The party, having approached still nearer, assembled upon an eminence as if for the purpose of reconnoitring; but our chief upon the knoll hoisting his blanket, which seemed to say, 'come ahead,' they advanced slowly and deliberately--very unlike the customary mode of approach among all the prairie tribes. The party consisted of about sixty warriors, at the head of whom rode an Indian of small stature and agreeable countenance, verging on the age of fifty. He wore the usual Comanche dress, but instead of moccasins, he had on a pair of long white cotton hose, while upon his bare head waved a tall red plume,--a mark of distinction which proclaimed him at once the _capitan mayor_, or principal chief. We addressed them in Spanish, inquiring if they had brought an interpreter, when a lank-jawed, grum-looking savage announced his readiness to officiate in that capacity. "_Sabes hablar en Español, amigo?_" (can you talk Spanish, friend?) I inquired. "_Si_" (yes), he gruffly replied. "Where are your people?" "Encamped just above on yonder creek." "How many of you are there?" "Oh, a great many--nearly all the Comanche nation; for we are _en junta_ to go and fight the Pawnees." "Well, can you tell us how far it is to Santa Fé?"--But the surly savage cut short my inquiries by observing--{39} "_Ahí platícarémos despues_"--"We will talk about that hereafter." [Pg126] We then showed them a spot a few rods from us, where they might encamp so as not to intermix their animals with ours; after which all the _capitanes_ were invited to our camp to hold a 'big talk.' In a very short time we had ten chiefs seated in a circle within our tent, when the pipe, the Indian token of peace, was produced: but, doubting perhaps the sincerity of our professions, they at first refused to smoke. The interpreter, however, remarked as an excuse for their conduct, that it was not their custom to smoke until they had received some presents: but a few Mexican _cigarritos_ being produced, most of them took a whiff, as if under the impression that to smoke cigars was no pledge of friendship.