Of these, the Cumanches are amongst the most warlike. They have no settled place of abode, but wander about, as the chase, or their inclinations dictate, in the immense extent of country from the rivers Trinidad and Brazos, across the Red River, to the heads of the Arkansas and Missouri, and beyond the Rio Bravo, over the ridge of the Great Cordillera; they have, of course, from this unsettled life, no towns or villages, and are subdivided into many hordes, who have so little communication with each other, as to be often supposed to be distinct tribes. They principally exist by the chase, the flesh of the bison and buffalo being their chief food; this, with some vegetables, which they procure from the tribes and settlements in their vicinity, constitutes nearly the whole of their nourishment. They carry about with them tents made of the skins of these animals, which they form like a bell, large enough to contain a dozen people; but the heads of the tribes and other great persons, have them of a much larger size. The tents are pitched in regular order, in the manner of a town, having streets of communication. The wild horses which run about the country serve the Cumanches in their predatory excursions; they know well how to ride and manage these animals, and pass nearly all their time on horseback; their tents are removed on horses, and having few other goods to pack up, they perform marches with astonishing quickness, and fall upon the unsuspecting settlers, whom they plunder of every thing, and carry off their children to serve them as slaves; many Spaniards existing in a state of servitude amongst them. The chase of the buffalo is carried on by them on horseback, and they kill that animal either with arrows or with spears. In person, the Cumanche Indian is strong and well made, uncommonly neat and clean; the dress of the women is a long loose robe, tied round the waist with a fine girdle; the whole is formed of leather, decorated with paintings in a rude manner: the men wear a close shirt and pantaloons of the same materials. Their language is totally different from that of the neighbouring Apaches. They cook their beef with a mixture of wild fruits and herbs, and particularly with a sort of bean which grows on a tree; this mess they season with pepper, which grows abundantly in the country they inhabit; and the food, so prepared, is said to be very good and palatable. The great extent of uncultivated territory on both sides of New Mexico is subdivided amongst many other Indian tribes; of these, however, a dry detail cannot prove interesting; and so little is accurately known concerning those subdivisions, that errors would unavoidably arise in recapitulating them. The chief of these districts is named Apacheria, from the Indian tribes called Apaches, a warlike and restless race of Americans, who inhabit the country to the west and east of Santa Fé.