and they received us very cordially and invited us to several feasts; but as we could not spare the time for such a delay they showed their liberality by giving us tongues, humps and other parts of buffalo, in so great a quantity that we could not get half of it in our skiff. Though it was late, we decided to continue our journey and camp some way below the village, especially to avoid having to spend the night in feasting. We were much delayed in the five following days by adverse winds, which prevented our progress often enough. On the morning of the 26th we came to the encampment of Mr. Goule, the American Fur Company's clerk in the neighborhood of the Butes au Gres or Sandstone Buttes. There I baptized several half-breed children.
Taking advantage of favorable weather, we carne on four days and nights without stopping, and early in the morning of the 3oth we reached Fort Pierre, where is the main warehouse for furs and supplies of the American Company. During this run we had passed by several fine rivers that empty into the Missouri, such as the Grand, the Little Cheyenne, the Moreau and the Big Cheyenne. Fort Pierre is 700 [586] miles from Fort Union. Mr. Picotte, the head of the company on the Missouri, received us with singular politeness and cordiality. He forced me to accept his hospitality in the fort for three days; I profited by the delay to announce the word of God to a great number of Sioux and to baptize fifty of their small children. Mr. Picotte on his side had a larger, more comfortable boat built for me, which he filled with all kinds of provisions and even of sweet-meats. I can never sufficiently express my gratitude to him. May the Lord give him credit for his great charity toward me, and reward him some day as he deserves I will add here, as a token of my sincere gratitude, that at all the American Company's trading-posts those gentlemen have shown me liberality, cordiality and charity far beyond my expectation or needs.
The Sioux tribe, in the midst of which I found myself at this time, is perhaps the largest of all the North American tribes.