The holidays of the three brothers were drawing to a close; and this
circumstance rendered them the more anxious to secure one or two more
visits to the cottage, before they settled down in right earnest to
their books. Brian and Basil talked much about the poisoned arrows,
and the mystery man; but Austin's mind was too much occupied with the
Camanchee chief on his black war-horse, and the death of the Seminole
chief Oseola, to think much of any thing else. He thought there was
something very noble in the valour of a chief leading on his tribe to
conquest; and something almost sublime in a warrior dressing himself
up in his war-robes to die. Like many other young people of ardent
dispositions, he seemed to forget, that when a victory is enjoyed, a
defeat must be endured; and that before any one can rejoice in taking
a scalp, some one must be rendered miserable or lifeless by losing it.
The remarks of the hunter, respecting the inconsistency of such
customs with the peaceful principles of religion, especially the
solemnities of a dying hour, had not been made altogether in vain; yet
still he dwelt on the image of Oseola grasping his scalping-knife,
crossing his hands over his breast, and dying with a smile on his
countenance.
On their next walk to the cottage, the way was beguiled by
endeavouring to call to mind all that had been told them on their last
visit; and, to do him justice, he acquitted himself uncommonly well.
It is true, that now and then his brothers refreshed his memory on
some points which had escaped him; but, on the whole, his account was
full, connected, and clear.
"And what must I tell you now?" said the hunter, as soon as he and the
young people had exchanged salutations. "Do you not know enough about
the Indians?"
To this inquiry, Brian replied that what they had heard had only
increased their curiosity to hear more.
"Well; let me consider," said the hunter. "I have told you about the
different tribes of Indians, their religion, languages, manners and
customs; their villages, wigwams, food, dress, arms and musical
instruments. I have described to you the fur trade; and dwelt on the
scenery of the country, the mountains, rivers, lakes, prairies and
many remarkable places. I have related the adventures of Black Hawk
and Nikkanochee. And, besides these things, you have had a tolerably
full account of buffaloes, bears, wild horses, wolves, deer and other
animals, with the manner of hunting them; as well as a relation of
Indian amusements, dances, sham fights, war-parties, encampments,
alarms, attacks, scalping and retreats. Let me now, then, dwell a
little on the Indian way of concluding a treaty of peace, and on a few
other matters; after which, I will conclude with the best account I
can give you of what the missionaries have done among the different
tribes."
_Austin._ I shall be very sorry when you have told us all.
_Brian._ And so shall I: for it is so pleasing to come here, and
listen to what you tell us.
_Hunter._ When it is agreed between hostile tribes that a treaty of
peace shall be made, the chiefs and medicine men of the adverse tribes
meet together, and the calumet, or peace-pipe, ornamented with eagle
quills, being produced, every one smokes a few whiffs through it. It
is then understood by them that the tomahawk is to be buried. The
pipe-of-peace dance is then performed by the warriors, to the beat of
the Indian drum and rattle, every warrior holding his pipe in his
hand.
_Brian._ That pipe-of-peace dance is a capital dance, for then
bloodshed is at an end.
_Hunter._ Unfortunately, war is apt soon to break out again, and then
the buried tomahawk becomes as busy as ever.
_Austin._ Well, I do like the Indians, in spite of all their faults,
and I think they have been used cruelly by the whites.
_Hunter._ As a general remark, those Indians who have had least to do
with civilized life are the most worthy of regard. Such as live near
white men, or such as are frequently visited by them, seem to learn
quickly the vices of others, without giving up their own. To observe
the real character of red men, it is necessary to trace the turnings
and windings of the Yellow Stone River, or the yet more remote
sinuosities of the Upper Missouri. The nearer the United States, the
more servile is the Indian character; and the nearer the Rocky
Mountains, the more independent and open-hearted.
_Austin._ If I ever go among the red men, the Yellow Stone River, or
the Upper Missouri, will be the place for me.
_Hunter._ Many of the chiefs of the tribes near the Rocky Mountains
may be said to live in a state of splendour. They have the pure air of
heaven around them and rivers abounding in fish. The prairie yields
them buffaloes in plenty; and, as for their lodges and dress, some of
them may be called sumptuous. Sometimes, twenty or thirty buffalo
skins, beautifully dressed, are joined together to form a covering for
a lodge; and their robes and different articles of apparel are so
rich with ermine, the nails and claws of birds and animals, war-eagle
plumes, and embroidery of highly coloured porcupine quills, that a
monarch in his coronation robes is scarcely a spectacle more imposing.
_Austin._ Ay, I remember the dress of Mah-to-toh-pa, "the four bears,"
his buffalo robe, his porcupine-quilled leggings, his embroidered
buckskin mocassins, his otter necklace, his buffalo horns, and his
splendid head-dress of war-eagle plumes.
_Hunter._ In a state of war, it is the delight of a chief to leap on
the back of his fiery steed, decorated as the leader of his tribe, and
armed with his glittering lance and unerring bow, to lead on his band
to victory. In the chase, he is as ardent as in the battle; smiling at
danger, he plunges, on his flying steed, among a thousand buffaloes,
launching his fatal shafts with deadly effect. Thus has the Indian of
the far-west lived, and thus is he living still. But the trader and
the rum-bottle, and the rifle and the white man are on his track; and,
like his red brethren who once dwelt east of the Mississippi, he must
fall back yet farther, and gradually decline before the approach of
civilization.
_Austin._ It is a very strange thing that white men will not let red
men alone. What right have they to cheat them of their hunting-grounds?
_Hunter._ I will relate to you an account, that appeared some time ago
in most of the newspapers (though I cannot vouch for the truth of it,)
of a chief who, though he was respected by his tribe before he went
among the whites, had very little respect paid to him afterwards.
_Brian._ I hope it is a long account.
_Hunter._ Not very long: but you shall hear. "In order to assist the
officers of the Indian department, in their arduous duty of persuading
remote tribes to quit their lands, it has been found advisable to
incur the expense of inviting one or two of their chiefs some two or
three thousand miles to Washington, in order that they should see with
their own eyes, and report to their tribes, the irresistible power of
the nation with which they are arguing. This speculation has, it is
said, in all instances, more or less effected its object. For the
reasons and for the objects we have stated, it was deemed advisable
that a certain chief should be invited from his remote country to
Washington; and accordingly, in due time, he appeared there."
_Austin._ Two or three thousand miles! What a distance for him to go!
_Hunter._ "After the troops had been made to manoeuvre before him;
after thundering volleys of artillery had almost deafened him; and
after every department had displayed to him all that was likely to add
to the terror and astonishment he had already experienced, the
President, in lieu of the Indian's clothes, presented him with a
colonel's uniform; in which, and with many other presents, the
bewildered chief took his departure."
_Brian._ He would hardly know how to walk in a colonel's uniform.
_Hunter._ "In a pair of white kid gloves; tight blue coat, with gilt
buttons, gold epaulettes, and red sash; cloth trowsers with straps;
high-heeled boots; cocked hat, and scarlet feather; with a cigar in
his mouth, a green umbrella in one hand, and a yellow fan in the
other; and with the neck of a whiskey bottle protruding out of each of
the two tail-pockets of his regimental coat; this 'monkey that had
seen the world' suddenly appeared before the chiefs and warriors of
his tribe; and as he stood before them, straight as a ramrod, in a
high state of perspiration, caused by the tightness of his finery,
while the cool fresh air of heaven blew over the naked, unrestrained
limbs of the spectators, it might, perhaps not unjustly, be said of
the costumes, 'Which is the savage?' In return for the presents he had
received, and with a desire to impart as much real information as
possible to his tribe, the poor jaded traveller undertook to deliver
to them a course of lectures, in which he graphically described all
that he had witnessed."
_Austin._ An Indian in white kid gloves, blue coat, high-heeled boots,
and cocked hat and feather! Why his tribe would all laugh at him, in
spite of his lectures.
_Hunter._ "For a while he was listened to with attention; but as soon
as the minds of his audience had received as much as they could hold,
they began to disbelieve him. Nothing daunted, however, the traveller
still proceeded."
_Austin._ I thought they would laugh at him.
_Hunter._ "He told them about wigwams, in which a thousand people
could at one time pray to the Great Spirit; of other wigwams, five
stories high, built in lines, facing each other, and extending over
an enormous space: he told them of war canoes that would hold twelve
hundred warriors."
_Austin._ They would be sure never to believe him.
_Hunter._ "Such tales, to the Indian mind, seemed an insult to common
sense. For some time he was treated merely with ridicule and contempt;
but, when, resolutely continuing to recount his adventures, he told
them about a balloon, and that he had seen white people, who, by
attaching a great ball to a canoe, as he described it, could rise in
it up to the clouds, and travel through the heavens, the medicine, or
mystery men of his tribe pronounced him to be an impostor; and the
multitude vociferously declaring that he was too great a liar to live,
a young warrior, in a paroxysm of anger, levelled a rifle and shot him
dead!"
_Austin._ Well, I am very sorry! It was very silly to be dressed up in
that way; but they ought not to have killed him, for he told them the
truth, after all.
_Brian._ I could never have thought that an Indian chief would have
dressed himself in a blue coat and gilt buttons.
_Basil._ And, then, the fan and green umbrella!
_Austin._ Ay, and the whiskey bottles sticking out of his
tail-pockets. He would look a little different from Mah-to-toh-pa.
_Hunter._ I have frequently spoken of the splendid head-dress of the
chiefs of some tribes. Among the Mandans, (and you know Mah-to-toh-pa
was a Mandan,) they would not part with one of their head-dresses of
war-eagle plumes at a less price than two horses. The Konzas, Osages,
Pawnees, Sacs, Foxes and Iowas shave their heads; but all the rest, or
at least as far as I know of the Indian tribes, wear long hair.
_Brian._ Yes; we remember the Crows, with their hair sweeping the
ground.
_Hunter._ Did I tell you, that some of the tribes glue other hair to
their own to make it long, as it is considered so ornamental?
_Basil._ I do not remember that you told us that.
_Hunter._ There are a few other things respecting the Indians that I
wish to mention, before I tell you what the missionaries have done
among them. In civilized countries, people turn out their toes in
walking; but this is not the case among the Indians. When the toes are
turned out, either in walking or running, the whole weight of the body
falls too much on the great toe of the foot that is behind, and it is
mainly owing to this circumstance, that so many have a deformity at
the joint of the great toe. When the foot is turned in, the weight of
the body is thrown equally on all the toes, and the deformity of the
great toe joint is avoided.
_Austin._ What! do the Indians know better how to walk than we do? If
theirs is the best way to walk, why do not we all walk so?
_Hunter._ I suppose, because it is not so elegant in appearance to
walk so. But many things are done by civilized people on account of
fashion. Hundreds and hundreds of females shorten their lives by the
tight clothing and lacings with which they compress their bodies; but
the Indians do not commit such folly.
_Brian._ There is something to be learned from the Indians, after all.
_Hunter._ There is a custom among the Sacs and Foxes that I do not
think I spoke of. The Sacs are better provided with horses than the
Foxes: and so, when the latter go to war and want horses, they go to
the Sacs and beg them. After a time, they sit round in a circle, and
take up their pipes to smoke, seemingly quite at their ease; and,
while they are whiffing away, the young men of the Sacs ride round and
round the circle, every now and then cutting at the shoulders of the
Foxes with their whips, making the blood start forth. After keeping up
this strange custom for some time, the young Sacs dismount, and
present their horses to those they have been flogging.
_Austin._ What a curious custom! I should not much like to be flogged
in that manner.
_Hunter._ There is a certain rock which the Camanchees always visit
when they go to war. Putting their horses at full speed, they shoot
their best arrows at this rock, which they consider great medicine. If
they did not go through this long-established custom, there would be
no confidence among them; but, when they have thus sacrificed their
best arrows to the rock, their hope and confidence are strong.
_Austin._ I should have thought they would have wanted their best
arrows to fight with.
_Hunter._ There is no accounting for the superstitions of people.
There is nothing too absurd to gain belief even among civilized
nations, when they give up the truth of God's word, and follow the
traditions or commandments of men. The Sioux have a strange notion
about thunder; they say that the thunder is hatched by a small bird,
not much bigger than the humming-bird. There is, in the Couteau des
Prairies, a place called "the nest of the thunder;" and, in the small
bushes there, they will have it that this little bird sits upon its
eggs till the long claps of thunder come forth. Strange as this
tradition is, there would be no use in denying it; for the
superstition of the Indian is too strong to be easily done away with.
The same people, before they go on a buffalo hunt, usually pay a visit
to a spot where the form of a buffalo is cut out on a prairie. This
figure is great medicine; and the hunt is sure to be more prosperous,
in their opinion, after it has been visited.
_Austin._ I do hope that we shall forget none of these curious things.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Eliot Preaching to the Indians.]