While most of the lodges stood along the brow of the plain,
many were to be seen at greater distances, occupying such places as
had first pleased the capricious eyes of their untutored owners. The
encampment was not military, nor in the slightest degree protected
from surprise by its position or defences. It was open on every side,
and on every side as accessible as any other point in those wastes, if
the imperfect and natural obstruction offered by the river be
excepted. In short, the place bore the appearance of having been
tenanted longer than its occupants had originally intended, while it
was not wanting in the signs of readiness for a hasty, or even a
compelled departure.
This was the temporary encampment of that portion of his people, who
had long been hunting under the direction of Mahtoree, on those
grounds which separated the stationary abodes of his nation, from
those of the warlike tribes of the Pawnees. The lodges were tents of
skin, high, conical, and of the most simple and primitive
construction.
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