, and all that
they possess are freely staked, and at times where all else is lost,
they will trust even their personal safety to the hazard of the
die.[287] The most barbarous of the tribes have unhappily succeeded in
inventing some species of intoxicating liquor: that from the root of the
maize was in general use; it is not disagreeable to the taste, and is
very powerful. When the accursed fire-water is placed before the
Indians, none can resist the temptation. The wisest, best, and bravest
succumb alike to this odious temptation: and when their unrestrained
passions are excited by drinking, they are at times guilty of enormous
outrages, and the scenes of their festivities often become stained with
kindred blood. The women are not permitted to partake of this fatal
pleasure; their duty is to serve the guests, and take care of their
husbands and friends when overpowered by the debauch. This exclusion
from a favorite enjoyment is evidence of the contempt in which females
are held among the Indians.

In the present day, he who would study the character and habits of these
children of Nature must travel far away beyond the Rocky Mountains,
where the murrain of perverted civilization has not yet spread. There he
may still find the virtues and vices of the savage, and lead among those
wild tribes that fascinating life of liberty which few have ever been
known to abandon willingly for the restraints and luxuries of
civilization and refinement.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 266: "The custom of squeezing and flattening the head is still
strictly adhered to among the Chinooks. The people bearing the name of
Flat Heads are very numerous, but very few among them actually practice
the custom. Among the Chinooks it is almost universal. The process is
thus effected: The child is placed on a thick plank, to which it is
lashed with thongs to a position from which it can not escape, and the
back of the head supported by a sort of pillow made of moss or
rabbit-skins, with an inclined piece resting on the forehead of the
child. This is every day drawn down a little tighter by means of a cord,
which holds it in its place, until at length it touches the nose, thus
forming a straight line from the crown of the head to the end of the
nose. This process is seemingly a cruel one, though I doubt whether it
causes much pain, as it is done in earliest infancy, while the bones are
soft and cartilaginous, and easily pressed into this distorted shape