Captain Clark
thereupon gave him his sword, for which the chief had before expressed a
desire, adding one hundred balls, some powder, and other small articles,
with which he appeared perfectly satisfied. We were now anxious to
depart, and requested Yellept to lend us canoes for the purpose of
crossing the river; but he would not listen to any proposal of the kind.
He wished us to remain for two or three days; but, at all events, would
not consent to our going to-day, for he had already sent to invite his
neighbors, the Chimnapoos, to come down this evening and join his people
in a dance for our amusement. We urged in vain that, by setting out
sooner, we would the earlier return with the articles they desired;
for a day, he observed, would make but little difference. We at length
mentioned that, as there was no wind it was now the best time to cross
the river, and we would merely take the horses over and return to sleep
at their village. To this he assented; we then crossed with our horses,
and having hobbled them, returned to their camp.
"Fortunately, there was among these Wollwaollahs a prisoner belonging
to a tribe of Shoshonee or Snake Indians, residing to the south of the
Multnomah and visiting occasionally the heads of Wollawollah Creek.
Our Shoshonee woman, Sacajawea, though she belonged to a tribe near the
Missouri, spoke the same language as this prisoner; by their means we
were able to explain ourselves to the Indians, and answer all their
inquiries with respect to ourselves and the object of our journey.
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