On the death of the husband, the squaws exhibit the sincerity of their grief by giving away to their neighbours every thing they possess, excepting only a bare sufficiency of clothing to cover their persons with decency. They go out from the village, and build for themselves a small shelter of grass or bark; they mortify themselves by cutting off their hair, scarifying their skin, and, in their insulated hut, they lament incessantly. If the deceased has left a brother, he takes the widow to his lodge after a proper interval, and considers her as his wife, without any {223} preparatory formality.[6] If the deceased has not left a brother, the relations of his squaw take her to their lodges. This lamentation and mortification, which the squaws impose upon themselves, continue for a period of six or eight months, or even a year. [6] This custom is the same with that of the ancient Jews under the law of Moses, for which we have the authority of St. Luke. "Moses wrote unto us, if any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother shall take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother." And Elphinstone, in his account of Caubul, informs us, that among the Afghauns, as among the Jews, it is thought incumbent on the brother of the deceased to marry his widow.—JAMES. _Comment by Ed._ The number of Indian customs bearing a similarity to those of the Hebrews led to the now discarded theory that the former are descendants of the "lost ten tribes" of Israel. Many circumstances tend to show that the squaw is susceptible of the most tender and permanent attachment to an individual of the opposite sex, and that on the cessation of all hope of a union with the beloved object, the consequences have sometimes been fatal. Several instances came to our knowledge, of a young female committing the act of suicide after marriage with a person, in obedience to the will of her parents, whilst her affections were devoted to another. The maternal fondness appears also to be not less exquisite than we perceive it to be with civilized mothers. The following anecdote may be cited in support of this observation. In the year 1814, a trader married a beautiful squaw of one of the most distinguished families in the Omawhaw nation. This match, on the part of the husband, was induced by the following circumstances. Being an active, intelligent, and enterprising man, he had introduced the American trade to the Missouri Indians, and had gained great influence amongst them by his bravery and ingenuous deportment. But he at length perceived that his influence was gradually declining in consequence of the presence and wiles of many rival traders, to whom his enterprise had opened the way, and that his customers were gradually forsaking him.