TROPHIES. 37 



ber of bones of all kinds suspended in the house. Of 

 the Shoshone warrior we are told that, &quot; killing a grizzly 

 bear also entitles him to this honour, for it is considered 

 a great feat to slay one of these formidable animals, 

 and only he who has performed it is allowed to wear their 

 highest insignia of glory, the feet or claws of the vic 

 tim.&quot; &quot; In the house of a powerful chief [of the Mishmis], 

 several hundreds of skulls [of beasts], are hung up along 

 the walls of the passage, and his wealth is always calcu 

 lated according to the number of these trophies, which 

 also form a kind of currency among the tribes.&quot; With 

 the Santals &quot; it is customary to hand these trophies [skulls 

 of beasts, etc.] down from father to son.&quot; And when, 

 with such facts to give us the clue, we read that the habi 

 tation of the king of the Koossas &quot; is no otherwise 

 distinguished than by the tail of a lion or a panther hang 

 ing from the top of the roof,&quot; we can scarcely doubt 

 that this symbol of royalty was originally a trophy dis 

 played by a chief whose prowess had gained him suprem 

 acy. 



But as, among the uncivilized and semi-civilized, human 

 enemies are more to be feared than beast-enemies, and 

 conquests over men are therefore occasions of greater 

 triumphs than conquests over animals, it results that 

 proofs of such conquests are usually still more valued. 

 A brave who returns from battle does not get honour 

 if his boasts are unsupported by evidence; but if he 

 proves that he has killed his man by bringing back some 

 part of him especially a part which the corpse could 

 not yield in duplicate he raises his character in the 

 tribe and increases his power. Preservation of such tro 

 phies with a view to display, and consequent strength 

 ening of personal influence, therefore becomes an estab 

 lished custom. In Ashantec &quot; the smaller joints, bones, 

 and teeth of the slain are worn by the victors about their 

 persons.&quot; Among the Ceris and Opatas of North Mexico, 

 61 



