could not but experience a sensation of horror, when we thought of the attraction which brought these birds to this dismal place. Some of the scaffolds, had nearly fallen down, perhaps overturned by the wind, or the effect of decay, and a great number of bones were scattered on the ground underneath. This mode of exposing the dead has something peculiarly horrible in it. The wolves of the prairie, the birds of the air, and even the Indian dogs, are attracted to the place, and taught to feed on human flesh. This custom prevails amongst all the wandering tribes; but amongst the Arikara, the dead are deposited in a grave as with us, which I think clearly proves their origin to be different from that of their neighbours; for there is nothing, in which men in all ages and countries, have manifested more solicitude, than in the treatment of the remains of their deceased friends.
On the sixth of July we set off from the fort to return to the Arikara village, where we arrived in two days after without any material occurrence. We found Mr. Hunt waiting the {187} coming of the Chiennes, to complete his supply of horses.
A few days after our arrival, a great commotion was heard in the village, before daylight; ignorant of what might occasion it, and from this alone, somewhat alarmed, when we recollected our situation, amongst beings in whom we had but little reliance, we hastily rose and ascended the plain in order to ascertain the cause. The interpreter, shortly after came to us with the information, that it was a party of three hundred men, on their return, after a battle with a party of Sioux the day before, in which they had been victorious, with the loss of two or three killed, and ten or twelve wounded, and that they were then within a few miles of the village, none but the chief of the party having come in. By this our minds were quieted. We waited
