"When the chiefs were thus prepared they came
from their tents; and the last solemnity I was witness to, was dancing the dance of war and singing the song of death. But what words can convey an adequate idea of the furious movements and expressions which animated them through the whole of this performance! Every man was armed with a kind of hatchet, which is their usual weapon in battle, and called a tomahawk. This he held in his hand, and brandished through the whole of the dreadful spectacle. As they went on, their faces kindled into an expression of anger that would daunt the boldest spectator; their gestures seemed to be inspired by frantic rage and animosity; they moved their bodies with the most violent agitations, and it was easy to see they represented all the circumstances of a real combat. They seemed to be engaged in close or distant battle, and brandished their weapons with so much fury, that you would have imagined they were going every instant to hew each other to pieces. Nor would it have been possible, even for the performers themselves of this terrific dance, to have avoided mutual wounds and slaughter, had they not been endued with that extraordinary activity which is peculiar to savage nations. By intervals they increased the horrid solemnity of the exhibition by uttering yells that would have pierced a European ear with horror. I have seen rage and fury under various forms and in different parts of the globe, but I must confess that everything I have seen elsewhere is feeble and contemptible, when compared with this day's spectacle. When the whole was finished, they entertained us at a public festival in their cabins, and, when we departed, dismissed us with these expressive wishes;
they prayed that the Great Spirit would favour us with a prosperous voyage; that he would give us an unclouded sky and smooth waters by day, and that we might lie down at night on a beaver blanket, enjoying uninterrupted sleep and pleasant dreams; and that we might find continual protection under the great pipe of peace. I have been thus particular (said the Highlander) in describing the circumstances of this embassy, because you have not disdained to hear the story of my adventures; and I thought that this description of a people so totally unlike all you have been accustomed to in Europe might not prove entirely uninteresting."
"We are much obliged to you," said Mr Barlow, "for all these curious particulars, which are perfectly conformable to all I have heard and read upon the subject. Nor can I consider, without a certain degree of admiration, the savage grandeur of man in his most simple state. The passion for revenge, which marks the character of all uncivilised nations, is certainly to be condemned. But it is one of the constant prejudices of their education; and many of those that call themselves refined, have more to blush at in that respect than they are aware of. Few, I am afraid, even in the most refined state of society, have arrived at that sublime generosity which is able to forgive the injuries of his fellow-creatures, when it has the power to repay them, and I see many around me that are disgraced by the vices of uncivilised Americans, without a claim to their virtues."
"I will not fatigue your ears," continued the Highlander, "with the recital of all the events I was engaged in during the progress of the war. The de
scription of blood and carnage is always disagreeable to a humane mind; and, though the perversity of mankind may sometimes render war a necessary evil, the remembrance of its mischiefs is always painful. I will only mention one event, continually lamented in the annals of this country, because it is connected with the untimely fate of my noble friend and gallant leader.
"It was determined by those who governed that we should march through the woods upon a distant expedition against the French. The conduct of this enterprise was given to a brave but rash commander, totally unacquainted with the people he had to oppose, and unskilled in the nature of a savage war. We therefore began our march through the same trackless wilds I have described, and proceeded for several days without any other difficulties than the nature of the country itself produced, and without seeing the face of an enemy. It was in vain that officers of the greatest experience, and particularly my worthy colonel, suggested to our commander the necessity of using every precaution against a dangerous and insidious foe.
"War is not managed, amid the forests of America, in the same manner as it is conducted upon the plains of Europe. The temper of the people there conspires with the nature of the country to render it a continual scene of stratagems and surprise. Unencumbered with tents or baggage, or numerous trains of artillery, the hostile warriors set out in small and chosen parties, with nothing but their arms, and are continually upon the watch to deceive their enemies. Long experience has taught them a degree of sagacity
in traversing the woods which to us is inconceivable. Neither the widest rivers nor the most extensive forests can retard them for an instant. A march of a thousand miles is scarcely to them a greater difficulty than the passage of a European army between two neighbouring towns. The woods themselves afford them a continual supply of provisions in the various animals which they kill by the chase. When they are near their enemies they frequently lurk all day in thickets, for fear of a discovery, and pursue their march by night. Hundreds of them sometimes pursue their course in the same line, treading only in each other's steps, and the last of the party carefully covers over the impressions which his fellows have made. When they are thus upon the point of accomplishing their purpose the very necessities of nature are unheeded; they cease to fire upon the beasts of the forest, lest it should alarm the foe; they feed upon the roots or the bark of trees, or pass successive days in a perfect abstinence from food. All this our colonel represented to the general, and conjured him, with the strongest entreaties, not to hazard the safety of our army by an incautious progress. He advised him to send out numerous detachments to beat the bushes and examine the woods; and offered himself to secure the march of the army. But presumption is always blind; our general was unacquainted with any other than European warfare, and could not conceive that naked savages would dare to attack an army of two thousand disciplined troops.
"One morning, the way before us appeared more intricate and obscure than common; the forests did not, as usual, consist of lofty trees, which afford a