the families concerned; the tide of animosity runs high—so high, sometimes, that the tribe splits into two portions, which separate from each other, perhaps permanently.
We need not touch on second or subsequent marriages; they are made and unmade according to circumstances, whim, or fancy, without being subject to any other law than the will of the parties themselves.
We now come to a rather mysterious part of our subject, which I could never rightly understand, and therefore we do not expect to guide the reader satisfactorily through this labyrinth of superstition and jugglery. It refers to a class of functionaries called medicine-men, or priests, or perhaps, what would be nearer the true meaning, conjurors; for I know not exactly which of these terms would be the most applicable to them, as the class of men to which we allude act occasionally in all these capacities. They are called Tla-quill-aughs, which signifies, in their language, men of supernatural gifts, who pretend to {303} know all things, and can kill and cure by magic whom they please. Among the whites they go by the name of doctors or jugglers.
There are no acquirements, so far as I know, deemed essential to qualify a person for the office of a tla-quill-augh. In all Indian tribes there are three or four characters of this description. The tla-quill-aughs are men generally past the meridian of life; in their habits grave and sedate, with a certain shyness and cunning about them. Like most Indians, they possess a good knowledge of herbs and roots, and their virtues. All classes stand in awe of the tla-quill-aughs' power or ill will, and their opinions have much influence in most matters. They are consulted in all cases of sickness. All classes avoid, as much as possible, giving them offence,
