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 ancle. 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 paralleled 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 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 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. I was still encouraged to hope by
the almost miraculous preservation I had already experienced.

Nor were my hopes 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 would 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 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 country; 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 in 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 stones, will they discover the traces of an enemy, and by the
shape of the footsteps, 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 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 completed 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 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 irruption 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 hero. 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: “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 intelligence, 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 warlike deeds, always atone for the blood they
have spilt by the tortures of fire. Their 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 foot 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 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
women, 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 ironies 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 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 lain by their sides without receiving any insult, and
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, does 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 him of too little consequence to be
intitled 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 whole 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 out-posts, 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 bloodshed, 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 sought for their 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 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 acknowledgment 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
Ottagaumies, 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. 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 chuse 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.

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 borne 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, Chickasaws 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
as 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 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 the
feathers of the most beautiful birds. I have endeavoured to give as
exact a representation of it as possible in #Plate N^o IV:weapons#; 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 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
completed 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 the 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 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, or 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,
firings 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.

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 supple, 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.

They 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 coloured 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 party, and at times one band plays against another.

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 intitled to the
respect attendant on that state.

It is not uncommon for an Indian, although he takes to himself so 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, 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 public 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 re-conducted 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 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 before-mentioned, 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 first 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. The 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. 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 controul
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 sun-set, the
slaves or old people cover over the fire, that is generally burning in
the midst 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, he approaches the place where she
reposes, and gently pulling away the covering from her 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
for ever 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 secresy
observed on the occasion. I only know that it is usually given when the
children have passed the state of infancy.

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 hieroglyphick 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, receive a name that serves
to perpetuate the fame 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 the religion of that people from
their situation appears to be totally unadulterated 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 the contrary, that he
showers down on them all the blessings 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 game, and the lakes with
fish, which might be taken without requiring 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 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 it be 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 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.

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 instantaneous 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 recourse 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, they 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 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 gonorrhœa, 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 exercise, 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 to how fine a point they have
the dexterity to bring them; a lancet can scarcely exceed in sharpness
the instruments they make 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 physic 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. 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 attendant
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 done 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 is 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 to us, or that thy name would be buried in oblivion; thy
soul yet lives in the great Country of Spirits, with those of thy nation
that are gone before thee; and though we are left behind to perpetuate
thy fame, we shall one day join thee. Actuated by the 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.

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 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 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
buffalo, 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 were 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.

In the following estimate I shall endeavour to forget on 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 Ottagaumies, 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 sociable 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 preceding 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.

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 they 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 predominant emotion of their hearts; and from hence proceed in
a great measure all their virtues and their vices. Actuated 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 thence 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
preceding 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 much
more declaratory of their real state, than the most studied and
elaborate disquisition, without these aids.

                              CHAP. 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, 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 are
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 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.

              A short VOCABULARY of the Chipéway Language.

              N. B. This people do not make use either of
                         the consonants F or V.

                                   A

       Above                          _Spimink_
       Abandon                        _Packiton_
       Admirable                      _Pilawah_
       Afterwards                     _Mipidach_
       All                            _Kokinum_
       Always                         _Kokali_
       Amiss                          _Napitch_
       Arrive                         _Takouchin_
       Ax                             _Agacwet_
       Ashes                          _Pingoe_
       Assist                         _Mawinewáh_

                                   B

       Ball                           _Alewin_
       Bag, or tobacco-pouch          _Caspetawgan_
       Barrel                         _Owentawgan_
       Beat                           _Pakkite_
       Bear, a                        _Mackwah_
       Bear, a young one              _Makon_
       Beaver                         _Amik_
       Beaver’s skin                  _Apiminiqué_
       Be, or to be                   _Tapaié_
       Beard                          _Mischiton_
       Because                        _Mewinch_
       Believe                        _Tilerimah_
       Belly                          _Mishemout_
       Black                          _Markaute_
       Blood                          _Miskow_
       Body                           _Yoe_
       Bottle                         _Shishego_
       Brother                        _Neconnis_
       Brandy, or Rum                 _Scuttawawbah_
       Bread                          _Paboushigan_
       Breech                         _Miscousab_
       Breeches                       _Kipokitie Kousah_
       Buck                           _Wasketch_

                                   C

       Canoe                          _Cheman_
       Call                           _Teshenekaw_
       Chief, a                       _Okemaw_
       Carry                          _Petou_
       Child, or Children             _Bobeloshin_
       Coat                           _Capotewian_
       Cold, I am                     _Kekatch_
       Come on                        _Moppa_
       Come to                        _Pemotcha_
       Comrade                        _Neechee_
       Concerned                      _Tallemissi_
       Corn                           _Melomin_
       Covering, or a Blanket         _Wawbewion_
       Country                        _Endawlawkeen_
       Courage                        _Tagwawmissii_
       Cup                            _Olawgan_

                                   D

       Dance                          _Nemeh_
       Dart                           _Sheshikwee_
       Die, to                        _Nip_
       Dish                           _Mackoan_
       Dog                            _Alim_
       Dead                           _Neepoo_
       Devil, or evil Spirit          _Matcho-Manitou_
       Dog, a little one              _Alemon_
       Done, it is done               _Shiah_
       Do                             _Toshiton_
       Doubtless                      _Ontclatoubah_
       Dress the kettle               _Poutwah_
       Drink                          _Minikwah_
       Drunken                        _Ouisquiba_
       Duck                           _Chickhip_

                                   E

       Earth                          _Aukwin_
       Eat                            _Owissiné_
       Each                           _Papégik_
       English                        _Sagaunosh_
       Enough                         _Mimilic_
       Equal, or alike                _Tawbiscouch_
       Esteem                         _Nawpetelimáw_
       Eyes                           _Wiskinkhie_

                                   F

       Fast                           _Waliebic_
       Fall                           _Ponkisin_
       Far off                        _Watsaw_
       Fat                            _Pimmitee_
       Friend                         _Niconnis_
       Father                         _Noosah_
       Few, or little                 _Maungis_
       Fatigued                       _Taukwissi_
       Field sown                     _Kittegaumic_
       Fire                           _Scutta_
       Fire, to strike                _Scutecke_
       Find                           _Nantounawaw_
       Fish                           _Kickon_
       Fork                           _Nassawokwot_
       Formerly                       _Pirwego_
       Fort                           _Wakaigon_
       Forward                        _Nopawink_
       French                         _Nechtegoosh_
       Freeze, to                     _Kissin_
       Freezes hard                   _Kissin Magat_
       Full                           _Mouskinet_
       Fuzee or Gun                   _Paskessigan_

                                   G

       God, or the Great Spirit       _Kitchi Manitou_
       Go by water                    _Pimmiscaw_
       Girl                           _Jeckwassin_
       Give                           _Millaw_
       Glass, a mirror                _Wawbemo_
       Good                           _Cawlatch_
       Good for nothing               _Malatal_
       Govern                         _Tibarimaw_
       General, or Commander in Chief _Kitchi Okimaw Simáuganish_
       Grapes                         _Shoamin_
       Great                          _Manatou_
       Greedy                         _Sawsáwkissi_
       Guts                           _Oláwbish_

                                   H

       Hare                           _Wawpoos_
       Heart                          _Michewah_
       Hate                           _Shingaurimaw_
       Half                           _Nawbal_
       Hair, human                    _Lissis_
       Hair of beasts                 _Pewal_
       Handsome                       _Canogininne_
       Have                           _Tandaulaw_
       Head                           _Oustecouan_
       Heaven                         _Speminkakwin_
       Herb                           _Mejask_
       Here                           _Aconda_
       Hidden                         _Kemouch_
       Home                           _Entayent_
       Honour                         _Mackawalaw_
       Hot                            _Akeshotta_
       How                            _Tawné_
       How many                       _Tawnemilik_
       Hunt                           _Kewassa_
       Hut, or House                  _Wig-Waum_

       Indians                        _Ishinawbah_
       Iron                           _Pewawbick_
       Island                         _Minis_
       Immediately                    _Webatch_
       Indian Corn                    _Mittawmin_
       Intirely                       _Nawpitch_
       Impostor                       _Mawlawtissie_
       It might be so                 _Tawneendo_

                                   K

       Kettle                         _Ackikons_
       King, or Chief                 _Okemaw_
       Keep                           _Ganwerimaw_
       Knife                          _Mockoman_
       Knife that is crooked          _Cootawgon_
       Know                           _Thickeremaw_

                                   L

       Lake                           _Kitchigawmink_
       Laugh                          _Pawpi_
       Lazy                           _Kittimi_
       Lame                           _Kikekate_
       Leave                          _Pockiton_
       Letter                         _Mawsignaugon_
       Life                           _Nouchimowin_
       Love                           _Saukie_
       Long since                     _Shawshia_
       Land Carriage                  _Cappatawgon_
       Lose                           _Packilaugué_
       Lie down                       _Weepemaw_
       Little                         _Waubesheen_

                                   M

       Meat                           _Weas_
       Much                           _Nibbilaw_
       Man                            _Allissinape_
       March, to go                   _Pimmoussie_
       Marry                          _Weewin_
       Medicine                       _Maskikic_
       Merchandize                    _Alokochigon_
       Moon                           _Debicot_
       Mortar to pound in             _Poutawgon_
       Male                           _Nape_
       Mistress                       _Neremousin_

                                   N

       Needle                         _Shawbonkin_
       Near                           _Pewitch_
       Nation                         _Irinee_
       Never                          _Cawikkaw_
       Night                          _Debicot_
       No                             _Kaw_
       Nose                           _Yoch_
       Nothing                        _Kakego_
       Not yet                        _Kawmischi_
       Not at all                     _Kagutch_
       Nought, good for nothing       _Malatat_

                                   O

       Old                            _Kauweshine_
       Otter                          _Nikkik_
       Other                          _Coutack_

                                   P

       Pipe                           _Poagan_
       Part, what Part                _Tawnapee_
       Play                           _Packeigo_
       Powder, gun, or dust           _Pingo_
       Peace, to make                 _Pecacotiche_
       Pray                           _Tawlaimia_
       Proper                         _Sawsega_
       Presently                      _Webatch_
       Peninsula                      _Minnissin_

                                   Q

       Quick                          _Kegotch_

                                   R

       Regard                         _Wawbemo_
       Red                            _Miscow_
       Resolve                        _Tibelindon_
       Relation                       _Tawwemaw_
       Respect                        _Tawbawmica_
       Rain                           _Kimmewan_
       Robe                           _Ockolaw_
       River                          _Sippim_
       Run, to                        _Pitchebot_

                                   S

       Sad                            _Talimissie_
       Sail                           _Pemiscaw_
       Sack, or Bag                   _Maskimot_
       Sea, or large Lake             _Agankitchigawmink_
       Shoes                          _Maukissin_
       Ship, or large Canoe           _Kitchi Cheman_
       Sorry                          _Niscottissie_
       Spirit                         _Manitou_
       Spoon                          _Mickwon_
       Star                           _Alank_
       Steal                          _Kemautin_
       Stockings                      _Mittaus_
       Strong                         _Mashkauwáh_
       Sturgeon                       _Lawmack_
       Sun                            _Kissis_
       Sword                          _Simaugan_
       Surprizing                     _Etwah, Etwah_
       See                            _Wawbemo_
       Since                          _Mapedoh_
       Shirt                          _Papawkwéan_
       Slave                          _Wackan_
       Sleep                          _Nippee_
       Sit down                       _Mintepin_

                                   T

       Take                           _Emaundah_
       Teeth                          _Tibbit_
       That                           _Mawbah_
       There                          _Watsaudebi_
       This                           _Maundah_
       Truly                          _Kikit_
       Together                       _Mawmawwee_
       Tobacco                        _Semau_
       Tongue                         _Outon_
       Tired                          _Tawkonsie_
       Too little                     _Osaummangis_
       Too much                       _Ossauné_
       Thank you                      _Megwatch_
       To-morrow                      _Wawbunk_
       To-morrow the day after        _Ouswawbunk_

                                   W

       Warriors                       _Semauganaush_
       Water                          _Nebbi_
       War                            _Nantaubaulaw_
       Way                            _Mickon_
       Well then!                     _Tauneendah!_
       What is that?                  _Wawwewin?_
       What now?                      _Quagonie?_
       Whence                         _Taunippi_
       Where                          _Tah_
       White                          _Waubé_
       Who is there?                  _Quagonie Maubah?_
       Wind                           _Loutin_
       Winter                         _Pepoun_
       Woman                          _Ickwee_
       Wood                           _Mittic_
       Wolf                           _Mawhingon_

                                   Y

       Yesterday                      _Petchilawgo_
       Yet                            _Minnewatch_
       Young                          _Wisconekissi_
       Yellow                         _Wazzo_.

                _The Numerical Terms of the Chipéways._

              One      _Páshik_
              Two      _Ninch_
              Three    _Nissou_
              Four     _Neau_
              Five     _Naran_
              Six      _Ningoutwassou_
              Seven    _Ninchowassou_
              Eight    _Nissowassou_
              Nine     _Shongassou_
              Ten      _Mittaussou_
              Eleven   _Mittaussou Páshik_
              Twenty   _Ninchtawnaw_
              Thirty   _Nissou Mittawnaw_
              Forty    _Neau Mittawnaw_
              Fifty    _Naran Mittawnaw_
              Sixty    _Ningoutwassou Mittawnaw_
              Seventy  _Ninchowassou Mittawnaw_
              Eighty   _Nissowassou Mittawnaw_
              Ninety   _Shongassou Mittawnaw_
              Hundred  _Mittaussou Mittawnaw_
              Thousand _Mittaussou Mittaussou Mittawnaw_.

            A Short VOCABULARY of the Naudowessie Language.

                                   A

           Axe                      _Ashpaw_

                                   B

           Beaver                   _Chawbah_
           Buffalo                  _Tawtongo_
           Bad                      _Shejah_
           Broach                   _Muzahootoo_
           Bear, a                  _Wahkonshejah_

                                   C

           Canoe                    _Waahtoh_
           Cold                     _Mechuetah_
           Child, a                 _Male Wechoakseh_
           Child, a Female          _Whacheekseh_
           Come here                _Accooyouiyare_

                                   D

           Dead                     _Negush_
           Deer                     _Tohinjoh_
           Dog                      _Shungush_

                                   E

           Eat                      _Echawmenaw_
           Ears                     _Nookah_
           Eyes                     _Eshtike_
           Evil                     _Shejah_

                                   F

           Fire                     _Paahtah_
           Father                   _Otah_
           Frenchman                _Neehteegush_
           Falls of Water           _Owah Menah_
           Friend                   _Kitchiwah_

                                   G

           Good                     _Woshtah_
           Give                     _Accooyeh_
           Go away                  _Accoowah_
           God, or the Great Spirit _Wakon_
           Gun                      _Muzah Wakon_
           Great                    _Tongo_
           Gold                     _Muzaham_

                                   H

           Hear                     _Nookishon_
           Horse                    _Shuetongo_
           Home, or domestic        _Shuah_
           House                    _Teebee_
           Heaven                   _Woshta Tebee_

           Iron                     _Muzah_
           I, or me                 _Meoh_

                                   K

           King, or Chief           _Otah_
           Kill                     _Negushtaugaw_

                                   L

           Little                   _Jestin_
           Long                     _Tongoom_
           Lake                     _Tongo Meneh_
           Love                     _Ehwahmeah_

                                   M

           Much                     _Otah_
           More                     _Otenaw_
           Moon                     _Oweeh_
           Mouth                    _Eeh_
           Medal                    _Muzah Otah_
           Mine                     _Mewah_
           Milk                     _Etsawboh_

                                   N

           No                       _Heyah_
           Near                     _Jeestinaw_

                                   O

           Oh!                      _Hopiniyahie!_

                                   P

           Pipe                     _Shanuapaw_
           Pipe of Peace            _Shanuapaw Wakon_

                                   R

           Rain                     _Owah Meneh_
           Ring                     _Muzamchupah_
           Round                    _Chupah_

                                   S

           Smoke                    _Shaweah_
           Salt Water               _Menis Queah_
           See, to                  _Eshtaw_
           Sleep                    _Eshteemo_
           Snake                    _Omlishcaw_
           Sun                      _Paahtah_
           Spirit                   _Wakon_
           Spirituous Liquors       _Meneh Wakon_
           Snow                     _Sinnee_
           Surprizing               _Hopiniayare_
           Silver                   _Muzaham_

                                   T

           Tobacco                  _Shawsassaw_
           Talk                     _Owehchin_
           Tree                     _Ochaw_
           There                    _Daché_

                                   W

           Woman                    _Winnokejah_
           Wonderful                _Hopiniyare_
           Water                    _Meneh_
           What                     _Tawgo_
           Who is there?            _Tawgodaché?_
           Wicked                   _Heyahachta_

                                   Y

           You                      _Chee_
           Young                    _Hawpawnaw_
           You are good             _Washtah Chee_
           You are a Spirit         _Wakon Chee_
           You are my good Friend   _Washtah Kitchiwah Chee_
           No Good                  _Heyah Washtah_.

               _The Numerical Terms of the Naudowessies._

                One      _Wonchaw_
                Two      _Noompaw_
                Three    _Yawmonee_
                Four     _Toboh_
                Five     _Sawbuttee_
                Six      _Shawco_
                Seven    _Shawcopee_
                Eight    _Shahindohin_
                Nine     _Nebochunganong_
                Ten      _Wegochunganong_
                Eleven   _Wegochunganong Wonchaw_
                Twenty   _Wegochunganong Noompaw_
                Thirty   _Wegochunganong Yawmonee_
                Forty    _Wegochunganong Toboh_
                Fifty    _Wegochunganong Sawbuttee_
                Sixty    _Wegochunganong Shawco_
                Seventy  _Wegochunganong Shawcopee_
                Eighty   _Wegochunganong Shahindohin_
                Ninety   _Wegochunganong Nebochunganong_
                Hundred  _Opohng_
                Thousand _Wegochunganong Opohng_.

To this short vocabulary of the Naudowessie language, I shall adjoin a
specimen of the manner in which they unite their words. I have chosen
for this purpose a short song, which they sing, with some kind of
melody, though not with any appearance of poetical measure, when they
set out on their hunting expeditions: and have given as near a
translation as the difference of the idioms will permit.

_Meoh accoowah eshtaw paatah negushtawgaw shejah menah. Tongo Wakon meoh
woshta, paatah accoowah. Hopiniyahie oweeh accooyee meoh, woshta patah
otoh tohinjoh meoh teebee._

I will arise before the sun, and ascend yonder hill, to see the new
light chase away the vapours, and disperse the clouds. Great Spirit give
me success. And when the sun is gone, lend me, oh moon, light sufficient
to guide me with safety back to my tent loaden with deer!

                             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.

                             OF THE BEASTS.

The Tyger, the Bear, Wolves, Foxes, Dogs, the Cat of the Mountain, the
Wild Cat, the Buffalo, the Deer, the Elk, the Moose, the Carrabou, the
Carcajou, the Skunk, the Porcupine, the Hedge-hog, the Wood-chuck, the
Raccoon, the Martin, the Fisher, the Muskquaw, Squirrels, Hares,
Rabbits, the Mole, the Weezel, the Mouse, the Dormouse, the Beaver, the
Otter, the Mink, and Bats.