Page:A Topographical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana.djvu/209

193 infant is born, two boards are prepared, by drawing a dressed skin over them. One board is longer than the other, and the longest is placed on the back part of the head, extending from the neck about eight inches above the head; the shortest board is placed against the forehead, from the eyebrows, and meets the upper end of the other board. It is then laced together at the sides, and the head of the child is thus confined between these boards, until the child has grown to a considerable bigness. After the head is become sufficiently flattened, it is taken out of this compress. One of the prisoners had her infant child with its head in the frame. I also saw some of the prisoners which were two or three years old, who, I was informed, had the frame on when they were taken. This compression forms the head into the shape of a wedge, swelling it out over the ears, and gives the head a very singular shape. These people are of a middle stature, well formed, and of a pleasant countenance. Their skin of an olive colour, hair lank and coarse, and thertheir [sic] features regular and handsome. The men had a bone passed through the gristle of the nose, which separates the nostril, that extended the width of the face. All the hair on their heads was pulled out, except a lock on the crown, which was left to grow its full length. This tuft of hair was divided into two parts, tied up in a short cue, and fell over each ear. Their dress consisted of nothing more than leggins and moccasons, 17