ch of this kind: "My son, the Great Spirit
has allowed you to live to see this day. We have all noticed your conduct
since I first began to black your face. All people will understand
whether you have followed your father's advice, and they will treat you
accordingly. You must now remain here until I come after you." The lad is
then left alone. His father then goes off hunting, as though nothing had
happened, and leaves his boy to bear his hunger as long it is possible
for him to starve and live. At length he prepares a great feast, gathers
his friends together, and then returns. The lad is then brought home, his
face is washed in cold water, his hair is shaved, leaving nothing but the
scalp-lock; they all commence eating, but the food of the lad is placed
before him in a separate dish. This being over, a looking-glass and a bag
of paint are then presented to him. Then they all praise him for his
firmness, and tell him that he is a man. Strange as it may seem, a boy is
hardly ever known to break his fast when he is blacked this way for the
last time. It is looked upon as something base, and they have a dread
that the Great Spirit will punish them if they are disobedient to their
parents.

Another curious habit which surprised Boone was that of continually
changing names. A white man carries the same name from the cradle to the
grave, but among these people it was very different. Their principal
arms, as you know, are the tomahawk and scalping-knife, and he who can
take the greatest number of scalps is the greatest man. From time to
time, as warriors would return from an attack upon some enemy, these new
names would begin to be known. Each man would count the number of scalps
he had taken, and a certain number entitled him to a new name, in token
of his bravery. It is not wonderful that they were revengeful, when they
were stimulated by this sort of ambition. Besides this, they believed
that he who took the scalp of a brave man received at once all his
courage and other good qualities; and this made them more eager in their
thirst for scalps. In this way, names of warriors were sometimes changed
three or four times in a year.

Marriages in this tribe were conducted very decently. When a young
warrior desired to marry, he assembled all his friends, and named the
woman whom he wished for his wife. His relations then received his
present, and took it to the parents of the young woman. If they were
pleased with the proposal