268 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER 



thieves, and some account of their exploits and 

 manner of thieving has been given bj an English- 

 man who travelled much on the prairie. 



' On rising we heard that a small party of Eicaras 

 had carried off twenty-six of our horses during the 

 night, including two of mine, one of which broke 

 away from them and returned ; but one of them, a 

 venerable gray, remained in the hands of the captors. 

 Soon after our departure from Forfc Leavenworth, 

 our American lad, who was a merry wag, named the 

 pack horses and mules after the public men of the 

 day, according to his opinion of their respective 

 merits and qualities. It was impossible to avoid a 

 smile when I overheard some of his objurgations, as 

 he was driving them up in the rear: — "Come up, 

 General ! " " Who, ho, Yan Buren — your pack is 

 all one side." "Go it, Henry Clay — old Kentuck 

 for ever ! " &c. I believe it was General Jackson 

 that remained a Ricara prisoner. How they ever 

 succeeded in making him move I cannot imagine, as 

 all our instruments of persuasion, from a spur to a 

 cowhide, could only extract a very small jog-trot, 

 and that for a short time. Nevertheless, he must 

 have been forced off at some si^eed, as a few Pawnees 

 pursued for many miles in the morning without 

 success, 



' The manner in which they (the Eicaras) steal 

 horses is as follows : Two or three men approach the 

 encampment cautiously soon after nightfall, and take 



