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, hẹ feels no other effect of his misfortune, than it gives him an opportunity to experience tne 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 shocking 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 orna ments. 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 buts, 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 sim-. ple 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 nade 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 un derstanding, in distinguishing the merits of the opposite sex, or inen more faithful in rendering suitable compen sation. They are courteous and polite to their women, tender, gentle, and fond even to an appearance of effeminacy. An Indian man seldom attempts to use a wo man 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 h the untutored savage of the wilder

ness.

In the hunting seasons, that is in autumn, and in winter when the men are out in the forests, 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

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fatigue of hunting, or the toils of martial achievements. But nothing shows the importance and respectability of the women among the Indians, more than that custom many of the tribes are in, of letting their women preside in the councils of their country to this we may add, that several of the Florida nations have at different times, been governed by the wisdom, and the prudence of female caziques,

Liberty in its fullest extent, being the darling passion of the Indians, their education is directed in such a manner as to cherish this disposition to the utmost. Hence their children are never chastised with blows, and they are seldom even reprimanded, Reason, they say, will guide their children when they come to the use of it, and before that time their faults cannot be very great. But blows might damp their fierce and martial spirit; by the habit of a slavish motive to action. When grown up they experience nothing like command, dependence or subordination; even strong persuasion is carefully avoided by those of influence among them. No man is held in great esteem, unless he has increased the strength of his country with a captive, or adorned his hut with a scalp of one of his enemies.

Controversies among the Indians are few, and quickly decided. When any criminal matter is so flagrant as to become a national concern, it is brought under the jurisdiction of the great council; but in common cases the parties settle the dispute between themselves. If a murder be committed, the family which has lost a relation prepares to retaliate on that of the offender. They often

the murderer: and when this happens (which is but seldom) the kindred of the last person slain, look upon themselves as much injured, and to have the same right to vengeance, as the other party,

It is common, however, for the offender to absent himself; the friends send compliments of condolence to those of the person who has been murdered. The head of the family at length appears, with a number of presents, the delivery of which, he accompanies with a formal speech: the whole ends as usual in mutual feastings, in songs, and in dances. If the murder is committed by one of the same family or cabin, that family has the full

fight of judgment within itself; either to punish the guilty with death, or to pardon him; or to oblige him to give some recompence to the wife and children of the deceased. Instances of this kind are very rare, for their Attachment to those of the same family, are so remarkably strong, that it may vie with the most celebrated friendships of fabulous antiquity.

Such in general, are the customs and manners of the Indians. But almost every tribe has something peculiar to itself. Among the Hurons and the Natchez, the dignity of the chief is said to be hereditary, and the right of succession in the female line. When this happens to be extinct, the most reputable matron of the tribe, we arc informed, makes a choice of whom she pleases to succeed. The Cherokees are governed by several Sachems, or chiefs, elected by the different villages, as are also the Creeks and the Chactaws: the two latter punish adultery in a woman by cutting off her hair; which they will not suffer to grow, until corn is ripe, the next season; but the Illinois, for the same crime, cut off the nose and ears.

The Indians on the upper lakes are formed into a sort of empire. The emperor is elected from the eldest tribe, which is the Ottowawas; this authority is very considerable. A few years ago, the person who held this rank, formed a design of uniting all the Indian nations under his sovereignty; but this bold attempt proved unsuccessful.

In general, the Indians of America live to a great ago, although it is difficult to obtain from them an exact account of the number of their years. It was asked of one who appeared extremely old, what age he was of. I am above twenty, said he; but, upon putting the question in a different manner, and reminding him of former times, and some particular circumstances, my machee, said he, spoke to me when I was young, of the Incas; and he had scen those princes. According to this reply, there must have elapsed from the date of his machee's or grandfather's remembrance to that time 232 years. The Indianwho made this reply, appeared to be 120 years of age: for, besides the whiteness of hair and beard, his body was almost bent to the ground; without showing any other mark of debility, or suffering. This happened in 1764