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Ex. Doc. No. 41. 425 



formed in the river; but some whites passing by had destroyed his 

 trap, and to-day he has been complaining bitterly about their con- 

 duct. He is the same man whose portrait I took last year, and is 

 conspicuous on account of his wearing his hair twnsted in the form 

 of a large horn, that projects from the centre of his forehead. 



Yesterday I met with Captain Walker againj in my conversation 

 he mentioned that the box-elder, " acer negundo," furnishes a sap 

 which is highly saccharine, and when the hunters are in want of 

 sugar, they collect some of the sap of this tree, and by boiling it 

 form a very good molasses, w^hich answers as an excellent substi- 

 tute. 



September 2. — I had been for some time past endeavoring to 

 obtain specimens of the materials that the Indians use to produce 

 those brilliant hues they give to the porcupine quills, with which 

 they garnish their ornamental trappings. 



This morning " Old Bark" brought me what I wished, the sumach 

 berries, with which that bright red is produced, and the moss from 

 the pine tree, that yields a yellow tint. The green dye is made 

 from copperas. What looks like black porcupine quills, are either 

 portions of the quills of birds, or the radicles of the "typhis latifolia," 

 which they flatten by pressing between weights. Old Bark had a 

 piece of pitch in his hands; I asked him what he intended to do 

 •with it; he answered me that some of his horses had tender hoofs, 

 and that he intended to' press the pitch into the sole of the foot, 

 when, after passing a hot stone over the pitch, it would remain and 

 protect the hoof. During the day, one of the Indians brought me 

 a specimen of the "astragalus" and told me that it was so poisonous 

 as to kill any animal that might eat of it. Thinking it would be a 

 good opportunity to learn the uses of the plants I had collected,, 

 and medical properties with which the experience of the Indians 

 invested them, I therefore produced my specimens, and with the. 



Qh 



M 



white person in 



com 



municated. " Nah-moust," of whom I have already spoken, pos- 

 sesses a secret antidote for the poison of the " she-she-nnte" or 

 rattlesnake, and my friends here all state that he frequently brings 

 one of these snakes into the fort in his arms. Whilst he is hand- 

 ling it, he is incessantly chewing the root of some plant, and spit- 

 ting the juice about in all directions, and the snake appears to cower 

 with fear. He is also said to cure any one who may be bitten, by 

 chewing the root and spitting the juice upon the wound. Some of 

 the w^^hites who were present seemed to think that he inadvertently 

 let slip his secret, on seeing one of my plants; this plant proves 

 to be a coreopsis. At Bent's fort, the usual remedy is achohol. 



They say that if they can make a person drunk, soon after the bite, 

 he is safe. • 



This evening I again had my sitter of yesterday " Ah-ma-nah-co," 

 seated upon the billiard table. I made a profile sketch, which 

 showed off all his ornaments to the greatest advantage. When I 



had finished he seemed more delighted than ever; and he pointed 



