while, and with the natural mirthfulness of his temperament he had his picture taken in this condition and sent it to his family in Europe. In a letter home at this time he refers to himself as " broken down with all sorts of infirmities."
A particular trouble which had afflicted him for many years was deafness in one of his ears. He frequently refers to his "good ear," and when, late in life, he seemed liable to lose that also, he was naturally very much disturbed. A strange result of the extraction of a large tooth had filled his ear with such a constant ringing that he could practically hear nothing. He sought medical advice without any good result, and finally improved the opportunity of a visit to Europe to see if he could get relief. Whether he ever experienced any material improvement in this respect his letters do not say.
The most serious of Father De Smet's physical ailments, and the one which finally proved fatal, was a form of Bright's disease which, in its later stages, was accompanied by severe hemorrhages. By 1867 this malady was already giving him great trouble, and he notes in the fall of that year, after a severe spell of sickness, that his weight had fallen off to 167 pounds. In Europe on his last journey he experienced an almost fatal attack and after his return to St. Louis in the spring of 1872 he did not again leave that city. He nevertheless kept very busy with the duties of his office and carried on a great deal of correspondence. Some of his best work dates from that period. He began and made some progress in a history of the Missouri Province which he hoped to see completed. During most of this time he held from the Government the privilege of nominating agents to be appointed for the tribes where Catholic missions were located.
The last letter ever written by Father De Smet, or at least the last one recorded, is dated May 12, 1873. On the next day Captain La Barge, who was perhaps at this time Father De Smet's most intimate personal friend, was