the scars of four balls which had pierced his thigh; the only consequence of which was a little stiffness of the leg, scarcely perceptible. Another had his arm and breast pierced by a ball. A third, beside some wounds from a knife and spear, had an arrow five inches deep in his belly. A fourth had still two balls in his body. One among them, a cripple, had his leg broken by a ball sent by an enemy concealed in a hole; leaping on one leg he fell upon the Blackfoot, and the hiding place of the foe became his grave.
" These Blackfeet," I remarked, " are terrible people." The Indian who last spoke replied in the sense of the words of Napoleon's grenadier, " Oui, mais ils meurent vite apres." I expressed a desire to know the medicines which they used in such cases; they, much surprised at my question, replied, laughing, " we apply nothing to our wounds, they close of themselves." This recalled to me the reply of Captain Bridger in the past year. He had had, within four years, two quivers-full of arrows [Fr. deux armures de Reches.- two arrowheads?] in his body. Being asked if the wounds had been long suppurating, he answered humorously, " in the mountains meat never spoils."
The Indians who live on Clark's river are of the middle size. The women are very filthy. Their faces, hands and feet are black and stiff with dirt. They rub them every morning with a composition of red and brown earth mixed up with fish oil. Their hair, always long and disheveled, serves them for a towel to wipe their hands on. Their garment is generally tattered, and stiff and shining with dust and grease. They seem to be less subjected to slavish labor than the squaws that live east of the mountains, still they have to toil hard, and to do whatever is most difficult. They are obliged to carry all the household furniture or to row the canoe when they move from one place to another; at home, they fetch the wood and the water, clean the fish, prepare the meals, gather the roots and fruits of the season, and when any leisure time is left, they spend it in making mats, baskets and hats of bull-rushes. What must appear