Washington telegraph., 1854-02-01

ly day. We never liked it, not even
when starving for want of food. The liver
does little better Never commit the in
discretion Of applying piece to your nose
A sudden rebellion of the stomach often
follows such an act Of imprudence. Mule
meat resembles beef in flavor. A fat mule
makes very palatable eating. Young fawns
are fine. Terripans, rattle-spakes, prairie
dogs and polecats are very good. The Mes
calero Indians take their name from the
mcscal plant. 1t belongs to the order of
plants usually called ''bear grass" has a
white head like cabbage. is cooked by dig
ging hole in the ground, building a fire in
it, removing the ashes, and lining the bot
tom and sides with prickly pear leaves, de-
privcd of thorns, by burning putting in the
mescal covering with cactus and building a
fire upon the same, which must be kept up for
twelve or fourteen honrs The edible part
is soft, and tastes a little Ike an irish pota-
to. It is covered by thin fbrous sub
stance.
When on an expedition between the Pc
cos and the Rio Grande, the Comanches
use this and species of the maguey. The
latter is cooked by simply roasting. 1t has
an unpleasant taste. These plants viii grow
upon sterile uplands. A Comanche will
eat liver, young fawn and many other things
while raw. In Shanaco's camp, we saw an
old rascal, who offered to bet he could eat
any thing. For plug Of tobacco be pro-
posed making breakfast upon substance
banished the farthest possible distance from
our tables lie was the nastiest looking
thing in human shape we ever saw.
The Comanches live as our phrase is.
from hand to mouth" They have little
providence. When provisions are plenty
they consume enormous quantities. They
do not bear the pangs of hunger with the
stoical resignation one would suppose. In
this particular, as in almost every other, the
Delawares are infinitely superior to them.
The Ccmanches have religion they
practice incantations and believe in reinov-
ing disease by charms and observances.
The Comanche enjoys nodicum Of real
pleasure. His rowing devil-may-care kind
of life has attractions even to the white man.
There is a buoyancy of spirit in roaming
over vast expanse of country. unclaimed
by the hand CT civilization-there is plea
sure in travers;ng prairie upon whose
broad bosom the foot Of christian man
never before left its impress-there is a
chastened emotion, not without pleasantness.
stealing over the mind, when contemplating
the dreary loneliness Of desert plain
there is a sense Of awe, grandeur, sublimity
pcrvading the mind, when treading the
mountain pass, gazing upon the summit Of
a mighty pile, and losing almost the very
impression of individuality, by merging
them in the thought, the comparison of our
utter insigniicance, when contrasted with
those gigantic monuments of His creative
power before us. Are We to suppose the
untutored mind which has only been able
to read leaves from the book of nature, does
not enjoy these things with a zest We know
not Are not the winds, the waters,
the mountains. in short the whole gor-
geous sheen of nature when enrobed in
primeval resplendency. but so many chap-
ters in the magnificent book of creation
teaching him there is God He too has
creed. He adores the Great Spirit. He
abhors the treason that would place him at
the foot Of any other shrine but that conse-
Grated by the devotions Of his fathers
Fortified by his own system of ethics his
own sense of freedom, notwithstanding all
he may admit to the contrary, the Conan
che imagines he covers as muck space In
the eye of the Great Father as any man
! living These feelings this spirit of inde-
pendcnce, or nationality if you will, enable
him, (no attendant outward circumstances
to enjoy life with an avidity, keen relish.
many cultivated mind can never feel OF
appreciate.
! In the arts, the mechanical tradess and
| the various matters incident to civilized life
the Comanche feels his inferiority. Sound
him upon tle estimate he places upon one
of his tribe, confronted with an American
in wilderness. with Ike equipments and
equal arms, and he will give the palm Of
superiority to his countrynan. q
The love Of country. the spirit of nation
ality is as strongly developed in the Indiar
as any man OF, earth. An Indian loves hi:
own mode Of life--vencrates the great brave.
that have gone before him-Getests the peo
pie whose steady advance forces him t,
abandon the graves of the one or change
the other, 1t is no wonder that peopl,
thus cultivated-thus believing and thu
living. should enjoy much of that repose Q
mind which is nearly allied to happiness.
With plenty to cat, no enemy near, tn
Comanche is not disturbed by single car
for the present or thought for the future.
Many persons fancy themselves friendly
when they are only oficious. They coun
sci, not so much that you should becom
wise, as that they should be recognised as
toacbor of wisdom