They were in the habit of marking their tribal device, very generally denominated totem, over the doors of their cabins, and sometimes upon their bodies. Among the western nations and the Indians of New England, scrolls of bark were used, and their symbols were very much like those in use among eastern nations before the invention of letters. The events of a war expedition have been found so definitely pictured that they could be easily understood by those who originally knew nothing of the matter; and parties of travellers have found descriptions of their movements, upon pieces of bark fastened to a pole and set up in the forest, so that it was easily recognized when read by one acquainted with their signs.
The following is a love song written in this way, and curious only as showing the amount they could communicate and the sentiments they could express by picture writing:
“It is my form and person that makes me great.
Hear the voice of my song—it is my voice;
I shield myself with secret coverings.
All your thoughts are known to me; blush!
I could draw you hence were you on a distant island;
Though you were in another hemisphere;
I speak to your naked heart!”
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