a war song, or tune, (which actually has some music in it,) which he sings so loud, that he may be easily heard a mile or two off, at which he continues till he gets out of hearing the rest raising hideous yells at certain intervals. It must be observed, that if any one draws back, (which is seldom the case,) he is reckoned to be a coward; so that they would rather abide the consequence of whatever might befall them, than to be charged with cowardice. When they return, they fix what scalps they get on the end of a long pole, which their Moy-a-ooh'-whese, or foreman, carries over his shoulder; the prisoners either go before or close after him; he raises the war halloo as soon as he thinks he is near enough the town to be heard: as soon as he is heard at the town, all the young men run out to meet them; the foremost takes hold of the pole that the scalps are fixed to, and runs to the councilhouse as fast as he is able; the prisoners are directed to follow him; some of those who come out to meet them, pursue the one that carries off the scalps, and the rest falls to beating the prisoners, (that is, if the prisoners are men,) if they are women, some of the men takes hold of them by the hand, and leads them along; as soon as the squaws observes them, they run to meet them, and follow the example of the men: the beating that the women gets, depends on those who lead them, that is, whether they run fast or slow. They generally quit beating them when they get to the council-house-the severe usage they get, depends on the number of towns they have to pass through, as they have to undergo a like treatment at every town. When they get to their destination, they adopt them into some family. Those whom they design to burn, they paint their faces black: they have a custom, (it cannot be said to be a law,) that is, if any one

will offer the value of thirty buck-skins for the victim, he must be given up to him, alledging they would have bad luck if they refused to accept it: the one who makes the purchase, keeps him as a slave, to hunt & raise corn for him. I knew an old Indian who made three of these purchases; he was a man that shewed great lenity to the white people; although he had been a great warrior, when he was young, whilst they were at war with other nations such as the Catawbas, Cherokees, &c. I recollect he gave all those whom he had purchased up, at the time I was given up. The old Indian had his body covered over, from head to foot, with certain hieroglyphics-which they perform by inserting gunpowder, or charcoal, into the skin with the point of a turkey quill, sharpened in the form of a pen, or some other instrument they have for that purpose; which always denotes valor. The method they take to perform the operation, is by tying the person who has to undergo it, on a broad slab, stretching out his arms and legs at full length, fastening them to posts drove into the ground for that purpose. When one side is done they turn up the other; so great is their superstition, that they would rather suffer death, than flinch. It must be observed, it is but the fewest number that will undergo the operation—as it is generally done at the risk of life; indeed it was almost entirely out of custom before I left them.

I understood by them, that it was their general custom, after they had been in an engagement, for every one who had taken off a scalp, to bring it to their Moya-ooh-whese, or foreman, and throw it down at his feet. There was one, who, after scalping the head, he, for diversion, scalped a man's privates, and brought it to his Moy-a-ooh-whese. I have heard him relate the fact, (as

I believe it to be,) more than twenty times, which generally created a great laughter amongst them. I also heard others relate it as a fact, who were present at the time it was done.

Another narrative I frequently heard them relate, was, that they were out on a tour against the southern nations, that some time in the after part of the day, they discovered a track, which they followed until dark:they concluded to stop until morning;-but old Pee-til,* that is Peter, an uncle of mine, (a most barbarous inhuman old wretch,) told them that if they would follow him he would keep the track till day-light, they agreed to do so, and to their great surprise he shewed them the track the next morning, which they followed until about the middle of the day, when they came to an encampment of hunters, and killed a number of them.

I have often heard Mus-sooh'-whese, or Ben Dickeson, relate that he had been down murdering, but was not satisfied with what he had done, because one white man had out-run him, and made his escape, notwithstanding he had shot at him when he was jumping over a fence, not more than four or five steps from him. He therefore left the company, and went to another part of the settlement, where he sulked about for some time; at

* Old Peetil was a brother to An-man-zees, whom I mentioned I had lived with the first year I was amongst them. Notwithstanding they were brothers, I presume that their natural tempers were as opposite, as that between an angel of light, and the promoter of all mischief, or the devil.

Many cruelties I have heard others relate-which they said they had seen him do-besides one or two, that I had ocular demonstration of how he treated two prisoners, (both females,) whom he had taken and kept as slaves; for he never would consent to have any of the white people adopted into his own family.

last, being at the side of a creek, one morning, he saw a deer in the water which he thought he would kill; whilst he was creeping up to the deer, he heard a rustling in the leaves close by him; on looking about, he saw a white man creeping towards the deer, whom he shot instantly on the spot, and pulled off his scalp. An old man, whom he supposed to be the father of the man he had killed, came running toward him, hallooing at him if he had killed the deer; as Dickeson could speak the English language perfectly well, he answered, Yes, by G--d, and if you don't believe me here is the skin; shaking his son's scalp at him. The old man made his escape from him.

OF MATRIMONY.

WHEN a man takes the notion of marriage, (that is only those who are of some note amongst them,) he informs his mother, or some other female relative, of his intention of entering into the matrimonial state, requesting her to make a choice for him. She then mentions half a dozen or more whom she knows to be industrious, out of which he makes choice of two or three of the number-making a preference of one out of the whole; he then gives his mother, or other female relative, a shroud, or piece of broad-cloth about a yard and a half square; they are of different colours; some red, some black, and some blue, which the women double up and tie around their waist for a petticoat; a blanket or pair of leggins; and sometimes a shirt: if they are good hunters, and become pretty wealthy, they will sometimes send the whole as a present to the intended bride.

The present is offered to the woman whom he first made choice of, and so on, alternately; if the first refuses to accept of it, the one that takes it is informed what part of the house he lies in: some time in the night, after they all retire to bed, the modest bride slips away to him and creeps down behind him-where she lies till about an hour or two before day; then she rises and goes home, pounds a mortar full of corn, bakes it into cakes, puts them into a basket, carries them to the groom's house and sets them down at his bed head; then goes home again: he rises up by daylight, takes some of the cakes, and his gun,-if he has good luck, and kills a deer soon, it is reckoned a good omen; he takes it on his back, and carries it to the bride's house, throws it down at the door, and goes his way home, which completes the nuptials. The modest bride appears shy and bashful for a few days-and only goes to the groom at nights after the family retires to bed: still observing to bring the groom his provisions every morning, (that is if she has any to spare.) In a few days she becomes more familiar, and at last contents hereself to live along with him; they are generally jealous with their wives, and sometimes they will whip them severely if they judge them to be unfaithful to the marriage bed. It must be observed, that the women have to do all the domestic labour—such as raising corn, cutting firewood and carrying it home on their backs; and I have known the men when they had killed a deer five or six miles off, to carry the skin home on their backs, & send their wives for the carcase. The hard labour they are subjected to, is, perhaps, the reason they are not so prolific as civilized nations. They do not reckon polygamy to be a crime, by the men, although a woman is obliged to