Still, We Could See Nothing Of The Village Itself
Until, Ascending A Grassy Hill, We Found The Circle Of Lodges, Dingy
With Storms And Smoke, Standing On The Plain At Our Very Feet.
I entered the lodge of my host.
His squaw instantly brought me food
and water, and spread a buffalo robe for me to lie upon; and being
much fatigued, I lay down and fell asleep. In about an hour the
entrance of Kongra-Tonga, with his arms smeared with blood to the
elbows, awoke me. He sat down in his usual seat on the left side of
the lodge. His squaw gave him a vessel of water for washing, set
before him a bowl of boiled meat, and as he was eating pulled off his
bloody moccasins and placed fresh ones on his feet; then
outstretching his limbs, my host composed himself to sleep.
And now the hunters, two or three at a time, began to come rapidly
in, and each, consigning his horses to the squaws, entered his lodge
with the air of a man whose day's work was done. The squaws flung
down the load from the burdened horses, and vast piles of meat and
hides were soon accumulated before every lodge. By this time it was
darkening fast, and the whole village was illumined by the glare of
fires blazing all around. All the squaws and children were gathered
about the piles of meat, exploring them in search of the daintiest
portions. Some of these they roasted on sticks before the fires, but
often they dispensed with this superfluous operation.
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