censure
this Mexican for his barbarous action of scalping a human being, but
it must be remembered that the education of his people is different
from our own. The taking of Indian scalps for a long time has been
authorized by the Mexican Government, as a means of lessening
their savage enemies, and handsome premiums have been offered as an
inducement to obtain them. In the case of this Mexican, there were
extenuating circumstances which, if they did not warrant such a cruel
act, yet they rendered him somewhat excusable. He had recently lost
a near and dear relative by the hands of these same Indians, and the
appearance of this mangled body was still fresh in his memory, making
him to thirst for revenge. It must not be supposed for a moment that
the commanding officer of this expedition had sanctioned such a mode
of procedure, for, he had no knowledge of the matter until after it
had been ended. It was not within his province to preach humanity to a
people who had been so greatly outraged by savages. He came to punish
and not to intercede for wild men who had long been a terror to the
surrounding country, and upon whom, in order to reconcile them, every
kind act had been expended in vain.

It may possibly be asked whether or no a man, who has simply lost his
scalp, can recover. In reply we can safely say that without any other
wound, and under favorable circumstances, with good care the sufferer
stands a chance of being restored to health. There was a man who
formerly was living and working at his trade as a blacksmith in Santa
Fe, who, in a fight with the Camanches while crossing the plains, was
wounded by a lance and then scalped. After a long period of suffering
this person entirely recovered, although the cicatrix of the wound
was ever afterwards a source of annoyance to him, compelling him
continually to wear a skull-cap made of oiled silk. The size of the
scalp, as usually taken off by the Indians, varies. Sometimes they
remove only the back covering of the head. At other times they cut off
the whole, running down even with the margin of the ear. When a man
has died in a manner which the Indians style as "brave"--that is,
desperately fighting for his life, and never for once showing fear,
they take two scalps, one from either side of the head. The object of
this is, to have scalp dances for each, as they consider such a man
as deserving the fate of two ordinary men. These scalps are often
stretched, dried, decora