HUMIDITY OF THE TOUCHWOOD HILLS. 417 



be seen. In the summer of 1855 there was abundance of 

 rain. At Fort Union in July, 1856, no rain had fallen 

 during that year, and in many places there was a great 

 scarcity of grass ; after the 15th July rain was abundant. 

 Again, in 1856, very little rain fell at Fort Pierre, so that 

 on the 5th of October the grass had all dried up, although 

 at the same period of the previous year it was everywhere 

 green.* 



During the two nights we remained at this post we 

 were disturbed by a noted conjuror who was performing 

 his ceremonies over the suffering form of a complaining 

 woman who lay in his medicine tent near to the fort. 

 His drum and song were heard nearly the whole of the 

 night, and his incantations are described in another chap- 

 ter as well as the remedy for the sickness of the poor 

 squaw, which the conjuror suggested as infallible. 



While at the Touchwood Hills, and indeed whenever 

 I thought there was a chance of obtaining a " speci- 

 men," or information respecting it, I made inquiries 

 respecting the celebrated "wampum." I was often 

 told that a real Indian wampum belt is now extremely 

 rare in Eupert's Land, and no one with whom I con- 

 versed on the subject had been fortunate enough even 

 to see one. 



The name " wampum " is applied to little cylinders 

 made from sea-shells perforated through their longest 

 diameter, and generally strung upon leather or sinews. 

 The shells, which the Indians inhabiting the interior 

 formerly obtained by traffic from the tribes on the Atlan- 

 tic coast, were broken into fragments and ground by 

 friction into the necessary cylindrical form. The little 

 cylinders were strung into bracelets, belts, earrings, and 



* Explorations in Nebraska and Dakotah. 



VOL. I. 



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