Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1853-05-25

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Emanlness, and were characterized by daring AM
decision, while to the physiognomist, the contou
of his face would readily indicate that he was pos
sessea of brave heart and ready hand. Tall an,
symmetrically formed, his expanded chest, muscu
lar arms, and broad shoulders, evinced great phys
ical power. With ease and a degree of elegance
he rode ahighly mettled and spirited horse, which
caparisoned only with hair RATA that encompass
ed his lower jaw, chafed and bounded under him
He was aunincumberedwith arms of any kind, with
the exception of knife, that, keen-edged and
sharp pointed, was secured in the belt which sup.
ported his only garment. Those who accompanied
him had nothing to distinguish them from others
oftheir nation. The same prominence of features,
the same grave and stoical looks, and the same
malignity, and cruelty Of aspect In addition to
their knives, each had a bow and a bundle of ar
rows incased in the skin of beaver, thus forming
rude quiver. Their horses which were of the
small but hardy breed SO peculiar to the Rocky
Mountains, were guided in like manner by their
sturdy riders. bic ssss. 7s5.3 tsfaask-
As darkness closed around them, satisfied from
unmistakable evidences of wood-craft, that no i'm
mediate danger threatened them, they quickened
their pace, and riding rapidly along the the slopes
of.p prairie crossing several minor streams, they
drew up at length upon the banks of the river,
much larger and more turbid than they had but
recently been following. Here dismounting, they
secured their horses, and with even more caution
and circumspecton than before, they ascended
the stream. The barking of dog in the distance,
warned them that they were approaching those for
whom they were seeking;s and as they turned
bend they discovered the smouldering blaze of
eamp-fres, while erected in small semicircle
were lodges of a conical shape, made from the
prepared skin of the buffalo, and which were bare
ly distingushable in the cleaning from other OBJ
jects around them. Again hating, two of the
willows that skirted the bank, while their leader,
aera glance at the scene before him, as if to as
certain the locality of some particular habitation,
threw himself upon the ground, and rapidly ap-
preached the encalnpment-now creeping thro'
the willows, now screening himself behind some
fallen timber, until at length reaching a cluster
of bushes which stood isolated from the rest, he
again paused to reconnoitre and arrange final
plan of faction. He had approached some hundred
and afey yards nerer to the river than where he
had left his companions; and from his command
ing but perfectly secure position, he could obtain
a full and comprehensive view of the lodges and
all surrounding objects. AT the mouth of a small
creek that flowed through bluff banks, fringed with
a dense growth of shrubbery, the occupants of the
lodges had chosen their camping-place. From
their fewness of number and other indications,
they were but temporarily located there, while the
peculiar shapes of their abodes bore unmstakable
evidence that they were of the Kansas or Kaw
nation, who reside some fifty miles further down
The river, which also bore their name.
The low hum of conversation, and occasionally |
The laughter of childhood reached the warriors
ear, and peeping forth from the bushes he could
perceive the dusky forms of some half dozen saw
ages seated around the fire, and apparently re-
counting the dangers and successes of the chase.
Silent and motionless he stood until these sounds
lad gradually ceased, as one by one they left the
ire and sought their couches. Then waiting suf-
iciently long for them to be lost in slumber, he |
again threw himself upon the ground and worked
his way toward the camp. In order to reach it, he
was obliged to cross about fifty yards ofopen space
entirely unobstructed by tree or bush To pass
his space unperceived, and thus obtain the shelter
If the bushes which skirted the bank of the creek
.equired all the sagacity and cunning ofwhich the
savage is capable. He at length reached them,
md nass;po fhrouoh their midst stood at the reor
If the largest and most central lodge.
~as4ssso Il H. $40 4
Gay and merry was Natoma, the pride of the
Kansas, and the beloved of Watonka, the young
;hief of the nation. Joyously would her laugh
'esound with its soft and musical cadences, as she
performed the domestic duties of her lodge or
,ported with her maiden companions She had
followed the young hunters of her tribe to the
waters of the Nebraska in search of the Buffalo.
They We're successful, and were now returning to
heir village. Some Pawnees had overtaken,