第96章 Irving’s Bonneville - Chapter 33(3)

After some time, the countenance of the-old chief again cleared up, and he fell intorepeated conferences, in an under tone, with his cousin, which ended in the departureof the latter, who, applying the lash to his horse, dashed forward and was soon out ofsight. In fact, they were drawing near to the village of another chief, likewisedistinguished by an appellation of some longitude, O-pushy-e-cut; but commonly knownas the great chief. The cousin had been sent ahead to give notice of their approach; aherald appeared as before, bearing a powder-horn, to enable them to respond to theintended salute. A scene ensued, on their approach to the village, similar to that whichhad occurred at the village of the little chief. The whole population appeared in the field,drawn up in lines, arrayed with the customary regard to rank and dignity. Then came onthe firing of salutes, and the shaking of hands, in which last ceremonial every individual,man, woman, and child, participated; for the Indians have an idea that it is asindispensable an overture of friendship among the whites as smoking of the pipe isamong the red men. The travellers were next ushered to the banquet, where all thechoicest viands that the village could furnish, were served up in rich profusion. Theywere afterwards entertained by feats of agility and horseraces; indeed, their visit to thevillage seemed the signal for complete festivity. In the meantime, a skin lodge had beenspread for their accommodation, their horses and baggage were taken care of, andwood and water supplied in abundance. At night, therefore, they retired to theirquarters, to enjoy, as they supposed, the repose of which they stood in need. No suchthing, however, was in store for them. A crowd of visitors awaited their appearance, alleager for a smoke and a talk. The pipe was immediately lighted, and constantlyreplenished and kept alive until the night was far advanced. As usual, the utmosteagerness was evinced by the guests to learn everything within the scope of theircomprehension respecting the Americans, for whom they professed the most fraternalregard. The captain, in his replies, made use of familiar illustrations, calculated to striketheir minds, and impress them with such an idea of the might of his nation, as wouldinduce them to treat with kindness and respect all stragglers that might fall in their path.

To their inquiries as to the numbers of the people of the United States, he assuredthem that they were as countless as the blades of grass in the prairies, and that, greatas Snake River was, if they were all encamped upon its banks, they would drink it dry ina single day. To these and similar statistics, they listened with profound attention, andapparently, implicit belief. It was, indeed, a striking scene: the captain, with his hunter'sdress and bald head in the midst, holding forth, and his wild auditors seated around likeso many statues, the fire lighting up their painted faces and muscular figures, all fixedand motionless, excepting when the pipe was passed, a question propounded, or astartling fact in statistics received with a movement of surprise and a half-suppressedejaculation of wonder and delight.

The fame of the captain as a healer of diseases, had accompanied him to this village,and the great chief, O-push-y-e-cut, now entreated him to exert his skill on his daughter,who had been for three days racked with pains, for which the Pierced-nose doctorscould devise no alleviation. The captain found her extended on a pallet of mats inexcruciating pain. Her father manifested the strongest paternal affection for her, andassured the captain that if he would but cure her, he would place the Americans nearhis heart. The worthy captain needed no such inducement. His kind heart was alreadytouched by the sufferings of the poor girl, and his sympathies quickened by herappearance; for she was but about sixteen years of age, and uncommonly beautiful inform and feature. The only difficulty with the captain was, that he knew nothing of hermalady, and that his medical science was of a most haphazard kind. After consideringand cogitating for some time, as a man is apt to do when in a maze of vague ideas, hemade a desperate dash at a remedy. By his directions, the girl was placed in a sort ofrude vapor bath, much used by the Nez Perces, where she was kept until near fainting.

He then gave her a dose of gunpowder dissolved in cold water, and ordered her to bewrapped in buffalo robes and put to sleep under a load of furs and blankets. Theremedy succeeded: the next morning she was free from pain, though extremely languid;whereupon, the captain prescribed for her a bowl of colt's head broth, and that sheshould be kept for a time on simple diet.

The great chief was unbounded in his expressions of gratitude for the recovery of hisdaughter. He would fain have detained the captain a long time as his guest, but thetime for departure had arrived. When the captain's horse was brought for him to mount,the chief declared that the steed was not worthy of him, and sent for one of his besthorses, which he presented in its stead; declaring that it made his heart glad to see hisfriend so well mounted. He then appointed a young Nez Perce to accompany his guestto the next village, and "to carry his talk" concerning them; and the two partiesseparated with mutual expressions of good will.

The vapor bath of which we have made mention is in frequent use among the NezPerce tribe, chiefly for cleanliness. Their sweating houses, as they call them, are smalland close lodges, and the vapor is produced by water poured slowly upon red-hotstones.

On passing the limits of O-push-y-e-cut's domains, the travellers left the elevatedtable-lands, and all the wild and romantic scenery which has just been described. They nowtraversed a gently undulating country, of such fertility that it excited the rapturousadmiration of two of the captain's followers, a Kentuckian and a native of Ohio. Theydeclared that it surpassed any land that they had ever seen, and often exclaimed whata delight it would be just to run a plough through such a rich and teeming soil, and see itopen its bountiful promise before the share.

Another halt and sojourn of a night was made at the village of a chief namedHe-mim-el-pilp, where similar ceremonies were observed and hospitality experienced, as at thepreceding villages. They now pursued a west-southwest course through a beautiful andfertile region, better wooded than most of the tracts through which they had passed. Intheir progress, they met with several bands of Nez Perces, by whom they wereinvariably treated with the utmost kindness. Within seven days after leaving the domainof He-mim-el-pilp, they struck the Columbia River at Fort Wallah-Wallah, where theyarrived on the 4th of March, 1834. [Return to Contents].