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Show 344 THE CALIFORNIA AND OREGON TRAIL. circle. T.h e society of the 'Strong Hearts' were en gage d . 1n on. e of theu dances. The ''Stron(Yn Hearts' are a war 1'1 1 ce asso. c1at.i on, comprising men of both the Dahcotah an d Sl u·e nne natwns, and entirely composed ' or supposed to be so, of young brav.es of the highest mettle. Its fundamental principle is the admuable one of never retreatinD" from any enter · cs pnse once commenced. All these Indian associations have a tutelary spl.nt. That of the Strong Hearts ~s embodied in the fox, an ammal which white men would hardly have selected for a sim. ilar purpose, though his subtle and cautious character agrees well enough with an Indian's notions of what is honorable in warfare. The dancers were circling round and round the fire ' e.ach figure brightly illumined at one moment by the yellow light, and at the next drawn in blackest shadow as it passed between the flame and the spectator- They wo~ld imitate with the most ludicrous exactness the motions and the voice of their sly patron the fox. Then a startling yell would be given. Many other warriors would leap into the ring, and with faces upturned toward the starless sky, they would all stamp, and whoop, and brandish their weapons like so many frantic devils. Until the next afternoon we were still remaining with Bisonette. My companion and I with our three attendants then left his camp for the Pueblo, a distance of three hundred miles, and we supposed th e J·O Urney would occupy about a fortm·g ht . During this time we all earnestly hoped that we might not meet a single human being, for should we encounter any, they would in all prob a bI' lI' tY be enemi·e s, ferocw· us robbers an d mlll·· derers' in whose eyes our n' fl es would be our only passpo1· t s. For the first two days nothing worth mentioning took place. On the third morning, however, an untoward incident occurred. THE LONELY JOURNEY. 345 We were encamped by the side of a little brook in an extensive hollow of the plain. Delorier was up long before daylight, and before he began to prepare breakfast he turned loose all the horses, as in duty bound. There was a cold mist clinging close to the ground, and by the time the rest of us were awake the animals were invisible. It was only after a long and anxious search that we could discover by their tracks the direction they had taken. They had all set off for Fort Laramie, following the guidance of a mutinous old mule, and though many of them were hobbled, they had travelled three miles before they could be overtaken and driven back. For the following two or thee days, we were passing over an arid desert. The only vegetation was a few tufts of short grass, dried and shrivelled by the heat. There was an abun. dance of strange insects and reptiles. I--Iuge crickets, black and bottle green, and wingless grasshoppers of the most extravagant dimensions, were tumbling about our horses' feet, and lizards without numbers, were darting like lightning among the tufts of grass. The most curious animal, however, was that commonly called the horned-frog. I caught one of them and consigned him to the care of Delorier, who tied him up in a moccason. About a month after this, I examined the prisoner's condition, and finding him still lively and active, I provided him with a cage of buffalo-hide, which was hung up in the cart. In this manner he arrived safely at the settlements. From thence he travelled the whole way to Boston, packed closely in a trunk beinD" re(Yaled with fresh air reD"ularly every ' f:> b <:::) night. When he reached his destination he was deposited under a glass case, where he sat for some months in great tranquillity and composure, alternately dilating and contract. |