Page:Life among the Apaches.djvu/248

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242
LIFE AMONG THE APACHES.

two or three hundred head of horses. On one occasion he received a kick on the nose from one of the captured animals, which had the effect of flattening that feature over a considerable portion of his naturally unattractive countenance. From this accident the Mexicans dubbed him El Chato. A tall, stately fellow, rejoiced in the name of Natch-in-ilk-kisn, or the "Colored Beads," of which he always wore a thickly-worked and stiff collar around his throat, and bracelets on his wrists. Nah-kah-yen means the "Keen Sighted," and was so baptized be cause of his wonderful powers of vision. Too-ah-yay-say, the "Strong Swimmer," got his title from a narrow escape from drowning in the Rio Grande, while endeavoring to cross it with a band of stolen horses. After a desperate struggle, in which several of the animals were lost, he succeeded in reaching the shore and effecting his escape with the rest from a large pursuing party of Mexicans, who did not dare venture into the swollen and turbid flood. A quiet, easy-tempered and good-natured fellow was known as Para-ah-dee-ah-tran, meaning the "Contented." One old sagamore received the sobriquet of Klo-sen, or the "Hair Rope," for having lassoed and killed a Comanche during a fight between the tribes, with one of those cabestros. His arrows had been expended, and possessing himself of the arms of his slain enemy, Klo-sen contributed greatly toward winning the fight. Pindah-Lickoyee, or ""White Eye," was a noted warrior, who got the appellation from the unusually large amount of white around the small, black, flashing pupils of his eyes. His Mexican title was Ojo Blanco.

As before remarked, few of the women are ever honored with names; but there are some who have decidedly poetical appellations. Among them was a very bright