THE AMERICANS AND THE ABORIGINES. 355 



head. The interchange of greetings was remarkable 

 for dignity, and derived a peculiar interest from the 

 contrast between the two chiefs. Nothing could be 

 in stronger opposition than the gaunt meagre form of 

 the Miko, who stood like the weather-beaten trunk of 

 some gigantic tree, stiff, mute, and melancholy, and 

 the open, manly, dignified and yet gentle aspect of 

 the young chief of the Comanches. His oval-shaped 

 head was covered with a picturesque head-dress of fur 

 and feathers ; his high arched forehead and blooming 

 complexion, of a light copper colour, scorned the wild 

 war-paint of his companions ; the expressive black 

 eyes and aquiline nose were in admirable harmony 

 with the manly contour of his person, which his style 

 of dress and equipment showed off to the greatest 

 advantage. A doublet of blue fox fur covered his 

 breast, and from his shoulders, on which it was fas- 

 tened by golden clasps, hung the skin of a panther, 

 draping a form that would have enchanted Thorwald- 

 sen or Canova. It was a magnificent model of manly 

 beauty, that had grown up untrammelled and without 

 blemish in the enchanting prairies of Mexico, and in 

 the midst of a mighty people owning no master but 

 the Great Spirit. A dagger with a hilt of wrought 

 gold, a short rifle, and a lance nine feet long, decor- 

 ated with a horse-tail, completed an equipment which 

 for richness and utility combined could scarcely be 

 surpassed. The young chief's horse, of extraordin- 

 ary beauty, was almost covered with a panther-skin, 



