the period of Herodotus, must have been little better than a jargon of
such incongruities, and nearly all the earlier part of it, is no better
now. To teach our children these nonsensical fables, is to vitiate their
imagination, and the thing would never have been dreamt of, in a moral
age, were not the ancient mythology, inseparably mixed up with the
present state of ancient history, poetry and letters. We must teach it
as a fable, and rely on truth to counteract its effects.

The Iroquois have their full share in the fabulous and allegoric
periods, and an examination of their tales and traditions will be found,
I apprehend, to give ample scope to poetry and imagination. In their
fabulous age, as recorded by Cusick, they have their war, with flying
Heads, the Stone Giants, the Great Serpent, the Gigantic Musquito, the
Spirit of Witchcraft, and several other eras, which afford curious
evidences of the way-farings and wanderings of the human intellect,
unaided by letters, or the spirit of truth.

Actual history plants its standard close on the confines of these
benighted regions of fable and allegory. It is not proposed to enter
into much detail on this topic. The modern facts are pretty well known,
but have never been thoroughly investigated or arranged. Of the earlier
facts in their origin and history, we know very little. The first
writers on the subject of the Indians generally, after the settlement of
America, dealt in wild speculations, and were carried away with
preconceived theories, which destroy their value. Colden, who directed
his attention to the Iroquois, scarcely attempted any thing beyond a
specific relation of transactions, which are intended for the
information of the Board of Trade and Plantations, and these do not come
down beyond the peace of Ryswick. There is a large amount of printed
information, adequate for the completion of their history in the 18th
and 19th centuries, but most of the works are of rare occurrence, and
are only to be found in large libraries at home and abroad. Other facts
exist in manuscript official documents, numbers of which, have recently
been obtained by the State, from foreign offices, and are now deposited
in the Secretary's office at Albany. The lost correspondence on Indian
affairs, of Sir William Johnson, may yet come to light, and would
necessarily be important. Private manuscripts and the traditions of aged
Indians, still living, would further contribute to their h