Page:A Topographical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana.djvu/159

149 horse men. Most of their horses are bred by themselves, and by handling them when very young they are remarkably docile and gentle. Sometimes wild horses are caught and tamed, which are every where amongst them in large droves. They hunt down the buffaloe on horse back, and kill them either with the bow, or a sharp wooden spear, which they carry in their hands. They are said, when they kill a buffaloe, to catch and drink the blood, while it is warm; they likewise eat the liver raw, before it is cold, and use the gall for sauce. They are, for savages, uncommonly neat and clean in their persons and dress. The women wear a long, loose robe, which reaches from the chin to the ground, with a fancy sash or girdle around the waist, all made of neatly dressed leather, on which they paint figures of different colours and significations. The dress of the men is close leather pantaloons, and a hunting frock, made of leather. They cultivate no vegetables, but they season their food with a small cayenne pepper, which grows spontaneously in the country, and some wild herbs. They also make use of wild fruits, particularly a bean, which grows in great plenty on a small tree, resembling a willow, called masketo. With these articles the women will cook their buffaloe beef in a manner highly grateful to the taste. They occupy alternately a vast extent of country from the Trinity, Braces, the head of Red river, and Arkansas, to the Missouri, River Grand, about Saint a 13*