100 RECEPTION OF STANGERS, 



incredulity, and, after gazing a moment intently at the Delaware to 

 ascertain if he was sincere, he asked if that person took him for a child, 

 or if he looked like an idiot. The Delaware said no; but that the white 

 people, who knew all about these things, had ascertained such to be the 

 fact ; and added, that the world was not only round, but that it revolved 

 in its orbit around the sun. The Comanche very indignantly replied, 

 that any man of sense could, by looking off upon the prairie, see at a 

 glance that the earth was perfectly level ; and, moreover, that his 

 grandfather had been west to the end of it, where the sun disappeared 

 behind a vertical wall. The Delaware continued, in his simple but 

 impressive manner, to describe to the Comanche the steam-engine, 

 with other objects of interest he had seen among the whites, all of 

 which the Comanche regarded as the product of a fertile imagination, 

 expressly designed to deceive him ; and the only reply that he deigned 

 to make was an occasional exclamation in his own language, the inter- 

 pretation of which the Delaware pronounced to be, "Hush, you fool ! " I 

 then endeavored to explain to the Delaware the operation of the magnetic 

 telegraph, and, in illustration of its practical utility, stated to him that 

 a message could be sent a distance of one thousand miles, and an 

 answer returned, in the short space of ten minutes' time. He seemed 

 much interested in this, and listened attentively to my remarks, but 

 made no comments until I requested him to explain it to the Comanche, 

 when he said, "I don't think I tell him that, Captain ; for the truth is, I 

 don't believe it myself." 



The mode of life of the prairie tribes, owing to their unsettled and 

 wandering habits, is such as to render their condition one of constant 

 danger and apprehension. The security of their numerous animals 

 from the encroachments of their enemies, and their constant liability to 

 attacks, make it imperatively necessary for them to be at all times 

 upon the alert. Their details for herdsmen are made with as much 

 regularity as the guard-details at a military post ; and even in times of 

 the most profound peace, they guard their animals both night and day, 

 while scouts are often patrolling upon the adjoining heights to give 

 notice of the approach of strangers, when their animals are hurried to 

 a place of security, and everything made ready for defence. The 

 manner in which they salute a stranger is somewhat peculiar, as my 

 own reception at one of their encampments will show. The chief at 

 this encampment was a very corpulent old man, with exceedingly scanty 

 attire, who, immediately on our approach, declared himself a great friend 

 of the Americans, and persisted in giving me evidence of his sincerity 

 by an embrace, which, to please him, I forced myself to submit to, 



