Neither the arrows nor the bird's claws had touched the warrior. The Master of Life, to reward his generous devotion, had suspended an invisible buckler above his head., It is in memory of this event that the image of the Piasa was chiseled into the rock. 115
Such is the Indian tradition; I give it as it came to me. In any event, it is certain that the figure of an enormous bird is to be seen at an inaccessible height upon the rock, where it appears to be carved. No Indian ever passes by the place in his canoe without firing his gun at it. The marks left by the bullets on the rock are almost innumer able. The bones of thousands of men are piled in the caverns around the Piasa; how, by whom and why it is not easy to guess.'
He who has committed a murder is punished with death by the victim's relations, unless he " redeems his own body " and covers the blood by a payment of horses, robes, etc. If he offers himself to them to expiate his crime and no one has the sad courage to take his life, as often happens, then he is " washed of the murder " and need pay nothing. One of our neighbors, who had killed his wife, came off free upon paying a horse to each one of her brothers. The murderer paints his face black and his lips red for a time, to show that he thirsts for blood and means to sate himself.
When a husband or wife dies, the survivor pays to the kinsmen of the deceased the " debt of the body," in money or horses, and according to his or her means; one who should neglect to pay the debt would be in danger of seeing all his possessions destroyed. A wife must wear mourning
6 Parkman, Disc. Great West. Chap. V.
6 This painting, usually identified with the one described by Marquette in 1673, was visible on a rock at the upper end of the city of Alton, Illinois, until the demolition of the rock, for building-stone, by St. Louis parties in 1866 and 1867. Marquette saw a pair of monsters, each as large as a calf. From information collected by Father Hill, of St. Louis, it appears that in recent times there was only one figure visible, though some claimed to have seen a small figure in front of the large one. It was exposed to southwestern storms and defaced by bul