The value set upon horses by the equestrian tribes cannot be better illustrated than by the singular custom of “smoking horses,” which prevails in some parts of the country. The reader will find this [illustrated] on the following page.
When one of these tribes determine on making war, and find on mustering their forces that they have not sufficient horses, they send a messenger to a friendly tribe to say that on a certain day they will come to “smoke” a certain number of horses, and expect the animals to be ready for them. This is a challenge which is never refused, involving as it does the honor of the tribe.
On the appointed day, the young warriors who have no horses go to the friendly village, stripped and painted as if for war, and seat themselves in a circle, all facing inward. They light their pipes and smoke in silence, the people of the village forming a large circle around them, leaving a wide space between themselves and their visitors.
Presently in the distance there appears an equal number of young warriors on horseback, dashing along at full gallop, and in “Indian file,” according to their custom. They gallop round the ring, and the foremost rider, selecting one of the seated young men, stoops from his saddle as he passes, and delivers a terrible blow at his naked shoulders with his cruel whip. Each of his followers does the same, and they gallop round and round the smokers, at each circuit repeating the blow until the shoulders of the men are covered with blood. It is incumbent upon the sufferers to smoke on in perfect calmness, and not to give the slightest intimation that they are aware of the blows which are inflicted on them. When the requisite number of circuits have been made, the leader springs off his horse, and places the bridle and whip in the hands of the young man whom he has selected, saying at the same time, “You are a beggar; I present you with a horse: but you will always carry my mark on your back.” The rest follow his example.
Every one is pleased with this remarkable custom. The young men are pleased because they get a horse apiece; and as to the flogging, in the first place they really care very little for pain, and in the next place they have enjoyed an opportunity of showing publicly their capability of endurance.
Those who give the horses are pleased because they have been able to show their liberality, a trait which is held in great estimation by these people, and they have also the peculiar satisfaction of flogging a warrior with impunity. Both tribes are also pleased, the one because they have gained the horses without which they could not have made up their forces, and the other because they have shown themselves possessed of superior wealth.
Section
Full Size.
FLINT-HEADED ARROW.
(See [page 1285].)