at last, but one after another, between twelve and one o'clock in the night, after a march of sixteen hours, fatigued and exhausted, our dresses torn to rags, and covered with scratches and bruises; but without serious injuries. While eating our supper, each one amused his companions with the
history of his mishaps. Good Father Congiato admitted that he had made a mistake in his calculation, and was the first to laugh heartily at his blunder. Our poor horses found nothing to eat all night in this miserable mountain
gap.
I cannot omit here testifying my indebtedness to all the Fathers and Brothers of the Missions of the Sacred Heart and of St. Ignatius, for their truly fraternal charity toward me, and the efficacious aid which they rendered me toward fulfilling the special mission which had been intrusted to me.
As Father Congiato keeps the Very Reverend FatherGeneral informed of the present state of the _missions of the mountains, it is unnecessary for me to enter into all its details; I recommend, especially, these poor children of the desert to his paternal attention and charity, and to our immediate superiors in this country.
Divine Providence will not, I hope, abandon them. Thev have already a great number of intercessors in heaven, in the thousands of their children dead shortly after baptism, in the number of good Christian adults among them, who, having led good lives, have quitted this world in the most pious dispositions; they can especially count upon the protection of Louise, of the tribe of Caeur cl'Alenes, and of Loyola, chief of the Kalispels, whose lives were an uninterrupted series of acts of heroic virtue, and who died almost in the odor of sanctitv.
On the 22d of July I left the Mission of St. Ignatius, accompanied by Father Congiato with some guides and Indian hunters. The distance to Fort Benton is about 200 miles. The country for the first four days is picturesque,
and presents no obstacle to traveling. It is a succession of