ELDORADO 241 



him. His flag-staff, with its floating pennant, was 

 constantly renewed, until the tribe was forced to 

 leave for another location. 



Smith's testimony — for he was a man of more than 

 usual observation and of undoubted veracity — sets at 

 rest all disputes in regard to a custom of some of the 

 plains Indians, in making human sacrifices as a re- 

 ligious duty. He positively asserts that the Pawnees 

 had such a custom, and states that this sacrifice was 

 made to the Great Star (Venus). One of their pris- 

 oners — sometimes a man and sometimes a woman — 

 was selected and carefully fed with every luxury they 

 could obtain. The fate in store for the victim was 

 carefully concealed, and he or she was dressed in the 

 finest raiment obtainable, and under perfect ease of 

 body and mind, rapidly fattened. When the body had 

 become plump and round, the victim was led out and 

 bound at a stake shaped like a cross, his outstretched 

 arms being fastened to the arm-piece. Ceremonies 

 and dances were then performed by the people, and 

 mvsterious mummeries and incantations by the medi- 

 cine men. and when this was concluded, one of the 

 latter approached the stake, and with a single blow of 

 his tomahawk, split the skull of the victim. The body 

 was then shot full of arrows, and the sacrifice was 

 completed. 



Tn Mav, 1826. Smith again set out for California, 

 accompanied bv a small party of men. In a few days 

 after their .start, thev were attacked bv Indians, and 

 from this time on thev were harrassed dav and nieht 

 bv the savages. The others wished to turn back, and 

 ^g Smith told them that they were at perfect libertv to 



