gies. A great many are dead already, and others are hor ribly mutilated. The other day I counted nine bitten-off noses in a single group of Indians. In their rage, this little member is the principal object of their attack; and a drunken Indian who deprives a comrade of his nose, boasts of it as much as a brave soldier of having carried off a flag from the enemy. When they are sober, no one would recognize them; they are mild, civil, quiet and attentive; but there is no safety in the presence of a drunken savage. Several times already our lives have been in the greatest danger; but fortunately by gentle and moderate words we have managed to appease the rage of these barbarous drunkards, who were breathing only blood.
Sept. 30, 1852.
MR. DENIG, Fort Union:
My Dear Friend.- At my return home this evening. I found a card in the parlor with the well-known name of our good friend Mr. Culbertson, and understood at the same time that he is to leave on to-morrow for the Upper Missouri. I cannot let him start without charging him with a few lines for you. I do not know how to express my gratitude for your very interesting series of narratives concerning the aborigines of the Far West. A thousand thanks are due to your precious and valuable labor and are hereby given, though language fails to express the feeling which a treasure like your pages has awakened within my breast. Nothing could be more gratifying to me than the beautiful and graphic details which you have given me of the religion, manners, customs and transactions of an unfortunate race of human beings, toward the amelioration of whose sad condition I have in some measure contributed and am still anxious to contribute whatever I possibly can. Please read these sublined words to the Crazy Bear, whose speech has wonderfully pleased me and whose petition, were it to de-