ay diminish their beauty. We gave them a variety of small
articles, such as awls and needles, and interceded for them with the
chiefs, to whom we recommended to follow the advice of their great
father, to restore the prisoners and live in peace with the Mahas, which
they promised to do.

The tribe which we this day saw, are a part of the great Sioux nation,
and are known by the name of the Teton Okandandas: they are about two
hundred men in number, and their chief residence is on both sides of the
Missouri, between the Chayenne and Teton rivers. In their persons they
are rather ugly and ill made, their legs and arms being too small, their
cheekbones high, and their eyes projecting. The females, with the same
character of form, are more handsome; and both sexes appear cheerful and
sprightly; but in our intercourse with them we discovered that they were
cunning and vicious.

The men shave the hair off their heads, except a small tuft on the top,
which they suffer to grow and wear in plaits over the shoulders; to this
they seem much attached, as the loss of it is the usual sacrifice at the
death of near relations. In full dress, the men of consideration wear a
hawk's feather, or calumet feather worked with porcupine quills, and
fastened to the top of the head, from which it falls back. The face and
body are generally painted with a mixture of grease and coal. Over the
shoulders is a loose robe or mantle of buffaloe skin dressed white,
adorned with porcupine quills loosely fixed so as to make a gingling
noise when in motion, and painted with various uncouth figures
unintelligible to us, but to them emblematic of military exploits, or
any other incident; the hair of the robe is worn next the skin in fair
weather, but when it rains the hair is put outside, and the robe is
either thrown over the arm, or wrapped round the body, all of which it
may cover. Under this in the winter season they wear a kind of shirt
resembling ours, and made either of skin or cloth, and covering the arms
and body. Round the middle is fixed a girdle of cloth or procured
dressed elk-skin, about an inch in width and closely tied to the body,
to this is attached a piece of cloth or blanket or skin about a foot
wide, which passes between the legs and is tucked under the girdle both
before and behind; from the hip to the ancle he is covered by leggings
of dressed antelope skins, with seams at the sides two inches in width,
and ornamented by little tufts