authority: as a general rule among the Sauks and Foxes, they live
happily together. The wives take the liberty of scolding their
husbands, very frequently, and it is considered by both parties that
every thing in the family, except the war and hunting implements,
belongs to the wife, and she may do with it as she pleases. The men may
each have two or three, or even more wives. They generally prefer to
take sisters, as they agree better together in the same lodge: the
eldest usually regulates all the domestic affairs of the family and has
charge of the property belonging to it. The men turn off their wives and
the latter leave their husbands whenever they become discontented. While
living together, the women are generally faithful to their husbands. The
daughters seldom leave their mothers until they are married, which
usually occurs when they are about fourteen or fifteen years of age. The
parents of an Indian girl are generally conciliated by presents from her
lover, but they may insist upon servitude from him, which sometimes runs
throughout one, two or three years. There is no particular marriage
ceremony among them, beyond that of the contract between the parents or
parties. A young Sauk lover is represented as a silly looking fellow,
who can neither eat, drink or sleep--he appears to be deranged, and with
all the pains he takes to conceal his passion, his malady is still
apparent to his friends. The faithfulness of this sketch, will hardly be
questioned, when the close analogy which it bears to a pale-faced lover,
is recalled to mind. The Sauks and Foxes, when pinched with hunger, will
eat almost any kind of meat, but prefer venison and bear's meat to all
other; they never eat it unless cooked. They make much use of corn,
beans and pumpkins, and annually raise considerable quantities. They are
not fond of fish and seldom eat them if they can procure other kinds of
food.

There are but three kinds of musical instruments used among these