sometimes a cruel and abominable tyrant. A story was related to me of his cruelty, which has in it something of a more refined tragic nature, than we usually meet with amongst these people. Having fallen in love, (for even Polyphemus felt the influence of this god, who spares neither giants nor common men,) with the wife of a young warrior, he went to his lodge during his absence, and carried her off by force. The warrior on his return, repaired to the One ey'd demon, and demanded his wife, but instead of receiving redress, was put to death, while the wretched object of the dispute was retained in the embraces of her ravisher. The mother of the young warrior whose only child he was, became frantic, lost her senses from {185} excess of grief, and now does nothing but go about reviling him, and loading him with her curses: yet such is the superstitious veneration (by the by it deserves a better name on this occasion) for unhappy objects of this kind, that this chief, great as he is, dare not lay his hand on her, even should she haunt him like one of the Euminides, wherever he may appear.
We made several excursions to the villages below, the nearest about six miles off; but as they differ but little from those of the Arikara, I will give no particular description of them. I noticed but one thing as remarkable. About two miles on this side of the first village, my attention was attracted by a number of small scaffolds, distributed over several acres of ground on the slope of a hill. I soon discovered that this was a depository of the dead. The scaffolds were raised on forks about ten feet, and were sufficiently wide to contain two bodies; they were in general covered with blue and scarlet cloth, or wrapt in blankets and buffaloe robes; we did not approach near enough to examine closely, this frightful Golgotha, or place of human skeletons, but we could see a great number of valuable articles which had been left {186} as offerings to the manes of the deceased. Several crows and magpies, were perched upon them; we
