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TEXAS INDIAN PAPERS, 1846-1859
of dislike having carried individuals so far as to cause them to commit suicide. When a Comanche wants a wife, he takes such goods as he thinks will be acceptable, and lays them down before the head of the family (which, according to their laws, is either the father, or, in case of his decease, the son who has most distin- guished himself in war or hunting, even though he be a younger ~on), and then seats himself at some distance, to await the result. After smoking a pipe, the goods are examined, and, if acceptable, the girl is led out, and handed over. As she has no voice in the matter, repugnance often occasions "liasons" with former lovers. Should elopements take place in such cases, the husband and his friends follow until the fugitives are over- taken, when formerly the man was put to death; but now they compromise by purchase-the husband takes horses .or mules, till he is satisfied; the girl remains the property of her choice, and all return to .the village satisfied. The old men get possession of all the young girls they can, and make profit out of them in this way, viz. :-A young man will pay a. bonus to be admitted to a family and allowed to marry one of the female members; after which, part of all he obtains in war or hunting becomes the property of the old head of the family. Slaves are also often liberated on the same terms. Young girls are not averse to marry very old men, particu- larly if they are chiefs, as they are always sure of something to eat-the chiefs always having the first choice of what is in camp. Ke-tun-e-see, a chief of the Southern Comanche, had four wives--two elderly, and the others aged si:cteen and eighteen -the chief about sixty. · The men are grossly licentious, treating female captives in a most cruel and barbarous manner; but they enforce rigid chastity upon their women-twery dereliction being punished by cutting off the tip of the nose, as an indelible mark of shame. Our surgeon discovered that venereal disease was common among them, and distributed medicine enough to treat six hun- dred patients, at the request of the chiefs. The men are of middle stature, light copper-coloured com- plexion, and intelligent countenance; but the women are short stoop-shouldered, crooked-legged, ugly, and squalid in the ex- treme, with careworn and prematurely old countenances, occa-
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