Till) MILITARY TROPHY. 387 



When the day of departure arrived, and my friends and 

 myself had decided that we must return to our .several 

 homes, whither the demands of business urgently sum- 

 moned us, some being due at Saint Louis, others, among 

 whom I was included, being called to New York, I may 

 say, without boasting, that our guests gave utterance to 

 the most pathetic expressions of regret at bidding us fare- 

 well, and endeavoured to detain us by every inducement 

 they could think of. 



On the morning of our departure, Otami-ah called upon. 

 me, and begged me, as an extreme favour, to exchange my 

 guitar for the complete dress of a Sioux warrior, which 

 she had embroidered and embellished with her own hands, 

 intending it for her betrothed. 



Even before I received the visit of this charming squaw, 

 I had thought of leaving her an instrument which J 

 looked upon as of little use to myself; so, after making 

 her understand that her intention had anticipated my 

 desire of being agreeable to her, I could not resist the 

 pleasure of accepting, as a souvenir, the magnificent cos- 

 tume she laid at my feet. Not a detail was lacking to 

 this superb military trophy ; the material was deer-skin, 

 rendered impermeable by processes of which the Redskins 

 alone know the secret, and ornamented with an incalcul- 

 able number of embroideries made of porcupine-quills, 

 tinted with many colours. The fringed tunic the leg- 

 gings the moccasins the belt the head-dress adorned 

 with magnificent red feathers, yellow feathers, black 

 feathers, and green, feathers the calumet the pouch- for 

 powder and ball the round furred gloves, all lay before 

 me, and so exactly suited to my size and figure, that, 



