tains and all the plains and valleys watered by that stream, as well as by the Yellowstone and Powder rivers and tile upper waters of several branches of the Platte. The soil and climate of this country are very diverse; there are vast plains of sand and clay; there are springs of hot water and mines of coal; game is very abundant throughout. These are the best-formed savages I have met on my travels.
I rode with this tribe for two days; they had plenty of everything, and according to their custom were passing the time in feasts and rejoicings. Since I hide nothing from you, I hope you will not be scandalized at learning that in a single afternoon I took part in twenty different banquets; hardly was I seated in one lodge, when somebody would come and call me to another. But as my stomach was not as accommodating as those of the Indians, I satisfied myself with tasting their messes, and for a little piece of tobacco the eaters, whom I had had the foresight to take with me, emptied the dishes carefully in my stead.
From this camp we made our way to the Big Horn, the largest tributary of the Yellowstone; it is a fair broad river, whose waters are pure as crystal. It traverses very extensive plains, well wooded on both banks, and offering beautiful grazing grounds. There we found another camp of Crows, to the number of about I,ooo souls. They too received us with the greatest demonstration of friendship, and again it was necessary to pass the clay in going from one feast to another. I took a favorable occasion to speak to them upon various points of religion. As I was vividly depicting to them the torments of hell, and telling them how the Great Spirit had prepared it for those who evade his laws, one of the chiefs uttered an exclamation which I could not think of translating to you and said: " I think there are only two in all the Crow nation who will not go to that hell you speak of; those are the Otter and the Weasel; they are the only ones I know who have never killed, nor stolen, nor been guilty of the excesses which your law forbids. Still I may be