ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, ETC. 31 



six lodges. This party is a small division of a portion of this 

 tribe, who are constantly wandering; but although their journeys 

 are sometimes pretty extensive, they seldom approach nearer to 

 the settlements than they arc at present. They are very 

 friendly, are not so tawdrily decorated as those we saw below, and 

 use little or no paint. This may, however, be accounted for by 

 their not having the customary ornaments, &c., as their ears are 

 filled with trinkets of various kinds, and are horribly gashed in 

 the usual manner. The dress of most that we have seen, has 

 consisted of ordinary woollen pantaloons received from the 

 whites, and their only covering, from the waist up, is a blanket 

 or buffalo robe. The head is shaved somewhat in the manner of 

 the Saques and Foxes, leaving the well known scalping tufl; but 

 unlike the Indians just mentioned, the hair is allowed to grow 

 upon the middle of the head, and extends backwards in a longi- 

 tudinal ridge to the occiput. It is here gathered into a kind of 

 queue, plaited, and suffered to hang down the back. There 

 were amongst them several squaws, with young children tied to 

 their backs, and a number of larger urchins ran about our camp 

 wholly naked. 



The whole of the following day we remained in camp, trading 

 buffalo robes, apishemeaus, &c., of the Indians. These people 

 became at length somewhat troublesome to us who were not 

 traders, by a very free exercise of their begging propensities. 

 They appear to be exceedingly poor and needy, and take the 

 liberty of asking unhesitatingly, and without apparent fear of 

 refusal, for any articles that happen to take their fancy. 



I have observed, that among the Indians now with us, none 

 but the chief uses the pipe. He smokes the article called 

 kanikanik, — a mixture of tobacco and the dried leaves of the 

 poke plant, {Phytolacca decandra.) I was amused last evening 

 by the old chief asking me in his impressive manner, (first by 

 pointing with his finger towards the sunset, and then raising his 



