Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/417

 the North American Indians.

that efcape our nets. At the end of our friendly diverfion, we cheerfully return home, and in an innocent and friendly manner, eat together, ftu- dibufly diverting each other, on the incidents of the day, and make a- cheerful night.

The Indians formerly had ftone axes, which in form commonly refenv bled a fmith's chifel. Each weighed from one to two, or three pounds weight They were made of a flinty kind of ftone : I have feen feve- ral, which chanced to efcape being buried with their owners, and were carefully preferved by the old people, as refpectable remains of antiquity. They twifted two or three tough hiccory flips, of about two feet long, round the notched head of the axe j and by means of this fimple and ob vious invention, they deadened the trees by cutting through the bark, and burned them, when they either fell by decay, or became thoroughly dry. With thefe trees they always kept up their annual holy firej and they reckon it unlawful, and productive of many temporal evils, to ex- tinguifh even the culinary fire with water. In the time of a ftorm, when I have done it, the kindly women were in pain for me, through fear of the ill confequences attending fo criminal an act. I never faw them to damp the fire, only when they hung up a brand in the appointed place, with a twifted grape-vine, as a threatening fymbol of torture and death to the enemy, or when their kinfman dies. In the laft cafe, a father or brother of the deceafed, takes a fire-brand, and brandifhing it two or three times round his head, with lamenting words, he with his right hand dips it into the water, and lets it fink. dawn..

By the aforefaid difficult method of deadening the trees,, and clearing the woods, the contented natives got convenient fields in procefs of time. And their tradition fays they did not live ftraggling in the American woods, as do- the Arabians, and rambling Tartars y for they made houfes with the branches and bark of trees, for the fummer-feafon ; and warm mud-walls, mixt with foft dry grafs, againft the bleak winter, according to their prefent plan of building, which I fhall preferttly defcribe. Now, in the firft clearing. of their plantations,- they only bark the large timber, cut down the fapplings and un derwood, and burn them in heaps -, as the fuckers (hoot up, they chop them off clofe by the flump, of which they make fires to deaden the roots, till in time they, decay. Though to a ftranger, this may feem to be a

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