To-day Lieutenant Gracie began to have his drills for the men, one before breakfast and the other after supper. At the early drill they are exercised in shooting at a target. This evening, at Mr. McKay's, we met the old Chief, Stechus, who had stopped there on an expedition after some missing cattle. He seemed quite pleased to see us. While there, General Palmer and his party also arrived from the Council ground. _Saturday, June 16th._—After drill we rode over to Mr. McKay's and found General Palmer's party still encamped there, as he was taken ill this morning. He probably needs rest both of body and mind, and on the plains, this is the great prescription, as the remedies which the hunters can give are comprised in a list of very few simples. Nature is generally expected to perform the cure. Had his illness come on at the Council, he could have had the "medicine men" of our friends, the Nez Percés, to prescribe for him. Their prescriptions, however, are always the same, whatever may be the disease, whether ague or fever, or small pox. The patient is shut up in a small close lodge, called a "sweating house," where he is subjected, until almost stifled, to a vapor bath produced by water slowly poured on red hot stones. _Sunday, June 17th._—My last Sunday on the plains, and it passed quietly enough. After Lieutenant Gracie had finished inspection and we had taken our usual bath in the river, we rode over to General Palmer's encampment to enquire after his health. We found him still too unwell to travel. The rest of the day was spent in reading, for we have found a small supply of books at Mr. McKay's, which have proven quite a treasure in the wilderness. _Monday, June 18th._—Lieutenant Gracie has commenced practising the men at skirmish drill for an hour a day, and is thus preparing them for their Snake country expedition. It has become too hot, except in the morning and evening, to move about with comfort, and after the drill, our ride over to Mr. McKay's and our bath in the Umatilla, we are content to spend the remainder of the day in lounging and reading under the shelter of our tent. In an encampment on the plains, during the dead silence of a sultry noon, with no conventional restraints of civilization about us, we realize more fully than in any other place, the truth of the Neapolitan maxim—_Dolce far niente_. We had to-day a visit from five of the Cayuse Indians, two of whom had been accustomed to visit us at Walla-Walla. _Tuesday, June 19th._—Before we were up we had an arrival of another party of the Cayuse tribe. Their lodges are in a valley about eight miles from the camp. They smoked the "pipe of peace" and probably this time with sincerity, as they knew we had force enough with us to defeat any attempt they might make. The principal Chief of the Umatillas also came into our camp and some strange Indians whom we had never before seen.