si que par piete, piete mal entendue a la verite, mais
piete coloree neanmoins par quelque ombre de raison; car ils croyent
leur donner une sepulture bien plus honorable.

To the credit of our savages, this barbarous and revolting practice is
not believed to have been practiced by them.

MOURNING, SACRIFICE, FEASTS, FOOD, DANCES, SONGS, GAMES, POSTS, FIRES,
AND SUPERSTITIONS IN CONNECTION WITH BURIAL.

The above subjects are coincident with burial, and some of them,
particularly mourning, have been more or less treated of in this paper,
yet it may be of advantage to here give a few of the collected examples,
under separate heads.

_MOURNING._

One of the most carefully described scenes of mourning at the death of a
chief of the Crows is related in the life of Beckwourth,[86] who for
many years lived among this people, finally attaining great distinction
as a warrior.

I dispatched a herald to the village to inform them of the head
chief's death, and then, burying him according to his directions, we
slowly proceeded homewards. My very soul sickened at the
contemplation of the scenes that would be enacted at my arrival.
When we drew in sight of the village, we found every lodge laid
prostrate. We entered amid shrieks, cries, and yells. Blood was
streaming from every conceivable part of the bodies of all who were
old enough to comprehend their loss. Hundreds of fingers were
dismembered; hair torn from the head lay in profusion about the
paths; wails and moans in every direction assailed the ear, where
unrestrained joy had a few hours before prevailed. This fearful
mourning lasted until evening of the next day. * * *

A herald having been dispatched to our other villages to acquaint
them with the death of our head chief, and request them to assemble
at the Rose Bud, in order to meet our village and devote themselves
to a general time of mourning, there met, in conformity to the
summons, over ten thousand Crows at the place indicated. Such a
scene of disorderly, vociferous mourning, no imagination can
conceive nor any pen portray. Long Hair cut off a large roll of his
hair; a thing he was never known to do before. The cutting and
hacking of human flesh exceeded all my previous experience; fingers
were dismembered as readily as twigs, and blood was poured out like
water. Many of the warriors would cut two gashes nearly the entire
length of their arm; then,