Notwithstanding it is generally supposed that from their territories being so extensive, the boundaries of them cannot be ascertained, yet I am well assured that the limits of each nation in the interior parts are laid down in their rude plans with great precision. By theirs, as I have before observed, was I enabled to regulate my own; and after the most exact observations and enquiries found very few instances in which they erred.
But interest is not either the most frequent or most powerful incentive to their making war on each other. The passion of revenge, which is the distinguishing characteristic of these people, is the most general motive. Injuries are felt by them with exquisite sensibility, and vengeance pursued with unremitted ardour. To this may be added, that natural excitation which every Indian becomes sensible of as soon as he approaches the age of manhood to give proofs of his valour and prowess.
As they are early possessed with a notion that war ought to be the chief business of their lives, that there is nothing more desirous than the reputation of being a great warrior, and that the scalps of their enemies or a number of prisoners are alone to be esteemed valuable, it is not to be wondered at that the younger Indians are continually restless and uneasy if their ardour is repressed, and they are kept in a state of inactivity. Either of these propensities, the desire of revenge, or the gratification of an impulse that by degrees becomes habitual to them, is sufficient, frequently, to induce them to commit hostilities on some of the neighbouring nations.
When the chiefs find any occasion for making war, they endeavour to arouse these habitudes, and by that means soon excite their warriors to take arms. To this purpose they make use of their martial eloquence nearly in the following words, which never fails of proving effectual: “The bones of our deceased countrymen lie uncovered, they call out to us to revenge their wrongs, and we must satisfy their request. Their spirits cry out against us, they must be appeased. The genii, who are the guardians of our honour, inspire us with a resolution to seek the enemies of our murdered brothers. Let us go and devour those by whom they were slain. Sit therefore no longer inactive, give way to the impulse of your natural valour, anoint your hair, paint your faces, fill your quivers, cause the forests to resound with your songs, console the spirits of the dead, and tell them they shall be revenged.”
Animated by these exhortations the warriors snatch their arms in a transport of fury, sing the song of war, and burn with impatience to imbrue their hands in the blood of their enemies.
Sometimes private chiefs assemble small parties, and make excursions against those with whom they are at war, or such as have injured them. A single warrior, prompted by revenge or a desire to show his prowess, will march unattended for several hundred miles, to surprize and cut off a straggling party.
These irregular sallies, however, are not always approved of by the elder chiefs, though they are often obliged to connive at them; as in the instance before given of the Naudowessie and Chipéway nations.
But when a war is national, and undertaken by the community, their deliberations are formal and slow. The elders assemble in council, to which all the head warriors and young men are admitted, where they deliver their opinions in solemn speeches, weighing with maturity the nature of the enterprize they are about to engage in, and balancing with great sagacity the advantages or inconveniences that will arise from it.
Their priests are also consulted on the subject, and even, sometimes, the advice of the most intelligent of their women is asked.
If the determination be for war, they prepare for it with much ceremony.