NOTE [68]. PAGE 169.

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As the ideas of the North Americans, with respect to the mode of carrying on war, are generally known, I have founded my observations chiefly upon the testimony of the authors who describe them. But the same maxims took place among other nations in the New World. A judicious missionary has given a view of the military operations of the people in Gran Chaco, in South America, perfectly similar to those of the Iroquois. They are much addicted to war (says he), which they carry on frequently among themselves, but perpetually against the Spaniards. But they may rather be called thieves than soldiers, for they never make head against the Spaniards, unless when they can assault them by stealth, or have guarded against any mischance by spies, who may be called indefatigable; they will watch the settlements of the Spaniards for one, two, or three years, observing by night every thing that passes with the utmost solicitude, whether they may expect resistance or not, and until they are perfectly secure of the event, they will not venture upon an attack; so that, when they do give the assault, they are certain of success, and free from all danger. These spies, in order that they may not be observed, will creep on all four like cats in the night; but if they are discovered, make their escape with much dexterity. But, although they never choose to face the Spaniards, if they be surrounded in any place whence they cannot escape, they will fight with desperate valour, and sell their lives very dear." Lozano Descript. del Gran Chaco, p. 78.

NOTE [69]. PAGE 170.

LERY, who was an eye-witness of the proceedings of the Toupinambos, a Brasilian tribe, in a war against a powerful nation of their enemies, describes their courage and ferocity in very striking terms. Ego cum Gallo altero. paulo curiosius, magno nostro periculo (si enim ab hostibus capti aut lesi fuissemus, devorationi fuissemus devoti), barbaros nostros in militiam ountes comitari volui. Hi, numero 4000 capita, cum hostibus ad littus decertârunt, tanta ferocitate, ut vel rabidos et furiosos quosque superarent. Cum primum hostes conspexere, in magnos atque editos ululatus perruperunt. Hæc gens adeo fera est et truculenta, ut tantisper dum virium vel tantillum restat, continuo dimicent, fugamque nunquam capessant. Quod a natura illis inditum esse reor. Testor interea me, qui non semel, tum peditum tum equitum copias ingentes, in aciem instructas hic conspexi, tanta nunquam voluptate videndis peditum legionibus armis fulgentibus, quanta tum pugnantibus istis percussum fuisse. Lery Hist. Navigat. in Brasil. ap. de Bry, iii. 207, 208, 209.

NOTE [70]. PAGE 170.

It was originally the practice of the Americans, as well as of other savage nations, to cut off the heads of the enemies whom they slew, and to carry them away as trophies. But, as they found these cumbersome in their retreat, which they always make very rapidly, and often through a vast extent of country, they became satisfied with tearing off their scalps. This custom, though most prevalent in North America, was not unknown among the Southern tribes. Lozano, p. 79.

NOTE [71]. PAGE 172.

THE terms of the war song scem to be dictated by the same fierce spirit of revenge. "I go to war to revenge the death of my brothers; I shall kill; I shall exterminate; I shall burn my enemies; I shall bring away slaves; I shall devour their heart, dry their flesh, drink their blood; I shall tear off their scalps, and make cups of their skulls." Bossu's Travels through Louisiana, vol. i. p. 102. I am informed, by persons on whose testimony I can rely, that as the number of people in the Indian tribes has decreased so much, almost none of their prisoners are now put to death. It is considered as better policy

to spare and to adopt them. Those dreadful scenes which I have described occur now so rarely, that missionaries and traders who have resided long among the Indians, never were witnesses to them.

NOTE [72]. PAGE 172.

ALL the travellers who have visited the most uncivilized of the American tribes, agree in this. It is confirmed by two remarkable circumstances, which occurred in the conquest of different provinces. In the expedition of Narvaez into Florida in the year 1528, the Spaniards were reduced to such extreme distress by famine, that, in order to preserve their own lives, they ate such of their companions as happened to die. This appeared so shocking to the natives, who were accustomed to devour none but prisoners, that it filled them with horror and indignation against the Spaniards. Torquemada Monarch. Ind. ii. p. 584. Naufragios de Alv. Nugnes Cabeca de Vaca, c. xiv. p. 15. During the siege of Mexico, though the Mexicans devoured with greediness the Spaniards and Tlascalans whom they took prisoners, the utmost rigour of the famine which they suffered could not induce them to touch the dead bodies of their own countrymen. Bern. Diaz del Castillo Conquist. de la N. Espagna, p. 156.

NOTE [73]. PAGE 172.

MANY singular circumstances concerning the treatment of prisoners among the people of Brasil, are contained in the narrative of Stadius, a German officer in the service of the Portuguese, published in the year 1556. He was taken prisoner by the Toupinambos, and remained in captivity nine years. He was often present at those horrid festivals which he describes, and was destined himself to the same cruel fate with other prisoners. But he saved his life by his extraordinary efforts of courage and address. De Bry, iii. p. 34, &c. M. de Lery, who accompanied M. de Villagagnon in his expedition to Brasil in the year 1556, and who resided some time in that country, agrees with Stadius in every circumstance of importance. He was frequently an eye-witness of the manner in which the Brasilians treated their prisoners. De Bry, iii. 210. Several striking particulars omitted by them, are mentioned by a Portuguese author. Purch. Pilgr. iv. 1294, &c.

NOTE [74]. PAGE 174.

THOUGH I have followed that opinion concerning the apathy of the Americans, which appeared to me most rational, and supported by the authority of the most respectable authors, other theories have been formed with regard to it, by writers of great eminence. D. Ant. Ulloa, in a late work, contends that the texture of the skin and bodily habit of the Americans is such, that they are less sensible of pain than the rest of mankind. He produces several proofs of this, from the manner in which they endure the most cruel chirurgical operations, &c. Noticias Americanas, p. 313, 314. The same observation has been made by surgeons in Brasil. An Indian, they say, never complains under pain, and will bear the amputation of a leg or an arm without uttering a single groan. MS. penes me.

NOTE [75]. PAGE 174.

THIS is an idea natural to all rude nations. Among the Romans, in the early periods of their commonwealth, it was a maxim that a prisoner "tum decessisse videtur cum captus est." Digest. lib. xlix. tit. 15. c. 18. And afterwards, when the progress of refinement rendered them more indulgent with respect to this article, they were obliged to employ two fictions of law to secure the property, and permit the return of a captive; the one by the Lex Cornelia, and the other by the Jus Postliminii. Heinec. Elem. Jur. Čiv. sec. ord. Pand. ii. p. 294. Among the Negroes the same ideas prevail. No ransom was ever accepted for a prisoner As soon as one is taken in war, he is reputed to be

dead; and he is so in effect to his country and his family. Voy. du Cheval. des Marchais, i. p. 369.

NOTE [76]. PAGE 175.

THE people of Chili, the most gallant and high-spirited of all the Americans, are the only exception to this observation. They attack their enemies in the open field; their troops are ranged in regular order; their battalions advance to the charge not only with courage, but with discipline. The North Americans, though many of them have substituted the European fire-arms in place of their own bows and arrows, still adhere to their ancient maxims of war, and carry it on according to their own peculiar system. But the Chilese nearly resemble the warlike nations of Europe and Asia in their military operations. Ovalle's Relation of Chili. Church. Coll. iii. p. 71. Lozano's Hist. Parag. i. 144, 145.

NOTE [77]. PAGE 176.

HERRERA gives a remarkable proof of this. In Yucatan, the men are so solicitous about their dress, that they carry about with them mirrors, probably made of stone, like those of the Mexicans, Dec. iv. lib. iii. c. 8, in which they delight to view themselves; but the women never use them. Dec. iv. lib. x. c. 3. He takes notice that among the fierce tribe of the Panches, in the new kingdom of Granada, none but distinguished warriors were permitted either to pierce their lips and to wear green stones in them, or to adorn their heads with plumes of feathers. Dec. vii. lib. ix. c. 4. In some provinces of Peru, though that empire had made considerable progress in civilization, the state of women was little improved. All the toil of cultivation and domestic work was devolved upon them, and they were not permitted to wear bracelets, or other ornaments, with which the men were fond of decking themselves. Zarate Hist. de Peru, i. p. 15, 16.

NOTE [78]. PAGE 176.

I HAVE ventured to call this mode of anointing and painting their bodies, the dress of the Americans. This is agreeable to their own idiom. As they never stir abroad if they are not completely anointed; they excuse themselves when in this situation, by saying that they cannot appear because they are naked Gumilla, Hist. de l'Orenoque, i. 191.

NOTE [79]. PAGE 177.

SOME tribes in the province of Cinaloa, on the gulf of California, seem to be among the rudest people of America united in the social state. They neither cultivate nor sow; they have no houses in which they reside. Those in the inland country subsist by hunting; those on the seacoast chiefly by fishing. Both depend upon the spontaneous productions of the earth, fruits, plants, and roots of various kinds. In the rainy season, as they have no habitations to afford them shelter, they gather bundles of reeds, or strong grass; and binding them together at one end, they open them at the other, and fitting them to their heads, they are covered as with a large cap, which, like a penthouse, throws off the rain, and will keep them dry for several hours. During the warm season, they form a shed with the branches of trees, which protects them from the sultry rays of the sun. When exposed to cold they make large fires, round which they sleep in the open air. Historia de los Triomphos de Nuestra Santa Fe entre Gentres las mas Barbaras, &c. por P. And. Perez de Ribas, p. 7, &c.

NOTE [80]. PAGe 177.

THESE houses resemble barns. "We have measured some which were a hundred and fifty paces long, and twenty paces broad. Above a hundred perVOL. I.-61

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sons resided in some of them." Wilson's Account of Guiana. Purch. Pilgr vol. iv. p. 1263. Ibid. 1291. "The Indian houses," says Mr. Barrere, have a most wretched appearance, and are a striking image of the rudeness of early times. Their huts are commonly built on some rising ground, or on the banks of a river, huddled sometimes together, sometimes straggling, and always without any order. Their aspect is melancholy and disagreeable. One sees nothing but what is hideous and savage. The uncultivated fields have no gayety. The silence which reigns there, unless when interrupted by the disagreeable notes of birds, or cries of wild beasts, is extremely dismal." Relat. de la France Equin. p. 146.

NOTE [81]. PAGE 178.

SOME tribes in South America can send their arrows to a great distance, and with considerable force, without the aid of the bow. They make use of a hollow reed, about nine feet long and an inch thick, which is called a Sarbacane. In it they lodge a small arrow, with some unspun cotton wound about its great end; this confines the air, so that they can blow it with astonishing rapidity, and a sure aim, to the distance of above a hundred paces. These small arrows are always poisoned. Fermin. Descr. de Surin. i. 55. Bancroft's Hist. of Guiana, p. 281, &c. The Sarbacane is much used in some parts of the East Indies.

NOTE [82]. PAGE 178.

I MIGHT produce many instances of this, but shall satisfy myself with one taken from the Eskimaux. "Their greatest ingenuity (says Mr. Ellis) is shown in the structure of their bows, made commonly of three pieces of wood, each making part of the same arch, very nicely and exactly joined together. They are commonly of fir or larch; and as this wants strength and elasticity, they supply both by bracing the back of the bow with a kind of thread, or line, made of the sinews of their deer, and the bowstring of the same materials. To make them draw more stiffly, they dip them into water, which causes both the back of the bow and the string to contract, and consequently gives it the greater force; and as they practise from their youth, they shoot with very great dexterity." Voyage to Hudson's Bay, p. 138.

NOTE [83]. PAGE 178.

NECESSITY is the great prompter and guide of mankind in their inventions. There is, however, such inequality in some parts of their progress, and some nations get so far the start of others in circumstances nearly similar, that we must ascribe this to some events in their story, or to some peculiarity in their situation, with which we are unacquainted. The people in the island of Otaheite, lately discovered in the South Sea, far excel most of the Americans in the knowledge and practice of the arts of ingenuity, and yet they had not invented any method of boiling water; and having no vessel that could bear the fire, they had no more idea that water could be made hot, than that it could be made solid. Voyages by Hawkesworth, i. 466. 484.

NOTE [84]. PAGE 178.

ONE of these boats, which could carry nine men, weighed only sixty pounds. Gosnol. Relat. des Voy. à la Virgin. Rec. de Voy. au Nord, tom. v. p. 403.

NOTE [85]. PAGE 179.

A REMARKABLE proof of this is produced by Ulloa. In weaving hammocks, coverlets, and other coarse cloths which they are accustomed to manufacture, their industry has discovered no more expeditious method than to take up thread after thread, and, after counting and sorting them each time, to pass the woof between them, so that in finishing a small piece of those stuffs they

frequently spend more than two years. Voyage, i. 336. Bancroft gives the same description of the Indians of Guiana, p. 255. According to Adair, tho ingenuity and despatch of the North American Indians are not greater, p. 422. From one of the engravings of the Mexican paintings in Purchas, vol. iii. p. 1106, I think it probable that the people of Mexico were unacquainted with any better or more expeditious mode of weaving. A loom was an invention beyond the ingenuity of the most improved Americans. In all their works they advance so slowly, that one of their artists is two months at a tobacco-pipe with his knife before he finishes it. Adair, p. 423.

NOTE [86]. PAGE 180.

THE article of religion in P. Lafitau's Mœurs des Sauvages extends to 347 tedious pages in quarto.

NOTE [87]. PAGE 181.

I HAVE referred the reader to several of the authors who describe the most uncivilized nations in America. Their testimony is uniform. That of P. Ribas concerning the people of Cinaloa coincides with the rest. "I was extremely attentive (says he), during the years I resided among them, to ascertain whether they were to be considered as idolaters; and it may be affirmed with the most perfect exactness, that though among some of them there may be traces of idolatry, yet others have not the least knowledge of God, or even of any false deity, nor pay any formal adoration to the Supreme Being who exercises dominion over the world; nor have they any conception of the providence of a Creator, or Governor, from whom they expect in the next life the reward of their good or the punishment of their evil deeds. Neither do they publicly join in any act of divine worship." Ribas Triumphos, &c. p. 16.

NOTE [88]. PAGE 181.

THE people of Brasil were so much affrighted by thunder, which is frequent and awful in their country, as well as in other parts of the torrid zone, that it was not only the object of religious reverence, but the most expressive name in their language for the Deity was Toupan, the same by which they distin guished thunder. Piso de Medec. Brasil, p.8. Nieuhoff. Church. Coll. ii. p. 132.

NOTE [89]. PAGE 184.

By the account which M. Dumont, an eye-witness, gives of the funeral of the great chief of the Natchez, it appears that the feelings of the persons who suffered on that occasion were very different. Some solicited the honour with eagerness; others laboured to avoid their doom, and several saved their lives by flying to the woods. As the Indian Brahmins give an intoxicating draught to the women who are to be burned together with the bodies of their husbands, which renders them insensible of their approaching fate, the Natchez obliged their victims to swallow several large pills of tobacco, which produces a similar effect. Mém de Louis. i. 227.

NOTE [90]. PAGE 187.

ON some occasions, particularly in dances instituted for the recovery of persons who are indisposed, they are extremely licentious and indecent. De la Potherie Hist. &c. ii. p. 42. Charlev. N. Fr. iii. p. 319. But the nature of their dances is commonly such as I have described.

NOTE [91]. PAGE 187.

THE Othomacoas, a tribe seated on the banks of the Orinoco, employ for the same purpose a composition which they call Yupa. It is formed of the seeds of an unknown plant reduced to powder, and certain shells burned and pul