Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/177

 triumphal fong for fuccefs. 165

leader, I had a good opportunity of obferving his conduct, as far as it was, expofed to public view.

Within a day's march of home, he fent a runner a-head with the glad tidings and to order his dark winter houfe to be fwept out very clean, for fear of pollution. By ancient cuftom, when the out-ftanding party let off for war, the women are fo afraid of the power of their holy things, and of pro- phaning them, that they fweep the houfe and earth quite clean, place the iweepings in a heap behind the door, leaving it there undifturbed, till Opae r who carries the ark, orders them by a faithful mefienger to remove it. He likewife orders them to carry aut every utenfil which the women had ufed dur ing his abfence, for fear of incurring evil by pollution. The party appeared next day painted red and black, their heads covered all over with fwan down, and a tuft of long white feathers fixt to the crown of their heads. Thus they approached, carrying each of the fcalps on a branch of the ever-greea pine *, finging the awful death fang, with a folemn (Inking air, and fome- times Yo HE WAR-, now and then founding the mrill death Whoo Wboop Whoop. When they arrived, the leader went a-head of his company, round his winter hot houfe, contrary to the courfe of the fun, finging the monofyllable YO, for about the fpace of five fecondson a tenor key ; again, HE HE fhort, on a bafs key -, then WAH WAH, gutturally on the treble, very mrill, but not fo fhort as the bafs note. In this manner they repeated thofe facred notes, YO, HE HE, WAH WAH, three times, while they were finiming the circle, a ftrong emblem of the eternity of Him, " who is, was,, and is to come," to whom they fung their triumphal fong, afcribing the victory over their enemies to his ftrong arm, inftead of their own, accord ing to the ufage of the Israelites by divine appointment. The duplication of the middle and laft fyllables of the four-lettered efTential name of the deity, and the change of the key from their eftablifhed method of invoking YO HE WAH, when they are drinking their bitter drink, (the Cuffeena] in their temples, where they always fpend a long breath on each of the two firft

wave the martial trophies on a pine-branch before YO HE WAH; I cannot help thinking that the pine wcs the emblematical tree fo often mentioned in divine writ, by the plural name, Shittim ; efpecially as the mountain Cedar, comparatively fpeaking, is low and does- not feem to anfwer the description of the infpircd writers ; befides that *")D Chepbcr is figuratively applied to the mercy-feat, fignifying, literally, a fcreen, or cover againft iiorms ; which was pitched over with the gum of the pine-tree.
 * As the Indians carry their enemies fcalps on fmall branches of ever-green pine, and"

fyllablea

�� �