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Show [ 243] 26 aud nnked from the ku0es down, and the hips np. 'They followe<.l the ruen to assist in cutting up nnd carrying off the meat. 'I'he wind was blowino- directly across the river, nnd the chief reqne ... tcd us to halt where we were, for a whi lc, in order to avoid misiug the herd. We, therefore, unsaddled otrr horses, and sat down on the bnrrlr to view the scene, and our new acquaintances rode a few hundred yards lower down ~nd !~egan eros ing the river. Scorrs of wild looking dogs foll owed, lookIng. like troops of wolves, and having, in fact, but very little of the doo- in thc1r composition. Some of the1n remained with ns, and I checked one of the men, whom I found t~imiug at one, which he was about to kill for a wolf. 'I'he day had become very hot. 'l..,he air was clear, with a very slight breeze, and now, at twelve o'clock, while the barometer stood at 25.920, the attached thermometer was at 108°. Our Cheyennes had learned that with the Arapaho villa<re,were about twenty lodcres of their own . .., 0 ' Including their own families ; they, therefore, immediately commenced ~akin()" their toilette. After bathing in th~ river, they invested them elves In some handsome calico shirts, which I afterward learned they had stolen ~rom my own me~1, and pent some time in arrancring their hair and paintIng them~elve~ wll!l some vermillion I had given them. While they were engaged In this sattsfaclory manner, one of their half wild horse , to which the crowd of prancing auimals which had just passed had recalled the free? orn of he~ existence among the wild droves on the prairie, suddenly dashed Into the lulls at the top of her speed. She was their pack horse, and had on her back all the worldly wealth of our poor Cheyennes, all their accoutr~ ments, and all' the little articles which they had picked up among us, With some few presents I had given them, The loss which they seemed to regret. most were their spears and shields, and some tobacco which they had re.cet\'ed from m~. IIowe~er, they l~ore it all with the philosophy of an Indra~, and ln.llgluugly contmncd thetr toilette. 'rl1ey appeared, however, a httle mortified at the thou <rlH of returnincr to the villaO'e in sucl1 :- 1 . 1.. 1'"1 I- 0 .... sorry p r.gLlt. "Our people will langh at us," said one of them, '( returning to the vtlla~e on foot, in tead of driving back a drove of Pawnee horses." ]le ?emnnded to know_ if I loved my sorrel hunter very mnch, to which I rep!ted he was the obJect of my most intense affection. Fur from beinO" ~ble t? give, ~ was myself in want of horses, and any suggestion of partIng wtth t~1e few I hud valuable, was met with a peremptory refusal. In the meanttme the slaughter was about to commence on the other side. So soon as the.y reached it, the India~1~ separated into .two .bodies. One party proceeded directly across the pramc toward the htlls ln an extended line while the other \Vent up the river, and instantly as they had criven the wind to the herd, the chase commenced. The buffalo started fo~· the hi lis but were in.terc~pted and driven back to\vard the river, uroken and runiiit;g in ever.y direction. Th~ clouds of dust soon. covcr~d the whole scene, preventmg us from havmg any b.nt an occaswnal vtew. lt had Cd. very ~ingular appearance to us at a drstance, especially when looking with the glass. We were too far to hear the report of the crn ns or any sound and at every m. stant, throngh the clouds of dust which 0t he s'n n made lumin' ous, we ~ould sec for a J?Ome~It t\~O or three buffalo dashing aloug, and closn heh~nd them. an Indtan wtth hts long spear, or other weapon, and instantly n~a~n they dtsappeared .. '~'he nppar.ent silence, and the dimly seen figures ilittmg. by wtt~ such raprdtty, gave lt a kind of dreamy effect, and seemed 1uore ltke a ptcture than a scene ot real life. It had been. a lurge herd I ,. / \ 27 [ 243] ·whC;n the ccrne commenced, probably, three or four hundred in number; out, thongh I watched them close! y, .L did not . see one rmer.ge frot:n .the fatal cloud where the work or de trnct ton was gowg ?n . . After rem;~ltll ng here about an honr, we resumc~d our journey in the drrectton of t.hc vtllage. Gradually as we rode on, l11dian after lndin.n cn.me droppmg along, laden with meat; and by the time we had neared the lodges, the backward road was covered with the returning- horsemen. It was a pleasan~ ~ontrast with the desert road we lwd ~)CCI~ tr~ve lling. ~evcral hnd ,Join~d company with us, and one of tile ch1efs rnvtted us to hts lodge. 1 he ytllao- e consisted of abo11t oue lnwdred and twenty-five lodg·es, of which t\~nty were Cheyennes; the latter pi~checl a little apart fr?m the Arapahoes. 'rhey were disposeq in a scatlerrn~_ma~nler ?n both stdes ~fa broa~ _ irregular street, about one hundred and fi(ty feet wide, and rnnmng al~no the river. As we rode along, 1 remarked near s~me of the lodges a lnnd of tripocl frame, formed of th ~P.c slender poles ?f btrch, scraped very clean, to which were affixed the sluclu and spear, wllh some other 'Yea pons_ of a chief. All were scrupulously r lean, the 'pear head was hurmshccl bnght, and the shield white and stainless. It remrncleu me of the days of feudaL chivalry, and when as J rode l>y I yielded to the passiuo impulse, and touched one of the spotle. s shields with the muzzle of my O"un , I almost expected a grim warrior to start from the lodge and resent my challenge. rrhe master of the lodge spread out a robe for me to sit upon, an~ th.e sq u~tws set before us a 'large wooden. dish of buffalo meat. lie had ht hts pipe in the meanwhile, and wher_1 It had been passed around, we COf!lmencecl our dinner while he contmn d to smoke. Gradually five or. siX other chiefs came in allll took their scats in silence. When we had fi~Ishcd our host asked a number of questions relative to the object of our JOUrney, of which I maue no concealment; telling him. simply that ~ .had made a visit to sec the country, preparatory to the. e tablt.shment ~f mllttary ~osts on the way to the mountains. Although thts was 1nformat10n of ~he hr_ghest interest to them, and by no means calcnlaled to plea e them, It excite.d no expression of surprise, and in nu way altered the grave courtesy of tl~err ·demeanor. The others listelled aucl smoked. I remarked, tha~ m taln~g t ile pipe for the fir"! time, each !tad t ~~·ned the stern n p\~ard,. \\·Hh a raptd glance, a~ in offering to the Great Spint, before he pnt It 111 l11.s mouth. A ~torm had been gathering for the past hour, and some pattcnng drops .on the lodcre warned us that we had some llliles to our camp. Some Indtan had gi~~n M1\xwell a buudlc of dried meat, which was vcr~ acceptal~le, as we had nothing, and springing upon our horses, we rode ofl at d.usk In the facP. of a cold shower and driving wind. 'Ve.found our c.ompu.ntons nndcr some densely foliaO'ed old tree , abont three mrles up the n ver . . Under one o0t them lay the truuk of a large cotlonwood, to leeward o~ wluch the men had kindled a fire, and we sat here nnd roasted our meat In ~olerable shelter. Nearly opposite was the mouth of one of the most con 1derab\~ affiucrlls of the South fork, la .f'ourclw att.?: Castors (Beaver fork), headmg off in the ridge to the southea t. . . July 9.- 1,his mornurg we caugltt the fust famt glunpse of tl.w Rocky Mountains, about sixty miles distan_t. 1'hough. a tolerably brwht da~, there was a slight mist, and we w?rc JUSt able to d1sc~r n the sno\~Y sn~mtt Q[ ''Long's peak," ('( les ~lcu.1: ore·tlles" ~[ th~ Ca~Hl.~ltan~,) showing \1 k? a small cloud near the honzon. l found 1t easily dtsltngutshal>le, there being a perceptible difference in its appearance from the white clouds that were |