tribes. The drum, which is beat at their feasts, dances and games, the
tambourin, and a kind of flageolet, made of cane or two pieces of soft
wood hollowed out and fastened together with strips of leather. Their
tunes are always on a flat key, have but few variations and are mostly
of a melancholy character. According to Mr. Atwater, who visited those
residing near Rock Island, in 1829, the Sacs and Foxes have "tunes
evidently of French origin, and some songs of considerable length."
"These Indians have among them, what answers to the Italian
Improvisatori who make songs for particular occasions." The same writer
says, "the Sauks and Foxes have a considerable number of songs, suited
to a great many occasions in their own language." He further adds,
"Among the Indians of the Upper Mississippi, the Sauks and Foxes are
decidedly the best actors, and have the greatest variety of plays among
them." In common with the Indian tribes generally, they have a variety
of athletic games, in which both the men and women join. They are
addicted to cards and other games of chance, and often bet very high.

Touching the condition of these tribes in 1805, Lieutenant Pike, in his
travels to the sources of the Mississippi, says, "The first nation of
Indians whom we met with, were the Sauks, who principally reside in
four villages. The first at the head of the rapids des Moyens, on the
west shore, containing thirteen lodges. The second on a prairie on the
east shore about sixty miles above. The third on the river De Roche
[Rock river] about three miles from the entrance, and the last on the
river Iowa. They hunt on the Mississippi and its confluent streams from
the Illinois to the river Des Iowa; and on the plains west of them which
border the Mississippi. They are so perfectly consolidated with the
Reynards (the Foxes) that they can scarcely be termed a distinct nation;
but recently there appears to be a schism between the two nations: the
latter not approving of the insolence and ill-will, which has marked the