Turner  on  the  language  of  the  Slave  Lake  Indians,  and  hopes  you
will  do  much  more  of  this.
Please  note  that  in  all  the  guns  sent,  the  nipples  have  been  taken
out,  and  filled  with  tallow.  You  must  remove  the  nipples  and  empty,
as  well  as  give  the  whole  gun  a  good  cleaning  before  using.
I  have  no  new  instructions  to  give  about  operations.  Use  your
own  discretion  about  places  and  times.  You  can  tell  better  what
to  do  than  we  can  here.  Make  rare  eggs  the  specialty,  particularly
waders  and  geese.  I  hope  Mr.  Clarke  will  collect  largely  of  eggs  this
year,  and  get  parents.  I  sent  drill  and  blow  pipe  to  all,  by  winter
packet,  with  hints  about  collecting.  .  .  .  No  more  at  present
from

Yours  ever,

S.  F.  Baird.
Have  I  mentioned  how  interesting  the  Indian  curiosities  were;
Get  full  series  of  them.
348  SPENCER  FULLERTON  BAIRD

From  Spencer  F.  Baird  to  R.  Kennicott.
Washington,  March  30,  1861.
My  dear  Robertus: —

Greatly  to  my  delight  the  mail  a  day  or  two  (ago)  brought  your
letters  of  August  30th  of  Fort  Simpson  and  of  Sept.  1st  on  the  River.
I  do  not  understand  why  there  is  not  a  line  from  at  least  Fort  Good
Hope;  Perhaps  it  is  only  delayed.  At  any  rate  the  mail  has  come  a
month  earlier  than  last  year.
