Prinz von Maximilian Wied

“ The Indian children amused themselves with ascending the heaps of snow, and gliding down on a board, or a piece of the back-bone of a buffalo, with some of the ribs attached to it. Mato-Topé paid us a visit in a very strange costume; his head-dress was much more suitable for an old woman than for a warrior. His head was bound round with a strip of wolf's skin, the long hairs of which stood on end, and which hung down behind. Some feathers, standing upright, were placed among the hair, which, except at the tip, were stripped, and painted red. ”

“ On the 8th the Manitaries danced the scalp dance in the fort, and the Indians amused themselves in the prairie with races and various games. At one o'clock in the afternoon, the ice in the upper Missouri suddenly broke up, and brought down many trunks of trees, which endangered our boats. The Indians immediately availed themselves of this opportunity to land a good deal of the wood; they also brought ashore a drowned elk, which, though already in a state of decomposition, they actually ate, and the smith of the fort, a Canadian, did not disdain to partake of it with them. ”

“ In these prairies it is, for the most part, the wind which makes the cold intolerable; and though persons who ventured out wore woollen caps which left only the eyes exposed, yet their faces were frostbitten. Our provisions were very bad, for Picotte had sent us only tough, hard, stale meat, besides which we had nothing but maize and beans, and the water of the river. Mato-Topé, in his finest dress, accompanied by many Indians, visited us. He wore a large hood of red cloth, adorned with forty long eagles' feathers, and was going to Ruhptare, where a medicine son was to be adopted. ”

“ At this time the Sioux stole from the prairie thirty-seven horses belonging to the Mandans. On this day Dreidoppel had dragged the entrails of a hare about the prairie, and then concealed himself; he soon saw six wolves follow the scent and approach him; but it was so cold that he could not wait for them. Our cook, a negro, had a violent dispute with an Indian from Ruhptare, who had taken a piece of meat out of his pot, and the affair might have led to unpleasant consequences. The Indians of that village are the worst of the Mandans. ”

“ The Indians are said to call it "the white man's fly." It is now common far up the Missouri, where the honey is eagerly sought for by both Whites and Indians, who cut it out of the hollow trunks of the trees. The spot where we rested and prepared our dinner was below the beautiful verdant wooded hills, and was shaded by high trees, inhabited by the most brilliant birds, which afforded much sport to our hunters. Along the bank and distant hills extended a splendid forest, through which winded a solitary Indian path, where the grey squirrels were very numerous. ”

“ During this cold we were visited by a deaf and dumb Mandan, who had no covering on the upper part of his body under his robe. On the 3rd of January, at noon, when the sunbeams, shining on the frozen snow, were extremely dazzling, the thermometer being at 24° below zero, I saw no living creatures in the neighbourhood of the Indian village, except flocks of the snow-bunting, and a few ravens, two species of birds which are capable of enduring the severest cold. ”

“ A long wooden bridge is thrown across the canal and the river: close by is an inn, built by the inhabitants, and called the Zoar Canal Hotel. Just as I was at the spot, the shepherd drove a numerous flock of sheep over the bridge, and answered my questions in genuine Swabian German. His entire dress and equipments were quite in the German fashion: a shepherd's crook, a broad leather bandolier, ornamented with brass figures, a flat broad-brimmed hat, and a large grey coat; a costume very uncommon in America. His dogs, too, were exceedingly careful in keeping the flock together. ”

“ I am indebted to Privy Councillor Lichtenstein of Berlin for the opportunity of examining several specimens of Urubus from different parts of South America and from Mexico; and I am now convinced that they, together with the Brazilian, form a species which is distinct from the North American. The male of the southern red-headed Urubu (C. aura) is smaller, more uniformly dark, with stronger metallic gloss, and with less brightly-rounded wing feathers than the northern. In the Brazilian bird the iris is bright red, and in the mature bird the head is sky blue and orange. ”

“ Among the remarkable objects in the vicinity of St. Louis are the ancient Indian barrows, the traces of which I had hitherto in vain attempted to find on the whole course of the Missouri. In order to take a view of them, we crossed the Missouri in a steam-ferry, where there is room for the horses and carriage, and in the upper story of its pavilion, a light, airy chamber. On the opposite bank are a good many houses, inns, and shops, under the shade of lofty old trees. Fish, turtles, vegetables, and other provisions, are daily sent from this place to the market in the town. ”

“ Onondago Hill is said to be a neat town, and was formerly the seat of the courts of justice, which, however, are now removed to Syracuse. At the latter place we saw several Onondago Indians, who do not much differ from the Senecas and Tuscaroras; their costume is exactly similar, and the women were also wrapped in white blankets.
After some delay, our boat pursued its voyage, and I saw large tracts of land entirely covered with the stumps of woods that had been cleared; others with the remains of stems burnt black, which present a singular, unattractive sight. ”

“ At eight o'clock in the morning of the 5th of July we embarked in the Albany steamer for New York. The Hudson or North River is even here a fine broad stream, with picturesque banks, but soon widens considerably: my navigation of it is unquestionably the most agreeable voyage that I made in America. The distance, which is 144 miles (by land 160 miles) , is conveniently performed in one day, though it is often accomplished in twelve or fourteen hours. The steam navigation is very brisk on the river, except in winter, when it is impeded by the ice. ”

“ The forest is not so lofty on the summit, and the tops of many of the trees are withered. Thus we traversed by water the fine forest of the state of Ohio, and, as it was Sunday, saw the inhabitants in their best dresses. It was a most agreeable journey, during which we sat quite at our ease on the deck. We had left the Sciotto at Lockbourn, passed Waterloo, Winchester, Havensport, New Baltimore, and Millersport, and on the morning of the 23rd reached the highest point over which the canal has to pass. ”

“ On the 28th December, about noon, we again heard the Indian drums: several soldiers announced the band which had lately purchased the dance of the half-shorn head. The whole company, very gaily and handsomely dressed, soon afterwards entered the fort, followed by a crowd of spectators. About twenty vigorous young men, with the upper part of the body naked (having thrown off their robes which they wore at their entrance) , painted and ornamented in the most gaudy manner, formed a circle in the court-yard of the fort. Their long plaits of hair were covered with reddish clay. ”

“ In the winter, when the Indians go to hunt the buffalo, they drive, in light sledges, over the frozen snow, into the midst of the herd; the Indian, with his bow and arrows, sits or kneels down in the sledge; and dogs that have been trained, cannot be held back when they perceive the buffalo herd. In the north three good dogs are seldom to be purchased for less than 100 dollars. A single dog, when it is very good and strong, costs sixty or seventy dollars; on the Missouri, however, they are by no means so dear. ”

“ On the 21st of May we passed Fire Prairie and the mouth of Fishing Creek, [101] and again saw magnificent forests, the trees of which were so lofty that our guns were unable to reach the birds perched on the upper branches. The ground was covered with flowers, among which was a beautiful sky-blue iris, and with an undergrowth of papaw trees, above which arose the tall forest trees, such as the Gleditschia triacanthos, sassafras, tulip trees, &c., entwined with the Vitis hederacea. The red tanagra shone like a glowing coal amid the dark forest. ”

“ About noon we reached the town of New Portage, where the traders used formerly to convey the goods which were intended for the trade with the Indians, from one river to the other. Soon afterwards we came to a marshy place, with a forest of larches, which shed their leaves in the winter time: it grows round a small lake, through which the canal passes. A bridge is built over the whole length of the lake, for the horses which tow the canal boats. A little further on, where the canal expands into a kind of small lake, is Akron, a considerable town in a remarkable situation. ”

“ The scenery about that lake and the Niagara, and that on the banks of the Hudson, is, unquestionably, the finest that I saw in North America. The road leads along the edge of the valley of the Niagara, and affords a wide view into the distant plain beyond Lake Ontario. A gloomy forest extends, without interruption, to the distant horizon, and in the foreground there is a dark inlet, where the end of [Pg 175] the lake is hidden by lofty trees. ”

“ Thirteen Sioux tents were at this time near the fort; others had been here waiting for the steamer, but the want of provisions had forced them to disperse. It was not long before we received a visit in our boat from Wahktageli, whose portrait Mr. Bodmer had before taken, and who now repeated the assurance of his great attachment to the white men. We took advantage of the fine evening to prosecute our voyage, and then lay-to on the north bank. Dreidoppel had shot a duck, and several good-sized catfish were caught. The croaking of the frogs and howling of the wolves were our vesper song. ”

“ The other Indians danced without any order, with their faces turned to the outer circle, generally crowded together; while the war pipe, drum, and schischikué made a frightful din.
On the 10th of March, two engagés, sent by Picotte, arrived, with letters and a sledge laden with dried meat. One of these men was blinded by the snow, a circumstance very usual in this month, from the dazzling reflection of the sun from an expansive surface of snow. He was obliged to get his companion to lead him by taking hold of the end of his stick. ”

“ D'Orbigny [223] assumes that there are different races among the peoples of America. But even if it is necessary, for the sake of clearness, to make various subdivisions in such an extended and varied population, on the basis of distinguishing characteristics, nevertheless such a division is difficult and arbitrary. If representatives of all these peoples could be brought together, a classification would present fewer difficulties; but great distances often separate related tribes, and memory rarely suffices for making these exact comparisons. ”

“ The last day of the year was clear and cold: at eight o'clock in the morning the mercury was at 161⁄2°, by Reaumur's thermometer, below freezing point: a vapour rose from the river. Towards noon the wind again blew high, the frozen snow crackled, and no animals, not even wolves or ravens, were to be seen. Before this weather set in, the Indians had ridden fifteen miles into the prairie, where many of them were almost frozen to death, but were recovered by being wrapped up in blankets, and laid before the fire. ”

“ The appearance of these men was very singular in the cold weather, for their breath issued from between the plaits of hair like a dense vapour. They wore in their heads feathers of owls, ravens, and birds of prey, each of which had at the tip a large white down feather. One of them had a very handsome fan of white feathers on his head, doubtless the entire tail of a swan, each of the feathers having at the tip a tuft of dyed horsehair. ”

“ In those parts where the woods have been cleared, the country which they inhabit is extremely fertile. Deer and wild turkeys are still met with; but bears are not numerous, and the panther is only now and then seen. The elk (Cervus Canadensis) has been long since extirpated. The wood-rat (Neotoma?) is not uncommon; it does mischief to the fruits, and gets into the so-called smoke-houses, where meat is smoked and dried. The common grey wolf is said to be very numerous: the black race is seldom seen here, and the white never, which is a proof that it is a distinct species. ”

“ The Indians who are settled here are employed in agriculture, the breeding of cattle and horses; and, like other country people, they go to the town with their wagons. Their dress is nearly the same as that of the Whites. Both the men and women frequently wear round felt hats: the men have, in general, a red girdle under their large blue upper coat, and the women wrap themselves in blankets. I found the physiognomy of most of these people quite genuine and characteristically Indian, as well as the brown colour, and their smooth, coal-black hair ”

“ Some authors, among them McKenney, in his History of the Indian Tribes of North America, [228] do not seem to attach much value to vocabularies collected by travellers. To be sure, these often are handled in a thoughtless and superficial manner; but it must be remembered that in the interior of North America [Pg 203] excellent interpreters of the Indian languages may now be found, and that the Indians themselves often fluently speak several languages. Through these agencies interesting contributions to our knowledge of the dialects referred to may always be expected. ”

“ The wood, which was spangled with hoar frost, is very much cleared, and contains but few large trees. A high, cold southeast wind blew in the prairie, and afterwards became violent. At eight o'clock we reached the fort, where we much enjoyed a hot breakfast. Several Mandans came to see us, among whom was the strongest man of this nation, named Beracha-Iruckcha (the broken pot) , whom no one had yet been able to overcome in wrestling, though he had been matched with white men, negroes, and Indians, remarkable for their strength. ”

“ In the summer months, the neighbouring Falls of Niagara attract a great number of strangers, all of whom visit Buffalo. The streets of this town are, for the most part, regular and broad, crossing each other at right angles, and contain many handsome brick buildings, large inns, nine or ten churches and chapels, and good shops and magazines of every kind. In the lower part of the town, the water of the lake and the canal has been conducted into the streets, forming small harbours, where numbers of ships lie in perfect security. ”