airies.
Right glad were we to dismount and partake of the sturdy cheer, for we
had been on our weary horses since morning without tasting food.

[It may be said in conclusion that the count--a young Swiss who
accompanied the party--failed to return, and the next day a
search for him had to be made, in which the Indians displayed
strikingly their surprising skill in following a trail. The
missing adventurer was at length found. He had spent the night
in a tree for fear of wolves, and was heartily glad to see the
face of his fellow-man again.]

IN THE COUNTRY OF THE SIOUX.

MERIWETHER LEWIS.

[The following selection, here attributed to Captain M. Lewis,
is taken from McVickar's abridgment of the journals of Lewis
and Clarke, the leaders of the celebrated expedition of 1804-6,
sent out by President Jefferson to explore the country which he
had obtained by treaty from France as part of the Louisiana
purchase. The explorers passed across the plains and the
Rocky Mountains while their pristine conditions were as yet
undisturbed by the "white man's foot," and their story is of
particular value from this fact. We take up their story in their
journey through the Sioux country, on the Missouri. They had
just passed a village of the Poncara tribe.]

Twenty miles farther on [continues the narrative] we reached and
encamped at the foot of a round mountain on the south, having passed two
small islands. This mountain, which is about three hundred feet at the
base, forms a cone at the top, resembling a dome at a distance, and
seventy feet or more above the surrounding highlands. As we descended
from this dome, we arrived at a spot on the gradual descent of the hill,
nearly four acres in extent, and covered with small holes; these are the
residence of a little animal, called by the French petit chien (little
dog), which sit erect near the mouth, and make a whistling noise, but,
when alarmed, take refuge in their holes. In order to bring them out, we
poured into one of the holes five barrels of water, without filling it,
but we dislodged and caught the owner. After digging down another of the
holes for six feet, we found, on running a pole into it, that we had not
yet dug half-way to the bottom; we discovered, however, two frogs in the
hole, and near it we killed a dark rattlesnake, which had swallowed a
small prairie-dog. We were als