December 21, 1833
In the morning, bright, clear sky, cold. Forest and plants covered with heavy hoarfrost. Much steam rises from the river. At eight o’clock, 8°F [−13.3°C]. Wind [from the] east. Kipp and Charbonneau went by sled to the distant Hidatsa village, where they would spend the night. An Indian brought me a beautiful large, white weasel but demanded too much for it. At midday it turned incomparably beautiful, warm, and completely calm. At twelve thirty, 26°F [−3.3°C]. In the afternoon Dreidoppel went hunting. Bodmer went to the Mandan village in the evening, where today the last dance and medicine took place. This festivity should actually last six to seven days longer, but the purchasers bought these last days from the Káua-Karakáchka, and [so] the festivity came to an end. Several Indians visited us, among them a Káua-Karakáchka who wore nine to ten feathers in his hair; therefore, he [had] made that many coups. The engagés skated on the ice, but they were very clumsy. Dreidoppel came back toward evening and had not seen anything but a schähä́ckä in the cornfields. He shot a few Fringilla linaria. In the evening we talked about the differences in the Mandan language, which are very striking in both villages. Night calm and cold, bright.