THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 363 



THE TORTURE. 



Around the sides of the lodge are seen, still reclining, as I have before mentioned, 

 a part of the group, whilst others of them have passed the ordeal of self-tortures, and 

 have been removed out of the lodge; and others still are seen in the very act of sub- 

 mitting to them, which were inflicted in the following manner :" After having re- 

 moved the sanctissimus sanctorum, or little scaffold, of which I before spoke, and having 

 removed also the buffalo and human skulls from the floor, and attached them to the 

 posts of the lodge, and two men having taken their positions near the middle of the 

 lodge, for the purpose of inflicting the tortures, the one with the scalping-knife, and 

 the other with the bunch of splits (which I have before mentioned) in his hand, one 

 at a time of the young fellows, already emaciated with fasting and thirsting and 

 waking for nearly four days and nights, advanced from the side of the lodge and 

 placed himself on his hands and feet, or otherwise, as best suited for the performance 

 of the operation, where he submitted to the cruelties in the following manner: An 

 inch or more of the flesh on each shoulder or each breast was taken up between the 

 thumb and finger by the man who held the knife in his right hand, and the knife, 

 which had been ground sharp on both edges, and then hacked and notched with the 

 blade of another, to make it produce as much pain as possible, was forced through 

 the flesh below the fingers, and being withdrawn, was followed with a splint or 

 skewer from the other, who held a bunch of such in his left hand, and was ready to 

 force them through the wound. 



There were then two cords lowered down from the top of the lodge (by men who 

 were placed on the lodge outside for the purpose), which were fastened to these splints 

 or skewers, and they instantly began to haul him up ; he was thus raised until his 

 body was suspended from the ground, where he rested until the knife and a splint 

 were passed through the flesh or integuments in a similar manner on each arm below 

 the shoulder (over the bracltialis cxternus), below the elbow (over the extensor carpi 

 radialis), on the thighs (over the vastus externus), and below the knees (over the_pe- 

 roneus). 



In some instances they remained in a reclining position on the ground until this 

 painful operation is finished, which was performed in all instances exactly on the 

 same parts of the body and limbs, and which in its progress occupied some five or 

 six minutes. 



Each one was then instantly raised with the cords until the weight of his body was 

 suspended by them, and then, while the blood was streaming down their limbs, the 

 bystanders hung upon the splints each man's appropriate shield, bow and quiver, 

 &c, ; and in many instances the skull of a buffalo, with the horns on it, was attached 

 to each lower arm and each lower leg, for the purpose probably of preventing by their 

 great weight the struggling which might otherwise have taken' place to their disad- 

 vantage whilst they were hung up. 



When these things were all adjusted each one was raised higher by the cords, until 

 those weights all swung clear from the ground, leaving his feet, in most cases, some 

 6 or 8 feet above the ground. In this plight they at once became appalling and 

 frightful to look at — the flesh to support the weight of their bodies, with the additional 

 weights which were attached to them, was raised 6 or 8 inches by the skewers, and 

 their heads sunk forward on the breasts, or thrown backwards, in a much more 

 frightful condition, according to the way in which they were hung up. 



The unflinching fortitude with which every one of them bore this part of the tor- 

 ture surpassed credulity ; each one, as the knife was passed through his flesh, sus- 

 tained an unchangeable countenance ; and several of them, seeing me making sketches, 

 beckoned me to look at their faces, which I watched all through this horrid operation 

 without being able to detect anything but the pleasantest smiles as they looked me 

 in the eye, while I could hear the knife rip through the flesh and feel enough of it 

 myself to start involuntary and uncontrollable tears over my cheeks. 



When raised to the condition above described, and completely suspended by the 



