NATURE'S REALM. 
tents of his demijohn to a nonentity, the more his spirits droop 
accordingly, until finally he becomes so mournfully pious that 
to approach him is simply to invite an extended homily on the 
widespread evils of dram-drinking, and the utter indifference of 
the human family in general to matters pertaining to their spir- 
itual welfare, etc. 
‘* And how do you like the wilderness?” I fancy I hear you 
ask. Language, my dear friend, utterly fails to express my 
enthusiasm. From the day the good steamer Josephine set me 
down in this wild retreat life with me has been one long contin- 
ued dream of romance. In summer at least this is truly an en- 
chanted land. Such charming wood and river wanderings amid 
the wild magnificence of primeval nature, and such nights of 
balmy and refreshing slumber as I now enjoy, are blessings 
which all the mad gaieties of /e beau monde could never impart. 
There is one characteristic feature of this wild latitude in sum- 
mer that, to my mind, is impressively weird and beautiful. For 
days together the wild and rugged landscape around lies 
buried in a haunting and delicious atmosphere of smoke, 
through the purple density of which the sunlight falls in crimson 
shadows on sleeping hills and forest boughs, while an extraor- 
dinary silence, as deep and breathless as the halls of eternity, 
reigns supreme. Occasionally the pulseless foliage is animated 
by the cicada’s blast, ringing at first high and shrill, then dying 
away gradually and lovingly into the faintest ofspirit-whispers. 
It is on such preéminent days, when Nature’s ‘‘ prayer hush” 
is on the world, that fancies vague and exquisite possess me and 
the burden ef existence becomes as light as air. And what, 
my dear friend, could be sweeter, when earthly cares are for- 
ever ended, than a final resting place amid the silence of this 
smoky wonderland, with the stately volume of the river for my 
requiem, and alone with the dreams and the dews? 
Knowing you to be an admirer of Cooper’s Indian stories 
leads me to imagine that you would likewise be greatly inter- 
ested in the Sioux; and I am sure that you would be surprised 
to find how quickly the spirit of mistrustful prejudice which 
one invariably has laid up against them disappears after a 
short familiarity with them in their natural haunts. <A Sioux 
warrior, embellished with his original native costume, his 
brilliant moccasins, his paint and eagle plumes and his barbaric 
ornaments, when thrown agamst the romantic background of 
forests and river crags, presents a spectacle than which Na- 
ture, in all her category of human products, affords nowhere a 
parallel. Among their most noticeable characteristics is the 
child-like simplicity of their natures, their inherent supersti- 
tion, their affection or their children, and their yearning love 
for any special locality from which the encroachments of civ- 
ilization have been withheld for a sufficient period to lead them 
to regard it astheir home. Their oratory, their legends and 
fantastic superstitions are colored with a poetic glamor, and 
their dying dreams are haunted by visions of a spirit world 
wherein the fofests and mountains teem with game and hunger 
is unknown. A glance at their eventful history can scarcely 
fail to impress a sympathetic soul with a thrill of compassion- 
ate interest; for if there be one thing more than another that 
exemplifies the pathos of human existence, it is surely the de- 
spair of a moribund nation. A few more years and all of the 
most picturesque and poetic features that characterize these 
remarkable people will have been lost in the oncoming wave 
of civilization, but 
‘* Strange sounds of a forgotten tongue 
Shall cling to many a crag and cave, 
In wash of falling waters sung 
Or murmur of the wave. 
187 
And oft at midmost hush of night, 
Shrill o’er the deep-mouthed cataract’s roar, 
Shall ring the war cry from the height 
That woke the wilds of yore.” 
The wildest appearing and most elaborately costumed Indian 
that I have ever before seen armved here a few evenings ago 
with the information that the Indians were massing at a point 
on the Upper Cheyenne, for the purpose of holding a sun 
dance, one of the most barbarous observances peculiar to the 
Sioux. The tidings, it appears, were favorably received, for 
the next morning the courier departed accompanied by a large 
and gorgeously appareled cavalcade from this place, which, 
with the exception of the female population and a few old men, 
leaves the village practically deserted. Notwithstanding, 
however, traffic still continues lively, for the finest curiosities 
in my collection are purchased from the women, in the manu- 
facture of which they aie exceedingly tasty. Many of the 
Sioux girls are not only comely, but handsome, with slender, 
willowy forms, white, even teeth, and small, shapely hands, 
while their laughter is very soft and musical. During the 
process of trading at the counter they become as mischievous 
and garrulous as a family of magpies. The articles most cov- 
eted by them are paints, ribbons, musk and fragrant soups. 
Apropos of my remark concerning the personal appearance 
of the Sioux women, there is at the present time in this camp a 
maiden whose attractive features, I dare say, would captivate 
your fancy and almost persuade you to adopt a lodge in the 
wilderness. The vignette picture in my letter page is a faithful 
likeness of this dusky Venus just as she appeared while stand- 
ing alone on the river’s bank, and which I succeeded in trans- 
ferring to paper without her knowledge. With a pair of soft, 
dove-like eyes, two prairie-bronzed cheeks touched faintly with 
vermilion, a sweeping cataract of blue-black hair and a form as 
graceful as an antelope’s, it may well be imagined that Pretty 
Cloud, for that is her name, is queen of her forest realm. 
Thunder Hawk, her father, is quite an interesting old Indian, 
and I frequently pass an evening in his wigwam, usually taking 
along some tobacco for the chief and likewise some little trifle 
for Pretty Cloud, to whom the old warrior seems devotedly 
attached. Indian girls, however, are invariably timid and re- 
served in their intercourse with white men during the presence 
of their own people, who are very watchful and suspicious of 
any unusual attentions shown them by the whites. But, with 
the departure of the warriors to the sun dance, the bonds of 
reserve are broken for the time at least, and I find myself be- 
sieged daily by a dusky but extremely merry and mischievous 
audience, among which Pretty Cloud, hitherto as shy as a wild 
bird, is now the leading spirit. They delight in slyly appropri- 
ating my hat, gloves or cane, and then leading me on a madcap 
race through the shrubbery to recover them, the while the 
woodland resounds with their musical laughter, and I discover, 
moreover, that the frolicsome gnomes are as fleet of foot as 
antelopes. 
Yesterday evening, while sitting alone in my tent and busily 
employed in preparing an eagle for mounting, a shadow dark- 
ened the entrance, and Miss Prettv Cloud stepped within. 
Advancing timidly to the counter, she deposited thereon a 
small package, and without a word turned about and glided 
hastily away in the direction of the camp. Being curious in 
regard to the contents of the parcel, I proceeded to undo the 
same, when lo! and behold, a pair of moccasins beautifully 
and elaborately embroidered, and which, inasmuch as she has 
since declined to accept anything in payment, were of course 
tendered expressly as a keepsake. I shall preserve them care- 
