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/240

 the young warriors they were cowards, fools, and had not the hearts of fleas; and called upon them in the names of their mothers, sisters, and wives, to follow the steps of their forefathers, and have their revenge on the dogs of Black-feet. They began to waver; but we affected not to understand what the old women had been saying. We told them that this act of self-denial on their part was peculiarly grateful to the white men; and that by it they would secure our permanent residence among them, and in return for their furs, be always furnished with guns and ammunition sufficient to repel the attacks of their old enemies, and preserve their relations from being made prisoners. This decided the doubtful; and the chief promised faithfully that no more tortures should be inflicted on the prisoners, which I believe was rigidly adhered to, at least for that winter.

The Flat-heads were formerly much more numerous than they were at this period; but owing to the constant hostilities between them and the Black-feet Indians, their numbers had been greatly diminished. While pride, policy, ambition, self-preservation, or the love of aggrandisement, often deluges the civilised world with Christian blood; the only cause assigned by the