Wildness and sublimity,
however, appear to be its prevailing characteristics.
Captain Bonneville and his companions had pursued their journey a
considerable distance down the course of Snake River, when the old chief
halted on the bank, and dismounting, recommended that they should turn
their horses loose to graze, while he summoned a cousin of his from
a group of lodges on the opposite side of the stream. His summons was
quickly answered. An Indian, of an active elastic form, leaped into a
light canoe of cotton-wood, and vigorously plying the paddle, soon shot
across the river. Bounding on shore, he advanced with a buoyant air and
frank demeanor, and gave his right hand to each of the party in turn.
The old chief, whose hard name we forbear to repeat, now presented
Captain Bonneville, in form, to his cousin, whose name, we regret to
say, was no less hard being nothing less than Hay-she-in-cow-cow. The
latter evinced the usual curiosity to know all about the strangers,
whence they came whither they were going, the object of their journey,
and the adventures they had experienced. All these, of course, were
ample and eloquently set forth by the communicative old chief. To all
his grandiloquent account of the bald-headed chief and his countrymen,
the Big Hearts of the East, his cousin listened with great attention,
and replied in the customary style of Indian welcome. He then desired
the party to await his return, and, springing into his canoe, darted
across the river.
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