THE WARRIOR S ORDEAL. 321 



Of war and its practices I did not hear a great 

 deal, but learned that the ordeal previous to ad- 

 mission as a warrior in some tribes still rules ; 

 the young men of the Dahcotah or Sioux tribes must 

 be able to bear torture without flinching before they 

 can be allowed to serve. One trial consists in drag- 

 ging a buifalo's head round the camp by a cord thrust 

 through the muscles at the hips. 



April brought tlie first signs of spring, and a 

 warm south wind occasionally, and speedily diminished 

 the snow, which was about four feet deep ; the birds 

 appeared from the woods, into whose recesses they 

 had retired for shelter during the extreme cold, and 

 shrubs became pliant during noonday, some even 

 showing signs of vegetation. Early in the month 

 two Indian boys came from Bear Lake bringing me 

 intelligence that some of the seamen were attacked 

 with illness, and that one of the Indian women, whom 

 we had relieved with fish on oiu* journey hither, had 

 died from the effects of exposure and famine. Of 

 course I hastened to visit the party, and found the 

 trip to Bear Lake full of interest in the comparisons 

 to be drawn betwixt winter and dawning spring. 

 The snow had fallen from the trees, and left many 

 pointed surfaces of rock or earth uncovered ; numbers 

 of wood-peckers maintained a continual tapping, for 



