IN THE FAR WEST. 243 



retrograde movement, and continued it for three nights, when 

 we reached an army post, where we were kindly treated and 

 hospitably entertained by the officers. We suffered a good 

 deal from hunger and thirst during our retreat, as water was 

 scarce, and the only food we had was the flesh of the sage hare 

 and sage cock, and that, though tender, is anything but pleasing 

 even to the palate of a hungry man, as it tastes as if it had 

 been steeped in a decoction of quinine, gall, and bitter almonds. 

 We were so thankful at escaping a terrible death, however, 

 that we grumbled but little at our diet ; yet we were very glad 

 when we exchanged it for something more palatable. 



Several months after this affair I happened to be at the 

 Sioux reservation, and there learned the full particulars of the 

 horrible death of poor Evans. The murderers who had been 

 out devastating the country during the spring and summer, 

 and slaying men, women, and children in the most merciless 

 manner, returned to the reservation to rest during the winter, 

 and grow fat on the generous rations supplied them by the 

 Government, in order that they might be in good condition 

 to resume the slaughter of innocent whites the following 

 spring. Having nothing to do except to eat, time became 

 rather heavy on their hands, and to escape this dulness they 

 instituted a round of their various dances, some of which were 

 kept up for a fortnight at a time, night and day. I witnessed 

 their hideous scalp dance, in which the scalps were placed on 

 long wands, which were held by women in the centre of a 

 large circle, while the sanguinary braves yelled and jumped 

 around them like so many lunatics, and each related in the 

 most boasting manner imaginable how many scalps he had 

 taken ; how he secured them ; and went through horrifying 

 pantomimic gestures with hands and face and body to show 

 how he acted in the terrible contest that had made him such a 

 famous warrior, and furnished him with so many gory trophies. 

 AVhen one assassin finished relating his tale, all present uttered 

 a guttural "wach" of approbation, as a certificate of his truth- 

 fulness; and after some more stamping, yelling, and hideous 

 grimaces, another leaped into the circle and told his exploits, 

 and so it was continued until all had proclaimed their martial 



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