24 KANSAS INDIANS. 



between him and another person, who received a severe wound from a 

 knife by tlie hand of Brown during the affray, when the latter was ne- 

 cessitated to consult his own safety by a hurried flight. He accordingly 

 bade farewell both to enemies and law, and left for the Indian country — 

 travelling most of the way by night. Two weeks afterwards he arrived 

 in the Kansas nation, and remained with the Indian now accompanying 

 him, to await our return. 



Having listened to his story, I began to survey his strange companion. 

 He was a village chief of the Kansas (Caw) tribe, and the first of his race 

 I had ever seen so nearly dressed in his native costume. In person he 

 was tall and stout-built, — with broad shoulders and chest, brawny arms 

 and legs, and features evincing the uncontaminated blood of the Aborigi- 

 ne. His hair was closely shaved to the scalp, with the exception of a 

 narrow tuft centrewise from forehead to crown, so trimmed it stood on end 

 hke the bristles of a warring hog; then his whole head and face were so 

 lavishly bedaubed with vermilion, our experienced city belles would doubt- 

 less have considered it an unpardonable waste of that useful material! 



A string of bears'-claws, tastefully arranged, encircled his neck, while 

 ample folds of brass wire above the wrists and elbow^s furnished his armil- 

 lary, and from his ears hung rude ornaments, — some of silver, others of 

 brass or iron — cruelly distending the flexible members that bore them. A 

 dirty white blanket drawn closely around the shoulders enveloped the 

 body, which, with a breech-cloth and leggins, formed his sole covering. A 

 bow and arrows, slung to his back by a strap passing over the left shoul- 

 der and under the right arm, were his only weapons. A belt, begirting 

 the waist, sustained his tobacco-pouch and butcher-knife, and completed 

 his attire and armament. 



Thus habited appeared before us the Caw chief, holding in one hand the 

 lead-rope of his horse, and in the other the wing of a wild turkey, with a 

 a long-stemmed pipe, carved from a hard red stone, handsomely wrought and 

 finely polished. Taken altogether, he presented an amusing spectacle — 

 a real curiosity. 



Having shaken hands with the company and turned his horse to graze, in 

 a few moments his pipe was subjected to its destined use, and, as the inhaled 

 fumes merrily curved from his mouth and nostrils, he ever and anon pre- 

 sented it for the indulgence of the bystanders. His knowledge of English 

 was limited to the simple monosyllable " good," which he took occasion to 

 pronounce at intervals as he thought proper. 



Sept. 8th. Continuing on, we encamped towards night at a small creek 

 within six miles of the crossing of the Kansas river. Here a bevy of our 

 chief's villagers, rigged in their rude fashion, came flocking up, apparently 

 to gratify their curiosity in gazing at us, but really in expectation of some 

 trifling presents, or in quest of a favorable opportunity for indulging 

 their inate propensities for theft. However, they found little encourage- 

 ment, as the vigilance of our guards more than equalled the cunning of our 

 visitors. During their stay we were frequently solicited for donations of 

 tobacco and ammunition, (as they expressed it.) in payment for passing 

 through their country. This was individually demanded with all the assu- 

 rance of government revenue officers, or the keepers of regular toll-bridges, 

 strongly reminding one of the petty nations upon the border? of Canaan, 



