want of food; but as we had two spare
horses they were mounted and brought on to the village.

They had set out about three o'clock in the afternoon of the 20th with
one horse between them: after crossing the mountain they came to the
place where we had eaten the horse. Here they encamped, and having no
food made a fire and roasted the head of the horse, which even our
appetites had spared, and supped on the ears, skin, lips, &c. of the
animal. The next morning, 21st, they found the track of the horse, and
pursuing it recovered the saddle-bags, and at length about eleven
o'clock, the horse himself. Being now both mounted, they set out to
return and slept at a small stream: during the day they had nothing at
all except two pheasants, which were so torn to pieces by the shot, that
the head and legs were the only parts fit for food. In this situation
they found the next morning, 22d, that during the night their horses had
run away from them or been stolen by the Indians. They searched for them
until nine o'clock, when seeing that they could not recover them and
fearful of starving if they remained where they were, they set out on
foot to join us, carrying the saddle-bags alternately. They walked as
fast as they could during the day, till they reached us in a deplorable
state of weakness and inanition.

As we approached the village, most of the women, though apprised of our
being expected, fled with their children into the neighbouring woods.
The men, however, received us without any apprehension, and gave us a
plentiful supply of provisions. The plains were now crowded with
Indians, who came to see the persons of the whites and the strange
things they brought with them: but as our guide was perfectly a stranger
to their language we could converse by signs only. Our inquiries were
chiefly directed to the situation of the country, the courses of the
rivers, and the Indian villages, of all which we received information
from several of the Indians, and as their accounts varied but little
from each other, we were induced to place confidence in them. Among
others, the Twisted-hair drew a chart of the river on a white elk skin.
According to this, the Kooskooskee forks a few miles from this place;
two days towards the south is another and larger fork on which the
Shoshonee or Snake Indians fish: five days' journey further is a large
river from the northwest into which Clarke's river empties itself: from
the mouth of that river to