among themselves, a number of their warriors cautiously approached the defences which surrounded the traders' cabins.
Mons. Cadotte, standing in his gateway, informed them, through a "coureur du bois" named Rasle, who could speak the Dakota tongue, that "he had not come into their country to make war on them, but to supply them with necessaries in exchange for their furs." The Dakotas replied to the effect, that, considering them to be a party of Ojibways interloping on their best hunting grounds, they had collected their warriors to destroy them; but as they had now discovered them to be white men, with whom they wished to be friends, they would shake hands with them, and smoke with them from the same pipe, intimating that they wished to enter within his dwelling.
Cadotte, who possessed a perfect knowledge of Indian character, perceived at once the necessity of complying with their request, for the purpose of proving to them that he confided in their words, and to show to them that he feared them not. He therefore opened his gate, and allowed the chiefs and principal men to fill his cabin, where he held a short council with them, while his men vigilantly guarded the defences, and keenly watched the movements of the numerous Dakota warriors, who stood outside. He gave the Dakotas presents of tobacco and ammunition, and he distributed amongst them meat sufficient for a meal. In return, they welcomed him with apparent cordiality to their country, and invited him to go back with them to their winter camp, where they told of possessing many beaver skins.
Cadotte, placing confidence in their expressions of goodwill, determined to accept their invitation. Most of his men, who were hunting in the vicinity of his trading house, had now arrived, having heard the report of the Dakota guns, as they made their attack in the morning. The Indians, only, kept aloof for fear of the enemy.
