Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 6).djvu/120



Arikara villages—An alarm in the village—Manners and customs.

The morning after the council, we were completely drenched by heavy rains, which had fallen during the night. The chief has not given his answer as to the conditions of the trade. It is for him usually to fix the price, on a consultation with his subordinate chiefs; to this the whole village must conform. The Indian women and girls were occupied all this morning in carrying earth in baskets, to replace that which the rain had washed off their lodges. Rambled through the village, which I found excessively filthy, the 'villainous smells,' which every where assailed me, compelled me at length, to seek refuge in the open plain. The lovers of Indian manners, and mode of living, should contemplate them at a distance. The rains had rendered their village little better than a hog pen; the police appeared to me, in general, extremely negligent. Some of {141} the ancient cities of the old world, were probably like this village, inattentive to that cleanliness so necessary to health, where a great mass of beings are collected in one place; and we need not be surprised at the frequency of desolating plagues and pestilence. The village is swarming with dogs and children. I rank these together, for they are inseparable companions. Wherever I went, the children ran away, screaming and frightened at my outre and savage appearance. Let us not flatter ourselves with the belief, that the effect of civilization and refinement, is to render us agreeable and lovely to the eyes of those whom we exclusively denominate savages! The dogs, of which