Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/122

 no On the defcent of the American Indians from the y,

on their feftival days. It would equally furprize a flranger to fee how exceedingly they vary their difh.es, their dainties confiding only of dried flefh, fifh, oil, corn, beans, peafe, pompions, and wild fruit. During this rejoicing time, the warriors are dreft in their wild martial array, with their heads covered with white down : they carry feathers of the fame colour, either in their hands, or fattened to white fcraped canes, as emblems of purity, and fcepters of power, while they are dancing in three cir-

-cles, and finging their religious praifes around the facred arbour, in which (lands the holy fire. Their mufic confifts of two clay-pot drums, covered on the top with thin wet deer-lkins, drawn very tight, on which each of the noify muficians beats with a ftick, accompanying the noife with their voices -, at the fame time, the dancers prance it away, with wild

.and quick fliding fteps, and variegated poftnres of body, to keep .time with the drums, and the rattling calabames fhaked by fome of their religious heroes, each of them finging their old religious fongs, and flriking notes in tympano et choro. Such is the graceful dancing, as well as the vocal and inftrumental mufic of the red Hebrews on religious and martial occafions, which they muft have derived from early antiquity. Toward the conclufion of the great feftival, they paint and drefs themfelves anew, and give themfelves the moll terrible appearance they poffibly can. They take up their war-inftrumenrs, and fight a mock-battle in a very exact manner : after which, the women are called to join in a grand dance, and if they difobey the invitation they are fined. But as they are extremely fond of fuch religious exercife, and deem it productive of temporal good, all foon appear in their fineft apparel, as before fuggefted, decorated with filver ear-bobs, or pendants to their ears, feveral rounds of white beads about their necks, rings upon their fingers, large wire or broad plates of filver on their wrifts, their heads mining with oil, and torrepine-fhells containing pebbles, fattened to deer-fkins, tied to the outfide of their legs, Thus adorned, they join the men in three circles, and dance a confider- able while around the facred fire, and then they feparate.

At the conclufion of this long and folemn feftival, the ArcU-rnagus orders one of the religious men to proclaim to all the people, that their facred annual folemnity is now ended, and every kind of evil averted from the .beloved people, according to the old ftraight beloved fpeech i they muft therefore paint themfelves, and come along with him according to ancient 5 cuftom.

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