"Chief," he said, "and wise men of a brave nation, you have conferred
upon us a trust of which we are proud. To Owato Wanisha, perhaps, it was
due, for he is mighty in his tribe; but I and the Shakanah are no
chiefs. We will not decline your favour, but we must deserve it. The
young beaver will remain in the village, to learn the wisdom of your old
men, but the eagle and the bear must and will accompany you in your
expedition. You have given them brave warriors, who would scorn to
remain at home; we will follow you."
This proposition was received with flattering acclamations, and the
gallant army soon afterwards left the village on its mission of revenge.
The Cayugas were, before that expedition, a powerful tribe, about whom
little or nothing had ever been written or known. In their customs and
manners of living they resemble in every way the Club Indians of the
Colorado, who were destroyed by the small-pox. They led a wandering
prairie life, but generally were too cowardly to fight well, and too
inexpert in hunting to surround themselves with comforts, even in the
midst of plenty. Like the Clubs, they are cannibals, though, I suspect,
they would not eat a white man. They have but few horses, and these only
when they could be procured by stealth, for, almost always starving,
they could not afford to breed them, always eating the colts before they
could be useful.
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