point in those wastes, if the imperfect and natural
obstruction offered by the river, be excepted. In short, the place bore the
appearance of having been tenanted longer than its occupants had originally
intended, while it was not wanting in the signs of readiness for a hasty or even
a compelled departure.
    This was the temporary encampment of that portion of his people who had long
been hunting under the direction of Mahtoree, on those grounds which separated
the stationary abodes of his nation from those of the warlike tribes of the
Pawnees. The lodges were tents of skin, high, conical and of the most simple and
primitive construction. The shield, the quiver, the lance and the bow of its
master were to be seen suspended from a light post before the opening, or door
of each habitation; the different domestic implements of his one, two or three
wives, as the brave was of greater or lesser renown, were carelessly thrown at
its side, and, here and there, the round, full, patient countenance of an infant
might be found, peeping from its comfortless wrappers of bark, as, suspended by
a deer skin thong, from the same post, it rocked in the passing air. Children of
a larger growth were tumbling over each other in piles, the males, even at that
early age, making themselves distinguished for that species of domination,
which, in after life, was to mark the vast distinction between the sexes. Youths
were on the bottom, essaying their juvenile powers in curbing the wild steeds of
their fathers, while here and there a truant girl was to be seen, stealing from
her labors, to admire their fierce and impatient daring.
    Thus far the picture was the daily exhibition of an encampment confident in
its security. But immediately in front of the lodges was a gathering that seemed
to forbode some movements of more than usual interest. A few of the withered and
remorseless crones of the band were clustering together, in readiness to lend
their fell voices if needed, to aid in exciting their descendants to an
exhibition, which their depraved tastes covetted, as the luxurious Roman dame
witnessed the struggles and the agony of the gladiator. The men were subdivided
into groupes, assorted according to the deeds and reputations of the several
individuals of whom they were composed.
    They, who were of that equivocal age which admitted them to the hunts while
their discretion was still too doubtful to permit them to be trusted on the
war-path, hung around the skirts of the whole, catching, from the fierce models
before them, that gravity of demeanour and restraint of manner,