136 Field Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. V. 



71. — The Cannibal Babe/ 



A man and a woman had a child. For three nights in succession 

 a chief had disappeared from the camp-circle. The clothes which they 

 had taken off on going to bed were still there, but they themselves had 

 disappeared without a trace. The people were much frightened at the 

 mystery. Then the mother, as her baby slept, saw that it had meat 

 sticking between its teeth, and knew that the child was the supernatural 

 being that had carried off the chiefs. At night she saw it feign to be 

 asleep and to be snoring ; but after a while it got up, gathered its blanket 

 about itself, and stepped over its father and mother as a grown person 

 would, and went out. After a time it came back. In the morning they 

 again saw flesh in its teeth. Then they watched it, and found that it 

 carried the chiefs up on a hollow tree, and, devouring them, dropped 

 the bones inside one by one. Then they knew surely that it was the 

 mysterious monster, and called it : *"Teeth-with-raw-flesh." Tying 

 the child fast, they moved camp and left it far behind. When they 

 arrived at the new camping place, the child came to them. Then they 

 deliberated, considering many ways. At last they took fat from in- 

 testines, and wrapped the child up in it, and threw the whole to the 

 dogs, thinking the child would perhaps be eaten up by them. As the 

 mass fell to the ground, the child moved and emerged unhurt en one 

 side, while the dogs swallowed the fat. The people tried feeding it in 

 this way to the hungriest and fiercest dogs in the camp-circle ; but the 

 result was the same. They could not kill the baby, for it was a mys- 

 terious man-eater. — K. 



72. — The Woman and the Monster. 



The Northern Arapaho were living along the Platte River years 

 ago. At that time the different tribes, such as the Shoshoni, Crow, 

 Sioux, — the most friendly ones, used to come around with a certain 

 amount of skins and furs, to trade with the tribe. As the Crow In- 

 dians were good marksmen, they had quite a supply of elk skin when 

 they came to the .camp-circle, which was on the south side of the Platte 

 River. Quite a good many Arapaho caught their big horses and packed 

 their goods to trade with the Crow Indians. Our horses were out far 

 in the prairie, and my boys caught the tamest, which were very small. 

 So I took some beads and a few other articles and got on the pony. 



The Platte River was high that year, and was very dangerous, 



' Informants J. ' 



