Manners and Customs of the Shoshonee Indians. As war is the chief occupation, bravery is the chief virtue among the Shoshonees. None can hope to be distinguished without having given proofs of it, nor can there be any preferment or influence among the nation without some warlike achievement. The important events which give reputation to a warrior, and which entitle him to a new name, are, killing a white bear, stealing individually the horses of the enemy, leading out a party who happen to be successful either in plundering horses or destroying the enemy, and lastly, scalping a warriors These acts seem of nearly equal dignity, but the last, that of taking an enemy's scalp, is an honour quite independent of the act of vanquishing him. To kill your adversary is of no importance, unless the scalp is brought from the field of battle, and were a warrior to slay any number of his enemies in action, and others were to obtain the scalps or first touch the dead, they would have all the honours, since they have borne off the trophy. The bow The Shoshonee warrior always fights on horseback: he possesses a few bad guns, which are reserved exclusively for war, but his common arms are the bow and arrow, a shield, a lance and a weapon called by the Chippaways, by whom it was formerly used, the poggamoggon. is made of cedar or pine, covered on the outside with sinews and glue. It is about two and a half feet long, and does not differ in shape from those used by the Sioux, Mandans and Minnetarees. Sometimes, however, the bow is made of a single piece of the horn of an elk, cover. ed on the back like those of wood with sinews and glue, and occasionally ornamented by a strand wrought of porcupine quills and sinews, which is wrapped round the horn near its two ends. The bows made of the horns of the bighorn are still more prized, and are formed by cementing with glue flat pieces of the horn together, covering the back with sinews and glue, and loading the whole with an unusual quantity of ornaments. The arrows resemble those of the other Indians, except in being more slender than any we have seen. They are contained, with the implements for striking fire, in a narrow quiver, formed of different kinds of skin, though thatof the otter seems to be preferred. It is just long enough to protect the arrows from the weather, and is worn on the back by means of a strap passing over the right shoulder and under the left arm. The shield is a circular piece of buffalo hide, about two feet four or five inches in diameter, ornamented with feathers, and a fringe round it of dressed leather, and adorned or deformed with paintings of strange figures. The buffalo hide is perfectly proof against any arrow, but in the minds of the Shoshonees, its power to protect them is chiefly derived from the virtues which are communicated to it by the old men and jugglers. To make a shield is indeed one of the most important ceremonies: it begins by a feast to which all the warriors, old men and jugglers are invited. After the repast, a hole is dug in the ground about eighteen inches in depth and of the same diameter as the intended shield: into this hole red hot stones are thrown, and water thrown over them till they emit a very strong hot steam. The buffalo skin, which must be the entire hide of a male two years old, and never suffered to dry since it was taken from the animal, is now laid across the hole with the fleshy side to the ground, and stretched in every direc tion by as many as can take hold of it. As the skin becomes heated, the hair separates, and is taken off by the hand; till at last the skin is contracted into the compass designed for the shield. It is then taken off and placed on a hide prepared into parchment, and then pounded during the rest of the festival by the bare heels of those who are invited to it. This operation sometimes continues several days, after which it is delivered to the proprietor, and declared by the old men and jugglers to be a security against arrows; and provided the feast has been satisfactory, against even the bullets of their enemies. Such is the delusion, that many of the Indians implicitly believe that this ceremony has given to the shield supernatural power, and that they have no longer to fear any weapons of their enemies. The poggamoggon is an instrument, consisting of a handle twenty-two inches long, made of wood, covered with dressed leather, about the size ofa whip-handle: at one end is a thong of ten inches in length which is tied to a round stone weighing two pounds and held in a cover of leather: at the other end is a loop of the same material, which is passed round the wrist so as to secure the hold of the instrument, with which they strike a very severe blow.. Besides these, they have a kind of armour, something like a coat of mail, which is formed by a great many folds of dressed antelope skins, united by means of a mixture of glue and sand. With this they cover their own bodies and those of their horses, and find it impervous to the arrow. The caparison of their horses is a halter and a saddle: the first is either a rope of six or seven strands of buffalo hair platted or twisted together, about the size of a man's finger and of great strength; or merely a thong of raw hide made pliant by pounding or rubbing; though the first kind is much preferred. The halter is very long, and is never taken from the neck of the horse when in constant use. One end of it is first tied round the neck in a knot and then brought down to the under jaw, round which it is formed into a simple noose, passing through the mouth: it is then drawn up on the right side and held by the rider in his left hand, while the rest trails after him to some distance.-At other times the knot is formed at a little distance from one of the ends, so as to let that end serve as a bridle while the other trails on the ground. With these cords dangling along side of them the horse is put to his full speed, without fear of falling, and when he is turned to graze, the noose is merely taken from his mouth. The saddle is formed like the packsaddles used by the French and Spaniards, of two flat thin boards which fit the sides of the horse, and are kept together by two cross pieces, one before and the other behind, which rise to a considerable height, ending sometimes in a flat point, extending outwards, and always making the saddle deep and narrow. Under this a piece of buffalo skin, with the hair on, is placed, so as to prevent the rubbing of the boards, and when they mount, they throw a piece of skin or robe over the saddle, which has no permanent cover. When stirrups are used, they consist of wood covered with leather; but stirrups and saddles are conveniences reserved for old men and women. The young warriors rarely use any, except a small leather puff stuffed with hair, and secured by a girth made of a leather thong. In this way they ride with great expertness, and they have a particular dexterity in catching the horse when he is running at large. If he will not immediately submit when they wish to take him, they make a noose in the rope, and although the horse may be at a distance, or even running, rarely fail to fix it on his neck; and such is the docility of the animal, that however unruly he may seem, he surrenders as soon as he feels the rope on him. This cord is so useful in this way, that it is never dispensed with, even when they use the Spanish bridle, which they prefer, and always procure when they have it in their power. The horse becomes almost an object of attachment: a favourite is frequently painted and his ears cut into various shapes: the mane and tail, which are never drawn nor trimmed, are decorated with feathers of birds, and sometimes a warrior suspends at the breast of his horse the finest ornaments he possesses. Thus armed and mounted, the Shoshonee is a formida ble enemy, even with the feeble weapons which he is still obliged to use. When they attack at full speed, they lean forward and cover their bodies with the shield, while with the right hand they shoot under the horse's neck. Ibid. Description and romantic appearance of the Missouri at the junction of the Medicine river, THE Missouri is three hundred yards wide at the point where it receives the waters of the Medicine river, which is one hundred and thirty-seven yards in width. The united current continues three hundred and twentyeight poles to a small rapid on the north side, from which it gradually widens to one thousand four hundred yards, and at the distance of five hundred and forty-eight poles reaches the head of the rapids narrowing as it approaches them. Here the hills on the north, which had withdrawn from the bank closely border the river, which, for the space of three hundred and twenty poles, makes its way over the rocks with a descent of thirty feet: in this course the current is contracted to five hundred and eighty yards, and after throwing itself over a small pitch of five feet, forms a beautiful cascade of twenty-six feet five inches; this does not however fall immediately perpendicular, being stopped by a part of the rock which projects at about one third of the distance. After descending this fall, and passing the cottonwood island on which the eagle has fixed its nest, the river goes on for five hundred and thirty-two poles over rapids and little falls, the estimated descent of which is thirteen feet six inches, till it is joined by a large fountain, boiling up underneath the rocks near the edge of the river, into which it falls, with a cascade of eight feet. It is of the most perfect clearness, and rather of a bluish cast: and even after falling into the Missouri it preserves its colour for half a mile. From this fountain, the river decends with increased rapidity for the distance of two hundred and fourteen poles, during which the estimated descent is five feet, from this for a distance of one hundred and thirtyfive poles, the river descends fourteen feet seven inches, including a perpendicular fall of six feet seven inches. The river has now become pressed into a space of four hundred and seventy-three yards, and here forms a grand cataract, by falling over a plain rock the whole distance across the river, to the depth of forty-seven feet eight inches: after recovering itself, the Missouri then proceeds with an estimated descent of three feet, till, at the distance of one hundred and two poles, it again is precipitated down the crooked falls of nineteen feet perpendicular; below this, at the mouth of a deep ravine, is a fall of five feet, after which, for the distance of nine hundred and seventy poles, the descent is much more gradual, not being more than ten feet, and then succeeds a handsome level plain, for the space of one hundred and seventyeight poles, with a computed descent of three feet, making a bend towards the north. Thence it descends during four hundred and eighty poles, about eighteen poles and half, when it makes a perpendicular fall of two feet, which is ninety poles beyond the great cataract, in approaching which, it descends thirteen feet within two hundred yards, and gathering strength from its confined channel, which is only two hundred and eighty yards wide, rushes over the fall to the depth of eighty-seven feet and three quarters of an inch. After raging among the rocks or losing itself in foam, it is compressed immediately into a bed of ninety three yards in width: it continues for three hundred and forty poles, to the entrance of a run or deep ravine, where there is a fall of three feet, which, joined to the decline of the river during that course, makes the descent six feet. As it goes on, the descent within the next two hundred and forty poles is |