50 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



and by indulging in dances ; while the slayers related their 

 deeds with all the extravagant language of their race. This 

 daring act made them famous at once, and they were con- 

 ceded to be the highest type of warriors. From that day 

 forth they always wore a necklace made of the claws of the 

 bear as a proof of their bravery and importance. 



An Indian who can wear such ornaments is considered 

 to be an invincible warrior; hence one of his highest ambi- 

 tions is to slay the monarch of the mountains, and to deco- 

 rate his inodorous neck with its weapons of warfare. I 

 remember distinctly with what, to me, seemed ludicrous 

 dignity or gravity, a Sioux chief once pointed out a string 

 of ugly -looking grizzly claws that hung around his dirty 



KEOKLAOE OF BEAES CLAWS. 



neck, and then to the anklets of the same material that en- 

 circled his blanket-clad legs, and in what a heroic tone he 

 assured me that he had killed their former owner himself, 

 and was now considered to be unrivalled as a brave. He 

 thought that if the Great Father in Washington knew he 

 was so great he would send him plenty of meat, flour, tea, 

 coffee, and sugar, and keep him from the necessity of go- 

 ing out buffalo-hunting to keep his family from starvation. 

 He wished me to tell the Great Father who he really was, 

 and what were his wants ; and when I, to test the generous 

 phase of an Indian's nature, volunteered to do so on condi- 

 tion that he gave me the prized trophies, he rejected my 

 offer at once, and said he would not part with them on 



