of procedure of an ordinary expedition to capture
horses, and I have given it very nearly in the language of the men who
explained it to me.

In their hostile encounters, the Blackfeet have much that is common to many
Plains tribes, and also some customs that are peculiar to themselves. Like
most Indians, they are subject to sudden, apparently causeless, panics,
while at other times they display a courage that is heroic. They are firm
believers in luck, and will follow a leader who is fortunate in his
expeditions into almost any danger. On the other hand, if the leader of a
war party loses his young men, or any of them, the people in the camp think
that he is unlucky, and does not know how to lead a war party. Young men
will not follow him as a leader, and he is obliged to go as a servant or
scout under another leader. He is likely never again to lead a war party,
having learned to distrust his luck.

If a war party meets the enemy, and kills several of them, losing in the
battle one of its own number, it is likely, as the phrase is, to "cover"
the slain Blackfoot with all the dead enemies save one, and to have a scalp
dance over that remaining one. If a party had killed six of the enemy and
lost a man, it might "cover" the slain Blackfoot with five of the enemy. In
other words, the five dead enemies would pay for the one which the war
party had lost. So far, matters would be even, and they would feel at
liberty to rejoice over the victory gained over the one that is left.

The Blackfeet sometimes cut to pieces an enemy killed in battle. If a
Blackfoot had a relation killed by a member of another tribe, and afterward
killed one of this tribe, he was likely to cut him all to pieces "to get
even," that is, to gratify his spite--to obtain revenge. Sometimes, after
they had killed an enemy, they dragged his body into camp, so as to give
the children an opportunity to count _coup_ on it. Often they cut the feet
and hands off the dead, and took them away and danced over them for a long
time. Sometimes they cut off an arm or a leg, and often the head, and
danced and rejoiced over this trophy.

Women and children of hostile tribes were often captured, and adopted into
the Blackfoot tribes with all the rights and privileges of indigenous
members. Men were rarely captured. When they were taken, they were
sometimes killed in cold blood, especially if they had made a desperate
resistance before being captured. At other times, the