2o8 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and tipped, like the arrows, with flint or obsidian. These heads 

 were from three to nine inches long and from one to four inches 

 in width. The points of these spears, as also the arrowheads, 

 were sometimes poisoned by dipping them into liquid made from 

 a poisonous plant or by the drippings from a putrid deer's liver. 

 The Indian was a sure shot at close range with his bow and ar- 

 row. He had many ingenious ways of decoying his game. Some- 

 times a hunter would disguise himself with the skin and horns of 

 a deer, and in a stooping position crouch about the alkali spots 

 where the deer were in the habit of coming to " lick " until he 

 was close enough to the animal to be sure of his shot, when a 

 flint-tipped arrow just behind the left shoulder was as sure as any 

 bullet. A deer, unless frightened, never jumps anything of any 

 height ; it will walk around a very small log. The Indians dis- 

 covered this trait, and used it to their advantage. They would 

 stretch a buckskin line across a trail that deer were frequenting, 

 and station themselves in ambush at each end. The deer would 

 walk up to the line, pause to snifi^ at it a moment, then follow it 

 to the end, and generally to his death. 



The white man did not teach the Indian to gamble ; it was 

 born in him. Men, women, and children were slaves to its fas- 

 cination. They had all kinds of queer games, in which furs, 

 beads, and any property, in fact, that they might possess could 

 be exchanged in a manner that would do credit to white peo- 

 ple. The men often wagered their malialas against a few furs 

 or bows and arrows, and in such cases loss or gain would not 

 seriously affect the commercial standing of the parties in- 

 volved. 



In regard to matters of morality, the general statement may 

 be made that these Indians did not have any set punishments for 

 what they regarded as crimes ; the criminal was, however, ostra- 

 cized by them. Polygamy was practiced to a large extent among 

 them ; one man often had two or three wives, and a chief some- 

 times more. Virtue was not held precious by the women, but the 

 men had regard for it in so far as their own families were con- 

 cerned. When an Indian had more than one wife he hired each 

 to watch the other. They had no marriage ceremony ; when an 

 Indian made up his mind that he wanted a 7nahaJa for his wife, 

 he went to her home and asked the father for her ; if there was 

 no objection he was asked to eat with them, after which he had 

 the right to take his bride away whenever he wanted to. If the 

 girl opposed her suitor she was given one chance of escape she 

 ran a race with him. She was allowed a certain number of feet 

 the start when the signal was given to run. If she won she was 

 free, but if he caught her she had to go with him without a 

 murmur. 



