Eagerly giving chase, Captain Lewis and several of his men succeeded—though the men escaped—in surprising a woman and a little girl, who, recognizing the hopelessness of getting away, sat down on the ground and bent their heads, ready for the death-blow which they thought they must expect from the strangers. Greatly touched by this pathetic action, Lewis laid down his weapons, and, taking the woman by the hand, made signs to her that she was to be unharmed. She appeared to understand him, and, giving her a few trifling presents, the leader persuaded her to go and fetch another woman who had been with her when he first came in sight of the party. In a few minutes the two returned, and, after painting the cheeks of his three captives with vermilion, a sign among the Snake Indians of peace, Lewis induced them to lead him to their camp, that he might confer with their chiefs.
After a march of two miles, with the Indians leading the way, a troop of some sixty warriors, mounted on good horses, was sighted. The mediators hastened to meet the chief, explaining who the white men were, and a scene of some absurdity ensued, the Indians embracing the Americans, and covering them with grease and paint. This wild welcome was succeeded by the smoking of a pipe of peace in common, Captain Lewis first taking a whiff and then passing it round to his hosts. The friendship between the Snakes and Americans thus ratified, the chiefs conducted their white brothers to their camp, where a grand consultation was held as to the best means of reaching the Columbia, and tracing its course to the Pacific.
The information given was not very satisfactory. The river, said the Indians, flowed through a country where timber for building canoes and food for filling the stomach were alike scarce. No one cared to undertake the task of guiding the explorers on their perilous journey, and although, after a good deal of persuasion and bribery, ten men were induced to promise their assistance, it was in such a grudging fashion as to promise but little success.
At this juncture a touching incident occurred. The wife of Chabornæan, the interpreter, who, it will be remembered, was a Snake by birth, entered the camp, and, recognizing her brother in the chief, she flung herself into his arms, and with many tears sobbed out her joy at finding him still alive. The accounts given by the restored captive of the kindness of the white men, their faithfulness and generosity to those who trusted them, and their power to avenge themselves on those who deceived them, were fruitful of
