Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/399

 the North American Indians. 387

for the fhrill echoing noife of the war and death-whoop, every one fu- rioufly purfues his adverfary from tree to tree, ftriving to incircle him for his prey, and the greedy jaws of pale death are open on all fides, to fwallow them up. One dying foe is intangled in the hateful and fal tering arms of another : and each party defperately attempts both to fave their dead and wounded from being fcalped, and to gain the fcalps of their opponents. On this the battle commences anew But rafti attempts fail, as their wary fpirits always forbid them from entering into a gene ral clofe engagement. Now they retreat : then they draw up into various figures, ftill having their dead and wounded under their eye. Now they are flat on the ground loading their pieces then they are up firing behind trees, and immediately fpring off in an oblique courfe to recruit and thus they act till winged victory declares itielf.

The vanquimed party makes for a fwampy thicket, as their only afy- lum : but mould any of them be either unarmed, or {lightly wounded, the fpeedy purfuers captivate them, and ufually referve them for a worfe death than that of the bullet. On returning to the place of battle, the victors begin, with mad rapture, to cut and flam thofe unfortunate perfons, who fell by their arms and power ; and they difmember them, after a mofl inhuman manner. If the battle be gained near home, one hero cuts off and carries this member of the dead perfon, another that, as joyful trophies of a decifive victory. If a flranger faw them thus loaded with human flefh, with out proper information, he might conclude them to be voracious canibals, according to the fhameful accounts of our Spanifh hiftorians. Their firft aim however is to take off the fcalp, when they perceive the enemy hath a proper fituation, and ftrength to make a dangerous refiftance. Each of them is fo emulous of exceeding another in this point of honour, that it frequently flops them in their purfuit.

This honourable fervice is thus performed They feize the head of the difabled, or dead perfon, and placing one of their feet on the neck, they with one hand twifted in the hair, extend it as far as they can with the other hand, the barbarous artifts fpeedily draw their Jong Iharp- pointed fcalping knife out of a (heath from their breaft, give a flam round the top of the fkull, and with a few dexterous fcoops, foon flrip it off.

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