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Some days afterwards I paid a vifit to the chief 

 of the Miamis, who had been beforehand with me ; 

 this is a tall handfome man but very much disfi- 

 gured, being without a nofe I was told that he 

 owed this misfortune to a debauch. As foon as 

 he underftood I was coming to vifit him, he went 

 and placed himfelf in the inner part of his cabbin 

 in a fart of alcove, where I found him feated crofs- 

 legged in the manner of the orientals. He faid 

 fcarce any thing to me, and feemed to affecT: a 

 haughty fort ot gravity, which he fupported very 

 ill ; this is the firft Indian chief I have ever feen 

 to obferve this ceremony but I was told that I 

 muff, repay him in kind, if I would not be 

 defpifed by him, 



On this day the Poutewatamies came to play at 

 the game of ftraws, againft the Miamis \ the game 

 was played in the cabbin of the chief, and in a 

 fort of fquare over againft it. Thefe ftraws are 

 fmall rufhes of the thicknefs of a ftalk of wheat 

 and two fingers in length, They take up a parcel 

 of thefe in their hand, which generally cohfifts of 

 two hundred and one, and always of an unequal 

 number. After they have well ftirred them, and 

 making a thoufand contortions of body and in- 

 voking the genii, they divide them, with a kind 

 of awl or fnarp bone into parcels of ten : each 

 takes one at a venture, and he to whom the parcel 

 with eleven in it falls gains a certain number of 

 paints according to the agreement : fixty or four 

 fcore make a party. 



There are other ways of playing this game, and 

 they would have explained t hem to me, but I could 

 underftand nothing of the matter, except that the 

 number nine gained the whole party. They alfo 



