eir
fires and cooked their suppers, they invariably had a war dance, each
smoking in turn the war calumet. This was distinguished from the peace
calumet by different colored feathers. Their whoops and yells were
hideous. And there was something indescribably mournful in the wailings
of those who had lost relatives during the war.

Fortunately for the French, all their expeditions had thus far been
conducted under the control of religious men. Not an Indian had been
killed or wronged by them. They had proved only great benefactors to
the Indians. Had a solitary Indian been killed by any Frenchmen, these
captives, in revenge, would have been put to death with tortures of the
most diabolical cruelty. Had any Miami warriors fallen into the hands
of these savages, awful would have been their doom. Father Hennepin and
his companions could not but shudder as they listened to the wailing
yells of those who mourned their dead, and witnessed the fiend-like
expression of their countenances and gestures.

With the earliest dawn, after the night's encampment, some one gave a
whoop, which instantly brought every man to his feet. No time was lost
in washing or dressing. They generally, as a measure of protection
against their enemies, endeavored to encamp upon the point of an
island. While some went out to hunt for game, others replenished the
fires, and cooked the breakfast, while still others sought the
neighboring eminences to discover whether there were any smoke or other
indications of a lurking foe. They then entered their birch canoes,
which they did not leave until the close of the afternoon, when they
landed for another night's encampment.

Thus for nineteen days they continued ascending the river. Father
Hennepin estimated that they had made between three and four hundred
miles.

One afternoon, as the thirty canoes were being paddled up the stream in
a long line, a large bear was seen swimming across the river, a little
above them. The canoes in advance promptly surrounded him, and he was
speedily killed. Upon dragging him ashore he proved to be a monster in
size, and very fat. It so happened that they were opposite a very
beautiful prairie. The head chief, whose name was Aguipaguetin, ordered
all the canoes ashore for a grand feast. The warriors decorated
themselves with paint and feathers, and after partaking of what they
considered a sumptuous feast, commenced the wild orgies of the war
dance, with hideous yellings a