88 A STRANGE CUSTOM AMONGST THE SIS-KY-OUS. 
descended from Spanish stock—stout, compact, 
enduring animals, seldom exceeding 15 hands, 
14$ hands being about the average standard 
of height. Spotted horses are very common, 
and much prized by the squaws. 
The Sis-ky-ou Indians have a singular custom 
of cutting off the tails of the horses to a mere 
stump, and cropping the ears, as terrier-dogs are 
trimmed by the ‘ Fancy.’ For what purpose such 
barbarous treatment is resorted to I could not 
discover, but I imagine it enables them more 
readily to identify their horses in case of theft. 
I purchased a crop-eared tailless horse, for my 
own use, but the poor animal suffered so fear- 
fully from the punctures of musquitos and sand- 
flies, having no tail to whip them off, that I could 
not ride him in fly-time. 
I am most hospitably treated by Colonel 
Wright, the commandant of the American garrison, 
which consists of a number of very neatly-built 
houses, arranged in a square. Four companies, 
consisting of infantry and cavalry, are sometimes 
stationed here. The officers have a capital 
billiard-room, and a small theatre for amateur 
performances. The situation is desolate in the 
extreme—nothing visible in any direction but a 
wide sandy extent of barren treeless country, 
