them, as a brave and warlike people, but are by no means a match for the northern nations, who make use of the rifle, and can combat them two for one, whilst they again may fight those armed with bows, arrows, and lances, at the same disproportion. The humane policy which the United States have held forth to the Indians of accommodating their differences, and acting as mediators between them, has succeeded to a miracle with the Osage of the Grand village and the Little Osage. They have by this means become a nation of quakers, as it respects the nations to the north and east of them, at the same time that they continue to make war on the naked and defenceless savages of the west. An instance of their forbearance was exhibited by an attack made on a hunting party of the Little Osage some time since, on the grand river of the Osage, by a party of Potowatomies, who crossed the river Missouri by the Saline, and found the women and children alone and defenceless. The men, fifty or sixty in number, having found plenty of deer the day before, had encamped out all night. The enemy struck the camp about ten o'clock in the morning, killed all the women and boys who made resistance, also some infants, the whole number amounting to thirty

four, and led into captivity near sixty, forty-six of whom were afterwards recovered by the United States, and sent under my protection to the village. When the men returned to the camp, they found their families all destroyed or taken prisoners; my narrator had his wife and four children killed on the spot! and yet in obedience to the injunction of their Great Father' they forbore to revenge the blow! As an instance of the great influence the French formerly had over this nation, the following anecdote may be interesting: Chtoka (or Wet Stone) a Little Osage, said, he was at Braddecks de Feal, with all the warriors who could be spared from both villages; that they were engaged by Mr. M'Cartie, who commanded at fort Chautres, and who supplied them with powder and ball; that the general place of rendezvous was near a lake and large fall, (suppose Niagara) the Kanses did not arrive until after the battle, but that the Ottoes were present; they were absent from their villages seven months, and were obliged to eat their horses on their return.'

"The Osage raise large quantities of corn, beans, and pumpkins, which they manage with the greatest economy, in order to make them last from year to year; all the agricul tural labour is done by women."

THE

HE Kyaways wander on the sources of the Plate, and are supposed to be one thousand and nine men strong. They possess

immense herds of horses, and are at war with both the Pawnees and Ietans, as well as with the Sioux, They are armed with bows, arrows

and lances, and follow the buffalo, This nation, the Ietans, and the Utahs, speak the same language. "The Utahs wander on the sources of the Rio del Norte; they are supposed to be two thousand warriors strong, are armed in the same manner, and pursue the same game, as the Kyaways, but are a little more civilized, having more connection with the Spaniards, with whom however they are frequently at war. They were at this time at peace with them, but waging war with the Ietans.

"A battle was fought between them and the letans, in September 1806, near the village of Taos; there were about four hundred combatants in each army, but were separated by a Spanish Alcalde riding out to the field of battle. There were eight or ten killed on each side. The Utahs gave all the horses they had taken to the Spaniards. This shews, in a strong degree, the influence the Spaniards have over these Indians.

"The Nanahaws are situated to the north west of Santa Fé, and are frequently at war with the Spaniards. They are supposed to be two thousand warriors strong, and are armed in the same manner as the two preceding nations. This nation, as well as all others to the west of them, hordering on California, speak the language of the Appaches and Lee Panis, who are in a line with them to the Atlantic.

"The Appaches are a nation of Indians, who extend from the Black Mountains in New Mexico to the borders of Cogquilla, keeping the frontiers of three provinces in a continual state of alarm and dread, and employing nearly two thousand dragoons to escort the caravans, protect the villages, and revenge the various attacks they are continually making

on the subjects of his catholic majesty. They formerly extended from the entrance of the Rio Grandee to the Gulf of California, and have waged a continual warfare, with the exception of short truces, with the Spaniards, from the time they pushed their conquests back from Mexico into the internal provinces. It is extremely difficult to say what their numbers are at the present day, but they must be extremely reduced by their long and constant hostilities, together with the wandering and savage life they lead on the mountains, which is so injurious to an increase of population, and in which they are extremely pinched by famine.

"At the commencement of their warfare, the Spaniards used to take their prisoners and make slaves of them, but finding that their unconquerable attachment to liberty made them surmount every difficulty and danger to return to their mountains, they adopted the practice of sending them to Cuba. This the Appaches no sooner learned than they refused to give or receive quarter, and in no instance have there been any taken since that period, except when surprised asleep, or knocked down and overpowered. Their arms are the bow and arrow- and the lance. The bow forms two semi-circles, with a shoulder in the middle; the back of it is entirely covered with sinews, which are laid on in so nice a manner, by the use of some glutinous substance, as to be almost imperceptible; this gives great force to the elasticity of the weapon. Their arrow is more than the cloth yard of the English, being three feet and a half long, the upper part consisting of some light rush or cane, into which is inserted a shaft of about one foot, made of some hard seasoned light wood; the point is of

iròn, cane, or stone, and when the arrow enters the body, in attempting to extract it the shaft comes out of its socket and remains in the wound. With this weapon they shoot with such force as to go through the body of a man, at the distance of one hundred yards; and an officer told me, that in an engagement with them,

one of their arrows struck his shield and dismounted him in an instant. Their other weapon of offence is a lance of fifteen feet in length, which with both hands they charge over their heads, managing the horse principally with their knees. With this they are considered as an overmatch for the Spanish dragoons single handed, but for want of the tactic can never stand the charge of a body that cuts in concert: they all have the shield. Some few are armed with guns and ammunition, taken from the Spaniards. These, as well as the archers, generally march to war on foot, but the lance men are always mounted.

"Numerous are the anecdotes I heard related of their personal bravery, and the spirit of their partisan corps. Not long before I passed through, as a Cornet with sixtythree dragoons was passing between New Mexico and Biscay, he was surrounded by about two hundred Appaches infantry, and instead of charging through them (as it was on the plain) he ordered his dragoons to dismount and fight with their carbines, by which means he and his whole party fell a sacrifice. Malgares related an instance when he was marching with one hundred and forty men, and was attacked by a party of Appaches, both horse and foot, who continued the fight for four hours. Whenever the Spanish dragoons made a general charge the Appaches cavalry would retreat behind their infantry, who met the

Spaniards with a shower of arrows, on which they immediately retreated, and even the gallant Malgares spoke of his cavalry breaking their infantry as a thing not to be thought of. How quickly would one full squadron of our troops have put them to flight and cut them to pieces! Malgares assured me, that if the men had seconded the efforts and bravery of the Indian chieftain, they must have been defeated and cut to pieces; that in various instances he rallied his men and brought them up to the charge, and when they flew retired indignantly in the rear. Seeing Malgares very actively engaged in forming and bringing up the men, he rode out a-head of his party and challenged him to single combat with his lance. This my friend refused, as he said the chief was one of the stoutest men he knew, carried a remarkably heavy lance, and rode a very fine charger; but one of his corporals, enraged to see them thus braved by the savage, begged permission to meet the infidel.' His officer refused his request, and ordered him to keep his ranks; but he reiterating his request, his superior in a passion told him to go.

The Indian chief had turned his

horse to join his party, but seeing his enemy advancing, turned, and giving a shout, met him at full speed. The dragoon thought to parry the lance of his antagonist, which he in part effected, but not throwing it quite high enough, it entered his neck in front, and came out at the nape, when he fell dead to the ground, and his victorious enemy gave a shout of victory, in which he was joined by all his fol lowers. This enraged the Spaniards to such a degree, that they made a general charge, in which the Indian cavalry again retreated, notwithstanding the entreaties of their gal

lant

lant leader. In another instance a small smoke was discovered on the prairie, and three poor savages were surrounded by one hundred dragoons, and ordered to lay down their arms. They smiled at the officer's demand, and asked him if he could suppose that men who had arms in their hands would ever consent to become slaves? He being loth to kill them, held a conference for an hour, when finding that his threats had as little effect as his entreaties, he ordered his men to attack them at a distance, keeping out of the reach of their arrows, and firing at them with their carbines, which they did, the Indians never ceasing to resist as long as life remained.

"In a truce which was once held, a captain was ordered to treat with some of the bands: he received their deputies with hauteur, and they could not come to terms; the truce was broken, the Indians retreated to their fastnesses in the mountains. In a day or two this same officer pursued them. They were in a place called the Door in the Mountains, where only two or three dragoons could enter at a time, and there were rocks and caves on the flanks. Between these the Indians secreted themselves, until a number of the Spaniards had come in, when the Indians sounded a trumpet, and the attack began and continued on the side of the Appaches, until the captain fell, when the Indian chief caused the firing to cease, saying, that the man who had so haughtily spurned the proffered peace was now dead. They made prisoner (for once) of a young officer who during the truce had treated them with great kindness, and sent him home safe and unhurt.

"Some of the bands have made temporary truces with the Spaniards, and received from them twenty-five

cents per diem each. These people hang round the fortifications of the country, drink, shoot, and dissipate their time; they are haughty and independent, and great jealousy exists between them and the Spaniards. An officer was under trial when I was in the country for anticipating an attack on his fortress, by attacking the chiefs of the supposed conspiracy, and putting them to death before they had time to mature and carry their plan into operation. The decision of his case I never learnt; but those savages who have been for some time around the forts and villages, become by far the most dangerous enemies the Spaniards have when hostile, as they acquire the Spanish language, manners, and habits, and passing through the populated parts under the disguise of the civilized and friendly Indians, commit murders and robberies without being suspected. There is in the province of Cogquilla a partisan by the name of Ralph, who, it is calculated, has killed more than three hundred persons. He comes into the town under the disguise of a peasant, buys provision, goes to the gambling tables and to mass, and before he leaves the village is sure to kill some person, or carry off a woman, which he has frequently done.

Sometimes he joins travellers on the road, insinuates himself into their confidence, and takes his opportunity to assassinate them. He has only six followers, and from their knowledge of the country, their activity, and cunning, he keeps about three hundred dragoons continually employed. The government has offered one thousand dollars for his head.

"The civilized Indians of the province of New Mexico consist of what were formerly twenty-four different bands, the several names

of

of which I was not able to learn. But the Keres were one of the most powerful; they form at present the population of St. Domingo, St. Philip's and Deis, and one or two other towns. They are men of large sta ture, round, full visage, fine teeth, and appear to be of a gentle, tractable dispo-ition; they resemble the Osage more than any nation in my knowledge. Although they are not the vassals of individuals, yet they may properly be termed the slaves of the state; for they are compelled to do military duty, drive mules, carry loads, or in fact perform any other act of duty or bondage that the will of the commandant of the district, or any passing military tyrant, chooses to ordain. I was myself eye witness of a scene which made my heart bleed for these poor wretches, at the same time that it excited my indignation and contempt, that they should suffer themselves with arms in their hands to be beaten and knocked about, by beings no ways their superiors, unless a small tint of complexion could be supposed to give that superiority. Before we arrived at Santa Fé, one night we rested near one of the villages where resided the families of two of our horsemen. They took the liberty to pay them a visit in the night. Next morning the whole were called up, and because they refused to testify against their imprudent companions, several were knocked down from their

horses by the Spanish dragoons with the butt end of their lances; yet with the blood streaking down their visage, and arms in their hands, they stood cool and tranquil! not a frown, not a word of discontent, or palliation escaped their lips. Yet, what must have been the boiling indignation of their souls, at the insults offered by the wretch, clothed with a little brief authority? But the day of retribution will come in thunder and in vengeance.

"These savages are armed with bows and arrows, with lances or escopates. Although they are said to be converted to Christianity, they still retain many of their ancient superstitious feasts and ceremonies, one of which is so remarkable, that it must not be passed unnoticed. Once a year there is a great festival prepared for three successive days, which they spend in eating, drinking, and dancing: near this scene of amusement is a dark cave, into which not a glimpse of light can penetrate, and in which are prepared places to repose on. To this place persons of both sexes and of all ages, (after puberty) and of all descriptions, repair in the night, where there is an indiscriminate com. merce of the votaries, as chance, fortune, and events may direct. These revels certainly have great affinity to some of the ancient mystic rites of Greece and Rome."

GENERAL