i66 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 



1817. 



arrived with an intention of as- 

 cending the Missouri, on their 

 way to the Pacific Ocean, by the 

 same route that Lewis and Clarke 

 had followed by descending the 

 Columbia river. Becoming ac- 

 quainted with the principals of this 

 party, he accepted their invitation 

 to accompany them ; and in 

 March 1811, they all proceeded 

 on their journey. 



One of the first of Mr. Brad- 

 bury's narratives relates to an 

 Indian tribe, named the Osages, 

 of whom the following account is 

 given : — 



" I inciuired of Dr. Murray con- 

 cerning a practice which I had 

 heard prevailed amongst the Osa- 

 ges, of rising before day to lament 

 their dead. He informed me that 

 such was really the custom, and 

 that the loss of a horse or a dog 

 was as powerful a stimulus to their 

 lamentations as that of a relative 

 or friend ; and he assured me, 

 that if I should be awake before 

 day the following morning, I 

 might certainly hear them. Ac- 

 cordingly, on the 9th, I heard be- 

 fore day that the howling had com- 

 menced ; and the better to escajie 

 observation, I wraj)ped a blanket 

 round me, tied a black handker- 

 chief on my head, and fastened on 

 my belt, in which I stxick my 

 tomahawk, and then walked into 

 the village. The doors of the 

 lodges were closed, but in the 

 gi'eater part of them the women 

 were crying and howling in a tone 

 that seemed to indicate excessive 

 grief. On the outside of the vil- 

 lage I heard th3 men who Dr. 

 Murray had informed me always 

 go out of the lodges to lament. 

 1 soon came within twenty paces 

 of one, and conld sec him dis- 



ti)?ctly, as it was moonlight : he 

 also saw me and ceased, upon 

 which I withdrew. I was more 

 successful with another, -w horn I 

 approached nearer unobseived. 

 He rested his back against the 

 stump of a tree, and continued for 

 about twenty seconds to cry out 

 in a loud and high tone of voice, 

 when he suddenly lowered to a 

 low muttering, mixed with sobs : 

 in a few seconds he again raised 

 to the former pitch. We break- 

 fasted with the commandant, and 

 afterwards walked out to view 

 some improvements he had made 

 in the fort. In our walk we ob- 

 served what, on the first view ap- 

 peared to be two squaws carrying 

 a tub of water, suspended on a 

 pole. Mr. Crooks desired me to 

 notice them, which I did, and re- 

 marked that one of them had 

 more the appearance of a man 

 than (if a woman. He assured me 

 that it was a man, and that there 

 were several others in the village, 

 who, like the one we saw, were con- 

 demned for life to associate with 

 the squaws, to wear the same 

 dress, and do the same drudgery. 

 I now learned, that when the 

 Osages go to war, they keep a 

 watchful eye over the young men 

 who are then making their first 

 essay in arms, and such as appear 

 to possess the necessary qualifica- 

 tions are admitted to the rank of 

 warriors, or, according to their 

 own idiom, brave men. But if any 

 exhibit evident proofs of coward- 

 ice, on the return of the party 

 they are compelled to assume the 

 dress and character of women, 

 and their doom is fixed for life, as 

 no o]>portunity is afterwards af- 

 foi ded them to retrieve their cha- 

 racter. The men do not assoc-ate 



with 



