Capt. Laudonnière (a) says: “Arrows, to which long hairs are attached, were stuck up along the trail or road by the Florida Indians, in 1565, to signify a declaration of war.”
Dr. Georg. Schweinfurth (a) gives the following:
I may here allude to the remarkable symbolism by which war was declared against us on the frontiers of Wando’s territory. * * * Close on the path, and in full view of every passenger, three objects were suspended from the branch of a tree, viz, an ear of maize, the feather of a fowl, and an arrow. * * * Our guides readily comprehended and as readily explained the meaning of the emblems, which were designed to signify that whoever touched an ear of maize or laid his grasp upon a single fowl would assuredly be the victim of the arrow.
In the Notes on Eastern Equatorial Africa, by MM. V. Jacques (a) and É. Storms, it is stated that when a chief wishes to declare war he sends to the chief against whom he has a complaint an ambassador bearing a leaden bullet and a hoe. If the latter chooses the bullet, war ensues; if the hoe, it means that he consents to enter into negotiations to maintain peace.
Terrien de Lacouperie, op. cit., pp. 420, 421, reports:
The following instance in Tibeto-China is of a mixed character. The use of material objects is combined with that of notched sticks. When the Li-su are minded to rebel they send to the Moso chief (who rules them on behalf of the Chinese Government) what the Chinese call a muhki and the Tibetans a shing-tchram. It is a stick with knife-cut notches. Some symbols are fastened to it, such, for instance, as a feather, calcined wood, a little fish, etc. The bearer must explain the meaning of the notches and symbols. The notches may indicate the number of hundreds or thousands of soldiers who are coming; the feather shows that they arrive with the swiftness of a bird; the burnt wood, that they will set fire to everything on their way; the fish, that they will throw everybody into the water, etc. This custom is largely used among all the savage tribes of the region. It is also the usual manner in which chiefs transmit their orders.
SECTION 2.
PROFESSION OF PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP.
The following account of pictorial correspondence leading to peace was written by Governor Lewis Cass, while on one of his numerous missions to the Western tribes, before 1820:
Some years before, mutually weary of hostilities, the chiefs of the Ojibwas and the Dakotas met and agreed upon a truce. But the Sioux, disregarding the solemn contract which they had formed, and actuated by some sudden impulse, attacked the Ojibwas and murdered a number of them.
On our arrival at Sandy lake I proposed to the Ojibwa chiefs that a deputation should accompany us to the mouth of the St. Peters, with a view to establish a permanent peace between them and the Sioux. The Ojibwas readily acceded to this, and ten of their principal men descended the Mississippi with us. The computed distance from Sandy lake to the St. Peters is 600 miles. As we neared this part of the country we found our Ojibway friends cautious and observing.