with eagle
quills, being produced, every one smokes a few whiffs through it. It
is then understood by them that the tomahawk is to be buried. The
pipe-of-peace dance is then performed by the warriors, to the beat of
the Indian drum and rattle, every warrior holding his pipe in his
hand.

_Brian._ That pipe-of-peace dance is a capital dance, for then
bloodshed is at an end.

_Hunter._ Unfortunately, war is apt soon to break out again, and then
the buried tomahawk becomes as busy as ever.

_Austin._ Well, I do like the Indians, in spite of all their faults,
and I think they have been used cruelly by the whites.

_Hunter._ As a general remark, those Indians who have had least to do
with civilized life are the most worthy of regard. Such as live near
white men, or such as are frequently visited by them, seem to learn
quickly the vices of others, without giving up their own. To observe
the real character of red men, it is necessary to trace the turnings
and windings of the Yellow Stone River, or the yet more remote
sinuosities of the Upper Missouri. The nearer the United States, the
more servile is the Indian character; and the nearer the Rocky
Mountains, the more independent and open-hearted.

_Austin._ If I ever go among the red men, the Yellow Stone River, or
the Upper Missouri, will be the place for me.

_Hunter._ Many of the chiefs of the tribes near the Rocky Mountains
may be said to live in a state of splendour. They have the pure air of
heaven around them and rivers abounding in fish. The prairie yields
them buffaloes in plenty; and, as for their lodges and dress, some of
them may be called sumptuous. Sometimes, twenty or thirty buffalo
skins, beautifully dressed, are joined together to form a covering for
a lodge; and their robes and different articles of apparel are so
rich with ermine, the nails and claws of birds and animals, war-eagle
plumes, and embroidery of highly coloured porcupine quills, that a
monarch in his coronation robes is scarcely a spectacle more imposing.

_Austin._ Ay, I remember the dress of Mah-to-toh-pa, "the four bears,"
his buffalo robe, his porcupine-quilled leggings, his embroidered
buckskin mocassins, his otter necklace, his buffalo horns, and his
splendid head-dress of war-eagle plumes.

_Hunter._ In a state of war, it is the delight of a chief to leap on
the back of his fiery steed, decorated as the leader of his tribe, and
armed with his glittering lance and unerring bow, to