The conference which now took place between the "Tribeless" and
Crowsfeather was held apart, both being chiefs of too much
importance to be intruded on at a moment like that. The two chiefs
exhibited a very characteristic picture while engaged in this
conference. They seated themselves on a bank, and drawing their legs
partially under them, sat face to face, with their heads less than
two feet asunder, occasionally gesticulating with dignity, but each
speaking in his turn with studied decorum. Crowsfeather was highly
painted, and looked fierce and warlike, but Onoah had nothing
extraordinary about him, with the exception of the decorations and
dress already described, unless it might be his remarkable
countenance. The face of this Indian ordinarily wore a thoughtful
cast, an expression which it is not unusual to meet with in a
savage; though at times it lighted up, as it might be with the heat
of inward fires, like the crater giving out its occasional flames
beneath the hues of a saddened atmosphere. One accustomed to study
the human face, and to analyze its expressions, would possibly have
discovered in that countenance lines of deep artifice, together with
the traces of a profound and constitutional enthusiasm.
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