THE GEOEGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 363 



THE TOKTUUE. 



Around the sides of the lodge are seen, still reclining, as I Lave before meutioucd, 

 a part of tlie groni), whilst others of them have passed the ordeal of self-tortures, and 

 have been removed out of the lodge; and others still are seen in tlie very act of sub- 

 mitting to them, which were iullicted in the following manner : After having re- 

 moved the sanctissimus sanctorum, or little scafibld, of which I before spoke, and having 

 removed also the buffalo and human skulls from the floor, and attached them to the 

 posts of the lodge, and two men having taken their jjositions near the middle of the 

 lodge, for the purpose of iuliictiug the tortures, the one with the scalpiug-knife, and 

 the other with the bunch of splits (which I have before mentioned) in his hand, one 

 at a time of the young follows, already emaciated with fasting and thirsting and 

 waking for nearly four days and nights, advanced from the side of the lodge and 

 placed himself on his hands and feet, or otherwise, as best suited for the performance 

 of the operation, where he submitted to the cruelties in the following manner: An 

 Inch or more of the flesh on each shoulder or each breast was taken up between the 

 thumb and finger by the man who held the knife in his right hand, and the knife, 

 wbich had been ground sharp on both edges, and then hacked and notched with the 

 blade of another, to make it jiroduco as much iiain as fiossible, was forced through 

 the flesh below the fingers, and being withdrawn, was followed with a splint or 

 skewer from the other, who held a bunch of such in his left hand, and was ready to 

 force them through the wound. 



There Avere then two cords lowered down froui the top of the lodge (by men who 

 were placed on the lodge outside for the purpose), which Avere fastened to these splints 

 or skewers, and they instantly began to haul liim up ; he was thus raised until his 

 body was suspended from the ground, where he rested until the knife and a splint 

 were passed through the flesh or integuments in a similar manner on each arm below 

 the shoulder (over the l)racMalis externus), below the elbow (over the extensor carjn 

 radialis), on the thighs (over the vastus externus'), and below the knees (over the jje- 

 roneus). 



In some instances they remained iu a reclining position on the ground until this 

 painful operation is finished, Avhich was iierformed in all instances exactly on the 

 same parts of the body and limbs, and which in its progress occupied some iive or 

 six minutes. 



Each one was then instantly raised with the cords until the weight of his body was 

 suspended by them, and then, while the blood was streaming down their limbs, the 

 bystanders hung upon the splints each man's appropriate shield, bow and quiver, 

 &,c. ; and in many instances the skull of a buffalo, with the horns ou it, was attached 

 to each lower arm and each lower leg, for the puriioseiirobably of preventingby their 

 great weight the struggling Avhich might otherwise have taken place to their disad- 

 vantage whilst they were hung uj). 



When these things were all adjusted each one was raised higher by the cords, until 

 those weights all swung clear from the ground, leaving his feet, in most cases, some 

 G or 8 fiict above the ground. In this plight they at once became ap]talling and 

 frightful to look at — the flesh to support the weight of their bodies, with the additional 

 weights which Avcrc attached to them, was raised G or 8 inches by the skewers, and 

 their heads sunk forward on the breasts, or thrown backwards, in a much more 

 frightful condition, according to the way in which they were hung up. 



The unflinching fortitude with which every one of them bore this part of the tor- 

 ture surpassed credulity ; each one, as the knife was passed through his flesh, sus- 

 tained an unchangeable countenance ; and several of them, seeing mo making sketches, 

 beckoned me to look at their faces, which I Avatched all through this horrid operation 

 without being able to detect anything but the pleasantest smiles as they looked mo 

 in the eye, Avhilo I could hear the knife rip through the flesh ard feel enough of it 

 myself to start involuntary and uncontrollable tears over my cheeks. 



Wlien raised to the condition above doscribcMl, and completely susjMMidcd by tlie 



