Page:The Columbia river , or, Scenes and adventures during a residence of six years on the western side of the Rocky Mountains among various tribes of Indians hitherto unknown (Volume 1).djvu/237

 witness the spectacle. The man was tied to a tree; after which they heated an old barrel of a gun until it became red hot, with which they burned him on the legs, thighs, neck, cheeks, and belly. They then commenced cutting the flesh from about the nails, which they pulled out, and next separated the fingers from the hand joint by joint. During the performance of these cruelties the wretched captive never winced, and instead of suing for mercy, he added fresh stimulants to their barbarous ingenuity by the most irritating reproaches, part of which our interpreter translated as follows:—"My heart is strong.—You do not hurt me.—You can't hurt me.—You are fools.—You do not know how to torture.—Try it again.—I don't feel any pain yet.—We torture your relations a great deal better, because we make them cry out loud, like little children.—You are not brave: you have small hearts, and you are always afraid to fight." Then addressing one in particular, he said, "It was by my arrow you lost your eye;" upon which the Flat-head darted at him, and with a knife in a moment scooped out one of his eyes; at the same time cutting the bridge of his nose nearly in two. This did not stop him: with the remaining eye he looked sternly at another, and said,