THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 627 



SACRIFICE OF TOBACCO TO THE LION. 



I explained to the Indians that the lion was the king of beasts, and they threw to- 

 bacco before him as a sacrifice. The hyenas attracted their attention very much, and 

 the leopards and tigers, of the nature of all of which I promised to give them some 

 fuller account after we got home. They met the panther, which they instantly recog- 

 nized, and the recognition would seem to have been mutual, from its evident alarm, 

 evinced by its hissing and showing its teeth. Jim called for the doctor "to see his 

 brother, ' ' the Wolf. The doctor's totem or arms was the wolf ; it was therefore medicine 

 to him. The doctor advanced with a smile, and offering it his hand, with a smirk of 

 recognition,. he began, in a low and soft tone to howl like a wolf. All were quiet a 

 moment when the poor animal was led away by the doctor's distant howlings until it 

 raised up its nose with the most pitiable looks of imploration for its liberty, and joined 

 him in the chorus. He turned to us with an exulting smile, but to his ' ' poor imprisoned 

 brother," as he called it, with a tear in his eye and a plug of tobacco in his hand which 

 he left by the side of its cage as a peace offering. 



The ostrich (of which there was a noble specimen there) and the kangaroo excited the 

 admiration and lively remarks of the Indians; but when they met the poor distressed 

 and ragged prisoner, the buffalo, from their own wild and free prairies, their spirits were 

 overshadowed with an instant gloom, forebodings, perhaps, of their own approaching 

 destiny. They sighed, and even wept, for this worn veteran and walked on. With the 

 bears they would have shaken hands if they could have done it, "and embraced them 

 too, ' ' said the Little Wolf, ' ' for he had hugged many a one. ' ' They threw tobacco to the 

 rattlesnake, which is medicine with them, and not to be killed. The joker, Jim, made 

 us white men take off our hats as we passed the beaver, for it was his relation ; and as 

 he had learned a little English, when he heard the ducks cry "quack," he pointed to 

 them and told the doctor to go there — he was called for. 



Thus rapid were the transitions from surprise to pity, and to mirth, as we passed 

 along, and yet to wonder and astonishment, which had been reserved for the remotest 

 and the last. Before the massive elephant little or nothing was said; all hands were 

 over their mouths; their tobacco was forgotten; they walked quietly away, and all of 

 us being seated under an arbor, to which we wer*e conducted, our kind guide said to 

 Jeffrey, "Tell the Indians that the immense arch they see now over their heads is made 

 of the jaw-bones of a whale, and they may now imagine themselves and the whole party 

 sitting in its mouth." "Well, now," said Jeffrey, "you don't say so?" "Yes, it's 

 even so." "Well, I declare! why, the elephant would be a mere baby to it. " Jeff- 

 rey explained it to the Indians, and having risen from their seats, and being satisfied, 

 by feeling it, that it was actually bone, they wished to go home and "see the rest at a 

 future time." 



INDIAN'S REFLECTIONS ON CONFINEMENT OF ANIMALS. 



Mr. Melody and I accompanied them to their rooms, and as we came in when their 

 dinner was coming up, we sat down and partook of it with them. The Indian's mode 

 is to eat exclusively while he eats, and to talk afterwards. We adhered to their rule on 

 this occasion, and after the dinner was over and a pipe was lit there were remarks and 

 comments enough ready upon the strange things they had just seen. 



As usual, the first thing was to have a laugh at the Doctor for having frightened the 

 parrots; and then to reflect and to comment upon the cruelty of keeping all those poor 

 and unoffending animals prisoners in such a place, merely to be looked at. They spoke 

 of the doleful looks they all wore in their imprisoned cells, walking to and fro, and 

 looking through the iron bars at every person who came along as if they wished them to 

 let them out. 



