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In his "Advertisements" he says that at his own labor, cost, and loss he had "divulged more than seven thousand books and maps," in order to influence the companies, merchants and gentlemen to make a plantation, but "all availed no more than to hew Rocks with Oister- shels." His suggestions about colonizing were always sensible.
But in the conclusion we find it to be both fruitless and miserable, where the good woman goes to seek it by th'Apothecary; even as her husband doth out of the Oister and Eg-shels. And if this will not do now; where shall the poor man hide his head next? What shall he do more to please and pacifie her? He thinks upon all the ways and means possible to entertain her to content.
The mockersons of both sexes are usually the same and are made of deer Elk or buffaloe skin dressed without the hair. sometimes in the winter they make them of buffaloe skin dressed with the hair on and turn the hair inwards as the Mandans Minetares and most of the nations do who inhabit the buffaloe country. the mockerson is formed with one seem on the outer edge of the foot is cut open at the instep to admit the foot and sewed up behind. in this rispect they are the same with the Mandans. they sometimes ornament their mockersons with various figures wrought with the quills of the Porcupine. some of the dressey young men orniment the tops of their mockersons with the skins of polecats and trale the tail of that animal on the ground at their heels as they walk.the robe of the woman is generally smaller than that of the man but is woarn in the same manner over the sholders. the Chemise is roomy and comes down below the middle of the leg the upper part of this garment is formed much like the shirt of the men except the sholder strap which is never used with the Chemise. in women who give suck, they are left open at the sides nearly as low as the waist, in others, close as high as the sleeve. the sleeve underneath as low as the elbow is open, that part being left very full. the sides tail and upper part of the sleeves are deeply fringed and sometimes ornimented in a similar manner with the shirts of the men with the addition of little patches of red cloth about the tail edged around with beads. the breast is usually ornament with various figures of party colours rought with the quills of the Porcupine. it is on this part of the garment that they appear to exert their greatest ingenuity. a girdle of dressed leather confines the Chemise around the waist. when either the man or woman wish to disengage their arm from the sleeve they draw it out by means of the opening underneath the arm an throw the sleeve behind the body. the legings of the women reach as high as the knee and are confined with a garter below. the mockerson covers and confins it's lower extremity. they are neither fringed nor ornamented. these legings are made of the skins of the antelope and the Chemise usually of those of the large deer Bighorn and the smallest elk. They seldom wear the beads they possess about their necks at least I have never seen a grown person of either sex wear them on this part; some their children are seen with them in this way. the men and women were them suspen from the ear in little bunches or intermixed with triangular peices of the shells of the perl oister. the men also were them attached in a similar manner to the hare of the fore part of the crown of the head; to which they sometimes make the addition of the wings and tails of birds. the nose in neither sex is pierced nor do they wear any ornament in it. they have a variety of small sea shells of which they form collars woarn indiscriminately by both sexes. these as well as the shell of the perl oister they value very highly and inform us that they obtain them from their friends and relations who live beyond the barren plain towards the Ocean in a S. Westerly direction. these friends of theirs they say inhabit a good country abounding with Elk, deer, bear, and Antelope, and possess a much greater number of horses and mules than they do themselves; or using their own figure that their horses and mules are as numerous as the grass of the plains. the warriors or such as esteem themselves brave men wear collars made of the claws of the brown bear which are also esteemed of great value and are preserved with great care. these claws are ornamented with beads about the thick end near which they are peirced through their sides and strung on a throng of dressed leather and tyed about the neck commonly with the upper edge of the tallon next the breast or neck but sometimes are reversed. it is esteemed by them an act of equal celebrity the killing one of these bear or an enimy, and with the means they have of killing this animal it must really be a serious undertaking. the sweet sented grass which grows very abundant on this river is either twisted or plaited and woarn around the neck in ether sex, but most commonly by the men. they have a collar also woarn by either sex. it generally round and about the size of a man's finger; formed of leather or silk-grass twisted or firmly rolled and covered with the quills of the porcupine of different colours. the tusks of the Elk are pierced strung on a throng and woarn as an orniment for the neck, and is most generally woarn by the women and children. the men frequently wear the skin of a fox or a broad strip of that of the otter around the forehead and head in form of a bando. they are also fond of the feathers of the tail of the beautifull eagle or callumet birds with which they ornament their own hair and the tails and mains of their horses.
I next commenced my enquiries of the old man to whom I had been refered for information relative the country S W. of us. this he depicted with horrors and obstructions scarcely inferior to that just mentioned. he informed me that the band of this nation to which he belonged resided at the distance of 20 days march from hence not far from the white people with whom they traded for horses mules cloth metal beads and the shells which they woar as orniment being those of a species of perl oister. that the course to his relations was a little to the West of South. that in order to get to his relations the first seven days we should be obliged to climb over steep and rocky mountains where we could find no game to kill nor anything but roots such as a ferce and warlike nation lived on whom he called the broken mockersons or mockersons with holes, and said inhabited those mountains and lived like the bear of other countries among the rocks and fed on roots or the flesh of such horses as they could take or steel from those who passed through their country. that in passing this country the feet of our horses would be so much wounded with the stones many of them would give out. the next part of the rout was about 10 days through a dry and parched sandy desert in which no food at this season for either man or horse, and in which we must suffer if not perish for the want of water. that the sun had now dryed up the little pools of water which exist through this desert plain in the spring season and had also scorched all the grass. that no animal inhabited this plain on which we could hope to subsist. that about the center of this plain a large river passed from S. E. to N. W. which was navigable but afforded neither Salmon nor timber. that beyond this plain thee or four days march his relations lived in a country tolerable fertile and partially covered with timber on another large river which ran in the same direction of the former. that this last discharged itself into a large river on which many numerous nations lived with whom his relations were at war but whether this last discharged itself into the great lake or not he did not know. that from his relations it was yet a great distance to the great or stinking lake as they call the Ocean. that the way which such of his nation as had been to the Stinking lake traveled was up the river on which they lived and over to that on which the white people lived which last they knew discharged itself into the Ocean, and that this was the way which he would advise me to travel if I was determined to proceed to the Ocean but would advise me to put off the journey untill the next spring when he would conduct me.
On the Opposite Side 'twas hollow, and resembled the convex Side of an Oister. The rest of the Womb was in its Natural State, and they met with no considerable Accident in the Neighbouring parts. They cut out the Mass, and carried it to the Surgeon's House, to be view'd at their leisure.
The tippet of the Snake Indians is the most eligant peice of Indian dress I ever saw, the neck or collar of this is formed of a strip of dressed Otter skin with the fur. it is about four or five inches wide and is cut out of the back of the skin the nose and eyes forming one extremity and the tail the other. begining a little behind the ear of the animal at one edge of this collar and proceeding towards the tail, they attatch from one to two hundred and fifty little roles of Ermin skin formed in the following manner. the skin is first dressed with the fur on it and a narrow strip is cut out of the back of the skin reaching from the nose and imbracing the tail. this is sewed arround a small cord of the silk-grass twisted for the purpose and regularly tapering in such manner as to give it ajust proportion to the tail which is to form the lower extremity of the stran. thus arranged they are confined at the upper point in little bundles of two-three, or more as the disign may be to make them more full; these are then attatched to the collars as before mentioned, and to conceal the connection of this part which would otherwise have a course appearance they attatch a broad fringe of the Ermin skin to the collar overlaying that part. little bundles of fine fringe of the same materials is fastened to the extremity of the tails in order to shew their black extremities to greater advantage. the center of the otterskin collar is also ornamented with the shells of the perl oister. the collar is confined arond the neck and the little roles of Ermin skin about the size of a large quill covers the solders and body nearly to the waist and has the appearance of a short cloak and is really handsome. these they esteem very highly, and give or dispose of only on important occasions. the ermin whic is known to the traiders of the N. W. by the name of the white weasel is the genuine ermine, and might no doubt be turned to great advantage by those people if they would encourage the Indians to take them. they are no doubt extreemly plenty and readily taken, from the number of these tippets which I have seen among these people and the great number of skins employed in the construction of each timppet. scarcely any of them have employed less than one hundred of these skins in their formation. This morning Capt.
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