THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 431 



For two or three of the first days the scenery was monotonous, and became exceed- 

 ingly painful from the fact that we were (to use a phrase of the country) " out of sight 

 of land," i. e., out of sight of anything rising above the horizon, which was a perfectly 

 straight lino around us, like that of the blue and boundless ocean. The pedestrian 

 over such a discouraging sea of green, without a landmark before or behind him, 

 a\ ithont a beacon to lead him on or define his progress, feels weak and overcome when 

 night falls, and ho stretches his exhausted limbs, apparently on the same spot where 

 he had slept the night before, with the same prospect before and behind him, the 

 same grass and the same wild flowers beneath and about him, the same canopy over 

 his head, and the same cheerless sea of green to start upon in the morning. It is 

 difficult to describe the simple beauty and serenity of these scenes of solitude, or the 

 feelings of feeble man whose limbs are toiling to carry him through them — without a 

 hill or tree to mark his progress and convince him that he is not, like a squirrel in 

 his cage, after all his toil, standing still. One commences on peregrinations like 

 these with a light heart and a nimble foot and spirits as buoyant as the very air that 

 floats along by the side of him ; but his spirit soon tires and he lags on the way that 

 is rendered more tedious and intolerable by the tantalizing mirage that opens before 

 him beautiful lakes and lawns and copses ; or by the looming of the prairie ahead of 

 him that seems to rise in a parapet, and decked with its varied flowers, phantom-like 

 flies and moves along before him. 



I got on for a couple of days in tolerable condition, and with some considerable ap- 

 plause, but my half-breed companions took the lead at length, and left me with sev- 

 eral other novices far behind, which gave me additional pangs ; and I at length felt 

 like giving up the journey and throwing myself upon the ground in hopeless despair. 

 I was not alone in my misery, however, but was cheered and encouraged by looking 

 back and beholding several of our party half a mile or more in the rear of me, jog- 

 ging along andsuffering more agony in their new experiment than I was suffering my- 

 self. Their loitering and my murmurs at length brought our leaders to a halt, and 

 we held a sort of council, in which I explained that the pain in my feet was so intol- 

 erable that I felt as if I could go no farther, when one of our half-breed leaders 

 stepped up to me, and, addressing me in French, told me that I must " turn my toes in " 

 as the Indians do. and that I could then go on very well. We halted a half hour and 

 took a little refreshment, whilst the little Frenchman was teaching his lesson to the 

 rest of my fellow-novices, when we took up our march again, and I soon found 

 upon trial that by turning my toes in my feet went more easily through the grass, 

 and by turning the weight of my body more equally on the toes (enabling each one 

 to support its proportionable part of the load instead of thro wing it all onto the joints 

 of the big toes, which iadone when the toes are turned out) I soon got relief, and 

 made my onward progress very well. I rigidly adhered to this mode, and found no 

 difficulty on the third and fourth days of taking the lead of the whole party, which I 

 constantly led until our journey was completed.* 



On this journey we saw immense herds of buffaloes, and although we had no horses 

 to run them we successfullyapproachcd them on foot, and supplied ourselves abun-' 

 dantly with fresh meat. After traveling for several days we came in sight of a high 

 range of blue hills in distance on our left, which rose to the height of several hundred 

 feet above the level of the prairies. These hills were a conspicuous landmark at 

 last, and some relief to us. I was told by our guide that they were called the Bijou 



* Oa this march we wore all traveling in moccasins, which being made without any soles, accord- 

 ing to the Indian custom, had but little support for the foot underneath, and consequently soon sub- 

 jected us to excruciating pain whilst walking according to the civilized mode with the toes turned out. 

 From this very painful experience I learned to my complete satisfaction that man in a state of nature 

 who walks on his naked feet must walk with his toes turned in, that each may perform the duties as. 

 signed to it in proportion to its size and strength, and that civilized man can walk with his toes turned 

 out if he chooses if he will use a stiff sole under his feet, and will be content at last to put up with an 

 acquired deformity of the big-toe joint, which too many know to be a frequent and painful occurrence. 



