At mid-day, the thieves having secured as many of the animals as they could well manage, turned their backs to us, and went on westward, in the direction of the fishing station where we had erected our boat-house; the place where we had first landed on coming from Europe.
We followed them the whole day, eating nothing but the wild plums of the prairies.

At evening, one of my Indians, an experienced warrior, started alone to spy into their camp, which he was successful enough to penetrate, and learn the plan of their expedition, by certain tokens which could not deceive his cunning and penetration.

The boat-house contained a large sailing-boat, besides seven or eight skiffs.

There also we had in store our stock of dried fish and fishing apparatus, such as nets, &c.

As we had been at peace for several years, the house or post, had no garrison, except that ten or twelve families of Indians were settled around it.
Now, the original intention of the Umbiquas had been only to steal horses; but having discovered that the half a dozen warriors, belonging to these families, had gone to the settlement for firearms and ammunition, they had arranged to make an attack upon the post, and take a few scalps before returning home by sea and by land, with our nets, boats, fish, &c.