XIV, 560. Schofchonen: Nachrichten voji Wyeth. 637 



find vorzüglich die Schofchonen. Er verl'teht unter diefem Namen einen elenden, verkommenen 

 Stamm, und fcheint Schoschonen und Bonnacks zu verw-echfeln ; letztere find ihm ein höherer Stamm, 

 und der allgemeine Name für das Volk il't für ihn Snakes. — Im 2ten Biiefe (206-8) lä'fst fiel) Wyeth 

 über Verfchiedenheiten und Stämme inneihalb des Schofchonen -Volkes ans nnd beftimmt ihre ludliche 

 Erftreckung. Er fagt: //( my inter'course (206) with the bands of Snake Indians at Fort Hall 

 ... and wliile endeavouring lo communicate with thewfor the purposes of trade, my atten- 

 tion was strack by the diversity of dialecV; not great enough to lead lo the supposition of 

 a very ancient Separation , and yel tun great to exist between tribes uihabituig the same 

 regio//... Durin g these years, the-few whites then in tlint region calted the innre miserable 

 bauds Dinners, or Shoshonees. They differ J'rom the other Snakes somewhat in language; their 

 conditio/t is mach poorer, having no horses , and living chiefiy ou roots and fish from the 

 brooks , with what small game lhat region affords. 1 am not quite cerlain, bat think their 

 distinclive name among the natives is Shoshonee ; anolher division nj' the Snakes are called 

 by themselves and oihers, Bonacks, or Paunaques*. They do not seem, radically , to differ 



from the former j they are innre intelligent, and heiter sapplied -with all the means of Indian 

 independenee ; horses , lodges , guns , kaives, Vf., and form bands aiuuially to hiiat in the 

 baj/alo country. — The region which bolh these descriptioiis of Snakes inhabit, exlends south 



from the Sdaptin or Snake River, as far as the snuthern end of the Great Salt Lake, and 



from the Rncky to the Blue Mountains, and is nearly a deseit; allhough there are a few 

 spots of good soll, il produces the least possible quaulity qfgame. There are no buffaloes; 

 elk and deer are very scarce and unknown, excepl in the innuiitains. Antelope and big -hörn 

 are rare, as also the bear. Diefe Völkerfchaaren find faft ohne innere Verbindung (f. -.'07' ■'■') ; auf 

 vielfache Fragen, / could neuer nblaiu any fürther Information Üian that the Bonacks had 

 horses, and went to hunt buffalo , white the Shoshonees had no horses, and lived on routs 

 and fish. — Der 5te Brief (p. 211-4) handelt über die Geräthe des Volks, der 7te (2 15-7) über die 

 Sprache; aufser dem knappen Wortverzeichnifs wird nur über die Schwierigkeit gehandelt von den 

 Indianern S[>rachftoff zu erhallen. Dann wird (21b" f ) über das Volk noch gefagt : These Indians 

 nearly starve to dealh aiuuially, and in winter and spring are emaciated to the last degree; 

 the trappers used lo think they all eventually died from slarvalion, as they became nid and 

 feeble. In salmon-time they gel fat. — Da die auf den aztekifchen Monumenten und Malereien 

 herrfchende Geftchtsbildung mit zurückliegender Stirn und vorbringender Adlernal'e, lie unter den 

 jetzigen Indianer- Stämmen des mexicanifchen und weiteren Nordens aufzufinden, neuerdings ein Ge- 

 genftand der Aufmerkfamkeit geworden und von Alexander von Humboldt (f. feine Vorrede zu Mull- 

 hausen's Reife) neu angeregt; auch ein Punkt von Wichtigkeit für meine Forfchung nach den Azteken 

 in diefem Norden ift: fo hat folgende weitere Bemerkung Wyeth's (217 mm - mf ) einen Werth: The 

 difference of language and physical appearance leaves tiltle doubl lhat they (die Indianer 

 Amerika's) have cnine at several widely separated periods of linie , and perhaps also from 

 very different regions. Some of the Indians of the Valley of the Snake River have the 

 ai/uiliue counlenance so common among the Crows, bat a greater porlion of them have the 



fealures of the Chinnooks and other Indians abnul the mouth nf the Columbia. 



Im Uten Briefe, in welchem er vom Thal des Bear river handelt, fagt Wyeth (221): 1 con- 



fine my remarks on the Valley lying between the Blue and Cascade Mountains , to that pari 

 of it which lies between the Columbia and the heads nf the small streams that enter it from 

 the South. The Snake , or Digger Indians inhabit this region near the heads of these small 

 streams; in winter living on the deer and other animals driven , by the suows of the moun- 

 taius, wilhin their reach ; in innre genial seasons , on roots and fish. Besides these, the 

 Nezperces , If'alla-fk'allahs, and Cayouses Visit this region. — Im Uten Briefe nennt er die 



