16 December: In the morning, bright clear sky, calm, cold. At eight o’clock, −2°F [−18.9°C]. The snow creaked loudly. We had no more meat for breakfast today, nothing but corn bread and coffee. After breakfast, wind northwest hora 8.

I went out and tracked along the creeks. All the tracks were fresh. I tracked wolves, schähä́ckä, two species of fox, and a mink. Farther on I tracked a large weasel (ermine) and followed it. It had stayed on the ice, following the small creek, and finally crawled into a hole in the ground. I went home and saw two wolves on the way. At one o’clock, 11 1/2°F [−11.4°C]. Later on in the afternoon, I went out with horsehair snares; [I had hoped] to set them in front of the weasel hole but did not succeed. Later a Mandan brought me such a white weasel but asked four dollars dollars for it, which I was not inclined to pay. The wind had turned toward the south and some snowflakes fell. A lively Mandan pestered me heatedly and wanted various items as presents. He would not budge [so] got nothing, which he did not seem to like. Dreidoppel completed preparing a large wolf and a schähä́ckä about evening, which we hung up in our room. Night not cold.