On the 17th August, early in the morning, the howling and lamenting of the Indians in the camp was heard; and, soon afterwards, the corpse of the murdered man was brought into the fort. It was wrapped up very tightly in buffalo skins, and tied to a sledge drawn by one horse. An old man, with a multitude of women and children, his relations, followed the body with loud lamentations. An aged woman in the train had just cut off one joint of her little finger as a sign of mourning, and held the bleeding stump wrapped in a handful of wormwood leaves. When our people had taken the body from the sledge between the two gates of the fort, and carried it into the Indian apartment, a young man, the brother of the Bear Chief, made a speech to the weeping relatives, saying--"Why do you lament and cry?--see, I do not cry: he is gone into the other country, and we cannot awaken him; but, at least, two Blood Indians must accompany him and wait upon him there." An infant, and a boy, the brother of the deceased, died on the same night; and the Indians said that the murdered brother had called the others away. Thus we had three dead bodies in the fort. As that of the Indian had long been exposed to the air and the sun, it was necessary to make haste to get it out of the way; and Berger, the interpreter, had the disagreeable office of painting, putting on its best clothes, and ornamenting it in the Indian fashion. The two Indians were laid in the same grave, wrapped in a red blanket and buffalo skin, over which was laid a piece of coloured stuff, given by Mr. Mitchell. The bottom and sides of the grave were lined with boards; the body, too, was covered with wood; his bridle, whip, and some other trifles, were thrown in, and the grave filled up with earth.
Towards noon, on the same day, a number of Indians, with their loaded dog sledges, and all their baggage, were seen descending the heights on the other side of the Missouri. It was the band of the Blackfeet, announced by Berger. Some of these people, handsomely dressed, soon arrived as messengers, one of whom carried in his hand the ensign of the Crows. Ninoch-Kiaiu came with them, who now continually talked of going to a little camp of the Blood Indians, on the other side of the river, to take vengeance, yet still remained with us. His brother, who likewise made a great noise, walked about the fort with a loaded pistol, and, at last, begged Mr. Mitchell to have him conveyed over the river, because it was thought that two Blood { 271} Indians had been seen, whom he wanted to shoot; to which Mr. Mitchell very calmly replied, that "if he intended to kill any body, he would not assist him." With an expression of violent passion, the Indian, on this, mounted his horse and galloped away, "in order," as the chief said, "to quiet his heart for the present, by the death of a Kahna, as they might, at some future time, shoot the real murderer." The chief's aged uncle, Natoie-Poóchsen (the word of life), was one of the principal mourners. He had cut off his hair, and besmeared it, as well as his feet and legs, with whitish clay. Mr. Bodmer made a good portrait of him in this dress. He went about howling and crying, while the Bear Chief thought only of procuring brandy. He had in his hand a little mustard-glass filled with this precious liquor; and one of his friends, who also possessed some brandy, sipped a small quantity, and, embracing the chief, discharged it into his mouth, which is considered, among the Blackfeet, as the highest proof of friendship.[118]