A little further journeying brought the travellers to the petty village
of Nez Perces, governed by the worthy and affectionate old patriarch who
had made Captain Bonneville the costly present of the very fine horse.
The old man welcomed them once more to his village with his usual
cordiality, and his respectable squaw and hopeful son, cherishing
grateful recollections of the hatchet and ear-bobs, joined in a chorus
of friendly gratulation.
As the much-vaunted steed, once the joy and pride of this interesting
family, was now nearly knocked up by travelling, and totally inadequate
to the mountain scramble that lay ahead, Captain Bonneville restored
him to the venerable patriarch, with renewed acknowledgments for the
invaluable gift. Somewhat to his surprise, he was immediately supplied
with a fine two years' old colt in his stead, a substitution which he
afterward learnt, according to Indian custom in such cases, he might
have claimed as a matter of right. We do not find that any after claims
were made on account of this colt. This donation may be regarded,
therefore, as a signal punctilio of Indian honor; but it will be found
that the animal soon proved an unlucky acquisition to the party.
While at this village, the Nez Perce guide had held consultations with
some of the inhabitants as to the mountain tract the party were about
to traverse. He now began to wear an anxious aspect, and to indulge in
gloomy forebodings.
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