own opinion as to the course of treatment befitting the occasion. The
din of these many voices, mingled with the sad wail of the women in
the tent, made an uproar and confusion which it would be hard to
describe. It ended, however, by one of the Indians producing a long
coil of babiche, and to this another added some pieces of rope, and
with these they proceeded to bind their prisoner hand and foot, and
then again to bind him to one of the nearest trees. Having succeeded
in doing this effectually, but one thought seemed to seize the whole
community,--to flee from the spot. But one other duty remained to be
performed, and this they now prepared to carry out.

The funeral rites of the North American Indian, it need hardly be
remarked, are of the very simplest description; indeed, it is only of
late years, and since Christianity has spread among them, that they
have been persuaded to adopt the rites and ceremonies of Christian
burial. Formerly, in many instances, the body of the deceased would
be wrapped in its blanket, and then hoisted up on a wooden stage
erected for the purpose; after which the friends of the departed
would make off with the utmost speed imaginable. Sometimes even this
tribute to a lost friend would not be forthcoming; the Indian has an
unspeakable dread of death, and of the dead; from the moment that the
heart of his best beloved has ceased to beat, he turns from the
lifeless form, nor cares to look upon it again. The new blanket
which, perhaps, was only worn a day or two by the departed, will now,
with scrupulous care, be wrapped around his dead body; for although
he were blanketless himself, no Indian could be persuaded to use that
which had once been a dead man's property. Then, it may be, the
corpse would be left lying in the leather lodge or tent, which would
afterwards be closely fastened up; and it has sometimes devolved upon
the Missionaries to spend the night outside, watching the camp and