SKETCH OF A PARTY OF INDIANS. 79 



puff is to an Indian, what a bottle of wine is to 

 an Englishman : " aperit praecordia," it unlocks 

 the heart, and dissipates reserve. 



The tout ensemble of these " people," as they, 

 with some vanity, style themselves, was wild and 

 grotesque in the extreme. One canoe in parti- 

 cular fixed my attention ; it was small even for 

 a canoe ; and how eight men, women, and chil- 

 dren contrived to stow away their legs, in a 

 space not more than large enough for three Eu- 

 ropeans, would have been a puzzling problem to 

 one unacquainted with the suppleness of an In- 

 dian's unbandaged limbs. There, however, they 

 were, in a temperature of 66°, packed heads 

 and tails like Yarmouth herrings — half naked — 

 their hair in elf-locks, long and matted — filthy 

 beyond description — and all squalling together. 

 To complete the picture, their dogs, scarce one 

 degree below them, formed a sort of body guard, 

 on each side of the river ; and as the canoe 

 glided away with the current, all the animals 

 together, human and canine, set up a shrill and 

 horrible yell. 



By sunset I got well up the stream ; but not 

 having been there for thirteen years, and my crew 

 being no better acquainted with the locality than 

 myself, we took a wrong channel, and encamped. 

 The following morning the route was regained ; 

 and on arriving at the proper spot, we filled our 



