their feeble efforts, exults
in the vengeance that his nation will take for his death, and pours
forth insulting reproaches and threats. The song is then taken up by the
woman to whose particular revenge he has been devoted. She calls upon
the spirit of her husband or son to come and witness the sufferings of
his foe. After tortures too various and horrible to be particularized,
some kind wound closes the scene in death, and the victim's scalp is
lodged among the trophies of the tribe. To endure with unshaken
fortitude[277] is the greatest triumph of an Indian warrior, and the
highest confusion to his enemies, but often the proud spirit breaks
under the pangs that rack the quivering flesh, and shouts of intolerable
agony reward the demoniac ingenuity of the tormentors.

Many early writers considered that the charge of cannibalism[278]
against the Indians was well founded: doubtless, in moments of fury,
portions of an enemy's flesh have been rent off and eaten. To devour a
foeman's heart is held by them to be an exquisite vengeance. They have
been known to drink draughts of human blood, and, in circumstances of
scarcity, they do not hesitate to eat their captives. It is certain that
all the terms used by them in describing the torture of prisoners relate
to this horrible practice; yet, as they are so figurative in every
expression, these may simply mean the fullest gratification of revenge.
The evidence upon this point is obscure and contradictory; the Indian
can not be altogether acquitted or found guilty of this foul imputation.

The brief peace that affords respite amid the continual wars of the
Indian tribes is scarcely more than a truce. Nevertheless, it is
concluded with considerable form and ceremony. The first advance toward
a cessation of hostilities is usually made through the chief of a
neutral power. The nation proposing the first overture dispatches some
men of note as embassadors, accompanied by an orator, to contract the
negotiation. They bear with them the calumet[279] of peace as the
symbol of their purpose, and a certain number of wampum belts[280] to
note the objects and conditions of the negotiation. The orator explains
the meaning of the belts to the hostile chiefs, and if the proposition
be received, the opposite party accept the proffered symbols, and the
next day present others of a similar import. The calumet is then
solemnly smoked, and the burial of a war hatchet for each party and for
each al