, they would dress the young woman in her
gayest clothes, and take her, with bundles of presents, to the friends of
the warrior; then, if she pleased, she was to be married. There was no
compulsion in the matter. If she was not satisfied, she had only to
return his present to the young warrior, and this was considered a
refusal.

Their mode of burying their dead was very much like that of all the
Indians. The dead body was sometimes placed in a pen made of sticks and
covered over with bark; sometimes it was placed in a grave, and covered
first with bark, and then with dirt; and sometimes, especially in the
case of the young, it was placed in a rude coffin, and suspended from the
top of a tree. This last was a common mode of infant burial, and the
mother of the child would often be found, long after, standing under the
tree, and singing songs to her babe.

Boone witnessed, too, the mode in which war-parties start off for war.
The budget, or medicine-bag, is first made up. This bag contains
something belonging to each man of the party--something usually
representing some animal, such as the skin of a snake, the tail of a
buffalo, the horns of a buck, or the feathers of a bird. It is always
regarded as a very sacred thing. The leader of the party goes before with
this; the rest follow in single file. When they come to a stand, the
budget is laid down in front, and no man may pass it without permission.
To keep their thoughts upon the enterprise in which they are engaged, no
man is allowed to talk of women or his home. At night, when they encamp,
the heart of whatever animal has been killed during the day is cut into
small pieces and then burnt. During the burning no man is allowed to step
across the fire, but must always walk around it in the direction of the
sun. When they spy the enemy, and the attack is to be made, the
war-budget is opened. Each man takes out his budget, or _totem_, and
fastens it to his body. After the fight, each man again returns his
_totem_ to the leader. They are all again tied up, and given to the man
who has taken the first scalp. He then leads the party in triumph home.

Boone had not long been a prisoner among them when a successful war-party
returned home and celebrated their victory. When the party came within a
day's march of the village, a messenger was sent in to tell of their
success. An order was instantly issued that every cabin should be swept
clean, and the women as quickly commence