rivers we crossed on this stretch are the Heart, Cannonball, Grand, Moreau and Big Cheyenne rivers. [La riviere du Cceur, la riviere au Boulet, la riviere Grande, le Moreau et la grande Cheyenne.]
After spending several clays at Fort Pierre, I set out again for Fort Vermillion, in company with two Canadians. The plains that we crossed were almost entirely bare of timber; often we were obliged to cook our meals with dry grass, which we had to keep in a constant flame. We met very few Indians in this journey of nineteen days; the plain was burnt up. We crossed the Medicine, Chapelle, James and Vermillion rivers. [La riviere de Medecine, la riviere de la Chapelle, la riviere a Jacques et le Vermillon. ]
The Sioux nation is very numerous and warlike and is divided into several tribes. According to the best information I could obtain, the Santees and Yanktons number 3,000; the Yanktonnais, 4,300; the Blackfeet, 1,500; the Hunkpapas, 2,000; the Brules, 2,500; the Sans arcs, i,ooo; the Minneconjous, 2,000; the Ogallalas, 1,500; the Twokettles, 8oo; the Saones, 2,000; the Unkepatines, 2,000.1' These are the Sioux of the Missouri. Eight to ten thousand more of them are found on the Mississippi, dispersed in different bands, from the Des Moines to the Red river.
The shape of the Indian lodges is worthy of attention; each tribe has a different form which it is easy to recognize. The Sioux lodges have a gay exterior; they are painted in wavy red, yellow and white lines, or decorated with figures of horses, deer and buffalo, moons, suns and stars.
Among the Sioux, as among the Aricaras, warriors preparing for an expedition undergo a very rigorous fast of
1t The Unkepatines and Saones cannot be identified. The latter name was in common use during the period of the fur trade, but seems to have lapsed entirely. There was a Teton-Saone band, and a Sawon (Saone) trading post.