#8 
290 PAINTING AND TATTOOING. 
of the lids. Though using no regular head- 
dress, they sometimes wear, as a temporary 
ornament, a fantastic cap of skins; and it is 
not unusual to see a brave with the entire 
shaggy frontlet of a buffalo, horns and all, 
set upon his head—which, with his painted 
face, imparts a diabolical ferocity to his as- 
ct. 
The Indians of the Plains, almost without 
exception, wear long hair, which dangles in 
clotted tresses over the shoulders—besmeared 
with gum, grease and paints, and ornamented 
with feathers and trinkets. But most of those 
intermediate tribes nearer our border, trim 
their hair in a peculiar manner. 
ermillion seems almost indispensable to 
the Indian’s toilet ; but in default of this they 
paint with colored earths. When going to 
war, they bedaub their bodies with something 
black—mud, charcoal or gunpowder, which 
gives them a frightful appearance. But ‘orna- 
mental’ painting is much more gay and fanci- 
ful. The face, and sometimes arms and 
breast are oddly striped and chequered, in- 
terspersed with shades of yellow and white 
clay, as well as occasional black, though the 
latter is chiefly appropriated to war. Especial 
pains are taken to tip the eyelids most gaily 
with vermillion. 
Besides painting, most of the tribes tattoo— 
some sparingly, while others make their faces, 
breasts, and particularly their arms, perfectly 
piebald. This seems practised to some eX- 
tent by all the savages from the Atlantic 
