you all I have heard about it. I think the time has come that I may do so, without injury to the Indians. I must add, that my sole authority rests on an old (to me) reliable Indian, whose name I do not now remember. When he saw the first gold dust and examined it, he smiled and exclaimed, " Is this the yellow sand the whites are in search of ? I know a place," he added, " where all the sand in the hollows of the rocky creek looks like it." I interrogated him on the locality. He described the head of Pointed Arrow creek as being a very rough and elevated region, with rapid torrents, deep ravines and high water-falls, which can only be reached by scrambling on foot, at least for some distance. As to the different branches of said creek, no mention was made, and this leaves the direction of the yellow sand greatly in the dark. I proposed to my old Indian friend to take me to the spot he had spoken of. He readily accepted my request, and on the very instant showed great willingness to serve me as guide to his " yel
low sand " region. This promptness, in my opinion, added strength to the information he had given.
Several causes prevented me at the time from executing my first design. First, there was then as yet much snow in the mountains; second. I feared my excursion might become known to the whites and half-breeds then in camp and might be detrimental to the Indians, and lastly, I was in hope that by hurrying on my journey toward Fort Benton (we were then in the beginning of July) I might arrive in time to meet the boat of the American Fur Company. I came four days too late.
Here I give you the whole account of the Pointed Arrow creek, as far as I heard of it. It may arouse curiosity and excitement; people may run in fruitless search of the coveted dust; they may run great risks and undergo great fatigues and privations in examining the numerous mountain torrents of that rough and broken region, and they may be long (should they find it at last) before they may discover the identical rich spot the Indian had spoken of. Was his