prompt him to vengeance. His song is accompanied with the drum and the sischiquoin, or gourd filled with little pebbles. He stamps on the ground, as though he could shake the earth to the centre. All the youth listen to him with attention, and any one who rises becomes a volunteer in his party; he, in his turn, intones his war-song, and this ceremony has the force of a solemn pledge, from which a young man cannot honorably withdraw. Each volunteer arms and equips himself with all that will be necessary for him in his expeditions. The whole force of public opinion among the Indians appears to be concentrated on this point. The narration of their adventures and of their valorous deeds, their dances, their religious ceremonies, the speeches of their orators in their public assemblies; whatever, in fine, can serve to inflame ambition in the mind and heart of a barbarian, is referred to the idea of being one day distinguished in war.
I have now to speak of the Crows. Among all the tribes of the northwest portion of North America, this nation is considered as the most warlike and valiant. It counts about 48o lodges, ten individuals to a lodge, and roams over the valley of the Yellowstone, principally in the region of the Wind River Mountains, or Black Hills, and the Rocky Mountains. This race is one of the noblest in the desert; they are tall, robust and well formed, have a piercing eye, aquiline nose, and teeth of ivory whiteness. If they are considered as superior in intelligence to all their neighbors, they also surpass them in their wah-kon, or superstitious ideas and ceremonies, which reign in all their movements and actions. In illustration, I will cite the following trait, of which I was innocently and ignorantly the cause.
In 1840, I first met the Crows, in the valley of the Big Horn, a tributary of the Yellowstone. In my quality of Black-gown, they received me with all possible demonstrations of respect and with a sincere joy. I had with me a stock of Lucifer matches, which I used from time to time to light my pipe, and the calumet used in the Great Council.