FAMILIAR SCENES ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 117 



boat stopped, some poor Indian was taken ashore and 

 hastily buried. 



No one mourned over the corp.«e but the females, 

 and they only when intimately related to the deceased. 

 The father, son, or husband, as they saw their relntives 

 falling around them, scarce turned their eyes upon the 

 dead, and if they did, it was only to exclaim in guttural 

 accents, " Ugh ! '' and then turn away to sleep. 



Not an article belonging to the dead but was wrap- 

 ped up with it, or placed in the coffin ; the infant and 

 its playthings, the young girl and her presents, the 

 S(|uaw with her domestic utensils, and the '' brave'' with 

 his gun and whatever property there was in his pos- 

 session. A beautiful custom, indeed — and one that 

 brings no crocodile tears to the eyes of the living heir, 

 and gives the lawyer no chance for litigation. 



Among those who died, was one old veteran warrior 

 who had particularly attracted our attention by his 

 severe looks and loneliness of habit, and we watched 

 attentively his exit from the world. He seemed, as 

 near as we could judge, to have no relatives about him ; 

 no one noticed him but the doctor, who was markedly 

 attentive. The old man was a chief, and the scars that 

 covered his body told of many a dreadful encounter with 

 man and beast. His huge skeleton, as he moved about 

 in his ill-concealed agony, looked like the remains of a 

 giant, exaggerated by its want of flesh. His hands 

 were small, and of feminine delicacy — occasionally he 



