THE RED MAX OF TO-DAY.

on horseback. By 1874 five million buffaloes had been slaughtered for their hides. The resource of the Indians for food and shelter Avas practically destroyed. It was done in violation of law, and the Indians, before virtually independent, are now starving paupers.   Frenzied Avith hunger they are dangerous.

From the topics of shelter and food Ave pass naturally to that of clothing. The Indian dresses for ornament, not for decency. The broadest demands of the latter are supposed to be met by the breech cloth, Avhich consists of a cloth five to eight feet long, passed over a string around the waist, under the legs, and up over the string on the opposite side. In addition to this the Indian for home costume frequently wraps himself in a cotton mantle. To this simple dress is noAv added many strange bits of Avhite men's clothing. A plug hat, a green veil, a pair of hoopskirts, a parasol, a peacock feather, a soldier's coat, a Chinese fan, are all seized upon, and used Avithout regard to congruity or sense. The funniest sight in the Avorld is a party of Indians decked out to receive white men.

Boots and pantaloons are despised by the red man most bitterly. If they are issued to him by the government he trades them off to the first chance comer for the veriest trifle. The Indians of the Avest, unlike those of the east, allow their hair to groAV long. The scalp lock is never seen on the plains. The Avarrior has also a state dress made of buckskin, and ornamented by the toil-Avorn fingers of, his wife, which constitutes his most precious possession.

The Avomen are rapidly abandoning the buckskin skirts coming to their knees and the scanty jackets for short calico dresses, shawls, and leather belts. Both sexes have an overwhelming passion for finery. Cheap jewelry, a bit of tinsel, a red feather, are prized above all things. The poorest Indian, dressed in his simple breech cloth, will be sure to have a bit of brass wire and a feather or two, Avith Avhich he will proudly decorate himself on special occasions. Some tribes. Avhen first discovered, wore no clothing Avhatever.   The poor Digger imagines himself