separating the skin from the flesh at one
end, would grasp it in their other hand, and rip it asunder to the
shoulder. Others would carve various devices upon their breasts and
shoulders, and raise the skin in the same manner to make the scars
show to advantage after the wound was healed. Some of their
mutilations were ghastly, and my heart sickened to look at them, but
they would not appear to receive any pain from them.

It should be remembered that many of Beckwourth's statements are to be
taken _cum grana salis_.

From I. L. Mahan, United States Indian agent for the Chippewas of Lake
Superior, Red Cliff, Wisconsin, the following detailed account of
mourning has been received:

There is probably no people that exhibit more sorrow and grief for
their dead than they. The young widow mourns the loss of her
husband; by day as by night she is heard silently sobbing; she is a
constant visitor to the place of rest; with the greatest reluctance
will she follow the raised camp. The friends and relatives of the
young mourner will incessantly devise methods to distract her mind
from the thought of her lost husband. She refuses nourishment, but
as nature is exhausted she is prevailed upon to partake of food; the
supply is scant, but on every occasion the best and largest
proportion is deposited upon the grave of her husband. In the mean
time the female relatives of the deceased have, according to custom,
submitted to her charge a parcel made up of different cloths
ornamented with bead-work and eagle's feathers, which she is charged
to keep by her side--the place made vacant by the demise of her
husband--a reminder of her widowhood. She is therefore for a term of
twelve moons not permitted to wear any finery, neither is she
permitted to slicken up and comb her head; this to avoid attracting
attention. Once in a while a female relative of deceased,
commiserating with her grief and sorrow, will visit her and
voluntarily proceed to comb out the long-neglected and matted hair.
With a jealous eye a vigilant watch is kept over her conduct during
the term of her widowhood, yet she is allowed the privilege to
marry, any time during her widowhood, an unmarried brother or
cousin, or a person of the same _Dodem_ [_sic_] (family mark) of her
husband.

At the expiration of her term, the vows having been faithfully
performed and kept, the female relatives of deceased assem