OCR Text |
Show seven dogs and all the iish they would spare: while thi! ira f .. fie was going on, we observed a vapour bath or sweating house in a diffet·ent form from that used on the frontiers of the United States, or in the Rocky mountains. It was a hallow square of six or eight feet deep, formed in the river bank by damming up with mud the other three sides, and covering the whole completely except an aperture about two feet wide at the top. 1.'hc bathers descend by this bole, taking with them a number of heated stones, and jugs of water; and after being seated round the room, throw the water on the stones till the steam becomes of a tempera· turc sufficiently high for their purposes. rrhe baths of the Indians in the Rocky mountains is of different sizes, the most common being made of mud and sticks like :tn oven, but the mode of rai!'ing the stP.am is exactly the same. Among bnth these nations it is vtwy uncommon for a mau to bathe alone, he is gener•ally accompo.niod by one or some· times scvcr•al of his acquaintances; indeed it is so essentially a social ~Lmusemcnt, that to decline going in to bathe when invited by a ft·iend is one of tbc highest indignities which can be offurcd to him. 1.~hc Indians on the frontiers gene· rally usc a bath which will accommodate only one })erson, and is formed or a wiekered work of willows about four feet high, arched at the toll, and covered with skins. In this the pa· tient sits till by means of the heated stones and water he bas persph·ed sufficiently. Almost universally these baths are in the neighbourhood of running water, into which the Indians plunge immediately on coming out of tbe vapour bath, and sometimes return again, and subject themselves to a second perspiration. This practice is, however, less frequent among our neighbouring nations than those to the wcstwar(l. rrhis bath is employed_ either for pleasure or for health, and is used indisct·im.inately for rheumatism, venet·cal, or in short for all kinds of diseases. On ltaving tl1is encam}lment we passed two more rapids, and some swift water, and at the distance of four Up tiLe .JJ-lissouri. .and a half miles reached one which was much mot•e difficult to pass. 'l'ht·ec miles beyoml this rapid, arc three buts of Indians on the right. where '"e stO}lpcd and obtained in exchange for a few trifles some pashcqun roots, five dogs and a small quantity of dried fish. 'Vc made our dinner of part of each of these articles, and ten Jll'Ocecded on without any obstruction, till after making twelve and a half miles we came to a stony island on the t•igh t side . of the 1·iver, opposite to which is a rapid, and a second at its lower point. About three and a half miles beyond the island is a small brook which empties itself into a bend on the right, where we encamped at hvo Indian huts, which aa·c now inhabited. Here we met two Indians belonging to a nation who reside at the mouth of this J'ivcr·. We had made thirty- one miles to-day, although tuc we~thca· was waa·m. and we found the cm·r<>nt obstl·uctcd by nine different rapids, more o1· less diffioult to pa.ss. All these ra.11ids at•e fishing places of great resort in the season, and ::Ls we passed we observed ncar them, slabs and pieces of split t.imb<·r raised f1·om the gt·ound, and some cntit•e houses which aa·e vacant at present, but will be occupied as soon as the Indians return from the plains on both sides of the river, where our chiefinforms us they arc now hunting the anteloi>e. Ncar each of these houses is a small collection of graves, the burial places of those who frequent these establishments. "rhe dead are wrapllCd Ul> in robes of skins, and dcJlOSited in graves, which are covered over with earth and marked or secured by little pickets or pieces of wood, stuck promiscuously over and around it. The countt·y on both sides, aftet• mounting a steep ascent of about two hundred feet, beoomes an open, level and fertile plain, which is, however, as well as the borders of the rive1· itself, perfectly destitute or any kind of timber; and the chief growth which we observed consisted of a few low blackberries. We killed some geese and ducks. The wind in the arter pat·t of the day ehan~ed to the southweit and became bi~h, but in the mornin;, |