shore and made
signs for a parley. He said, his people could not go home satisfied
unless they had something to take with them to prove that they had met
with the white men. Mr. Hunt understood the drift of the speech, and
made the chief a present of a cask of powder, a bag of balls, and three
dozen of knives, with which he was highly pleased. While the chief was
receiving these presents an Indian came running along the shore, and
announced that a boat, filled with white men, was coming up the river.
This was by no means agreeable tidings to Mr. Hunt, who correctly
concluded it to be the boat of Mr. Manuel Lisa; and he was vexed to find
that alert and adventurous trader upon his heels, whom he hoped to
have out-maneuvered, and left far behind. Lisa, however, was too much
experienced in the wiles of Indian trade to be lulled by the promise of
waiting for him at the Poncas village; on the contrary, he had allowed
himself no repose, and had strained every nerve to overtake the rival
party, and availing himself of the moonlight, had even sailed during a
considerable part of the night. In this he was partly prompted by his
apprehensions of the Sioux, having met a boat which had probably passed
Mr. Hunt's party in the night, and which had been fired into by these
savages.

On hearing that Lisa was so near at hand, Mr. Hunt perceived that it was
useless to attempt any longer to evade him; after proceeding a few miles
further, therefore, he came to a halt and waited for him to come up. In
a little while the barge of Lisa made its appearance. It came sweeping
gently up the river, manned by its twenty stout oarsmen, and armed by
a swivel mounted at the bow. The whole number on board amounted to
twenty-six men: among whom was Mr. Henry Breckenridge, then a young,
enterprising man; who was a mere passenger, tempted by notions of
curiosity to accompany Mr. Lisa. He has since made himself known by
various writings, among which may be noted a narrative of this very
voyage.

The approach of Lisa, while it was regarded with uneasiness by Mr. Hunt,
roused the ire of M'Lellan; who, calling to mind old grievances, began
to look round for his rifle, as if he really intended to carry his
threat into execution and shoot him on the spot; and it was with some
difficulty that Mr. Hunt was enabled to restrain his ire, and prevent a
scene of outraged confusion.

The meeting between the two leaders, thus mutually distrustful, could
not be very