Page:A Topographical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana.djvu/134

124 The Panis republican, or Big Paunch, is a band which has separated from the Panis proper, and established a village on a branch of the Kansas river; but being harassed by their troublesome neighbours, the Kanzas, they have united themselves again with the Panis proper. They have three hundred warriors, and fourteen hundred souls.

Another branch of the Panis proper, is the Panis Loups, or Wolves. They live on Wolf river, which enters into the river Plate. They hunt on Wolf river above their village, and on the river Plate, between Wolf and the river Corn de Cerf, or Elkhorn. They are rarely visited by traders, and carry their firs and peltry to the village of Panis proper. They cultivate corn, beans, and other vegetables. They have two hundred and eighty warriors, and are at war with all other nations near their excursions, except the Panis proper and Panis republican or Big Paunch. They consist of about one thousand people.

The Mahas was a powerful nation until lately, residing on the west bank of the Missouri, two hundred and thirty miles above the mouth of the Plate river. They could boast seven hundred warriors, were warlike, and a terror to their neighbours. But in the autumn of 1802, they were visited by the small pox, which made such ravages among them, as to reduce their warriors to less than three hundred, and to about six hundred souls. This distressing calamity induced them