TEXAS INDIAN PAPERS, 1846-1859
89
of which they consume at home. There are very few beavers or otters in their country, and they know nothing of the art of trapping. The American trappers have nearly extirpated these valuable animals from the waters of Texas. They have no idea of the value of money as a medium of exchange. I have often seen dollars and their several integrants, suspended in a con- tinuous line, terminating in picayunes, to the hair of a Comanche dandy, elongated by horse-nair or a cow's tail. The Comanche compute numbers by the fingers-the digits, by single fingers extended-decimals by both hands spread out -the duplication of decimals, by slapping both hands together to the number required-I do not know the names of their digits, except the unit, semus; nor to what extent they carry these generic denominations; but doubt if they have any term for a higher number than twenty-after that, they resort to the names of the several digits for the multiplication of the decimal number. They keep no accounts in hieroglyphics, or devices of any kind, but rely entirely upon memory; their commercial transactions being few and simple. They have made but small advances in the science of medi- cine, and have no determinate knowledge of the pathology of diseases. The country they inhabit is remarkably salubrious, and I noticed among them several instances of apparently great longevity, accompanied with a notable retention of the mental and physical faculties. There are no marshes, swamps, or stag- nant water-pools, to send forth miasmatic exhalations, engen- dering "the: pestilence that walketh in darkness." I believe they have a very potent and efficacious, if not a sbvereign, vegitable remedy for the bite of venomous reptiles, unless a principal artery is punctured. They are expert in curing gunshot wounds, and in the treatment of fractured limbs, which they bandage .with neatness and good effect. They have no knowledge of the art of amputation, and if gangrene supervenes in any case it is remediless. They believe in divers amulets and other mystic influences; and have a custom of "singing for the sick," when a crowd assembles at the lodge of the sick person and makes all sorts of hideous noises, vocal and instrumental, the object of which is to scare away the disease ;-it is certainly better calculated to affright than to soothe. I did not inquire, with any minuteness, into their materia medica, believing that Co- manche specifics were more likely to be efficacious among them- selves than with others: their diet and all their habits are
Powered by FlippingBook