Chap. V. INDIAN VISITS TO THE CAMP. 275 
wheels rumble as if crossing a rocky path ; but if it stops 
for an instant the ground grows fluid, the wheels sink in, 
and shortly stand fixed, as if walled in ; the skill of the 
driver, therefore, consists in keeping the waggon in motion 
at all hazards. Sixteen mules were attached to each of 
our waggons, and at least four drivers walked by the side 
of each team to urge on the animals. 
We encamped on a low meadow on the other side of the 
river. The Indians, who during our passage had assembled 
in great numbers on the shore, accompanied us to our 
camp, waited until our dinner was prepared, and then offered 
unceremoniously to share our meal. 
Amongst our visitors was a man who introduced him- 
self as a chieftain of rank among the Kiowas. He wore 
the usual leather dress, with a blue blanket over it, and 
round his head a red handkerchief twisted in the fashion of 
a turban, which gave him quite an Asiatic appearance. 
The thought struck me of offering him a pair of old black 
trousers and an old silk waistcoat. Another one added a 
shabby felt hat, and this present was received with a 
delight which banished from the old man's face that 
impassive expression which Indian etiquette dictates. He 
unceremoniously pulled off his dress — by no means value- 
less — and donned these cast-off clothes. When the old hat 
had supplanted his red turban, a small looking-glass was 
added to the present. In this the man gazed at himself 
for a long time with speechless astonishment, until at last 
he broke out into the first gentle and then increasingly 
loud exclamations of " Bueno I " In his rapture he wanted 
to give me in return his whole equipment — leather gar- 
ment, blanket, bow, quiver, and arrows, a bag embroidered 
with pearls, the red handkerchief — in short, all he had 
about him. When I gave him to understand that I did 
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