THE VERENDRYE EXPLORATIONS

95 much gratitude, promising wonders; that he would carry provisions to the French, and would hunt to the utmost, so as to supply their wants. On the 21st we continued our route, as far as the first mountain 12 , twenty-six leagues distant from our fort, still to the south by south-west; from the first mountain to the second 13 west and by north-west, 24 leagues. From the point of the second mountain to go direct to the Man- dans we must keep to the southwest. But we were obliged to do much more, as on a road which is two leagues in a straight line, we made three or four from our fort. It may have been a hundred and twenty leagues to the west south-west that our guide lengthened the road by from fifty to sixty leagues and a number of stops to which we were obliged to agree, making us spend the finest weather in autumn staying still, so that we took forty-six days to go a distance we should have done easily in sixteen or twenty days at the most. We had, perforce, to have pa- tience; all that I could say to our guide to make him hasten was to no purpose. He made us take for the height of happiness twenty-two leagues of a road which was taking us off our route, to get to a village 14 ofa hundred and two huts which he had gone to look for, and had brought us eight men, whom the chiefs of the village had sent to beg me to join them, that they were all in- clined to accompany me to the Mandans, telling me that the Sioux often visited in that direction and that I had need of an escort. We had to make up our minds to go there. We arrived there on the 18th of November, in the afternoon. A number of messengers had gone before us and we were received with great joy. They led us, Mr. de la Marque, his brother and my children, into the hut 12 Probably the Pembina Mountains. 13 Turtle Mountains. 14 This Indian village is supposed to have been on the west side of the Mouse River just south of the international boundary in North Dakota.