addreffes himself to the young men, and inquires, who among them will go along with him and fight their enemies? when they generally rife, one after another, and fall in behind him, while he walks round the circle or parade, till he is joined by a fufficient number. Generally at fuch a congrefs they have a deer or fome beaft roafted whole; and each of them, as they confent to go to war, cuts off a piece and eats, faying, This way will I devour our enemies, naming the nation they are going to attack. All that chufe, having performed this ceremony, and thereby folemnly engaged to behave with fidelity and as a good warrior, the dance begins, and they fing the war-fong; the matter of which relates to their intended expedition and conqueft, or to their own fkill, courage and dexterity in fighting, and to the manner in which they will vanquifh and extirpate their enemies; all which is expreffed in the ftrongest and most pathetic manner, and with a tone of terror. So great is the eloquence or influence of their women in thefe confultations, that the final refult very much depends upon them. If any one of these nations, in conjunction with the chiefs, has a mind to excite one, who does not immediately depend upon' them, to take part in the war, either to appeafe the manes of her husband, fon, or near relation, or to take prifoners, to fupply the place of fuch as have died in her family, or are in captivity, the prefents, by the hands of fome trufty young warrior, a ftring of wampum to the perfon whofe help the follicits; which invitation feldom fails of its defired effect. And when they folicit the alliance, offenfive or defenfive, of a whole nation, they fend an embaffy with a large belt of wampum,' and a bloody hatchet, inviting them to come and drink the blood of their enemies. The wampum made ufe of upon thefe and other occafions, before their acquaintance with the Euothing but fmall fhells, which they picked up hanks of the lakes; and now it is al beads, made of fhells white ong them as filver and gold all the most valuable, and ches and ornaments; thefe us that money does among us. inging, twisting, and interweaving llars, blankets, mogafons, &c. in ten forms and figures, fo as to be ornarefs, and ex them of all their of various coth great ingemong themfelves thefe their records are kept, and their thoughts communicated to one another, as ours are by writing. The belts that pafs from one nation to another, in all treaties, declarations, and important tranfactions, are carefully preferved in the palaces or cabbins of their Chiefs, and ferve, not only as a kind of record or hiftory, but as a public treasure. It muft, however, be an affair of national importance in which they use collars or belts, it being looked upon as a very great abuse and abfurdity to use them on trifling occafions. Nor is the calumet or pipe of peace of lefs importance, or lefs revered among them in many tranfactions, relative both to war and peace. The bowl of this pipe is made of a kind of foft red ftone, which is eafily wrought and hollowed out; the ftem is of cane, elder, or fome kind of light wood, painted with different colours, and decorated with the heads, tails, and feathers of the most beautiful birds, &c. The ufe of the calumet is, to fmoak either tobacco, or fome barkleaf, or herb, which they often ufe instead of it, when they enter into an alliance, or on any ferious occafion, or folemn engagements; this being among them the most facred oath that can be taken, the violation of which is esteemed moft infamous, and deserving of severe punishment from heaven. When they treat of war, the whole pipe and all its ornaments are red; fometimes it is red only on one fide, and by the difpofition of the feathers, &c. one acquainted with their customs will know, at first fight, what the nation who prefents it intends or defires. Smoaking the calumet is alfo a religious ceremony upon fome occafions, and in all treaties is confidered as a witness between the parties; or rather as an inftrument by which they invoke the fun and moon to witness their fincerity, and to be, as it were, guarantees of the treaty between them. This cuftom of the Indians, though to appearance fomewhat ridiculous, is not without its reafons; for, they finding fmoaking tended to difperfe the vapours of the brain, to raise the fpirits and qualify them for thinking and judging properly, introduced it into their counfels, where, after their refolves, the pipe was confidered as a feal of their decrees, and, as a pledge of their performance thereof, it was fent to those they were confulting an alliance or treaty with: fo that fimoaking among them in the fame pipe is equivalent to our drinking together, and out of the fame cup." Here we cannot help obferving what a noble and confiftent fpirit of liberty prevails among thefe Indians, with respect to the method ufed by their chicfs of inviting, not impreffing, the people to accompany them to the wars. What a ftriking contraft does this afford, to our tyrannical practice of feizing our fellow-fubjects by brutal force, imprisoning and tranfporting them like felons and Newgate convicts; and, after fuch bafe treatment, compelling them to go forth with our fleets and armies, to fight in defence of the RIGHTS and LIBERTIES of their country! In fhort, fays our Author, the great and fundamental prin, ciples of their policy are, that every man is naturally free and independent; that no one or more on earth has any right to deprive him of his freedom and independancy, and that nothing can be a compenfation for the lofs of it.' Defcribing the other Indian nations, ftill farther to the westward, viz. thofe bordering on the great lakes, Mr. Rogers hath introduced fome account of the famous Pondiac, or Pon teack, according to our Author. The Indians on the lakes, fays he, are generally at peace with one another, having a wide extended and fruitful country in their poffeflion. They are formed into a fort of empire, and the emperor is elected from the eldeft tribe, which is the Ottawawas, fome of whom inhabit near our fort at Detroit, but are mostly further westward towards the Miffiffipi. Ponteack is their prefent King or Em peror, who has certainly the largest empire and greatest authority of any Inchian chief that has appeared on the continent fince our acquaintance with it. He puts on an air of majesty and princely grandeur, and is greatly honoured and revered by his fubjects. He not long fince formed a design of uniting all the Indian nations together under his authority, but miscarried in the attempt. In the year 1760, when I commanded and marched the first detachment into this country that was ever fent there by the English, I was met in my way by an embaffy from him, of fome of his warriors, and fome of the chiefs of the tribes that are under him; the purport of which was, to let me know, that Ponteack was at a fmall diftance, coming peaceably, and that he defired me to halt my detachment till fuch time as he could fee me with his own eyes. His ambaffadors had also orders to inform me, that he was Ponteack, the King and Lord of the country I was in.. At first falutation when we met, he demanded my business into his country, and how it happened that I dared to enter it without his leave? When I informed him that it was not with any defign against the Indians that I came, but to remove the French out of his country, who had been an obstacle in our way to mutual peace and commerce, and acquainted him with my inftructions for that purpose. I at the fame time delivered him feveral friendly meffages, or belts of wampum, which he received, but gave me no other anfwer, than that he stood in the path I travelled in till next morning, giving me a fmall ftring of wampum, as much as to fay, I must not march fur C 2 they ther without his leave. When he departed for the night, he enquired whether I wanted any thing that his country afforded, and he would fend his warrior to fetch it? I affured him that any provifions they brought fhould be paid for; and the next day we were fupplied by them with feveral bags of parched corn, and fome other neceffaries. At our fecond meeting he gave me the pipe of peace, and both of us by turns fmoaked with it; and he affured me he had made peace with me and my detachment; that I might pafs through his country unmolefted, and relieve the French garrifon; and that he would protect me and my party from any infults that might be offered or intended by the Indians; and, as an earnest of his friendship, he sent 100 warriors to protect and affift us in driving 100 fat cattle, which we had brought for the use of the detachment from Pittfburg, by the way of Prefque Ifle. He likewife fent to the feveral Indian towns on the fouth-fide and weft-end of lake Erie, to inform them that I had his confent to come into the country. He attended me conftantly after this interview till I arrived at Detroit, and while I remained in the country, and was the means of preferving the detachment from the fury of the Indians, who had affembled at the mouth of the ftrait with an intent to cut us off. I had feveral conferences with him, in which he discovered great ftrength of judgment, and a thirst after knowledge. He endeavoured to inform himself of our military order and discipline. He often intimated to me, that he could be content to reign in his country in fubordination to the King of Great Britain, and was willing to pay him fuch annual acknowledgment as he was able in furs, and to call him his uncle. He was curious to know our methods of manufacturing cloth, iron, &c. and expreffed a great defire to fee England, and offered me a part of his country if I would conduct him there. He affur ed me, that he was inclined to live peaceably with the English while they used him as he deferved, and to encourage their fettling in his country; but intimated, that, if they treated him with neglect, he fhold fhut up the way, and exclude them from it; in fhort, his whole converfation fufficiently indicated that he was far from confidering himself as a conquered Prince, and that he expected to be treated with the refpect and honour due to a King or Emperor, by all who came into his country, or treated with him. In 1763, this Indian had the art and addrefs to draw a number of tribes into a confederacy, with a defign firft to reduce the English forts upon the lakes, and then make a peace to his mind, by which he intended to establish himself in his imperial authority; and fo wifely were his measures taken, that, in fifteen days time, he reduced or took ten of our gar garrifons, which were all we had in his country, except Detroit; and had he carried this garrison also, nothing was in the way to complete his fcheme. Some of the Indians left him, and by his confent made a separate peace; but he would not be active or perfonally concerned in it, faying, that when he made a peace, it should be fuch an one as would be useful and honourable to himself, and to the King of Great Britain: but he has not as yet proposed his terms. In 1763, when I went to throw provifions into the garrifon at Detroit, I fent this Indian a bottle of brandy by a Frenchman. His counfellors advised him not to tafte it, infinuating that it was poisoned, and fent with a defign to kill kim; but Ponteack, with a noblenefs of mind, laughed at their fufpicions, faying it was not in my power to kill him, who had fo lately faved my life. In the late war of his, he appointed a commiffary, and began to make money, or bills of credit, which he hath fince punctually redeemed. His money was the figure of what he wanted in exchange for it, drawn upon bark, and the shape of an otter (his arms) drawn under it. Were proper measures taken, this Indian might be rendered very serviceable to the Britifh trade and fettlements in this country, more extensively fo than any one that hath ever been in alliance with us on the continent.' 6 As our Readers are, perhaps, by this time, fully fatisfied with regard to these free-born fons of the vaft American wildernefs, we shall conclude the present article, with a remark or two, borrowed from Mr. Colden, in refpect to the Five nations. "They are called, fays he, a barbarous people, bred under the darkest ignorance; and yet a bright and noble genius fhines through thefe black clouds. None of the Roman heroes have difcovered a greater love to their country, or a greater contempt of death, than these people called barbarians have done, when liberty came in competition. Indeed I think,' continues that learned and fenfible hiftorian, our Indians have out-done the Romans in this particular. Some of the greatest of those have murdered themselves to avoid fhame or torments; but the Indians have refused to die meanly, or with but little pain, when they thought their country's honour would be at ftake by it; but have given their bodies, willingly, to the most cruel torments of their enemies, to fhew, as they faid, that the Five Nations confifted of men whofe courage and refolution could not be shaken, -They greatly fully, however, thefe noble virtues, by that cruel paffion, revenge; this, they think, is not only lawful, but honourable; and for this only it is that they can deserve the name of barbarians.-But what, alas! have we Chriftians done, to make them better? We have, indeed, reason to be ashamed that C 2 |