CHAPTER I. Of their ORIGIN.

THE means by which America received its first inhabi­tants, have, since the time of its discovery by the Eu­ropeans, been the subject of numberless disquisitions. Was I to endeavour to collect the different opinions and rea­sonings on the various writers that have taken up the pen in de­fence of their conjectures, the enumeration would much exceed the bounds I have prescribed myself, and oblige me to be less explicit on points of greater moment.

From the obscurity in which this debate is enveloped, thro' the total difuse of letters among every nation of Indians on this extensive continent, and the uncertainty of oral tradition at the distance of so many ages, I fear, that even after the most mi­nute investigation we shall not be able to settle it with any great [Page 84] degree of certainty. And this apprehension will receive addi­tional force, when it is considered that the diversity of language, which is apparently distinct between most of the Indians, tends to ascertain that this population was not effected from one par­ticular country, but from several neighbouring ones, and com­pleted at different periods.

Most of the historians or travellers that have treated on the American Aborigines disagree in their sentiments relative to them. Many of the ancients are supposed to have known that this quarter of the globe not only existed, but also that it was inhabited. Plato in his Timaeus has asserted, that beyond the island which he calls Atalantis, and which according to his de­scription was situated in the western Ocean, there were a great number of other islands, and behind those a vast continent.

Oviedo, a celebrated Spanish author of a much later date, has made no scruple to affirm that the Antilles are the famous Hesperides so often mentioned by the poets; which are at length restored to the kings of Spain, the descendants of king Hespe­rus, who lived upwards of three thousand years ago, and from whom these islands received their name.

Two other Spaniards, the one, Father Gregorio Garcia, a Dominican, the other, Father Joseph De Acosta, a Jesuit, have written on the origin of the Americans.

The former, who had been employed in the missions of Mex­ico and Peru, endeavoured to prove from the traditions of the Mexicans, Peruvians, and others, which he received on the spot, and from the variety of characters, customs, languages, [...] religion observable in the different countries of the new [...], that different nations had contributed to the peopling [...] it.

The latter, Father De Acosta, in his examination of the means by which the first Indians of America might have found a pas­sage to that continent, discredits the conclusions of those who have supposed it to be by sea, because no ancient author has made mention of the compass: and concludes, that it must be either by the north of Asia and Europe, which adjoin to each other, or by those regions that lie to the southward of the Straights of Magellan. He also rejects the assertions of such as have advanced that it was peopled by the Hebrews.

John De Laët, a Flemish writer, has controverted the opi­nions▪ of these Spanish fathers, and of many others who have written on the same subject. The hypothesis he endeavours to establish, is, that America was certainly peopled by the Scythi­ans or Tartars; and that the transmigration of these people happened soon after the dispersion of Noah's grandsons. He undertakes to show, that the most northern Americans have a greater resemblance, not only in the features of their counte­nances, but also in their complexion and manner of living, to the Scythians, Tartars, and Samoeides, than to any other na­tions.

[Page 85]In answer to Grotius, who had asserted that some of the Nor­wegians passed into America by way of Greenland, and over a vast continent, he says, that it is well known that Greenland was not discovered till the year 964; and both Gomera and Herrera inform us that the Chichimeques were settled on the Lake of Mexico in 721. He adds, that these savages, accord­ing to the uniform tradition of the Mexicans who dispossessed them, came from the country since called New Mexico, and from the neighbourhood of California; consequently North America, must have been inhabited many ages before it could receive any inhabitants from Norway by way of Greenland.

It is no less certain, he observes, that the real Mexicans founded their empire in 902, after having subdued the Chichi­meques, the Otomias, and other barbarous nations, who had taken possession of the country round the Lake of Mexico, and each of whom spoke a language peculiar to themselves. The real Mexicans are likewise supposed to come from some of the countries that lie near California, and that they performed their journey for the most part by land; of course they could not come from Norway.

De Laët further adds, that though some of the inhabitants of North America may have entered it from the north-west, yet, as it is related by Pliny, and some other writers, that on many of the islands near the western coast of Africa, particularly on the Canaries, some ancient edifices were seen, it is highly pro­bable from their being now deserted, that the inhabitants may have passed over to America; the passage being neither long nor difficult. This migration, according to the calculatio [...] [...] those authors, must have happened more than two thou [...] years ago, at a time when the Spaniards were much trou [...] by the Carthaginians; from whom having obtained a knowledge of navigation, and the construction of ships, they might have retired to the Antilles, by the way of the western isles, which were exactly half way on their voyage.

He thinks also that Great Britain, Ireland, and the Orcades were extremely proper to admit of a similar conjecture. As a proof, he inserts the following passage from the history of Wales, written by Dr. David Powel, in the year 1170.

This historian says, that Madoc, of the sons of Prince Owen Gwynnith, being disgusted at the civil wars which broke out be­tween his brothers, after the death of their father, fitted out several vessels, and having provided them with every thing ne­cessary for a long voyage, went in quest of new lands to the westward of Ireland; there he discovered very fertile coun­tries, but destitute of inhabitants; when landing part of his people, he returned to Britain, where he raised new levies, and afterwards transported them to his colony.

The Flemish Author then returns to the Scythians, between whom and the Americans he draws a parallel. He observes that several nations of them to the north of the Caspian Sea, [Page 86] a wandering life; which, as well as many other of their customs, and way of living, agrees in many circumstances with the Indians of America. And though the resemblances are not absolutely perfect, yet the emigrants, even before they left their own country, differed from each other, and went not by the same name. Their change of abode effected what remained.

He further says, that a similar likeness exists between several American nations, and the Samoeides who are settled, according to the Russian accounts, on the great River Oby. And it is more natural, continues he, to suppose that Colonies of these nations passed over to America by crossing the icy sea on their s [...]edges, than for the Norwegians to travel all the way Grotius has marked out for them.

This writer makes many other remarks that are equally sen­sible and which appear to be just; but he intermixes with these some that are not so well founded.

Emanuel de Moraez, a Portugeuze, in his history of Brazil, asserts, that America has been wholly peopled by the Carthagi­nians and Israelites. He brings as a proof of this assertion, the discoveries the former are known to have made at a great di­stance beyond the coast of Africa. The progress of which be­ing put a stop to by the senate of Carthage, those who happen­ed to be then in the newly discovered countries, being cut off from all communication with their countrymen▪ and destitute of many necessaries of life, fell into a state of barbarism. As to the Israelites, this author thinks that nothing but circumcisi­on is wanted in order to constitute a perfect resemblance [...] them and the Brazilians.

[...] De Hornn, a learned Dutchman, has likewise written [...] subject. He sets out with declaring, that he does not believe it possible America could have been peopled before the stood, considering the short space of time which elapsed be­tween the creation of the world and that memorable event. In the next place he lays it down as a principle, that after the de­l [...]ge, men and other terrestrial animals penetrated into that country both by sea and by land; some through accident, and some from a formed design. That birds got thither by flight; which they were enabled to do by resting on the rocks and islands that are scattered about in the Ocean.

He further observes, that wild beasts may have found a free passage by land; and that if we do not meet with horses or cat­tle, (to which he might have added elephants, camels, rhino­ceros, and beasts of many other kinds) it is because those na­tions that passed thither, were either not acquainted with their use, or had no convenience to support them.

Having totally excluded many nations that others have admit­ted as the probable first settlers of America, for which he gives substantial reasons, he supposes that it began to be peopled by the north; and maintains, that the primitive colonies spread [Page 87] themselves by the means of the isthmus of Panama through the whole extent of the continent.

He believes that the first founders of the Indian Colonies were Scythians. That the Phoenicians and Carthaginians after­wards got footing in America across the Atlantic Ocean, and the Chinese by way of the Pacific. And that other nations might from time to time have landed there by one or other of these ways, or might possibly have been thrown on the coast by tempests: since, through the whole extent of that Continent, both in its northern and southern parts, we meet with undoubt­ed marks of a mixture of the northern nations with those who have come from other places. And lastly, that some Jews and Christians might have been carried there by such like events, but that this must have happened at a time when the whole of the New World was already peopled.

After all, he acknowledges that great difficulties attend the determination of the question. These, he says, are occasioned in the first place by the imperfect knowledge we have of the ex­tremities of the globe, towards the north and south pole; and in the next place to the havock which the Spaniards, the first discoverers of the new world, made among its most ancient monuments; as witness the great double road betwixt Quito and Cuzco, an undertaking so stupendous, that even the most mag­nificent of those executed by the Romans, cannot be compared to it.

He supposes also another migration of the Phoenicians, than those already mentioned, to have taken place; and this was during a three years voyage made by the Tyrian fleet in th [...] [...] of King Solomon. He asserts on the authority [...], that the port at which this embarkation was mad [...] [...] in the Mediterranean. The fleet, he adds, went in que [...] [...] elephants teeth and peacocks to the western Coast of Africa, which is Tarsish; then to Ophir for gold, which is Haité, or the island of Hispaniola; and in the latter opinion he is sup­ported by Columbus, who, when he discovered that island, thought he could trace the furnaces in which the gold was re­fined.

To these migrations which preceded the Christian aera, he adds many others of a later date from different nations, but these I have not time to enumerate. For the same reason I am obliged to pass over numberless writers on this subject; and shall content myself with only giving the sentiments of two or three more.

The first of these is Pierre De Charlevoix, a Frenchman, who, in his journal of a voyage to North America, made so lately as the year 1720, has recapitulated the opinions of a va­riety of authors on this head, to which he has subjoined his own conjectures. But the latter cannot without some difficulty be extracted, as they are so interwoven with the passages he [Page 88] has quoted, that it requires much attention to discriminate them.

He seems to allow that America might have received its first inhabitants from Tartary and Hyrcania. This he confirms, by observing that the lions and tigers which are found in the for­mer, must have come from those countries, and whose passage serves for a proof that the two hemispheres join to the north­ward of Asia. He then draws a corroboration of this argu­ment, from a story he says he has often heard related by Father Grollon, a French Jesuit, as an undoubted matter of fact.

This father, after having laboured some time in the missions of New France, passed over to those of China. One day as he was travelling in Tartary, he met a Huron woman whom he had formerly known in Canada. He asked her by what adven­ture she had been carried into a country so distant from her own. She made answer, that having been taken in war, she had been conducted from nation to nation, till she had reached the place at which she then was.

Monsieur Charlevoix says further, that he had been assured another Jesuit, passing through Nantz, in his return from Chi­na, had related much such another affair of a Spanish woman from Florida. She also had been taken by certain Indians, and given to those of a more distant country; and by these again to another nation, till having thus been successively passed from country to country, and travelled through regions extremely cold, she at last found herself in Tartary. Here she had mar­ried a Tartar, who had attended the conquerors in China, where [...] was then settled.

[...] acknowledges as an allay to the probability of these stories, [...] [...]hose who had sailed farthest to the eastward of Asia, by pursuing the Coast of Jesso or Kamtschatka, have pretended that they had perceived the extremity of this continent; and from thence have concluded that there could not possibly be any com­munication by land. But he adds that Francis Guella, a Spa­niard, is said to have asserted, that this separation is no more than a straight, about one hundred miles over, and that some late voyages of the Japonese give grounds to think that this straight is only a bay, above which there is passage over land.

He goes on to observe, that though there are few wild beasts to be met with in North America, except a kind of tigers with­out spots, which are found in the country of the Iroquoise, yet towards the tropics there are lions and real tigers, which, not­withstanding, might have come from Hyrcania and Tartary; for as by advancing gradually southward they met with climates more agreeable to their natures, they have in time abandoned the northern countries.

He quotes both Solinus and Pliny to prove that the Scythian Anthropophagi once depopulated a great extent of country, as far as the promontory Tabin; and also an author of later date, Mark Pol, a Venetian, who, he says, tells us, that to the north­east [Page 89] of China and Tartary there are vast uninhabited countries, which might be sufficient to confirm any conjectures concerning the retreat of a great number of Scythians into America.

To this he adds, that we find in the ancients the names of some of these nations. Pliny speaks of the Tabians; Solinus mentions the Apuleans, who had for neighbours the Massagetes, whom Pliny since assures us to have entirely disappeared. Am­mianus Marcellinus expressly tells us, that the fear of the An­thropophagi obliged several of the inhabitants of those countries to take refuge elsewhere. From all these authorities Monsieur Charlevoix concludes, that there is at least room to conjecture that more than one nation in America had a Scythian or Tarta­rian original.

He finishes his remarks on the authors he has quoted, by the following observations: It appears to me that this controversy may be reduced to the two following articles; first, how the new world might have been peopled; and secondly, by whom, and by what means it has been peopled.

Nothing, he asserts, may be more easily answered than the first. America might have been peopled as the three other parts of the world have been. Many difficulties have been formed on this subject, which have been deemed insolvable, but which are far from being so. The inhabitants of both hemispheres are certainly the descendants of the same father; the common parent of mankind received an express command from Heaven to people the whole world, and accordingly it has been peopled.

To bring this about it was necessary to overcome all difficul­ties that lay in the way, and they have been got over. Were these difficulties greater with respect to peopling the extre [...]ties of Asia, Africa, and Europe, or the transporting men [...] the islands which lie at a considerable distance from those con­tinents, than to pass over into America? certainly not.

Navigation, which has arrived at so great perfection within these three or four centuries, might possibly have been more perfect in those early ages than at this day. Who can believe that Noah and his immediate descendants knew less of this art than we do? That the builder and pilot of the largest ship that ever was, a ship that was formed to traverse an unbounded ocean, and had so many shoals and quick-sands to guard against, should be ignorant of, or should not have communicated to those of his descendants who survived him, and by whose means he was to execute the order of the Great Creator; I say, who can believe he should not have communicated to them the art of sailing upon an ocean, which was not only more calm and pacific, but at the same time confined within its ancient limits?

Admitting this, how easy is it to pass, exclusive of the passage already described, by land from the coast of Africa to Brazil, from the Canaries to the Western Islands, and from them to the Antilles? From the British Isles, or the coast of France, to New foundland, the passage is neither long nor difficult; I might [Page 90] say as much of that from China to Japan; from Japan, or the Phillipines, to the Isles Mariannes; and from thence to Mex­ico.

There are islands at a considerable distance from the continent of Asia, where we have not been surprized to find inhabitants, why then should we wonder to meet with people in America? Nor can it be imagined that the grandsons of Noah, when they were obliged to separate, and spread themselves in conformity to the designs of God, over the whole earth, should find it ab­solutely impossible to people almost one half of it.

I have been more copious in my extracts from this author than I intended, as his reasons appear to be solid, and many of his observations just. From this encomium, however, I must exclude the stories he has introduced of the Huron and Floridan women, which I think I might venture to pronounce fabulous.

I shall only add, to give my readers a more comprehensive view of Mons. Charlevoix's dissertation, the method he pro­poses to come at the truth of what we are in search of.

The only means by which this can be done, he says, is by comparing the languages of the Americans with the different na­tions, from whence we might suppose they have peregrinated. If we compare the former with those words that are considered as primitives, it might possibly set us upon some happy discovery. And this way of ascending to the original of nations, which is by far the least equivocal, is not so difficult as might be imagin­ed. We have had, and still have, travellers and missionaries who have attained the languages that are spoken in all the pro­vinces of the new world; it would only be necessary to make a collection of their grammars and vocabularies, and to collate [...] with the dead and living languages of the old world, that pass for originals, and the similarity might easily be traced. Even the different dialects, in spite of the alterations they have undergone, still retain enough of the mother tongue to furnish considerable lights.

Any enquiry into the manners, customs, religion, or tradi­tions of the Americans, in order to discover by that means their origin, he thinks would prove fallacious. A disquisition of that kind, he observes, is only capable of producing a false light, more likely to dazzle, and to make us wander from the right path, than to lead us with certainty to the point proposed.

Ancient traditions are effaced from the minds of such as either have not, or for several ages have been without those helps that are necessary to preserve them. And in this situation is full one half of the world. New events, and a new arrangement of things, give rise to new traditions, which efface the former, and are themselves effaced in turn. After one or two centuries have passed, there no longer remain any traces of the first tra­ditions; and thus we are involved in a state of uncertainty.

He concludes with the following remarks, among many others. Unforeseen accidents, tempests, and shipwrecks, have certainly [Page 91] contributed to people every habitable part of the world: and ought we to wonder after this, at perceiving certain resem­blances, both of persons and manners between nations that are most remote from each other, when we find such a difference between those that border on one another? As we are destitute of historical monuments, there is nothing, I repeat it, but a knowledge of the primitive languages that is capable of throw­ing any light upon these clouds of impenetrable darkness.

By this enquiry we should at least be satisfied, among that prodigious number of various nations inhabiting America, and differing so much in languages from each other, which are those who make use of words totally and entirely different from those of the old world, and who consequently must be reckoned to have passed over to America in the earliest ages, and those who, from the analogy of their language with such as are at present used in the three other parts of the globe, leave room to judge that their migration has been more recent, and which ought to be attributed to shipwrecks, or to some accident similar to those which have been spoken of in the course of this treatise.

I shall only add the opinion of one author more, before I give my own sentiments on the subject, and that is of James Adair, Esq who resided forty years among the Indians, and published the history of them in the year 1772. In his learned and syste­matical history of those nations, inhabiting the western parts of the most southern of the American colonies; this gentleman without hesitation pronounces that the American Aborigines are descended from the Israelites, either whilst they were a maritime power, or soon after their general captivity.

This descent he endeavours to prove from their religio [...] rites, their civil and martial customs, their marriages, their [...] ­neral ceremonies, their manners, language, traditions, and from a variety of other particulars. And so complete is his conviction on this head, that he fancies he finds a perfect and indisputable similitude in each. Through all these I have not time to follow him, and shall therefore only give a few extracts to show on what foundation he builds his conjectures, and what degree of credit he is entitled to on this point.

He begins with observing, that though some have supposed the Americans to be descended from the Chinese, yet neither their religion, laws, or customs agree in the least with those of the Chinese; which sufficiently proves that they are not of this line. Besides, as our best ships are now almost half a year in sailing for China (our author does not here recollect that this is from a high northern latitude, across the Line, and then back again greatly to the northward of it, and not directly athwart the Pacific Ocean, for only one hundred and eleven degrees) or from thence to Europe, it is very unlikely they should attempt such dangerous discoveries, with their supposed small vessels, against rapid currents, and in dark and sickly Monsoons.

[Page 92]He further remarks, that this is more particularly improba­ble, as there is reason to believe that this nation was unac­quainted with the use of the loadstone to direct their course.

China, he says, is about eight thousand miles distant from the American continent, which is twice as far as across the Atlantic Ocean. And we are not informed by any ancient writer of their maritime skill, or so much as any inclination that way, besides small coasting voyages. The winds blow likewise, with little variation from east to west within the latitudes thirty and odd, north and south, and therefore these could not drive them on the American coast, it lying directly contrary to such a course.

Neither could persons, according to this writer's account, sail to America from the north by the way of Tartary or Anci­ent Scythia; that, from its situation, never having been or can be a maritime power; and it is utterly impracticable, he says, for any to come to America by sea from that quarter. Besides, the remaining traces of their religious ceremonies, and civil and martial customs, are quite opposite to the like vestiges of the Old Scythians.

Even in the moderate northern climates there is not to be seen the least trace of any ancient stately buildings, or of any thick settlements, as are said to remain in the less healthy regi­ons of Peru and Mexico. And several of the Indian nations assure us, that they crossed the Mississippi before they made their present northern settlements; which, connected with the former arguments, he concludes will sufficiently explode that weak opinion of the American Aborigines being lineally de­scended from the Tartars or ancient Scythians.

Mr Adair's reasons for supposing that the Americans derive their origin from the Jews are,

First, because they are divided into tribes, and have chiefs over them as the Israelites had.

Secondly, because, as by a strict permanent divine precept, the Hebrew nation were ordered to worship, at Jerusalem, Jehovah the true and living God, so do the Indians, stil­ing him Yohewah. The ancient Heathens, he adds, it is well known worshipped a plurality of gods, but the Indians pay their religious devoirs to the Great beneficent, supreme, holy Spirit of Fire, who resides, as they think, above the clouds, and on earth also with unpolluted people. They pay no ado­ration to images, or to dead persons, neither to the celestial luminaries, to evil spirits, nor to any created beings what­ever.

Thirdly, because, agreeable to the theocracy or divine go­vernment of Israel, the Indians think the Deity to be the imme­diate head of their state.

Fourthly, because, as the Jews believe in the ministration of angels, the Indians also believe that the higher regions are in­habited by good spirits.

[Page 93]Fifthly, because the Indian language and dialects appear to have the very idiom and genius of the Hebrew. Their words and sentences being expressive, concise, emphatical, sonorous, and bold; and often, both in letters, and signification, are sy­nonimous with the Hebrew language.

Sixthly, because they count their time after the manner of the Hebrews.

Seventhly, because in conformity to, or after the manner of the Jews, they have their prophets, high-priests, and other re­ligious orders.

Eighthly, because their festivals, fasts, and religious rites have a great resemblance to those of the Hebrews.

Ninthly, because the Indians, before they go to war, have many preparatory ceremonies of purification and fasting, like what is recorded of the Israelites.

Tenthly, because the same taste for ornaments, and the same kind, are made use of by the Indians, as by the He­brews.

These and many other arguments of a similar nature, Mr. Adair brings in support of his favourite system; but I should imagine, that if the Indians are really derived from the He­brews, among their religious ceremonies, on which he chiefly seems to build his hypothesis, the principal, that of circumci­sion, would never have been laid aside, and its very remem­brance obliterated.

Thus numerous and diverse are the opinions of those who have hitherto written on this subject! I shall not, however, either endeavour to reconcile them, or to point out the errors of each, but proceed to give my own sentiments on the origin of the Americans; which are founded on conclusions drawn from the most rational arguments of the writers I have menti­oned, and from my own observations; the consistency of these I shall leave to the judgment of my Readers.

The better to introduce my conjectures on this head, it is ne­cessary first to ascertain the distances between America and those parts of the habitable globe that approach nearest to it.

The Continent of America, as far as we can judge from all the researches that have been made near the poles, appears to be entirely separated from the other quarters of the world. That part of Europe which approaches nearest to it, is the coast of Greenland, lying in about seventy degrees of north latitude; and which reaches within twelve degrees of the coast of Labra­dor, situated on the north-east borders of this continent. The coast of Guinea is the nearest part of Africa; which lies about eighteen hundred and sixty miles north-east from the Brazils. The most eastern coast of Asia, which extends to the Korean Sea on the north of China, projects north-east through eastern Tartary and Kamschatka to Siberia, in about sixty degrees of north latitude. Towards which the western coasts of Ame­rica, from California to the Straights of Annian, extend near­ly [Page 94] north-west, and lie in about forty-six degrees of the same latitude.

Whether the Continent of America stretches any farther north than these straights, and joins to the eastern parts of Asia, agree­able to what has been asserted by some of the writers I have quoted, or whether the lands that have been discovered in the intermediate parts are only an archipelago of islands, verging towards the opposite continent, is not yet ascertained.

It being, however, certain that there are many considerable islands which lie between the extremities of Asia and America, viz. Japon, Jeso or Jedso, Gama's Land, Behring's Isle, with many others discovered by Tschirikow, and besides these, from fifty degrees north there appearing to be a cluster of islands that reach as far as Siberia, it is probable from their proximity to America, that it received its first inhabitants from them.

This conclusion is the most rational I am able to draw, sup­posing that since the Aborigines got sooting on this continent, no extraordinary or sudden change in the position or surface of it has taken place, from inundations, earthquakes, or any re­volutions of the earth that we are at present unacquainted with.

To me it appears highly improbable that it should have been peopled from different quarters, across the Ocean, as others have asserted. From the size of the ships made use of in those early ages, and the want of the compass, it cannot be supposed that any maritime nation would by choice venture over the un­fathomable ocean, in search of distant continents. Had this however been attempted, or had America been first accidental­ly peopled from ships freighted with passengers of both sexes, which were driven by strong easterly winds across the Atlantic, these settlers must have retained some traces of the language of the country from whence they migrated; and this since the dis­covery of it by the Europeans must have been made out. It al­so appears extraordinary that several of these accidental migra­tions, as allowed by some, and these from different parts, should have taken place.

Upon the whole, after the most critical enquiries, and the maturest deliberation, I am of opinion, that America received its first inhabitants from the north-east, by way of the great archipelago just mentioned, and from these alone. But this might have been effected at different times, and from various parts▪ from Tartary, China, Japon, or Kamschatka, the inha­bitants of these places resembling each other in colour, features, and shape; and who, before some of them acquired a know­ledge of the arts and sciences, might have likewise resembled each other in their manners, customs, religion, and language.

The only difference between the Chinese nation and the Tar­tars lies in the cultivated state of the one, and the unpolished situation of the others. The former have become a commer­cial people, and dwell in houses formed into regular towns and cities; the latter live chiefly in tents, and rove about in diffe­rent [Page 95] hords, without any fixed abode. Nor can the long and bloody wars these two nations have been engaged in, extermi­nate their hereditary similitude. The present family of the Chi­nise emperors is of Tartarian extraction; and if they were not sensible of some claim beside that of conquest, so numerous a people would scarcely sit quiet under the dominion of strangers.

It it very evident that some of the manners and customs of the American Indians resemble those of the Tartars; and I make no doubt but that in some future aera, and this is not a very distant one, it will be reduced to a certainty, that during some of the wars between the Tartars and the Chinese, a part of the inhabitants of the northern provinces were driven from their native country, and took refuge in some of the isles before-mentioned, and from thence found their way into America. At different periods each nation might prove victorious, and the conquered by turns fly before their conquerors; and from hence might arise the similitude of the Indians to all these people, and that animosity which exists between so many of their tribes.

It appears plainly to me that a great similarity between the Indian and Chinese is conspicuous in that particular custom of shaving or plucking off the hair, and leaving only a small tuft on the crown of the head. This mode is said to have been en­joined by the Tartarian emperors on their accession to the throne of China, and consequently is a further proof that this custom was in use among the Tartars; to whom as well as the Chinese, the Americans might be indebted for it.

Many words also are used both by the Chinese and Indians, which have a resemblance to each other, not only in their sound, but their signification. The Chinese call a slave, shungo; and the Naudowessie Indians, whose language from their little inter­course with the Europeans is the least corrupted, term a dog, shungush. The former denominate one species of their tea, shousong; the latter call their tobacco, shousassau. Many other of the words used by the Indians contain the syllables che, chaw, and chu, after the dialect of the Chinese.

There probably might be found a similar connection between the language of the Tartars and the American Aborigines, were we as well acquainted with it as we are, from a commercial in­tercourse, with that of the Chinese.

I am confirmed in these conjectures, by the accounts of Kam­schatka, published a few years ago by order of the Empress of Russia. The author of which says, that the sea which divides that peninsula from America is full of islands; and that the dis­tance between Tschukotskoi-Noss▪ a promontory which lies at the eastern extremity of that country, and the coast of America, is not more than two degrees and a half of a great circle. He further says, that there is the greatest reason to suppose that Asia and America once joined at this place, as the coasts of both continents appear to have been broken into capes and bays, [Page 96] which answer each other; more especially as the inhabitants of this part of both resemble each other in their persons, ha­bits, customs, and food. Their language, indeed, he observes, does not appear to be the same, but then the inhabitants of each district in Kamschatka speak a language as different from each other, as from that spoken on the opposite coast. These observations, to which he adds, the similarity of the boats of the inhabitants of each coast, and a remark that the natives of this part of America are wholly strangers to wine and tobacco, which he looks upon as a proof that they have as yet had no communication with the natives of Europe, he says, amount to little less than a demonstration that America was peopled from this part of Asia.

The limits of my present undertaking will not permit me to dwell any longer on this subject, or to enumerate any other proofs in favour of my hypothesis. I am however so thorough­ly convinced of the certainty of it, and so desirous have I been to obtain every testimony which can be procured in its support, that I once made an offer to a private society of gentlemen, who were curious in such researches, and to whom I had communi­cated my sentiments on this point, that I would undertake a jour­ney, on receiving such supplies as were needful, through the north-east parts of Europe and Asia to the interior parts of America, and from thence to England; making, as I proceeded, such observations both on the languages and manners of the people with whom I should be conversant, as might tend to il­lustrate the doctrine I have here laid down, and to satisfy the curiosity of the learned or inquisitive; but as this proposal was judged rather to require a national than a private support, it was not carried into execution.

I am happy to find, since I formed the foregoing conclusions, that they correspond with the sentiments of that great and learn­ed historian Doctor Robertson; and though, with him, I ac­knowledge that the investigation, from its nature, is so obscure and intricate, that the conjectures I have made can only be con­sidered as conjectures, and not indisputable conclusions, yet they carry with them a greater degree of probability than the suppo­sitions of those who assert that this continent was peopled from another quarter.

One of the Doctor's quotations from the Journals of Behring and Tschirikow, who sailed from Kamschatka, about the year 1741, in quest of the New World, appears to carry great weight with it, and to afford our conclusions firm support: ‘These commanders having shaped their course towards the east, dis­covered land, which to them appeared to be part of the Ame­rican continent; and according to their observations, it seems to be situated within a few degrees of the north-west coast of California. They had there some intercourse with the inha­bitants, who seemed to them to resemble the North-Ameri­cans; as they presented to the Russians the Calumet or Pipe [Page 97] of Peace, which is a symbol of friendship universal among the people of North America, and an usage of arbitrary in­stitution peculiar to them.’

One of this incomparable writer's own arguments in support of his hypothesis, is also urged with great judgment, and, ap­pears to be nearly conclusive. He says, ‘We may lay it down as a certain principle in this enquiry, that America was not peopled by any nation of the ancient continent, which had made considerable progress in civilization. The inhabitants of the New World were in a state of society so extremely rude, as to be unacquainted with those arts which are the first essays of human ingenuity in its advance towards im­provement. Even the most cultivated nations of America were strangers to many of those simple inventions, which were almost coeval with society in other parts of the world, and were known in the earliest periods of civil life. From this it is manifest that the tribes which originally migrated to America, came off from nations which must have been no less barbarous than their posterity, at the time when they were first discovered by the Europeans. If ever the use of iron had been known to the savages of America, or to their pro­genitors, if ever they had employed a plough, a loom, or a forge, the utility of these inventions would have preserved them, and it is impossible that they should have been aban­doned or forgotten.’

CHAPTER II. Of their PERSONS, DRESS, &c.

FROM the first settlement of the French in Canada, to the conquest of it by the English in 1760, several of that nation, who had travelled into the interior parts of North America, either to trade with the Indians, or to endeavour to make converts of them have published accounts of their cu­stoms, manners, &c.

The principal of these are Father Louis Hennipin, Mons. Charlevoix, and the Baron Le Hontan. The first, many years ago, published some very judicious remarks, which he was the better enabled to do by the assistance he received from the maps and diaries of the unfortunate M. De la Salle, who was assassinated whilst he was on his travels, by some of his own party. That gentleman's journals falling into Father Hennipin's hands, he was enabled by them to publish many interesting particulars relative [Page 98] to the Indians. But in some respects he fell very short of that knowledge which it was in his power to have attained from his long residence among them. Nor was he always (as has been already observed) exact in his calculations, or just in the intel­ligence he has given us.

The accounts published by the other two, particularly those of Charlevoix, are very erroneous in the geographical parts, and many of the stories told by the Baron are mere delusi­ons.

Some of the Jesuits, who heretofore travelled into these parts, have also written on this subject; but as few, if any, of their works have been translated into the English language, the generality of Readers are not benefited by them; and, in­deed, had this been done, they would have reaped but few ad­vantages from them, as they have chiefly confined their ob­servations to the religious principles of the savages, and the steps taken for their conversion.

Since the conquest of Canada, some of our own countrymen, who have lived among the Indians, and learned their language, have published their observations; however as their travels have not extended to any of the interior parts I treat of, but have only been made among the nations that border on our set­tlements, a knowledge of the genuine and uncontaminated cu­stoms and manners of the Indians could not have been acquired by them.

The southern tribes, and those that have held a constant in­tercourse with the French or English, cannot have preserv­ed their manners or their customs in their original purity. They could not avoid acquiring the vices with the language of those they conversed with; and the frequent intoxications they experienced through the baneful juices introduced among them by the Europeans, have completed a total alteration in their characters.

In such as these, a confused medley of principles or usages are only to be observed; their real and unpolluted customs could be seen among those nations alone that have held but little communications with the provinces. These I found in the north-west parts, and therefore flatter myself that I am able to give a more just account of the customs and manners of the In­dians, in their ancient purity, than any that has been hitherto published. I have made observations on thirty nations, and though most of these have differed in their languages, there has appeared a great similiarity in their manners, and from these have I endeavoured to extract the following remarks.

As I do not propose to give a regular and connected system of Indian concerns, but only to relate such particulars of their manners, customs, &c. as I thought most worthy of notice, and which interfere as little as possible with the accounts given by other writers, I must beg my Readers to excuse their not be-arranged [Page 99] systematically, or treated of in a more copious man­ner.

The Indian nations do not appear to me to differ so widely in their make, colour, or constitution from each other, as re­presented by some writers. They are in general slight made, rather tall and strait, and you seldom see any among them de­formed; their skin is of a reddish or copper colour; their eyes are large and black, and their hair of the same hue, but very rarely is it curled; they have good teeth, and their breath is as sweet as the air they draw in; their cheek-bones rather raised, but more so in the women than the men; the former are not quite so tall as the European women, however you frequently meet with good faces and agreeable persons among them, al­though they are more inclined to be fat than the other sex.

I shall not enter into a particular enquiry whether the Indians are indebted to nature, art, or the temperature of the climate for the colour of their skin, nor shall I quote any of the contradictory accounts I have read on this subject; I shall only say, that it ap­pears to me to be the tincture they received originally from the hands of their Creator; but at what period the variation which is at present visible, both in the complexion and features of ma­ny nations took place, at what time the European whiteness, the jetty hue of the African, or the copper cast of the American were given them; which was the original colour of the first in­habitants of the earth, or which might be esteemed the most per­fect, I will not pretend to determine.

Many writers have asserted, that the Indians, even at the maturest period of their existence, are only furnished with hair on their heads; and that notwithstanding the profu­sion with which that part is covered, those parts which among the inhabitants of other climates are usually the seat of this ex­crescence, remain entirely free from it. Even Doctor Robertson, through their misrepresentations, has contributed to propagate the error; and supposing the remark justly founded, has drawn several conclusions from it relative to the habit and temperature of their bodies, which are consequently invalid. But from mi­nute enquiries, and a curious inspection, I am able to declare, (however respectable I may hold the authority of these historians in other points) that their assertions are erroneous, and pro­ceeding from the want of a thorough knowledge of the customs of the Indians.

After the age of puberty, their bodies, in their natural state, are covered in the same manner as those of the Europeans. The men, indeed, esteem a beard very unbecoming, and take great pains to get rid of it, nor is there any ever to be perceived on their faces, except when they grow old, and become inatten­tive to their appearance. Every crinous efflorescence on the other parts of the body is held unseemly by them, and both sexes employ much time in their extirpation.

[Page 100]The Naudowessies, and the remote nations, pluck them out with bent pieces of hard wood, formed into a kind of nippers; whilst those who have communication with Europeans procure from them wire, which they twist into a screw or worm; apply­ing this to the part, they press the rings together, and with a sudden twitch draw out all the hairs that are inclosed between them.

The men of every nation differ in their dress very little, from each other, except those who trade with the Europeans; these exchange their furs for blankets, shirts and other apparel, which they wear as much for ornament as necessity. The latter fasten by a girdle around their waists about half a yard of broadcloth, which covers the middle parts of their bodies. Those who wear shirts never make them fast either at the wrist or collar; this would be a most insufferable confinement to them. They throw their blanket loose upon their shoulders, and holding the upper side of it by the two corners, with a knife in one hand, and a tobacco pouch, pipe, &c. in the other; thus accoutred they walk about in their villages or camps: but in their dances they seldom wear this covering.

Those among the men who wish to appear gayer than the rest, pluck from their heads all the hair, except from a spot on the top of it, about the size of a crown piece, where it is per­mitted to grow to a considerable length: on this are fastened plumes of feathers of various colours, with silver or ivory quills. The manner of cutting and ornamenting this part of the head distinguishes different nations from each other.

They paint their faces red and black, which they esteem as greatly ornamental. They also paint themselves when they go to war; but the method they make use of on this occasion dif­fers from that wherein they use it merely as a decoration.

The young Indians, who are desirous of excelling their com­panions in finery, slit the outward rim of both their ears; at the same time they take care not to separate them entirely, but leave the flesh thus cut, still untouched at both extremities: around this spongy substance, from the upper to the lower part, they twist brass wire, till the weight draws the amputated rim into a bow of five or six inches diameter, and drags it almost down to the shoulder. This decoration is esteemed to be ex­cessively gay and becoming.

It is also a common custom among them to bore their noses, and wear in them pendants of different sorts. I observed that sea shells were much worn by those of the interior parts, and reckoned very ornamental; but how they procure them I could not learn; probably by their traffic with other nations nearer the sea.

They go without any covering for the thigh, except that be­fore spoken of, round the middle, which reaches down half way the thighs; but they make for their legs a sort of stocking, either of skins or cloth: these are sewed as near to the shape [Page 101] of the leg as possible, so as to admit of being drawn on and off. The edges of the stuff of which they are composed are left an­nexed to the seam, and hang loose for about the breadth of a hand; and this part, which is placed on the outside of the leg, is generally ornamented by those who have any communication with Europeans, if of cloth, with ribands or lace, if of leather, with embroidery and porcupine quills curiously coloured. Stran­gers who hunt among the Indians, in the parts where there is a great deal of snow, find these stockings much more convenient than any others.

Their shoes are made of the skin of the deer, elk, or buffa­lo: these, after being sometimes dressed according to the Eu­ropean manner, at others with the hair remaining on them, are cut into shoes, and fashioned so as to be easy to the feet, and convenient for walking. The edges round the ancle are deco­rated with pieces of brass or tin fixed around leather strings, about an inch long, which being placed very thick, make a cheerful tinkling noise either when they walk or dance.

The women wear a covering of some kind or other from the neck to the knees. Those who trade with the Europeans wear a linen garment, the same as that used by the men; the flaps of which hang over the petticoat. Such as dress after their ancient manner, make a kind of shift with leather, which covers the body but not the arms. Their petticoats are made either of leather or cloth, and reach from the waist to the knee. On their legs they wear stockings and shoes, made and ornamented as those of the men.

They differ from each other in the mode of dressing their heads, each following the custom of the nation or band to which they belong, and adhering to the form made use of by their an­cestors from time immemorial.

I remarke [...] that most of the females, who dwell on the east side of the Mississippi, decorate their heads by inclosing their hair either in ribands, or in plates of silver; the latter is only made use of by the higher ranks, as it is a costly ornament. The silver they use on this occasion is formed into thin plates of about four inches broad, in several of which they confine their hair. That plate which is nearest the head is of a con­siderable width; the next narrower, and made so as to pass a little way under the other, and in this manner they fasten into each other, and gradually tapering, descend to the waist. The hair of the Indian women being in general very long, this proves an expensive method.

But the women that live to the west of the Mississippi, viz. the Naudowessies, the Assinipoils, &c. divide their hair in the middle of the head, and form it into two rolls, one against each ear. These rolls are about three inches long, and as large as their wrists. They hang in a perpendicular attitude at the front of each ear, and descend as far as the lower part of it.

[Page 102]The women of every nation generally place a spot of paint, about the size of a crown-piece, against each ear; some of them put paint on their hair, and sometimes a small spot in the middle of the forehead.

The Indians, in general, pay a greater attention to their dress, and to the ornaments with which they decorate their per­sons, than to the accommodation of their huts or tents. They construct the latter in the following simple and expeditious manner.

Being provided with poles of a proper length, they fasten two of them across, near their ends, with bands made of bark. Having done this, they raise them up, and extend the bottom of each as wide as they purpose to make the area of the tent: they then erect others of an equal height, and fix them so as to support the two principal ones. On the whole they lay skins of the elk or deer, sewed together, in quantity sufficient to cover the poles, and by lapping over to form the door. A great number of skins are sometimes required for this purpose, as some of their tents are very capacious. That of the chief warrior of the Naudowessies was at least forty feet in circum­ference, and very commodious.

They observe no regularity in fixing their tents when they encamp, but place them just as it suits their conveniency.

The huts also, which those who use not tents, erect when they travel, for very few tribes have fixed abodes, or regular towns, or villages, are equally simple, and almost as soon con­structed.

They fix small pliable poles in the ground, and bending them till they meet at the top and form a semi-circle, then lash them together. Th [...]se they cover with mats made of rushes platted, or with birch bark, which they carry with them in their canoes for this purpose.

These cabins have neither chimnies nor windows; there is only a small aperture left in the middle of the roofs through which the smoke is discharged, but as this is obliged to be stop­ped up when it rains or snows violently, the smoke then proves exceedingly troublesome.

They lie on skins, generally those of the bear, which are placed in rows on the ground; and if the floor is not large enough to contain beds sufficient for the accommodation of the whole family, a frame is erected about four or five feet from the ground, in which the younger part of it sleep.

As the habitations of the Indians are thus rude, their do­mestic utensils are few in number, and plain in their formation. The tools wherewith they fashion them are so aukward and de­fective, that it is not only impossible to form them with any de­gree of neatness or elegance, but the time required in the exe­cution is so considerable, as to deter them from engaging in the manufacture of such as are not absolutely necessary.

The Naudowessies make the pots in which they boil their vic­tuals [Page 103] of the black clay or stone mentioned in my journal; which resists the effects of the fire, nearly as well as iron. When they roast, if it is a large joint, or a whole animal, such as a beaver, they fix it as Europeans do, on a spit made of a hard wood, and placing the ends on two forked props, now and then turn it. If the piece is smaller they spit it as before, and fixing the spit in an erect but slanting position, with the meat inclin­ing towards the fire, frequently change the sides, till every part is sufficiently roasted.

They make their dishes in which they serve up their meat, and their bowls and pans, out of the knotty excrescences of the maple tree, or any other wood. They fashion their spoons with a tolerable degree of neatness (as these require much less trouble than large utensils) from a wood that is termed in Ame­rica Spoon Wood, and which greatly resembles box wood.

Every tribe are now possessed of knives, and steels to strike fire with. These being so essentially needful for the common uses of life, those who have not an immediate communication with the European traders, purchase them of such their neigh­bours as are situated nearer the settlements, and generally give in exchange for them slaves.

CHAPTER III. Of their MANNERS, QUALIFICATIONS, &c.

WHEN the Indian women sit down, they place themselves in a decent attitude, with their knees close together; but from being accustomed to this posture, they walk badly, and appear to be lame.

They have no midwives amongst them, their climate, or some peculiar happiness in their constitutions; rendering any assist­ance at that time unnecessary. On these occasions they are con­fined but a few hours from their usual employments, which are commonly very laborious, as the men, who are remarkably in­dolent, leave to them every kind of drudgery; even in their hunting parties the former will not deign to bring home the game, but send their wives for it, though it lies it a very con­siderable distance.

The women place their children soon after they are born on boards stuffed with soft moss, such as is found in morasses or meadows. The child is laid on its back in one of these kind of cradles, and, being wrapped in skins or cloth to keep it warm, is secured in it by small bent pieces of timber.

[Page 104]To these machines they fasten strings, by which they hang them to branches of trees; or if they find not trees at hand, fasten them to a stump or stone, whilst they transact any needful business. In this position are the children kept for some months, When they are taken out, the boys are suffered to go naked, and the girls are covered from the neck to the knees with a shift and a short petticoat.

The Indian women are remarkably decent during their men­strual illness. Those nations that are most remote from the European settlements, as the Naudowessies, &c. are more par­ticularly attentive to this point; though they all without excep­tion adhere in some degree to the same custom.

In every camp or town there is an appartment appropriated for their retirement at this time, to which both single and mar­ried retreat, and seclude themselves with the utmost strictness during this period from all society. Afterwards they purify themselves in running streams, and return to their different em­ployments.

The men on these occasions most carefully avoid holding any communication with them; and the Naudowessies are so rigid in this observance, that they will not suffer any belonging to them to fetch such things as are necessary, even fire, from these fe­male lunar retreats, though the want of them is attended with the greatest inconvenience. They are also so superstitious as to think, if a pipe stem cracks, which among them is made of wood, that the possessor has either lighted it at one of these polluted fires, or held some converse with a woman during her retire­ment, which is esteemed by them most disgraceful and wicked.

The Indians are extremely circumspect and deliberate in eve­ry word and action; there is nothing that hurries them into any intemperate warmth, but that inveteracy to their enemies, which is rooted in every Indian heart, and never can be era­dicated. In all other instances they are cool, and remarkably cautious, taking care not to betray on any account whatever their emotions. If an Indian has discovered that a friend is in danger of being intercepted and cut of by one to whom he has rendered himself obnoxious; he does not inform him in plain and explicit terms of the danger he runs by pursuing the track near which his enemy lies in wait for him, but he first cooly asks him which way he is going that day; and having received his answer, with the same indifference tells him that he has been informed that a dog lies near the spot, which might probably do him a mischief. This hint proves sufficient; and his friend avoids the danger with as much caution as if every design and motion of his enemy had been pointed out to him.

This apathy often shews itself on occasions that would call forth all the fervour of a susceptible heart. If an Indian has been absent from his family and friends many months, either on a war or hunting party, when his wife and children meet him at some distance from his hahitation, instead of the affectionate sen­sations [Page 105] that would naturally arise in the breast of more refined beings, and be productive of mutual congratulations, he conti­nues his course without paying the least attention to those who surround him, till he arrives at his home.

He there sits down, and with the same unconcern as if he had not been absent a day, smokes his pipe; those of his ac­quaintance who have followed him, do the same; and perhaps it is several hours before he relates to them the incidents which have befallen him during his absence, though perhaps he has left a father, brother, or son on the field, whose loss he ought to have lamented, or has been unsuccessful in the undertaking that called him from his home.

Has an Indian been engaged for several days in the chace, or on any other laborious expedition, and by accident continued thus long without food, when he arrives at the hut or tent of a friend where he knows his wants may be immediately supplied, he takes care not to show the least symptoms of impatience, or to be­tray the extreme hunger by which he is tortured; but on being invited in, sits contentedly down, and smokes his pipe with as much composure as if every appetite was allayed, and he was perfectly at ease; he does the same if among strangers. This custom is strictly adhered to by every tribe, as they esteem it a proof of fortitude, and think the reverse would intitle them to the appellation of old women.

If you tell an Indian that his children have greatly signalized themselves against an enemy, have taken many scalps, and brought home many prisoners, he does not appear to feel any extraor­dinary pleasure on the occasion; his answer generally is, "It "is well," and he makes very little further enquiry about it. On the contrary, if you inform him that his children are slain or taken prisoners, he makes no complaints, he only replies, "It "does not signify;" and probably, for some time at least, asks not how it happened.

This seeming indifference, however, does not proceed from an entire suppression of the natural affections; for notwithstand­ing they are esteemed savages, I never saw among any other people greater proofs of parental or filial tenderness; and al­though they meet their wives after a long absence with the stoical indifference just mentioned, they are not, in general, void of conjugal affection.

Another peculiarity is observable in their manner of paying their visits. If an Indian goes to visit a particular person in a family, he mentions to whom his visit is intended, and the rest of the family immediately retiring to the other end of the hu [...] or tent, are careful not to come near enough to interrupt them during the whole of the conversation. The same method is pursued if a man goes to pay his respects to one of the other sex; but then he must be careful not to let love be the subject of his discourse, whilst the day light remains.

[Page 106]The Indians discover an amazing sagacity, and acquire with the greatest readiness any thing that depends upon the attention of the mind. By experience and an acute observation, they attain many perfections to which Europeans are strangers. For instance, they will cross a forest or a plain which is two hundred miles in breadth, and reach with great exactness the point at which they intended to arrive, keeping during the whole of that space in a direct line, without any material deviations; and this they will do with the same ease, whether the weather be fair or cloudy.

With equal acuteness will they point to that part of the hea­vens the sun is in, though it be intercepted by clouds or fogs. Besides this, they are able to pursue with incredible facility the traces of man or beast, either on leaves or grass; and on this account it is with great difficulty a flying enemy escapes disco­very.

They are indebted for these talents not only to nature, but to an extraordinary command of the intellectual faculties, which can only be acquired by an unremitted attention, and by long experience.

They are in general very happy in a retentive memory; they can recapitulate every particular that has been treated of in council, and remember the exact time when these were held. Their belts of wampum preserve the substance of the treaties they have concluded with the neighbouring tribes for ages back, to which they will appeal, and refer with as much perspicuity and readiness as Europeans can to their written records.

Every nation pays great respect to old age. The advice of a father will seldom meet with any extraordinary attention from the young Indians, probably they receive it with only a bare assent; but they will tremble before a grandfather, and submit to his injunction with the utmost alacrity. The words of the ancient part of their community are esteemed by the young as oracles. If they take during their hunting parties any game that is reckoned by them uncommonly delicious, it is immedia­tely presented to the oldest of their relations.

They never suffer themselves to be overburdened with care, but live in a state of perfect tranquillity and contentment. Being naturally indolent, if provision just sufficient for their subsistence can be procured with little trouble, and near at hand, they will not go far, or take any extraordinary pains for it, though by so doing they might acquire greater plenty, and of a more estim­able kind.

Having much leisure time they indulge this indolence to which they are so prone, by eating, drinking, or sleeping, and rambling about in their towns or camps. But when necessity obliges them to take the field, either to oppose an enemy, or to procure themselves food, they are alert and indefatigable. Ma­ny instances of their activity, on these occasions, will be given when I treat of their wars.

[Page 107]The infatuating spirit of gaming is not confined to Europe; the Indians also feel the bewitching impulse, and often lose their arms, their apparel, and every thing they are possessed of. In this case, however, they do not follow the example of more refined gamesters, for they neither murmur nor repine; not a fretful word escapes them, but they bear the frowns of fortune with a philosophic composure.

The greatest blemish in their character is that savage disposi­tion which impels them to treat their enemies with a severity every other nation shudders at. But if they are thus barba­rous to those with whom they are at war, they are friendly, hos­pitable, and humane in peace. It may with truth be said of them that they are the worst enemies, and the best friends, of any people in the whole world.

The Indians in general are strangers to the passion of jealou­sy; and brand a man with folly that is distrustful of his wife. Among some bands the very Idea is not known; as the most abandoned of their young men very rarely attempt the virtue of married women, nor do these often put themselves in the way of solicitation. Yet the Indian women in general are of an amorous temperature, and before they are married are not the less esteemed for the indulgence of their passions.

The Indians in their common state are strangers to all distinc­tion of property, except in the articles of domestic use, which every one considers as his own, and increases as circumstances admit. They are extremely liberal to each other, and supply the deficiency of their friends with any superfluity of their own.

In dangers they readily give assistance to those of their band, who stand in need of it, without any expectation of return, ex­cept of those just rewards that are always conferred by the In­dians on merit. Governed by the plain and equitable laws of nature, every one is rewarded solely according to his deserts; and their equality of condition, manners, and privileges, with that constant and sociable familiarity which prevails through­out every Indian nation, animates them with a pure and truly pa­triotic spirit, that tends to the general good of the society to which they belong.

If any of their neighbours are bereaved by death, or by an enemy of their children, those who are possessed of the greatest number of slaves, supply the deficiency; and these are adopted by them, and treated in every respect as if they really were the children of the person to whom they are presented.

The Indians, except those who live adjoining to the Europe­an colonies, can form to themselves no idea of the value of mo­ney; they consider it, when they are made acquainted with the uses to which it is applied by other nations, as the source of in­numerable evils. To it they attribute all the mischiefs that are prevalent among Europeans, such as treachery, plundering, devastations, and murder.

[Page 108]They esteem it irrational that one man should be possessed of a greater quantity than another, and are amazed that any honour should be annexed to the possession of it. But that the want of this useless metal should be the cause of depriving persons of their liberty, and that on account of this partial distribution of it, great numbers should be immured within the dreary walls of a prison, cut off from that society of which they constitute a part, exceeds their belief. Nor do they fail, on hearing this part of the European system of government related, to charge the institutors of it with a total want of humanity, and to brand them with the names of savages and brutes.

They shew almost an equal degree of indifference for the pro­ductions of art. When any of these are shewn them, they say, "It is pretty, I like to look at it," but are not inquisitive about the construction of it, neither can they form proper conceptions of its use. But if you tell them of a person who is able to run with great agility, that is well skilled in hunting, can direct with unerring aim a gun, or bend with ease a bow, that can dex­trously work a canoe, understands the art of war, is acquainted with the situation of a country, and can make his way without a guide, through an immense forest, subsisting during this on a small quantity of provisions, they are in raptures; they listen with great attention to the pleasing tale, and bestow the highest commendations on the hero of it.

CHAPTER IV. Their Method of reckoning TIME, &c.

CONSIDERING their ignorance of astronomy, time is very rationally divided by the Indians. Those in the in­terior parts (and of those I would generally be understood to speak) count their years by winters; or, as they express them­selves, by snows.

Some nations among them reckon their years by moons, and make them consist of twelve synodical or lunar months, observ­ing, when thirty moons have waned, to add a supernumerary one, which they term the lost moon; and then begin to count as before. They pay a great regard to the first appearance of every moon, and on the occasion always repeat some joyful sounds, stretching at the same time their hands towards it.

Every month has with them a name expressive of its season; for instance, they call the month of March (in which their year [Page 109] generally begins at the first New Moon after the vernal Equinox) the Worm Month or Moon; because at this time the worms quit their retreats in the bark of the trees, wood, &c. where they have sheltered themselves during the winter.

The month of April is termed by them the month of Plants. May, the Month of Flowers. June, the Hot Moon. July, the Buck Moon. Their reason for thus denominating these is obvious.

August, the Sturgeon Moon; because in this month they catch great numbers of that fish.

September, the Corn Moon; because in that month they ga­ther in their Indian corn.

October, the Travelling Moon; as they leave at this time their villages, and travel towards the places where they intend to hunt during the winter.

November, the Beaver Moon; for in this month the beavers begin to take shelter in their houses, having laid up a sufficient store of provisions for the winter season.

December, the Hunting Moon, because they employ this month in pursuit of their game.

January, the Cold Moon, as it generally freezes harder, and the cold is more intense in this than in any other month.

February they call the Snow Moon, because more snow com­monly falls during this month, than any other in the winter.

When the moon does not shine they say the moon is dead; and some call the three last days of it the naked days. The moon's first appearance they term its coming to life again.

They make no division of weeks; but days they count by sleeps; half days by pointing to the sun at noon; and quarters by the rising and the setting of the sun: to express which in their tra­ditions they make use of very significant hieroglyphicks.

The Indians are totally unskilled in geography as well as all the other sciences, and yet, as I have before hinted, they draw on their birch bark very exact charts or maps of the countries with which they are acquainted. The latitude and longitude is only wanting to make them tolerably complete.

Their sole knowledge in astronomy consists in being able to point out the pole-star; by which they regulate their course when they travel in the night.

They reckon the distance of places, not by miles or leagues, but by a day's journey, which, according to the best calculations I could make, appears to be about twenty English miles. These they also divide into halves and quarters, and will demonstrate them in their maps with great exactness, by the hieroglyphicks just mentioned, when they regulate in council their war parties, or their most distant hunting excursions.

They have no idea of arithmetic; and though they are able to count to any number, [...]gures as well as letters appear myste­rious to them, and above their comprehension.

[Page 110]During my abode with the Naudowessies, some of the chiefs observing one day a draft of an eclipse of the moon, in a book of astronomy which I held in my hand, they desired I would per­mit them to look at it. Happening to give them the book shut, they began to count the leaves till they came to the place in which the plate was. After they had viewed it, and asked ma­ny questions relative to it, I told them they needed not to have taken so much pains to find the leaf on which it was drawn, for I could not only tell in an instant the place, without counting the leaves, but also how many preceded it.

They seemed great [...]y amazed at my assertion, and begged that I would demonstrate to them the possibility of doing it. To this purpose I desired the chief that held the book, to open it at any particular place, and just shewing me the page carefully to con­ceal the edges of the leaves, so that I might not be able to count them.

This he did with the greatest caution; notwithstanding which, by looking at the folio, I told him, to his great surprize, the number of leaves. He counted them regularly over, and dis­covered that I was exact. And when, after repeated trials, the Indians found I could do it with great readiness, and without ever erring in my calculation, they all seemed as much astonished as if I had raised the dead. The only way they could account for my knowledge, was by concluding that the book was a spirit, and whispered me answers to whatever I demanded of it.

This circumstan [...] [...] as it might appear to those who are less illiterate, contributed to increase my consequence, and to augment the favourable opinion they already entertained of me.

CHAPTER V. Of their GOVERNMENT, &c.

EVERY separate body of Indians is divided into bands or tribes; which band or tribe forms a little community with the nation to which it belongs. As the nation has some parti­cular symbol by which it is distinguished from others, so each tribe has a badge from which it is denominated: as that of the Eagle, the Panther, the Tiger, the Buffalo, &c. &c. One band of the Naudowessie is represented by a Snake, another a Tor­toise, a third a Squirrel, a fourth a Wolf, and a fifth a Buffalo. Throughout every nation they particularize themselves in the same manner, and the meanest person among them will remember his lineal descent, and distinguish himself by his respective fa­mily.

[Page 111]Did not many circumstances tend to confute the supposition, I should be almost induced to conclude from this distinction of tribes, and the particular attachment of the Indians to them, that they derive their origin, as some have asserted, from the Israelites.

Besides this, every nation distinguish themselves by the man­ner of constructing their tents or huts. And so well versed are all the Indians in this distinction, that though there appears to be no difference on the nicest observation made by an European, yet they will immediately discover, from the position of a pole left in the ground, what nation has encamped on the spot many months before.

Every band has a chief who is termed the Great Chief or the chief Warrior; and who is chosen in consideration of his expe­rience in war, and of his approved valour, to direct their mili­tary operations, and to regulate all concerns belonging to that department. But this chief is not considered as the head of the state; besides the great warrior who is elected for his war-like qualifications, there is another who enjoys a pre-eminence as his hereditary right, and has the more immediate management of their civil affairs. This chief might with greater propriety be denominated the Sachem; whose assent is necessary in all con­veyances and treaties, to which he affixes the mark of the tribe or nation.

Though these two are considerd as the heads of the band, and the [...]atter is usually denominated their king, yet the Indians are sensible of neither civil or military subordination. As every one of them entertains a high opinion of his consequence, and is extremely tenacious of his liberty, all injunctions that carry with them the appearance of a positive command, are instantly re­jected with scorn.

On this account, it is seldom that their leaders are so indis­creet as to give out any of their orders in a peremptory stile; a bare hint from a chief that he thinks such a thing necessary to be done, instantly arouses an emulation among the inferior ranks, and it is immediately executed with great alacrity. By this me­thod the disgustful part of the command is evaded, and an au­thority that falls little short of absolute sway instituted in its room.

Among the Indians no visible form of government is establish­ed; they allow of no such distinction as magistrate and subject, every one appearing to enjoy an independence that cannot be controuled. The object of government among them is rather foreign than domestic, for their attention seems more to be em­ployed in preserving such an union among the members of their tribe as will enable them to watch the motions of their enemies, and to act against them with concert and vigour, than to main­tain interior order by any public regulations. If a scheme that appears to be of service to the community is proposed by the chief, every one is at liberty to chuse whether he will assist in [Page 112] carrying it on; for they have no compulsory laws that lay them under any restrictions. If violence is committed, or blood is shed, the right of revenging these misdemeanours are left to the family of the injured; the chiefs assume neither the power of inflicting or moderating the punishment.

Some nations, where the dignity is hereditary, limit the suc­cession to the female line. On the death of a chief, his sister's son sometimes succeeds him in preference to his own son; and if he happens to have no sister, the nearest female relation as­sumes the dignity. This accounts for a woman being at the head of the Winnebagoe nation, which, before I was acquainted with their laws, appeared strange to me.

Each family has a right to appoint one of its chiefs to be an assistant to the principal chief, who watches over the interest of his family, and without whose consent nothing of a public na­ture can be carried into execution. These are generally chosen for their ability in speaking; and such only are permitted to make orations in their councils and general assemblies.

In this body, with the hereditary chief at its head, the su­preme authority appears to be lodged; as by its determinati­on every transaction relative to their hunting, to their making war or peace, and to all their public concerns are regulated. Next to these, the body of warriors, which comprehends all that are able bear arms, hold their rank. This division has some­times at its head the chief of the nation, if he has signalized himself by any renowned action, if not, some chief that has rendered himself famous.

In their councils, which are held by the foregoing members, every affair of consequence is debated; and no enterprize of the least moment undertaken, unless it there meets with the ge­neral approbation of the chiefs. They commonly assemble in a hut or tent appropriated to this purpose, and being seated in a circle on the ground, the eldest chief rises and makes a speech; when he has concluded, another gets up; and thus they all speak, if necessary by turns.

On this occasion their language is nervous, and their manner of expression emphatical. Their style is adorned with images, comparisons, and strong metaphors, and is equal in allegories to that of any of the eastern nations. In all their set speeches they express themselves with much vehemence, but in common discourse according to our usual method of speech.

The young men are suffered to be present at the councils, though they are not allowed to make a speech till they are re­gularly admitted: they however listen with great attention, and to shew that they both understand, and approve of the resolu­tions taken by the assembled chiefs, they frequently exclaim, "That is right." "That is good."

The customary mode among all the ranks of expressing their assent, and which they repeat at the end of almost every period, is by uttering a kind of forcible aspiration, which sounds like an union of the letters OAH.

CHAPTER. VI. Of their FEASTS.

MANY of the Indian nations neither make use of bread, salt, or spices; and some of them have never seen or tasted of either. The Naudowessies in particular have no bread, no [...] any substitute for it. They eat the wild rice which grows in great quantities in different parts of their territories; but they boil it and eat it alone. They also eat the flesh of the beasts they kill, without having recourse to any farinaceous substance to absorb the grosser particles of it. And even when they consume the sugar which they have extracted from the maple tree, they use it not to render some other food palatable, but generally eat it by itself.

Neither have they any idea of the use of milk, although they might collect great quantities from the buffalo or the elk; they only consider it as proper for the nutriment of the young of these beasts during their tender state. I could not perceive that any inconveniency attended the total disuse of articles esteemed so necessary and nutricious by other nations, on the contrary, they are in general healthy and vigorous.

One dish however, which answers nearly the same purpose as bread, is in use among the Ottagaumies, the Sau [...]ies, and the more eastern nations, where Indian corn [...]ows, which is not only much esteemed by them, but it is reckoned extremely palat­able by all the Europeans who enter their dominions. This is composed of their unripe corn as before described, and beans in the same state, boiled together with bear's flesh, the fat of which moistens the pulse, and renders it beyond comparison de­licious. They call this food Succatosh.

The Indians are far from being canibals, as they are said to be. All their victuals are either roasted or boiled; and this in the extreme. Their drink is generally the broth in which it has been boiled.

Their food consists of the flesh of the bear, the buffalo, the elk, the deer, the beaver, and the racoon; which they prepare in the manner just mentioned. They usually eat the flesh of the deer which is naturally dry, with that of the bear which is fat and juicy; and though the latter is extremely rich and luscious, [...] is never known to cloy.

[Page 114]In the spring of the year the Naudowessies eat the inside bark of a shrub, that they gather in some part of their country; but I could neither learn the name of it, or discover from whence they got it. It was of a brittle nature and easily masticated. The taste of it was very agreeable, and they said it was ex­tremely nourishing. In flavour it was not unlike the turnip, and when received into the mouth resembled that root both in its pulpous and frangible nature.

The lower ranks of the Indians are exceedingly nasty in dres­sing their victuals, but some of the chiefs are very neat and clean­ly in their apparel, tents, and food.

They commonly eat in large parties, so that their meals may properly be termed feasts; and this they do without being restricted to any fixed or regular hours, but just as their appe­tites require, and convenience suits.

They usually dance either before or after every meal; and by this cheerfulness probably render the Great Spirit, to whom they consider themselves as indebted for every good, a more acceptable sacrifice than a formal and unanimated thanksgiving. The men and women feast apart: and each sex invite by turns their companions, to partake with them of the food they happen to have; but in their domestic way of living the men and women eat together.

No people are more hospitable, kind, and free than the In­dians. They will readily share with any of their own tribe the last part of their provisions, and even with those of a different nation, if they chance to come in when they are eating. Though they do not keep one common stock, yet that community of goods which is so prevalent among them, and their generous disposition, render it nearly of the same effect.

When the chiefs are convened on any public business, they always conclude with a feast, at which their festivity and cheer­fulness knows no limits.

CHAPTER VII. Of their DANCES.

DANCING is a favourite exercise among the Indians; they never meet on any public occasion, but this makes a part of the entertainment. And when they are not engaged in war or hunting, the youth of both sexes amuse themselves [...] this manner every evening.

They always dance, as I have just observed, at their [...] [Page 115] In these as well as all their other dances, every man rises in his turn, and moves about with great freedom and boldness; singing as he does so, the exploits of his ancestors. During this the company, who are seated on the ground in a circle, around the dancer, join with him in marking the cadence, by an odd tone, which they utter all together, and which sounds, "Heh, heh, heh." These notes, if they might be so termed, are articulated with a harsh accent, and strained out with the utmost force of their lungs: so that one would imagine their strength must be soon exhausted by it; instead of which, they repeat it with the same violence during the whole of their en­tertainment.

The women, particularly those of the western nations, dance very gracefully. They carry themselves erect, and with their arms hanging down close to their sides, move first a few yards to the right, and then back again to the left. This movement they perform without taking any steps as an European would do, but with their feet conjoined, moving by turns their toes and heels. In this manner they glide with great agility to a certain distance▪ and then return; and let those who join in the dance be ever so numerous, they keep time so exactly with each other that no interruption ensues. During this, at stated periods, they mingle their shrill voices, with the hoarser ones of the men, who sit around (for it is to be observed that the sexes never intermix in the same dance) which, with the music of the drums and chichicoes, make an agreeable harmony.

The Indians have several kinds of dances, which they use on different occasions, as the Pipe or Ca [...]mate Dance, the War Dance, the Marriage Dance, and the Dance of the Sacrifice. The movements in every one of these are dissimilar; but it is almost impossible to convey any idea of the points in which they are unlike.

Different nations likewise vary in their manner of dancing. The Chipéways throw themselves into a greater variety of at­titudes than any other people; sometimes they hold their heads erect, at others they bend them almost to the ground; then re­cline on one side, and immediately after on the other. The Naudowessies carry themselves more upright, step firmer, and move more gracefully. But they all accompany their dances with the disagreeable noise just mentioned.

The Pipe Dance is the principal, and the most pleasing to a spectator of any of them, being the least frantic, and the move­ment of it most graceful. It is but on particular occasions that it is used▪ as when ambassadors from an enemy arrive to treat of peace, or when strangers of eminence pass through their territories.

The War Dance, which they use both before they set out on their war parties, and on their return from them, strikes ter­ror into strangers. It is performed, as the others, amidst a cir­ [...]le of the warriors; a chief generally begins it, who moves [Page 116] from the right to the left, singing at the same time both his own exploits, and those of his ancestors. When he has concluded his account of any memorable action, he gives a violent blow with his war-club, against a post that is fixed in the ground, near the center of the assembly, for this purpose.

Every one dances in his turn, and recapitulates the wondrous deeds of his family, till they all at last join in the dance. Then it becomes truly alarming to any stranger that happens to be among them, as they throw themselves into every horrible and terrifying posture that can be imagined, rehearsing at the same time the parts they expect to act against their enemies in the field. During this they hold their sharp knives in their hands, with which, as they whirl about, they are every moment in danger of cutting each others throats; and did they not shun the threatened mischief with inconceivable dexterity, it could not be avoided. By these motions they intend to represent the manner in which they kill, scalp, and take their prisoners. To heighten the scene, they set up the same hideous yells, cries, and war hoops they use in time of action: so that it is impos­sible to consider them in any other light than as an assembly of demons.

I have frequently joined in this dance with them, but it soon ceased to be an amusement to me, as I could not lay aside my apprehensions of receiving some dreadful wound, that from the violence of their gestures must have proved mortal.

I found that the nations to the westward of the Mississippi, and on the borders of Lake Superior, still continue to make use of the Pawwaw or Black Dance. The people of the colonies tell a thousand ridiculous stories of the Devil being raised in this dance by the Indians. But they allow that this was in former times, and is now nearly extinct among those who live adjacent to the European settleme [...]s. However I discovered that it was still used in the interior [...]rts; and though I did not actually see the Devil raised by it, I was witness to some scenes that could on­ly be performed by such as dealt with him, or were very expert and dextrous jugglers.

Whilst I was among the Naudowessies, a dance, which they thus termed, was performed. Before the dance began, one of the Indians was admitted into a society which they denominated Wakon-Kitchewah, that is, the Friendly Society of the Spirit. This society is composed of persons of both sexes, but such on­ly can be admitted into it as are of unexceptionable character, and who receive the approbation of the whole body. To this ad­mission succeeded the Pawwaw Dance (in which I saw nothing that could give rise to the reports I had heard) and the whole, according to their usual custom, concluded with a grand feast.

The initiation being attended with some very singular circum­stances, which, as I have before observed, must be either the effect of magic, or of amazing dexterity, I shall give a particular account of the whole procedure. It was performed at the time of [Page 117] the new moon, in a place appropriated to the purpose, near the centre of their camp, that would contain about two hundred peo­ple. Being a stranger, and on all occasions treated by them with great civility, I was invited to see the ceremony, and placed close to the rails of the inclosure.

About twelve o'clock they began to assemble; when the sun shone bright, which they considered as a good omen, for they never by choice hold any of their public meetings unless the sky be clear and unclouded. A great number of chiefs first appear­ed, who were dressed in their best apparel; and after them came the head-warrior, clad in a long robe of rich furs, that trailed on the ground, attended by a retinue of fifteen or twenty per­sons, painted and dressed in the gayest manner. Next followed the wives of such as had been already admitted into the socie­ty; and in the rear a confused heap of the lower ranks, all con­tributing as much as lay in their power to make the appearance grand and showy.

When the assembly was seated, and silence proclaimed, one of the principal chiefs arose, and in a short but masterly speech informed his audience of the occasion of their meeting. He ac­quainted them that one of their young men wished to be admit­ted into their society; and taking him by the hand presented him to their view, asking them, at the same time, whether they had any objection to his becoming one of their community.

No objection being made, the young candidate was placed in the centre, and four of the chiefs took their stations close to him; after exhorting him, by turns, not to faint under the ope­ration he was about to go through, but to behave like an In­dian and a man, two of them took hold of his arms, and caused him to kneel; another placed himself behind him, so as to re­ceive him when he fell, and the last of the four retired to the distance of about twelve feet from him exactly in front.

This disposition being completed, the chief that stood before the kneeling candidate, began to speak to him with an audible voice. He told him that he himself was now agitated by the same spirit which he should in a few moments communicate to him; that it would strike him dead, but that he would instantly be restored again to life; to this he added, that the communicati­on, however terrifying, was a necessary introduction to the ad­vantages enjoyed by the community into which he was on the point of being admitted.

As he spoke this, he appeared to be greatly agitated; till at last his emotions became so violent, that his countenance was distorted, and his whole frame convulsed. At this juncture he threw something that appeared both in shape and colour like a small bean, at the young man, which seemed to enter his mouth, and he instantly fell as motionless as if he had been shot. The chief that was placed behind him received him in his arms, and, by the assistance of the other two, laid him on the ground to all appearance bereft of life.

[Page 118]Having done this, they immediately began to rub his limbs, and to strike him on the back, giving him such blows, as seemed more calculated to still the quick, than to raise the dead. Du­ring these extraordinary applications, the speaker continued his harangue, desiring the spectators not to be surprized, or to de­spair of the young man's recovery, as his present inanimate situ­ation proceeded only from the forcible operation of the spirit, on faculties that had hitherto been unused to inspirations of this kind.

The candidate lay several minutes without sense or motion; but at length, after receiving many violent blows, he began to discover some symptoms of returning life. These, however, were attended with strong convulsions, and an apparent obstruc­tion in his throat. But they were soon at an end; for having discharged from his mouth the bean, or whatever it was that the chief had thrown at him, but which on the closest inspection I had not perceived to enter it, he soon after appeared to be to­lerably recovered.

This part of the ceremony being happily effected, the offici­ating chiefs disrobed him of the cloaths he had usually worn, and put on him a set of apparel entirely new. When he was dressed, the speaker once more took him by the hand, and pre­sented him to the society as a regular and thoroughly initiated member, exhorting them, at the same time, to give him such necessary assistance, as being a young member, he might stand in need of. He then also charged the newly elected brother to receive with humility, and to follow with punctuality the advice of his elder brethren.

All those who had been admitted within the rails, now form­ed a circle around their new brother, and the music striking up, the great chief sung a song, celebrating as usual their martial exploits.

The only music they make use of is a drum, which is compos­ed of a piece of a hollow tree curiously wrought, and over one end of which is strained a skin, this they beat with a single stick, and it gives a sound that is far from harmonious, but it just serves to beat time with. To this they sometimes add the chichicoe, and in their war dances they likewise use a kind of fife, formed of a reed, which makes a shrill harsh noise.

The whole assembly were by this time united, and the dance began; several singers assisted the music with their voices, and the women joining in the chorus at certain intervals, they pro­duced together a not unpleasing but savage harmony. This was one of the most agreeable entertainments I saw whilst I was among them.

I could not help laughing at a singular childish custom I observ­ed they introduced into this dance, and which was the only one that had the least appearance of conjuration. Most of the mem­bers carried in their hands an otter or martin's skin, which be­ing taken whole from the body, and filled with wind, on being [Page 119] compressed made a squeaking noise through a small piece of wood organically formed and fixed in its mouth. When this instrument was presented to the face of any of the company, and the sound emitted, the person receiving it instantly fell down to appear­ance dead. Sometimes two or three, both men and women, were on the ground together; but immediately recovering, they rose up and joined again in the dance. This seemed to afford, even the chiefs themselves, infinite diversion. I afterwards learned that these were their Di [...] Penates or Houshold Gods.

After some hours spent in this manner the feast began; the dishes being brought near me, I perceived that they consisted of dog's flesh; and I was informed that at all their public grand feasts they never made use of any other kind of food. For this purpose, at the feast I am now speaking of, the new candidate provides fat dogs, if they can be procured at any price.

In this custom of eating dog's flesh on particular occasions, they resemble the inhabitants of some of the countries that lie on the north-east borders of Asia. The author of the account of Kamschatka, published by order of the Empress of Russia (before referred to) informs us, that the people inhabiting Ko­reka, a country north of Kamschatka, who wander about in hords like the Arabs, when they pay their worship to the evil beings, kill a rein-deer or a dog, the flesh of which they eat, and leave the head and tongue sticking on a pole with the front towards the east. Also that when they are afraid of any infecti­ous distemper, they kill a dog, and winding the guts about two poles, pass between them. These customs, in which they are nearly imitated by the Indians, seem to add strength to my sup­position, that America was first peopled from this quarter.

I know not under what class of dances to rank that perform­ed by the Indians who came to my tent when I landed near Lake Pepin, on the banks of the Mississippi, as related in my Journals. When I looked out, as I there mentioned, I saw about twenty naked young Indians, the most perfect in their shape, and by far the handsomest of any I had ever seen, coming towards me, and dancing as they approached, to the music of their drums. At every ten or twelve yards they halted, and set up their yells and cries.

When they reached my tent, I asked them to come in; which, without deigning to make me any answer, they did. As I ob­served that they were painted red and black, as they usually are when they go against an enemy, and perceived that some parts of the war-dance were intermixed with their other movements, I doubted not but they were set on by the inimical chief who had refused my salutation: I therefore determined to sell my life as dear as possible. To this purpose, I received them sitting on my chest, with my gun and pistols beside me, and ordered my men to keep a watchful eye on them, and to be also upon their guard.

[Page 120]The Indians being entered, they continued their dance alter­nately, singing at the same time of their heroic exploits, and the superiority of their race over every other people. To enforce their language, though it was uncommonly nervous and expres­sive, and such as would of itself have carried terror to the firm­est heart, at the end of every period they struck their war-clubs against the poles of my tent, with such violence, that I expect­ed every moment it would have tumbled upon us. As each of them, in dancing round, passed by me, they placed their right hands over their eyes, and coming close to me, looked me steadily in the face, which I could not construe into a token of friendship. My men gave themselves up for lost, and I acknow­ledge, for my own part, that I never found my apprehensions more tumultuous on any occasion.

When they had nearly ended their dance, I presented to them the pipe of peace, but they would not receive it. I then, as my last resource, thought I would try what presents would do; accordingly I took from my chest some ribands and trinkets, which I laid before them. These seemed to stagger their reso­lutions, and to avert in some degree their anger; for after hold­ing a consultation together, they sat down on the ground, which I considered as a favourable omen.

Thus it proved, as in a short time they received the pipe of peace, and lighting it, first presented it to me, and then smoak­ed with it themselves. Soon after they took up the presents, which had hitherto lain neglected, and appearing to be greatly pleased with them, departed in a friendly manner. And never did I receive greater pleasure than at getting rid of such formid­able guests.

It was not ever in my power to gain a thorough knowledge of the designs of my visitors: I had sufficient reason to conclude that they were hostile, and that their visit, at so late an hour, was made through the instigation of the Grand Sautor; but I was afterwards informed that it might be intended as a compli­ment which they usually pay to the chiefs of every other nation who happen to fall in with them, and that the circumstances in their conduct, which had appeared so suspicious to me, were merely the effects of their vanity, and designed to impress on the minds of those whom they thus visited an elevated opinion of their valour and prowess. In the morning before I continu­ed my route, several of their wives brought me a present of some sugar, for whom I found a few more ribands.

The Dance of the sacrifice is not so denominated from their offering up at the same time a sacrifice to any good or evil spi­rit, but is a dance to which the Naudowessies give that title from being used when any public fortunate circumstance befals them. Whilst I resided among them, a fine large deer accident­ally strayed into the middle of their encampment, which they soon destroyed. As this happened just at the new moon, they [Page 121] esteemed it a lucky omen; and having roasted it whole, every one in the camp partook of it. After their feast, they all joined in a dance, which they termed, from its being somewhat of a religious nature, a Dance of the sacrifice.

CHAPTER VIII. Of their HUNTING.

HUNTING is the principal occupation of the Indians; they are trained to it from their earliest youth, and it is an exercise which is esteemed no less honourable than necessary towards their subsistence. A dextrous and resolute hunter is held nearly in as great estimation by them as a distinguished war­rior. Scarcely any device which the ingenuity of man has dis­covered for ensnaring or destroying those animals that supply them with food, or whose skins are valuable to Europeans, is unknown to them.

Whilst they are engaged in this exercise, they shake off the indolence peculiar to their nature, and become active, persever­ing, and indefatigable. They are equally sagacious in finding their prey, and in the means they use to destroy it. They dis­cern the footsteps of the beasts they are in pursuit of, although they are imperciptible to every other eye, and can follow them with certainty through the pathless forest.

The beasts that the Indians hunt, both for their flesh on which they subsist, and for their skins, of which they either make their apparel, or barter with the Europeans for necessaries, are the buffalo, the elk, the deer, the moose, carribboo, the bear, the beaver, the otter, the martin, &c. I defer giving a description of these creatures here, and shall only at present treat of their manner of hunting them.

The route they shall take for this purpose, and the parties that shall go on the different expeditions are fixed in their gene­ral councils which are held some time in the summer, when all the operations for the ensuing winter are concluded on. The chief-warrior, whose province it is to regulate their proceed­ings on this occasion, with great solemnity issues out an invita­tion to those who choose to attend him; for the Indians, as be­fore observed, acknowledge no superiority, nor have they any idea of compulsion; and every one that accepts it prepares him­self by fasting during several days.

[Page 122]The Indians do not fast as some other nations do, on the rich­est and most luxurious food, but they totally abstain from every kind either of victuals or drink; and such is their patience and resolution, that the most extreme thirst could not oblige them to taste a drop of water; yet amidst this severe abstinence they appear cheerful and happy.

The reasons they give for thus fasting, are, that it enables them freely to dream, in which dreams they are informed where they shall find the greatest plenty of game; and also that it averts the displeasure of the evil spirits, and induces them to be pro­pitious. They also on these occasions blacken those parts of their bodies that are uncovered.

The fast being ended, and the place of hunting made known, the chief who is to conduct them, gives a grand feast to those who are to form the different parties; of which none of them dare to partake till they have bathed themselves. At this feast, notwithstanding they have fasted so long, they eat with great moderation; and the chief that presides employs himself in re­hearsing the feats of those who have been most successful in the business they are about to enter upon. They soon after set out on the march towards the place appointed, painted or rather bedawbed with black, amidst the acclamations of all the people.

It is impossible to describe their agility or perseverance, whilst they are in pursuit of their prey; neither thickets, ditches, tor­rents, pools, or rivers stop them; they always go strait forward in the most direct line they possibly can, and there are few of the savage inhabitants of the woods that they cannot overtake.

When they hunt for bears, they endeavour to find out their retreats; for, during the winter, these animals conceal them­selves in the hollow trunks of trees, or make themselves holes in the ground, where they continue without food, whilst the severe weather lasts.

When the Indians think they have arrived at a place where these creatures usually haunt, they form themselves into a circle according to their number, and moving onward, endeavour, as they advance towards the centre, to discover the retreats of their prey. By this means, if any lie in the intermediate space, they are sure of arousing them, and bringing them down either with their bows or their guns. The bears will take to flight at sight of a man or a dog, and will only make resistance when they are extremely hungry, or after they are wounded.

The Indian method of hunting the buffalo is by forming a circle or a square, nearly in the same manner as when they search for the bear. Having taken their different stations, they set the grass, which at this time is rank and dry, on fire, and these ani­mals, who are extremely fearful of that element, flying with precipitation before it, great numbers are hemmed in a small compass, and scarcely a single one escapes.

[Page 123]They have different ways of hunting the elk, the deer, and the carribboo. Sometimes they seek them out in the woods, to which they retire during the severity of the cold, where they are easily shot from behind the trees. In the more northern cli­mates they take the advantage of the weather to destroy the elk; when the sun has just strength enough to melt the snow, and the frost in the night forms a kind of crust on the surface, this crea­ture being heavy, breaks it with his forked hoofs, and with difficulty extricates himself from it: at this time therefore he is soon overtaken and destroyed.

Some nations have a method of hunting these animals which is more easily executed, and free from danger. The hunting party divide themselves into two bands, and choosing a spot near the borders of some river, one party embarks on board their canoes, whilst the other forming themselves into a semi-circle on the land, the flanks of which reach the shore, let loose their dogs, and by this means rouse all the game that lies within these bounds; they then drive them towards the river, into which they no sooner enter, than the greatest part of them are imme­diately dispatched by those who remain in the canoes.

Both the elk and the buffalo are very furious when they are wounded, and will return fiercely on their pursuers, and tram­ple them under their feet, if the hunter finds no means to com­plete their destruction, or seeks for security in flight to some ad­jacent tree; by this method they are frequently avoided, and so tired with the pursuit, that they voluntarily give it over.

But the hunting in which the Indians, particularly those who inhabit the northern parts, chiefly employ themselves, and from which they reap the greatest advantage, is the beaver hunting. The season for this is throughout the whole of the winter, from November to April; during which time the fur of these creatures is in the greatest perfection. A description of this extraordinary animal, the construction of their huts, and the regulations of their almost rational community, I shall give in another place.

The hunters make use of several methods to destroy them. Those generally practised, are either that of taking them in snares, cutting through the ice, or opening their causeways.

As the eyes of these animals are very quick, and their hearing exceedingly accute, great precaution is necessary in approaching their abodes; for as they seldom go far from the water, and their houses are always built close to the side of some large ri­ver or lake, or dams of their own constructing, upon the least alarm they hasten to the deepest part of the water, and dive im­mediately to the bottom; as they do this they make a great noise by beating the water with their tails, on purpose to put the whole fraternity on their guard.

They take them with snares in the following manner: though the beavers usually lay up a sufficient store of provision to serve for their subsistence during the winter, they make from time to time excursions to the neighbouring woods to procure further [Page 124] supplies of food. The hunters having found out their haunts, place a trap in their way, baited with small pieces of bark, or young shoots of trees, which the beaver has no sooner laid hold of, than a large log of wood falls upon him, and breaks his back; his enemies, who are upon the watch▪ soon appear, and instantly dispatch the helpless animal.

At other times, when the ice on the rivers and lakes is about half a foot thick, they make an opening through it with their hatchets, to which the beavers will soon hasten, on being dis­turbed at their houses, for a supply of fresh air. As their breath occasions a considerable motion in the waters, the hunter has sufficient notice of their approach, and methods are easily taken for knocking them on the head the moment they appear above the surface.

When the houses of the beavers happen to be near a rivu­let, they are more easily destroyed: the hunters then cut the ice, and spreading a net under it, break down the cabins of the bea­vers, who never fail to make towards the deepest part, where they are entangled and taken. But they must not be suffered to remain there long, as they would soon extricate themselves with their teeth, which are well known to be excessively sharp and strong.

The Indians take great care to hinder their dogs from touch­ing the bones of the beavers. The reasons they give for these precautions, are, first, that the bones are so excessively hard, that they spoil the teeth of the dogs; and, secondly, that they are apprehensive they shall so exasperate the spirits of the bea­vers by this permission, as to render the next hunting season unsuccessful.

The skins of these animals the hunters exchange with the Europeans for necessaries, and as they are more valued by the latter than any other kind of furs, they pay the greatest attenti­on to this species of hunting.

When the Indians destroy buffalos, elks, deer, &c. they ge­nerally divide the flesh of such as they have taken among the tribe to which they belong. But in hunting the beaver a few families usually unite and divide the spoil between them. In­deed, in the first instance they generally pay some attention in the division to their own families; but no jealousies or murmur­ings are ever known to arise on account of any apparent parti­ality.

Among the Naudowessies, if a person shoots a deer, buffalo, &c. and it runs to a considerable distance before it drops, where a person belonging to another tribe, being nearer, first sticks a knife into it, the game is considered as the property of the lat­ter, notwithstanding it had been mortally wounded by the for­mer. Though this custom appears to be arbitrary and unjust, yet that people cheerfully submit to it. This decision is, how­ever, very different from that practised by the Indians on the back of the colonies, where the first person that hits it is enti­tled to the best share.

CHAPTER IX. Of their Manner of making WAR, &c.

THE Indians begin to bear arms at the age of fifteen, and lay them aside when they arrive at the age of sixty. Some nations to the southward, I have been informed, do not con­tinue their military exercises after they are fifty.

In every band or nation there is a select number who are stiled the warriors, and who are always ready to act either offensively or defensively, as occasion requires. These are well armed, bearing the weapons commonly in use among them, which vary according to the situation of their countries. Such as have an intercourse with the Europeans make use of tomahawks, knives, and fire-arms; but those whose dwellings are situated to the westward of the Mississippi, and who have not an opportunity of purchasing these kinds of weapons, use bows and arrows, and also the Cassé Tête or War-club.

The Indians that inhabit still farther to the westward, a coun­try which extends to the South Sea, use in fight a warlike in­strument that is very uncommon. Having great plenty of horses, they always attack their enemies on horseback, and encumber themselves with no other weapon, than a stone of a middling size, curiously wrought, which they fasten by a string, about a yard and a half long, to their right arms, a little above the el­bow. These stone, they conveniently carry in their hands, till they reach their enemies, and then swinging them with great dexterity, as they ride full speed, never fail of doing execution. The country which these tribes possess, abounding with large extensive plains, those who attack them seldom return; as the swiftness of the horses, on which they are mounted, enables them to overtake even the fleetest of their invaders.

The Naudowessies, who had been at war with this people, informed me, that unless they found morasses or thickets to which they could retire, they were sure of being cut off: to prevent this they always took care whenever they made an on­set, to do it near such retreats as were impassable for cavalry, they then having a great advantage over their enemies, whose weapons would not there reach them.

Some nations make use of a javelin, pointed with bone, work­ed into different forms; but their Indian weapons in general are bows and arrows, and the short club already mentioned. The latter is made of a very hard wood, and the head of it [Page 126] fashioned round like a ball, about three inches and a half dia­meter; in this rotund part is fixed an edge resembling that of a tomahawk, either of steel or flint, whichever they can pro­cure.

The dagger is peculiar to the Naudowessie nation, and of an­cient construction, but they can give no account how long it has been in use among them. It was originally made of flint or bone, but since they have had communication with the Euro­pean traders, they have formed it of steel. The length of it is about ten inches, and that part close to the handle nearly three inches broad. Its edges are keen, and it gradually tapers to­wards a point. They wear it in a sheath made of deer's leather, neatly ornamented with porcupine quills; and it is usually hung by a string, decorated in the same manner, which reaches as low only as the breast. This curious weapon is worn by a few of the principal chiefs alone, and considered both as an useful instrument, and an ornamental badge of superiority.

I observed among the Naudowessies a few targets or shields made of raw buffalo hides, and in the form of those used by the ancients. But as the number of these was small, and I could gain no intelligence of the aera in which they first were intro­duced among them, I suppose those I saw had descended from father to son for many generations.

The reasons the Indians give for making war against one ano­ther, are much the same as those urged by more civilized nati­ons for disturbing the tranquillity of their neighbours. The pleas of the former are however in general more rational and just, than such as are brought by Europeans in vindication of their proceedings.

The extension of empire is seldom a motive with these peo­ple to invade, and to commit depredations on the territories of those who happen to dwell near them. To secure the rights of hunting within particular limits, to maintain the liberty of pass­ing through their accustomed tracks, and to guard those lands which they consider from a long tenure as their own, against any infringement, are the general causes of those dissensions that so often break out between the Indian nations, and which are carried on with so much animosity.

Though strangers to the idea of separate property, yet the most uncultivated among them are well acquainted with the rights of their community to the domains they possess, and op­pose with vigour every encroachment on them.

Notwithstanding it is generally supposed that from their ter­ritories being so extensive, the boundaries of them cannot be ascertained, yet I am well assured that the limits of each nati­on in the interior parts are laid down in their rude plans with great precision. By theirs, as I have before observed, was I enabled to regulate my own; and after the most exact observati­ons and enquiries found very few instances in which they er­red.

[Page 127]But interest is not either the most frequent or most powerful incentive to their making war on each other. The passion of revenge, which is the distinguishing characteristic of these peo­ple, is the most general motive. Injuries are felt by them with exquisite sensibility, and vengeance pursued with unremitted ar­dour. To this may be added, that natural excitation which every Indian becomes sensible of as soon as he approaches the age of manhood to give proofs of his valour and prowess.

As they are early possessed with a notion that war ought to be the chief business of their lives, that there is nothing more de­sirous than the reputation of being a great warrior, and that the scalps of their enemies, or a number of prisoners are alone to be esteemed valuable, it is not to be wondered at that the younger Indians are continually restless and uneasy if their ar­dour is repressed, and they are kept in a state of inactivity. Either of these propensities, the desire of revenge, or the gra­tification of an impulse, that by degrees becomes habitual to them, is sufficient, frequently, to induce them to commit hosti­lities on some of the neighbouring nations.

When the chiefs find any occasion for making war, they en­deavour to arouse these habitudes, and by that means soon excite their warriors to take arms. To this purpose they make use of their martial eloquence, nearly in the following words, which never fails of proving effectual, ‘The bones of our deceased countrymen lie uncovered, they call out to us to revenge their wrongs, and we must satisfy their request. Th [...] spi­rits cry out against us. They must be appeased. The genii, who are the guardians of our honour, inspire us with a reso­lution to seek the enemies of our murdered brothers. Let us go and devour those by whom they were slain. Sit there­fore no longer inactive, give way to the impulse of your na­tural valour, anoint your hair, paint your faces, fill your quivers, cause the forests to resound with your songs, con­sole the spirits of the dead, and tell them they shall be re­venged.’

Animated by these exhortations the warriors snatch their arms in a transport of fury, sing the song of war, and burn with impatience to imbrue their hands in the blood of their ene­mies.

Sometimes private chiefs assemble small parties, and make excursions against those with whom they are at war, or such as have injured them. A single warrior, prompted by revenge or a desire to show his prowess, will march unattended for several hundred miles, to surprize and cut off a straggling party.

These irregular sallies, however, are not always approved of by the elder chiefs, though they are often oblige [...] to con­nive at them; as in the instance before given of the [...]do­wessie and Chipeway nations.

But when a war is national, and undertaken by the commu­nity, their deliberations are formal and slow. The elders as­semble [Page 128] in council, to which all the head warriors and young men are admitted, where they deliver their opinions in solemn speeches, weighing with maturity the nature of the enterprize they are about to engage in, and balancing with great sagacity the advantages or inconveniences that will arise from it▪

Their priests are also consulted on the subject, and even, sometimes, the advice of the most intelligent of their women is asked.

If the determination be for war, they prepare for it with much ceremony.

The chief warrior of a nation does not on all occasions head the war party himself, he frequently deputes a warrior of whose valour and prudence he has a good opinion. The person thus fixed on being first bedawbed with black, observes a fast of se­veral days, during which he invokes the Great Spirit, or de­precates the anger of the evil ones, holding whilst it lasts no converse with any of his tribe.

He is particularly careful at the same time to observe his dreams, for on these do they suppose their success will in a great measure depend; and from the firm persuasion every In­dian actuated by his own presumptuous thoughts is impressed with, that he shall march forth to certain victory, these are generally favourable to his wishes.

After he has fasted as long as custom prescribes, he assembles the [...]rriors, and holding a belt of wampum in his hand, thus addr [...]es them:

‘Brothers! by the inspiration of the Great Spirit I now speak unto you, and by him am I prompted to carry into exe­cution the intentions which I am about to disclose to you. The blood of our deceased brothers is not yet wiped away; their bodies are not yet covered, and I am going to per­form this duty to them.’

Having then made known to them all the motives that induce him to take up arms against the nation with whom they are to engage, he thus proceeds: ‘I have therefore resolved to march through the war-path to surprize them. We will eat their flesh, and drink their blood; we will take scalps, and make prisoners; and should we perish in this glorious enter­prize, we shall not be forever hid in the dust, for this belt shall be a recompence to him who buries the dead.’ Having said this, he lays the belt on the ground, and he who takes it up declares himself his lieutenant, and is considered as the se­cond in command; this, however, is only done by some dis­tinguished warrior who has a right, by the number of his scalps, to the post.

Though the Indians thus assert that they will eat the flesh and drink the blood of their enemies, the threat is only to be con­sidered as a figurative expression. Notwithstanding they some­times devour the hearts of those they s [...]ay, and drink their blood, by way of bravado, or to gratify in a more complete [Page 129] manner their revenge, yet they are not naturally anthropophagi, nor ever feed on the flesh of men.

The chief is now washed from his sable covering, anointed with bear's fat, and painted with their red paint, in such figures as will make him appear most terrible to his enemies. He then sings the war song, and enumerates his warlike actions. Hav­ing done this he fixes his eyes on the sun, and pays his adora­tions to the Great Spirit, in which he is accompanied by all the warriors.

This ceremony is followed with dances, such as I have be­fore described; and the whole concludes with a feast, which usually consists of dogs flesh.

This feast is held in the hut or tent of the chief warrior, to which all those who intend to accompany him in his expedition send their dishes to be filled; and during the feast, notwith­standing he has fasted so long, he sits composedly with his pipe in his mouth, and recounts the valorous deeds of his family.

As the hopes of having their wounds, should they receive any, properly treated, and expeditiously cured, must be some additional inducement to the warriors to expose themselves more freely to danger, the priests, who are also their doctors, pre­pare such medecines as will prove efficacious. With great ce­remony they carry various roots and plants, and pretend that they impart to them the power of healing.

Notwithstanding this superstitious method of proceeding, it is very certain that they have acquired a knowledge of many plants and herbs that are of a medicinal quality, and which they know how to use with great skill.

From the time the resolution of engaging in a war is taken, to the departure of the warriors, the nights are spent in festivity, and their days in making the needful preparations.

If it is thought necessary by the nation going to war, to soli­ [...]i [...] the alliance of any neighbouring tribe, they fix upon one of their chiefs who speaks the language of that people well, and who is a good orator, and send to them by him a belt of wam­pum, on which is specified the purport of the embassy in figures that every nation is well acquainted with. At the same time he carries with him a hatchet painted red.

As soon as he reaches the camp or village to which he is de­stined, he acquaints the chief of the tribe with the general tenor of his commission, who immediately assembles a council, to which the ambassador is invited. There having laid the hatchet on the ground he holds the belt in his hand, and enters more minutely into the occasion of his embassy. In his speech he in­vites them to take up the hatchet, and as soon as he has finished speaking delivers the belt.

If his hearers are inclined to become auxiliaries to his nation, a chief steps forward and takes up the hatchet, and they imme­diately espouse with spirit the cause they have thus engaged to support. But if on this application neither the belt or hatchet [Page 130] are accepted, the emissary concludes that the people whose as­sistance he solicits have already entered into an alliance with the foes of his nation, and returns with speed to inform his coun­trymen of his ill success.

The manner in which the Indians declare war against each other, is by sending a slave with a hatchet, the handle of which is painted red, to the nation which they intend to break with; and the messenger, notwithstanding the danger to which he is exposed from the sudden fury of those whom he thus sets at de­fiance, executes his commission with great fidelity.

Sometimes this token of defiance has such an instantaneous ef­fect on those to whom it is presented, that in the first transports of their fury a small party will issue forth, without waiting for the permission of the elder chiefs, and slaying the first of the offending nation they meet, cut open the body and stick a hatch­et of the same kind as that they have just received, into the heart of their slaughtered foe. Among the more remote tribes this is done with an arrow or spear, the end of which is paint­ed red. And the more to exasperate, they dismember the body, to show that they esteem them not as men but as old women.

The Indians seldom take the field in large bodies, as such numbers would require a greater degree of industry to provide for their subsistence, during their tedious marches through drea­ry forests, or long voyages over lakes and rivers, than they would care to bestow.

Their armies are never encumbered with baggage or milita­ry stores. Each warrior, besides his weapons, carries with him only a mat, and whilst at a distance from the frontiers of the enemy supports himself with the game he kills or the fish he catches.

When they pass through a country where they have no ap­prehensions of meeting with an enemy, they use very little pre­caution: sometimes there are scarcely a dozen warriors left to­gether, the rest being dispersed in pursuit of their game; but though they should have roved to a very considerable distance from the war-path, they are sure to arrive at the place of ren­deavous by the hour appointed.

They always pitch their tents long before sun-set; and being naturally presumptuous, take very little care to guard against [...] surprize. They place great confidence in their Manitous, or houshold gods, which they always carry with them; and being persuaded that they take upon them the office of centinels, they sleep very securely under their protection.

These Manitous, as they are called by some nations, but which are termed Wakons, that is, spirits, by the the Naudo­wessies, are nothing more than the otter and martins skins I have already described, for which, however, they have a great veneration.

After they have entered the enemies country, no people can be more cautious and circumspect; fires are no longer lighted, [Page 131] no more shouting is heard, nor the game any longer pursued. They are not even permitted to speak; but must convey what­ever they have to impart to each other by signs and motions.

They now proceed wholly by stratagem and ambuscade. Having discovered their enemies, they send to reconnoitre them; and a council is immediately held, during which they speak only in whispers, to consider of the intelligence imparted by those who were sent out.

The attack is generally made just before day-break, at which period they suppose the foes to be in their soundest sleep. Throughout the whole of the preceding night they will lie flat upon their faces, without stirring; and make their approaches in the same posture, creeping upon their hands and feet till they are got within bow-shot of those they have destined to destruc­tion. On a signal given by the chief warrior, to which the whole body makes answer by the most hideous yells, they all start up, and discharging their arrows in the same instant, with­out giving their adversaries time to recover from the confusion into which they are thrown, pour in upon them with their war-clubs or tomahawks.

The Indians think there is little glory to be acquired from attacking their enemies openly in the field; their greatest pride is to surprise and destroy. They seldom engage without a mani­fest appearance of advantage. If they find the enemy on their their guard, too strongly entrenched, or superior in numbers, they retire, provided there is an opportunity of doing so. And they esteem it the greatest qualification of a chief warrior, to be able to manage an attack, so as to destroy as many of the enemy as possible, at the expence of a few men.

Sometimes they secure themselves behind trees, hillocks, or stones, and having given one or two rounds retire before they are discovered. Europeans, who are unacquainted with this method of fighting too often find to their cost the destructive efficacy of it.

General Braddock was one of this unhappy number. March­ing in the year 1755, to attack Fort Du Quesne, he was inter­cepted by a party of French and confederate Indians in their in­terest, who by this insidious method of engaging found means to defeat his army, which consisted of about two thousand brave and well-disciplined troops. So securely were the Indians post­ed, that the English scarcely knew from whence or by whom they were thus annoyed. During the whole of the engagement the latter had scarcely a sight of an enemy; and were obliged to retreat without the satisfaction of being able to take the least degree of revenge for the havock made among them. The Ge­neral paid for his temerity with his life, and was accompanied in his fall by a great number of brave fellows; whilst his invi­sible enemies had only two or three of their number wounded.

When the Indians succeed in their silent approaches, and are able to force the camp which they attack, a scene of horror [Page 132] that exceeds description, ensues. The savage fierceness of the conquerors, and the desperation of the conquered, who well know what they have to expect should they fall alive into the hands of their assailants, occasion the most extraordinary exer­tions on both sides. The figure of the combatants all besmear­ed with black and red paint, and covered with the blood of the slain, their horrid yells, and ungovernable fury, are not to be conceived by those who have never crossed the Atlantic.

I have frequently been a spectator of them, and once bore a part in a similar scene. But what added to the horror of it was, that I had not the consolation of being able to oppose their savage attacks. Every circumstance of the adventure still dwells on my remembrance, and enables me to describe with greater perspicuity the brutal fierceness of the Indians when they have surprized or overpowered an enemy.

As a detail of the massacre at Fort William Henry in the year 1757, the scene to which I refer, cannot appear foreign to the design of this publication, but will serve to give my readers a just idea of the ferocity of this people, I shall take the liberty to insert it, apologizing at the same time for the length of the digression, and those egotisms which the relation renders una­voidable.

General Webb, who commanded the English army in North America, which was then encamped at Fort Edward, having in­telligence that the French troops under Mons. Montcalm were making some movements towards Fort William Henry, he de­tached a corps of about fifteen hundred men, consisting of En­glish and Provincials, to strengthen the garrison. In this party I went as a volunteer among the latter.

The apprehensions of the English General were not without foundation; for the day after our arrival we saw Lake George (formerly Lake Sacrament) to which it lies contiguous, covered with an immense number of boats; and in a few hours we found our lines attacked by the French General, who had just landed with eleven thousand Regulars and Canadians, and two thousand Indians. Colonel Monro, a brave officer, commanded in the Fort, and had no more than two thousand three hundred men with him, our detachment included.

With these he made a gallant defence, and probably would have been able at last to preserve the Fort, had he been proper­ly supported, and permitted to continue his efforts. On every summons to surrender sent by the French General, who offered the most honourable terms, his answer repeatedly was, That he yet found himself in a condition to repel the most vigorous at­tacks his besiegers were able to make; and if he thought his present force insufficient, he could soon be supplied with a greater number from the adjacent army.

But the Colonel having acquainted General Webb with his situation, and desired he would send him some fresh troops, the general dispatched a messenger to him with a letter, wherein he [Page 133] informed him that it was not in his power to assist him, and therefore gave him orders to surrender up the Fort on the best terms he could procure. This packet fell into the hands of the French General, who immediately sent a flag of truce, desiring a conference with the governor.

They accordingly met, attended only by a small guard, in the centre between the lines▪ when Mons. Montcalm told the Colo­nel, that he was com [...] [...] person to demand possession of the Fort, as it belonged to the King his master. The Colonel re­plied, that he knew not how that could be, nor should he sur­render it up whilst it was in his power to defend it.

The French General rejoined, at the same time delivering the packet into the Colonel's hand, ‘By this authority do I make the requisition.’ The brave Governor had no sooner read the contents of it, and was convinced that such were the orders of the commander in chief, and not to be disobeyed, than he hung his head in silence, and reluctantly entered into a negoci­ation.

In consideration of the gallant defence the garrison had made, they were to be permitted to march out with all the honours of war, to be allowed covered waggons to transport their baggage to Fort Edward, and a guard to protect them from the fury of the savages.

The morning after the capitulation was signed, as soon as day broke, the whole garrison, now consisting of about two thou­sand men, besides women and children, were drawn up within the lines, and on the point of marching off, when great num­bers of the Indians gathered about, and began to plunder. We were at first in hopes that this was their only view, and suffered them to proceed without opposition. Indeed it was not in our power to make any, had we been so inclined; for though we were permitted to carry off our arms, yet we were not allowed a single round of ammunition. In these hopes however we were disappointed: for presently some of them began to attack the sick and wounded, when such as were not able to crawl into the ranks, notwithstanding they endeavoured to avert the fury of their enemies by their shrieks or groans, were soon dispatched.

Here we were fully in expectation that the disturbance would have concluded; and our little army began to move; but in a short time we saw the front division driven back, and discovered that we were entirely encircled by the savages. We expected every moment that the guard, which the French, by the articles of capitulation, had agreed to allow us, would have arrived, and put an end to our apprehensions; but none appeared. The Indians now began to strip every one without exception of their arms and cloaths, and those who made the least resistance felt the weight of their tomahawks.

I happened to be in the rear division, but it was not long be­fore I shared the fate of my companions. Three or four of the savages laid hold of me, and whilst some held their weapons [Page 134] over my head, the others soon disrobed me of my coat, waist-coat, hat, and buckles, omitting not to take from me what mo­ney I had in my pocket. As this was transacted close by the passage that led from the lines on to the plain, near which a French centinel was posted, I ran to him and claimed his protec­tion; but he only called me an English dog, and thrust me with violence back again into the midst of the Indians.

I now endeavoured to join a body [...]f our troops that were crowded together at some distance; but innumerable were the blows that were made at me with different weapons as I passed on; luckily however the savages were so close together, that they could not strike at me without endangering each other. Notwithstanding which one of them found means to make a thrust at me with a spear, which grazed my side, and from ano­ther I received a wound, with the same kind of weapon, in my ankle. At length I gained the spot where my countrymen stood, and forced myself into the midst of them. But before I got thus far out of the hands of the Indians, the collar and wrist­bands of my shirt were all that remained of it, and my flesh was scratched and torn in many places by their savage gripes.

By this time the war-hoop was given, and the Indians began to murder those that were nearest to them without distinction. It is not in the power of words to give any tolerable idea of the horrid scene that now ensued; men, women, and children were dispatched in the most wanton and cruel manner, and immedi­ately scalped. Many of these savages drank the blood of their victims, as it flowed warm from the fatal wound.

We now perceived, though too late to avail us, that we were to expect no relief from the French; and that, contrary to the agreement they had so lately signed to allow us a sufficient force to protect us from these insults, they tacitly permitted them; for I could plainly perceive the French officers walking about at some distance, discoursing together with apparent unconcern. For the honour of human nature I would hope that this flagrant breach of every sacred law, proceeded rather from the savage disposition of the Indians, which I acknowledge it is sometimes almost impossible to controul, and which might now unexpected­ly have arrived to a pitch not easily to be restrained, than to any premeditated design in the French commander. An unpre­judiced observer would, however, be apt to conclude, that a body of ten thousand christian troops, most christian troops, had it in their power to prevent the massacre from becoming so general. But whatever was the cause from which it arose, the consequences of it were dreadful, and not to be parallelled in modern history.

As the circle in which I stood inclosed by this time was much thinned, and death seemed to be approaching with hasty strides, it was proposed by some of the most resolute to make one vi­gorous effort, and endeavour to force our way through the sa­vages, the only probable method of preserving our lives that [Page 135] now remained. This, however desperate, was resolved on, and about twenty of us sprung at once into the midst of them.

In a moment we were all separated, and what was the fate of my companions I could not learn till some months after, when I found that only six or seven of them effected their design. In­tent only on my own hazardous situation, I endeavoured to make my way through my savage enemies in the best manner possible. And I have often been astonished since, when I have recollected with what composure I took, as I did, every neces­sary step for my preservation. Some I overturned, being at that time young and athletic▪ and others I passed by, dextrously avoiding their weapons; till at last two very stout chiefs, of the most savage tribes, as I could distinguish by their dress, whose strength I could not resist, laid hold of me by each arm, and began to force me through the crowd.

I now resigned myself to my fate, not doubting but that they intended to dispatch me, and then to satiate their vengeance with my blood, as I found they were hurrying me towards a re­tired swamp that lay at some distance. But before we had got many yards, an English gentleman of some distinction, as I could discover by his breeches, the only covering he had on, which were of fine scarlet velvet, rushed close by us. One of the the Indians instantly relinquished his hold, and springing on this new object, endeavoured to seize him as his prey, but the gen­tleman being strong, threw him on the ground, and would pro­bably have got away, had not he who held my other arm, quit­ted me to assist his brother. I seized the opportunity, and hasten­ed away to join another party of English troops that were yet unbroken, and stood in a body at some distance. But before I had taken many steps, I hastily cast my eye towards the gentle­man, and saw the Indian's tomahawk gash into his back, and heard him utter his last groan; this added both to my speed and desperation.

I had left this shocking scene but a few yards, when a fine boy about twelve years of age, that had hitherto escaped, came up to me, and begged that I would let him lay hold of me, so that he might stand some chance of getting out of the hands of the savages. I told him that I would give him every assistance in my power, and to this purpose bid him lay hold; but in a few moments he was torn from my side, and by his shrieks I judge was soon demolished. I could not help forgetting my own cares for a minute, to lament the fate of so young a sufferer; but it was utterly impossible for me to take any methods to pre­vent it.

I now got once more into the midst of friends, but we were unable to afford each other any succour. As this was the divi­sion that had advanced the furthest from the fort, I thought there might be a possibility (though but a very bare one) of my forcing my way through the outer ranks of the Indians, and getting to a neighbouring wood, which I perceived at some dis­tance. [Page 136] I was still encouraged to hope by the almost miraculous preservation I had already experienced.

Nor were my hopes in vain, or the efforts I made ineffectual. Suffice it to say, that I reached the wood; but by the time I had penetrated a little way into it, my breath was so exhausted that I threw myself into a brake, and lay for some minutes ap­parently at the last gasp. At length I recovered the power of respiration; but my apprehensions returned with all their former force, when I saw several savages pass by, probably in pursuit of me, at no very great distance. In this situation I knew not whether it was better to proceed, or endeavour to conceal my­self where I lay, till night came on; fearing, however, that they would return the same way, I thought it most prudent to get farther from the dreadful scene of my past distresses. Accord­ingly, striking into another part of the wood, I hastened on as fast as the briars and the loss of one of my shoes would permit me; and after a slow progress of some hours, gained a hill that overlooked the plain which I had just left, from whence I could discern that the bloody storm still raged with unabated fury.

But not to tire my readers, I shall only add, that after pas­sing three days without subsistence, and enduring the severity of the cold dews for three nights, I at length reached Fort Edward; where with proper care my body soon recovered its wonted strength, and my mind, as far as the recollection of the late me­lancholy events would permit, its usual composure.

It was computed that fifteen hundred persons were killed or made prisoners by these savages during this fatal day. Many of the latter were carried off by them and never returned. A few, through favourable accidents, found their way back to their native country, after having experienced a long and severe captivity.

The brave Colonel Monro had hastened away, soon after the confusion began, to the French camp to endeavour to procure the guard agreed by the stipulation; but his application proving ineffectual, he remained there till General Webb sent a party of troops to demand and protect him back to Fort Edward. But these unhappy occurrences, which wou [...]d probably have been prevented, had he been left to pursue his own plans, together with the loss of so many brave fellows, murdered in cold blood, to whose valour he had been so lately a witness, made such an impression on his mind, that he did not long survive. He died in about three months of a broken heart, and with truth might it be said, that he was an honour to his country.

I mean not to point out the following circumstance as the im­mediate judgment of heaven, and intended as an atonement for this slaughter; but I cannot omit that very few of those diffe­rent tribes of Indians that shared in it ever lived to return home. The small-pox, by means of their communication with the Eu­ropeans, found its way among them, and made an equal havock [Page 137] to what they themselves had done. The methods they pursued on the first attack of that malignant disorder, to abate the fever attending it, rendered it fatal. Whilst their blood was in a state of fermentation, and nature was striving to throw out the pec­cant matter, they checked her operations by plunging into the water: the consequence was that they died by hundreds. The few that survived were transformed by it into hideous objects, and bore with them to the grave deep indented marks of this much-dreaded disease.

Monsieur Montcalm fell soon after on the plains of Quebec.

That the unprovoked cruelty of this commander was not ap­proved of by the generality of his countrymen, I have since been convinced of by many proofs. One only however, which I receiv­ed from a person who was witness to it, shall I at present give A Canadian merchant, of some consideration, having heard of the surrender of the English fort, celebrated the fortunate event with great rejoicings and hospitality, according to the custom of that county; but no sooner did the news of the massacre which ensued reach his ears, than he put an immediate stop to the fes­tivity, and exclaimed in the severest terms against the inhuman permission; declaring at the same time that those who had con­nived at it, had thereby drawn down, on that part of their king's dominions the vengeance of Heaven. To this he added, that he much feared the total loss of them would deservedly be the consequence. How truly this prediction has been verified we all know.

But to return—Though the Indians are negligent in guarding against surprizes, they are alert and dextrous in surprizing their enemies. To their caution and perseverance and stealing on the party they design to attack, they add that admirable talent, or rather instinctive qualification, I have already described, of tracing out those they are in pursuit of. On the smoothest grass, on the hardest earth, and even on the very sto [...]s, will they discover the traces of an enemy, and by the shape of the foot steps, and the distance between the prints, distinguish not only whether it is a man or woman who has passed that way, but even the nation to which they belong. However incredible this might appear, yet, from the many proofs I received whilst among them of their amazing sagacity in this point, I see no reason to discredit even these extraordinary exertions of it.

When they have overcome an enemy, and victory is no lon­ger doubtful, the conquerors first dispatch all such as they think they shall not be able to carry off without great trouble, and then endeavour to take as many prisoners as possible; after this they return to scalp those who are either dead, or too much wounded to be taken with them.

At this business they are exceedingly expert. They seize the head of the disabled or dead enemy, and placing one of their feet on the neck, twist their left hand in the hair; by this means, having extended the skin that covers the top of the head, they [Page 138] draw out their scalping knives, which are always kept in good order for this cruel purpose, and with a few dextrous strokes take off the part that is termed the scalp. They are so expe­ditious in doing this, that the whole time required scarcely ex­ceeds a minute. These they preserve as monuments of their prowess, and at the same time as proofs of the vengeance they have inflicted on their enemies.

If two Indians seize in the same instant a prisoner, and seem to have an equal claim, the contest between them is soon de­cided; for to put a speedy end to any dispute that might arise, the person that is apprehensive he shall lose his expected re­ward, immediately has recourse to his tomahawk or war-club, and knocks on the head the unhappy cause of their contention.

Having compleated their purposes, and made as much havock as possible, they immediately retire towards their own country, with the spoil they have acquired, for fear of being pursued.

Should this be the case, they make use of many stratagems to elude the searches of their pursuers. They sometimes scatter leaves, sand, or dust over the prints of their feet; sometimes tread in each others footsteps; and sometimes lift their feet so high, and tread so lightly, as not to make any impression on the ground. But if they find all these precautions unavailing, and that they are near being overtaken, they first dispatch and scalp their prisoners, and then dividing, each endeavours to regain his native country by a different route. This prevents all far­ther pursuit; for their pursuers now despairing, either of gra­tifying their revenge, or of releasing those of their friends who were made captives, return home.

If the successful party is so lucky as to make good their re­treat unmolested, they hasten with the greatest expedition to reach a country where they may be perfectly secure; and that their wounded companions may not retard their flight, they car­ry them by turns in litters, or if it is in the winter season draw them on sledges.

Their litters are made in a rude manner of the branches of trees. Their sledges consist of two small thin boards, about a foot wide when joined, and near six feet long. The fore-part is turned up, and the sides are bordered with small bands. The Indians draw these carriages with great ease, be they ever so much loaded, by means of a string which passes round the breast. This collar is called a Metump, and is in use through­out America, both in the settlements and the internal parts. Those used in the latter are made of leather, and very curiously wrought.

The prisoners during their march are guarded with the great­est care. During the day, if the journey is over land, they are always held by some of the victorious party; if by water, they are fastened to the canoe. In the night-time they are stretched along the ground quite naked, with their legs, arms, and neck fastened to hooks fixed in the ground. Besides this, cords are [Page 139] tied to their arms or legs, which are held by an Indian, who in­stantly awakes at the least motion of them.

Notwithstanding such precautions are usually taken by the Indians, it is recorded in the annals of New England, that one of the weaker sex, almost alone, and unassisted, found means to elude the vigilance of a party of warriors, and not only to make her escape from them, but to revenge the cause of her countrymen.

Some years ago, a small band of Canadian Indians, consist­ing of ten warriors attended by two of their wives, made an [...]rruption into the back settlements of New England. They lurked for some time in the vicinity of one of the most exterior towns, and at length, after having killed and scalped several people, found means to take prisoner a woman who had with her a son of about twelve years of age. Being satisfied with the execution they had done, they retreated towards their na­tive country, which lay at three hundred miles distance, and carried off with them their two captives.

The second night of their retreat, the woman, whose name, if I mistake not, was Rowe, formed a resolution worthy of the most intrepid heroe. She thought she should be able to get from her hands the manacles by which they were confined, and determined if she did so to make a desperate effort for the recovery of her freedom. To this purpose, when she conclud­ed that her conquerors were in their soundest sleep, she strove to slip the cords from her hands. In this she succeeded; and cautioning her son, whom they had suffered to go unbound, in a whisper, against being surprized at what she was about to do, she removed to a distance with great wariness the defensive wea­pons of the Indians, which lay by their sides.

Having done this, she put one of the tomahawks into the hands of the boy, bidding him to follow her example; and tak­ing another herself, fell upon the sleeping Indians, several of whom she instantly dispatched. But her attempt was nearly frustrated by the imbecility of her son, who wanting both strength and resolution, made a feeble stroke at one of them, which on­ly served to awaken him; she however sprung at the rising war­rior, and before he could recover his arms, made him sink un­der the weight of her tomahawk; and this she alternately did to all the rest, except one of the women, who awoke in time, and made her escape.

The heroine then took off the scalps of her vanquished ene­mies, and seizing also those they were carrying away with them as proofs of their success, she returned in triumph to the town from whence she had so lately been dragged, to the great asto­nishment of her neighbours, who could scarcely credit their senses, or the testimonies she bore of her amazonian intrepi­dity.

During their march they oblige their prisoners to sing their death-song, which generally consists of these or similar sen­tences: ‘[Page 140]I am going to die, I am about to suffer; but I will bear the severest tortures my enemies can inflict, with becoming fortitude. I will die like a brave man, and I shall then go to join the chiefs that have suffered on the same ac­count.’ These songs are continued with necessary intervals, until they reach the village or camp to which they are going.

When the warriors are arrived within hearing, they set up different cries, which communicates to their friends a general history of the success of the expedition. The number of the death-cries they give, declares how many of their own party are lost; the number of war-hoops, the number of prisoners they have taken.

It is difficult to describe these cries, but the best idea I can convey of them is, that the former consists of the sound Whoo, Whoo, Whoop, which is continued in a long shrill tone, near­ly till the breath is exhausted, and then broken off with a sud­den elevation of the voice. The latter of a loud cry, of much the same kind, which is modulated into notes by the hand be­ing placed before the mouth. Both of them might be heard to a very considerable distance.

Whilst these are uttering, the persons to whom they are de­signed to convey the intellegence, continue motionless and all attention. When this ceremony is performed, the whole village issue out to learn the particulars of the relation they have just heard in general terms, and according as the news prove mourn­ful or the contrary, they answer by so many acclamations or cries of lamentation.

Being by this time arrived at the village or camp, the women and children arm themselves with sticks and bludgeons, and form themselves into two ranks, through which the prisoners are obliged to pass. The treatment they undergo before they reach the extremity of the line, is very severe. Sometimes they are so beaten over the head and face, as to have scarcely any remains of life; and happy would it be for them if by this usage an end was put to their wretched beings. But their tormentors take care that none of the blows they give prove mortal, as they wish to reserve the miserable sufferers for more severe inflictions.

After having undergone this introductory discipline, they are bound hand and foot, whilst the chiefs hold a council, in which their fate is determined. Those who are decreed to be put to death by the usual torments, are delivered to the chief of the warriors; such as are to be spared, are given into the hands of the chief of the nation: so that in a short time all the pri­soners may be assured of their fate, as the sentence now pro­nounced is irrevocable. The former they term being consigned to the house of death, the latter to the house of grace.

Such captives as are pretty far advanced in life, and have acquired great honour by their war-like deeds, always atone for the blood they have spilt, by the tortures of fire. Their [Page 141] success in war is readily known by the blue marks upon their breasts and arms, which are as legible to the Indians as letters are to Europeans.

The manner in which these hieroglyphicks are made, is by breaking the skin with the teeth of fish, or sharpened flints, dipped in a kind of ink made of the soot of pitch pine. Like those of the ancient Picts of Britain these are esteemed orna­mental; and at the same time they serve as registers of the he­roic actions of the warrior, who thus bears about him indeli­ble marks of his valour.

The prisoners destined to death are soon led to the place of execution, which is generally in the centre of the camp or vil­lage; where, being stript, and every part of their bodies black­ened, the skin of a crow or raven is fixed on their heads. They are then bound to a stake, with faggots heaped around them, and obliged, for the last time, to sing their death-song.

The warriors, for such it is only who commonly suffer this punishment, now perform in a more prolix manner this sad so­lemnity. They recount with an audible voice all the brave acti­ons they have performed, and pride themselves in the number of enemies they have killed. In this rehearsal they spare not even their tormentors, but strive by every provoking tale they can invent, to irritate and insult them. Sometimes this has the desired effect, and the sufferers are dispatched sooner than they otherwise would have been.

There are many other methods which the Indians make use of to put their prisoners to death, but these are only occa­sional; that of burning is most generally used.

Whilst I was at the chief town of the Ottagaumies, an Illi­nois Indian was brought in, who had been made prisoner by one of their war parties. I had then an opportunity of seeing the customary cruelties inflicted by these people on their cap­tives, through the minutest part of their process. After the previous steps necessary to his condemnation, he was carried, early in the morning, to a little distance from the town, where he was bound to a tree.

This being done, all the boys, who amounted to a great num­ber, as the place was populous, were permitted to amuse them­selves with shooting their arrows at the unhappy victim. As they were none of them more than twelve years old, and were placed at a considerable distance, they had not strength to pe­netrate to the vital parts, so that the poor wretch stood pierced with arrows, and suffering the consequent agonies, for more than two days.

During this time he sung his warlike exploits. He recapitu­lated every stratagem he had made use of to surprize his ene­mies: he boasted of the quantity of scalps he possessed, and enu­merated the prisoners he had taken. He then described the dif­ferent barbarous methods by which he had put the latter to [Page 142] death, and seemed even then to receive inconceivable pleasure from the recital of the horrid tale.

But he dwelt more particularly on the cruelties he had prac­tised on such of the kindred of his present tormentors, as had fallen into his hands; endeavouring by these aggravated insults to induce them to increase his tortures, that he might be able to give greater proofs of fortitude. Even in the last struggles of life, when he was no longer able to vent in words the indig­nant provocation his tongue would have uttered, a smile of mingled scorn and triumph sat on his countenance.

This method of tormenting their enemies is considered by the Indians as productive of more than one beneficial consequence. It satiates, in a greater degree, that diabolical lust of revenge, which is the predominant passion in the breast of every indivi­dual of every tribe, and it gives the growing warriors an early propensity to that cruelty and thirst for blood, which is so ne­cessary a qualification for such as would be thoroughly skilled in their savage art of war.

I have been informed, that an Indian who was under the hands of his tormentors, had the audacity to tell them, that they were ignorant old woman▪ and did not know how to put brave prisoners to death. He acquainted them that he had heretofore taken some of their warriors, and instead of the tri­vial punishments they inflicted on him, he had devised for them the most excruciating torments; that having bound them to a stake, he had stuck their bodies full of sharp splinters of tur­pentine wood, to which he then set fire, and dancing around them enjoyed the agonizing pangs of the flaming victims.

This bravado, which carried with it a degree of insult, that even the accustomed ear of an Indian could not listen to un­moved, threw his tormentors off their guard, and shortened the duration of his torments; for one of the chiefs ran to him, and ripping out his heart, stopped with it the mouth from which had issued such provoking language.

Innumerable are the stories that may be told of the courage and resolution of the Indians, who happen to be made priso­ners by their adversaries. Many that I have heard are so a­stonishing, that they seem to exceed the utmost limits of credi­bility; it is, however, certain that these savages are possessed with many heroic qualities, and bear every species of misfor­tune with a degree of fortitude which has not been outdone by any of the ancient heroes of either of Greece or Rome.

Notwithstanding these acts of severity exercised by the In­dians towards those of their own species, who fall into their hands, some tribes of them have been remarked for their mo­deration to such female prisoners, belonging to the English co­lonies as have happened to be taken by them. Women of great beauty have frequently been carried off by them, and during a march of three or four hundred miles, through their retired fo­rests, have [...]ain by their sides without receiving any insult, and [Page 143] their chastity has remained inviolate. Instances have happened where female captives, who have been pregnant at the time of their being taken, have found the pangs of child-birth come upon them in the midst of solitary woods, and savages their on­ly companions; yet from these, savages as they were, have they received every assistance their situation would admit of, and been treated with a degree of delicacy and humanity they little expected.

This forbearance, it must be acknowledged dees not proceed altogether from their dispositions, but is only inherent in those who have held some communication with the French missiona­ries. Without intending that their natural enemies, the Eng­lish, should enjoy the benefit of their labours, these fathers have taken great pains to inculcate on the minds of the Indians the general principles of humanity, which has diffused itself through their manners, and has proved of public utility.

Those prisoners that are consigned to the house of grace, and these are commonly the young men, women and children, await the disposal of the chiefs, who, after the execution of such as are condemned to die, hold a council for this purpose.

A herald is sent round the village or camp, to give notice that such as have lost any relation in the late expedition, are de­sired to attend the distribution which is about to take place. Those women who have lost their sons or husbands, are gene­rally satisfied in the first place; after these, such as have been deprived of friends of a more remote degree of consanguinity, or who choose to adopt some of the youth.

The division being made, which is done, as in other cases, without the least dispute, those who have received any share lead them to their tents or huts; and having unbound them, wash and dress their wounds if they happen to have received any; they then cloath them, and give them the most comfort­able and refreshing food their store will afford.

Whilst their new domesticks are feeding, they endeavour to administer consolation to them; they tell them that as they are redeemed from death, they must now be cheerful and happy; and if they serve them well, without murmuring or repining, no­thing shall be wanting to make them such atonement for the loss of their country and friends as circumstances will allow of.

If any men are spared, they are commonly given to the wi­dows that have lost their husbands by the hand of the enemy, should there be any such, to whom, if they happen to prove agreeable, they are soon married. But should the dame be other­wise engaged, the life of him who falls to her lot is in great danger; especially if she fancies that her late husband wants a slave in the country of spirits, to which he is gone.

When this is the case, a number of young men take the de­voted captive to some distance, and dispatch him without any ceremony: after he has been spared by the council, they con­sider [Page 144] him of too little consequence to be entitled to the torments allotted to those who have been judged worthy of them.

The women are usually distributed to the men, from whom they do not fail of meeting with a favourable reception. The boys and girls are taken into the families of such as have need of them, and are considered as slaves; and it is not uncommon that they are sold in the same capacity to the European traders, who come among them.

The Indians have no idea of moderating the ravages of war, by sparing their prisoners, and entering into a negotiation with the band from whom they have been taken, for an exchange. All that are captivated by both parties, are either put to death, adopted, or made slaves of. And so particular are every na­tion in this respect, that if any of their tribe, even a warrior, should be taken prisoner, and by chance be received into the house of grace, either as an adopted person or a slave, and should afterwards make his escape, they will by no means receive him, or acknowledge him as one of their band.

The condition of such as are adopted differs not in any one instance from the children of the nation to which they now be­long. They assume all the rights of those whose places they supply, and frequently make no difficulty of going in the war-parties against their own countrymen. Should, however, any of these by chance make their escape, and be afterwards re­taken, they are esteemed as unnatural children and ungrateful persons, who have deserted and made war upon their parents and benefactors, and are treated with uncommon severity.

That part of the prisoners which are considered as slaves, are generally distributed among the chiefs; who frequently make presents of some of them to the European governors of the out­posts, or to the superintendants or commissaries of Indian af­fairs. I have been informed that it was the Jesuits and French missionaries that first occasioned the introduction of these un­happy captives into the settlements, and who by so doing taught the Indians that they were valuable.

Their views indeed were laudable, as they imagined that by this method they should not only prevent much barbarity and bloodshed, but find the opportunities of spreading their religi­on among them increased. To this purpose they encouraged the traders to purchase such slaves as they met with.

The good effects of this mode of proceeding was not how­ever equal to the expectations of these pious fathers. Instead of being the means of preventing cruelty and bloodshead, it only caused the dissensions between the Indian nations to be carried on with a greater degree of violence, and with unre­mitted ardour. The prize they fought for being no longer re­venge or fame, but the acquirement of spirituous liquors, for which their captives were to be exchanged, and of which al­most every nation is immoderately fond, they fought for their [Page 145] enemies with unwonted alacrity, and were constantly on the watch to surprize and carry them off.

It might still be said that fewer of the captives are tormented and put to death, since these expectations of receiving so va­luable a consideration for them have been excited than there usually had been; but it does not appear that their accustomed cruelty to the warriors they take, is in the least abated; their natural desire of vengeance must be gratified; they now only become more assiduous in securing a greater number of young prisoners, whilst those who are made captive in their defence are tormented and put to death as before

The missionaries finding that contrary to their wishes their zeal had only served to increase the sale of the noxious juices, applied to the Governor of Canada, in the year 1693, for a prohibition of this baneful trade. An order was issued accord­ingly, but it could not put a total stop to it; the French Cou­riers de Boïs were hardy enough to carry it on clandestinely, notwithstanding the penalty annexed to a breach of the prohi­bition was a considerable fine and imprisonment.

Some who were detected in the prosecution of it withdrew into the Indian countries, where they intermarried with the na­tives, and underwent a voluntary banishment. These, however, being an abandoned and debauched set, their conduct contri­buted very little either towards reforming the manners of their new relations, or engaging them to entertain a favourable opi­nion of the religion they professed. Thus did these indefati­gable religious men see their designs in some measure once more frustrated.

However, the emigration was productive of an effect which turned out to be beneficial to their nation. By the connection of these refugees with the Iroquois, Mississuages, Hurons, Mia­mies, Powtowottomies, Puants, Menomonies, Algonkins, &c. and the constant representations these various nations received from them of the power and grandeur of the French, to the ag­grandizement of whose monarch, notwithstanding their banish­ment, they still retained their habitual inclination, the Indians became insensibly prejudiced in favour of that people, and I am persuaded will take every opportunity of shewing their attach­ment to them.

And this, even in despite of the disgraceful estimation they must be held by them, since they have been driven out of Ca­nada; for the Indians consider every conquered people as in a state of vassalage to their conquerors. After one nation has finally subdued another, and a conditional submission is agreed on, it is customary for the chiefs of the conquered, when they sit in council with their subduers, to wear petticoats, as an acknowledgement that they are in a state of subjection, and ought to be ranked among the women. Their partiality to the French has however taken too deep root for time itself to era­dicate it.

CHAPTER X. Of their Manner of making PEACE, &c.

THE wars that are carried on between the Indian nations are in general hereditary, and continue from age to age with a few interruptions. If a peace becomes necessary, the principal care of both parties is to avoid the appearance of making the first advances.

When they treat with an enemy, relative to a suspension of hostilities, the chief who is commissioned to undertake the ne­gociation, if it is not brought about by the mediation of some neighbouring band, abates nothing of his natural haughtiness: even when the affairs of his country are in the worst situation, he makes no concessions, but endeavours to persuade his adver­saries that it is their interest to put an end to the war.

Accidents sometimes contribute to bring about a peace be­tween nations that otherwise could not be prevailed on to listen to terms of accommodation. An instance of this, which I heard of in almost every nation I passed through, I shall relate.

About eighty years ago, the Iroquois and Chipéways, two powerful nations, were at war with the Ottagaumies and Sau­kies, who were much inferior to their adversaries both in num­bers and strength. One winter near a thousand of the former made an excursion from Lake Ontario, by way of Toronto, to­wards the territories of their enemies. They coasted Lake Hu­ron on its east and northern borders, till they arrived at the island of St. Joseph, which is situated in the Straights of St. Marie. There they crossed these Straights upon the ice about fifteen miles below the falls, and continued their route still west­ward. As the ground was covered with snow, to prevent a dis­covery of their numbers, they marched in a single file, treading in each others footsteps.

Four Chipéway Indians, passing that way, observed this army, and readily guessed from the direction of their march, and the precautions they took, both the country to which they were hastening, and their designs.

Notwithstanding the nation to which they belonged was at war with the Ottaga [...]mies, and in alliance with their invaders, yet from a principle which cannot be accounted for, they took an instant resolution to apprize the former of their danger. [Page 147] To this purpose they hastened away with their usual celerity, and, taking a circuit to avoid discovery, arrived at the hunting grounds of the Ottagaumies, before so large a body, moving in so cautious a manner, could do. There they found a party of about four hundred warriors, some of which were Saukies, whom they informed of the approach of their enemies.

The chiefs immediately collected their whole force, and held a council on the steps that were to be taken for their defence. As they were encumbered with their families, it was impossible that they could retreat in time; they therefore determined to choose the most advantageous spot, and to give the Iroquois the best reception in their power.

Not far from the place where they then happened to be, stood two small lakes, between which ran a narrow neck of land about a mile in length, and only from twenty to forty yards in breadth. Concluding that the Iroquois intended to pass through this de­file, the united bands divided their little party into two bodies of two hundred each. One of these took post at the extremity of the pass that lay nearest to their hunting grounds, which they immediately fortified with a breast-work formed of pali­sades; whilst the other body took a compass round one of the lakes, with a design to hem their enemies in when they had en­tered the defile.

Their stratagem succeeded; for no sooner had the whole of the Iroquois entered the pass, than, being provided with wood for the purpose, they formed a similar breast-work on the other extremity, and thus enclosed their enemies.

The Iroquois soon perceived their situation, and immediately held a council on the measures that were necessary to be pursued to extricate themselves. Unluckily for them a thaw had just taken place, which had so far dissolved the ice as to render it impassible, and yet there still remained sufficient to prevent them from either passing over the lakes on rafts, or from swimming across. In this dilemma it was agreed that they should endea­vour to force one of the breast-works; but they soon found them too well defended to effect their purpose.

Notwithstanding this disappointment, with the usual compo­sure and unapprehensiveness of Indians, they amused themselves three or four days in fishing. By this time the ice being quite dissolved, they made themselves rafts, which they were enabled to do by some trees that fortunately grew on the spot, and at­tempted to cross one of the lakes.

They accordingly set off before day-break; but the Ottagau­mies, who had been watchful of their motions, perceiving their design, detached one hundred and fifty men from each of their parties, to oppose their landing. These three hundred march­ed so expeditiously to the other side of the lake, that they reach­ed it before their opponents had gained the shore, they being retarded by their poles sticking in the mud.

[Page 148]As soon as the confederates arrived, they poured in a very heavy fire, both from their bows and musquetry, on the Iro­quois, which greatly disconcerted them; till the latter finding their situation desperate, leaped into the water, and fought their way through their enemies. This however they could not do without losing more than half their men.

After the Iroquois had landed, they made good their retreat, but were obliged to leave their enemies masters of the field, and in possession of all the furs they had taken during their win­ter's hunt. Thus dearly did they pay for an unprovoked excur­sion to such distance from the route they ought to have pursued, and to which they were only impelled by a sudden desire of cut­ting off some of their ancient enemies.

But had they known their strength they might have destroyed every man of the party that opposed them; which even at the first onset was only inconsiderable, and, when diminished by the action, totally unable to make any stand against them.

The victorious bands rewarded the Chipéways, who had been the means of their success, with a share of the spoils. They pressed them to take any quantity they chose of the richest of the furs, and sent them under an escort of fifty men, to their own country. The disinterested Chipéways, as the Indians in general are seldom actuated by mercenary motives, for a consi­derable time refused these presents, but were at length persuad­ed to accept of them.

The brave and well-concerted resistance here made by the Ottagaumies and Saukies, aided by the mediation of the Chipé­ways, who laying aside on this occasion the animosity they had so long born, those people approved of the generous conduct of their four chiefs, were together the means of effecting a recon­ciliation between these nations; and in process of time united them all in the bands of amity.

And I believe that all the Indians inhabiting that extensive country, which lies between Quebec, the banks of the Mississip­pi north of the Ouisconsin, and the settlements belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, are at present in a state of profound peace. When their restless dispositions will not suffer them to remain inactive, these northern Indians seldom commit hostili­ties on each other, but make excursions to the southward, against the Cherokees, Choctahs, Chicksaws or Illinois.

Sometimes the Indians grow tired of a war which they have carried on against some neighbouring nation for many years without much success, and in this case they seek for mediators to begin a negotiation. These being obtained, the treaty is thus conducted.

A number of their own chiefs, joined by those who have ac­cepted the friendly office, set out together for the country of their enemies; such a [...] are chosen for this purpose, are chiefs of the most extensive abilities, and of the greatest integrity. They bear before them the Pipe of Peace, which I need not [Page 149] inform my readers is of the same nature as a Flag of Truce among the Europeans, and is treated with the greatest respect and veneration, even by the most barbarous nations. I never heard of an instance wherein the bearers of this sacred badge of friendship were ever treated disrespectfully, or its rights vio­lated. The Indians believe that the Great Spirit never suffers an infraction of this kind to go unpunished.

The Pipe of Peace, which is termed by the French the Calu­met, for what reason I could never learn, is about four feet long. The bowl of it is made of red marble, and the stem of it of a light wood, curiously painted with hieroglyphicks in va­rious colours, and adorned with feathers of the most beautiful birds; but it is not in my power to convey an idea of the va­rious tints and pleasing ornaments of this much esteemed In­dian implement.

Every nation has a different method of decorating these pipes▪ and they can tell at first sight to what band it belongs. It is used as an introduction to all treaties, and great ceremony attends the use of it on these occasions.

The assistant or aid-du-camp of the great warrior, when the chiefs are assembled and seated, fills it with tobacco mixed with the herbs before-mentioned, taking care at the same time that no part of it touches the ground. When it is filled, he takes a coal that is thoroughly kindled, from a fire which is generally kept burning in the midst of the assembly, and places it on the the tobacco.

As soon as it is sufficiently lighted, he throws off the coal. He then turns the stem of it towards the heavens, after this to­wards the earth, and now holding it horizontally, moves him­self round till he has compleated a circle: by the first action he is supposed to present it to the Great Spirit, whose aid is there­by supplicated; by the second, to avert any malicious interpo­sition of the evil spirits; and by the third to gain the protec­tion of the spirits inhabiting the air, the earth, and the waters. Having thus secured the favour of those invisible agents, in whose power they suppose it is either to forward or obstruct the issue of their present deliberations, he presents it to the here­ditary chief, who having taken two or three whiffs, blows the smoak from his mouth first towards heaven, and then around him upon the ground.

It is afterwards put in the same manner into the mouths of the ambassadors or strangers, who observe the same ceremony; then to the chief of the warriors, and to all the other chiefs in turn, according to their gradation. During this time the per­son who executes this honourable office holds the pipe slightly in his hand, as if he feared to press the sacred instrument; nor does any one presume to touch it but with his lips.

When the chiefs who are intrusted with [...]he commission for mak­ing peace, approach the town or camp to which they are going, they begin to sing and dance the songs and dances appropriated [Page 150] to this occasion. By this time the adverse party are apprized of their arrival, and divesting themselves of their wonted en­mity at the sight of the Pipe of Peace, invite them to the habi­tation of the Great Chief, and furnish them with every conve­niency during the negociation.

A council is then held; and when the speeches and debates are ended, if no obstructions arise to put a stop to the treaty▪ the painted hatchet is buried in the ground, as a memorial that all animosities between the contending nations have ceased, and a peace taken place. Among the ruder bands, such as have no communication with the Europeans, a war club, painted red, is buried, instead of the hatchet.

A belt of wampum is also given on this occasion, which serves as a ratification of the peace, and records to the latest posteri­ty, by the hieroglyphicks into which the beads are formed, eve­ry stipulated article in the treaty.

These belts are made of shells found on the coasts of New England and Virginia, which are sawed out into beads of an ob­long form, about a quarter of an inch long, and round like other beads. Being strung on leather strings, and several of them sewed neatly together with fine sinewy threads, they then com­pose what is termed a belt of Wampum.

The shells are generally of two colours, some white and others violet; but the latter are more highly esteemed than the former. They are held in as much estimation by the Indians, as gold, silver, or precious stones are by the Europeans.

The belts are composed of ten, twelve▪ o [...] a greater number of strings, according to the importance of the affair in agita­tion, or the dignity of the person to whom it is presented. On more trifling occasions, strings of these beads are presented by the chiefs to each other, and frequently worn by them about their necks, as a valuable ornament,

CHAPTER XI. Of their GAMES.

AS I have before observed, the Indians are greatly addicted to gaming, and will even stake, and lose with composure, all the valuables they are possessed of. They amuse themselves at several sorts of games, but the principal and most esteemed among them is that of the ball, which is not unlike the Euro­pean game of tennis.

[Page 151]The balls they use are rather larger than those made use of at tennis, and are formed of a piece of deer-skin; which be­ing moistened to render it suppl [...], is stuffed hard with the hair of the same creature, and sewed with its sinews. The ball-sticks are about three feet long, at the end of which there is fixed a kind of racket, resembling the palm of the hand, and fashioned of thongs cut from a deer-skin. In these they catch the ball, and throw it to a great distance, if they are not pre­vented by some of the opposite party, who fly to intercept it.

This game is generally played by large companies, that some­times consist of more than three hundred; and it is not uncom­mon for different bands to play against each other.

They begin by fixing two poles in the ground at about six hundred yards apart, and one of these goals belong to each par­ty of the combatants. The ball is thrown up high in the cen­tre of the ground, and in a direct line between the goals; to­wards which each party endeavours to strike it, and which-ever side first causes it to reach their own goal, reckons towards the game.

They are so exceeding dextrous in this manly exercise, that the ball is usually kept flying in different directions by the force of the rackets, without touching the ground during the whole contention; for they are not allowed to catch it with their hands. They run with amazing velocity in pursuit of each other, and when one is on the point of hurling it to a great distance, an antagonist overtakes him, and by a sudden stroke dashes down the ball.

The play with so much vehemence that they frequently wound each other, and sometimes a bone is broken; but notwithstand­ing these accidents there never appears to be any spite or wan­ton exertions of strength to effect them, nor do any disputes ever happen between the parties.

There is another game also in use among them worthy of re­mark, and this is the game of the Bowl or Platter. This game is played between two persons only. Each person has six or eight little bones not unlike a peach-stone either in size or shape, except that they are quadrangular; two of the sides of which are couloured black, and the others white. These they throw up into the air, from whence they fall into a bowl or platter placed underneath, and made to spin round.

According as these bones present the white or black side up­wards they reckon the game: he that happens to have the great­est number turn up of a similar colour, counts five points; and forty is the game.

The winning party keeps his place, and the loser yields his to another who is appointed by one of the umpires; for a whole village is sometimes concerned in the pa [...]ty, and at times one hand plays against another.

[Page 152]During this play the Indians appear to be greatly agitated, and at every decisive throw set up a hideous shout. They make a thousand contortions, addressing themselves at the same time to the bones, and loading with imprecations the evil spirits that assist their successful antagonists.

At this game some will lose their apparel, all the moveables of their cabins, and sometimes even their liberty, notwith­standing there are no people in the universe more jealous of the latter than the Indians are.

CHAPTER XII. Of their MARRIAGE CEREMONIES, &c.

THE Indians allow of polygamy, and persons of every rank indulge themselves in this point. The chiefs in par­ticular have a seraglio, which consists of an uncertain number, usually from six to twelve or fourteen. The lower ranks are permitted to take as many as there is a probability of their be­ing able, with the children they may bear, to maintain. It is not uncommon for an Indian to marry two sisters; sometimes, if there happen to be more, the whole number; and notwith­standing this (as it appears to civilized nations) unnatural uni­on, they all live in the greatest harmony.

The younger wives are submissive to the elder; and those who have no children, do such menial offices for those who are fer­tile, as causes their situation to differ but little from a state of servitude. However they perform every injunction with the great­est cheerfulness, in hopes of gaining thereby the affection of their husband, that they in their turns may have the happiness of becoming mothers, and be entitled to the respect attendant on that state.

It is not uncommon for an Indian, although he takes to him­self to many wives, to live in a state of continence with many of them for several years. Such as are not so fortunate as to gain the favour of their husband, by their submissive and pru­dent behaviour, and by that means to share in his embraces, continue in their virgin state during the whole of their lives, except they happen to be presented by him to some stranger chief, whose abode among them will not admit of his entering into a more lasting connection. In this case they submit to the injunction of their husband without murmuring, and are not dis­pleased at the temporary union. But if at any time it is known that they take this liberty without first receiving his consent, [Page 153] they are punished in the same manner as if they had been guilty of adultery.

This custom is more prevalent among the nations which lie in the interior parts, than among those that are nearer the set­tlements, as the manners of the latter are rendered more con­formable in some points to those of the Europeans, by the in­tercourse they hold with them.

The Indian nations differ but little from each other in their marriage ceremonies, and less in the manner of their divorces. The tribes that inhabit the borders of Canada, make use of the following custom.

When a young Indian has fixed his inclinations on one of the other sex, he endeavours to gain her consent, and if he suc­ceeds, it is never known that her parents ever obstruct their union. When every preliminary is agreed on, and the day ap­pointed, the friends and acquaintance of both parties assemble at the house or tent of the oldest relation of the bridegroom, where a feast is prepared on the occasion.

The company who meet to assist at the festival are sometimes very numerous; they dance, they sing, and enter into every other diversion usually made use of on any of their public rejoicings.

When these are finished, all those who attended merely out of ceremony depart, and the bridegroom and bride are left alone with three or four of the nearest and oldest relations of either side; those of the bridegroom being men, those of the bride, women.

Presently the bride, attended by these few friends, having withdrawn herself for the purpose, appears at one of the doors of the house, and is led to the bridegroom, who stands ready to receive her. Having now taken their station, on a mat placed in the centre of the room, they lay hold of the extremities of a wand, about four feet long, by which they continue separated, whilst the old men pronounce some short harangues suitable to the occasion.

The married couple after this make a puplic declaration of the love and regard they entertain for each other, and still hold­ing the rod between them, dance and sing. When they have finished this part of the ceremony, they break the rod into as many pieces as there are witnesses present, who each take a piece, and preserve it with great care.

The bride is then reconducted out of the door at which she entered, where her young companions wait to attend her to her father's house; there the bridegroom is obliged to seek her, and the marriage is consummated. Very often the wife re­mains at her father's house till she has a child, when she packs up her apparel, which is all the fortune she is generally posses­sed of, and accompanies her husband to his habitation.

When from any dislike a separation takes place, for they are seldom known to quarrel, they generally give their friends a few days notice of their intentions, and sometimes offer reasons [Page 154] to justify their conduct. The witnesses who were present at the marriage, meet on the day requested, at the house of the couple that are about to separate, and bringing with them the pieces of rod which they had received at their nuptials, throw them into the fire, in the presence of all the parties.

This is the whole of the ceremony required, and the separa­tion is carried on without any murmurings or ill-will between the couple or their relations; and after a few months they are at liberty to marry again.

When a marriage is thus dissolved, the children which have been produced from it, are equally divided between them; and as children are esteemed a treasure by the Indians, if the number happens to be odd, the woman is allowed to take the better half.

Though this custom seems to encourage fickleness and fre­quent separations, yet there are many of the Indians who have but one wife, and enjoy with her a state of connubial happiness not to be exceeded in more refined societies. There are also not a few instances of women preserving an inviolable attach­ment to their husbands, except in the cases beforementioned, which are not considered as either a violation of their chastity or fidelity.

Although I have said that the Indian nations differ very little from each other in their marriage ceremonies, there are some exceptions. The Naudowessies have a singular method of cele­brating their marriages, which seems to bear no resemblance to those made use of by any other nation I passed through. When one of their young men has fixed on a young woman he approves of, he discovers his passion to her parents, who give him an invi­tation to come and live with them in their tent.

He accordingly accepts the offer, and by so doing engages to reside in it for a whole year, in the character of a menial servant. During this time he hunts, and brings all the game he kills to the family; by which means the father has an opportunity of seeing whether he is able to provide for the support of his daughter and the children that might be the consequence of their union. This however is only done whilst they are young men, and for their fi [...]t wife, and not repeated like Jacob's ser­vitudes.

When this period is expired, the marriage is solemnized af­ter the custom of the country, in the following manner: Three or four of the oldest male relations of the bridegroom, and as many of the bride's, accompany the young couple from their respective tents, to an open part in the centre of the camp.

The chiefs and warriors being here assembled to receive them, a party of the latter are drawn up in two ranks on each side of the bride and bridegroom immediately on their arrival. Their principal chief then acquaints the whole assembly with the de­sign of their meeting, and tells them that the couple before them, mentioning at the same time their names, are come to avow publicly their intentions of living together as man and wife. [Page 155] He then asks the two young people alternately, whether they desire that the union might take place. Having declared with an audible voice that they do so, the warriors fix their arrows, and discharge them over the heads of the married pair; this done, the chief pronounces them man and wife.

The bridegroom then turns round, and bending his body, takes his wife on his back, in which manner he carries her amidst the acclamations of the spectators to his tent. This ce­remony is succeeded by the most plentiful feast the new married man can afford, and songs and dances, according to the usual custom, conclude the festival.

Divorces happen so seldom among the Naudowessies, that I had not an opportunity of learning how they are accomplished.

Adultery is esteemed by them a heinous crime, and punished with the greatest rigour. The husband in these cases bites off the wife's nose, and a separation instantly ensues. I saw an in­stance wherein this mode of punishment was inflicted, whilst I remained among them. The children, when this happens, are distributed according to the usual custom observed by other na­tions, that is, they are equally divided.

Among the Indian as well as European nations, there are many that devote themselves to pleasure, and notwithstanding the accounts given by some modern writers of the frigidity of an Indian constitution, become the zealous votaries of Venus. The young warriors that are thus disposed, seldom want opportuni­ties for gratifying their passion; and as the mode usually fol­lowed on these occasions is rather singular, I shall describe it.

When one of these young debauchees imagines from the be­haviour of the person he has chosen for his mistress, that he shall not meet with any great obstruction to his suit from her, he pursues the following plan.

It has been already observed, that the Indians acknowledge no superiority, nor have they any ideas of subordination, ex­cept in the necessary regulations of their war or hunting par­ties; they consequently live nearly in a state of equality, pur­suant to the first principles of nature. The lover therefore is not apprehensive of any check or countroul in the accomplish­ment of his purposes, if he can find a convenient opportunity for completing them.

As the Indians are also under no apprehension of robbers, or secret enemies, they leave the doors of their tents or huts un­fastened during the night, as well as in the day. Two or three hours after sunset, the slaves or old people cover over the fire, that is generally burning in the midsts of their apartment, with ashes, and retire to their repose.

Whilst darkness thus prevails, and all is quiet, one of these sons of pleasure, wrapped up closely in his blanket, to prevent his being known, will sometimes enter the apartment of his in­tended mistress. Having first lighted at the smothered fire a small splinter of wood, which answers the purpose of a match, [Page 156] he approaches the place where she reposes, and gently pulling away the covering from the head, jogs her till she awakes. If she then rises up, and blows out the light, he needs no further confirmation that his company is not disagreeable; but if, after he has discovered himself, she hides her head, and takes no notice of him, he might rest assured that any further solicita­tions will prove vain, and that it is necessary immediately for him to retire.

During his stay he conceals the light as much as possible in the hollow of his hands, and as the tents or rooms of the In­dians are usually large and capacious, he escapes without de­tection. It is said that the young women who admit their lovers on these occasions, take great care, by an immediate application to herbs, with the potent efficacy of which they are well ac­quainted, to prevent the effects of these illicit amours from be­coming visible; for should the natural consequences ensue, they must forever remain unmarried.

The children of the Indians are always distinguished by the name of the mother; and if a woman marries several husbands, and has issue by each of them, they are all called after her. The reason they give for this is, that as their offspring are in­debted to the father for their souls, the invisible part of their essence, and to the mother for their corporeal and apparent part, it is more rational that they should be distinguished by the name of the latter, from whom they indubitably derive their being, than by that of the father, to which a doubt might sometimes arise whether they are justly intitled.

There are some ceremonies made use of by the Indians at the imposition of the name, and it is considered by them as a mat­ter of great importance; but what these are I could never learn, through the secrecy observed on the occasion. I only know [...] it is usually given when the children have passed the state o [...] [...]nfancy.

Nothing can exceed the tenderness shown by them to their offspring; and a person cannot recommend himself to their fa­vour by any method more certain, than by paying some atten­tion to the younger branches of their families. I can impute, in some measure, to the presents I made to the children of the chiefs of the Naudowessies, the hospitable reception I met with when among them.

There is some difficulty attends an explanation of the manner in which the Indians distinguish themselves from each other. Besides the name of the animal by which every nation and tribe is denominated, there are others that are personal, and which the children receive from their mother.

The chiefs are also distinguished by a name that has either some reference to their abilities, or to the hie [...]oglyphick of their families; and these are acquired after they arrive at the age of manhood. Such as have signalized themselves either in their war or hunting parties, or are possessed of some eminent quali­fication, [Page 157] receive a name that serves to perpetuate the same of these actions, or to make their abilities conspicuous.

Thus the great warrior of the Naudowessies was named Ot­tahtongoomlishcah, that is, the Great Father of Snakes; ottah being in English father, tongoom great, and lishcah a snake. Another chief was called Honahpawjatin, which means a swift runner over the mountains. And when they adopted me a chief among them, they named me Shebaygo, which signifies a writer, or a person that is curious in making hieroglyphicks, as they saw me often writing.

CHAPTER XIII. Of their RELIGION.

IT is very difficult to attain a perfect knowledge of the reli­gious principles of the Indians. Their ceremonies and doc­trines have been so often ridiculed by the Europeans, that they endeavour to conceal them; and if, after the greatest intimacy, you desire any of them to explain to you their system of reli­gion, to prevent your ridicule▪ they intermix with it many of the tenets they have received from the French missionaries, so that it is at last rendered an unintelligible jargon, and not to be depended upon.

Such as I could discover among the Naudowessies (for they also were very reserved in this point) I shall give my readers▪ without paying any attention to the accounts of others. As [...] religion of that people from their situation appears to be [...] unadultered with the superstitions of the church of Rome, we shall be able to gain from their religious customs a more perfect Idea of the original tenets and ceremonies of the Indians in ge­neral, than from those of any nations that approach nearer to the settlements.

It is certain they acknowledge one Supreme Being, or Giver of Life, who presides over all things. The Chipéways call this Being Manitou, or Kitchi-Manitou; the Naudowessies, Wakon or Tongo-Wakon, that is, the Great Spirit; and they look up to him as the source of good, from whom no evil can proceed. They also believe in a bad spirit, to whom they ascribe great power, and suppose that through his means all the evils which befall mankind are inflicted. To him therefore do they pray in their distresses, begging that he would either avert their trou­bles, or moderate them when they are no longer avoidable.

They say that the Great Spirit, who is infinitely good, nei­ther wishes or is able to do any mischief to mankind; but on [Page 158] the contrary, that he showers down on them all the bless [...] they deserve; whereas the evil spirit is continually employed in contriving how he may punish the human race; and to do which he is not only possessed of the will, but of the power.

They hold also that there are good spirits of a lesser degree, who have their particular departments, in which they are con­stantly contributing to the happiness of mortals. These they suppose to preside over all the extraordinary productions of na­ture, such as those lakes, rivers, or mountains that are of an uncommon magnitude; and likewise the beasts, birds, fishes, and even vegetables, or stones that exceed the rest of their spe­cies in size or singularity. To all of these they pay some kind of adoration. Thus when they arrive on the borders of Lake Superior, on the banks of the Mississippi, or any other great body of water, they present to the Spirit who resides there some kind of offering, as the prince of the Winnebagoes did when he attended me to the Falls of St. Anthony.

But at the same time I fancy that the ideas they annex to the word spirit, are very different from the conceptions more en­lightened nations entertain of it. They appear to fashion to themselves corporeal representations of their gods, and believe them to be of a human form, though of a nature more excel­lent than man.

Of the same kind are their sentiments relative to a futurity. They doubt not but they shall exist in some future state; they however fancy that their employments there will be similar to those they are engaged in here, without the labour and difficul­ty annexed to them in this period of their existence.

They consequently expect to be translated to a delightful coun­try, where they shall always have a clear unclouded sky, and enjoy a perpetual spring; where the forests will abound with [...], and the lakes with fish, which might be taken without r [...]iring a painful exertion of skill, or a laborious pursuit; in short, that they shall live for ever in regions of plenty, and en­joy every gratification they delight in here, in a greater degree.

To intellectual pleasures they are strangers; nor are these included in their scheme of happiness. But they expect that even these animal pleasures will be proportioned and distribut­ed according to their merit; the skilful hunter, the bold and successful warrior, will be entitled to a greater share than those who through indolence or want of skill cannot boast of any supe­riority over the common herd.

The priests of the Indians are at the same time their physi­cians, and their conjurors; whilst they heal their wounds, or cure their diseases, they interpret their dreams, give them pro­tective charms, and satisfy that desire which is so prevalent among them, of searching into futurity.

How well they execute the latter part of their professional engagements, and the methods they make use of on some of these occasions, I have already shewn in the exertions of the priest of [Page 159] the Killistinoes, who was fortunate enough to succeed in his ex­traordinary attempt near Lake Superior. They frequently are successful likewise in administering the salubrious herbs they have acquired a knowledge of; but that the ceremonies they make use of during the administration of them contributes to their success, I shall not take upon me to assert.

When any of the people are ill, the person who is invested with this triple character of doctor, priest, and magician, sits by the patient day and night, rattling in his ears a goad-shell filled with dry beans, called a Chichicoué, and making a disa­greeable noise that cannot be well described.

This uncouth harmony one would imagine should disturb the sick person, and prevent the good effects of the doctor's pre­scription; but on the contrary they believe that the method made use of contributes to his recovery, by diverting from his malignant purposes the evil spirit who has inflicted the disor­der; or at least that it will take off his attention, so that he shall not increase the malady. This they are credulous enough to imagine he is constantly on the watch to do, and would carry his inveteracy to a fatal length if they did not thus charm him.

I could not discover that they make use of any other religi­ous ceremonies than those I have described; indeed, on the ap­pearance of the new moon they dance and sing; but it is not evident that they pay that planet any adoration; they only seem to rejoice at the return of a luminary that makes the night cheer­ful, and which serves to light them on their way when they tra­vel during the absence of the sun.

Notwithstanding Mr. Adair has asserted that the nations among whom he resided, observe with very little variation all the rites appointed by the Mosaic Law, I own I could never discover among those tribes that lie but a few degrees to the north-west, the least traces of the Jewish religion, except [...] admitted that one particular female custom and their division into tribes, carry with them proofs sufficient to establish this assertion.

The Jesuits and French missionaries have also pretended that the Indians had, when they first travelled into America, some notions, though these were dark and confused, of the christian institution; that they have been greatly agitated at the sight of a cross, and given proofs, by the impressions made on them, that they were not entirely unacquainted with the sacred myste­ries of Christianity. I need not say that these are too glaring absurdities to be credited, and could only receive their existence from the zeal of those fathers, who endeavoured at once, to give the public a better opinion of the success of their missi­ons, and to add support to the cause they were engaged in.

The Indians appear to be in their religious principles, rude and uninstructed. The doctrines they hold are few and simple, and such as have been generally impressed on the human mind, by some means or other, in the most ignorant ages. They how­ever [Page 160] have not deviated, as many other uncivilized nations, and too many civilized ones have done, into idolatrous modes of worship; they venerate indeed, and make offerings to the won­derful parts of the creation, as I have before observed; but whether these rites are performed on account of the impression such extraordinary appearances make on them, or whether they consider them as the peculiar charge, or the usual places of re­sidence of the invisible spirits they acknowledge, I cannot po­sitively determine.

The human mind in its uncultivated state is apt to ascribe the extraordinary occurrences of nature, such as earthquakes, thun­der, or hurricanes, to the interposition of unseen beings; the troubles and disasters also that are annexed to a savage life, the apprehensions attendant on a precarious subsistence and those numberless inconveniencies which man in his improved state has found means to remedy, are supposed to proceed from the interposition of evil spirits; the savage consequently lives in continual apprehensions of their unkind attacks, and to avert them has recourse to charms, to the fantastic ceremonies of his priest, or the powerful influence of his Manitous. Fear has of course a greater share in his devotions than gratitude, and he pays more attention to deprecating the wrath of the evil than to securing the favour of the good beings.

The Indians, however, entertain these absurdities in com­mon with those of every part of the globe who have not been illumined by that religion which only can disperse the clouds of superstition and ignorance, and they are as free from error as a people can be that has not been favoured with its instructive doctrines.

CHAPTER. XIV. Of their DISEASES, &c.

THE Indians in general are healthy, and subject but to few diseases, many of those that afflict civilized nations, and are the immediate consequences of luxury or sloth, being not known among them; however, the hardships and fatigues which they endure in hunting or war, the inclemency of the seasons to which they are continually exposed, but above all the extremes of hunger, and that voraciousness their long excursi­ons consequently subject them to, cannot fail of impairing the constitution, and bringing on disorders.

[Page 161]Pains and weaknesses in the stomach and breast are sometimes the result of their long fasting, and consumptions of the excess­ive fatigue and violent exercises they expose themselves to from their infancy, before they have strength sufficient to support them. But the disorder to which they are most subject, is the pleurisy; for the removal of which, they apply their grand re­medy and preservative against the generality of their complaints, sweating.

The manner in which they construct their stoves for this pur­pose is as follows: They fix several small poles in the ground, the tops of which they twist together, so as to form a rotunda: this frame they cover with skins or blankets; and they lay them on with so much nicety, that the air is kept from entering through any crevice; a small space being only left, just suffici­ent to creep in at, which is immediately after closed. In the middle of this confined building they place red hot stones, on 'which they pour water till a steam arises that produces a great degree of heat.

This causes an instantenous perspiration, which they increase as they please. Having continued in it for some time, they imme­diately hasten to the nearest stream, and plunge into the water; and, after bathing therein for about half a minute, they put on their cloaths, sit down and smoak with great composure, tho­roughly persuaded that the remedy will prove efficacious. They often make use of this sudoriferous method to refresh themselves, or to prepare their minds for the management of any business that requires uncommon deliberation and sagacity.

They are likewise afflicted with the dropsy and paralytic com­plaints, which, however, are but very seldom known among them. As a remedy for these as well as for fevers they make use of lotions and decoctions, composed of herbs, which the physicians know perfectly well how to compound and apply. But they never trust to medicines alone; they always have [...] course likewise to some superstitious ceremonies, without which their patients would not think the physical preparations suffici­ently powerful.

With equal judgment they make use of simples for the cure of wounds, fractures, or bruises; and are able to extract by these, without incision, splinters, iron, or any sort of matter by which the wound is caused. In cures of this kind they are extremely dextrous, and complete them in much less time than might be expected from their mode of proceeding.

With the skin of a snake, which those reptiles annually shed, thy will also extract splinters. It is amazing to see the sudden efficacy of this application, notwithstanding there does not ap­pear to be the least moisture remaining in it.

It has long been a subject of dispute, on what continent the venereal disease first received its destructive power. This dread­ful malady is supposed to have originated in America, but the literary contest still remains undecided; to give some elucida­tion [Page 162] to it I shall remark, that as I could not discover the least traces among the Naudowessies, with whom I resided so long, and was also informed that it was yet unknown among the more western nations, I think I may venture to pronounce that it had not its origin in North America. Those nations that have any communication with the Europeans, or the southern tribes, are greatly afflicted with it; but they have all of them acquired a knowledge of such certain and expeditious remedies, that the communication is not attended with any dangerous consequences.

Soon after I set out on my travels, one of the traders whom I accompanied, complained of a violent gonorrhoea, with all its alarming symptoms: this increased to such a degree, that by the time we had reached the town of the Winnebagoes, he was unable to travel. Having made his complaint known to one of the chiefs of that tribe, he told him not to be uneasy, for he would engage that by following his advice, he should be able in a few days to pursue his journey, and in a little longer time be entirely free from his disorder.

The chief had no sooner said this than he prepared for him a decoction of the bark of the roots of the prickly ash, a tree scarcely known in England, but which grows in great plenty throughout North America; by the use of which, in a few days he was greatly recovered, and having received directions how to prepare it, in a fortnight after his departure from this place perceived that he was radically cured.

If from excessive excercise, or the extremes of heat or cold, they, are affected with pains in their limbs or joints, they scari­fy the parts affected. Those nations who have no commerce with Europeans do this with a sharp flint; and it is surprizing to see how fine a point they have the dexterity to bring them; a lancet can scarcely exceed in sharpness the instruments they make use of this unmalleable substance.

They never can be convinced a person is ill, whilst he has an appetite; but when he rejects all kind of nourishment, they con­sider the disease as dangerous, and pay great attention to it; and during the continuance of the disorder, the physician refuses his patient no sort of food that he is desirous of.

Their doctors are not only supposed to be skilled in the phy­sical treatment of diseases; but the common people believe that by the ceremony of the Chichicoué usually made use of, as be­fore described, they are able to gain intelligence from the spi­rits of the cause of the complaints with which they are afflicted, and are thereby the better enabled to find remedies for them. They discover something supernatural in all their diseases, and the physick administered must invariably be aided by these su­perstitions.

Sometimes a sick person fancies that his disorder arises from witchcraft; in this case the physician or juggler is consulted, who after the usual preparations, gives his opinion on the state of the disease, and frequently finds some means for his cure. [Page 163] But notwithstanding the Indian physicians always annex these superstitious ceremonies to their prescriptions, it is very certain▪ as I have already observed, that they exercise their art by prin­ciples which are founded on the knowledge of simples, and on experience which they acquire by an indefatigable attention to their operations.

The following story, which I received from a person of un­doubted credit, proves that the Indians are not only able to reason with great acuteness on the causes and symptoms of ma­ny of the disorders which are amendant [...]on human nature, but to apply with equal judgment proper remedies.

In Penobscot, a settlement in the province of Main, in the north-east parts of New-England, the wife of a soldier was taken in labour, and notwithstanding every necessary assistance was given her, could not be delivered. In this situation she re­mained for two or three days, the persons around her expecting that the next pang would put an end to her existence.

An Indian woman, who accidentally passed by, heard the groans of the unhappy sufferer, and enquired from whence they proceeded. Being made acquainted with the desperate circum­stances attending the case, she told the informant, that if she might be permitted to see the person, she did not doubt but that she could be of great service to her.

The surgeon that had attended, and the midwife who was then present, having given up every hope of preserving their patient, the Indian woman was allowed to make use of any me­thods she thought proper. She accordingly took a handker­chief, and bound it tight over the nose and mouth of the wo­man: this immediately brought on a suffocation; and from the struggles that consequently ensued she was in a few seconds de­livered. The moment this was atchieved, and time enough to prevent any fatal effect, the handkerchief was taken off. The long suffering patient thus happily relieved from her pains, soon after perfectly recovered, to the astonishment of all those who had been witness to her desperate situation.

The reason given by the Indian for this hazardous method of proceeding was, that desperate disorders require desperate re­medies; that as she observed the exertions of nature were not sufficiently forcible to effect the desired consequence, she thought it necessary to augment their force, which could only be dono by some mode that was violent in the extreme.

CHAPTER XV. Of the Manner in which they treat their DEAD.

AN Indian meets death when it approaches him in his hut, with the same resolution he has often faced him in the field. His indifference relative to this important article, which is the source of so many apprehensions to almost every other nation, is truly admirable. When his fate is pronounced by the physician, and it remains no longer uncertain, he harangues those about him with the greatest composure.

If he is a chief and has a family, he makes a kind of funeral oration, which he concludes by giving to his children such ad­vice for the regulation of their conduct as he thinks necessary. He then takes leave of his friends, and issues out orders for the preparation of a feast, which is designed to regale those of his tribe that come to pronounce his eulogium.

After the breath is departed, the body is dressed in the same attire it usually wore whilst living, his face is painted, and he seated in an erect posture, on a mat or skin, placed in the middle of the hut, with his weapons by his side. His relations being seated round, each harangues in turn the deceased; and if he has been a great warrior, recounts his heroic actions nearly to the following purport, which in the Indian language is ex­tremely poetical and pleasing:

‘You still sit among us, Brother, your person retains its usual resemblance, and continues similar to ours, without any visible deficiency, except that it has lost the power of action. But whither is that breath flown, which a few hours ago sent up smoke to the Great Spirit? Why are those lips silent, that lately delivered to us expressive and pleasing language? why are those feet motionless, that a short time ago were fleeter than the deer on yonder mountains? why useless hang those arms that could climb the tallest tree, or draw the toughest bow? Alas! every part of that frame which we lately beheld with admiration and wonder, is now become as inanimate as it was three hundred winters ago. We will not, however, bemoan thee as if thou wast for ever lost [...] that thy name would be buried in oblivion; thy soul [...] lives in the great Country of Spirits, with those of thy [...] that are gone before thee; and though we are left [...] to perpe­tuate thy fame, we shall one day join thee. Actuated by the [Page 165] respect we bore thee whilst living, we now come to tender to thee the last act of kindness it is in our power to bestow: that thy body might not lie neglected on the plain, and be­come a prey to the beasts of the field, or the fowls of the air, we will take care to lay it with those of thy predecessors who are gone before thee; hoping at the same time, that thy spirit will feed with their spirits, and be ready to receive ours, when we also shall arrive at the great Country of Souls.’

In short speeches somewhat similar to this does every chief speak the praises of his departed friend. When they have so done, if they happen to be at a great distance from the place of interment, appropriated to their tribe, and the person dies during the winter season, they wrap the body in skins, and lay it on a high stage built for this purpose, or on the branches of a large tree, till the spring arrives. They then, after the man­ner described in my journal, carry it, together with all those belonging to the same nation, to the general burial place, where it is interred with some other ceremonies that I could not dis­cover.

When the Naudowessies brought their dead for interment to the great cave, I attempted to get an insight into the remaining burial rites; but whether it was on account of the stench which arose from so many bodies, the weather being then hot, or whether they chose to keep this part of their customs secret from me, I could not discover; I found, however, that they considered my curiosity as ill-timed, and therefore I withdrew.

After the interment, the band to which the person belongs, take care to fix near the place such hieroglyphicks as shall show to future ages his merit and accomplishments. If any of these people die in the summer at a distance from the burying-ground, and they find it impossible to remove the body before it putre­fies, they burn the flesh from the bones, and preserving the lat­ter, bury them in the manner described.

As the Indians believe that the souls of the deceased employ themselves in the same manner in the country of spirits, as they did on earth, that they acquire their food by hunting, and have there, also, enemies to contend with, they take care that they do not enter those regions defenceless and unprovided: they consequently bury with them their bows, their arrows, and all the other weapons used either in hunting or war. As they doubt not but they will likewise have occasion both for the necessaries of life, and those things they esteem as ornaments, they usually deposit in their tombs such skins or stuffs as they commonly made their garments of, domestic utensils, and paint for orna­menting their persons.

The near relations of the deceased lament his loss with an appearance of great sorrow and anguish; they weep and howl, and make use of many contortions, as they sit in the hut or tent around the body, when the intervals between the praises of the chiefs will permit.

[Page 166]One formality in mourning for the dead among the Naudo­wessies is very different from any mode I observed in the other nations through which I passed. The men, to show how great their sorrow is, pierce the flesh of their arms, above the el­bows, with arrows; the scars of which I could perceive on those of every rank, in a greater or less degree; and the wo­men cut and gash their legs with sharp broken flints, till the blood flows very plentifully.

Whilst I remained among them, a couple whose tent was ad­jacent to mine, lost a son of about four years of age. The pa­rents were so much affected at the death of their favourite child, that they pursued the usual testimonies of grief with such un­common rigour, as through the weight of sorrow and loss of blood, to occasion the death of the father. The woman, who had hitherto been inconsolable, no sooner saw her husband ex­pire, than she dried up her tears, and appeared cheerful and resigned.

As I knew not how to account for so extraordinary a trans­ition, I took an opportunity to ask her the reason of it; tell­ing her at the same time, that I should have imagined the loss of her husband would rather have occasioned an increase of grief, than such a sudden diminution of it.

She informed me, that as the child was so young when it died, and unable to support itself in the country of spirits, both she and her husband had been apprehensive that its situation would be far from happy; but no sooner did she behold its father de­part for the same place, who not only loved the child with the tenderest affection, but was a good hunter, and would be able to provide plentifully for its support, than she ceased to mourn. She added, that she now saw no reason to continue her tears, as the child on whom she doated, was happy under the care and protection of a fond father, and she had only one wish that remained ungratified, which was that of being herself with them.

Expressions so replete with unaffected tenderness, and senti­ments that would have done honour to a Roman matron, made an impression on my mind greatly in favour of the people to whom she belonged, and tended not a little to counteract the prejudices I had hitherto entertained, in common with every other traveller, of Indian insensibility and want of parental ten­derness.

Her subsequent conduct confirmed the favourable opinion I had just imbibed; and convinced me, that, notwithstanding this apparent suspension of her grief, some particles of that reluct­ance, to be separated from a beloved relation, which is implant­ed either by nature or custom in every human heart, still lurked in hers. I observed that she went almost every evening to the foot of the tree, on a branch of which the bodies of her husband and child were laid, and after cutting off a lock of her hair, and throwing it on the ground, in a plaintive melan­choly [Page 167] song bemoaned its fate. A recapitulation of the actions he might have performed, had his life been spared, appeared to be her favourite theme; and whilst she foretold the fame that would have attended an imitation of his father's virtues, her grief seemed to be suspended:—

"If thou hadst continued with us, my dear Son," would she cry, ‘how well would the bow have become thy hand, and and how fatal would thy arrows have proved to the enemies of our bands. Thou wouldst often have drank their blood, and eaten their flesh, and numerous slaves would have rewarded thy toils. With a nervous arm wouldst thou have seized the wounded buffaloe, or have combated the fury of the enraged bear. Thou wouldst have overtaken the flying elk, and have kept pace on the mountain's brow with the fleetest deer. What feats mightest thou not have performed, hadst thou staid among us till age had given thee strength, and thy father had instructed thee in every Indian accomplishment!’ In terms like these did this untutored savage bewail the loss of her son, and frequently would she pass the greatest part of the night in the affectionate employ.

The Indians in general are very strict in the observance of their laws relative to mourning for their dead. In some na­tions they cut off their hair, blacken their faces, and sit in an erect posture, with their heads closely covered, and depriving themselves of every pleasure. This severity is continued for several months, and with some relaxations the appearance is sometimes kept up for several years. I was told that when the Naudowessies recollected any incidents of the lives of their deceas­ed relations, even-after an interval of ten years, they would howl so as to be heard at a great distance. They would sometimes continue this proof of respect and affection for several hours; and if it happened that the thought occurred, and the noise was begun towards the evening, those of their tribe, who are at hand would join with them.

CHAPTER XVI. A concise CHARACTER of the INDIANS.

THE character of the Indians, like that of other uncivilized nations, is composed of a mixture of ferocity and gentle­ness. They are at once guided by passions and appetites, which they hold in common with the fiercest beasts that inhabit their woods, and are possessed of virtues which do honour to human nature.

[Page 168]In the following estimate I shall endeavour to forget of the one hand the prejudices of Europeans, who usually annex to the word Indian epithets that are disgraceful to human na­ture, and who view them in no other light than as savages and cannibals; whilst with equal care I avoid any partiality towards them, as some must naturally arise from the favourable recep­tion I met with during my stay among them.

At the same time I shall confine my remarks to the nations inhabiting only the western regions, such as the Naudowessies, the Ottaguamies, the Chipéways, the Winnebagoes, and the Saukies; for as throughout that diversity of climates, the exten­sive continent of America is composed of, there are people of different dispositions and various characters, it would be incom­patible with my present undertaking to treat of all these, and to give a general view of them as a conjunctive body.

That the Indians are of a cruel, revengeful, inexorable dis­position, that they will watch whole days unmindful of the calls of nature, and make their way through pathless, and almost un­bounded woods, subsisting only on the scanty produce of them, to pursue and revenge themselves of an enemy; that they hear unmoved the piercing cries of such as unhappily fall into their hands, and receive a diabolical pleasure from the tortures they inflict on their prisoners, I readily grant; but let us look on the reverse of this terrifying picture, and we shall find them temperate both in their diet and potations (it must be remem­bered that I speak of those tribes who have little communica­tion with Europeans) that they with-stand, with unexampled patience, the attacks of hunger, or the inclemency of the sea­sons, and esteem the gratification of their appetites but as a se­condary consideration.

We shall likewise see them social and humane to those whom they consider as their friends and even to their adopted ene­mies; and ready to partake with them of the last morsel, or to risk their lives in their defence.

In contradiction to the report of many other travellers, all of which have been tinctured with prejudice, I can assert, that not­withstanding the apparent indifference with which an Indian meets his wife and children after a long absence, an indifference proceeding rather from custom than insensibility, he is not un­mindful of the claims either of connubial or parental tenderness; the little story I have introduced in the preceeding chapter, of the Naudowessie woman lamenting her child, and the immature death of the father, will elucidate this point, and enforce the assertion much better than the most studied arguments I can make use of.

Accustomed from their youth to innumerable hardships, they soon become superior to a sense of danger, or the dread of death; and their fortitude, implanted by nature, and nurtured by example, by precept and accident, never experiences a mo­ment's allay.

[Page 169]Though slothful and inactive whilst their store of provision remains unexhausted, and their foes are at a distance, they are indefatigable and persevering in pursuit of their game, or in cir­cumventing their enemies.

If they are artful and designing, and ready to take every ad­vantage, if they are cool and deliberate in their councils, and cautious in the extreme either of discovering their sentiments, or of revealing a secret, they might at the same time boast of possessing qualifications of a more animated nature, of the saga­city of a hound, the penetrating sight of a lynx, the cunning of the fox, the agility of a bounding roe, and the unconquerable fierceness of the tyger.

In their public characters, as forming part of a community, they possess an attachment for that band to which they belong, unknown to the inhabitants of any other country. They com­bine, as if the were actuated only by one soul, against the ene­mies of their nation, and banish from their minds every consi­deration opposed to this.

They consult without unnecessary opposition, or without giv­ing way to the excitements of envy or ambition, on the mea­sures necessary to be pursued for the destruction of those who have drawn on themselves their displeasure. No selfish views ever influence their advice, or obstruct their consultations. Nor is it in the power of bribes or threats to diminish the love they bear their country.

The honour of their tribe, and the welfare of their nation, is the first and most predominat emotion of their hearts; and from hence proceed in a great measure all their virtues and their vices. Actuated by by this, they brave every danger, endure the most exquisite torments, and expire triumphing in their fortitude, not as a personal qualification, but as a national characteristic.

From these also flow that insatiable revenge towards those with whom they are at war, and all the consequent horrors that disgrace their name. Their uncultivated mind, being incapable of judging of the propriety of an action, in opposition to their passions, which are totally insensible to the controuls of reason or humanity, they know not how to keep their fury within any bounds, and consequently that courage and resolution, which would otherwise do them honour, degenerates into a savage ferocity.

But this short dissertation must suffice; the limits of my work will not permit me to treat the subject more copiously, or to pursue it with a logical regularity. The observations already made by my readers on the preceeding pages, will, I trust, ren­der it unnecessary; as by them they will be enabled to form a tolerably just idea of the people I have been describing. Ex­perience teaches, that anecdotes, and relations of particular events, however trifling they might appear, enable us to form a truer judgment of the manners and customs of a people, and are [Page 170] much declaratory of their real state, than the most studied and elaborate disquisition, without these aids.

CHAPTER XVII. Of their LANGUAGE, HIEROGLY­PHICKS, &c.

THE principal languages of the natives of North America may be divided into four classes, as they consist of such as are made use of by the nations of the Iroquois towards the eastern parts of it, the Chipéways or Algonkins to the north-west, the Naudowessies to the west, and the Cherokees, Chicka­saws, &c. to the south. One or other of these four are used by all the Indians who inhabit the parts that lie between the coast of Labradore north, the Florida south, the Atlantic ocean east, and, as far as we can judge from the discoveries hitherto made, the Pacific Ocean on the west.

But of all these, the Chipéway tongue appears to be the most prevailing; it being held in such esteem, that the chiefs of eve­ry tribe, dwelling about the great lakes, or to the westward of these on the banks of the Mississippi, with those as far south as the Ohio, and as far north as Hudson's Bay, consisting of more than thirty different tribes, speak this language alone in their councils, notwithstanding each has a peculiar one of their own.

It will probably in time become universal among all the In­dian nations, as none of them attempt to make excursions to any great distance, or are considered as qualified to carry on any negociation with a distant band, unless they have acquired the Chipéway tongue.

At present, besides the Chipéways, to whom it is natural, the Ottawaws, the Saukies, the Ottagaumies, the Killistinoes, the Nipegons, the bands about Lake Le Pleuve, and the re­mains of the Algonkins, or Gens de Terre, all converse in it, with some little variation of dialect; but whether it be natural to these nations, or acquired, I was not able to discover. I am however of opinion that the barbarous and uncouth dialect of the Winnebagoes, the Menomonies, and many other tribes, will become in time totally extinct, and this be adopted in its stead.

The Chipéway tongue is not incumbered with any unnecessa­ry tones or accents, neither are there any words in it that are superfluous; it is also easy to pronounce, and much more co­pious than any other Indian language.

As the Indians are unacquainted with the polite arts, or with the sciences, and as they are also strangers to ceremony, or com­pliment, [Page 171] they neither have nor need an infinity of words where­with to embellish their discourse. Plain and unpolished in their manners, they only make use of such as serve to denominate the necessaries or conveniences of life, and to express their wants, which in a state of nature can be but few.

I have annexed hereto a short vocabulary of the Chipéway language, and another of that of the Naudowessies, but am not able to reduce them to the rules of grammar.

The latter is spoken in a soft accent, without any guttural sounds, so that it may be learnt with facility, and is not difficult either to be pronounced or written. It is nearly as copious and expressive as the Chipéway tongue, and is the most pre­vailing language of any on the western banks of the Mississippi; being in use, according to their account, among all the nations that lie to the north of the Messorie, and extend as far west as the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

As the Indians are not acquainted with letters, it is very dif­ficult to convey with precision the exact sound of their words; I have however endeavoured to write them as near to the man­ner in which they expressed, as such an uncertain mode will ad­mit of.

Although the Indians cannot communicate their ideas by wri­ting, yet they form certain hieroglyphicks, which, in some mea­sure, serve to perpetuate any extraordinary transaction, or un­common event. Thus when they are on their excursions, and either intend to proceed, or have been on any remarkable en­terprize, they peel the bark from the trees which lie in their way, to give intelligence to those parties that happen to be at a distance, of the path they must pursue to overtake them.

The following instance will convey a more perfect idea of the methods they make use of on this occasion, than any expressions I can frame.

When I left the Mississippi, and proceeded up the Chipéway River, in my way to Lake Superior, as related in my Journal, my guide, who was a chief of the Chipéways that dwell on the Ottawaw Lake, near the heads of the river we had just entered, fearing that some parties of the Naudowessies, with whom his nation are perpetually at war, might accidentally fall in with us, and before they were apprized of my being in company, do us some mischief, he took the following steps:

He peeled the bark from a large tree, near the entrance of a river, and with wood-coal, mixed with bear's grease, their usu­al substitute for ink, made in an uncouth, but expressive manner, the figure of the town of the Ottagaumies. He then formed to the left a man dressed in skins, by which he intended to repre­sent a Naudowessie, with a line drawn from his mouth to that of a deer, the symbol of the Chipéways. After this he depic­tured still farther to the left a canoe as proceeding up the river, in which he placed a man sitting with a hat on; this figure was designed to represent an Englishman, or myself, and my French­man [Page 172] was drawn with a handkerchief tied round his head, and rowing the canoe; to these he added several other significant emblems, among which the Pipe of Peace appeared painted on the prow of the canoe.

The meaning he intended to convey to the Naudowessies, and which I doubt not appeared perfectly intelligible to them, was, that one of the Chipéway chiefs had received a speech from some Naudowessie chiefs, at the town of the Ottagaumies, desiring him to conduct the Englishman, who had lately been among them, up the Chipéway river; and that they thereby required, that the Chipéway, notwithstanding he was an avowed enemy, should not be molested by them on his passage, as he had the care of a person whom they esteemed as one of their nation.

Some authors have pretended that the Indians have armorial bearings, which they blazon with great exactness, and which distinguish one nation from another; but I never could observe any other arms among them than the symbols already described.

CHAPTER XVIII. Of the BEASTS, BIRDS, FISHES, REPTILES, and INSECTS, which are found in the inte­rior Parts of North America.

OF these I shall, in the first place, give a catalogue, and afterwards a description of such only as are either pecu­liar to this country, or which differ in some material point from those that are to be met with in other realms.

CHAPTER XIX. Of the TREES, SHRUBS, ROOTS, HERBS, FLOWERS, &c.

I SHALL here observe the same method that I have pursued in the preceding chapter, and having given a list of the trees, &c. which are natives of the interior parts of North America, particularize such only as differ from the produce of other countries, or, being little known, have not been described.