sed were my mirthful tormentors.

_Austin._ Ah! I can see it spinning round like a peg-top, in the
middle of the river.

_Brian._ And did they upset the tub?

_Hunter._ No. After amusing themselves for some time at my expense,
now and then diving under the tub, and then pulling down the edge of
it level with the water, on receiving a few beads, or other trifles
which I happened to have with me, they drew me and my bull-boat to the
shore in safety. They were beautiful swimmers, and, as I told you, I
shall not soon forget them.

The dances among the Indians are very numerous; some of them are
lively enough, while others are very grave; and, then, most of the
tribes are fond of relating adventures.

There are the buffalo dance, the bear dance, the dog dance and the
eagle dance. And then there are the ball-play dance, the green corn
dance, the beggars' dance, the slave dance, the snow-shoe dance, and
the straw dance; and, besides these, there are the discovery dance,
the brave dance, the war dance, the scalp dance, the pipe-of-peace
dance, and many others that I do not at this moment remember.

_Brian._ You must please to tell us about them all.

_Austin._ But not all at once, or else we shall have too short an
account. Suppose you tell us of two or three of them now.

_Hunter._ To describe every dance at length would be tiresome, as
many of them have the same character. It will be better to confine
ourselves to a few of the principal dances. I have known a buffalo
dance continue for a fortnight or longer, day and night, without
intermission. When I was among the Mandans, every Indian had a buffalo
mask ready to put on whenever he required it. It was composed of the
skin of a buffalo's head, with the horns on it; a long, thin strip of
the buffalo's hide, with the tail at the end of it, hanging down from
the back of the mask.

_Austin._ What figures they would look with their masks on! Did you
say that they kept up the dance day and night?

_Hunter._ Yes. The Mandans were strong in their village, but
comparatively weak whenever they left it, for then they were soon in
the neighbourhood of their powerful enemies. This being the case, when
the buffaloes of the prairie wandered far away from them, they were at
times half starved. The buffalo dance was to make buffaloes come back
again to the prairies near them.

_Brian._ But how could they bring them back again?

_Hunter._ The buffalo dance was a kind of homage p