They begin at the extremity of his body, and gradually approach the more vital parts; one plucks out his nails by the roots, one by one; another takes a finger into his mouth and tears off the flesh with his teeth; a third thrusts the mangled finger into the bowl of a pipe made red hot, which he smokes like tobacco; then they pound his toes and fingers to pieces between two stones; they cut circles about his joints, and gashes in the fleshy parts of the limbs, which they sear îmmediately with red hot irons, cutting, burning, and pinching them alternately; they pull off his flesh, thus mangled and roasted, bit by bit, devouring it with greediness, and smearing their faces with the blood; their passions encreasing in horror and fury, they proceed to twist the bare nerves and tendons about an iron, tearing and snapping them, while others are employed in pulling and extending the limbs in every direction so as to increase the torment. This continues often five or six hours; and sometimes (such is the constitutional strength of the savages), for days together. Then they frequently unbind him, to give a breathing to their fury, to think what new tortures they shall inflict, and to refresh the strength of the sufferer, who, wearied out with such a variety of unheardof torments, often falls into so profound a sleep, that they apply the fire to awake him, and renew his sufferings. He is again fastened to a stake, and again they renew their cruelty; they stick him all over with matches of a wood that easily takes fire, and burns but slowly, they run sharp reeds into every part of his body, they drag out his teeth with pincers, and thrust out his eyes; and lastly, having burned his flesh from his bones with slow fires, after having mangled his body in the most shocking manner, and so mutilated his face that nothing human appears in it, after having peeled the skin from the head, and poured a heap of red hot coals or boiling water on the naked scull, they once more unbind the miserable victim; who blind and staggering with pain and weakness, is assaulted on every side with clubs and stones, and falling into their fires at every step, until one of the chiefs, out of compassion or weary of cruelty, puts an end to his life by a club or dagger. The body is then put into a kettle, and this inhuman and horrid employment is succeeded by a feast as barbarous. The women, forgetting the human as well as the female nature, surpass the men in cruelty, and act like furies while this scene of horror is going on: the principal persons of the nation sit around the stake looking on, and smoking their pipes without the least emotion. But what is most extraordinary, the sufferer himself, in the little intervals of his torments, smokes, appears unconcerned, and converses with his tormentors about indifferent matters. During the whole time of his execution, there seems a contest which shall succeed; they, by inflicting the most horrid pains, or he, by enduring them with a firmness and constancy almost above human: not a sigh, not a groan, not a distortion of countenance, escapes him he possesses his mind entirely in the midst of his torments: he recounts his own exploits: he informs them of the cruelties he has committed upon their countrymen, and threatens them with the revenge that will attend his death; that they were old women who knew not how to put a warrior to death; and though his reproaches exasperate them to madness, he continues to insult them with their ignorance in the art of tormenting; pointing out himself more exquisite mcthods, and more sensible parts of the body to be afflicted. The women have this part of courage as well as the men, and it is as rare for an Indian to behave otherwise, as it would be for an European to suffer as an Indian. : Such is the wonderful power of an early intuition, and a ferocious thirst of glory. "I am brave and intrepid," says the savage in the face of his tormentors, "I neither "fear death nor torments, those who fear them are cow"ards; they are less than women: life is nothing to "those who have courage; may my enemies be confound"ed with despair and rage: oh! that I could devour "them, and drink their blood to the last drop." But neither the intrepidity on one side, nor the inflexibility on the other, are matter of astonishment; for vengeance and fortitude, in the midst of torments, are duties considered with them as sacred; they are the effects of their earliest education, and depend upon principles instilled into them from their infancy. On all other occasions they are humane and compas sionate. Nothing can exceed the warmth of their affec tion towards their friends, who consist of all those whe live in the same village, or are in alliance with them; among these all things are common; their houses, their provisions, and their most valuable articles are not withheld from a friend; has any one of these had ill success in hunting, his harvest failed, or his house burned, he feels no other effect of his misfortune, than it gives him an opportunity to experience the benevolence and regard of his associates. On the other hand the Indian, to the enemy of his country or his tribe, or to those who have privately offended him, is implacable. He conceals his sentiments; he appears reconciled, until, by some treachery or surprize, he has an opportunity of executing an horrible revenge. No length of time is sufficient to allay his resentment; no distance of place great enough to protect the object; he crosses the steepest mountains, he pierces the most impenetrable forests, and traverses the most dismal swamps and desarts, for several hundreds of miles, bearing the inclemency of the season, the fatigue of the expedition, the extremes of hunger and thirst, with patience and cheerfulness, in hopes of surprizing his enemy, on whom he exercises the most schocking barbarities, even to the eating of his flesh. To such extremes do the Indians extend their friendship and their enmity; and such indeed is the character of all strong uncultivated minds. The treatment of their dead shews, in glowing colours, the strength of their friendship, and warm attachment, to their departed friends. When any one of the society is cut off, he is lamented by the whole; on this occasion a variety of ceremonies are performed. The body is washed, anointed, and painted. Then the women lament the loss with hideous howlings, intermixed with songs, which celebrate the great actions of the deceased and his ancestors. The men mourn also, though in a less extravagant manner. The whole village is present at the interment, and the corpse is habited in their most sumptuous ornaments. Close to the body of the deceased are placed his bow and arrows, and other weapons of war, with whatever he valued most in his lifetime, and a quantity of provisions for his subsistence on the journey which he is supposed to take. The solemnity, like every other, is attended with feasting. The funeral being ended, the relations of the deceased confine themselves to their huts, for a considerable time, to indulge their grief. After an interval of some weeks, they visit the grave and repeat their sorrow, new clothe the remains of the body, and act over again all the solemnities of the funeral. The most remarkable funeral ceremony is what they call the feast of the dead, or the feast of souls. The day for this ceremony is appointed in the assembly of their chiefs, who give the necessary orders for every thing that may conduce to the pomp and magnificence of its celebration; and the neighbouring nations are invited to partake of the entertainment. At this time, all who have died since the preceding feast of the kind, are taken out of their graves even those who have been interred at the greatest distance from the villages, are diligently looked for, and conducted to this general rendezvous of the dead, which exhibits a scene of horror beyond the power of description. When the feast is concluded, the bodies are dressed in the finest skins which can be procured, and after being exposed for some time in this pomp, are again committed to the earth, with great solemnity, which is succeeded by funeral-games. Their taste for war, the most striking characteristic of an Indian, gives a strong bias to their religion. The god of war, whom they call Areskoui, is revered as the great god of their people. Him they invoke before they go into the field. Some nations worship the sun and moon, as symbols of the power of the great spirit. There are among them traditions of the creation of the world, of Noah's flood, &c. Like all rude nations they are strongly addicted to superstition. They believe in the existence of a number of good and bad genii, or spirits, who interfere in the affairs of mortals, and produce all our happiness or misery. It is from the evil genii in particular, they imagine all our diseases proceed; and it is to the good genii to whom we are indebted for a cure. Their priests or jugglers are supposed to be inspired by the good genii in their dreams, with the knowledge of future events; they are called in to the assistance of the sick, and are supposed to know the event, and in what way they must be treated. But these spirits appear to be extremely simple in their system of physic; in almost every disease they prescribe the same remedy. The patient is inclosed in a narrow cabin, in the midst of which a large stone is made red hot; on this they throw water, the steam produces a profuse sweat, they then hurry him from this hot bath, and plunge him instantly into the adjacent creek or river. This method, although it costs many their lives, often performs very remarkable cures. They are known, however, to have considerable knowledge in the vegetable kingdom, and the white inhabitants are indebted to them for the knowledge of many powerful plants as restoratives, and antidotes to the poison of reptiles, with which the woods in many parts of America abound. Although the Indian women generally bear the laborious part of domestic economy, their condition, at least among the tribes of North America, is far from being so wretched, so slavish, and depressed, as has been represented by Doctor Robertson and other writers. "Their employment, (says Dr. Barton,) is chiefly in their houses, except when they are raising their crops of maize, or Indian corn, at which times they generally turn out to assist their husbands and parents, but they are not compelled to do this." "You may depend on my assertion (says the same gentleman, who had ample opportunities of being informed of the customs and manners of the Indians), that there are no people any where who love their women more than these people do, or men of better understanding, in distinguishing the merits of the opposite sex, or men more faithful in rendering suitable compensation. They are courteous and polite to their women, tender, gentle, and fond even to an appearance of effeminacy. An Indlian man seldom attempts to use a woman of any description with indelicacy, either of action, or language." I wish we could with propriety adopt the same language when speaking of the young men of the present age, who would think it a disparagement to be compared with the untutored savage of the wilderness. In the hunting seasons, that is in autumn, and in winter when the men are out in the forest, the whole care of the house or family rests upon the women; at these times they undergo much care and fatigue, such as cutting wood &c. but this labour is in part relieved by the old men whose vigour is so far diminished, as not to be able to sustain the U VOL. II. |