172 IN THE OLD WEST 



upsetting the squalling children, and making con- 

 fusion worse confounded. Then, armed with 

 lodge-poles, the squaws, throwing dov^n their 

 loads, rush to the rescue, dealing stalwart blows 

 on the pugnacious curs, and finally restoring some- 

 thing like order to the march. 



" Tszoo — tszoo ! " they cry, " wah, kashne, 

 ceitcha — get on, you devilish beasts — tszoo — 

 tszoo ! " and belaboring them without mercy, they 

 start them into a gallop, wliich, once commenced, 

 is generally continued till they reach their desti- 

 nation. 



The Indian dogs are, however, invariably well 

 treated by the squaws, since they assist materially 

 the everyday labors of these patient overworked 

 creatures, in hauling firewood to the lodge, and, 

 on the line of march, carrying many of the house- 

 hold goods and chattels, which otherwise the 

 squaw herself would have to carry on her back. 

 Every lodge possesses from half-a-dozen to a 

 score, — some for draught and others for eating 

 — for dog-meat forms part and parcel of an 

 Indian feast. The former are stout wiry animals, 

 half wolf half sheep-dog, and are regularly trained 

 to draught; the latter are of a smaller kind, more 

 inclined to fat, and embrace every variety of the 

 genus cur. Many of the southern tribes possess 

 a breed of dogs entirely divested of hair, which 

 evidently have come from South America, and are 

 highly esteemed for the kettle. Their meat, in 



