muddy, and quite
to their taste. When put into a vessel and allowed to settle
during the night, in a two-gallon pot there is one inch of
sediment, even at this season, when it
is called clear.
July 28th. We settled accounts with our host, and paid
some young men to ferry us over the river and attend our
horses.
We also paid some women for preparing provision
for our homeward journey ; this was principally parched
corn pounded into flour, mixed with a small portion of fat,
and made up into balls about the size of an ^%'g. These
may be eaten as they are, or boiled for a short time ; the
latter method we found most wholesome. At ten o'clock
we were ready to bid adieu to the S. side of the Missourie,
and glad to get away from such a set of hypocrites. At the