venison. Presents were interchanged, and kind speeches made, mainly
by signs.

M. Joutel informed them that it was his great desire to obtain corn for
their long journey. They said that their supply was short, but that in
a neighboring village, at the distance of but a few leagues, there was
an abundant supply. They also signified their readiness to accompany
their guests to this village.

A large party set out together. The trail led along the banks of one of
the branches of the Brazos. The region was delightful, the soil
fertile, and quite a dense population blessed with abundance, peopled
the lovely valley. It might have been almost an Eden, but for the
wickedness of fallen man. This powerful tribe the Cenis, was at war
with another tribe, called the Cannohantimos. Frequently the valley
would be swept by an irruption of fierce warriors, with gleaming
tomahawks and poisoned arrows and demoniac yells. Conflagration, blood,
and shrieks of misery ensued. The valley, which God had made so
beautiful for his children, those children had converted into a
Gethsemane, where all the fiends seemed struggling.

But our travellers passed up this valley in one of the serene and
blooming spring mornings. There was a lull in war's tempest, and a
heavenly Father's smile illumined all the scene. Large dome-like cabins
and cultivated fields were met with all along the route. Many of these
dwellings were sixty feet in diameter. They afforded perfect protection
from wind and rain, were neatly carpeted, and gave ample accommodation
often for four or five families.

One central fire, which was never permitted to go out, was common for
all. There were no partitions. Each family occupied a certain portion
of the space, and slept on comfortable beds, raised a foot or two from
the floor. They were naturally a very amiable people among themselves,
and lived together on the most brotherly terms.

In cultivating the fields they worked together. Often a hundred men and
women would meet to plant the field of one man. They would spend six or
seven hours in carefully digging the field with wooden forks, and in
planting seeds of corn, beans, melons, and other vegetables. They would
then have a feast, provided by the one in whose behalf they were
laboring. This would be followed by games and dances. The men dug the
soil, while the women planted and covered the seed. These children of
the prairie must have found, in these co-operative labors, far mo