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(1) _Courage had been repeatedly taxed_.--p. 234.
There is nothing which an Indian will not attempt to perform when his
courage is taxed, or the honour of his nation called in question. "An
Omawhaw," says Long, "being on a visit to the Pawnees, was present at a
kind of grand incantation, during which many extraordinary feats were
performed. He there saw, for the first time, the mountebank trick of
appearing to cut off the tongue, and afterwards replacing the severed
portions without a wound. 'There,' said Katterfelto, 'your medicine is
not strong enough to enable you to perform this operation. The stranger,
jealous of his national honour, and unwilling to be exceeded,
unhesitatingly drew forth his knife, and actually cut off nearly the
whole of his tongue, and bled to death before their eyes."