The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-22 00:00:00

'fiat Stiot, LON.DON, FRIDAY
~EVENING, JANUARY 22, 1847.

INDIAN LANGUAGES.

Extract of a letter from Lieutenant Abort, Corps of
Topographical Engineers, dated Bent's Fort, September
6, IS-16.
"Since I have been here, my time has bcen closely
occupied, thei-e etc so teeny• ci,rious things to be seen ;
yesterday I was busily /a•cupieil in making a vocabulary
of the Cheyenne language, and I have also framed quite
a grammar. Their language has no articles. The
verbs are varied by prefixing different words to the
different persons, of which there are but three ; and
these answer for both numbers, singular and plural.
" Their system of notation is very perfect. The
ordinal numbers are—
Nast,
Nish,
Nab,
Knave,

two

three
four
five

None,
Nah-so-to,
Nv-so- to,
Nah-no-to,
So to,
Mah-tote,
M ah- tote- ote-nast,
Mab-tote-ote-nish,
Nah-tote-ote-nah,
Do. do. to
Ne-so-ote-nast,
Do. do. to
Nah-vo, thirty
Ne-vo, forty
No-no, fifty
Nah so-to. no, sixty
Ne-so-to-no, seventy
Nab-no-to-no, eighty
So-to no, ninety
Mah-toto-no, one hundred.
" They express thousands by so many hundreds, as
10, 20, 30, or, hundreds for 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, &c., Szc.
" Their name for God, i 3 • A-am-ye-home,' which
means the white man above,' and is a decided indica-
tion of an acknowledgment, on their part, of the supe-

seven
eight
nine
ten

eleven
twelve
thirteen

twenty
twenty-One

rior of the white rice.
"'lo all my sk,,tches, I have affixed the Indian names,
spelling them as it they were English words, and I fre-
quently repeat them to all the Indians who see my work,
in order to certify myself of the correctness of the pro-
nunciation.
"These Indians are beginning to turn their attention
to the arts of civilised life. Old Yellow_Wolf,' whose

.s.
likeness I took on my previous visit to this region, of
last year, has been for some time endeavouring to have
a fort built, so that the old man could stay at home, be
in security, and watch their crops, while the young men
were out hunting. He wishes to live like the whites, as
he says the buffalo are diminishing so fast that in a few
years more the Indian will not be able to depend upon
them for food, and he wishes his people to give attention,
without delay, to the raising of cattle, corn, pumpkins,
and everything which would be useful for food. Such a
disposition should be carefully fostered and encouraged.
" Last year he (Yellow Wolf) and all his adherents
offered a mule each to Mr. Smith, a trader, if he would
build for them a fort, like that of the Bents, and get
Spaniards to till the ground. Now, it seems to me but
just that the United States should do something for these
people, which would aid them in their efforts to civili►e
themselves, and to place themselves beyond their present
entire and precarious dependence upon the chase for
food.

'• It is our people who have caused the scarcity of
buffalo, the Indian staff of life,' by killing them, not
merely for food, but for the profit on their skins, and
often in mere wantonness, and for amusement.
"If at this time the United States would furnish these
people with a farmer, a blacksmith, and a carpenter,
much could be dune in the way of civilisation; and now
with great effect, as it would be seconding the plan which
the greaiCheyeune chief is himself so disposed to befriend.
Other tribes, seeing the good effects of the plan, would
readily follow the example, as the Cheyennes would
explain everything, and would be ambitious of making
themselves the pioneers of civilisation among these
western tribes of wild Indians.
" These Indians (the Cheyennes) also deserve much
from the United States, because of their uniformly good
conduct. They have always protected the whites in
their trading excursions."