HORSE-RACING INTOXICATION. 227 



gress with the Potto watamy Indians, and it was supposed 

 nearly 8000 Indians, of all ages, belonging to different tribes, 

 were assembled on the occasion, a treaty being considered a 

 kind of general merry-making, which lasts several weeks ; and 

 animal food, on the present occasion, was served out by the 

 States government. The forests and prairies in the neigh 

 bourhood were studded with the tents of the Indians, and 

 numerous herds of horses were browsing in all directions. 

 Some of the tribes could be distinguished by their peculiarities. 

 The Sauks and Foxes have their heads shaven, with exception 

 of a small tuft of hair on the crown. Their garments seemed to 

 vary according to their circumstances, and not to their tribes. 

 The dress of the squaws was generally blue cloth, and sometimes 

 printed cotton, with ornaments in the ears, and occasionally 

 also in the nose. The men generally wore white blankets, 

 with a piece of blue cloth round their loins; and the poorest 

 of them had no other covering, their arms, legs, and feet being 

 exposed in nakedness. A few of them had cotton trowsers, 

 and jackets of rich patterns, loosely flowing, secured with a 

 sash; boots, and handkerchiefs or bands of cotton, with feathers 

 in the head-dress, their appearance reminding me of the 

 costume of some Asiatic nations. The men are generally 

 without beards, but in one or two instances I saw tufts of hair 

 on the chin, which seemed to be kept with care, and this was 

 conspicuously so amongst the well-dressed portion. The 

 countenances of both sexes were frequently bedaubed with 

 paint of different kinds, including red, blue, and white. 



In the forenoon of my arrival, a council had been held, 

 without transacting business, and a .race took place in the 

 afternoon. The spectators were Indians, with exception of a 

 few travellers, and their small number showed the affair ex 

 cited little interest. The riders had a piece of blue cloth 

 round their loins, and in other respects were perfectly naked, 

 having the whole of their bodies painted of different hues. 

 The race-horses had not undergone a course of training. 

 They were of ordinary breed, and, according to British taste 

 at least, small, coarse, and ill-formed. 



Intoxication prevailed to a great extent amongst both sexes. 

 When under the influence of liquor, they did not seem unusu- 



