since thereby the good chiefs would find occasion to incite all the people to virtue. That very evening they assembled, and the head chief promulgated a law, that whoever in future should steal or commit any other scandal should be punished in public.
The Snakes believe the especial residence of the Great Spirit to be in the sun, in fire and in the earth. When they make a solemn promise, they take the sun, the fire and the earth to witness their undertaking. When a chief or warrior of the nation dies, his wives, children and nearest relatives cut off their hair; that is their full mourning. They even clip the manes and tails of all the dead man's horses, giving the poor animals a most sorry appearance. Then they make a pile of all his possessions in the middle of the lodge, cut the poles that support it into little pieces and burn all his property at once. The corpse is tied upon his favorite horse, and led down to the edge of the neighboring river. There the warriors chase the animal, surround him closely and utter such horrible yells that they force him to leap into the current with his master's body. Then, yelling all the louder, they tell him to transport his master without delay to the land of souls. Nor is that all: to testify to their sorrow, they cut themselves in all the fleshy parts of their bodies; and the greater their attachment to the departed the deeper are the gashes. I have been assured that they claim that their sorrow escapes through these wounds. Would you believe that these same people, who feel the death of a relative so keenly, have, like the Sioux, the Pawnees and most nomadic tribes, the barbarous custom of abandoning the old and the sick pitilessly to the ferocious beasts of the desert, as soon as they begin to be in the way in their hunting expeditions?
While I was in their camp, the Snakes were making ready for an expedition against the Blackfeet. As soon as the chief had announced to all the young warriors his resolution to carry the war into the enemy's country, all