^iz EXPEDITION TO THE 



bken prisoner; he had to resort to the other traders for 

 assistance ; and they bestowed it upon him with that gene- 

 rous sympathy which is more easily found among rude and 

 uncivilized men than among the more refined. They sup- 

 plied him with goods on a long credit; with these, he re- 

 turned to the camp, and ransomed his daughter, who, while 

 he was relating this sad tale to us, was sitting by, engaged 

 in decorating a piece of leather with porcupine quills, a 

 work in which the Chippewas excel. A circumstance 

 which we believe added to the distress of the parent, was 

 that he found some difficulty in prevailing upon his daugh- 

 ter to leave the Yanktons ; she had been so kindly treated 

 that she cared but little about returning to her own father. 

 We have not learned in what light she was considered, 

 whether as a prisoner, or as an adopted daughter. 



The uniform but laborious life, which these Indians lead, 

 protects them against many of the diseases incident up- 

 on civilization, though it at the same time exposes them 

 to some direful complaints, which their total ignorance of 

 the healing art, and their superstitious confidence in their 

 magicians, prevent them from curing. Among the dis- 

 eases which are said to be unknown to the Dacotas, may 

 be ranked the following, viz. intermittent fevers in the 

 prairies which are distant from the Mississippi, and proba- 

 bly even in those which border upon that river above the 

 Falls of St. Anthony, Plica Polonica, baldness, (?) nym- 

 phomania, spina bifida and St. Vitus's dance, scurvy, coup 

 de soleil, chlorosis, and leucorrhoea. Among those which 

 are known, but which are of very rare occurrence, we will 

 mention jaundice, decayed teeth, and tooth-ache ; in denti- 

 tion children suffer much ; in such cases the gum is never 

 cut, but the children are allowed smooth stones and other 

 hard substances to rub against their gums. As a palliative 



