tribes. The missionary always avails himself of these occasional visits to convey to them the glad tidings of salvation. Among the recent visitors were the head chief of the Snake Indians with his band of warriors; the Bannocks and Nez Perces, conducted by several of their chiefs,- even several bands of Blackfeet; beside these, there were also, on their return from the great hunt, almost the whole tribe of the Pend d'Oreilles, belonging to the station of St. Francis Bor gia. These last in particular, the greater part of whom I baptized last year, may be said to rival the zeal of the Flatheads in the practice of their religious duties.
After the festival of Easter, the abundant supply of provisions in the granaries and cellars of the village enabled the minister to invite all the vistors present to a feast, consisting of potatoes, parsnips, turnips, beets, beans. peas and a great variety of meats, of which the greater portion of the guests had never before tasted. Among the industrial products which are mainly owing to the skill and assiduity of their present pastor, Father Mengarini, I must not forget to mention a kind of sugar, extracted from the potato, and a nonintoxicating drink, as pleasant and nutritious as the pale beer of Europe, made from a mixture of barley and native roots.
Let us next turn to the improved condition of the people themselves. Polygamy - or rather a connection, if possible, still more loose - is now, thank God, entirely abolished among our newly-converted Indians; there is, consequently, an evident increase of population. The reckless abandonment of the helpless infant -the capricious discarding of wife and children - the wanton effusion of human blood - are no longer known amongst them. Our feelings are not outraged by the brutal practice, heretofore so commonly witnessed, of a father considering a horse a fair exchange for his daughter; the justice of allowing the young Indian maiden to choose her future partner for life is now universally allowed; -the requisite care of their offspring is regarded in its proper light, as a Christian duty; - attention