222 EAST PRUSSIA TO THE GOLDEN GATE 



it is less difficult to find a market for their produce, and 

 at better prices too; and all that with scarcely any heavier 

 expenses than there. With ten or twelve hundred dol- 

 lars one can start a farm, because the most splendid soil 

 will not cost him anything, and he can take as much land 

 as he pleases ; all the law requires is that he should put 

 a fence around it and that proves possession. 



Speaking about fanning reminds me of a subject I 

 came near forgetting, though I know you wish to 

 hear about it, namely, the Indians. They roam about 

 the country in large bands, steal like ravens, but are 

 otherwise peaceable, and if a man be alone and should 

 happen to fall in with them, he need not be uneasy as long 

 as their greediness does not get the better of them. The 

 Indians here dress in a half civilized way; they wear flan- 

 nel shirts and at times even pantaloons and boots. The 

 squaws, that is, the Indian women, wear short striped 

 petticoats, and around the shoulders they throw a large 

 shawl of the brightest colors, in the same manner as the 

 Mexican women. I can not say that they are a handsome 

 race. They are of small stature, and their broad, flat 

 faces are void of expression. Men and women alike wear 

 their long, coarse, black hair tied behind into a thick 

 knot, and ornament it in an odd manner with gaudy 

 feathers, silver and gold tinsel, red rags, etc. 



A few days ago I happened to get amongst a whole 

 tribe of them. I had taken a walk to Independence Flat, 

 about six miles below here, to see Boettcher and Griin- 

 hagen, who are at work there. On returning in the even- 

 ing and taking a straight cut through the woods I met 

 about thirty of them, all armed with long knives and with 

 bows and arrows. They were very friendly, invited me to 

 sit down near their fire and to have a drink and a smoke 

 with them. My spectacles became an object of especial 

 interest to them, and caused many an "Ugh" and "Oh." 

 Several of them even put them on their noses, and then 

 very gravely shook their heads and returned them to me. 



In parenthesis, I would like to ask a certain young lady 

 a question, supposing that she should see this letter, and 



