—I51— 
the tribes there is perpetual warfare. Each tribe T+ !¢iens 
must have an hereditary enemy, whose wrong must 
be avenged in blood. Their warfare is rarely carried 
on by open attack or battle; but they stalk each other 
till one party succeeds in surprising and massacring 
the other. When attacking, they raise a fearsome 
shrilling cry, the so-called war whoop. The slain are 
scalped, that is, the scalp is circularly incised in the 
hairy part of the head and torn from the skull. The 
scalp of an enemy is the highest triumph of the In- 
dian. The more scalps an Indian can show, the high- 
er does he stand in the esteem of his tribe. Some- 
times, when the animosity is not very fierce, they sim- 
ply make prisoners of their enemies, and treat them 
then as slaves. Such is usually the fate of women. 
The chief weapon of the Indian is the bow and arrow. 
Through trade with the whites many of them have 
now obtained fire arms, the use of which they have 
well learned. However, all trading companies sell 
them only short, poorly-made carbines, and no rifles. 
Another weapon, peculiar to the Indian, is the toma- 
hawk, a small hatchet which they use in close fight, 
and likewise purchase at the forts. In former times 
they made them themselves of pointed stones. Often 
the tomahawk is made so as to serve also as a pipe 
for smoking. But commonly they use for this pur- 
pose special long pipes, which they esteem as great 
articles of luxury, and from which the owners will 
part at no price. The bowl of such pipes is made of 
a red clay which is found on the Upper Missouri, and 
