"Mr. Riggs performed the marriage ceremony, and Dr. Williamson made the concluding prayer, and, through Mr. Renville, briefly explained to the Dakotas the ordinance and its institution. After the ceremony, Mr. Renville and family partook with us of our frugal meal, leaving the Indians to enjoy their feast of potatoes, turnips, and bacon, to which the poor, the lame, and the blind had been invited. As they were not aware of the supper that was provided, they did not bring their dishes, as is the Indian custom, so that they were scantily furnished with milk-pans, etc. This deficiency they supplied very readily by emptying the first course, which was potatoes, into their blankets, and passing their dishes for a supply of turnips and bacon. "I know not when I have seen a group so novel as I found on repairing to the room where these poor creatures were promiscuously seated. On my left sat an old man nearly blind; before me, the woman who dipped out the potatoes from a five-pail boiler sat on the floor; and near her was an old man dividing the bacon, clenching it firmly in his hand, and looking up occasionally to see how many there were requiring a share. In the corner sat a lame man eagerly devouring his potatoes, and around were scattered women and children. "When the last ladle was filled from the large pot of turnips, one by one they hastily departed, borrowing dishes to carry home the supper, to divide with the children who had remained in charge of the tents." CHAPTER III. 1837-1839.--The Language.--Its Growth.--System of Notation.--After Changes.--What We Had to Put into the Language.--Teaching English and Teaching Dakota.--Mary's Letter.--Fort Renville.--Translating the Bible.--The Gospels of Mark and John.--"Good Bird" Born.--Dakota Names.--The Lessons We Learned.--Dakota Washing.--Extracts from Letters.--Dakota Tents.--A Marriage.--Visiting the Village.--Girls, Boys, and Dogs.--G. H. Pond's Indian Hunt.--Three Families Killed.--The Village Wail.--The Power of a Name.--Post-Office Far Away.--The Coming of the Mail.--S. W. Pond Comes Up.--My Visit to Snelling.--Lost my Horse.--Dr. Williamson Goes to Ohio.--The Spirit's Presence.--Prayer.--Mary's Reports.