266 Expedition to the 



quainted with, is furnished to them freely by the traders ; 

 and the existing law of the United States, prohibiting the sale 

 of it to the natives, is readily evaded, by presenting it to 

 them with a view of securing their custom, not in direct, al- 

 though implied exchange for their peltries. Nor is this 

 greatest of evils, in the power of the agent to remedy ; and 

 until traders are effectually interdicted, by law, from taking 

 any whiskey into the country, even for their own consump- 

 tion, it must, in defiance of his authority, continue to exist. 



Whiskey is distinguished by the appellation of Pa-je-ne 

 or fire-water, the letter^/' having the French sound in pro- 

 nunciation. The state of intoxication is called Ta-ne, a word 

 which has a singular affinity with that by which they distin- 

 guish meat broth, or meat water, so great indeed is the 

 similarity of sound between them, that to our ear they ap- 

 pear identical. 



Intoxicating drinks do not appear to be ever made use of 

 by the Omawhaws, for superstitious purposes. 



Incontinency in married women is often encouraged by 

 their husbands, with the view of receiving presents or of ob- 

 taining other trifling advantages. With such motives, stipula- 

 tions are made for the accommodation of strangers, at the ex- 

 pense of the chastity of the wife. In relation to this particu- 

 lar the statements of Lewis and Clark,* Bradbury ,f Breck- 

 enridge,:}: and other travellers, have been confirmed by our 

 own observations. 



Vindictive jealousy is no uncommon trait in the Indian 

 character. 



When a wife has been found guilty of an intrigue to which 

 her husband has not been accessary, she seldom escapes ex- 

 emplary punishment at his hands, such as the cutting off 

 her nose or ears, or other mutilations of the countenance. 



* Vol. i. p. 421. f Bradbury's Travels, p. 162. 



\ Breckenridge's Journal of a tour up the Missouri, p. 275. 



