often edged with
small beautiful round crimson shells, no bigger than a pea, and found
among the fossil remains of the country.

Round his waist, and to sustain the toga, he wears a sash, generally
made by the squaws out of the slender filaments of the silk-tree, a
species of the cotton-wood, which is always covered with long threads,
impalpable, though very strong. These are wove together, and richly
dyed. I am sure that in Paris or in London, these scarfs, which are from
twelve to fifteen feet long, would fetch a large sum among the ladies of
the haut ton. I have often had one of them shut up in my hand so that it
was scarcely to be perceived that I had anything enclosed in my fist.

Suspended to this scarf, they have the knife on the left side and the
tomahawk on the right. The bow and quiver are suspended across their
shoulders by bands of swan-down three inches broad, while their long
lance, richly carved, and with a bright copper or iron point, is carried
horizontally at the side of the horse. Those who possess a carbine have
it fixed on the left side by a ring and a hook, the butt nearly close to
the sash, and the muzzle protruding a little before the knee.

The younger warriors, who do not possess the carbine, carry in its stead
a small bundle of javelins (the jerrid of the Persians), with which they
are very expert, for I have often seen them, at a distance of ten feet,
bury one more than two feet deep in the flanks of a buffalo. To complete
their offensive weapons, they have the lasso, a leather rope fifty feet
long, and as thick as a woman's little finger, hanging from the pommel
of their saddles; this is a terrible arm, against which there is but
little possibility of contending, even if the adversary possess a rifle,
for the casting of the lasso is done with the rapidity of thought, and
an attempt to turn round and fire would indubitably seal his fate: the
only means to escape the fatal noose is to raise the reins of your horse
to the top of your head, and hold any thing diagonally from your body,
such as the lance, the carbine, or anything except the knife, which you
must hold in your right hand, ready for use.

The chances then are: if the lasso falls above your head, it must slip,
and then it is a lost throw, but if you are quick enough to pass your
knife through the noose, and cut it as it is dragged back, then the
advantage becomes yours, or, at least is equally divided, for then you
may turn upon y