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Amvji:: \ 1),1 i\\ ■''- \ "^; Lifii'iVJt,'- '" L—JUBBgHJ , »- H 0v Mr i- ■ I i r ■-! , f I '■ ',( : f 'X} ,' >--«t,S. \ -v '\ ^■f^v -MP /? y b ff- ^ . / '^ ^,'tXm / 9 ^^ rlyV^A^^ _. * * t C-/i'^ THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, «« t AND ANTIQUITIES OF THE INDIANS OP NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA: BY THE AUTHOR OF PETER PARLEY'S TALES BOSTON: BRADBURY, SODEN AND CO. MDCCCXLIV. : I ^ Stereutyped bv @"S^^ GEORGE A. CURTIS, @§<^S8So I NIW INOLIND TTPB AND STEHEOTYPB FOUNDRY. ^^Cp 8. N. DICKINSON, PRINTER, 52 WAihington Street. '■>'■■ « ■*f # *'j*mM..-i^-MAM^,ii.jtu^.imi*. ^y^ W PREFACE. We have already given to the public two volumes upon the Indians of North and South America. The first, entitled " Lives of Famous Indians," presented the history of some of the master spirits of the red race ; the second, entitled a " History of the American Indians," was designed to furnish a brief outline of their story, from the earliest existing records to the present time. We now offer a view of the Manners, Customs, and Antiquities of the Indians, both of the northern and southern portion of the Continent. The subject is exceedingly fertile in curious phe- nomena, and, though our brief space confines us to mere sketches, we believe enough is presented to enlist the sympa- thy of the reader, and to open new sources of deep and touch- ing interest. The picture of one of the great families of our race living apart from the rest of the world, and working out their destiny in isolation, — presenting the spectacle of man's progress when left as a savage without contact with civiUzation H tC I ! i ;l IV PREFACE. for ages, — cannot fail to urge a strong claim to our attention. The varied phases of humanity, under such circumstances, will be found to suggest many new views of human nature, and will doubtless lead to many useful reflections. 4 .1 f •I »-*»**|(kr*w*r***^». -^^ attention, imstances, in nature, I i CONTENTS. The Mexican Indians, Antiquities of Central America, Indians of Peru, The Araucanians, ,. The Abipones, Variods South American Tribes, The Atlantic Tribes of North America, . Manners and Customs of the Savage Tribes op North America, Manners and Customs of the leadin& Indian Tribes of the West, .... PAffE. 7 89 105 164 174 178 186 189 295 h s i I ! i li! 1 ' MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. THE MEXICAN INDIANS. When Cortes landed upon the coast of Mexico, in 1519, the country immediately around the city of Mexico, bore the general name of Anahuac. This embraced several states, which at this period con- stituted the proper kingdom of the emperor, Mon- tezuma, though he exercised domain over a much wider territory. The regions occupied by the Mex- icans, had been long peopled, but the early inhabi- tants were savages. A nation called Toltecs came hither from the north, probably in the seventh cen- tury, and settled there. These were skilled in 8 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. ! i 1 I i ! i' lii! 'Hi' ' J, agriculture, the mechanic, arts, architecture and astron- omy. They were therefore the source of that civili- zation which was found among their successors, the Aztecs, or Mexicans. The noble ruins of religious and other edifices, found in Central America and the contiguous regions, are referred to this people. After three or four centuries, this race, who had extended their dominion over the whole of Anahuac, being greatly reduced by war, famine and pestilence, disappeared, and probably emigrated to the south, where they foundecJthe cities of Copan, Palenque, &c., whose majestic ruins still excite the wonder of the beholderi The Toltecs were followed by other races, some of them in a savage state, and others bearing the marks of incipient civilization. Among these were the Az- tecs, or Mexicans, and the Tezcucans, who in due time became the masters of such portions of the coun- try as they occupied. While the former remained in a state of poverty, the latter rose to a considerable pitch of prosperity and power. They continued, however, to maintain an alliance with each other; though their two capitals, Mexico and Tezcuco, both on the Mexican Lake, became populous and wealthy cities. By degrees the Mexicans triumphed over the diffi- culties by which they had been oppressed, and under a series of able kings had stretched their dominion across the continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This extent of empire is remarkable, considering it as the acquisition of a people who had recently been confined to a single city. This point in the history ',1 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. astron- civili- >rs, the ligious ind the 10 had lahuac, itilence, south, lie, &c., of the some of e marks the Az- in due le coun- ined in iderable tinued, other ; CO, both wealthy le diffi- |d under )minion Pacific. Ing it as jly been history of the Mexicans, bears a singular analogy to that of Rome in her earlier days. The history of the conquest of Mexico* cannot be detailed here : it will be sufficient to say, that after landing on the continent, Cortes received assistance from the Tlascalans, and, marching to Mexico, he speedily made himself master of that capital. The whole country soon fell under the Spanish dominion, in which condition it remained till the people declared their independence, in 1821 ; since that period it has been a separate state. The population of the territory of Mexico, or Ana- huac, at the time of its conquest, cannot be easily estimated ; but it is supposed to have been, at least, equal to what it is at present ; which is about eight millions. It is probable, indeed, that it was even greater. Inhabitants. — When Cortes landed among this strange people, separated by the ocean from civilized and enlightened nations and surrounded by savages, he was still surprised to find that they possessed many arts and customs of civilization, strangely blended with atrocious barbarities. Their countenances appear to have been equally enigmatical ; for \vhile their round faces, farther re- moved from the oval than that of any other people, bore, to a casual observer, an innocent expression, it disguised their more uniformly sullen and distrustful character. Their foreheads were low, their lips thick, and their noses pointed down towards their upper lip. Their hair was straight and black ; their eyes, small * See "History of the Indians of North and South America." ■ 1 i 1 » t !:^ !i 10 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. and black or chesnut colored ; they were keen-sighted, and discerned objects at a great distance. Although the men were well shaped, they had not hardy consti- tutions, a fact which the Spaniards imputed to their spare diet. Dress. — The men wore two or three mantles over three or four vests of various colors, which were woven in figures of animals and flowers, of feathers and fine rabbit hair ; they wore also a very large belt with the ends twisted and hanging before and behind. The women were attired in a square mantle about four feet long, two ends of which were tied upon the breast or on one shoulder ; the gown was a square cloth in which they wrapped themselves from the waist down to the middle of the leg. This, with an under vest or waistcoat, completed their usual costume. THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 11 sighted, Ithough ■ consti- to their es over e woven and fine with the The )ut four e breast cloth in 5t down vest or The dress of the poorer classes was made of coarse thread from the mountain palm, while that of the rich was of the finest cotton embellished with many colors. The nobles wore shoes worked with gold and jewels, and soled with leather, while the poorer people sub- stituted for these a coarse cloth of the palm, tied with strings. The hair was worn long, and floated on their shoul- ders, or was bound in tresses. All classes except the consecrated virgins thought they wore dishonored by having the hair cut. There was much extravagance and display in feathers and jewels ; their necklaces and bracelets were of pearls, emeralds and amethysts ; in their ears, upper lips and noses they also wore jewels, and those who could afford nothing better, even deco- rated themselves with shells and pieces of crystal. The Mexicans, like all Indian nations, had a pecu- liar fancy for painting their bodies of a red color with a certain kind of earth, found among them. The mine of Guancavelica was formerly of no other use than to supply them with materials for painting their bodies. Cinnabar was also employed for the same purpose. It mny seem strange, that those whose natural color was rod, should use that color for artifi- cial decoration ; but connoisseurs in dress, who un- derstand the harmony of colors, know that strong contrasts do not so well display the complexion as the hues which blend with each other. A husband's toilette was of infinitely more impor- tance than the wife's ; the most beautiful jewels were reserved for him, and she often spent much time in painting her lord and master. 12 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. ^ ; ! ;iu ? I The taste for magnificence in decoration and dis- play, is exhibited in the following description, from Mr. Prescott's history, of the first interview between Montezuma and Cortes. " The Spaniards now beheld the glittering retinue of the emperor, emerging from the great street which led then, as it does now, through the heart of the city. Amidst a crowd of Indian nobles, preceded by three officers of state, bearing golden wands, they saw the royal palanquin blazing with burnished gold. It was borne on the shoulders of nobles, and over it a canopy of gaudy feather work, powdei;pd with jewels, and fringed with silver, was supported by four attendants of the same rank. They were barefooted, and walked with a slow, measured pace, and with eyes bent on the ground. When the train had come within a conve- nient distance, it halted, and Montezuma, descending from his litter, came forward, leaning on the arms of the lords of Tezcuco and Iztapalapan, his nephew and brother, both of whom, as we have seen, had already been known to the Spaniards. As the mon- arch advanced under the canopy, the obsequious attendants strewed the ground with cotton tapestry, that his imperial feet might not be contaminated by the rude soil. His subjects, of high and low degree, who lined the sides of the causeway, bent forward, with their eyes fastened on the ground as he passed, and some of the humbler class prostrated themselves before him. Such was the homage paid to the Indian despot, showing that the slavish forms of Oriental adulation were to be found among the rude inhabitants of the Western World. THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 13 nd dis- 1, from etvveen ^beheld ig from js now, owd of )f state, ilanquin on the ff gaudy o-ed with the same L with a ; on the a conve- >scending arms of nephew een, had the mon- sequious tapestry, inated by degree, forward, e passed, emselves e Indian Oriental habitants " Montezuma wore the girdle and ample square cloak, tilmatti, of his nation. It was made of the finest cot- ton, with the embroidered ends gathered in a knot around his back. His feet were defended by sandals having soles of gold, and the leather thongs which bound them to his ankles were embossed with the same metal. Both the cloak and sandals were sprin- kled with pearls and precious stones, among which the emerald and the chalchivitl — a green stone, of higher estimation than any other among the Aztecs — were conspicuous. On his head he wore no other orna- ment than a panache of plumes of the royal green, which floated down his back, the badge of military, rather than of regal rank. " He was at this time about forty years of age. His person was tall and thin, but not ill-made. His hair, which was black and straight, was not very long : to wear it short was considered unbecoming persons of rank. His head was thin ; his complexion somewhat paler than is often found in his dusky, or rather copper- colored, race. His features, though serious in their expression, did not wear the look of melancholy, indeed, of dejection, which characterizes his portrait, and which may well have settled on them at a later period. He moved with dignity, and his whole de- meanor, tempered by an expression of benignity, not to have been anticipated from the reports circulated of his character, was worthy of a great prince." The taste for display was by no means confined to the monarch, for it was visible in the dress of all ranks. 14 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. !, ; Hi I'll -I I III t!> ' House of the better class. Dwellings. — The Mexicans affirmed that when they first came to inhabit their country, ihey used no other materials for building houses than mud and reeds ; but success attending their efforts, they built a better city, of good houses, principally of stone and lime, two stories high. Each house had a hall and a large court- yard. The chambers were well arranged ; the floors were of plaster, perfectly level and smooth ; and the roofs flat and round. The best houses had terraced walls, so white and shining, that they appeared at a distance to be of silver. Some houses had gardens with fish-ponds and walks symmetrically laid out. The larger ones had, likewise, two entrances, the principal one opening to the street and the other towards the water. Pietro Martin says, " The doors of their houses and chambers were full of diverse kindes of shells hanging loose by small cordes; that, being THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 15 t when they ed no other and reeds; ill a better ,d lime, two large court- the floors |th ; and the ad terraced ipeared at a ardens with out. The |he principal towards the rs of their ;e kindes of that, being shaken by the wind, they make a certaine ratteling and also a whisteling noise, by gathering the wind in their hollov/ places ; for herein they have great de- light, and impute this for a goodly ornament." In describing the habitations of the common peo- ple, we may also use the quaint language of Pietro. "They are made round like bells; their frame is raised of exceeding high trees, set close together and fast rampaired in the ground, so standing aslope and bending inward that the toppes of the trees joyne to- gether and bear one against another; having also with- in the house certain strong and short proppes or posts, which sustayne the trees from falling. They cover them with the leaves of date trees strongly compact and hardened, wherewith they make them close from winde and weather. At the short posts, or proppes, within the house, they tie ropes of the cotton of gos- sampine trees, or other ropes made of certain long and rough roots ; these they tie athwart the house from post to post. On these they lay, as it were, certain mattresses made of the cotton of gossampine trees, which grow plentifully in these lands, — and thus they sleepe in hanging beds." Like the rudest Indians, several families often resi- ded under the same roof, without having any separate apartments. The common people, like most inhabi- tants of hot countries, appear to have been little soli- citous about their habitatbns, often taking shelter from the sun under thick trees, and forming a shed with their branches and leaves. Upon the Lake of Mexico they had floating islets, with dwelling huts upon them, which were moved 16 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. !■ i:H It ill : i i\\\ from bay to bay, as the inhabitants required sunshine or shelter. The dwellings of the cities will be more particularly described hereafter. Food and Drink. — The Mexicans raised maize, or Indian corn, for food, and used the manioc, which grows to the size of a large shrub, with roots like the parsnip. After carefully squeezing out the juice, these roots were grated down to a fine powder and made into thin cakes, which were called cassada bread. As the juice of the manioc is a poison, it has occasioned no little surprise that the Indians could convert it into nutritious food. The potato was common, and roasted The Pimento or Allspice, tree. plantain supplied the place of bread. A favorite sea- as % THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 17 sunshine be more maize, or ic, which 5 like the lice, these ind made la bread, ccasioned ^ert it into ad roasted I /^orite sea- soning for everything was the pimento, which yields an aromatic spice, and was almost deemed an elixir of life. Chocolate was of universal consumption, and the favorite drink of persons in every rank of life. Pulque, which is the fermented juice of the mag- uey, and is still used as a beverage in Mexico, was a common drink at their feasts. It is slightly intoxi- cating, and was sometimes taken to excess by the elder guests. Intemperance in the young was severely punished. Hunting and fishing likewise supplied them with food; but a staple article was the flesh of their enemies taken in war, which they devoured with a rapacity equal to the most ferocious savages. It furnished the supply at their feasts, and was eaten raw. At other times the flesh of their enemies was salted and pre- served, and presented to their nearest friends. At their entertainments, their table was well pro- vided with substantial meats and game, especially the turkey, which was abundant. They had vari- ous dishes of vegetables, and many delicious fruits. Their viands were prepared with delicate sauces and seasoning. The palate was also regaled by confec- tions and pastries, for which sugar and the flour of maize supplied ample materials. At celebrations the flesh of a slave sacrificed for the purpose, and dressed with epicurean skill, formed a favorite embellishment of the feast. The meats were kept warm by chafing-dishes, and the table was ornamented with delicately wrought ware of silver and gold. They had drinking cups and spoons of the same materials, and also of tortoise B 't ij' 18 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. shell. They not only used chocolate, or chocolatl, fla- vored with vanilla and different spices, as a drink, but the froth was converted into a solid form and eaten cold. The fermented juice of the maguey, in various forms, was the chief drink of the elder guests. The feast was closed by dancing, accompanied with plain- tive music. The women shared in these entertainments, which were often conducted on a magnificent scale. The guests were served by numerous attendants of both sexes. The halls were scented with perfumes, the courts strewed with fragrant flowers and plants, and rich bouquets were handed to the guests as they arrived. The ceremony of ablution was performed before and after eating ; cotton napkins and covers of water being placed for the purpose. After the meal, tobacco, mixed with aromatic sub- stances, was provided, either in pipes or in cigars, furnished with tubes of tortoise-shell or silver. Whether the women partook of this indulgence, as is now the custom in Mexico, we are not told. It ap- pears that they were accustomed to use tobacco in the form of snuff. Travelling. — Their mode of travelling by land was on foot, for they had no domestic quadrupeds, and by water, in canoes, with which they could easily ascend rivers against the rapidity of the stream. So inured were they to this labor, that no crew of white people could equal them. Amusements. — The dance was their serious occu- pation, as well as their favorite amusement, and seems to have accompanied all their important dealings with ■I 1 ■^ ';!»-. it TIfK MEXICAN INDIANS. 19 ^colatly fla- drink, but and eaten in various ists. The vith plain- nts, which ale. The its of both 'umes, the plants, and ;s as they performed I covers of matic sub- in cigars, or silver, ence, as is d. It ap- tobacco in b by land jupeds, and juld easily •earn. So of white [•ious occu- land seems ilings with A * i 'M each other. If an Indian rame with an emblem of peace, he must approach with a solemn dance, while the caciques received him in the same manner. If war was denounced against an enemy, a dance expressed their resentment. If the wrath of the gods was to be appeased, or their beneficence celebrated, they danced. Rejoicing at the birth of a child, or mourning for its death, had both their appropriate dances ; — nor were the sick and dying free from these tumults, for if una- ble themselves to join in the dance, their physician or conjurer performed the ceremony around them. While to the Spaniards their music seemed simple and monotonous, to the Mexicans it was in the high- est degree inspiring and animating. Their war-dance was a complete pantomime of their campaigns. It represented the solemn departure from their homes, — their steady march upon the enemy, — their caution in encamping, — their skill in stationing their party in ambush, and their manner of surprising and rushing on the foe. Then succeeded the strug- gle of the combat, — the seizing of the prisoners, — the triumphant return, and the unrelenting torture of their victims. Into this sport they entered with such wild enthusiasm, such vehement gestures and terrific countenances, that the Europeans could scarce believe it a mimic scene, or view it without emotions of fear and horror. They engaged in games of hazard with great eager- ness, as did the whole Indian nation; while thus employed they became rapacious, noisy and almost frantic. They would stake all they possessed, and even their personal liberty, on a single cast of the t! I ! I ; ! I • t rS 'I t 1 20 THE MEXICA2J ir^DIANS. die. Southey gives the following description of the amusement called the Flyers, founded ou the account furnished by Clavigero. "But now a shout went forth ; the Flyers mount, And from all meaner sports the multitude Flock to their favorite pastime. In the ground, Branchless and bark'd, the trunk of some tall pine Is planted; near its summit a square frame. Four cords pass through the perforated square And fifty times and twice around the tree, A mystic number, are entwined above. Four Aztecas, equipped with wings, ascend, And round them bind the ropes ; anon they wave Their pinions, and upborne on spreading plumes, Launch on the air and wheel iu circling flight, The lengthening cords untwisting as they fly. A fifth above, upon the perilous point Dances and shakes a flag ; and ou the frame Others the while maintain their giddy stand, Till now with many a round the wheeling cords Draw near their utmost length, and toward the ground The aerial circles speed ; then down the ropes They spring, and on their way from line to line Pass, while the shouting multitude endure A shuddering admiration." Domestic Life. — Notwithstanding the atrocious customs which we find among these ancient Mexi- cans, we shall find many pleasing traits in the picture of their domestic life. The women were handsome, possessing a serious and somewhat melancholy cast of countenance. They were treated with kindness by their husbands, spending their time in indolent repose, or the feminine occupations of spinning and embroidery. The maidens beguiled the hours by the THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 21 ion of the le account lount, d, pine wave mes, U, )rds he ground fes line le atrocious cient Mexi- the picture handsome, incholy cast llh Idmhiess in indolent winning and liours hv the I rehearsal of traditionary tales and ballads. The dis- cipline of children was severe, especially at the schools. When arrived at maturity, the girls were treated with great tenderness by their parents. They counselled them to preserve neatness of attire, personal cleanliness, simplicity of manners, and innocence in conversation. They inculcated modesty as the chief ornament of the sex, and enjoined implicit reverence for their husbands. They were accustomed to soften their counsel by many epithets of endearment, displaying the fulness of parental affection. There appears to have been much kindly inter- course in society. They consoled their friends in moments of affliction, and congratulated them upon the occasions of marriages, births and baptisms, ac- companying those attentions with costly presents of dresses and ornaments, or groups of chosen flowers. Ceremonial visits were regulated with Oriental pre- cision, and embellished with many expressions of esteem and affection. Tools and Instruments. — Among the instruments used by the Mexicans were hatchets of stone, shell, and bone. With these they not only formed their necessary utensils, but other works of art. Cold and phlegmatic in temperament, they would return to their task day after day, with tlie most tedious method, — and "the work of an Indian," was a phrase used among the Spaniards, when they wished to describe anything by which long time had been employed and much labor wasted. They were well acquainted with the mineral trea- sures of tlicir kingdom ; not only silver and gold, but 1 22 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. •I ii I'l ^1 : ii il 3 ''I I ;l !'f I rit 11 lead, tin and copper were in use. They had mines in the solid rock where they opened extensive galleries. As a substitute for iron, the use of which was un- known, they used an alloy of tin and copper. Of this bronze they made tools, with which they cut metals ; and by the aid of a silicious dust, they even wrought porphyry. They cast vessels of gold and silver, and chased them in a delicate manner with their metallic chisels. Some of their silver vases were so large, that a man could not encompass them with his arms. They possessed the wonderful art of so mixing their metals, that the feathers of a bird or the scales of a fish would be alternately of gold and silver. No European artizan could equal them in these delicate manufactures. An important cutting instrument was made of itzli, or obsidian, a hard, transparent min- eral, abundant in their hills. With this they wrought stone and alabasters for their public works. Of the same material they made knives, razors and serrated swords ; also mirrors, which were sometimes set in gold. Painting, Sculpture, &c. — Painting was greatly used among the Mexicans, an art derived from the Toltecas. In a volume preserved in the library at Bologna, there are particular historical events in their paintings, codes of laws, civil and religious, and records chronological, astronomical and astrological, together with their calendar, the position of the stars, changes of the moon, eclipses, and prognostications of the weather ; they painted, also, images of their gods and heroes. These the Spaniards regarded as emblems of heathen worship, and burned such as they found. They like- THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 23 id mines in 3 galleries, h was un- ^r. Of this :ut metals ; en wrought silver, and eir metallic re so large, ,h his arms, lixing their scales of a silver. No ese delicate ;rament was parent min- ley wrought ks*. Of the and serrated imes set in was greatly xl from the e library at ents in their and records cal, together s, changes of ihe weather ; and heroes. s of heathen They like- wise painted the geographical extent of their bounda- ries and possessions, the situation of places, and direc- tion of the coast, and the course of rivers. Mexican Painting. Cortes says, in his first letter to Charles 5th, that Montezuma presented him with a painting which re- presented the whole of the coast, from Vera Cruz to the river Coatzacualco. Their chief school for painting was at Tezueca, and the paintings were "all collected there in such a mass, that it resembled a little moun- tain," to which, unfortunately for the cause of knowl- edge, the Spaniards set fire. Had they preserved these records, they would have fortned a complete history, since everything was delineated by painting. This was an inexpressible grief to the Indians, and even 24 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. I i I to the Spaniards when they knew their error. They afterwards endeavored to collect paintings from every quarter ; but it will be readily believed that the Indi- ans concealed their labor of years, and no inducement could tempt them to part with them. Humboldt furnishes us with a copy of a Mexican painting, which is supposed to represent the story of Adam and Eve, — derived from the traditions of the fathers of the race. The preceding cut is a copy of this curious relic. The serpent is supposed to be tempting Eve; the figures at the right, to represent Cain and Abel, and those at the left, their two altars. They painted on cloth, made of thread from the aloe or palm, and on sheepskin, as well as on paper made of the leaves of the aloe, steeped like hemp, and afterwards stretched and smoothed. Their colors were very beautiful, being extracted from wood, leaves, flowers, and various animal substances. Their paint- ers knew little of the distribution of light and shade; but the proportions were accurately observed, and as the pictures were generally made in haste, sometimes parts of objects only, but such as might be easily understood, were portrayed. The Mexicans had arrived at greater perfection in sculpture, casting metals and in mosaics than even in their painting. The aspect of their graven images strong- ly reminds us of similar antiquities in Egypt. The engraving upon the next page represents one of these. After their conquest of the country, the Mexicans made idols in honor of the gods who had given them success. As the arts progressed these were formed of stone and wood ; every attitude of which the hu- THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 25 3r. They rom every t the Indi- iducement a Mexican e story of ons of the a copy of )sed to be » represent Lwo ahars. I from the 3 on paper hemp, and colors were od, leaves, heir paint- nd shade ; ed, and as sometimes be easily trfection in Ian even in Iges strong- jypt. The lie of these. Mexicans fivcn them >rG formed :h the hu- man body was capable was expressed, and every obstacle was surmounted by these phlegmatic people in working stone by the use of the chisel. Acosta mentions with praise, two statues, one of Montezuma, the other of his son, cut in basso relievo. They were nearly as large as their idols, and the first church in Mexico had its fovmdation laid from these statues. The entrances and ansflcs of the edifices of Mexico, were profusely ornamented with carved images of animals and fantastic deities. Sculptured images were exceedingly numerous, and a cellar can hardly bo dug in the present city of Mexico, without turning up some of these relics of barbarian art. Specimens 26 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. lUi; i »: 1 1 'Hfl of these lie scattered about the town, and obtain little respect from civilized raan. The two celebrated reliefs of the last Montezuma and his father, cut in the solid rock, in the grove of Chapoltepec, were delib- erately destroyed by the order of government, within the last century. The most remarkable piece of sculpture is the great calendar stone disinterred in the great square of Mexico, in 1790. It consists of dark porphyry, and when taken from the quarry, weighed about fifty tons. It was transported from the mountains, for many leagues over a hilly country, intersected by rivers, lakes and canals. In crossing a bridge it was precip- itated into the water, and recovered with difficulty. The transportation of so enormous a fragment, in the face of such obstacles, and without the use of cattle, suggests no mean ideas of the mechanical skill to which these people had arrived. They excelled, likewise, in metal castings, and also made images of gold and silver, parrots with movable ^ heads, tongues and wings, and movable apes. In short, says one author, the works were so admirably finished, that even the Spaniards, who thirsted for gold, thought more of the workmanship than of the gems and the gold and silver of which they were made. So debased and indolent, however, did the Indians become, after their conquest by th'^ Spaniards, that it would now be easir: u. find some specimens of their ancient art in the cabinets of Eu- rope, than in Mexico. But of all their works of art, the most curious were their mosaics in feathers. On this art they highly I THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 27 and obtain > celebrated ther, cut in were delib- lent, within ure is the It square of rphyry, and It fifty tons. , for many by rivers, was precip- 1 difilculty. ment, in the se of cattle, ical skill to istings, and )arrots with id movable rks were so tiiards, who orkmanship er of which nt, however, uest by th-^ . find some nets of Eu- urious were ihey highly % valued themselves ; and for this purpose they reared great numbers of birds of fine plumage. The execu- tion of this species of mosaic is thus described. " In undertaking a work of this kind, several artists assembled, and after agreeing upon the design, they fix upon the proportions, and each artist has some particular part of the image assigned to him, and so diligently did he exert himself, that frequently a whole day would be spent in the adjustment of a sin- gle feather, first trying one and then another, viewing it sometimes in one way and then another, until one was found that gave his part the ideal perfection pro- posed. When each artist had completed his part, they assembled to form the entire image, and if any part happenefl to be deranged, it was wrought again, till perfectly finished. They laid hold of the feathers with small pincers, which did not injure them in the least; they were pasted on cloth by some glutinous matter, and united at all points upon plate or copper ; the feathers were then flattened gently, until the surface was so equal and smooth that it appeared to be the work of a pencil. It was wonderful indeed to see feathers producing the effect of the pencil, and far surpassing it in colors ; a side appearance was so beautiful, so lively, and so animated, that it gave de- light to the sight, and rivalled the best paintings of Spain." This art lingered after the conquest, and persons could still be found, who could copy a painting in feathers with wonderful exactness. The last cele- brated artist in this way, was Payanam, but he died in 1800, and the art has perished with Vim. There was also, a kind of mosaic in shells, which 28 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. is Still wrought in Guatimala. Imitations of mosaic were also made of flowers and leaves, upon mats, which were used at festivals. These continued to be made, and were eagerly sought after by the Spanish nobility, who settled in the country. Some workmen skilfully imitated with silk the Mexican mosaic in feathers ; but the latter was always preferred as the most brilliant and beautiful. The arts of cutting and polishing stones and gems, as we have stated, were well understood. The gems in use then, were the emerald, amethyst, carnelian and turquoise. The emerald was so common, as to be little valued by the rich ; even the common people had them attached to their lips when dead, to serve in the other world in place of a heart. When Cortes first returned to Spain, he carried with him five emeralds which the jewellers valued at 100,000 ducats ; the first was in the form of a rose, the second of a horn, the third of a little fish with eyes of gold, the fourth in the form of a bell, with a fine pearl for its clapper ; the fifth was a small cup, with a foot of gold, and four little golden chains uni- ted in a pearl in the form of a button. For this alone the Genoese offered 40,000 ducats, in order to sell again to the Grand Seignor ; besides these, there were two emerald vases valued at 300,000 ducats, which were lost by shipwreck in an expedition of Charles 5ih, against Algiers. There are no gems of such value found or wrought at the present day, nor is it known where the emerald mines were. There are still extant some masses of this precious stone j among which are two of great THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 29 of mosaic pon mats, •s lued to be ?^ 3 Spanish workmen mosaic in red as the ■M and gems, The gems nelian and JL- , as to be NT leople had ';,•■ ;rve in the le carried valued at ;.' of a rose. A, fish with ;r ell, with a ) small cup, hains uni- this alone ""M er to sell -v^ cse, there ' * ducats, edition of r wrought e emerald • le masses •r of great 1 value in the churches, which the priests secure with iron chains. Pietro Martin says, that "among the presents which Cortes sent to Spain, were two helmets covered with blue precious stones, one edged with golden belles and many plates of gold, two golden knobbes sustaining the belles. The other covered with the same stones, but edged with 25 golden belles crested with a greene foule sitting on the top of the helmet, whose feet, biil and eyes were all of gold and several golden knobbes sustained every bell." Manufactures. — The manufacture of cloths of various kinds was generally known and extensively practised. Cotton, silk, hemp, hair and other materials were used in their fabrics, but no wool. In weaving hammocks, coverlets and other coarse cloth, they were accustomed to take up thread after thread, and after counting and sorting them, each time to pass the warp between them; so that in finishing a small piece of these stuffs, they frequently spent more than two years. Lint and hemp were made from the fibrous part of the leaves of the aloe. This thread was sometimes of groat fineness. The above materials were often mixed with fine down from tho bellies of rabbits and hares, and spun into thread. Beautiful cloths and winter waistcoats for their lords, were made in this manner. Their cotton manufactures were equal to any in Europe at that time. Of feathers interwoven with cotton, they made mantles, bed-curtains, carpets and gowns, exceedingly beautiful. Such garments are 30 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. not now to be found, unless in a few instances among the wealthy nobles. They manufactured various utensils of earthen waro for the common purposes of domestic life. They formed cups and vases of lacquered wood, gaily col- ored. The cochineal was first used by them, and introduced from Mexico into Europe. They had plantations carefully cultivated, where the little insect that furnishes this brilliant dye, was produced and nourished. The colors imparted to their ck^ths were exceedingly brilliant. The Mexicans understood the construction of arches and vaults, and there remain buildings with cornices and other ornaments, square and cylindrical columns adorned with figures in basso relievo ; it was their great ambition to use stone in lx hitecture. Among their most rem.arkable works were two aqueducts which conveyed water to the capital, a distance of two miles. These were constructed with stone and cemented — two feet high and two paces broad — upon a road prepared for that purpose. Religion. — It has been justly said that " the aspect of superstition in Mexico was gloomy and atrocious, its divinities were clothed with terror, and delighted in vengeance." They were exhibited to the people under detestable forms which excited horror. The figures of serpents, tigers and other destructive animals, decorated their temples. Fear was the only principle that inspired their votaries. Fasts, mortifications and penances, all rigid, and many of them excruciating to an extreme degree, were the means employed to appease the wrath of their gods. The Mexicans lit! THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 31 ces among jf earthen fe. They , gaily col- ihem, and They had [ittle insect ouced and •oths were n of arches th cornices il columns was their were two le capital, constructed h and two ; purpose. ■ the aspect I atrocious, elighted in ;ople under ?he figures animals, y principle rations and uciating to nployed to Mexicans ¥ never approached their altars without sprinkling them with blood drawn from their own bodies. But of all offerings, human sacrifices were deemed most acceptable. This religious belief mingling with the implacable spirit of vengeance and adding new force to it, every captive taken in war was brought to the temple and devoted as a victim to the deity, and sacrificed with rites no less solemn than cruel. The head and heart were the portion consecrated to the gods ; the warrior by whose prowess the prisoner had been seized, carried off the body to feast upon it with his friends. Under the impression of ideas so dreary and terrible, and accustomed daily to scenes of blood- shed, rendered awful by religion, it would seem that the heart of man must be hardened and steeled to every sentiment of humanity. Yet, we have already shown, that, however unfeeling towards their enemies, among themselves many gentle sentiments survived the influence of their atrocious superstitions. Why it was that religion assumed such a dread- ful form among the Mexicans, we have not sufficient knowledge of their history to determine. But its influence was visible, and produced an effect that is singular in the human species. The manners of the people of the New World who had made the greatest progress in the arts, and who possessed many gentler impulses, were in several respects the most barbarous that have been known, and some of their customs exceeded, in this respect, even those of the savage state. The Mexicans had some idea, though an imperfect one, of a supreme, absolute and independent being. I i] 111 l> ii'r H 'i 32 THE MEXICAN INUIANS. They represented him in no external form, because they believed him to be invisible ; and they named him only by the common appellation of God, or in their language Teotl. They applied to him certain epithets which were highly expressive of the grandeur and power which they conceived him to possess ; Ipal- nemoani, " He by whom we live," and Tloque Nahu- aque, *' He who has all in himself." They distinguished three places for the souls when separated from the body. Those of soldiers who died in battle or in captivity among their enemies, and those of women who died in childbirth, went to the house of the sun, — whom the Mexicans considered as the prince of glory. Here they led a life of endless delight. Every day at the first appearance of the sun's rays the former hailed his birth with rejoicings; and with music of instruments and voices, attended him to his meridian. They were then met by the souls of the women, and with the same festivity he was accompanied to his setting. And it was supposed that after spending four years in this way, these spir- its went to animate the clouds or birds of beautiful feathers and sweet song ; these being always at liberty to rise to heaven or descend upon the earth, to warble and feast upon the flowers. The souls of persons who were drowned or struck by lightning, or who died of wounds, dropsy, tumors and other similar diseases, went with the souls of children, especially those which were sacrificed to Tlaloc, the god of water, — to a cool and delightful place called Tlalocan, where that god resided. Here th ey enjoy e d th other kind of pi most easure. delicious repasts, with every I THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 33 m, because ihey named God, or in him certain le grandeur ssess ; Ipal- 3que Nahu- souls when rs who died lemies, and went to the considered fe of endless ance of the 1 rejoicings; es, attended met by the festivity he as supposed , these spir- of beautiful ys at liberty h, to warble 3d or struck psy, tumors le souls of iacrlficed to 1 delightful ded. Here with every I t i The t}i rd place was regarded as the residence of the souls of all others, and was called Mictlan, which was deemed a place of utter darkness, in which reigned a god called Mictlantenetli, Lord of Hell, and a god- dess named Mictlancihuatl. The Tlascalans believed that the souls of chiefs and princes became clouds, or beautiful birds, or precious stones, whereas those of the common people would pass into beetles, rats, mice, weasels and other vile and disgusting animals. There were three yearly sacrifices to Tlaloc. At the first, tu'o children were drowned in the Lake of Mexico, but in all the mountainous districts, they were sacrificed on the mountains, in which case their bodies were preserved in a stone chest. At the second sacri- fice, four children, from six to seven years of age, who were bought by the chiefs for that purpose, were shut up in a cavern and left to die of hunger; the cavern was not opened till the next year's sacrifice. Of this horrid custom Southey gives a touching description. "Halfway up A cavern pierced the rock, no human foot Had trod its depths, nor ever sunbeam reached Its long recesses and mysterious gloom. To Tlaloc it was hallowed ; and the stone Which closed its entrance never was removed, Save when the yearly festival returned, And in its womb a child was sepulchred, The living victim. Up the winding path That to the entrance of the cavern led, With many a painful step the train ascend, But many a time upon that long ascent Young Hoel would have paused, with weariness c 34 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. Exhausted now. They urge him on, — poor child ! They urge him on ! * * * Oh better had he lived Unknowing and unknown on Arvon's plain, And trod upon his noble father's grave, With peasant feet unconcious ! They have reached The cavern now, and from its mouth the priests Roll the huge portal. — Thitherward they force The son of Llaian. A cold air comes out j It chills him and his feet recoil ; — in vain His feet recoil ; — in vain he turns to fly, Affrighted at the sudden gloom that spreads Around ; — the den is closed, and he is left In solitude and darkness, — left to die! " The third sacrifice continued for the three rainy months, during which time, children were offered up on the mountains. The heart and blood of these were used in sacrifice, while the bodies were feasted upon by the chiefs and priests. The latter wore large white garments like surplices, with hoods, and after a sacrifice they might be seen with their long matted hair dabbled with blood. They were themselves subjected to painful ceremo- nies, and the Chololtecas performed the most severe penances every four years. All the priests sat round the walls of the temple holding censers in their hands ; from this posture they were not permitted to move, except when they went out from necessity. They might sleep two hours at the beginning of the night, and one hour after sunrise; at midnight they bathed, smeared themselves with a black unction and pricked their ears to obtain blood for an offering; the twenty- one remaining hours they sat in the same posture offcr- THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 25 ;hild! reached ests ce ; three rainy were offered )lood of these were feasted • ike surplices, light be seen with blood, linful ceremo- most severe !sts sat round 11 their hands ; itted to move, issity. They of the night, .t they bathed, |n and pricked ; the twenty- b posture offer- ing incense to the idol, and occasionally snatching a little sleep. These performances continued for sixty days ; if any one of the priests slept beyond his time, his companions pricked him. After the sixty days, the ceremony continued twenty more, though with miti- gations of these severe duties. Historians differ much as to the number of human sacrifices yearly offered, but the smallest number given is very great. On the death of a cacique or any one distinguished among them, a certain num- ber of his attendants were put to death, that he might have them to administer to him in another world. This sacrifice was deemed so great an honor, that many oflfered themselves as victims for the purpose. Tlalocatecuhtli, the god of the waters and lord of Paradise, as he was called, was the oldest among their gods. His image was that of a man sitting on a square seat, with a vessel before him, in which were specimens of all the grains and fruit in the country, to be offered to him. This image consisted of a kind of pumice stone found on the mountains. One of the kings of Tezcuco ordered a better idol to be made, which Avas destroyed by lightninpr, and the old one was brought back again, but one of his arms being broken in the removal, it was fastened on with three golden nails. In the time of bishop Zumarraga the golden nails were taken away and the idol destroyed. This god of the waters was said to dwell among the moun- tains, where he collected the vapors and dispensed thom in rain and dew. A number of inferior deities were at his command. The cave of Mistccos was sacred to this god, but its -SI' i 36 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. mouth was known only to a few. In entering, it was necessary to crawl for a hundred paces ; the way was then intricate for a mile. At last the passage terminated in the great dome, 70 feet long and 40 wide, where was an idol formed of incrustations by a spring of petrifying water. Many persons perished in attempting to find this cave. A Spanish friar dis- covered the idol and destroyed it, filling up the entrance. Quetzalcoatl* was the god of the winds. " His temple was circular; for as the ayre goeth rounde about the heavens, even for that consideration, they made his temple rounde. The entrance of that temple had a dore made lyke unto the mouth of a serpent, and was paynt- ed with foule and divilish gestures, with great teeth and gummes wrought, which was a thing to feare those that should enter thereat, and especially the Chris- tians, unto whom it represented very hell with that ougly face and monsterous teeth." Mexitli was another Mexican deity, from whom the nation took their name. They had a tradition that during their emigration he was carried before them in a seat called '* the chair of God." There was a temple consecrated to him, *' the floor of which," says Bernal Diaz, who was an eye-witness, "was flaked with blood and filled with a putrid stench." The great temple of Mexico was a huge square mound, and was called the great Cu. It had 114 steps to the summit. That at Tezcuco had 115 steps. That at Cholula, 120. Gold and jewels, and the different seeds of the country were thrown in when * See " Lives of Celebrated Indians." :iik THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 37 entering, it s ; the way- he passage ang and 40 iistations by* ins perished sh friar dis- ing up the inds. " His rounde about ley made his )le had a dore id was paynt- 1 great teeth to feare those y the Chris- ell with that from whom d a tradition arried before od." There )or of which," itness, "was i stench." huge square It had 114 lad 115 steps. vels, and the rown in when ■ns." the foundations of the temple of Mexico were laid. When it was afterwards levelled by the Spaniards, to make room for a church, these treasures were found. It is related by Bernal Diaz, '• that they had in their temple an exceeding large drum, and when they beat it the sound was such, and so dismal, that it was like an instrument of hell, and was heard for more than two leagues round. They said that the cover of that drum was made of the skin of huge serpents." He also gives a terrific account of their temple serpents. "The head of a sacrificed person was strung up ; the limbs eaten at the feast; the body given to the wild beasts which were kept within the temple circuits ; moreover, in that accursed house they kept vipers and venomous snakes, who had something at their tails, which sounded like morris bells, and they are the worst of all vipers; these were kept in cradles and barrels and earthen vessels, upon feathers, and there they laid their eggs and nursed up their snakelings, and there they were fed with the bodies of the sacrificed and with dogs' flesh. We learnt for certain, that after they had driven us from Mexico and slain above 850 of our soldiers and of the men of Narvaez, to be oflJered to their cruel idol, these beasts and snakes w^ere supported upon their bodies for many days. When the lions and tigers roared, and the jackalls and foxes howled and the snakes hissed, it was a grim thing to hear them and it seemed like hell." Before the Mexican temples were large courts, kept neat and clean, and planted with trees which were green throughout the year. These bestowed a pleasant shade, and here the priests sat and awaited 38 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. I H ;i'| those who came to make offerings and sacrifice to the idol. The mother of Mexitli was a mortal woman, but for her son's sake she was made immortal, and appointed goddess of all herbs, flowers and trees. The following was their tradition concerning her as given in the words of the poet Southey. " She at eve Walked in the temple court, and saw from heaven A plume descend as bright and beautiful As if some spirit had embodied there The rainbow hues, or dipped it in the light of setting suns. To her it floated down, she placed it in her bosom, to bedeck The altar of the god. She sought it there ; Amazed she found it not, — amazed she felt Anotbpr life infused." In many of the religious rites and ceremonies of the ancient Mexicans, we see resemblances to those of the Greeks and Romans, the Mussulmans, the Tartars, and the Catholics ; but the most singular coincidence is that in their baptism. In naming their infant chil- dren, they sprinkled the lip and bosom with water, and the " Lord was implored to permit the holy drops to wash away the sin that was given before the founda- tion of the world — and that the child might be born anew !" Their prayers, in which they used regular forms, also remind us of christian morals, in passages like these : " Wilt thou blot us out, Lord, forever ? Is thy punishment intended, not for our reformation, but our destruction ?" " Impart to us, out of thy great mercy, the gifts which we are not worthy to receive, through our own merits." "Keep peace with all: bear injuries with humility, for God, who sees, will avenge you." THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 39 rifice to the rtal woman, mortal, and and trees, •ning her as Lven jetting suns, som, to bedeck jremonies of es to those of , the Tartars, r coincidence ir infant chil- th water, and loly drops to the founda- light be born used regular in passages ord, forever ? formation, but of thy great ly to receive, ace with all : /ho sees, will The influence of the priesthood was not only great, through the reverence they inspired, but also by their numbers. No less than 5000 were attached to the chief temple of the capital. War, &c. — It is not surprising from this vievir of their religion that the Mexicans should have been ferocious in war. The four most honorable titles among their soldiers were " The Tiger of the War," " Shed- der of Blood," "Destroyer of Men," and "Lord of the Dark House." Gomarra thus describes the Tlascalan army, which may also apply to the Mexican troops. "They were trimme fellowes, and wel armed according to their use although they were paynted so that their faces shewed like divels with great tuffes of feathers and triumphed gallantly. They had also slinges, staves, spears, swordes, bowes and arrowes, skullcs, splinters, ganllottes, all of wood, gilte, or else covered with 40 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. ii.i feathers or leather ; their corslets were made of cotton woole, their targettes and bucklers, gallant and strong, made of woode covered with leather and trimmed with cotton and feathers ; iheyr swordes were staves with an edge of flint stone, cunningly joyned into the staff which would cutte very well and make a sore wound. Theyr instruments of music were hunter's horns, and drummes called attabals made like a caldron and cov- ered with vellum." The dress of the higher warriors among the Mexicans, was picturesque, and sometimes magnificent. Their bodies were covered with a vest of thick quilted cotton, sufficient to resist the slight missiles of Indian warfare. This was found so ser- viceable as to be adopted by the Spaniards. The wealthier chiefs sometimes wore a cuirass of gold or silver, instead of this cotton quilt. Over this was thrown a garment made of the gorgeous feather-work which we have described. Their helmets were of THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 41 ie of cotton and strong, immed with staves with ito the staff 5ore wound. s horns, and ron and cov- ler warriors d sometimes with a vest St the slight )und so ser- liards. The s of gold or er this was featlier-work ets were of wood, fashioned like the heads of wild animals, or of silver, on the top of which waved a hunch of plumes, sprinkled with precious stones and ornaments of gold. The armies of the country were formed into divisions of 8000 men, and these into companies of three or four hundred each with its own commander. The Tlaxcaltecas had two arrows which they regard- ed with great reverence and used as means of pre- dicting the event of a battle. Two of their bravest chiefs were to shoot them at the enemy and recover them, or die. If the arrows struck and killed or wounded, it was held to be an omen that the fight would be prosperous, but if they neither struck nor drew blood, the army retired. The national standard of Mexico exhibited the armorial ensigns of the state, wrought in gold and feathers. The companies and greater chiefs had also their particular banners. The army in marching thus gorgeously decorated, exhibited a splendid and daz- zling appearance to the beholder. The soldiers ad- vanced briskly to the attack, singing and shouting their war-cries. They often retreated, and returned again upon the enemy. They did not sustain a firm and regular charge, but were much addicted to ambuscades and sadden surprises. In marching, they moved for- ward gaily, but in good order. In battle, they sought rather to capture than to kill their enemies. They never scalped, like the northern tribes, and a warrior's valor was estimated only by the nu \ber of his pris- oners. Although their prisoners were not put to death with aggravated bodily torture, it was a refinement of cru- 42 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. ,!'iil HI II elty among them to attach them to life by feastings and caresses, with maidens to wait upon them, while their doom was irrevocable. At the day appointed for their death, they were despatched by a single blow. The people then feasted upon the bodies, and be- smeared their children with the blood of the slain to kindle in their bosoms hatred for their enemies. Some of the principal warriors covered themselves with the skins of the slain and danced before the people, exult- ing over their enemies. In some provinces they covered their drums with the skins of their captives, thinking that when the kindred of the slain heard the sound of these, they w^ould immediately be seized with fear and take to flight. Their military code bore the same stern features as their other laws. Disobedience of orders, desertion of colors, attacking the enemy before the signal was given, and plunder of another's booty, were all pun- ished with death. We must not omit to mention their hospitals for the sick and wounded soldiers. These were established in the principal cities, and were attended by the ablest surgeons. It is remarkable to find such institutions in this country, long before they had been adopted in civilized Europe. Government. — On the arrival of Cortes, Mexico was the leading power from the Atlantic to the Pacific, exercising over the several states either a partial or complete dominion. Its government at that period was an elective monarchy, four principal nobles constituting the electors, and the choice being con- fined to the brothers or nephews of the last prince. The candidates received an education suited to their 4 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 43 3y feastings them, while ppointed for single blow, es, and ba- the slain to iiies. Some .ves with the )eople, exult- )vinces they leir captives, slain heard ;elybe seized •n features as 3IS, desertion e sijjnal was vere all pun- mention their iers. These s, and were emarkable to g before they »rtes, Mexico antic to the ates either a nment at that ncipal nobles ;e being con- last prince, uited to their A Mexican chief, or cacique. royal dignity, and one who had distinguished himself in war was always preferred. The new monarch was installed with great parade and ceremony. The captives he had taken in war, graced his triumphal entry into the city, and furnished victims for the bloody rites which signalized his coro- nation. Amid the pomp of human sacrifices, a crown ornamented with gold, gems and feathers, was placed on his head by the lord of Tezcuco. He received the title of emperor to indicate his superiority, even over the confederate monarchies of Tlacopan and Tezcuco. The Aztec princes lived in a state of oriental pomp. 44 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. m They were attended by a numerous council, who aided the monarch in the transaction of business, and were surrounded by an extensive body guard, made up of the chief nobility. The people were divided into several orders. There was not only a class of nobles with large landed estates, but there were also chieftains, who held extensive estates and lived like independent princes on their own do- mains, and appear, like the feudatory barons of Europe in former days, to have held their privileges upon condition of rendering military services to the crown. It would seem that there were about thirty of these great caciques, each of whom could muster 100,000 vassals. They were required to live at least a part of the year in the capital. The legislative power resided wholly in the monarch, who held his office for life. Each city had a supreme judge, from whose decision there was no appeal. There were also inferior courts, of various degrees, and magistrates appointed to watch over the conduct of the people and report to the higher authorities. Every eighty years all the judges were assembled in the capital, for the final adjudication of important suits. Over this body the king presided in person. On the whole, justice appears to have been well administered, and we cannot but look with admiration upon many of the features which belong to the civil institutions of this people. Corruption in a judge was punished with death. At his trial, the king presided. The proceedings in the courts were conducted with decency and order. No counsel was employed, the parties managing their own case. The oath of both plaintiff and defendant THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 45 1, who aided ss, and were made up of Icrs. There nded estates, ?nsive estates lieir own do- f barons of eir privileges ;rvices to the bout thirty of could muster o live at least he legislative who held his e judge, from lere were also d magistrates he people and r eighty years apital, for the )ver this body whole, justice and we cannot f the features this people, d with death. )roceedings in cy and order, managing their and defendant was admitted in evidence. After the testimony was given in, the whole case was laid before the court, by the clerk, in enjblematic paintings. These were exe- cuted with such precision and fidelity that in suits respecting real estate, they were long after produced as good authority in the Spanish tribunals. When a sentence of death was decreed by the court, it was recorded by a portrait of the convict with an arrow drawn across it. The laws of the Aztecs were registered and exhib- ited to the people in hieroirlyphical paintings. All the great crimes against society were capital. Mur- der even of a slave was punished with death. Adul- terers, as among the Jews, were stoned. The pun- ishment of thievery was slavery or death. Prodigality, intemperance, and various other misdemeanors, were visited with the severest penalties. The marriage rites were celebrated with great for- mality, and the institution was held in equal reverence. Prisoners taken in war were reserved for sacrifice. Criminals and public debtors were made slaves. Per- sons in extreme poverty sold themselves and even their children into slavery. The services exacted from the slave were limited. He was permitted to have his own family, to hold property, and even other slaves. His children were free — a favorable distinction known in no civilized land where slavery is permitted. The royal revenues were derived from crown lands, which were extensive, and taxes upon the agricultural and manufacturing products, which were paid in kind. Among the articles received by the king, were cotton dresses, mantles of feather-work, ornamented armor, 46 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. I gold dust, bands and bracelets, jars and goblets, bells, arrows, paper, grain, fruits, copal, amber, cochineal, cacao, birds, wild animals, timber, lime, mats, &c. The more wealthy chiefs were also required to pay various kinds of tribute. Garrisons were established in the larger cities, and tax-gatherers were distributed throughout the king- dom. Couriers conveyed information from one ex- tremity of the country to the other : there were post- houses on the great roads, at convenient distances. The courier bore his hieroglyphic despatches from one to another of these. Here it was taken by another messenger, and thus it was conveyed to its destination. These couriers, trained from childhood, ran with incredible swiftness — sometimes twelve or fifteen miles an hour. We are told that despatches were carried 200 miles in a day. The profession of arms ranked with that of the priesthood. There were various military orders, and an inferior kind of knighthood. Questions of war were discussed in a council by the king and his chief nobles. Ambassadors were every where entertained at the public charge, and their persons held sacred. Religion was an institution of state. The temples and the priesthood were sustained by the government. There were extensive church-lands, throughout every district of the empire. This property was managed by the priests, who also received rich gifts dictated by superstition. The excess beyond what was required by the priesthood, was distributed among the poor. Thus we see in the Mexican religion, the most contra- dictory qualities ; a gentle charity, dispensing its I THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 47 Toblets, bells, 2r, cochineal, e, mats, &c. uired to pay [er cities, and ut the king- from one ex- re were post- mi distances, ches from one n by another ts destination, od, ran with )r fifteen miles i were carried that of the :y orders, and stions of war and his chief e entertained held sacred. The temples B government. )ughout every was managed "ts dictated by was required Dng the poor, e most contra- lispensing its blessings to the unfortunate, with the superstition which delighted in the revolting spectacle of human sacrifices. Education. — This subject appears to have received great attention among the Mexicans. The children of both sexes were placed under the care of the priest- hood at an early age. Buildings within the enclosures of the temples were provided for their accommodation. Under the care of priests the boys were drilled in the routine of monastic discipline. They decorated the altars of the gods with flowers, fed the sacred fires and took part in the religious chants and festivals. Those in the higher school were taught the traditions of the country ; hieroglyphics, government, astronomy and natural science. The girls, intrusted to the care of priestesses, learned to weave and embroider coverings for the altars and other feminine duties. The utmost deco- rum prevailed, and ofTences were rigorously punished. Fear, not love, was the inspiring principle of educa- tion in these institutions. Such was the training of the higher and middling classes, at institutions of a monastic character, the purpose and tendency of which, was to establish a reverence for the religion of the country in the minds of the leading people. At the age of maturity, the pupils were dismissed with much ceremony from the convent, and the recommendation of the principal, often introduced them to important stations. In respect to the children of other classes, it may be stated, generally, that parents are said to have been indefatigable in teaching their children the history of 48 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. their nation, and to have made them learn speeches, discourses and songs relating to it. Picture-writing was their mode of recording history, and their tradi- tions explained the hieroglyphical representations, which would otherwise have been unintelligible. In this way were perpetuated the memorable deeds of heroes, striking examples of virtue, mythological rites, laws and customs. Banana and cacao trees. Agriculture and Products. — Nearly all the North American tribes cultivated the soil to some extent. Wherever a small opening was found between the forests, they planted maize and beans; yet their hus- bandry was slovenly in the extreme. It was other- wise in Mexico. For here aofriculturc had made the 1 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 49 rn speeches, ture-writing . their tradi- resentations, illigible. In jle deeds of )logical rites, ^ all the North some extent, between the lyet their hus- I It was other- had made the same advance as the other arts of life. It was indeed greatly respected, and was blended with the civil and religious institutions of the country. There were deities to preside over it, and festivals having refer- ence to it. Taxes were often paid in agricultural produce. All except the soldiers and great nobles toiled in the field ; the men performing the hard labor, and the women the lighter tasks, — as scattering the seed, husking the corn, &;c. The grounds were tilled with judgment; the exhausted soil being permitted to lie fallow and the dry grounds irrigated by artificial canals. The de- struction of woods was severely punished, and ample granaries were provided for the harvest. Among their productions we may notice the exu- berant banana, the cacao, from which they made their chocolate, and the vanilla, with which they flavored their food and drink. Their great staple was the maize, of which they understood the manifold uses. It grew with great luxuriance, and from this instead of the cane they extracted their sugar. But " the miracle of nature," was the Mexican aloe or maguey, whose pyramids of flowers were seen spreading over many a broad acre in the country. " Never," says Mr. Proscott, " did nature enclose in so compact a form, so many of the elements of human comfort and civilization, as in this plant. It was meat, drink, clothing and writing material to the Mexicans. It afforded a paste of which their paper was made. Its fermented juice furnished pulque, their favorite bever- age. Its leaves supplied a thatch for their humbler dwellings. Thread and cord were made of its fibres, D 50 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. U t pins and needles of its thorns, and bread was formed of its roots." The Mexicans were well acquainted with the rich fruits and gorgeous flowers which belonged to their prolific climate. These were systematically arranged by the people, according to their qualities, and exten- sive nurseries existed for their cultivation. It is sup- posed that these suggested those " gardens of plants," which have been subsequently introduced into Europe. The Mexicans appear to have had great skill in horticulture, whether of the useful or ornamental kind. Aroinid the margin of the Lake of Tezcuco, there were floating gardens, which particularly excited the admiration of the Spaniards. These consisted of scows or rafts, formed of reeds, rushes and other fibrous materials, firmly woven together, and covered with rich earth drawn up from the bottom of the lake. They were frequently two or three hundred feet long, and afforded a sufficient soil for raising flowers and vegetables for the market of the city, and even, in many cases, trees of considerable size grew upon them. Often, too, the Indian built his slight dwelling of reeds upon this floating territory, and here he lived with his family. If he desirod to change his position, he was able to do it by pushing with a pole against the bottom of the shallow lake; and thus these gardens were often seen moving like enchanted islands over the level bosom of the water. As Cortes and his men approached the city of Mexico across the great dike that led through the lake from the south, they looked with mingled curiosity and amazement on these fairy islands, undulating with the tide, or gliding over its I »1 "m THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 51 I was formed with the rich nged to their ally arranged IS, and exten- n. It is sup- ns of plants," [ into Europe, srreat skill in lamental kind, rezcuco, there ly excited the consisted of es and other •, and covered im of the lake, ired feet long, g flowers and and even, in 3W upon them, elling of reeds lived with his 3sition, he was inst the bottom Gfardens were ands over the and his men the great dike ,h, they looked on these fairy iding over its surface, and with their busy and thronging population, giving the whole scene an aspect of enchantment. Nor were the more sumptuous gardens of the rich objects of less interest and curiosity. Not only in the city of Mexico, but in other places, persons of wealth appear to have taken great delight in surrounding their dwellings with the choicest products of the vege- table kingdom. On approaching Mexico, Cortes and his army were entertained by the brother of Monte- zuma at Iztapalapan, a city on the Lake of Tezcuco, r'istant only a few miles from the capital. His gar- d - are described as covering a great extent, and «' r\ laid out in regular squares, with neat walks, bordered by trellises supporting creeping plants and aromatic shrubs, which loaded the air with perfumes. It was stocked with fruit trees from warmer climates, and a great variety of flowering plants, scientifically arranged, were seen blooming on every side. The arid soil was watered by canals running through every part of the land, and a canal was cut affording a com- munication with the lake. Nor were these the only objects that excited sur- prise and admiration. In this lovely spot there was an aviary filled with birds of brilliant plumage, and an artificial basin of water, nearly a mile in cir- cuit, filled with every variety of fish. Its sides were faced with stone curiously sculptured, and a walk also made of stone, encircled it, of sufficient width for four persons to walk abreast. Such was the garden of Iz- tapalapan when the conqueror approached the city of Mexico : but a few years had passed, however, before the city, which was populous, as well as those won- it 52 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. . 1 * ill: derful gardens were a heap of ruins. The stranger now visiting the spot, will find it a loathsome morass, where, amid the fragments of noble edifices that once excited the admiration of the beholder, hideous reptiles of various forms find an undisturbed retreat. Trade and Commerce. — The fifth day of each week was fair day, on which occasion, articles of every kind were brought to market, and exhibited in a great square for sale. These fairs were attended by buyers and sellers, and as there were no shops, not only agricultural products, but every species of manu- facture was offered to the purchasers. A particular quarter was assigned for each kind of article, and all the transactions being regulated by magistrates, were conducted with order and fairness. The traffic was carried on partly by barter, and partly by means of a regulated currency of different values. This consisted of quills of gold dust, bits of tin in the form of a T, and bags of cacao containing a certain number of grains. Trade was held in estimation, and the occupation of a merchant was particularly respected. The Mexican merchant went from place to place, often extending his excursions not only to the frontiers of Anahuac, but to other countries. He dealt in rich stuffs, jew- els, slaves and other valuable commodities, all of which he carried with him in the fashion of an east- merchant. At Azapozalco, a few miles from ern Mexico, was a great slave market, where the slaves were exhibited, dressed in the gayest attire, and made to dance and sing, and display themselves in a man- ner to attract the attention of dealers. Slave dealing was an honorable calling among the Mexicans. II THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 53 rhe stranger some morass, ices that once deous reptiles eat. day of each 1, articles of exhibited in a 3 attended by 10 shops, not icies of manu- A particular irticle, and all ristrates, were )y barter, and ;y of different d dust, bits of ao containing occupation of The Mexican en extending of Anahuac, h stuffs, jevv- idities, all of on of an east- miles from re the slaves ire, and made ves in a man- Slave dealing xicans. 4 V The merchants went in caravans, on foot, attended by their slaves and several assistants. Each man carried a load of fifty pounds. Sometimes the number was several hundreds, and if the party was attacked, they made a formidable resistance. Great privileges were allowed to the merchants by the sovereign, who often employed them as spies, and not unfrequently consulted them on matters of public importance. Thus the profession of a merchant was not only the path to wealth, but also to political preferment. Science and Learning. — The picture-writing of the Mexicans was executed with some neatness, and in its invention displayed no little mental efTort. The pic- tures were symbolical ; a tongue denoted speaking, a foot-print, travelling, &c. The symbols, however, were often arbitrary: as, a man sitting on the ground signi- fied an earthquake. There were also phonetic signs : or those which derived their meaning from sounds, as in our language. The names of persons were often significant of their character and adventures, as with the North American Indians. Still more frequently they resorted to direct pictures of things. ' r By these several modes, they recorded their laws, tax-rolls, calendars and rituals, and their political fainals carried back to a remote period. They had slso a complete system of chronology, and could spe- cify with accuracy the dates of important events. These records were, however, interpreted by their oral traditions, the acquisition of which, constituted a large part of education. In the college of the priests, the i pupils were instructed in these various branches oi' them were regularly brought up some 54 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. f )l iil!illl||!!iil IMii in the profession of picture-\vritiiig. They had numer- ous historical, chronological and religious works, which, together with the traditions, constituted their literature. Their manuscripts were of cotton cloth, skins, silk prepared with gum, and a juice from the leaves of the aloe. This last resembled the papyrus of antiquity, and was even more soft and beautiful than parchment. Some specimens still existing, exhibit all the original brilliancy of the painting. They were sometimes done up in rolls, but more frequently in folds, and enclosed between tablets of wood, which gave them the appearance of books. These manuscripts were very numerous, and had they been preserved, Mexican history and literature would have been fully under- stood. But unhappily the Spaniards regarded them as magic scrolls, and the priests ordered them to be burned. The soldiers imitated this example, and every volume that fell into their hands was destroyed. A few have been preserved and are scattered among the libraries of Europe. The traditions of the country were embodied in songs and hymns, and were sedulously taught in schools. These embraced the legends of their heroes, blended with softer passages of love and pleasure. Many were composed by scholars and persons of rank, and the events they commemorated were regarded as authentic. Of these, only a few poetic odes have come down to us. The translations with which we are furnished of their prayers and public discourses, give a favorable idea of their eloquence. They had theatrical pantomimes, in which the faces of the performers were masked. 'S •I 1 i 4 4 i THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 55 ley had numer- s works, which, iheir literature, oth, skins, silk the leaves of rus of antiquity, han parchment, all the original ere sometimes [y in folds, and lich gave them muscripts were served, Mexican en fully under- regarded them red them to be example, and was destroyed, cattered among re embodied in )usly taught in of their heroes, and pleasure, persons of rank, ere regarded as )etic odes have with which we iblic discourses, quence. They the faces of the Their science, however, greatly eclipsed their liter- ature. They had a very simple and convenient arithmetic ; large sums were reckoned by twenties ; the square of twenty or four hundred, was represented by a plume ; the cube of twenty or eight thousand, by a purse : half or three quarters of a plume represented those portions of four hundred ; and the same may be said of the purse. The year was divided into eighteen months, of twenty days each; five days were added, as in Ancient Egypt, to make the complement of 365. These five days belonged to no month, and were reckoned as unlucky. The month was divided into four weeks, of five days each, the last being market- day. To make up the period of six hours, which was lost by their reckoning each year, they resorted to the intercalation of twenty-five days in every 104 years. This arrangement shows an astonishing pre- cision in adjusting their civil to solar time ; and in this respect, surpassed any European calendar of that period. This surprising fact is accompanied by others in their chronology. The epoch from which they reck- oned, coincided with the year 1091 of the Chris- tian era. Cycles of fifty-two years each, were called sheafs, and represented by bundles of sticks. The priests had a lunar calendar by which they regulated their festivals, sacrifices and astrological calculations. The latter were founded less upon planetary influences, than upon the arbitrary signs of the months, and were the means by which the attempt was made to pene- trate the mysterious veil of the future. In no country have the dreams of the astrologer been regarded with more implicit reverence. At the birth of an infant, he 56 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. was called to cast its horoscope, and the family hung in trembling suspense, while he was supposed to unroll the dark volume of destiny. The Mexicans were acquainted with the cause of eclipses, and recog- nized some of the constellations. They used the dial; and the calendar-stone disinterred in 1790, as we have already related, shows that they had the means of determining the precise hour of the day, the periods of the solstices, the equinoxes, and the passage of the sun across the zenith of Mexico. We cannot better conclude our account of Mexican science, than by an extract from Mr. Prescott's work, to which we are largely indebted for the preceding sketch, giving a description of the remarkable festival held at the termination of the great cycle of 52 years. " We have seen, in the preceding chapter, their tradi- tion of the destruction of the world, at four successive epochs. They looked forward confidently to another such catastrophe, to take place like the preceding at the close of a cycle, when the sun was to be eflfaced from the heavens, the human race from the earth, and when the darkness of chaos was to settle on the hab- itable globe. The cycle would end in the latter part of December, and as the dreary season of the winter solstice approached, and the diminished light of day gave melancholy presage of its speedy extinction, their apprehensions increased; and on the arrival of the five " unlucky" days which closed the year, they aban- doned themselves to despair. They broke in pieces the little images of their household gods in whom they no longer trusted. The holy fires were suffered to go out in the temples, and none were lighted in their own m tV % 11 '-¥ ■^ w ■t (1 1 $ SI M THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 67 family hung supposed to he Mexicans 3S, and recog- used the dial ; 0, as we have he means of /■, the periods assage of the it of Mexican escott's work, he preceding rkable festival 2 of 52 years. !r, their tradi- »ur successive tly to another preceding at to be effaced ;he earth, and on the hab- le latter part of the winter light of day tinction, their irrival of the ir, they aban- oke in pieces n whom they suffered to go . in their own dwellings. Their furniture and domestic utensils were destroyed ; their garments torn in pieces ; and every thing was thrown into disorder, for the coming of the evil genii who were to descend on the desolate earth. " On the evening of the last day, a procession of priests, assuming the dress and ornaments of their gods, moved from the capital towards a lofty moun- tain, about two leagues distant. They carried with them a noble victim, the flower of their captives, and an apparatus for kindling the new fire, the success of which was an augury of the renewal of the cycle. On reaching the summit of the mountain, the proces- sion paused till midnight ; when, as the constellation of the Pleiades approached the zenith, the new fire was kindled by the friction of the sticks placed on the breast of the victim. The flame was soon communi- cated to a funeral pile, on which the body of the slaughtered captive was thrown. As the light streamed up towards heaven, shouts of joy and triumph burst forth from the countless multitudes who covered the hills, the terraces of the temples, and the house-tops, with eyes anxiously bent on the mount of sacrifice. Couriers, with torches lighted at the blazing beacon, rapidly bore them over every part of the country ; and the cheering element was seen brightening on altar and hearth-stone, for the circuit of many a league, long before the sun, rising on his accustomed track, gave assurance that a new cycle had commenced its march, and that the laws of nature were not to be reversed for the Aztecs. " The following thirteen days were given up to fes- tivity. The houses were cleansed and whitened. 68 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. The broken vessels were replaced by new ones. The people, dressed in their gayest apparel, and crowned with garlands and chaplets of flowers, thronged in joy- ous procession to ofl'er up their oblations and thanks- givings in the temples. Dances and games were instituted, emblematical of the regeneration of the world. It was the carnival of the Aztecs, or rather the national jubilee, the great secular festival, like that of the Romans, or ancient Etruscans, which few alive had witnessed before, — or could expect to see again." The temple of Mexico. Cities. — The vale of Mexico, in which the capital was situated, was about 200 miles from the sea; it v/as of great extent, and encircled by mountains, some of which were always capped with snow. The valley contained eight lakes, of considerable size ; that of Tezcuco, in the centre of which Tenochtitlan, the ancient name of Mexico, was situated, was nearly as I THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 59 ew ones. The il, and crowned hronged in joy- 3ns and thanks- d games were leration of the ztecs, or rather estival, like that which frw alive , to see again." ■3 lich the capital 'om the sea; it lountains, some w. The valley 3 size ; that of nochtitlan, the , was nearly as :^ salt as sea-water. Lake Chalco, lying close to it, is of fresh water. The present town of Mexico, though upon the same site as the ancient city, is three miles from the water ; a fact to be explained by the circumstance that owing to evaporation, the lake has shrunk to a small portion of its former extent, being now but 14 miles long and 8 broad. Though modern Mexico is one of the finest cities in America, yet it is far less interesting than was the ancient capital upon whose ruins it was founded. Tenochtitlan was built upon a group of low marshy islands, nearly in the middle of lake Tezcuco. and many of its houses were raised upon spiles. The chief access to the city passed over the lake from the south, and came into a broad street which crossed the town : this led to another causeway which traversed the lake to the north. Beside these two dikes, there was another which connected the island city with the main land on the west. These dikes were built of solid mason work, of sufficient width to allow ten horsemen to pass abreast, and were defended by draw- bridges. They continue, to the present day, to be the chief avenues to the city. The first settlers of this wonderful cit}'-, built their frail dwellings of reeds and rushes, covering them with the leaves of the aloe ; but in due time, they laid solid foundations, and constructed noble edifices of light colored free-stone, found in the vicinity. The houses of the great chiefs were on a scale of rude magnificence ; they were seldom of more than two stories, and were arranged in quadrangles around a f t*- ! ! ii i '! 11 60 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. court ; the latter was encircled by porticoes, embel- lished with porphyry and jasper. A fountain of crys- tal water often played in the court, shedding its grateful coolness over the atmosphere. The dwellings of the common people had foundations of stone, with walls of brick, crossed by wooden rafters. Dwellings of the meanest kind were mingled with the more splendid edifices, giving the streets a rude and broken aspect. The water flowed through the town as in the famous Italian city of Venice, by means of numerous canals which crossed it in every direction. The principal street, extending in a straight line from the southern to the northern causeway, afforded a noble view, in which gardens rising in terraces, and displaying every variety of fruit and flo\"er, were seen intervening between the long ranges of buildings. The population of the capital, at the time of the conquest, was supposed to be at least 300,000 souls ; but we must consider that its immediate vicinity was teeming with people. Its circuit was about three miles. Fresh water was brought to the city, a distance of nearly a league, by an earthen pipe, constructed for the purpose. This fed the fountains and reservoirs of the principal inhabitants ; the water was also trans- ported to all parts of the city, by means of canals, for general use. Montezuma, who had a taste for magnificence, erect- ed a pile of buildings for his palace, of vast extent, which occupied a part of what is now the great square of Mexico. The roofs of the chief buildings were terraced, and were of such extent, that the Spaniards declared them to be sufficient for a tournament of I THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 61 Lcoes, embel- itain of crys- ig its grateful filings of the e, with walls ellings of the lore splendid oken aspect, in the famous nerous canals rhe principal the southern Loble view, in iplaying every ft intervening time of the 00,000 souls ; e vicinity was ut three miles. distance of onstructed for reservoirs of as also trans- of canals, for icence, erect- vast extent, e great square Liildings were he Spaniards jurnament of Uurty knights. Its exterior was profusely decorated, the apartments were hung with fanciful draperies, and its roofs, held together without a nail, were inlaid with cedar and other odorous woods. Its rooms were spa- cious, and Cortes in his enthusiasm declRrtd them io be superior to anything of the kind in So '.in. Adp.- cent to the principal edifice, was an armory, fiiJ^^d wilit military weapons and dresses, and kept iiv \ln> n\€hl perfect order. There were granaries for av<)clt;s of food, and warehouses for apparel. Thc'? v/as on immense aviary, in which parrots of c v^ery tril;e, puea-!"' ants, cardinals, humming-birds and oilier biriV- of brilliant plumage were assembled from all parts vi iho empire. This establishment was in th'. chaige j,»f three hundred attendants. There was also f- separate building for vultures and eagles, and such svas thoir immense number, that they were allowed flvt huailre:! turkeys for their daily food. Adjoining the aviarv' was a menagerie of wild animals of various kinds. The serpents were kept in long cages, iJiiel with feathers, or in troughs of mud. Extensive gardens were spread aroui^c. ♦li.se build- ings, filled with fragrant shrubs and fiowtrs and m:- dicinal plants. Amid a labyrinth of r.veet-sce ited groves and shrubberies were se / spar (ding jets of Water, scattering their re^re-rhmg dews over the blos- soms. There werj hvfy reservoirs stocked with fish and frequented by various tribes of water fowl, whose tastes were so nicely consulted that salt water was provided for those whose habits were supposed to re- quire it. The picture of this luxurious palace would be 62 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. Ill incomplete, without a sketch of the monarch. His domestic establishment was on a scale of barbaric splendor ; his wives being as numerous as those of an eastern sultan. They were lodged in their own apart- ments, and spent their time in the feminine employ- ments of weaving and embroidery. The palace was supplied with numerous baths, and the monarch set the example in his own person of frequent ablutions. He changed his dress four times a day, and never wore a garment a second time. Besides a numerous female retinue, the palace was filled with nobles, the haughty Montezuma refusing to be served by any other than men of gentle blood. He took his meals alone in a saloon, the floors of which were covered with mats. The bill of fare embraced hundreds of dishes, game from remote forests, and fish which the day before were swimming in the distant Gulf of Mexico. The meats were served by attend- ant nobles, who soon resigned their office to maidens selected for their personal grace and beauty. The emperor was seated on a cushion and the dinner was served on a table covered with fine cotton cloth. The dishes were of the finest wares of Cholula, though he had a service of gold for religious occasions. During the repast a screen, richly gilt, was drawn round him, to conceal him from vulgar eyes. The solid dishes were succeeded by sweetmeats and pastry, rolls, wa- fers, and at last chocolate. This was served in golden goblets, with spoons of the same metal. The des- sert surpassed in luxury that of any prince in Eu- rope. It embraced the fruits of the tropics, and more temperate regions, gathered even from distant climes, J THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 63 lonarch. His le of barbaric as those of an leir own apart- inine employ- he palace was lonarch set the iblutions. He nd never wore the palace was una refusing to itle blood. He floors of which fare embraced forests, and fish in the distant rved by attend- Bce to maidens beauty. The the dinner was on cloth. The ilula, though he .sions. During iwn round him, 'he solid dishes astry, rolls, wa- ter vcd in golden 3tal. The dcs- prince in Eu- -opics, and more 1 distant climes, and transmitted with the speed of steam to the capi- tal. After the meal, water was brought in a silver basin, with which the monarch performed his ablution. He was then supplied with pipes, and regaled himself with the fumes of tobacco, mingled with liquid amber, sometimes drawn in by the nose, and at others, by the mouth. During this soothing process he was cheered by the exhibition of mountebanks and jugglers, of whom a regular corps was attached to the palace. Sometimes, also, he amused himself with the jesters who belonged to the court, or with the graceful dances of the women accompanied by a low and solemn chant, celebrating the heroic deeds of the Aztec warriors. When sufficiently regaled, he took his siesta, after which, he gave audience to ambassadors, or persons of rank, who entered his presence barefoot, and with downcast eyes. " Surely," says Cortes, " neither the Grand Senior, nor any other infidel^ ever displayed so pompous and elaborate a ceremonial." Beside the crowd of retainers already noticed, there were numerous artisans employed about the btiiklings, and jewellers who made trinkets for the dark-eyed beauties of the harem. The mummers and jugglers were also numerous, and such was the number of dancers attached to the palace, that a particular district in the city was assigned for their use. The main- tenance of this host, amounting to several thousand, required heavy disbursements, yet an exact account of these was kept in an apartment appropriated to the purpose, where the whole economy of the palace might be seen recorded in hieroglyphic ledgers. On the arrival of the Spaniards, the treasurer who had charge Mi i "a m 64 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. of this office was a trusty cacique, named Tapia. Such is the picture of the palace of Mexico, with the habits of its luxurious lord. In these we cannot fail to see a striking resemblance to the manners and cus- toms which belonged to the more sumptuous princes of the Tartar race. The great temple or teocalli, of the capital, occupied the large tract which now contains the cathedral of Mexico, part of the market-place, and some of the adjoining streets. It stood in the midst of this vast area, and was encompassed by a wall of stone eight feet high, ornamented on the outside with figures of serpents, wrought in has relief. This wall was pierced by four gateways, opening to the four principal streets of the city. It was a pyramidal structure of earth and pebbles, coated on the outside with hewn stone. It was square, and its four sides faced the cardinal points. It con- sisted of five stories or platforms, with a stairway, which was so arranged as to pass four times around the whole edifice in ascending. This contrivance gave a splendid effect to the religious processions which ascended and descended the temple. It was about three hundred feet square at the base and a hundred feet high. The view of the city of Mexico, from the top of this temple, as a central point, was truly sublime. Be- low, the beholder could see the city spread out like a map, with its streets and canals, and every portion of it teeming with life and bustle, and business. Hun- dreds of canoes were glancing on the canals, the streets were thronged with gaily dressed people, and the whole air was filled with llie hum that came up from the mar- THE MEXICAN INLJAi-JS. 65 med Tapia. CO, with the ! cannot fail ers and cus- lous princes tal, occupied cathedral of some of the of this vast f stone eight th figures of 11 was pierced incipal streets and pebbles, lit was square, ints. It con- lirway, which md the whole ave a splendid ascended and iree hundred ct high, m the top of iublime. Be- ad out like a 3ry portion of iiicss. Hun- iils, the streets and the whole from the mar- "If ket-place. Encircling the city was seen the lake of Tezcuco, and at a distance the fresh water expanse of Chalco — both bordered by numerous towns. The view extended over a wide prospect beyond, displaying, amid cultivated and luxuriant fields, the burnished walls of numerous temples, until at last the eye rested upon the circle of mountains which enclose the valley, and whose tops, covered with perpetual snow, pre- sented a spectacle of eternal winter, looking down upon a region of almost perpetual spring. The vast area on the top of this pyramid was occu- pied by a large block of jasper, where the victims of the sacrifices were slain. At the other end were two towers, of three stories each. In the lower divisions were the gods, the utensils of sacrifice, the altars and the ever-blazing fire. Other apartments were de- voted to different uses, and some of them, when visited by Cortes, displayed not only the horrid symbols of the Mexican religion, but they were stained with human gore, and were scarcely to be endured on ac- count of the suffocating stench which pervaded them. The priests, clotted with blood, and with aspects more fit for demons than ministers of religion, were seen passing from place to place and performing the revolt- ing rites of the several gods to whose worship they were devoted. As Cortes and his companions became familiar with the streets of Mexico, they remarked that the people here were generally better dressed, than in other parts of the country which they had seen. The women, who went abroad as freely as the men, wore several skirts or petticoats, of different lengths, one above E m 66 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. tfl m "'I nil I i''j" nm 1 MW another; these were richly embroidered, and were sometimes covered with flowing robes, reaching to the ankle. No veils were worn here, as in some other provinces ; and the hair floated luxuriantly over the shoulders, displaying the serious and somewhat melan- choly, though often beautiful, features. The men wore cloaks, tied round the neck and fastened about the loins by an ample sash. These were often highly ornamented — and as the weather became cool, the cotton fabrics gave place to others of fur or feather- work. There was, perhaps, nothing in this wonderful city, which excited more surprise in the Spaniards, than the great market-place. In this vast area, encircled by porticoes, the whole trade of the city was carried on, there being no shops for the purpose. Each trade had its particular quarter, duly assigned by the attend- ing officers. In one place might be seen cotton goods piled up in bales, or manufactured into dresses, curtains, coverlets and tapestries : in another were the goldsmiths, with their curious toys and trinkets and a multitude of other articles for more substantial use. In one quarter were articles of pottery, coarse and fine ; in another, vases of wood, elaborately wrought, gilt and varnished ; there were hatchets of tin and copper — a tolerable substitute for iron — razors and knives of stone ; blank books and maps ; paper of many kinds ; casques, doublets, lances, arrows, and swords, for the soldier ; meats, THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 67 id were ig to the ne other over the It nielan- Mie men ed about =x\ highly cool, the r feather- erful city, irds, than encircled as carried Sach trade he attend- iiled up in coverlets liths, with 4e of other larter were her, vases led; there substitute ank books doublets, 3r ; meats, getables in found the I barber, ready to shave his customers with a razor of stone ; and a multitude of dealers with smoking viands, alluring beverages and tempting confectionary, pre- pared for use. Pastry, bread, cakes, chocolate, pulque, and a variety of other articles were offered from stands beneath the portico, all of which were almost smoth- ered with a profusion of gaudy and fragrant flowers. Nothing could exceed in bustle and activity, this won- derful spectacle — Avhere not only a large part of the people of the city were gathered, but multitudes from the gardens, towns and villages around the lake, and from the adjacent country. The number assembled here was often at least forty thousand, and probably, on some occasions, many more. Such were some of the wonders of the city of Mexico, at the time it was visited by Cortes, — and who, being received with lavish hospitality, repaid the kind- ness of his royal entertainer with a cruelty and treach- ery which finds no parallel in history. He came with professions of peace, kindness, and charity; yet his conduct was that of a robber and murderer, whose plunder amounted to unnumbered millions, and whose victims were only to be reckoned by hundreds of thou- sands. In reading his history, we are lost in mingled wonder and indignation, at his fanaticism, his courage, his duplicity, and the terrible ravages which followed his sway, and speedily resulted in sweeping from the earth, the whole fabric of Mexican civilization — its arts — cities — people, princes and government — leaving behind only the ghastly relics to shadow forth the departed days of former glory. After this description of Mexico, it is not necessary m m^^ 63 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. to give a minute account of the other cities of Anahuac. None of them rivalled the capital, though many were populous, and abounded in fine buildings. Tezcuco, fifteen miles north-east of Mexico, was once a noble city, and was the residence of the monarch of that rich and flourishing kingdom. The history of the Tezcucans is hardly less interest- ing than that of the Mexicans. They appear, indeed, to have preceded their Aztec neighbors in civilization, and at a period a little before the time of Montezuma, their laws, policy and arts, seem to have indicated a degree of improvement even superior to that of the Mexicans, in the time of Cortes. The remains of their literature surpass any thing that has been left by their neighbors. The palace in the city of Tezcuco is described as having been in the highest degree magnificent ; and there were other edifices of great extent and no incon- siderable degree of barbaric splendor. For a long period, the kings of Tezcuco were in alliance with those of Mexico, notwithstanding that their territories were contiguous, and the capitals within sight of each other. Under this union, both nations flourished, and in the reign of Nezahualcoyotl, who died in 1470, Tezcuco rose to a high pitch of prosperity. This was considered its golden age. The monarch was not only a warrior and statesman, but a poet of no mean capacity. He was doubtless the greatest prince that ever sat on an American throne. His son, Nezahualpilli, possessed his father's talents, but he became depressed with superstitious fears, and shrunk from the active cares of government. Taking advantage of this weakness, the crafty Montezuma THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 69 r Anahuac. many were Tezcuco, ice a noble ,rch of that ess interest- ir, indeed, to ilization, and ezuma, their ited a degree he Mexicans, leir literature sir neighbors, described as [nificent; and and no incon- For a long alliance with leir territories sight of each ourished, and aed in 1470, ty. This was ^arch was not (t of no mean ist prince that lather's talents, lous fears, and lient. Taking ly Montezuma stripped him of his principal tributary territories, and Tezcuco thence became secondary to Mexico. Its capi- tal soon fell into the hands of the Spanish conquerors, and its temples and palaces crumbled away beneath the tread of the destroyer. The ancient city of Cholula lay nearly sixty miles south-east of Mexico, and is described by Cortes as containing 20,000 houses, and perhaps 200,000 inhabi- tants. It was founded by the Aztecs, and long main- tained a sort of republican government. It excelled in various mechanical arts, especially in working metals and in manufacturing cotton and pottery. It was ven- erable for its antiquity, and having been the residence of Quetzalcoatl, was held in religious reverence. Upon the great pyramid, surpassing in magnitude every other religious structure on the globe, were the akars of this deity. They were enclosed in a sump- tuous temple, which also contained the image of the mystic god. The sanctity of the place, hallowed by tradition, brought a multitude of pilgrims from the reuiotest boundaries of Anahuac, to offer up their devotions at the shrine of Quetzalcoatl. In no city were there such a concourse of priests, so many processions, and such ceremonial pomp of sacrifice and festival. Cholula was in short the Mecca of Anahuac. Tlascala was about twenty miles north of Cholula, and was a populous town in the time of Cortes. The houses were for the most part of mud, the better sort being, however, of stone or brick. They were without doors or windows, but mats were hung in the entrances to the house, and being fringed with pieces of copper, •-IV 'n n 70 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. mi% M i gave a tinkling sound, which answered the purpose of bells in announcing any one's approach. The streets were narrow and dark. At the fairs, held as usual every fifth day, 30,000 persons were present. Barbers' shops and baths were common in the city. The Tlascalans occupied an elevated and rugged territory, cultivating the land, however, with skill and success. Their bracing atmosphere and hardy pur- suits imparted to them great vigor of character, and that jealousy of liberty which led to the mainten- ance of a republican government, and rendered them impatient of the authority claimed by Montezuma. Their hatred springing from this source, led them to hail Cortes as a deliverer, and to receive him into their capital with demonstrations of unbounded joy. Yet the friendship of the Spaniard proved as fatal as his enmity, and nothing remains of the great city of Tlas- cala but a miserable village, containing a few hundred inhabitants. There were other cities scattered throughout Ana- huac, many of them populous and some remarkable for their edifices. Among these were several in the vicin- ity of Mexico, the remains of which still bear testi- mony to their former splendor Antiquities. — It is scarcely possible to conceive of a greater change than has taken place in Mexico, since the conquest. Not only are the palaces and cities of the Aztec race swept away to give place to modern towns ; not only are the Indian temples either levelled down or in ruins, over which trees and plants seek to throw a veil of oblivion, but the very aspect of the country, in many places, has lost its original character. I THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 71 purpose ;h. The ;, held as present, le city, d rugged skill and ardy pur- icter, and mainten- 3red them ontezuma. jd them to 1 into their joy. Yet ■atal as his ty of Tlas- vv hundred ;hout Ana- arkable for the vicin- bear testi- onceive of xico, since and cities to modern Her levelled nts seek to ect of the 11 character. A recent traveller speaks of the approach to modern Mexico as presenting " scenery arid and flat; and where the waters of the lakes, covered with gay canoes, once surrounded the city, forming canals through its streets, we now see melancholy marshes, little enlivened by the great flocks of wild ducks and waterfowl that rise from them." This shrinking of the waters of the lake, and the desolation which has consequently usurp- ed the place of former fertility, seem fit emblems of the blasting influence of the Spanish dominion in this favored clime. It is the peculiar disgrace of the conquerors of Mexico, that while with bigot zeal they quenched the light of civilization that existed in the country, blotting out its history, destroying its libraries, demolishing the works of art, crushing the fabric of government, desolating the cities, butchering the inhabitants almost by millions, and trampling down the original races beneath the iron heel of despotism, — after more than three centuries they have hardly produced a state of society better than that which they found. Reducing the nations to a state of abject poverty and servitude, they have given them in compensation of their un- numbered wrongs, only the Catholic religion, which, however, is used by the Indians as the vehicle through which they still worship their bloody gods, and as the instrument by which they are plundered of their hard earnings. After such a process of worse than Vandal destruc- tion, few antiquities of great interest can be expected to remain. The city of Mexico has been wholly trans- formed — the great temple, the palace of Montezuma, 72 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. it lllliii til iipi If,! F III 'I'll i! 'ill m the stately edifices of the nobles have vanished for- ever. A colossal statue of the goddess of war still remains, but it is buried that it may not rouse the dormant superstitions of the natives. When a few years since it v/as taken up that a cast might be made from it, these people, in attestation of their lingering reverence, dressed it in flowers ! The drapery of this idol is of twisted serpents, and two snakes supply the place of arms. The necklace represents human hands and skulls, fastened together by entrails. This statue is nine feet high. Within the enclosure of the present cathedral is an ancient mass, called the stone of the sacrifices. It is of porphyry and nine feet wide. In the centre is a head, in relief, surrounded by 27 groups of figures. The hideous use of this stone is indicated by a groove, made to carry off the blood of the victims ! The great stone, disinterred in 1790, called Monte- zuma's watch, or the Mexican calendar, has been al- ready noticed. Besides the remains of monuments which were chiefly works of magnificence, there are others abounding around the city of Mexico, and all over the country, which attest the high degree of civ- ilization which their builders had attained. Among these were roads constructed of huge blocks of stone, and frequently carried on a continued level, so as to be viaducts across valleys. The remains of bridges, also, of great strength and durability, are still found in diflTerent parts of the country. A little to the west of Mexico is the royal hill of Chapoltepec. It is a lofty crest of porphyritic rock, and now occupied by a gloomy and desolate castle, •J THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 73 shed for- war still 'ouse the en a few be made lingering ry of this upply the lan hands his statue dral is an :es. It is jntre is a )f figures, a groove, A Monte- been al- onuments there are 0, and all ee of civ- Among of stone, so as to bridges, Itill found il hill of litic rock, Ite castle, i 1 I erected by Galves, the Spanish viceroy. In the days of Montezuma, its base was swept by the waters of the Tezcuco, and on account of the enchanting pros- pect it afforded, it became the favorite residence of the luxurious emperor. Here he had a palace, and his gardens extended for miles around the base of the hill. Amid tangled shrubbery, twining myrtles, and the dark shadows of gigantic cypresses, some interesting relics, consisting chiefly of reservoirs, for baths, are still to be seen. A recent traveller, speaking of this now desolate spot, has the following words : — " Could these hoary forests speak, what tales might they not disclose, standing with their long gray beards and outstretched venerable arms, century after cen- tury ; already old when Montezuma was a boy, and still vigorous in the days of Bustamente ! Here has the last of the Aztec emperors wandered with his dark-eyed harem. Under the shade of these gigantic trees he had rested, perhaps smoked his ' tobacco mingled with amber,' and fallen to sleep, his dreams unhaunted by visions of the stern traveller from the far east, whose sails even then might be within sight of the shore. In these tanks he has bathed. Here were his gardens, his aviaries and his fish-ponds. Through these, now tangled and deserted woods, he may have been carried by his young nobles in his open litter, under a splendid dais, stepping out upon the rich stuffs which his slaves spread before him on the green and velvet turf." Other places of great interest exist in the Valley of Mexico. Tezcuco is now only a mass of ruins, but these are peculiarly grand. The foundations and * • ■:^W 74 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. '1! f. viii'll.^rt i'li' -remains of temples, fortresses, palaces, and other ex- tensive buildings, attest a period when it must have been one of the greatest cities of America, and capital of the kingdom of Acolhuacan ; still later, it was the seat of literature and art, the Athens of America. The remains of the palace of the former tributary king could not be viewed without forming an elevated idea of the ancient Mexican architecture. It must have covered several acres, was raised on sloping terraces, and built of materials at once durable and beautiful. All around Tezcuco are seen mounds of brick, mixed with aqueducts, ruins of buildings of enormous strength, and many large square structures nearly en- tire. Here the blind zeal of the first bishops collected and committed to the flames, all the monuments of Aztec history and literature. Near Otumba, once large and flourishing, but now little more than a village, are the pyramids of Teoti- huacan, the two principal of which appear to be tem- ples dedicated to the sun and moon; the highest of these has been recently estimated at 221 feet. They were formerly crowned by two immense stone idols ; these were covered with gold which was stripped off* by the Spanish conquerors. The whole plain around these pyramids was called the pathway of the dead. Hundreds of smaller pyramids surround the two larger ones, and are disposed in regular streets, which ter- minate at the temples of the sun and moon. This was probably an ancient burial place, and is spoken of by a recent visitor, as an Aztec Pere-la-Chaise, or roof- less Westminster Abbey. Human sacrifices were also offered here, and stone knives and arrows, with THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 75 and other ex- it must have a, and capital er, it was the merica. The ributary king elevated idea It must have ping terraces, and beautiful, f brick, mixed of enormous res nearly en- shops collected nonuments of hing, but now nids of Teoti- tear to be tem- the highest of 1 feet. They le stone idols ; is stripped off e plain around y of the dead, the two larger 2ts, which ter- on. This was spoken of by haise, or roof- acrifices were arrows, with which the priests opened the breasts of their victims ore still found about the place. Cholula has been already mentioned. It is now a small town, and its mighty pyramid. < umbling with age, is covered with vegetation. L ^ 177 feet high, and one side of its base measures 1440 feet. Though far less elevated than the great pyramid of Jizeh, it greatly exceeds it in bulk, for that measures but 763 feet at the base. This celebrated temple is said to have resembled that of Belus, in Babylon. There are other interesting monuments of antiquity in Mexico, especially in Yucatan and the vicinity, — of these we shall hereafter give a particular account. Indians of the city of Mexico. Present State of the Indians of Mexico. — In the preceding pages we have not noticed several tribes occupying the northern border of Mexico, which in the time of Cortes lived a wandering life, and main- tained their wild independence. iMany of these were never subdued, and others have but partially submitted >■ .1' if 4 '• V- ii; 76 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. to the Spanish authority. There are still numerous bands of these, called Indios Bravos, who preserve their savage habits, though their condition has been modified by the use of horses and firearms, which Indians of tlie country near Mexico. they have adopted from the Europeans. Among these tribes are the Camanchees, who live partly within the territory of Mexico, and partly within that of the United States. These will be hereafter noticed, and a description of their manners and customs will give a general idea of this class of the Mexican Indi- ans. Our descriptions have had a primary reference to the several nations and tribes embraced within the empire of Montezuma, who had adopted some degree of civilization. These people, who were once the masters of tlie country, have since the conquest been a subjugated and depressed race; and though they have been placed in contact with the arts and institutions THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 77 I numerous 10 preserve m has been irms, which \.mong these lartly within thin that of ifter noticed, customs will !exican Indi- reference to within the some degree ire once the iquest been a gh they have institutions of civilization, they have hardly been improved in their condition. They have, indeed, parted with the bloody rites connected with their religion ; but nearly the same idolatrous superstitions linger in their minds, as in former days. On the whole, it would appear that the mental and physical characteristics of the Mexican Indians, have shared in the paralyzing effects of the Spanish domin- ion. Though shorter and apparently less athletic than our northern savages, they bear the general fea- tures of the great American family. They have the same swarthy or copper color, the flat and smooth hair, thin beard, squat body, long eye with the corner curving up towards the temples, prominent cheek bones, thick lips, and an expression of gentleness in the mouth, strongly contrasted with a gloomy and se- vere look. Their hair is coarse, but smooth, and so glossy as to appear in a constant state of humidity. They share with the rest of their countrymen, and with most races of very swarthy complexion, an ex- emption from almost every species of deformity. Humboldt never saw a hunchbacl'ed Indian, and squinUng and lameness are very rare. They escape the goitre, even in districts where it is prevalent. None of the causes which have been assigned for this exemption in nomadic nations, can apply to a labori- ous, agricultural race like the Mexican Indians ; and therefore, this immunity must depend on something peculiar in their structure. It has been supposed that few attain an advanced age, because none of them are ever seen with grey hair. Yet it is not uncommon for a peaceful cultivator to be >) : V 78 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. vigorous at tlie age of an hundred years. The extrav- agant use of pulque, especially in respect to those who frequent the markets of the capital, has a very debas- ing influence. The police of the city are accus- tomed to send round tumbrils to collect the drunk- ards, like so many dead bodies. These are punished by being chained, and made to work in the streets for several days. Although most of the Aztec nobles perished in the ruin of their country, yet some still remain, and are looked upon with veneration by their countrymen. They are usually invested with the government of the villages, and are accused of exercising their power in a tyrannical manner, even over their kindred race. The Indians pay a tribute or capitation tax, varying at different times and places, from one to five dollars. A few of them have amassed considerable wealth: but in general, they labor under severe poverty. They bear the aspect of a depraved and depressed people, and the beauty of the females which seemed to excite the admiration of Cortes and his companions, has generally departed. A recent observer describes them in the following terms. " The common Indians whom we see every day bringing in their fruit and vegetables to market, are, generally speaking, very plain, with a humble, mild expression of countenance, very gentle and wonderfully polite in their manners to each other ; but occasionally in the lower classes, one sees a face and form so beautiful, that we might suppose such another was the Indian who enchanted Cortes; with eyes and hair of extraordinary beauty, a complexion dark, but glowing, with the Indian THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 79 The extrav- to those who L very dehas- y are accus- t the drunk- are punished he streets for irished in the nain, and are countrymen. Dvernment of g their power kindred race. 1 tax, varying five dollars, rahle wealth; rere poverty, nd depressed vhich seemed 3 companions, rver describes nmon Indians leir fruit and leaking-, very countenance, icir manners ower classes, hat we might ho enchanted linary beauty, the Indian I beauty of teeth like the driven snow, together with small feet and beautifully shaped hands and arms, however imbrowned by sun and toil." Notwithstanding their degradation, the Indians ap- pear to be gifted with a clear apprehension, a natural logic, and a capacity for cool and even subtle reason- ing, but to be destitute of any Vv armth of imagination, or flow of sentiment. Yet, the love of flowers, for which they have been remarkable since the conquest, seems to indicate a taste for the beautiful. In the public market of the capital, the Mexican shrouds himself with an entrenchment of verdure, and the ground around him is embellished with festoons of flowers which are daily renewed. They evince a great attachment to the arts of painting and carving, and imitate with great facility any models which are presented to them. A peculiar apathy marks the deportment of the Mexican Indian. He is grave, gloomy and silent; he seems to throw a mysterious air over the most indiflferent actions, yet is often seen to pass at once from a state of seemingly profound repose to one of violent and unrestrained agitation. The Indians are almost entirely destitute of every species of education, except such as they acquire by observation. They have lost the means of instruction afforded by their own priesthood, and the Spanish government have made no provision to supply their place. They have, however, adopted some Spanish customs. It is not uncommon to see them playing the guitar or to hear them singing simple European airs. The Catholic religion was pressed upon them by the Romish priests and monks, who flocked to •*■■ li ft- 4. 80 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. long South America. So intent were they, that before they were tliemselves sufficiently acquainted with the language of the Indians to explain to them the mysteries of their faith, or the precepts of duty, they received them into their church and baptized them. While this rage for conversion continued, a single missionary baptized in one day above five thou- sand, and did not desist until he was so exhausted by fatigue, that he was unable to raise his hands. Not- withstanding they seemed to consent to Christianity, when out of the reach of the Spanic^rds they returned to their idolatrous rites. It may, however, be observed, that the Romish re- ligion seems to have been sown here in a soil not wholly unprepared for its reception. Even at the time of the conquest, certain christian rites and notions of morality appear to have existed among the Mexi- cans, strangely blent with their heathen idolatries. We have already noticed the ceremony of baptism, and we may add that the symbol of the cross was already known long before the arrival of Cortes. There was a temple at Cholula dedicated to the holy cross, by the Toltecs, the predecessors of the Mexican race. At Yucatan and other places, this emblem was common. These and other equally singular facts have led to various theories, one of which is, that St. Thomas was a missionary to these regions ! We need hardly add, that the subject lemams involved in inscrutable mystery. The Spaniards consider the Indians as being now converted to the Christian faith ; and this might seem to be justified by their devotion to catholic ccremo- IJiilllll! THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 81 , that long ^ acquainted •lain to them 3pts of duty, md baptized continued, a )vc five uiou- exhausted by [lands. Not- Christianity, Lhey returned le Romish re- in a soil not en at the time .nd notions of ijT the Mexi- en idolatries, of baptism, le cross was al of Cort6s. d to the holy the Moxican his emblem ally singular of which is, icse regions! iiains involved as being now is might seem lolic ccremo- I nies. An able writer, however, remarks that "the change has evidently been not a change of creed, but a commutation of one ceremony for another, and in some cases their ancient ceremonies aie retained. Humboldt seems to suppose that they merely consid- ered the Spanish gods to have vanquished their gods, and thence to have been entitled to their homage. They even persuaded themselves, and it is said were assured by the Spaniards, that the emblem of the third person in the Trinity, was identical with the sacred Mexican eagle. Be this as it may, the Mexi- cans display an extraordinary ardor in adorning the churches with pictures and statues, and in collecting and grouping flowers, fruits and every thing which can increase the splendor of religious festivals. But their favorite form of worship is dancing round the altar, and with astonishment is it perceived that these dances are the same with which their ancestors cele- brated the immolation of human victims to the dread- ful god of war. The warrior departs attired in the full costume of the days of Montezuma; he meets another; fights, vrnquishcs and drags him by tlie hair before the emperor. The spectator almost expects to see the blood begin to flow." We have already men- tioned the fact, that when the image of the goddess of u'ar that is sank in the square of the cathedral, was dug up for the purpose of taking a cast of it, the Indians dressed it with llowers. Some of thorn also remarked, that after the cordial manner in which they had leccived the Spanish gods, they might have been allowed to retain a few of tliJr own. The season called holy v/eek, is noticed in the city N." ■-£;' ' 82 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. of Mexico with a vast deal of religious ceremonial : in the country there are melodramatic representations of the sufferings, death and burial of Christ. In these, the Indians take a peculiar interest, as they seem suited to their taste and capacity. The following description from a work already quoted,"^ gives a good idea of these scenes. The place at which the events occurred, was Coyohuacan, in the vicinity of Mexico. "The first evening we arrived here, there was a representation of the Pharisees searching for Christ. These were very finely dressed either in scarlet stuff and gold, or in green and silver, with helmets and feathers, mounted upon horses which are taught to dance and rear to the sound of music, so that upon the whole, they looked like performers at Astley's. They came on with music, riding up the lanes until they arrived in front of this house, which being the principal place hereabouts they came to first, and where the Indian workmen and servants were all collected to see them. They rode about for some time, as if in search of Christ, until a full length figure of the Saviour appeared, dressed in purple robes, carried on a platform by four men and guarded on all sides by soldiers. It is singular thai aftei all, there is nothing ridiculous in these exhibitions ; on the con- trary, something rather terrible. In the first place, the music is good, which would hardly be the case in any but a Mexican village ; the dresses are really rich, the gold all real, and the whole has the effect of *"Life in Mexico, by Madame C. de B.," an exceedingly clever performance; ^Mv^ing a lively view of Mexican manners. w THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 83 ceremonial : presentations 3t. In these, s they seem he following ^d,* gives a at which the le vicinity of , there was a Iff for Christ. I scarlet stuff helmets and are taught to so that upon 3 at Astley's. e lanes until ich being the to first, and ants were all for some time, igth figure of robes, carried d on all sides all, there is on the con- le first place, be the case in ;es are really s the effect of an exceedingly L'xican manners. confusing the imagination into the belief of its being a true scene. " The next evening the same procession passed, with some additions, always accompanied by a crowd of Indians from the villages, men, women and children. Bonfires were made before the door of the hacienda^ which were lighted whenever the distant music was heard approaching, and all the figures in the proces- sion carried lighted lamps. The Saviour was then led up to the door, and all the crowd went up to kiss his feet. The figure which is carried about this eve- ning, is called " Our Sa\'iour of the Column," and represents the Saviour tied to a pillar, bleeding and crowned with thorns. All this must sound very pro- fane, but the people are so quiet, seem so devout, and so much in earnest, that it appears much less so than you would believe. " The cross was planted here in a congenial soil, and as in the Pagan East, the statues of the divinities frequently did no more than change their names from those of heathen gods to those of christian saints, and image worship apparently continued, though the mind of the Christian was directed from the being repre- sented to the true and only God who inhabits eternity. So here the poor Indian still bows before visible rep- resentations of saints and virgins, as he did in former days before the monstrous shapes representing the un- seen powers of the air, the earth, and the water ; but he, it is to be feared, lifts his thouglits no higher than what the rude hand has carved. The mysteries of Chris- tianity, to affect his untutored mind, must be visibly represented to his eyes. He kneels before the bleed- m ^V 84 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. ing image of the Saviour who died for him, before the gracious form of the Virgin who intercedes for him ; but he believes that there are many Virgins, and possessing various degrees of miraculous power, and different degrees of wealth according to the qual- ity and number of the diamonds and pearls with which they are endowed, — one even who is the rival of the other, one who will bring rain when there is drought, and one to whom it is well to pray in sea- sons of inundations." Among the many acts of injustice inflicted upon the nation by the Spaniards, it is pleasant to record an incident of another character, and which happened under the viceroyalty of a Spaniard, distinguished for his vigor in the discharge of official duty. The story is as follows: " A poor Indian appeared before the viceroy, and stated that he had found in the street a bag full of golden ounces, which had been advertised, with the promise of a handsome reward to the person who should restore them to the owner; that upon carry- ing it to the Don he received the bag, counted the ounces, extracted two, which he had seen him slip into his pocket ; and had then reproached the poor man with having stolen part of the money, had called him a thief and rascal, and instead of rewarding, had driven him from the house. With the viceroy there was no delay, — immediate act;- was his plan. De- taining the Indian, he despatc. eu an officer to desire the attendance of Don with his bag of ounces. He came and the viceroy desired him to relate the cir- cumstances, his practised eye reading his falsehood at son him, before lercedes for ,ny Virgins, lous power, to the qual- pearls with I is the rival len there is pray in sea- led upon the to record an :h happened inguished for . The story viceroy, and a bag full of sed, with the person who upon carry- bag, counted seen him slip hed the poor !y, had called warding, had viceroy there is plan. De- ficer to desire Lg of ounces. I relate the cir- s falsehood at 4 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 85 a glance. ' May it please your Excellency, I lost a bag containing gold. The Indian now in your Excel- lency's presence, brought it to me in hopes of a re- ward, having first stolen part of the contents. I drove him from the house as a thief, who, instead of recom- pense, deserves punishment.' " ' Stay,' said the viceroy, * there is some mistake here. How many ounces were in the bag you lost?' 'Twenty-eight.' 'And how many are here?' * But twenty six.' ' Count them down. I see it is as you say. The case is clear, and we have all been mis- taken. Had this Indian been a thief, he would never have brought back the bag, and stolen merely two ounces. He would have kept the whole. It is evi- dent that this is not your bag, but another which this poor man has found. Sir, our interview is at an end. Continue to search for your bag of gold ; and as for you, friend, since you cannot find the true owner, sweep up these twenty-six pieces and carry them away. They are yours.' So saying, his excellency bowed out the discomfited cheat and the overjoyed rustic." The following sketch of the Indians of Uruapa, is derived from the same source as the preceding ex- tracts, and will give an idea of the condition of the people in a large part of Mexico. The dress of the Indian women here, is pretty, — and they are altogether a much cleaner and better- lookinc race than we have yet seen. They wear *" 'mguas," a petticoat of black cotton, with a narrow str;^, naade very full and rather long ; over this, a sort of short chemise made of coarse white cotton, and »1'. M I ", i' w 86 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. mw iW.rM embroidered in dlfTercnt colored silks. It is called the sutunacmi — over all is a black rcboso, striped with white and blue, with a handsome silk fringe of the same colors. When they are married, they add a white embroidered veil and a remarkably pretty col- ored mantle, which they call guipil. The hair is divided, and falls down behind in two long plaits, fastened at the top by a bow of ribbon and a flower. In this dress, there is no alteration from what they wore in former days : saving, that a woman of a higher class, wore a dress of fine cotton, with more embroidery, and a loose garment over all, resembling a priest's surplice, when the weather vvas cold. Among the men, the introduction of trousers is Span- ish, — but they still wear the mnjtlatl, a broad belt with the ends tied before and behind, and the tilmatU or tilma as they now call it, a sort of square, short cloak, the ends of which are tied across the breast or over one shoulder. A number of the old Indian customs are still kept up here, modified by the introduction of Christian doctrines in their nurrriagcs, feasts, burials and super- stitious practices. They also preserve the same sim- plicity in their dress, united with the same vanity and love of show in their ornaments which always distinguished them. The poorest Indian woman still wears a necklace of red coral, or a dozen rows of red beads, and their dishes are still the gicalli, or as they were called by the Spaniards gicaras, made of a species of gourd, or rather a fruit resembling it, and growing on a low tree, which fruit they cut in two, each one fur- nishing two dishes ; the inside is scooped out, and a du- THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 87 is called tlic striped with fringe of the , they add a ly pretty col- The hair is , long plaits, and a flower. Dm what they woman of a m, with more Jl, rcsemhling er was cold, users is Span- a broad belt id the tilmatli ' square, short s the breast or 3 are still kept I of Christian als and super- the same sini- same vanity which always an woman still en rows of red zallh or as they ade of a species and growing on , each one fur- d out, and a du- rable varnish given it by of a mineral earth of 1 means different bright colors, generally red. On the outside they paint flowers, and some of them are also gilded. They are extremely pretty, very durable and ingeni- ous. The beautiful colors which they employ in painting these gicaras are composed not only of vari- ous mineral productions, but of the wood, leaves and flowers of certain plants, of whose properties they have no despicable knowledge. Their own dresses, manu- f[ictured by themselves of cotton, are extremely pretty, and many of them very fine." As already stated, the present population of Mexico is about 8,000,000. These consist of four classes ; the native Spaniards, who are in a depressed state since the revolution, and amount only to a few thousands ; Spaniards born in the country, called Creoles, and constituting the most wealthy and influential class ; the mixed castes, a numerous body, and the Indians. The Creoles are many of them descended from the first conquerors, and are not only proud of their de- scent, but having engrossed the greater part of the mines and other sources of wealth, are the proprietors of the substance of the country. They are fond of splendor in dress and equipage, and delight to appear on fine horses gaily caparisoned. An income of 200,000 dollars a year, is not uncommon among them. One individual has been known to receive 1,200,000 dollars a year from his mines alone. This wealthy and dominant portion of the community is much ad- dicted to gaming and other kinds of dissipation. The white race altogether, is estimated at 1,500,000: the Mestizoes may be 2,500,000, and the Indians M ft. I *' -'Hi U ■m m IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I Ui§2A |2.5 >^ Ui2 12.2 I 1^ 12.0 lllSB 1.25 1 1.4 1.6 ,41 6" - ► Photographic Sciences Corporation ^ 23 WIST MAIN STRUT wnsTKR, N.Y. usao (716)872-4503 ) --ai . t-' i !i I m mm n f; 88 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 4,000,000. These constitute the lowest and most de- pressed rank, and may be considered as the cerfs of the country. Their number is about half what it was at the time of the conquest. The history of the w^ars by which thousands of them were slain ; of their being compelled to work in mines, by which many per- ished, and multitudes were led to put an end to their unhappy existence ; with the continued pressure of despotism for three centuries, and the consequent degradation, will sufficiently explain this wasting of the race. It is painful to admit, in taking leave of this renowned nation, that the future seems to offer a prospect but little brighter than that which lies in the backward view of the dark and painful past. i i St and most de- as the cerfs of lalf what it was ory of the wars ; of their being ich many per- an end to their 2d pressure of ;he consequent this wasting of :aking leave of seems to offer a hich lies in the i past. il •1 1 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTEAL AMERICA. v:-'] The country which was formerly known under the name of Guatimala, has recently adopted a republican government, and is known by the title of Central America. It lies to the south of Mexico, and consists in part of the isthmus which connects North and South America. The country is mountainous, and has at least twenty volcanoes in constant activity. Its chief livers are the Chiapa and St. Juan, and the principal 90 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. ili m Akes Nicaragiia and Leon. The western coast is subject to terrific earthquakes, whic'i have over- whelmed cities, and exterminated complete tribes of people. It is a prolific country, abounding in the use- ful and luscious products of nature. At the time of the invasion of Cortes, this and the adjacent territories were occupied by the Toltecs, who appear to have moved hither, and farther south, after their departure from Mexico. Tlie country was then exceedingly populous, and was studded with numerous and flourishing cities. The country of Guatimala was occupied by a peo- ple called Quiches. Their king was Tecum Umam, and their capital Utatlan. A Spanish commander named Alvarado was despatched by Cortes to conquer this country. In this he succeeded, after many des- perate struggles. Six battles took place on the banks of the river Zimala, which in that vicinity received the title of the River of Blood. At this time Utatlan abounded in palaces and other sumptuous edifices, being hardly surpassed in splendor by Mexico and Cuzco. It was encompassed by a lofty wall, and was capable of being entered only at two points ; on one side by a causeway, and on the oilier by a flight of steps. Within, the buildings stood high and compact. In the hope of exterminating their ene- mies, the Quiches invited the Spaniards into their capi- tal, pretending a willingness to submit. After their entrance, the Quiches set fire to the city, and if the Indians of another tribe had not been false to their countrymen, Alvarado and his followers would have perished. Having escaped this danger, the Spaniards I :? rn coast is have over- Le tribes of ; in the use- :his and the rohecs, who south, after ry was then th numerous sd by a peo- icum Uniam, commander ;s to conquer jr many des- on the banks [lity received :es and other d in splendor sed by a lofty only at two on the oiher gs stood high ing their ene- nto their capi- After their y, and if the false to their would have the Spaniards ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 91 1 i pursued their victorious course until all opposition was crushed, and in 1524 laid the foundation of the city of Guatimala. The bigot rage of the Spaniards was directed not only against the superstitions of the Indians, with the temples and idols consecrated to them, but even against the palaces and other monuments of the people whom they conquered. The city of Mexico, as is well known, was totally destroyed by Cortes. The other cities of Mexico and Guatimala were in process of time de- populated, fell into decay, and their ruins became so overgrown with trees that all knowledge of them for the most part was lost. Dr. Robertson, in a note to his History of America, makes the following state- ment : — " I am informed by a person who resided long in New Spain, and visited almost every province of it, that there is not in all the extent of that vast empire, any monument or vestige of any building more ancient than the conquest ! " The author of another account in manuscript observes that " at this day there does not remain even the smallest vestige of the existence of any ancient Indian building, public or private, either in Mexico or in any province of New Spain." In the course of the last century, however, some vague ac- counts reached Europe respecting the ruins of an ancient city at Palenque, on the southern border of Mexico. These were explored by order of the Span- ish government, and found to exhibit architecture and sculpture of a very extraordinary character. But such was the jealousy of this government, that the results of these researches were for a long time concealed from the world. 92 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. The first new light thrown upon the subject of Mexican antiquities was by the celebrated traveller Humboldt, who visited the country at a time when by the cautious policy of the government, it was almost as much closed against strangers as the empire of China. The monuments of the country were not a leading object of his inquiries, but he collected from various sources information, and drawings of many antiquities, particularly of those at Mitla, in the south- ern part of Mexico : — this name is a contraction of the word Miguitlan, signifying, in the Mexican language, the Place of Woe, or Desolation. The term appears to have been well chosen for a site so dreary and lugu- brious that, according to the narration of travellers, the warbling of birds is there scarcely ever heard. According to the traditions that have been preserved, this was the spot where the ashes of the Tzapotec princes reposed. The sovereign, at the death of a son or brother, withdrew into one of the habitations which were here erected over the tombs, to deliver himself up to grief and religious rites. These edifices are now in ruins, but the plans of five separate buildings have been made out, and they seem to have been dis- posed with great regularity. The walls of these build- ings were covered with ornaments consisting of mosaic and carved work, remarkable for their elegance. In the neighborhood of these ruins are the remains of a great pyramid. Another singular monument of which Humboldt obtained information, was Xochicalco or the House of Flowers, near the city of Cuernuvaca. This struc- ture consists of five stories or terraces, narrowing as ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 93 bject of traveller ivhen by s almost npire of re not a ted from of many- he south- on of the tanguage, n appears and lugu- travellers, er heard, preserved, Tzapotec h of a son ons which r himself ifices are buildings been dis- ese build- of mosaic ance. In ains of a [Humboldt House of (his struc- Irowing as they ascend, and about sixty feet high. The platform at the summit is a square of 200 feet by 280. In the centre of this square are the remains of a pyramidal structure five more stories in height. Every traveller has been struck with the polish and cut of the stones, and the nicety with which they are joined without cement. These stones are covered with sculptures, among which are figures of the heads of crocodiles spouting water, and men sitting cross-legged according to the Asiastic custom. Notwithstanding these orna- ments it is evident that Xochicalco was designed for a military fortress. The terraces are furnished with stone battlements, and the whole structure is surround- ed by a deep and very broad ditch, so that the whole fortification is above two miles in circumference. Humboldt assures us that on the heights of the Cor- dilleras of Peru he has seen monuments still larger than this ; and that the American works of this class resemble those which are daily discovered in the east- ern parts of Asia. The most successful of all the explorers of these antiquities has been Mr. Stephens, who made two expe- ditions to this part of the world for the purpose of antiquarian research. It is to his works that we are indebted for the substance of the following description. The first ruins which he visited were those of Copan, which stand on the branch of a small river falling into the bay of Honduras. Copan was once a very large and well-built city, but the ruins are now almost en- tirely overgrown with trees. Many remains of the city wall are to be seen, of cut stone, well laid, and in good preservation. " We ascended," says the travel- 94 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 'ii'i'l ler, " by large stone steps, in some places perfect, and in others thrown down by trees which had grown up between the crevices, and reached a terrace, the form of which it was impossible to make out from the density of the forest in which it was enveloped. Our guide cleared a way with his matchete (chopping-knife) and we passed, as it lay half buried in the earth, a large fragment of stone, elaborately sculptured, and came to the angle of a structure, with steps on the sides, in form and appearance, so far as the trees would enable us to make it out, like the sides of a pyramid. Diverging from the base, and working our way through ICA. ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 95 s perfect, and lad grown up SM'ii UA ii ^^' 'X. jrrace, the form ; out from the nveloped. Our ^chopping-knife) in the earth, a sculptured, and ,th steps on the ; the trees would is of a pyramid, our way through the thick woods, we came upon a square stone column about fourteen feet high and three feet on each side, sculptured in very bold relief on all four of the sides from the base to the top. The front was the figure of a man, curiously and richly dressed, and the face, evidently a portrait, solemn, stern, and well fitted to excite terror. The back was of a different design, un- like anything we had ever seen before, and the sides were covered with hieroglyphics. This our guide called an idol, and before it at a distance of three feet was a large block of stone, also sculptured with fig- ures and emblematical devices, which he called an altar. The sight of this monument put at rest, at once and forever in our minds, all uncertainty in re- gard to the character of American antiquities, and gave us the assurance that the objects we were in search of were interesting, not only as the remains of an unknown people, but as works of art ; proving, like newly discovered historical records, that the peo- ple who once occupied the continent of America, were not savages. " With an interest perhaps stronger than we had ever felt in wandering among the ruins of Egypt, we followed our guide, who, sometimes missing his way, with a constant use of his machete, conducted us through the thick forest, among half buried fragments, to fourteen monuments of the same character and ap- pearance ; some with more elegant designs, and some in workmanship equal to the finest monuments of the Egyptians ; one displaced from its pedestal by enor- mous roots, another locked in the close embrace of branches of trees and almost lifted out of the earth : m .t if I 96 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. •J r*.,.. another hurled to the ground and bowed down by huge vines and creepers : and one standing with its ahar before it, in a grove of trees which grew around it, seemingly to shade and shroud it as a sacred thing: in the solemn stillness of the woods, it seemed a di- vinity mourning over a fallen people. The only sounds that disturbed the quiet of this buried city, were the noise of monkeys moving among the tops of the trees and the cracking of dry branches broken by their weight. They moved over our heads in long and swift processions, forty or fifty at a time, some with little ones wound in their long arms, walking out to the end of boughs and holding on with their hind feet or a curl of the tail, sprang to a branch of the next tree, and with a noise like a current of wind, passed on into the depths of the forest. It was the first time we had seen these mockeries of humanity, and with the strange monuments around us, they seemed like wandering spirits of the departed race guarding the ruins of their former habitations. " We returned to the base of the pyramidal structure, and ascended by regular stone steps, in some places forced apart by bushes and saplings, and in others, thrown down by the growth of large trees, while some remained entire. In parts they were ornamented with sculptured figures and rows of death's heads. Climb- ing over the ruined top, we reached a terrace overgrown with trees, and crossing it, descended by stone steps into an area so covered with trees that at first we could not make out its form, but which, on clearing the way with the machete, we ascertained to be a square, and with steps on all the sides almost as perfect as those of the ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 97 down by ig with Its jw around red thing: 3med a di- The only iiried city, the tops of broken by in long and some with .king out to lir hind feet of the next irind, passed tie first time and with seemed like ;uarding the al structure, lome places in others, while some nented with ds. Climb- e overgrown ne steps into ,ve could not le way with re, and with those of the Roman amphitheatre. The steps were ornamented with sculpture, and on the south side about half way up, forced out of its place by roots, was a colossal head, evidently a portrait. We ascended these steps and reached a broad terrace a hundred feet high, overlooking the river, and supported by the wall which we had seen from the opposite bank. The whole terrace was covered with trees, and even at this height from the ground were two gigantic ceibas, or wild cotton trees of India, about twenty feet in circumfer- ence, extending their half-naked roots fifty or a hun- dred feet around, binding down the ruins and shading them with their wide spreading branches. "We sat down on the very edge of the wall and strove in vain to penetrate the mystery by which we were sur- rounded. " Trudging once more, next morning, over the dis- trict which contained the principal monument, we were startled by the immensity of the work before us, and very soon we concluded, that to explore the whole extent would be impossible. Our guides knew only of this district, but having seen columns beyond the village, a league distant, we had reason to believe that others were strewed in different directions, com- pletely buried in the woods and entirely unknown. The woods were so dense that it was almost hopeless to think of penetrating them. The only way to make a thorough exploration, would be to cut down the whole forest and burn the trees. This was incompa- tible with our immediate purposes, might be consid- ered taking liberties, and could only be done in the dry season. After deliberation, we resolved first to G KtWi^ffy,' m 11 4,|| f1 98 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. obtain drawings of the sculptured columns. Even in this there was great difRculty : the designs were very complicated and so different from anything Mr. Cath- erwood had ever seen before, as to be perfectly unin- telligible. The cutting was in very high relief, and required a strong body of light to bring up the figures ; and the foliage was so thick and the shade so deep, that drawing was impossible. " After much consultation we selected one of the idols, and determined to cut down the trees around it and thus lay it open to the rays of the sun. Here again was difficulty. There was no axe; and the only instrument which the Indians possessed was the machete, which varies in form in different parts of the country. Wielded in one hand it was useful in clear- ing away shrubs and branches, but almost harmless upon large trees, and the Indians, as in the days when the Spaniards discovered them, applied to work with- out ardor, carried it on with little activity, and like children were easily diverted from it. One hacked into a tree, and when tired, which happened very soon, sat down to rest, and another relieved him. While one worked there were always several looking on. I remembered the ring of the woodman's axe in the forest at home, and wished for a few long-sided Green Mountain boys. But we had been buffeted into patience, and watched the Indians while they hacked with their machetes, and even wondered that they succeeded so well. It is impossible to describe the interest with which I explored these ruins. The ground was entirely new ; there were no guide books or guides ; the whole was a virgin soil. We could 1 RICA. ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 99 nns. Even in igns were very ling Mr. Cath- perfectly unin- ligh relief, and up the figures ; shade so deep, ted one of the trees around il he sun. Here axe; and the ssessed was the •ent parts of the ; useful in clear- Imost harmless the days when d to work with- :tivity, and like . One hacked happened very r relieved him. several looking Dodman's axe in few long-sided 1 been buffeted ans while they 1 wondered that sible to describe se ruins. The no guide books oil. We could not see ten yards before us, and never knew what we should stumble upon next. At one time we stopped to cut away branches and vines which concealed the face of a monument, and then to dig around and bring to light a fragment, a sculptured corner of which pro- truded from the earth. I leaned over with breathless anxiety while the Indians worked, and an eye, an ear, a foot or a hand was disentombed : and when the machete rang against the chiseled stone, I pushed the Indians away and cleared out the loose earth with my hands. The beauty of the sculpture, the solemn stillness of the woods, disturbed only by the scramb- ling of monkeys and the chattering of parrots, the desolation of the city, and the mystery that hung over it, all created an interest higher, if possible, than I had ever felt among the ruins of the Old World." Many drawings of the sculpti'res above described, have been published in the wo.'k of Mr. Stephens. Viewed with reference to their rank as works of art, they may be placed high in the scale of architectural sculpture. To the elegance and sublimity of the Greek and Roman schools, they have no pretensions whatever; nor have they the severe grandeur of the best specimens of the Egyptian ; but they appear to be vastly superior to anything which India or China or Japan has ever produced. Their chief merit lies in their general effect. The figures are ill propor- tioned, and even hideous, and the subordinate parts confused and overcharged ; but they differ from all the barbarous styles of sculpture with which we are acquainted, in this, that their general effect is not only rich and beautiful, but dignified and imposing to a t!,^i !;!(' m^'i''^ li';;'|-v :!'i 100 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. degree which we could hardly have supposed possible to result from the combining of so many uncouth and incongruous parts. Bas relief at Palenqite. At P?,lenque, in Mexico, are very interesting anti- quities, surrounded with thick woods, like those of Copan. They consist of palaces and other structures of stone abounding in sculptures. As works of art they are greatly superior to the antiquities of Co- pan. All of these are built on high terraces, form- ing the summit of a truncated pyramid. The largest structure stands on an artificial elevation of an oblong form, forty feet high, three hundred long, and two holds ICA. ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 101 posed possible r uncouth and — --.'^J nteresting anti- like those of other structures \.s works of art iquities of Co- terraces, form- The largest on of an oblong long, and two d. hundred and sixty broad. The roof of the building was made to curve in a sort of arch by successive layers of stones, each overlapping that immediately beneath it, and plastered over so as to represent a smooth curved surface. The top of the doorway in the middle wall is by this means wrought into an exact resemblance of a Gothic arch. This structure abounds with courts, corridors, galleries, towers, &c., and was, without doubt, a royal palace. The piers, or square columns, of which there are many, are cov- ered with bas reliefs in stucco. The faces of the Imman figures are all in profile, which seems to indi- cate the want of a sufficient skill to delineate the front face : but the limbs are correctly formed, and fre- (juently graceful. There is also some attempt to arrange the figures in groups, so as to tell a story ; and a variety of expressions, of the same imperfect kind as is seen in the Egyptian paintings, can be recognized in the countenances. On one piece is represented an armed warrior, with two half-naked figures crouching submissively on either side of him. On another, we see an armed warrior brandishing his weapon over the head of a person who seems to kneel and beg for life. On another, a standing figure is placing an ornament upon a person sitting in front of liim, &c. The most curious among all the sculptures at Pal- pnque, has been found in one of the smaller buildings, ft represents an ornamented cross, surmounted by the Qiiczale, or royal bird of Quiche. Two persons, dressed apparently in sacerdotal garments, stand on the right and left, facing the cross, and one of them . holds out something as an ofTering, which appears to n m^ 102 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. be a young child. The whole representation is sur- rounded by hieroglyphics which no one has been able to decipher. No doubt can be entertained that these sculptures existed previous to the arrival of the Spaniards in America ; and therefore the circumstance of the cross being found represented in a picture of what is evidently a religious ceremony, has given rise to much curious speculation. There is another tablet which is almost a fac-simile of this ; and hieroglypbi- cal characters are to be seen in other parts of the ruins. They have been found to bear a close resem- blance to those exhibited by the ancient Mexican manuscripts. Ruins at Uzmdil. At Uxmal, in Yucatan, are also ancient buildings in good preservation. One of these, as described by Mr. Norman, who recently visited this region, stands ERICA. ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 103 jentation is sur- one has been entertained that le arrival of the he circumstance 1 in a picture of y, has given rise is another tablet and hieroglyplii- her parts of the ir a close resera- indent Mexican mcient buildings !, as described by lis region, stands on three ranges of terraces, the lowest 600 feet long, and the whole rising to the height of 35 feet, all built of hewn stone. The palace upon the summit is 320 feet in length, and stands with all its walls erect, almost as perfect as when occupied by its inhabitants. The whole building is of stone, plain up to the mould- ing that runs along the tops of the doorway, and above, filled with rich and elaborate sculpture bearing no resemblance to that of Copan or Palenque. Among the intelligible subjects, are squares and diamonds, with busts of human beings, heads of leopards, com- positions of leaves and flowers, and those peculiar ornaments known in Europe as grecques; the whole forming an extraordinary mass of richness and com- plexity, with an effect both grand and curious. There is no rudeness or barbarity in the design or propor- tions of the building; on the contrary, the whole wears an air of architectural symmetry and grandeur : and as the stranger ascends the steps, and casts a bewildered eye along its open and desolate doors, it is hard to believe that he sees before him the work of a race of men deserving the name which has been bestowed upon them by their historians, of savages, ignorant of art. If it stood at this day in one of the capitals of Europe, it would form a new order of ar- chitecture, if not equalling the remains of the Egyp- tian, Grecian and Roman art, at least not unworthy to stand side by side with them. The antiquities we have described, are only a por- tion of what may be seen by a traveller in Central America: those countries, doubtless, contain the re- mains of many ancient cities, yet undiscovered. But s& •:vtA mm f,i, .■ , M.\i m I'll m 111 104 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. what we have related will give the reader an insight into the state of civilization which existed among the aborigines of this region at the period of its discovery by the Spaniards. The present state of the Indians of Guatimala, is similar to that of those in Mexico. They are about half the population of the republic, which is 1,200,000. ICA. ler an insight ed among the f its discovery f the Indians 16 in Mexico, the republic, INDIANS OF PERU. Manco Capac and Mama Oello, Peru lies on the western coast of South America, and is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean. It came to the knowledge of the Spaniards about the year 1513, and was soon after visited by the celebrated Francis Pizarro. In 1531, this adventurer penetrated into the country with a small force, seized upon the Inca, or emperor, and treacherously put him to death. He then proceeded to subjugate the kingdom and § m &m kiM 106 INDIANS OF PERU. ;i reduce it to the Spanish authority. It remained as a dependency of Spain till the year 1820, when a revo- lutionary war broke out, which resulted in the inde- pendence of the country. The early history of this region, as derived from the traditions of the people — for there were no written or pictured records — was as follows : — It was originally occupied by independent tribes, justly reckoned among the most savage, even in America ; living more like wild beasts than men. For several ages they lived in this manner, when suddenly there appeared on the banks bf a lake called Titicaca, a man and woman of majestic form and clothed in decent garments. They declared themselves to be the Children of the Sun, sent by their Beneficent Parent to instruct and reclaim mankind. The names of these two extraordinary personages w^ere Manco Capac and Mama Oello. At their per- suasions, several of the dispersed savages united, and. receiving their commands as heavenly injunctions, fol- lowed them to Cuzco, where they settled and began to lay the foundations of a city. Manco Capac taught the men the arts of agriculture, and his wife instructed the women in spinning, weaving, and other house- hold duties. Manco Capac, whose pride would acknowledge no less illustrious an ancestor than the sun, founded the empire of Peru, A. D. 1025. Whence he came is not known; but it has been suggested that Japan was his original country. At any rate, after high gales of wind, junks have frequently been driven ashore on the western coast of America, which may INDIANS OF PERU. 107 lined as a en a revo- the inde- i from the written or originally led among more like ey lived in •ed on the woman of its. They f the Sun, ,nd reclaim personages ; their per- nited, and. ictions, fol- and began ipac taught ! instructed ler house- wledge no )unded the le came is hat Japan after high en driven vhich may indicate by what means a portion of the settlers reached Peru. Be his derivation, however, what it may, Manco Capac and his lineal successors estab- lished regulations so judicious, and laws so wise, governed with such ability, and reclaimed so many wild tribes from savage life, that, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, their empire extended from the river Ancosmayu, between Pasto and Popayan, to the river Maule, in Chili, in 35 deg. south, a length of thirty-seven degrees of latitude, or about four thousand miles in a straight line. Its breadth varied from three hundred to one thousand miles, and its population was estimated by Garcilaso de Vega at above ten millions. According to a statement made by Senor Morales y Duares, reported in El Diario de las Cortes of the 11th of January, 1811, the census taken in 1575 by Loy- aisa, assisted by the Oidor Don Andres Ziancas, and the Dominican friar Domingo Santo Thomas, gave for the total, 8,225,000 souls ; so that the population had already decreased nearly 2,000,000. The Guichua was the national language throughout the empire of the Incas, and is to this day spoken by a majority of the inhabitants of the republic of the Excuador, (for- merly the captain-generalship of Quito,) and in Peru, as well as by the inhabitants of Santiago del Estero, a midland province of the Argentine Pampas. This last circumstance proves that the dominion of the Incas extended very far to the east, as well as to the west, of the Andes. These monarchs were hereditary, and their rule partook something of the patriarchal character. Un- der the sway of twelve successive Incas, Peru advanced '1^:/ i^s<1 '^. '*1 M 108 INDIANS OF PERU. H i rapidly in the arts of peace and war, and prospered for upwards of five hundred years, until the death of Huayna Capac at Quito, in 1525, a few months after the Spaniards had made their first appearance on the coast of Choco. Thus, as we are told, was founded the empire of the Incas, or lords of Peru. At first its extent was small, the territory of Manco Capac not reaching above twenty-five miles from Cuzco, his capital : but it v/as gradually extended, rather for the benign purpose of spreading the blessings of peace and the arts than for conquest, until it embraced the great territory we have described. Inhabitants. — Though the vast dominion of the Incas embraced many different tribes, and of course there must have been some diversity of character among them, still they all possessed the leading traits of the great American family : the copper color, long, lank, black hair, a thin beard, broad flat nose, and black eyes set obliquely in the head. The Peruvians, however, were marked with a gentleness of character which greatly distinguished them from the Caribs and Brazilians occupying the eastern coast of South America. They had small feet, well turned limbs, and generally a somewhat less robust form than the Indians of other tribes. Their institutions and civili- zation, so remarkably contrasted with those of Mexico, seemed to harmonize with their gentle character, and to be a just reflexion of their mental and moral na- ture. They are supposed to have belonged to the Toltec branch of the American race, and it has been inferred that their ancestors came to this country from INDIANS OF PERtr. 109 ospered for 3 death of lonths after ince on the npire of the L was small, iiing above : but it was purpose of irts than for Dry we have nion of the id of course )f character ;admg traits color, long, nose, and e Peruvians, of character 3 Caribs and of South irned limbs, rm than the is and civili- of Mexico, laracter, and moral na- nged to the it has been country from the north, passing west of the great chain of the Cor- dilleras. Dress. — It would appear that the Peruvians pos- sessed that love of display common to a barbarous I people. When Atahualpa had his first interview with Pizarro, he appeared before him with nearly the same pomp that attended Montezuma in his introduction to Cortes. The Inca approached the Spaniard, being preceded by four hundred men in a uniform dress. He was himself seated on a throne, the latter being decorated with plumes of various colors and covered with plates of gold and silver, sprinkled with precious stones. Behind him came some of the chief officers of his court, carried in the same manner. The dress of the common people was made of cloth from various substances, especially from the hair of the llama. The body of both men and women was covered below the waist. The head of the chief peo- ple was usually ornamented with a crown of feathers set upright in a circle, and their persons were deco- rated with precious stones. Jewels were often worn in the ears of all classes. Besides a petticoat, the women wore shawls, fastened at the corners upon the left shoulder: the men had square pieces of cloth, worn as cloaks. Buildings and other Structures. — The superior ingenuity of the Peruvians was rbvious in the con- struction of their houses and public buildings. In the extensive plains which stretch along the Pacific Ocean where the sky is perpetually serene, and the climate mild, their houses were very properly of a fabric extremely slight. But in the higher regions, where .•Jt Tills m i M ^:^ ^k 110 INDIANS OF PERTT. ,1ff|^t'l| f k I • lu rain falls, where the vicissitude of seasons is known and their rigor felt, houses were constructed with greater solidity. They were generally of a square form, the walls about eight feet high, built with bricks hardened in the sun, without any windows, and the door low and straight. Simple as these structures were, and rude as the materials may seem to be of which they were formed, they were so durable that many of them still subsist in different parts of Peru. But it was in the temples consecrated to the Sun and in the buildings destined for the residence of their monarchs, that the Peruvians displayed the utmost extent of their art and contrivance. The descriptions of them by such of the Spanish writers as had an opportunity of contemplating them, while, in some measure, entire, might have appeared highly exagge- rated, if the ruins which still remain did not vouch INDIANS OF PERU. Ill is known acted with if a square with bricks )ws, and the 56 structures 2m to be of durable that ts of Peru. the Sun and ince of their the utmost descriptions as had an ile, in some ghly exagge- ,d not vouch the truth of their relations. These ruins of sacred or royal buildings are found in every province of the empire, and by their frequency demonstrate that they are monuments of a powerful people, who must have subsisted, during a period of some extent, in a state of no inconsiderable improvement. There appear to have been edifices various in their dimensions, — some of a moderate size, many of im- mense extent, all remarkable for solidity, and resem- bling each other in the style of architecture. The temple of Pachacamac at Cuzco, together with the palace of the Inca, and a fortress were so connected as to form one great structure above half a league in circuit. In this prodigious pile, the same singular taste in building is conspicuous, as in other works of the Peruvians. As they were unacquainted with the use of the pulley and other mechanical powers, and could not elevate the large stones and bricks, which they em- ployed in building, to any considerable height, the walls of this edifice, in which they seem to have made their greatest effort towards magnificence, did not rise above twelve feet from the ground. Though they had not discovered the use of mortar, or any other cement in building, the brick or stones were joined with so much nicety that the seams can hardly be discerned. The apartments, so far as the distribution of them can be traced in the ruins, were ill disposed, and afforded little accommodation. There was not a single window in any part of the building ; and as no light could enter but by the door, all the apartments of large size must either have been perfectly dark, or illunii- ■HliM„ H ^'mM •'AWMM )"-1f^^ r\ (S^Sh 'i X ifiurll •'^ aSfl *'" Pl ' '"'^ %^ - . ^* Skm "-'i''^',''Mfi g*|^in * f ^ . f'^ 'v . it^ •-K , i mi "ij WW'. •i(.^i«S^1 ...if 112 INDIANS OF PERU. i it II'. nated by some other means. But with all these and many other imperfections in their art of building, the works of the Peruvians which still remain must be considered as stupendous efforts of a people unac- quainted with the use of iron. Acosta measured a stone, in one of the buildings, which was thirty feet long, eighteen broad, and six wide, and he adds that there were some in the fortress at Cuzco much larger. Utensils. — The tools used in the arts will be no- ticed hereafter. Of the articles of furniture we have not a very distinct account. They had mirrors of hard shining stone, vessels of earthen-ware of various forms, hatchets of stone and copper for war and other purposes. They had gold and silver in profusion, and of these precious metals, they not only made various trinkets for personal decoration, but vases and vessels for use or display. Many of their works in these metals were worthy of great praise for their exquisite manufacture. Travelling. — The only animals domesticated in Peru, were ducks and llamas ; the latter appear to have been used only to carry burthens, and not to support persons on their backs. The travelling was there- fore on foot, there being no vehicles of any kind. When the Inca met Pizarro at Caxamalco, he was seated on a throne, and carried on the shoulders of his principal attendants. The couriers of Peru were ac- customed to bear their messages with great rapidity, and it is said crossed the rivers by swimming, with wonderful celerity. They had advanced no farther in naval skill than the use of the paddle or oar, with the occasional employment of a mast and small sail, upon F( -^kind It IS Maiz * perio but t INDIANS OF /ERU. 113 11 these and ►uilding, the lin must be )eople unac- measured a LS thirty feet [16 adds that mch larger. 3 will be no- ture we have I mirrors of ire of various irar and other irofusion, and nade various s and vessels »rks in these leir exquisite neslicated in ppear to have ot to support was there- f any kind. alco, he was julders of his 'eru were ac- eat rapidity, mming, with no farther in oar, with the all sail, upon their balsars or floats. These went nimbly before the wind, but coui. not tack with any great facility. Of the roads and bridges, and the modes of crossing riv- ers we have elsewhere given an account. Food and Drink. — The Peruvians used various -■kinds of vegetable food, which they cooked by boiling. It is remarkable, however, that they ale flesh raw. Maize was a staple article of food. In the earlier periods of their history, they devoured human flesh, but this practice ceased from the time of Manco Ca- pac. The public regulations insured a full supply of food, and even in times of greatest scarcity, there was enough to prevent suffering. A favorite drink was made by steeping maize flour in water. Government. — The Government established by Manco Capac, continued from its formation to the conquest, a space of about three centuries. At first, as we have stated, his territories were confined to nar- row limits, but they were afterwards greatly enlarged. Still his successors followed implicitly in his footsteps. Their authority was absolute, and they were not only obeyed as monarchs, but reverenced as deities. Their blood was held to be sacred, and intermarriages with the people being prohibited, was never contaminated by mixing with that of any other race. The family thus separated from the rest of the nation, was dis- tinguished by peculiarities in dress and ornaments, which it was unlawful for others to assume. The Incas were regarded not only as rulers, but as messen- gers of heaven. Their injunctions were received as the precepts of a superior, as the mandates of the Deity. To insure the noble blood against intermixture, the H m. %' '■i^ 'iva iB 114 INDIANS OF PERU. »rl!-,V. rti"«?i r "liA sons of Manco Capac married their own sisters, and no person was ever admitted to the throne, who could not claim it by descent from this indisputable source. They were deemed to be under the immediate direc- tion of the Deity, from whom they issued, and by him every order of the reigning Inca was supposed to be dictated. Not only was a blind submission yielded to their sovereigns by the people at large, but persons of the highest rank and greatest power in their dominions, acknowledged them to be of a more exalted nature ; and in testimony of this, when admitted into their presence, they entered with a burden upon their shoul- ders as an emblem of their servitude and willingness to bear whatever the Inca was pleased to impose. Among their subjects force was not requisite to second their commands. Every officer intrusted with the execution of them, was revered, and according to the account of an intelligent observer of Peruvian man- ners, he might proceed alone from one extremity of the empire to another, without meeting opposition ; for on producing a fringe from the royal borla, an or- nament of the head peculiar to the reigning Inca, the lives and fortunes of the people were at his disposal. As a consequence of these views of the divine char- acter of the rulers, all crimes were considered as sins against the Deity, and were, consequently, immediately punished with death. Among a corrupt people a code so .severe would have rendered men ferocious and desper- revent crime. iply pr( But the Peruvians, of simple manners and unsuspi- cious faith, were held m sucn awe bytl lis riGfi d d IS- INDIANS OF PERU. 115 v^n sisters, and ne, who could atable source, mediate direc- )d, and by him mpposed to be delded to their persons of the eir dominions, xalted nature; tted into their on their shoul- ,nd willingness led to impose, uisite to second isted with the ccording to the Peruvian man- 3 extremity of ag opposition; al borla, an or- Tning Inca, the it his disposal, he divine char- isidered as sins y, immediately people a code so ous and desper- prevent crime, and unsuspi- this ricfid dis- cipline, that the number of offenders was extremely small. Veneration for monarchs enlightened and di- rected, as they believed, by the divinity whom they adored, prompted them to their duty; the dread of punishment, which they were taught to consider as unavoidable vengeance inflicted by offended Heaven, withheld them from evil. In war, prisoners were treated with lenity, and in a manner to make them become the faithful followers of the Children of the Sun. In extending their do- minions, the Incas are represented as having sought only to impart to the barbarous people whom they reduced, the benefits of their beneficent institutions. The laws of the country entered minutely into the affairs of life, regulated religious rites and ceremonies, distributed the lands and prescribed the mode of cul- tivation. The state of property was not less singular than the religion. All the lands capable of cultivation, were divided into three shares ; one was consecrated to the Sun, and the product of it was applied to the erection of temples, and furnishing what was requisite towards celebrating the public rites of religion. The second belonged to the Inca, and was set apart as the provision made by the community for the support of government. The third and largest share was re- served for the maintenance of the people, among whom it was parcelled out. Neither individuals, however, nor communities, had a right of exclusive property in the portion set apart for their use. They possessed it only for the year, at the expiration of which, a new division was made in proportion to the rank, the mmiber and exigences of each family. All these 'i ;3 '•'''; mum i i m ''m iih "1!lll»i ^ti-,,;, ,.-v ^ii.| Kit' u 116 INDIANS OF PERU. lands were cultivated by the joint industry of the com- munity. The people, summoned by a proper officer, repaired in a body to the fields and performed their common task, while songs and musical instruments cheered them to their labor. The distinction of ranks was fully established. A great body of the inhabitants, under the denomination of Yanaconas, were held in a state of servitude. Their garb and houses were of a form different from those of freemen. — Like the Tamenes of Mexico, they were employed in carrying burdens and in performing every other act of drudgery. Next to them in rank, were such of the people as were free, but distinguished by no official or hereditary honors. Above thiem were raised those whom the Spaniards called Ore- Jones, from the ornaments worn in their ears. They formed what may be denominated the order of nobles, and in peace as well as war, held every office of power or trust. At the head of all were the Children of the Sun, who by their high descent and peculiar privileges, were as much exalted above the Orejones, as these were elevated above the people. An early result of any conquest performed by the Incas was a census of their newly acquired subjects. Having named governors and teachers of the worship of the Sun, a provincial return was made in quipos of the quantities of meadow-land, upland, lowland, arable land, inheritances, mines, salt grounds, foun- tains, lakes, rivers, indigenous fruit-trees, cattle, &c. &c. Another return was ordered for each district, and a third return of the property of each individual. A just distribution was then efTected, and the old proprie- \ INDIANS OF PERU. 117 f of the com- roper officer, formed their instruments ablished. A lenomination of servitude, iifferent from Mexico, they in performing hem in rank, distinguished Above tliem 3 cfilled Ore- r ears. They •der of nobles, rery office of ! the Children and peculiar the Orejones, 'ormed by the ired subjects, the v^^orship ade in quipos and, lowland, rounds, foun- caltle, &c. &c. district, and a ndividual. A le old proprie- tors were assisted with implements, clothing, food, &c. to make the most of their property under the new arrangement. At the same time they were compelled clearly to understand the nature and extent of their public duties. Landmarks were put, and names given to those places, rivers, woods, hills, llama-walks, and fountains, which had before received no names. To facilitate intercourse between the towns, roads were made. Of these the two most celebrated were the coast-road and the mountain-road from Cuzco to Quito. Early Spanish writers describe them as exceeding the seven wonders of the world. On spots commanding extensive views, an area, reached by flights of steps cut in the rocks, was cleared as a resting-place for the Incas. Several causeways, forming originally part of the mountain-road, still exist. Baron Humboldt, speak- ing of one of them, compares it to the fine roads of Italy, or Spain. It is clear that the well-being of the people was sought by the Incas, and is even averred that their con- quests were undertaken for the spread of civilization, which in reality did attend their steps. The heir- apparent, on arriving at manhood, usually made the tour of the realm. On his accession, also, it became an early duty to make another survey, occupying sometimes from three to four or five years. During a protracted reign the royal progress was repeated more than once. Having made himself personally known in every section, redressed grievances, ordered public improvements, promoted industry, sanctioned the na- tional pastimes, and by his mere presence diffused general satisfaction, the monarch, on his return to the \§M ,;•ri^y »f i ' :i u^ 118 INDIANS OF PERU. W 4 seat of empire, directed his attention to some frontier nation which he was desirous of incorporating Avith his dominion. The same policy was observed in every reign, and, if anything can justify an unvarying sys- tem of territorial aggrandisement, it is the benignant purposes to which the Incas applied their acquisitions. When a new conquest had been determined on, a competent force was assembled under one commander. On approaching the scene of operations, the unsubdued tribe was invoked by a solemn embassy to annex their territory to the empire and to its worship and laws, retaining such of their own customs and usages as were not in opposition to those of the Incas. To such terms the wild tribes frequently accoded at once ; but occasionally a spirited answer was returned as the prelude to hostilities. To the summons from Capac Zupanqui, brother to the Inca Pachacutec, who died in 1400, the chiefs of the densely peopled country of Chincha gave the following reply: — " We neither want to have the Inca for a king, nor the sun for a god ; we already have a god whom we adore, and a king whom we serve. Our god is the ocean, and everybody may see that it is greater than the sun ; and that it besides yields to us an abundance of food, whereas the sun does us no good whatever; on the contrary, he oppresses us with too much heat in our sultry region, and we have no occasion for it, as they have who live amidst cold mountains, where it may be right to worship him because he is useful there. * ^ "^ ^ The Inca had better return homewards without entering into war with the lord and king of Chincha, who is a most puissant ruler." INDIANS OF PERU. 119 It very rarely occurred that the Incas desisted from any of their attempts at conquest. The only known serious check they ever met with was from the Arau- canians, who have since resisted, for 300 years, the firearms of the Spaniards, and still exist as an inde- pendent people, occupying that finest portion of Chili, which lies between the Rio Bio and Valdivia. Find- ing that untameable race too proud to amalgamate with a more civilized one, and strong enough to preserve the liberty they loved, the Incas discreetly abstained from further attempts to push their conquests in that direction, and the Maule became the southern boundary of their empire. The trial of strength which led to this unwonted forbearance was a drawn battle fought to the south of the Maule in the early part of the fifteenth century, between 20,000 Peruvians and 18,000 Araucanians. The combat raged for three days, each party returning every night to its own strong position. At the close of the third day's fighting it was ascertained that about every second man of both armies had been killed, and that most of the survivors were wounded. On the fourth morning the remnant of each force formed each within its fortified position, and stood there facing each other in sullen defiance till nightfall. The fifth and sixth days were passed in the same manner ; but by the seventh both belligerent parties had retired, each fearing that the other might receive a reinforcement. But the frequent new accessions of territory that were made were sufficient to keep the ruling powers in activity. Upon the completion of every conquest or peaceable annexation, by the establishment of the 'H If \\\ i^ii - 1 V ■■' 120 INDIANS OF PERU. II tiki laws and the religion of the Incas, all the land of the recent acquisition susceptible of cultivation was meas- ured and apportioned out in three shares, — for the church, the state, and the commonalty, as in the rest of the empire. When such acquisitions lay on the sultry coast, water-courses were made under the direction of able engineers ; and extensive tracts of desert, com- posed of sand with a large admixture of loam, were transformed into productive levels, partly through the agency of guano, deposits left by the peHcans on cer- tain islands on the coast of Peru. If the newly conquered district lay within the Sierra or mountain regions, amongst other contrivances " andenes," or ter- races faced with stone, were formed on mountain-slopes to a very great elevation. The lowermost andene was sometimes a long slip containing hundreds of acres, whilst those above of about equal length were made narrow in proportion as they neared the hill -top, until the uppermost terrace had, in some cases, only just width enough for two or three rows of corn throughout its whole length. A given portion of the manual labor of the adult population being at the command of the Inca and his lieutenants, it was thus beneficially employed in converting mountain-slopes and hitherto barren lands into productive districts. So cheerfully was this labor-tax contributed, that there was more fre- quently a surplus than a want of hands ; no skill was spared in turning to account every available s^os , how- ever small or however distant, water being sometimes conveyed in azequias many miles in extent for the sole purpose of irrigating a small lot of ground encom- passed by an irreclaimable waste. INDIANS OF PERU. 121 nd of the ras meas- — for the lie rest of the sultry ection of ert, com- am, were "ough the IS on eer- ie newly mountain s," or ter- lin-slopes idene was of acres, 5re made top, until only just roughout manual [imand of neficially hitherto heerfully more fre- skill was ; ol,iiOW- ometimes )r the sole encom- When, in consequence of an increase of population, the third of the produce of the land destined for its use became insufficient for that purpose, a portion was taken from one or both of the other two thirds origi- nally set apart for the service of the Inca and the worship of the Sun, or church and state. Another remedial measure was also resorted to on such occa- sions, namely, to send a portion of the people to dis- tricts whose population had become diminished by the effects of wars and diseases, or which had been pre- viously cultivated. Ten thousand families were re- moved at one time to colonize the province of Chancas, which had lost much of its able-bodied population at the battle of Yuarpampa, and by the subsequent emi- gration of large numbers of the vanquished with their chief, Himchuala. The Sun's portion of the ground was first tilled; next that of the widow, the orphan, the aged, and the infirm ; next that of the people at large ; then that of the nobility ; and, lastly, that of the Incas and the royal family. The tilling of the latter portion, as well as of the first, was attended with much festivity. The rural workmen put on their best garb ; chorusses chanted throughout the day the praises of the Incas, who acted on the maxim, that unless a people be first well pro- tected, they cannot efl^ectually serve their king and country in peace or war. The earliest constructed agricultural terrace (Colle- amapta, on the side of the hill crowned by a fortress within the city of Cuzco,) was looked upon as almost sacred ground, and tilled only by Incarial hands. Tlie princes delved in parties of seven or eight, or turned ' > '11 >",e'y-w '''■■ ^^^ ' ■' —Si^M '■■; ■ '■■. '*W"^ : '"'^^'^^ ^^m 51 ■ '• "'"% ^^ ■ '• J , m c .-'•iim 122 INDIANS OF PERU. wi»m:: Wh ^^ ,^,*! P. up the soil with a sort of luinJ-plouf,^h, whilst attendant princesses, with golden-toothed rakes, brought weeds to tlie surface for exposure to the atmosphere. These lield operations were done to vocal music, and a chant called "Ilaylii" — tillage mastering the earth — re- sounded in cheerful strains, so that the whole affair was an exhilarating gala in honor of husbandry. It is impossible within the limits of this article to give a complete account of the system of government adopted by the Incas. What we have already said will suflice to show tliat it attempted to unite the utmost possible amount of power in the monarch with the greatest degree of happiness in the subject. This is not the place to discuss the question, to what extent the attempt was successful. But it may be interesting to see in what manner the Spaniards acted when they made their appearance and landed at Tumbez. By a singular fatality, when this occurred, the schism between Atahualpa and Huascar was in full operation. Huayna Capac, the Peruvian monarch, when crown prince, and before he was twenty years old, had been placed at the head of a force by his father Tupac Zupantpii, who died 1475, to invade and subjugate Quito. Having made a victorious progress, as heredi- tary prince, Huayna Capac completed tlie conquest of that extensive region in the early part of his reign, and added the heiress to the tlu'one of Quito to the number of his wives. By her he had Atahualpa, who, of all Huayna Capac's sons, was the best-beloved and most frequently by the side of his father. Like most of the Incarial family, Atahualpa was, for a copper- skin, preeminently handsome. He was brave, active, INDIANS OF PERU. 123 and warlike ; his manners were elegant and his per- ception remarkably ([uick and clear. Huayna Capac, some years before his own death, had settled that this Atahualpa should inherit the maternal diadem, whilst the other, and by far the most extensive portion of the empire, was assigned to Huascar, an older son by Rava Oello, a sister-wife. For this division of the Incarial inheritance there was no precedent ; and it was so directly in opposition to the national prejudices, the arrangement gave rise to forebodings and more dissat- isfaction than could be expected from a people cradled and trained in habits of passive obedience to monarchs of reputed divine origin. The two princes, nevertheless, affected on their accession a cheerful submission to the will of their departed parent, and, for some time after his decease, professed to entertain for each other an unbounded fraternal esteem. But in 1529, four years after Hu- ayna Capac's death, the head cacique, or governor of Canar, the southernmost province of Quito, raising the standard of revolt against Atahualpa, sought and obtained the protection of Huascar. Then a fratri- cidal war ensued, and many severe battles were fought with varied success until the decisive one in 1532. m which Huascar was made a prisoner. Upon this Atahualpa, having confined his brother in the fortress of Xanxa, caused himself to be proclaimed sole Inca at Cuzco. It was at this juncture that Pizarro, who had visited the coast seven years before, reappeared in ibrce, and established himself at Tumbez. The crafty invader soon became acquainted with the true state of the country, and found means to commu- 'Mi ;)^;| w ■ '*\?\t: & t^& - '■"■l,S ^^' ^"'a fM . m1 ^ ■ '""' "ia ^» '■'•■^M ^ si^ m iiii ifii s '•''tS ^^T" •*' "•"'1 wt •|i:|l m. 'mm 1 n: ■iBi-viiiSN : m >/ i 124 INDIANS OF PERU. nicate with the imprisoned Huascar. One of the first results of the discovery of this correspondence was the execution of the imprisoned Inca by order of Atahualpa, who himself, not long after, was put to death at Caxamarca by Pizarro. To conclude this chain of crimes, the conqueror himself, within a few years, was stabbed by an assassin. The Spaniards, reinforced by repeated accessions from Panama, soon spread over the country. The invaders, mounted on animals, until then unknown to the Indians, were regarded as supernatural beings, carrying engines of thunder, lightning, and death in their hands. The fratricidal war had engendered fac- tions, and, under the guidance of some of these, the common enemy was enabled to vra verse immense tracts of country with ease. A vast field of plunder attracted other warlike ad- venturers, and the empire of the Incas was speedily overthrown. The conquerors, surfeited with spoil and power, began to quarrel among themselves, and to kill one another in the field of battle or on the scaffold; so that, of all the first party that arrived, only four or five individuals died a natural death. Mean- while, how much soever the Spaniards might destroy each other, it was the policy and practice of the ruling powers to turn to account the inflamed passions of the aborigines. The Spaniards, accordingly, fomented mutual jealousies among them, countenanced or as- sisted the weakest party, and encouraged rivals to come to blows. Of these petty chiefs some were gained over to assist in subjugating others, for the bond of unity was INDIANS OF PERU. 125 ^m/* gone ; and many of the caciques, having beheld the subversion of the venerated monarchy, aspired to, or re-assumed the independent rule which their ancestors had exercised previous to the amalgamation of their respective tribes or nations with the empire. But these did not long enjoy local sway ; for the Spaniards took especial care to sow the seeds of fresh dissensions, or to fan the embers of discord into flames, until they succeeded in despoiling both parties of authority, in sequestrating the property of most of the caciques, and in disposing of the salable part of it by auction for the benefit, as it was pretended, of the crown. This was the origin of the estates now known by the name of tierras compuestas — composition lands. Such of the Spanish commanders as reduced others of the caciques, received the forfeited estate, or a part of it, as their share of booty. This sort of acquisition was called encomienda, or repartimento ; and the yanaconas, or serfs, were transferred with the land to the new owner. A •great many actas, or original grants of these enco?niendas, with the signatures of Pizarro, Valverde, Caravajal, and others of the Span- ish conquerors, still exist in the archives of Cuzco. When any of the caciques cooperated with the Span- iards in the conquest of a district, the possessions of the vanquished, or a part of them, became the guerdon of such traitorous alliance. The represt#itatives of some of these assistant conquerors preserved, to the last hour of Spanish domination, a shadow of power over a few scattered townships; together with the style and title of " Most noble and faithful Vassals of his Catholic Majesty." They were also called " Ca- ciques of the Blood." IS-,; il} 6 'it* ISl i! f 'i ^1 132 INDIANS Of PERU. ?' Iii''4:». ■W5/ /■■■ pi* * »,. ••I m I'll M ,1 v.'orship of the Sun, as the visible agent of Pachaca- mac, the "soul or upholder of the universe." No sacrifice was ever offered, no worship paid to this un- known First Cause ; but he was, nevertheless, the object of internal adoration, and the name of Pacha- camac was never pronounced without being accom- panied by signs of profound A'eneraticn. The Sun engrossed the adoration of the Peruvians, though the Moon was revered as his wife ; and the Pleiades, with the other stars, acquired a kind of derivative honor, by being considered as her handmaidens and servants. The planet Venus was regarded as the page in wait- ing on the Sun ; thunder and lightning were his min- isters. The rainbow, believed to be an emanation from the sun, was adopted as the armorial bearing by the Incas, and, as well as each of the heavenly bodies we have mentioned, had chambers respectively allotted to them in the temples. The temples erected to the Sun were numerous, and their service was maintained with great pomp and ceremony. The sacrifices instituted in honor of the Sun, consisted chiefly of animals, fowls and corn, and they even burnt their finest cloths on the altar, by way of incense. They had also drink offerings made of maize, or Indian corn, steeped in water. Nor were those oljlations the only acts of adoration in general use among them. When they first drank after their meals, they dipped the tip of their finger into the cup. and lifting up their eyes with great devotion, gave the Sun thanks for their liquor before they presumed to take a draught of it. Beside the worship of the Sun tliey paid some kind INDIANS OF PERU. 133 of veneration to the figures of several animals and vegetables that had a place in their temples. These were generally the images brought from the conquered nations, where the people worshipped all sorts of creatures, animate or inanimate, it being the custom when a province was subdued, to remove all their idols to the temple of the Sun at Cuzco. Temple of the Sun. Exclusive of the solemnities at every full moon, four grand festivals Avere celebrated annually. The first of those, called Razi/.ic, was hold in the month of June, immediately after the summer solstice, and was kopt not only in honor of the Sun, but of their first y t ' ^«; :,:ii •*(* ^Jv ■"<.^. 11? '' ^r M i"* K *■' {>. \<;^ 134 INDIANS OF PERL'. il it, J, il Inc.a, Manco Capac, and Mania Ocllu, his wife and sister, whom the Incas considered as their first parents, descended immediately from the Sun, and sent by him into the world to reform and polish mankind. At this festival all the viceroys, generals, governors and nobil- ity, were assembled at the capital city of Cuzco; and the emperor, or Inca, ofhciated in person as high priest, though on other occasions the sacerdotal function was discharged by the regular pontiff, who was, usually, either the uncle or brother of the Inca. The morning of the festival being come, the Inca, accompanied by his near relations, drawn up in order according to their seniority, went barefoot in proces- sion at break of day to the market-place, where they remained looking attentively towards the east in ex- pectation of the rising sun. The luminary no sooner appeared, than they fell prostrate on their faces in the most profound veneration, and universally acknowl- edged him to be their god and father. The vassal princes, and nobility that were not of the royal blood, assembled in another square, and performed the like ceremony. Out of a large flock of sheep the priests then chose a black lamb, which they offered in sacrifice, first turning its head towards the easi, From the entrails of the victim, on this occasion, they drew prognostics relating to peace and war and other public events. That the Peruvians believed in the immortality of the soul, appears from the practice of the Incas, who constantly taught the people, that on leaving this world they should enter into a state of happiness provided for them by their god and father, the Sun. INDIANS OF PERU. 135 It appears that the Peruvians had a marriage cere- mony, and the marriage obligation was faithfully observed. Notwithstanding the mild character of the Peruvian laws and religion, there was one custom that marked a barbarous state of society. On the death of the Inca, or any great chief, a number of his vassals, in one instance amounting to a thousand, were interred with him, so that he might be served with proper dignity in the other world. There were, also, deposited a portion of his wealth, and many precious and useful articles destined for his use. The opening of these hiiacas, or tombs, has often proved a great prize to European adventurers ; and in one instance, there was found a treasure of gold amounting to no less than 700,000 dollars. The Peruvians indicated their belief in the immor- tality of the soul, not only by their burials, but by cata- combs secured by enduring structures of stone. In the province of Chapapogas, are still to be found conical mausolea, which, as well on account of the solidity of the materials, as the inaccessible sites on which they are erected, display great skill in architecture and ambition for immortality. That they were extremely solicitous on this latter point, is attested by the multitude of mummies, which after a lapse of so many years are to be found in great numbers in catacombs throughout the country. It appears that they had the art of em- balming, and a specimen of their mumm'es, greatly resembling those of Egypt, may be seen in the Mu- seum at Salem. War. — The character of the Peruvians, however it M ' ."^l 136 INDIANS OF PERU. ?.i" w * 1 ' »l i>.^\;" m might have once been otherwise, was averse to war in the time of Pizarro. For this reason, their coun- try fell almost at once, before a handful of invaders. Yet, when roused by the death of the Incas, and the atrocities of the Spaniards, they defended Cuzco with vigor, and displayed a capacity for military tactics, superior to that of the Mexicans. They observed the advantages obtained by the Spaniards by their discipline, and endeavored to imitate it. They armed a body of their bravest warriors, with swords, spears, and bucklers taken from the enemy, and endeavored to marshal them in compact and regular order. Some appeared in the field with muskets which they had taken, and a few of them ventured to mount the cap- tured horses. In order to obstruct the march of cav- alry, they threw among them ropes, with stones at each end, which wound around the legs of the horses, and embarrassed their progress. Science and Arts. — Before the arrival of the Span- iards in America, the Peruvians were acquainted with some points of astronomy. They had observed the various motions of the planet Venus, and the different phases of the moon. The common people divided the year only by the seasons : but the Incas who had dis- covered the annual revolution of the sun, marked out the summer and winter solstices by high towers, which they erected on the east and west of the city of Cuzco. When the sun came to rise immediately opposite to four of those towers on the east side of the city, and to set against those on the west, it was then the summer sol- stice; and in like manner, when it rose and set ai,airist the other towers, it was the winter solstice. They had INDIANS OF PERU. 137 also erected marble pillars in the great court before the temple of the Sun, by which they observed the equi- noxes. This observation was made under the equator, when the sun being directly vertical, the pillars cast no shade. At these times they crowned the pillars with garlands of flowers and odoriferous herbs, and holding festivals, offered to the adored luminary rich presents of gold, and precious stones. They distinguished the months by the moon, and the weeks were called quarters of the moon ; but the days of the week, they marked only by the ordinal numbers, as first, second, &c. They were astonished at the eclipses of the sun and moon. When the former hid his face, they concluded it was on account of their sins, imagining that this phenomenon portended famine, war, pestilence, or some other terrible calamity. In a similar state of the moon, they apprehended that she was sick, and when totally obscured, that she was dy- ing. At this alarming crisis, they sounded their trumpets, and endeavored by every kind of noise to arouse the lunar planet from her supposed lethargy ; teaching their children to cry out, and call upon Mama Qiiilla, or " Mother Moon," not to die and leave them to perish. They made no predictions from any of the stars, but considered dreams, and the entrails of beasts which they offered in sacrifice as instructive objects of divina- tion. When they saw the sun set, they imagined that he plunged into the ocean to appear next morning in the east. Among a people devoid of letters, the speculative essays of the understanding must have been very rude Mm 138 INDIANS OF PERU. Bn. Ai ,-■■ ■-■ - - '■■ 4" ' f vyin and imperfect. They had, however, amentas, or phi- losopliers, who delivered moral precepts, and likewise cultivated poetry. Comedies and tragedies composed by these hards, were acted on their festivals, before the kin{T and the royal family, the performers being the cfreat men of the court, and the principal officers of the army. The amentas also composed songs and ballads, but if we may judge from the rudeness of the music, with which they are said to have been accom- panied, they were far from being agreeable to the pol- ished ear. That the Peruvians were not unacquainted with the arts of painting and statuary, appears from the furniture and ornaments of their temples and palaces; bi.t in all the implements of mechanic arts, they were extremely deficient. Though many goldsmiths were constantly employed, they had never invented an anvil of any metal, but in its stead made use of a hard stone. They beat their plate with round pieces of copper, in place of hammers, neither had they any files, or graving tools. Instead of bellows for melting their metals, they used copper pipes of a yard long, almost of the form of a trumpet. Having no tongs to take their heated metal out of the fire, they made use of a stick, or copper bat. Their carpenters had no other tools than hatchets, made of copper, or flint ; nor had they learned the use of iron, though the country afforded mines of that metal. Instead of nails, they fastened their timbers with cords, or the tough twigs of trees. A thorn, or a small bone served them for a needle ; and instead of thread, they used the sinews of animals or the fibres of some plant. Their knives were made of flint or copper. INDIANS OF PERU. 139 They had no idea of mortiaiiig their wood work together, nor could they give any great degree of sta- biUty or perfection to their structures of timber. Their works in stone, di&pkiy amazing perseverance, and astonishing power, for some of the masses found in their structures, are 30 feet long, 18 wide, and 6 thick. But the several pieces Avere not reduced to any uni- form length, shape, or size. They were joined as they came from the quarries, or fell from the mountains, — some being square, some triangular, &c. They were united by making a hollow in one, which was matched by a corresponding projection in thf other. This opera- tion was performed with such nicety, that at the present day, in the ancient structures at Cuzco, it is impossible to msert a knife-blade into the joints. In the construction of roads they displayed great skill and perseverence. Two public works of this kind, extended from Cuzco to Quito, a distance of nearly 1500 miles. One led through the interior, over moun- tains and valleys, and the other, across the plains along the coast. They were fifteen feet wide, and as no vehi- cles nor quadrupeds, other than the llama, were in use, they were in many parts slightly formed. But in the mountainous regions, elevations were levelled, and hollows filled up, and such was the firmness of the work, that portions remain entire to this day. At proper distances stone houses were erected for the ac- commodation of the Inca and his attendants, in his journeys through the country. The Peruvians were unacquainted with the arch, and therefore they had no bridges resemhling those of the present day. But they made cables of witha 't\ I TV u*.-* < I • '< L^ ^- "^ '*■'♦;- if ' f. •■' »i f8,St, i ■hi,- > ' im' ij 110 INDIANS OP VKRU. juiil tlio fil)ros of tlip alop, and strctcliinfif six of these across a strcnm, tlicy wove tlu> \vliol(» ('oiiipartly to- ;;i>th('r by ropes of Iwi^s. 'IMio ap|)('araMco of these Lridi^os, Avliich boiul wilh tlioir own AV('i<;lil, and wave \\'\\\\ llio wind, was friolitful at lirst, Imt tlio Span- iards liavo found lIxMn tlio easiest mode of crossinjj the nioinilain torrents of Pern. Tlie Peruvians had a n\oro simple contrivance for passino- snialler streams: a Inisket in wliicli the trav- eller was placetl, bcinn; susjiended by a strotiii;' ropo stretched across the river, it was puslied or drawn from one side to the other. The precious metals were possessed in i^rcatiT abundanco by the Peruvians, than by any otlun* |HM)plc of America. They obtained t(n'inined by their relative importance, as Indian corn, barley, peas, &c. Among warlike weapons, the lance claimtnl precedency, after whicli followed the bow and arrow, the club, &c. Accounts of the revenue receipts and the progress of populiition also were kept by means of quipos, and delivered in every moon. In making out the an- nual census from the monthly one.-, llie knots in one string gave the number of males above seventy years of ago, anotlier string, those above si.xiy, and so on; ' » > ^ 1 - » ^ 'fir I 142 INDIANS OF PERU. w Ii: the females were reckoned distinctly; the numbers of widows and widowers, were shown by knots in the supernumerary threads. But the greatest difficulty was experienced in rep- resenting abstract ideas, which, however, was effected by ingenious combinations of knots. Histories were written in this manner, containing not only details of facts, but reflections, also. It is not, therefore, because annals had not been regularly kept, that 'the accounts we possess of ancient Peru are defective, but rather because the first conquerors and their immediate suc- cessors Avere for the most part regardless of every pur- suit but that of gold and glory. The inconsiderate zeal of the priests contributed also to the destruction of the annals of past events ; and a knowledge of the stringed alphabet was consequently lost, or only imperfectly retained in the pastoral reck- onings of the husbandman, whose herds or harvests were too insignificant to tempt rapacity, or were hidden amid the mountains, rocks, or on table-lands, too disuint, or difficult of access to repay the labor of ordinar}'' pillage. General Miller states that, in IS2B being prefect of the department at Puno, he had means of ascertaining the fact, that the quipo was still understood and practised in that district by shepherds. Deprived of the assistance which a knowledge of the historical language would have afforded us, wc are compelled to have recourse to traditions imper- fectly preserved, partly in consequence of the slight knowledge of the Guichuan language over attained by the Spaniards. This will not be surprising when we consider that even Pizarro could not write. Numer- INDIANS OF PERU. 143 ous public documents in the archives of Cuzco, are signed by his ruhrica X, or mark, at the end of his name, which was written by his secretary. The sig- natures of many of his companions are affixed in the same manner to the same documents, whereas the hand- writing of Valverde and of Caravajal is particularly bold and plain. But the principal and best-informed of the Spanish conquerors met an early and violent death in the bloody strife which broke out from time to lime amongst themselves. Very few, indeed, died a natural death, so that those who survived were incom- petent to give an accurate description of the interesting commonwealth they had laid in ruins. The historian Garcilaso de la Vega Inca may be considered an exception. He was the son of a noble Spaniard, who married the grand-niece of Huayna Capac, the eleventh Inca. Born in 1540, he was ed- ucated in Peru, among the relatives of his mother, from whom he learned most of the facts recorded in his Commentaries, and wrote in 1586. According to this historian, the empire of Peru was divided into four parts, called Tavantinsuyu, subdivi- ded into provinces, and governed on the principle of cpulralisation. The adult male population being reck- oned by tens, a decurion, called a chunca camayii, was appointed to watch over the remaining nine, together with their families and household dependants. The next superior ofFicer had the surveillance of five tens, the next of ten tens, the next of fifty tens, and the next of a hundred tens, the highest number compre- hended in this decimal arrangement. The duty of the chunca camayu was to ascertain •:•■■ i\ '?»^i 144 INDIANS OF PERU. the specific wants of the individuals placed under his supervision, to make those wants known to the proper authority, and, on obtaining the required supply, to distribute it. In this manner provision was made of corn to sow or to consume, of Alpaca wool, or cotton for clothing, of materials or manual assistance to repair or rebuild dwellings going to decay, or burned down, or levelled by earthquakes, and for every other requis- ite. He was also expected to denounce the crimes of those under his supervision, and rarely failed to do so, as he was himself made responsible. Justice was ad- ministered in this extraordinary empire with severity and despatch. In the reign of Huayna Capac, a district chief underwent the sentence of death for having caused the land of his kinsman, a cacique, to be tilled out of his turn, and before the laiid of a certain widow. In respect to the judicial system of the Peruvians generally, we can only state that it corresponded to the other institutions of the country. In training the people, the blended code of morality and legislation, was no less simple than beneficial to the greatest number. Three concise precepts formed the foundation of the etlncational system. ^'■Ama sua, ama quella^ ama tlnlla.'' Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not be idle. These expres- sions were used as terms of greeting whenever the Pe- ruvians met or parted, and continued to be so until in 1783 the Spaniards rigorously forbade the interchange of these colloquial expressions, and compelled the abor- igines to adopt the Catholic salutation of "^re, Maria, purissima ! " Hail, Maria, most pure ! which was replied to by " Sin pccado concchida^^^ conceived with- INDIANS OF PERU. 145 under his the proper supply, to ,s made of i, or cotton :e to repair ■ned down, her requis- 3 crimes of id to do so, ice was ad- th severity ac, a district for having to be tilled tain widow. ; Peruvians )nded to the of morality Deneficial to Its formed '^Ama sua, steal, thou ese expres- ver the Pe- so until in interchange d the abor- 4i'e, Maria, which was eivcd with- out sm. An Indian never passed a white man on the highway without giving the orthodox salutation, and if '■'■Ama sua''' was given in reply, which they well understood, they appeared half alarmed, as if consider- ing themselves in danger of being entrapped into a transgression of the law. Agriculture. — In Peru, agriculture, the art of primary necessity in social life, was more exensive and carried on with greater skill than in any part of America. The Spaniards in their progress through the COW- -•'", were so fully supplied with provisions of every k i . : in the relation of their adventures, we meet with '■ of those dismal scenes of distress occa- sioned by famine, in which the conquerors of Mexico were so often involved. The quantity of soil under cultivation, was not left to the direction of individuals, but regulated by public authority, in proportion to the exigencies of the community. Even the calamity of an unfruitful season, was but little felt, for the pro- duct of the lands consecrated to the Sun, as well as those set apart for the Incas, being deposited in the Tambos, or public store-houses, it remained there as a stated provision for times of scarcity. As the extent of cultivation was determined with such provident attention to the demands of the state, the invention and industry of the Peruvians were called forth to extraordinary exertions, by certain de- fects peculiar to their climate and soil. All the vast rivers that flow from the Andes, take their course east- ward to the Atlantic Ocean. Peru is watered only by some streams which rush down from the mountains like torrents. A great part of the low country is sandy J ^\ ) f(' r- ^: ' > 10A ■ &Mr-t til (\ 146 INDIANS OF PERU. im and barren, and never refreshed with rain. In order to render such an impoverished region fertile, the in- genuity of the Peruvians had recourse to various exper- iments by means of artificial canals, conducted with much patience and considerable art. From the tor- rents that poured across their country, they conveyed a regular supply of moisture to their fields. They enriched the soil by manuring it with the dung of sea-fowls, now called guano. The use of the plough, indeed, was not known. They turned up the earth with a kind of mattock, of hard wood. Nor was this labor devolved wholly upon the women. Both sexes joined in performing the necessary work. Even the Children of the Sun set an example of industry, by cultivating a field near Cuzco, with their own hands, and they dignified this subject by denominating it their triumph over the earth. Trade and Commerce. — It docs not appear that trade and commerce were carried on to any great extent in Peru. Cuzco was the chief mart in the empire, and even here, it does not seem that there was any- thing like the busy activity seen on market days in Mexico. This may be explained by the manner in which property was held, and the mode of regulating the industry of the country, which prevented that com- petition in society, which is the result of independ- ence, and individual effort stimulated by the conscious- ness that each person may command the fruit of his industry. Though living in a community as one great family, may produce tranquillity, it can never carry society to its highest pitch of improvement. INDIANS OF PERU. 147 ain. In order fertile, the in- » various exper- conducted with From the tor- they conveyed • fields. They h the dung of ;as not known. L of mattock, of .evolved wholly d in performing Children of the ultivating a field fid they dignified ir triumph over not appear that > any great extent •t in the empire, t there was any- L market days in y the manner in ode of regulating jvented that corn- suit of independ- by the conscious- d the fruit of his mmunity as one ity, it can never iprovement. Cities. — Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Incas, is said to have been built by Manco Capac, in the tenth or eleventh century of our era. In the year 1534, when it was taken by Francis Pizarro, the Spaniards were astonished at the magnificent build- ings which it contained, especially the temple of the Sun. Of this temple, there remain at present, only some walls of singular construction, upon which stands the magnificent Spanish convent of Santo Domingo. The town is built at the foot of some hills in the middle of a wide valley, which has an undulating surface. This valley extends eastward to a mountain stream, the Quilla Camba, and in the lower part is well cultivated, the fields having the advantage of ir- rigation. The houses of modern Cuzco are built of stone, covered with red tiles. Many of them still retain their original walls — the great size of the stones used in their construction, the variety of their shapes, and the excellent workmanship which they display, give to the city an interesting air of antiquity. The cathedral, the convents of St. Augustin, and of La Merced, are very large buildings, inferior in architecture to few in the Old World. Many of the Spanish houses of Cuzco, are the original Peruvian dwellings, fitted up to suit their present masters. "Whole streets of these re- modelled houses are to be seen, the walls of which are almost exactly as they were when the country was conquered. The house occupied by Valdivia, the companion of Pizarro, is still standing. Upon a lofty hill, a little north of the city, are the r MM' 1 1* m \m .'s ; - ym 148 INDIANS OF PERU. ruins of a great fortress of Zarsahuman, many parts of the wall of which are even now in perfect preserva- tion. They consist of stones of extraordinary size, and of polygonal shapes, placed one upon another without cement, but fitted with such nicety as not to admit the insertion of a knife between them. This stupendous work was erected by the Incas for the protection of their capital. Dr. Robertson states, that Cuzco was the only city in the empire of Peru ; but the ruins remaining to this day assure us that the statement is incorrect, and that numerous other towns of great extent were scattered over the country. Of their history, however, we have no definite records. Antiquities. — We have already mentioned the remains of ancient structures at Cuzco and other parts of the country, as well as the huacas. or burial places of the dead. It may be remarked that almost every work of art was destroyed by the rapacity of the Spaniards in their thirst for gold. Pizarro and his associates were less elevated in their views and feel- ings than the conquerors of Mexico. The walls of Cuzco and the ponderous masses of the temple of the Sun, defied their rage, and subsist, though in ruins, to attest alike the energy and power of the Peruvians, and the gothic ravages of the Spaniards. But the royal gardens, once adorned with animals, birds, in- sects, trees, shrubs, flowers, corn, &c., in massive gold and silver, all grouped in natural order, were laid in ruins, and are at present cultivated with wheat and lucerne. Five noble fountains, within the pre- cincts of the temple, were destroyed by the Spaniards, mm.. INDIANS OF PERU. 149 for the sake of the golden pipes which conducted the water in channels beneath the ground ! The remains of the works of the Peruvians still exist, in many parts of the country. Among these, the ruins of the ancient fortress of Ollantaitambo, nine leagues north-east from Cuzco, are among the most astonishing relics of the art and grandeur of the ancient Peruvians. Walls, of great height, and of curious masonry, rising as they recede one above another, with their respective terre-pleins, clothe the side of a steep and rugged mountain, the top of which is crowned by a tower that must have been impregnable. It seems to have contained spacious apartments, from which subterranean passages, now choked up with earth or rubbish, led to several out- works, erected at a considerable distance on the sides, and almost inaccessible summits of neighboring moun- tains, or precipices. Other subterranean works, con- ducted to extensive plains, intersected by the river Tambo, near the confluence of which with the Aqua Callente, are situated the principal buildings and fortifications. The enormous, irregularly shaped, yet highly polished masses of rock of which these structures are composed, have evidently been conveyed from a quar- ry a league distant, on the opposite side of the Aqua Callente. Two of these stones which were mea- sured in 1835, were of the following dimensions, namely, the one thirteen feet eight inches in length, seven feet four inches in width, and five feet eight inches in thickness ; and the other, nineteen feet in length, four feet four inches in width, and four feet ■ ' H' > -fli' 1 'W' ■■.■;■ Ml 150 INDIANS OF PERU. pu « tl" < ,C ( .1* a"- i , .1 1 .t in thickness. It should be added, that the latter lies midway between the quarry and Tambo, having, perhaps, been found too difficult of transport, whilst the other forms part of the tower. It almost surpasses belief, that weights so enormous could have been conveyed across the deep and rapid torrent of Aqua Callente, then lastly fixed with such nice precision, one upon another, without the aid of machinery — for there is no record of the ancient Peruvians having possessed engines suitable for the purpose. It is equally difficult to conjecture how the circular monuments of Celestani were constructed. There are numerous other fragments of Peruvian architecture remaining, of which it would be useless to attempt any enumeration. They are nearly all of a character similar to those already described ; being remarkable, chiefly for their dimensions, and the diffi- culties which must have been overcome by their builders. Worship and defence were the purposes to which they were usually devoted. The remains of the works of the Peruvians, which w'ere constructed for the benefit of agriculture, are still to be found in many parts. The whole of the coast of Peru is a continued sandy desert, with here and there an oasis, or fertile valley. No rain ever visits these spots, and cultivation is, therefore, only effected by artificial means of irrigation. The an- cient inhabitants, as we have stated, had recourse, for this purpose, to numerous subterranean water- courses or conduits, which still remain in many places. In the valley of Nazca, they are about two feet in height, and one in breadth, lined with un- INDIANS OF PERU. 151 cemented masonry and covered with slabs. Most of these conduits are choked up with sand, but some of them remain unobstructed, and supply sufficient water to impart great fertility to the valley, where the vine, which is extensively cultivated, often equals in girth an elm of ten years' growth. How far under ground aqueducts extend, or whence flow the head waters, is not known ; but the works of the Peruvians in this branch of rural economy were wonderful. Every new acquisition to territory, was followed by the construction of azequias, as these channels were called. Their importance may be judged from this fact, that wherever they have become obstructed, and this has occurred in many places, there stretches a parched level, where formerly were fertile fields and meadows. In many provinces of the interior, there are mountains, on the sides of which, artificial terra- ces, faced with rough stone, were constructed, resem- bling those which may be seen on some parts of the Rhone. These terraces rise one above another, to a great elevation, and once produced subsistence for a large population. They are now, for the most part, uncultivated, overrun with useless herbage, and with- out an inhabitant. At Chilca, twelve leagues south of Lima, a village inhabited to this day exclusively by aborigines of un- mixed blood, there are quadrangular pits, containing each an acre, or half an acre of ground. Mr. Stevenson informs us that some of the tribes of wild Indians bury their dead in the house where they live, and then abandon it, building for themselves another, and he seems to think there is reason for . ■ ST . • I' 152 INDIANS OF pert;. supposing, that this was an ancient custom of the country. He adds, that he dug up many of their bones which had been deposited under their houses, and they appeared to have been buried with whatever belonged to them at the time of their death. " I have found," he says, " women with their pots, pans, and jars of earthen ware, some of which are very curious. One kind is composed of two hollow spheres about three inches in diameter ; they are con- nected by a small tube placed in the centre and a hollow arched handle to hold it by, having a hole on the upper side ; if water be poured into this hole till the jar is about half full, and the jar be then inclined first to one side and then to the other, a whistling noise is produced. Sometimes the figure of a man stands on each jar, and if the water is poured down an opening in the head, a similar noise is produced. I saw one of these at the Carmelite nunnery, at Quito, having upon it two Indians carrying a corpse on their shoulders, laid on a hollow bier, resembling a butch- er's tray. When the jar was inclined backwards and forwards, a plaintive cry was heard, resembling that made by the Indians at a funeral. " The jars and other utensils, were made of good clay, well baked, which, with the ingenious construc- tion just alluded to, proves that the Indians were acquainted with the art of pottery. I have also found in these kuacas long pieces of cotton cloth, similar to that which is made by the Indians at the present time, called tocuyo, many calabashes, quantities of Indian com, quinua beans, and the leaves of plantains, feathers from the ostrich, from the plains of Buenos Ayres, and INDIANS OF PERU. 153 different dresses ; spades of palm-wood, jars filled with chiche, which was quite sweet when discovered, and became sour after being exposed to the air for a short time. " I have found small dolls made of cotton, similar in dress to those worn at present by the females of Caja- tamba. It consists of a white petticoat and a piece of colored flannel, two corners of which are fastened on the left shoulder by a cactus thorn, the middle being passed under the right arm, girt round the waist with a colored fillet, and open to the left side down to the bottom, and a piece of flannel of another color, of about two feet square, was brought over the shoulders and fastened on the breast with two large pins of silver or gold called topas. The hair is divided into two side tresses, and these are fastened behind at the ex- tremity, with a colored fillet." The principal motive for digging the huacas, is to search for treasure. Rings and small cups of gold beat out very thin, and about as large as half of a hen's egg-shell, are found there ; and it is supposed that they were worn in the ears, for a small shank is attached to them, like the buttons worn by the Indian females at present. Slips of silver about two inches broad, and ten long, as thin as possible, are also fre- quently dug up. The small pieces of gold which were buried with them, were placed in their mouths. Owing to the nitrous quality of the sand, and to its almost perfect dryness, the bodies are quite entire, although many of them have been buried at least three centu- ries. The cloths are also in the same state of preser- vation, but both soon decay after being exposed to the sun and air. m\ J*^r ;.■■■! ■>^ i% I -, '* •S. I' » I <'^^m t 'r ' '1 ( ^' 'I it f ,^v' fH' I jIM^ 154 INDIANS OF PERU. >i - ■ -J » f V -s *■■■■ Near the village of Supe there are the remains of a large Indian town, built on the side of a rock ; galleries being dug out of it, one above another, for the purpose of making room for small houses. Many remains of these are still visible ; and also, of small parapets of stone, raised before them, so that the hill has the appearance of a fortified place. Other vestiges of towns abound in all parts of the country. Present State of the Peruvian Indians. — Not- withstanding the cruelties and oppressions practised upon the Indians of Peru, they constitute a large portion of the present inhabitants of the country. They present nothing of that fierce aspect, and that untamed and ferocious character, which rendered the Caribs, the Brazillians, and the Indians of Canada, so terrible to European settlers. They have small features, little feet, well turned limbs, sleek, coarse, black hair, and scarcely any beard. Ulloa and Bouguer have re- presented them as sunk in apathy and insensibility ; as beings to whom good and evil fortune, honor or dishonor, life or death, appeared to be all alike. But, though a certain tameness of character may have been generated by their former despotism, it appears that the shy, reserved, and gloomy aspect which they present to Europeans has chiefly arisen from the ex- perience of oppression and accumulated wrongs ; and when it is often said that no expedient can rouse them from their gross ignorance, Mr. Stevenson tri- umphantly asks, what expedient has been employed for that purpose ? The Indians assuredly live in very miserable huts; and they show a wonderful patience under the great- mn INDIANS OF TEKU. 155 est privations ; yet they do not neglect the means of improving their condition ; they are industrious cul- tivators, and often manufacture beautiful fabrics, from very simple materials. Several of them have distinguished themselves in the pulpit, and at the b[ r ; and, when completely at their ease, they nre foi;ni3 ;o talk with even an excess of fluency. Chastity, jsp^-- cially in the married state, is a national virtus ; but they are apt to indulge in too deep potation? of c/rlca, their favorite liquor. They have been convenea lo something which they call Christianity ; thaf i>', ihey celebrate the festivals of the Church by drinki ig enor- mous quantities of chica ; dancing through the streets to the sound of the pipe, with bells fastened to their legs, and cudgels, which they apply to any who attempt to obstruct their progress ; in these devout exercises, sometimes a whole week is consumed. They have, in a good measure, wiped off the charjfe of cowardice, by late achievements in the cause of Old Spain. Yet they retain the deepest and most mournful recollection of the Inca, and in all the remote districts annually celebrate his death by a sort of rude tragedy, accompanied by the mosc meltin.^, strains of national music. The Guichuan, or Inca language, vnl: somo varia- tion, continues to be spoken by ah )iu Iwo thirds of the inhabitants of Peru propei^ Into this language the New Testament was in process of translation, by a native of Cuzco, descended from one of the Incas, who was engaged to undertake this important service, for the British and Foreign Bible Society. We do not know whether it has been finished. Some '^ m O^M ^r- irri. mi^T Sv^oQI ii W^4 i Ss wT'^ W^ -% |L / ISltigl ^1 s iffi i m po f *■ 1 ! i ^m mi 156 INDIANS OF PERU. of the Indians have been sufficiently educated to shine in the legal profession at Cuzco, Lima and Quito, and many also have received holy orders. In the north of Peru, are Indians bearing a strong resemblance to the ancient Incas. They wear the hair cut straight across the forehead, and cropped close behind ; are tall, with good figures, and a com- plexion of tawny yellow ; hair lighter than the com- mon Indians, with a bright expression of countenance. They wear sashes of thin white bark, that fall both before and behind, and have their heads and arms or- namented with the long feathers of the scarlet macaw. The Indians who live in Lima, make fringes of gold and silver lace, epaulettes and embroidery ; some are tailors ; others attend the markets, but very few are servants or mechanics. Some are fishermen, subsisting on fish, maize, and the sugar cane, of which there are plantations. In 1825, Edmund Temple, a young Englishman, went out to Potosi as agent for a mining company formed in London. On his return, he published an account of his travels, and of his residence in Peru, and as he gives some descriptions of the Indians in the mining districts, we offer a few extracts : " The Peruvian Indians are a strong, healthy race, though not very tall, and generally laborious, for every kind of labor is performed by them. In Potosi, how- ever, the miners, all Indians, have acquired a charac- ter for habits of idleness, and a propensity to defraud their employers, which it must be admitted is not alto- gether without foundation, though I think the cause of the evils complained of may be traced to harsh INDIANS OF PERU. 157 treatment, or to unwarrantable exactions of some sort, aggression being as frequent on one side as delin- quency on the other. " I know from experience, that, by proper manage- ment, their faults and the disadvantages arising from them may be guarded against, and in a great degree corrected. A worm, or, if it be thought more appli- cable, the adder, will turn when trod upon, and will then resent the injury ; so has it been with these Indians before now ; but, with kind usage, fair remu- neration for their services, and an impartial conduct towards them, they are perfectly tractable, and may become good, faithful, and willing servants. " During my residence at Potosi I have had occa- sion to employ many Indians as well miners as those of other trades and occupations ; there is no want of hands, as it has been generally supposed, and I can- not say that I have any cause of complaint against them ; they performed the woik for which they were engaged to the best of their abilities, and at the com- pletion of it I paid them their hire. " Sunday, after the hour of early mass, is the cus- tomary time of paying the miners, and all persons employed in the ingenios ; this practice I did not ad- here to, having preferred settling all such matters, so far as I had control, on Saturday evening. *' At the appointed hour they assembled in the court before my office, accompanied sometimes by thoir wives and children, and if I happened to be en- gaged in any business, (despatching the couriers, for instance, when, in the absence or illness of my com- panions, I have been employed many hours of the r Mr J .•{;• *< <( J * 158 INDIANS OF PERU. day * writing' against time,') these people would re- main, without evincing the slightest impatience, and never approach to ask to be settled with till called by name as they stood upon the list of the major-domo. " They always expressed their thanks when they received their wages, upon which subject we never had the most trifling misunderstanding, and only once upon another, namely, upon the subject of a pickaxe that had been stolen out of our ingenio. It was worth fifteen shillings at Potosi, and might have been worth five in England ; but the example, not the value, de- termined me upon giving a color of infinite importance to the case. "After the depredation had been mnde known to me, and when the workmen had assembled to receive their week's wages, two shillings per diem each man, I called them all into my office, merely for the sake of exhibiting myself in the highest possible degree of dignity, ( a clerk never looks so dignified as behind his own counter,) and whilst they stood like culprits in humility before me, with their hats ofT, I sat proudly elevated upon my judgment-seat, with my hat on, and in my hand a pen — a just emblem of my office, it is true, and at the same time calculated to convey terror to the mind of the thief, who knew that, if detected, I should instantly employ it in an applica- tion to the alcade for the infliction of fine and im- prisonment. " When I had fixed the attention of the party, I commenced the dread inquisition. Alas ! many of their forefathers, for crimes of as little note, or even the bare suspicion of them, had been condemned by a INDIANS OF PERU. 159 more horrible inquisition, and before judges less dis- posed to render justice and mercy than their present one, although it will appear that even he was obdu- rately relentless. I put the question, — " * Who stole my pickaxe ? ' — Dead silence, each looked at each, and all looked at me. " ' Who stole my pickaxe, I say ? " " ' Quien sabe ? ' (who knows ? ) said a low voice in the crowd. " ' Who knows ? ' said I ; " why, some of you know ; and I, too, must know, before I pay you one rial of your v/ages.' Theu I proceeded to question each in- dividual by name. " ' Gregorio Medrano, did you steal the pickaxe ? " " No, Senor: " ' Bernandino Marquete, did you steal the pick- axe ? ' " ' No, Senor: " ' Casimiro Chambi, did you ? ' '•' JVo, Seiior: And so on through the whole list with the same profitless result. The Indians, like the lower class of Irish, pre- serve inviolable secrecy respecting their own con- cerns ; an informer is looked upon as a wretch un- worthy to live among honest men, or if permitted to live, is loathed as a demon. Assured, therefore, that I should never succeed in detecting the exact thief, although we all well knew he was one of the party present, I proceeded to judgment upon all of them. " Know, then, hermanos mios, (dear brothers,) that my sentence is this ; that the major-domo do now, n; "f h^ 160 INDIANS OF PERU. 11? immedialely, and on the spot, put into his hat as many grains of mais as there are of you here present ; that those grains shall be all white save one, which shall be black ; and he who draws that black grain shall pay for a new pickaxe.' " Here consternation became general and evident, but, from the natural darkness of the Indian complex- ion, it was impossible to discover the delinquent from any change produced on his countenance by the in- ward workings of his mind. " ' Now, seuor major-domo, shake your hat well — shake, it ! I say, that no suspicion of partiality may be entertained. Let each man in succession put his hand in and take one grain of mais, then withdraw it, taking care to keep his hand shut, and not to open it until ordered so to do.' " This being done, they all stood before me with their right arms stretched out at full length, and the hand firmly closed. " * Now for the detection of the thief! Open ! Que es eso ? (What is all this ?) Major-domo ! what is the reason of this ? ' said I ; for, to my astonishment, every hand was empty. " ' I really don't know, sir ; they must have drawn the grains and swallowed them, for not a single one remains in my hat ! ' said the major-domo, turning his hat-mouth downwards to prove that nothing was there. " Amazement was at its height ; it was evidently a case of britxeria, — witchcraft. Inaquinte Sambrano observed that it was the miraculous interference of Saint Dimas, — the patron saint of robbers, — to prove mmh INDIANS OF PERU. 161 that there was no thief among them. But, notwith- standing my surprise and confusion, I determined that the saint should not keep my pickaxe without paying for it. " I desired the major-domo to give me his hat ; upon examining it the witchcraft was explained. In obeying my orders, ' to shake the hat well,' every grain of maize had absconded through a rent in the crown, and the floor being covered with thick straw matting, they fell upon it unheard. " We therefore proceeded with more caution to a second drawing, when the black bean appeared, on the show of hands, in that of Basil Calamayo, from whose wages I directed the major-domo to purchase the best pickaxe that could be had in Potosi. From that hour I never heard of any pilfering." We do not record this procedure of Mr. Temple as an example of justice. In taking the worth of the pickaxe in the manner he did, from Basil Calamayo, he probably punished an innocent person, and excited the unreasonable fears of the ignorant Indians. Still he seems disposed to tell the truth, and bears testi- mony to their good as well as bad qualities. The following passage speaks volumes in their favor. Mr. Temple might well ask whether, in civilized England, he would have found as elevated examples. " When I have arrived weary and faint at a Peru- vian hut, with what pure feelings of gratitude have I made my acknowledgments to the family, who, from sheer benevolence, have ceded to me the only little store they possessed. Often have I alighted from my horse at an unseasonable hour and asked for K ^yii Ltmr W/. 162 INDIANS OF PERU. milk, offering' dollars. " The answer invariably wa?, ' No hai I no kai, Senor I ' They would not take the trouble of getting it for money. " But when I said, ' I am very unwell, my brother; do me the favor and God will repay you,' my feeble voice, pale cheek, and sunken eye, bearing testimony to what I said, — the sire of the family, or the matron, would mutter something in Quichua, the language of the country, when instantly an earthen ware pipkin would be seized by one of the younger members, who would glide away in pursuit of the flock, and return- ing quite breathless from the haste he used, would present me with the milk, without a question as to the payment. " And this is savage hospitality ! Could I expect more among the most polished people of the earth? Should I always have obtained as much ? " In another place Mr. Temple observes, " I felt no apprehension of losing a single article of my bag- gage ; it had been entrusted to the Indians, and in their charge required neither guards, nor swords, nor pistols, to protect it, or to insure its safe delivery. " On the whole, I believe I am not singular in the opinion that the worst qualities of the Peruvian Indi- ans have been imported, and that their virtues are their own. They possess a peaceable, unoffending spirit, free from even an accusation of those great moral crimes which disgrace civilized nations. " The dress of the men, excepting the hat, which is precisely the shape of Don Quixote's helmet without the niche in it, reminded me of that of the peasantry of Connaught. They wear coarse brown frieze cloth INDIANS OF PERU. 163 breeches, with the waistband very low, and always open at the knees, the buttons being for ornament, not for use. Shirts are seldom worn ; the legs are bare, with the exception of pieces of hide under the soles of the feet, tied sandal-fashion round the instep and toes. " The dress of the female Indians consists of a pet- ticoat, worn much shorter by the unmarried than by those that are married, and a scarf of sundry colors round the shoulders, which is pinned on one side of the chest with a topa, a large silver pin ; but some- times they use a spoon, the handle of which being pointed serves as a pin. " Cholas, those descended from Spanish and Indian parents, are very fond of dress. I have seen them with topas of gold, set with pearls and precious stones of considerable value." J %'. ^^: ^ >. «V Mv - 164 ^'■f It .11 III' *;'"''' 1 *V\ THE AKAUCANIANS. Aratjco, or Araucania, occupies the western slope of the Andes, in the southern part of Chili. Though an elevated district, the soil is fertile, and the climate delightful. It is indeed a beautiful region, and suited to the interesting people who inhabit it. When Chili was invaded by Almagro, the compan- ion of Pizarro, in 1535, he found the country inhabited by numerous tribes possessing a warlike character. THE ARAUCANIANS. 165 y(^m -"•v« nid in this respect, being strongly contrasted with the Peruvians. Disgusted with the hardships he encoun- toreJ, he returned to Peru. Valdivia succeeded him, and after a severe contest of ten years, subdued the greater part of the country, and founded several cities. But he had yet to contend with the Araucanians, a lirave nation of mountaineers, who had made some advances in civilization, and who cherished their liberty as above every other possession. Valdivia marched against them, but he was defeated, taken prisoner, and put to death. The exploits of the Arau- canian leaders, ^Caupolican and Lautaro, have fur- nished an interesting theme for the muse of the Span- ish poet Ercilla. In spite of the efforts of succeeding generals, the Araucanians baffled every attempt to subdue them, and remain to this day in a state of in- dependence, possessing the soil which was the home of their fathers. They have entered into a treaty with the republican government of Chili and even agreed to a kind of union. The Araucanians have introduced some European customs, though they are not greatly changed since the days of Valdivia. They have now horses and horned cattle, and have adopted the rude agriculture of the Spaniards. They have added the musket to their original arms of the bow, arrow and club, but their religious belief, and most of their customs are the same as those of former times. Their complexion is of a reddish brown, though * For the history of the Araucanians, and the Life of Cau- ixilican, see "History of American Indians," and "Lives of Famous Indians.'' 166 THE ARAUCANIANS. E' ",'9..' '•' ? ■''■'^ ' considerably lighter than that of other Indians. They have round eyes, full of expression, flat noses, hand- some mouths, and remarkably even, white teeth. The hair is thick and black, and, growing- to a great length, is twined in tresses around their heads. The men exterminate the beard with great care. They are seldom grey before 60 or 70 years, and baldness or wrinkles are rare at so early a period. They often live to the age of a hundred, retaining their sight and teeth unimpaired. They possess the elements of i high moral character ; generous and faithful, intrepid and courteous, enthusiastic and patient, they seem formed to challenge the admiration of more civilized nations. Dress. — The clothing of the Araucanians is chiefly of wool. The men wear a shirt, vest, and pair of breeches, usually of a greenish blue. They have al.-o a cloak, which they call poncho, consisting of a square piece of cloth of ample length, with a hole in the mid- dle for the head. This garment is often made of fine materials, and some of them are so elegant as to sell for 150 dollars. A broad sash for the waist is common. The head is covered with a cap, or bandage in the form of an ancient diadem. The common people go barefoot. Persons of condition wear sandals and woollen boots of many colors. The dres<=' of the women is a tunic of turquoi^e color, a giidle, and a short cloak, fastened in front, a^ well as upon the shoulders with brooches and buckles. This is without sleeves. Their dress is never varied, except as to diversities of color and finery. They divide their hair in several tresses which float upon THE ARAUCANIANS. 167 f -..' their shoulders. They use a profusion of false emer- alds, necklaces and bracelets of glass, and ear-rings of square pieces of silver. Each finger is also often decorated with a silver rino:. -^^^H!^ ^ ^^^^. Dwellings. — The Araucanians live in scattered villages, in houses large or small, according to the wants of the family. They are usually of mud, but sometimes wholly or in part of stone or wood. Noth- ing beyond ordinary comfort is sought, either in the construction or furniture of the house. Cleanliness is a prevailing virtue. Bathing is common with all classes. The women sweep the houses and courts several times a day and are scrupulous to wash their utensils as soon as used. They are very neat in their persons, — combing their heads twice a day, and every week washing them with soap made from the bark of the quillai. A spot of dirt is not to be seen on the dress of an Arauc; Lilian woman. t.. y ' -Dpll ^■K% i'ijSl *^«K w efJPf A iWm > > :v^4}^^ -■"" ^^ ■ii>^l^ ii^ ajf m 168 THE ARAUCANIANS. mi- 'i liiiiiii Food and Drink. — The principal subsistence of this simple people, consists of several kinds of grain and pulse which they prepare in many ways. Maize and potatoes are their chief articles of food. The lat- ter are among the finest in the world, and no less than thirty different kinds are cultivated. Tliey eat little flesh, and less fish. They live in families, — the mas- ter of the house presiding at the table. Their com- mon drinks are beer and cider. They have feasts and entertainments upon occasions of interest, as funerals, marriages, &c. No pains are then spared to promote festivity. Three or four hundred people are often together at such times, and the entertainment is kept up for two or three days. These revels are frequent throughout the year : the men of property being ambitious to signalize their hospitality in this way. Amusements. — Music, dancing and play constitute their chief sports. They have the same instruments of music, whether for peace or war. These are exceed- ingly harsh, and combined with the singing, produce an effect not unlike that of filing a saw. In their dances they are seen trotting through the rooms with uncouth movements, adapted to their songs. Among their favorite games is that of comican, which greatly resembles chess. The quechu has an affinity to back- gammon. The youth exercise themselves in running, wrestling and other gymnastics, all of which are imi- tations of war. Religion. — The Araucanians acknowledge a su- preme being whom they call Pillau, meaning the Supreme Essence. They give him the titles of THE ARAUCANIANS. 169 Spirit of Heaven, the Great Being, the Thunderer, the Creator, the Omnipotent, the Eternal, the Infinite. His universal government is a prototype of t eir civil policy; he is considered the great toqui c ihe invisi- ble world, and as such he has his ulmcnrs, or assist- ants, to whom he commits subordinate affairs. These ulmenes constitute the inferior deities, which are nu- merous, descending even to the grade of household gods and familiar spirits. The people are supersti- tious, believe in divination, and pay great attention to omens. The Araucanian warrior, who fearlessly faces death in a battle, trembles at an unseasonable meeting with an owl. Many of them believe in ap- paritions, phantoms, and hobgoblins ; but their wise men laugh at these follies. They have no temples or idols, and offer no exte- rior worship to their gods, though, in cases of calami- ty, they sacrifice animals and burn tobacco, as a grateful incense. They believe in the immortality of the soul, and that after death, they all go to a country toward the sea, which is divided into two parts ; one of which, the abode of the good, is filled with everything that can delight the heart ; the other, the habitation of the wicked, is a desolate region, where disease, want, and poverty prevail. Their funerals are occasions of great ceremony. The dead body is laid out in its best dress, and during the night which follows its decease, the relatives, with those who come to console them, pass around it weep- ing, eating and drinking. After two or three days the body is borne by the principal relations to the burial place. It is there laid on the ground, and m .1 w 1 '» ■ ■^ ;.j.. S| 4 ^^i; n m m§i ..•■* -,..;t^K;i*.^n 170 THE ARAUCANIANS. being supplied with implements and provisions, it is covered with earth and stones, arranged in a py- ramidal form. The attendants then take leave with many tears, wishing the departed a prosperous jour- ney. Medicine. — The medical practice of the Arauca- nians is blended with superstition. They have some physicians, who are skilful herbalists ; there are oth- ers whose process of cure is a mere incantation. This is performed at night, in the sick room, lighted with torches, and consists of various mummeries. Government, &c. — The country of Arauco is di- vided into four districts, each bemg governed by a hereditary ruler, called toqui. These are confederat- ed together, for their mutual benefit, both in peace and war. Particular portions of these districts are governed by inferior chiefs, also hereditary, who befir the name of uhnenes. When war is declared, tlie toquis elect a general among themselves, or the peo- ple at large, and he assumes the command. Their arms are spears, shields, bows, arrows, clubs, and of 'late years, the musket. When they set forth on an expedition, each man merely carries a small bag of parched meal, trusting that, ere long, they will be comfortably quartered on the territory of the enemy. Their leaders have shown great military talent, as well in the planning as the conducting of their cam- paigns ; and the common soldiers display a courage and daring which no nation has ever surpassed. Never haA'e the Araucanians been known to sue for peace, and tliC terms of accommodation between thorn and the Spaniards have always boon dietatod by the mountaineers. THE ARAUCANIANS. 171 The chief towns of the country are Arauco, Tarbul and Tucapel. These, however, are mere villages, perched on the top of almost inaccessible rocks. The Araucanian Warrior. abode of the principal cacique in one of these towns was, a few years since, a thatched house, with mud walls, sixty feet long, and twenty broad. In the rear, throughout the whole extent, was a series of stalls, used for sleeping apartments. Polygamy prevails among the chiefs and wealthy men. The hard labor is generally performed by the women, who plough, sow, and reap. They also [i if. 172 THE ARAUCANIANS. \ ' weave the ponchos, which are the chief manufacture of the country. Marriage is always celebrated with a show of violence, for, even after her consent is obtained, the bridegroom conceals himself on the road, and as the bride approaches, he seizes her and carries her off. This pantomime is carri'ed through with great dramatic effect on both sides. The bridegroom then takes the bride to his house, where friends are collected and an entertainment suitable to the joyous occasion, is provided. Oratory, &c. — The Araucanians have no books, and no other literature than what is found in their tradi- tions. Oratory, however, is held in high estimation, and cultivated with success. The son of a chief who has not this gift is thought to lack an endowment proper to his rank. Some of them understand Span- ish, but they are careful to avoid the corruption of their own language by the intermixture of foreign words. Their taste in composition is exceedingly critical, and the common people will often stop a pub- lic speaker, to correct him in his language. They have their poets who are called Qtiempin, lords of speech. These are guided only by the impulse of the imagination. Their effusions are chiefly allegori- cal, and are generally devoted to the exploits of their heroes. They are full of lively images and startling metaphors, and appear to possess the arc of moving the sensibilities of those to whom they are addressed. They use blank verse of eight or eleven syllables — measures which are always pleasing to the ear. Rhymes are sometimes introduced. The Araucanians are a proud race ; believinj^; them* THE ARAUCANIANS. 173 selves the noblest of their kind, they despise the rest of the world. Their kindness is easily won ; but their anger is also speedily roused. Contempt they never forgive. To each other they are full of kindness, and their complaisance even runs to excess. Not a beg- gar, or indigent person, is to be found in their whole territory — all are decently clad, and. the natural hos- pitality of the people banishes want from the land. A stranger is welcome among them, and a traveller may go from one end of the country to another, without expense. i: C. m -'M I -1— * 174 THE ABIPONES. The Abiponians are one of the most remarkable of the original tribes of America. They formerly occu- pied the province of Chaco, a large tract in the centre of Paraguay. Being disturbed by a branch of their people, the Mokoby tribe, they went enstward in 1770, and founded the colony of Las Garzas, under the protection of the Spaniards. Here they have retained nearly their original character, in spite of th3 efforts of the Catholic missionaries tc convert them. According to the account of the Jesuit missionary, Dobrizhoffer, the Abipones are an interesting and ex- traordinary people. They are a well made, tall and hand.some race, with faces of the European form, and ' . \ 4 J " t J, THE ABIPONES. 175 a skin quite light colored. Their bodies are robust, and capable of enduring" the greatest extremes of hunger and fatigue ; their vigor endures even till old age, and a man of a hundred years may be often found who can leap on his horse, and continue riding for several hours. The teeth and sight continue un- impaired, and if a person dies at eighty, he is thought to have come to an untimely end. The Abipones have strict notions in regard to dress, deeming it unseemly to go naked. They use a square piece of linen thrown over the shoulders, con- fining it to the body, and above this they wear a mantle, also of linen, tied under the chin. The men have the beard and eyebrows plucked out by old wo- men, with a pair of horn tweezers. They shave their heads, leaving a circle of hair. Bulh sexes are tnitooed with ineffaceable black dye. The face, arms, and other parts of the body are decorated with various figures. This process, which consists of pricking the liquid into the flesh by means of thorns, is exceeding- ly painful, and performed by old women. The girls, at a marriageable age, are obliged to submit to this torture, and if they shrink they are jeered into com- pliance. The greater the number of figures a wo- man displays, tbo bigher is her rank in the scale of fashion. The men wear ear-rings, and the women adorn their necks with strings of vanilla seeds, and beads of gum. The Abipont^s make considerable use of the flesh of animals taken in the chase. They are said to be fond of tiger's flesh, and to dnuk melted fat from the body of that animal. They reject mutton, fish, eggs ^di - ; ml i: i .14': m II ■Jfr/H -. ..r-< ! 176 THE ABIPONES. and other things of the kind, as producing sloth of body, and cowardice of soul. They make bread of the manioc or cassava, and take their meat almost raw. These people live in houses made of poles thatched with mats. They frequently remove from place to place, usually travelling on horseback. The wife's horse is generally loaded with her husband's bow and quiver, as well as all the pots, gourds, jugs, shells, and other furniture, together with the infant, if there be one. In crossing rivers, they frequently take hold of the tail of the horse and are thus drawn over. They sometimes make a boat of a bull's hide, for the purpose of transporting their baggage. They are unacquainted with spades, ploughs, and axes. The women spin threads of bark, which are formed into cords, nets, and coarse cloths. They use thorns for pins and needles. Of the caraquata they obtain soap and sugar. The women, also, mould pots and jugs, of earth, make combs of bristles, and harnesses, horse cloths, carpets, and wrappers of the skins of the jaguar. Their religious notions are ob- scure ; they believe in an evil spirit, and call the con- stellation of the Pleiades their grandfatb ■••■, They have many superstitions, and jugglery is largely practised among them. In wai the Abipones are in the highest degree savage and ferocious. They are among the most dexterous horsemen in the world, seeming to rival the Camanchees in their equestrian feats. Upon a march they proceed with amazing rapidity, crossing rivers, and deserts, and astonishing their enemies by bursting THE ABIPONES. 177 suddenly upon them.=^ On going to battle, they often strip themselves naked, as if to express con- tempt of the weapons of the enemy. Their govern ment consists in dividing the people into several hordes, each of which is headed by a chief, who ex- ercises magisterial authority. The number of the tribe is now greatly reduced, there being scarcely more than 5000 of the pure blood. * For a further account of these people, see " Famous In- dians," article, Ychoalai. _f^A SS.- .' I vM.^yi 'y ,4 r't:-:^^ .' 1 pr,; ',*' '^ v:f.;.'" mg rivers, '.^»■v■■;-Jl mi 'iiiff 178 ^ ^ I'Vi !! VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. w Head of a Patagonian. Patagonia, the southern portion of South Ame- rica, is still ill possession of the .jinal tribes, who remain to this day a race of savages. They are expert horsemen, pursuing and cnt.diing the rhea, or Americnn ostrich, as well as wild cattle, with the lasso. Thev are of large stature, and for a long pe- VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 179 riod were deemed a race of giants. They dwell in miserable huts, go half naked, and feed on flesh and vegetables, scarcely cooked. They believe in an in- visible god whom they call lochu, the Unseen. They believe the sick possessed of demons, and the physi- cians beat drums about them, to exorcise the evil spirits. They often bury the dying before the breath of life has departed. The Fuegians, who dwell around the chill and stor- my coasts of Terra del Fuego, are a miserable and squalid race, living chiefly on fish. They are of a low grade of intellect, and seem debased both in body and mind. Though their atmosphere is filled with sleety rain a great part of the year, they go half naked, and their habitations are frail tenements of sticks, bark and earth. The Gauchos, who inhabit the wild surface of the Pampas of La Plata, and appropriate to themselves the countless herds that roam over them, are a singular race. They are Europeans, who have lived so long as hunters, apart from civilized society, that they have became almost mere savages. They are a great part of the tim.e on horseback, and are so little accustomed to the use of their feet that they can hardly walk. Their vigor in the chase is almost supernatural. The houses are cottages of mud, and infested with vermin. Many of them are robbers, and woe to the traveller \'.ho falls in their way. The Indians of the Pampas are still somewhat nu- meroi - . and are even more savage than Gauchos. The two ra'«^s maintain desperate hostilities with each other. The savages are finely mounted, and post- "^!is ''^:' 1 J * > i 4f. '■I 180 VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. \ti:.: sess the vigor of character belonging to their Arauco blood, of \vh^ h they are descended. They delight in midnight surprises, butchering the men and carry- ing off the girls for wives, who, in this capacity, are kindly treated. The Indians of Brazil are in a much more uncivil- ized state than those of the former Spanish territories. They have never been incorporated with the Eu- ropean population, but have usually retired, before the march of civilization, into the depths of the forests. The missionaries have done something for a few of the tribes, and these have adopted the fashion of covering the body. But none of them cultivate the soil, or have tame animals. They subsist solely upon the spontaneous products of natur*^ ; they dig up roots, and use the arrow with amazing dexterity. They eat monkeys, and it is said, human flesh. VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 181 As among other savages, some most uncouth cus- toms prevail. The Botocudos, who inhabit the back settlements of Porto Seguro, have a favorite mode of ornamenting themselves by what is called the botogue. This consists of large pieces of wood pendent from the ears and the under lip, to which they are fastened by holes made for that purpose. The result is that the ears are stretched till they hang down, like wings, sometimes to the shoulders, while the lip is made to project, and half the lower teeth are protruded in the processes of eating and speaking. They sometimes also paint themselves frightfully, the body black and the face red, probably to strike terror into the hearts of their enemies. The Puries, Pataches, Macha- caries, with sundry other tribes, of name and aspect equally uncouth, have the same general character, with sundry fantastic peculiarities belonging to each. Along the banks of the Orinoco, there are still va- rious tribes, which seem to have made small advances in civilization. Some of these believe that their fa- thers grew upon a tree ; and one of the rudest tribes among them, the Othomacas, suppose themselves de- scended from a pile of stones upon the top of a huge rock. At death they suppose they all return to stone, as they came from it. It is one of their odd customs to give, for a first marriage, a young girl to an old man, and a youth to an old woman ; for they say if the young people came together there could be no g:ood household management. Polygamy is not prac- tised among them. Their color is of a yellowish cast, inclining to cop- per, and their long coarse hair grows low down on ■ ■•. '!;:4J*i' ^r 1 'r. ,! ^■{'i'S.-Ja-*- '^ 1 iiii /4r m. ii i '■%: .».-. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) ,^ :\ \ ^A, °:^k ^^ 'C^^^ ^^^ 6^ 'o ,.*^ ,V4 :^^ i f/i >. 182 VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. I their foreheads ; their noses are said to be sharp at the point, as of a person worn out by illness. They have large mouths and thick lips, with eyes black, melancholy and inexpressive; their general air is heavy and sad. Mr. Semple, a late traveller, gives a description of some parties of Indians he saw going to seek for work in the coffee plantations, where they were employed in picking the berries ; the men were strong, though not so well limbed as the Indians of North Ameri- ca. Some of them, he observes, " while they rested their burthens, amused themselves by blowing into a species of flute, one of the rudest ever sounded by the human breath. The sound was like that of the wind sighing in the forest or among rocks — some- times rising almost to a scream, and then dying away almost to a whisper. This alternate rise and fall constituted the whole of the music, which, except- ing the drum of the negroes, consisting of a solid piece of wood beat by two sticks, was the rudest 1 ever heard. It seemed, however, to afford infinite sa- tisfaction to those for whose ears it was designed ; they listened in silence, and when the performers reached the height of screaming, all eyes were turned towards us, to see if we were not yet touched by such masterpieces of melody." These people travel over mountains and valleys more than a hundred miles, to Caraccas, with poultry, in huge basket cages, made of canes and rushes, some of them six feet high. They have a conical top, di- vided into five or six stages, full of fowls, monkeys and parrots. They carry them on their backs, sup- VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 183 ported by a broad strap, which goes over the forehead. The boys begin with small cages, gradually increas- ing their size and weight, until they are able to carry the largest. When arrived at this point there is great exultation among them. The nations on the banks of the Maranon and Ori- noco, are acquainted with a poison called Wourali, in which they dip their arrows employed in hunting, and if they only pierce the skin, the blood fixes and con- geals, and the strongest animals fall motionless ; but the flesh may be eaten with entire safety, and retains its native relish and flavor. The chief ingredient of the poison is the juice extracted from the root of the curaCy a kind of shrub. In the other parts of South America, they use the Manchenille which operates with the same activity. The Caries. — When Columbus, in 1493, di.xovered the beautiful cluster of islands, called the Antilles, they were the abode of the Caribs, a people who were regarded almost as demons by the gentle and effemin- ate Indians of Cuba, and the adjacent islands. They weie indeed warlike, and, to their enemies, ferocious. They were also cannibals, and followed other revolt- ing practices of savage life. They were, however, further advanced in the arts than the other inhabitants of the West Indies, and possessed in a higher degree the moral and intellec- tual elements of civilization. They had houses, called carbets, set on posts, and thatched with leaves of the plantain. These were divided into rooms, according to the wants of the family. They had boats with sails, forty feet in length ; they fabricated hammocks ':*« ' ^.r, 1 '^ "I I- 'I ■.it.*' jl WW 184 VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. of cotton cloth, nicely fitted and highly ornamented ; they made bread of the manioc ; had seasonings of pimento and lemon juice for their meats w^hich were well cooked ; and possessed the art of making intoxi- eating beverages. They manufactured cotton, but not to cover the body, for they went naked. They deco- rated their persons with metallic ornaments, and their heads with feathers. Painting the body was univer- sal. Even when a person died, his corpse was painted red, and the mustaches were rendered peculiarly black and shining. In war they used poisoned arrows. Their love of liberty was indomitable. Their con- querors attempted to reduce them to a state of slavery, but they chose rather to die, than to submit to such servitude. Under continued wrongs and oppressions, they dwindled away, and have faded from the islands where they were first discovered, and to which they gave their name. The whole race was supposed to have perished, but Humboldt discovered that some of the Indians on the Orinoko, are of this stock. These are described as a fine race, with figures of a reddish copper-color, resembling antique statues of bronze. They shave a great part of the forehead, which gives them somewhat the appearance of monks ; they wear only a tuft on the crown. They have dark, intelligent eyes, a gravity in their manners, and in their features an expression of severity, and even of sadness. They still retain the pride of a conquering people, who, be- fore the arrival of the Spaniards, had driven before them all the native tribes in that part of the continent. A great proportion of them, however, have now been civilized in a surprising degree by the missionaries, who exercise over them an almost absolute sway. VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 185 Each holiday they present themselves, loaded with offerings of almost every kind which can be acceptable to the priest ; and after divine service, those of both sexes, who have been guilty of any offence, receive in his presence a sound whipping, which they bear with exemplary patience. They cruelly torment their children by imprinting on them the barbarous orna- ment produced by raising the flesh in stripes along the legs and thighs. They are free, however, from the equally savage practice of flattening the head by compression, which is general among the other tribes of the Orinoco, the specimens of whose shown as destitute of forehead, are merely crania, skulls shaped between planks. In this country occur the caste of Albinos, with white hair, of weakly and delicate constitution, low stature, and very effeminate character : they have large eyes, and are so very weak-sighted, that they cannot endure the rays of the sun, though they can see clearly by moonlight. m. ' Its .AjJ^. y^o^ifO^ i. 'ilaf 186 1 THE ATLANTIC TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA. The country east of the Mississippi, from Florida to Hudson's Bay, was in the possession of various tribes of Indians, when the first English settlement was made at Jamestown, in 1607. Their number has been variously estimated from 500,000 to 4,000,000. In the space of a little more than two centuries, they have been swept away, with the exception of a few insignificant remnants. Most of the tribes are entirely extinct, and are without a name, except in the pages of the historian. A few have receded before the tide of civilization, and their descendants are found scat- tered throughout the Great Valley of the West. The most celebrated of these eastern tribes, were the Massachusetts, who occupied the shores of the bay which bears their name, and were resident at the places now known as Salem, Charlestown, Lynn, and the islands of Boston harbor: the Pokanokets, the Narragansetts of Rhode Island, the Pequots of Con- necticut, the Five Nations of New York, embracing the Mohawks, Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas and Canan- daiguas, the Delawares of the Middle States, the Yem- assees of the Carolinas, and, farther south, the Cataw- bas, Cherokees, Creeks, and Chickasaws. There were many other tribes, and some of considerable im- portance, but these we have named, chiefly figure in the early history of the country. THE ATLANTIC TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA. 187 These Indians were all in the strictest sense sava- ges. They had none of them the slightest knowledge of the use of iron, nor had they any tame animals. Their government was of the simplest form, and their arts extended no farther than to supply them with the common necessaries of life. Their religion was a crude superstition, embracing the general idea of a Great Spirit, with notions of many inferior divinities. Their dwellings were rude tenements, made of poles, thatched with leaves, or covered with skins. They had no towns, and no commerce. Yet these people appeared to live for the most part a life of ease, in the midst of abundance, enjoying the wild pleasures of savage life. Around the heads of bays, and along the banks of rivers, where fish were plentiful, and where also the deer was abundant, they seemed to collect in swarms. In other parts of the country, they were more scattered, and there were some considerable districts entirely uninhabited. In two respects the American Indians were a very remarkable race. There is a striking resemblance throughout the whole family, from Labrador to Pata- gonia. There is no other example of a population so widely spread, which bears such uniformity of form and aspect. At the same time, these people seemed to be peculiarly unchangeable in their physical char- acteristics. Even those who remain among us, the descendants of the Penobscots and the Mohicans, though degraded by imbibing the vices of civilized so- ciety, have still the same general aspect as their pro- genitors two centuries ago. Wherever you meet an Indian, you are struck with a look of mingled mystery m *-3 i'V - . »l . . f-hi>- < • ' J* , ) i^i^ 188 THE ATLANTIC TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA. and melancholy in his countenance, a peculiar lofti- ness in his bearing, and a taciturnity which it is diffi- cult to overcome. The tribes that remain in the West possess the same aspect and the same physical attributes as their fore- fathers. They have also many customs which have come down to them from their ancestors. Yet most of them have undergone serious modifications in their modes of life. Nearly all have obtained horses from the white people, and some of them are rich in these animals. Most of them have fire-arms, and instead of skins for clothing, they get blankets and cloths from the whites. They have also knives, beads and trinkets of various sorts, which they obtain from the white traders. They are ell savages, however, except the Creeks, Choctaws and Chickasaws, who have partially adopted the habits of civilized life. We propose now to give a general view of the savage tribes of North America, chiefly as they were between one and two centuries ago. We shall then present a separate sketch of the leading tribes, noticing some of the striking customs of each. 189 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE SAV- AGE TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA. I-" .he ^ » S'r«S General View. The aspect of the North American Indians is grave, even to sadness ; at the same time they are modest and respectful; and, however ignorant and degraded, there is about them a native dignity that commands respect. They are, in general, near the height of Europeans. There is among them a great 190 INDIANS OF NOKTH AMERICA. uniformity of color, which is compared to that of cop- per, but they may be said to be nearer the complexion of well smoked ham. Among their prominent fea- tures are high cheek bones, with the face, in the line below the eyes, uncommonly wide ; long, sleek, black hair, finer than a horse's mane, but much resembling it. A beard was universally considered disgraceful, and was plucked out with great perseverance. Mr. Jefferson says, he has seen an Indian beau with a look- ing-glass in his hand for hours together, pulling out every hair upon the chin he could discover. Their forehisads were almost invariably retiring. They were remarkably straight and well limbed, and a deformed person was rare among them. Health was generally enjoyed by all; they were capable of enduring great fatigue and severe hardships. The Indian has been truly called " the Stoic of the woods, the man without a tear." It has been said, that in amputation and other surgical operations, their nerves do not shrink or show the same tendency to spasm with those of the whites. When a savage, to explain his insensibility to cold, had reminded the white man how little his own face was affected by it, in consequence of constant exposure, he added, " my body is all face." Many of them lived to a great age, but none of them were much esteemed unless they had great bodily strength. When parents or relatives became old, and infirm, it was considered as an act of mercy for the nearest of kin to release them from the sorrows of life. They did not allow themselves to be hurried in their words and actions, by an intemperate warmth, except in cases of hatred to their enemies, which i» INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 191 sometimes carried them to excess. The best trained courtier has not a countenance so inaccessible to the displays of emotion as the Indian. If he is absent many months in war, or hunting, and is met by his wife and children on his return, he con- tinues on homeward, without taking the slightest notice of them ; and when arrived at his hut, he sits down and smokes with an aspect of entire unconcern. It may be several hours before he relates what has happened, although a father, brother, or son may have been left dead on the field. Should he, in hunting, go many days without food, and call at the hut of a friend, he takes care not to show the least impatience at his famishing condition, lest he should be wanting in fortitude, and be called a woman. An Indian seldom jests, and generally speaks low and under his breath ; loquacity he deems an indica- tion of being a trifling person, whose deeds are so much less, just in proportion as his words are more. If you tell him that his son has taken many scalps, he says, " It is well;" — if his son is slain, he says, "It does not signify ; " and yet, notwithstanding this, there are many proofs of parental and filial affection, that vie with those in the cherished tales of antiquity. If an Indian has a friend in danger of being killed, by some one to whom he is obnoxious, he does not tell him so in plain words, but he asks, in an indiffer- ent manner, what way he is going that day ; then with the same indifference he tells him, a dog lies near that spot that might do him harm, and the hint proves sufficient. Their politeness never allows them to contradict a statement ; so that it is often difficult to know what impression is made on their minds. . "- ■■Mm 192 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. St'/ I ! i 'I As a general custom the women are the drudges of the community — bringing home their game — per- forming the out-door labor of their simple agriculture, ice. They also prepared the ordinary food and be- verage in use among them, and took care of the chil- dren, of whom the fathers had no charge. While the women were invariably the slaves of the men, still the servitude was less oppressive with some tribes than with others. From a happy conformation, their con- finements detained them but a few hours from their laborious occupations. The newborn infant is soon placed on a board, stuffed with moss ; it is laid on its back and wrapped in skins to keep it warm, and se- cured with small bent hoops fastened with strings. It is then hung to the branches of trees, or a stump, post, or stone, while the squaws go on with their labor. When they are taken out, the boys go naked ; the girls wear a shift or short petticoat. The Indians in walking are remarkable for placing one foot in a right line before the other, and seldom turn their toes from that line. When several are tra- velling together, they walk in a line, one after another, or what is called "Indian file." Mr. Flint says, " We have frequently seen the husband and wife, the mother and daughter, the father and son, and even two equals in age, walking together, apparently engaged in earnest conversation, but never advancing abreast." Among the tribes who have horses, the women ride astride, and sit with their knees bent, a custom which makes them walk badly. The habits of minute observation, cultivated by their mode of life, are well illustrated by the following INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 193 anecdote. A hunter belonging to one of the western tribes, on his return home one day, to his hut, discov- ered that his venison, which had been hung up to dry, had been stolen. After making observations upon the spot, he set off in pursuit of the thief, whom he tracked through the woods. Having gone a little distance, he met some persons of whom he enquired if they had seen a little old lohite man, with a short gun, accompanied by a small dog with a short tail. They replied in the affirmative ; and, upon the Indian assuring them that the man thus described had stolen his venison, they desired to be informed how he was able to give such a minute description of a person he had not seen? The Indian replied thus, "the thief I know is a little man, by his having made a pile of stones to stand upon, in order to reach the venison from the height I hung it standing on the ground ; that he is an old man, I know by his short steps, which I have traced over the dead leaves in the woods ; and that he is a white man, I know by his turning out his toes when he walks, which an Indian never does. His gun I know to be short by the mark the muzzle made in rubbing the bark of the tree on which it leaned ; that his dog is sviall I know by his tracks ; and that he has a short tail, I discovered by the mark it made in the dust where he was sitting at the time his master was taking down the meat. Dress. — Before the arrival of the Europeans in America, the usual dress of the Northern Indians was composed of the skins of wild beasts, which were dressed with great care, and made into robes, petti- coats, trousers and blankets. In summer their clothing •s^-m v>t>v ;■'-■.., ill ' 'MM :*■'. .1 '■ "•■■, v.- ■ ■yr-^.^ vv':'.! >••" ■ , .t 194 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. hung loosely about them, and was, by the men, often laid entirely aside ; but in winter they wrapped their garments closely about their waists. Upon their feet they wore shoes without heels, generally made of moose-hide or buckskin, and called moccasins. These were fitted tightly to the shape of the foot, and were gathered at the toes and ankles, and fastened with thongs. In winter they wore snow-shoes, consisting of a net-work of deer skin thongs, upon a frame-work of small sticks. Upon the loose edges of the skins which formed their clothing, they fastened porcupine- quills, and often even the scalps of their enemies. The common dress of the women, who paid great re- gard to the claims of modesty, was a shift of leather, INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 195 which covered the body, leaving the arms bare ; and a Snom-shoes. petticoat of the same material, reaching from the waist to the knees. The Virginian and other Southern Indians, dressed in much the same manner with those of the north, ex- cepting that they were obliged to adapt their dress to the gTeater heat of the climate. In the hottest parts of summer, very little clothing of any sort was used. In later times, furs and skins have gone very much out of vogue, giving way to the cloths and cottons of the manufacture of the whites. The garment now usually worn by the men is a figured cotton shirt ; the women wear petticoats of the same material. Blank- ets and leggins of blue, red, and green cloth, are in ordinary use by both sexes. The Indians have always displayed a great taste for personal decorations, and have perhaps, as much vanity in respect to their necklaces of fishbones, and earrings of sea shells, as the fashionables of Broadway lor their laces and silks. The quantity and beauty of their ornaments depended not only upon the rank 196 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. \ VI If t' Pi or business of the wearer, but upon the tribe to which he belonged, as well as upon his ambition to wear and his power to obtain. The hair was sometimes braided and decorated with small ornaments of silver ; some- times it was filled with plumes and feathers, and often cut and fashioned into fantastic and whimsical shapes. The northwestern tribes shave the hair entirely off the head, considering it a point of chivalry, however, to leave a tuft on the top, so tliat, in war, if the more difficult part of capturing is accomplished, the busi- ness of scalping may be easily performed. Necklaces, arm-bands, wrist-bands, broaches, and buckles, made of beads, shells and silver, are very commonly used. The Indians of some tribes, upon festive occasions, fasten brass bells and thimbles around their ankles, which produce a tinkling noise, and thus attract the attention of spectators. Ear-rings of bone, sea-shells, and stone, are very common ; they formerly wore pendants in the nose, made of silver, and re- sembling a dollar in size and shape. This ornament, which was once indispensable to a fashionable Indian's toilet, has lately gone almost entirely out of fashion. The use of paint and grease, by the Indians, can hardly be said to have been solely for the purpose of ornament, for a permanent coat over the whole skin was generally formed by their mixture, serving as much the purposes of utility as of decoration. It de- fended the body from cold, and from the numerous insects which fill the forests in summer ; and helped to preserve the strength of the warrior or hunter, by checking perspiration. Tattooing consists in making gashes in the flesh, i'te •%*(*"5*f^ ^_ INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 197 with some sharp instrument, and then filling them with some indelible dye or ink, so as to make images permanent through life. The figures thus formed, vary according to the fancy of the individual. The necessity of watchwords is, by this means, some- what removed, as most of the tribes had one figure in common, called their totem^ by which all the mem- bers were at once known. Foppery in dress is almost entirely confined to the men, the women being usually modest and sim- ple in their attire. Mr. Flint gives us the following description of an Indian dandy. "A young Indian warrior is notoriously the most thoroughgoing beau if ■ i • , — <\ ' ■*,,t}' 198 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. ijift-i (•&,, in the world. Broadway and Bond street furnish no subjects that will spend as much time, or endure as much crimping and confinement, to appear in full dress. We think that we have observed such a char- acter constantly employed with his paints and his pocket-glass, for three full hours, laying on his paints and arranging his tresses, and contemplating, with visible satisfaction, from time to time, the progress of his attractions. The chiefs and warriors, in full dress, have one, two, or three clasps of silver about their arms, and generally jewels in their ears. Paint- ed porcupine quills are twirled in their hair. Tails of animals hang from the head behind, or from the point where they were originally appended to the animal. A necklace of bears' or alligators' teeth, or claws of the bald eagle, or common red beads, or, wanting these, a kind of rosary of red thorns hangs about the neck. From the knees to the feet the legs are ornamented with great numbers of little, perforat- ed cylindrical pieces of silver, or brass, that tinkle as the person walks. If to all this, he add an Ameri- can hat, and a soldier's coat, of blue, faced with red, over the customary calico shirt, he steps firmly on the ground, to give his tinklers a simultaneous noise, and apparently considers his appearance with as much complacency, as the human bosom can be supposed to feel." Habitations, Furniture, &c. — The dwellings of the American Indians, both Northern and Southern. were so much alike in their general appearance, that the Europeans, on their arrival, could detect no dis- tinction in their forms, and the materials of which INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 199 they were composed, though the manner of driving the stakes was sufficient to inform an Indian what tribe had encamped. All the American Indians, but Chippewa lodges of the present day. more particularly those of New England, constructed their habitations by bending and twisting young trees together, in the form of an arbor, and interweaving with them, nets and rushes ; at other times they would drive stakes into the ground, and cover them with skins. These dwellings were called wigwams. They had no chimneys, and the smoke of their fires was al- lowed to pass out by an opening left in the top of the house. Their doors were merely apertures, which, in stormy weather, were covered with pieces of skin. They chose their situations for their villages with great discrimination, and were always guided in their choice by the chances they saw of obtaining plenty • / r H 200 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. I of fuel and food. They were never attracted by a picturesque and-romantic spot, nor by a commanding prospect ; but where there were rivers and brooks with fresh water and fresh fish, there you might always see clusters of Indian huts and wigwams. The following description of the houses of the New England Indians is from Wood's *' New England Pros- pect," published in London in 1664. " The frames of their houses are formed like our garden-arbours, something more round, very strong and handsome, covered with close-wrought mats of their owne weaving, which deny entrance to any drop of raine, though it come both fierce and long, neither can the piercing North winde, finde a crannie, through which he can conveigh his cooling breath ; they be warmer than our English houses ; at the top is a square hole for the smoakes evacuation, which in rainy weather is covered with a pluver : these bee such smoakie dwellings, that when there is good fires, they are not able to stand upright, but lie all along under the smoake, never using any stooles or chaires, it being as rare to see an Indian sit on a stoole at home, as it is strange to see an English man sit on his heels abroad. " Their houses are smaller in the summer, when their families be dispersed, by reason of heate and occasions. In winter they make some fiftie or threescore foote long, fortie or fiftie men being inmates under one roofe ; and as is their husbands occasion these poore tectonists are often troubled like snailes, to carrie their houses on their backs sometimes to fishing places, other times to hunting places, after that to a planting place, where it abides the longest." INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 201 The only difference between the dwellings of the Northern and Southern Indians was, that while the former were built merely with reference to the conve- nience of their owners, the latter were constructed with some regard to beauty and order. This fact is accounted for by supposing that the Indians of the south had a greater abundance of fuel and food, a warmer climate, and a more fertile soil, and thus had some leisure for respecting the claims of decency and regularity. Their dwellings were therefore more tasteful, and their general appearance more neat. They had a very common custom, also, of surround- ing whole villages with fortifications of upright poles, set in the ground, against their enemies, generally ten or twelve feet high, and often of two or three thick- nesses. Even when the whole settlement was not thus defended, they enclosed within palisades, the house of the king, their idols and sacred relics. The furniture used by the Indians of America was always of the simplest kind, and the smallest value. Their beds were composed of mats, skins, leaves, or boughs. Roger Williams says, " their fire is instead of our bed-clothes. And so themselves and any that have occasion to lodge with them must be content to turne very often to the fire, if the night be cold, and they who first wake must repaire the fire." Chairs and stools were entirely unknown. Their beds, such as they were, furnished all the seats they required. They had wooden and stone vessels, and baskets of osier and birch-bark. Their sharp instruments were composed of stones, shells, bones or reeds ; the use of iron and steel beino: unknown. Utensils of curious •-'^A'i 202 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. if': »l\ ' !• SI shapes and for purposes not understood, are at this day continually found buried in the soil. The manners of the Indians of the north and west are gradually becoming improved by their contact with the whites. Their dwellings, therefore, are better, and the improvements of civilization are finding their way into their midst. They now often make their floors of planks, and nails are used to some extent. In the remotest parts of the country, however, the customs of the whites have not penetrated, and the huts and furniture of the inhabitants are much the same as those used by their ancestors two hundred years ago. The wandering tribes use tents, covered with skins, which are carried with them from place to place. Some of these bands have mud villages where tiiey reside in winter, being accustomed to remove from place to place during the summer. Food. — The food of the Indians was coarse and simple in the extreme, and totally destitute of season- ing ; and although the va&t prairies of the west, are covered for miles together with an incrustation of salt. and though the country abounds in salt-springs, in their primitive state, they never look upon it as an article of service. They fed upon the flesh of the bear, the buffalo, elk, deer, beaver and raccoon ; upon wild geese, turkeys and ducks ; in short, upon every variety of flesh, fish and fowl, which the country af- forded. In summer they eat a mixture of corn and beans, called succotash, of which they were very fond. Their winter's food consisted of such vegetables as they could save during the summer, together with acorns, nuts and roots. " These akornes they drie," says INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 203 Roger Williams, " and in case of want of come, by much boyling they make a good dish of them ; yea, sometimes in plentie of come doe they eat these akomes for a noveltie." All the tribes sat cross-legged at their meals, or rather with their ankles crossed in front of them ; or sometimes they rested in a reclining posture, leaning upon one elbow, in the fashion of the ancient Romans. They had no regular meals, but eat whenever they were hungry, and then in a most voracious manner. They sometimes fasted for many days, but when any food was to be had, amply repaid themselves for their previous privation. Their only drink was water, cold and fresh as it bubbled from the spring. At the banquets the men formed the first groups ; in the next were the women, children and dogs, a hetero- geneous assemblage, who were often very gluttonous; while the men were comparatively moderate. It is said, that on the aggregate, there never was a nation or people who seemed to care less for the pleasures of the table, and who in reality consumed less than the North American Indians. They understood the mean- ing of the maxim, though they had never heard it, "eat to live, not live to eat." The southern Indians suffered less from scarcity of food, than those of the north, for their rivers gave them more fish, the woods supplied them with more fruits, and the fields with more game. In Virginia and the neighborhood, there were large quantities of cherries, plums, currants and berries ; chestnuts, hazlenuts and walnuts; grapes, melons, potatoes and pumpkins. They used to bruise the strawberry in a 204 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. m mortar, and mix it with meal, thus forming a kind of bread. They also made a dish to this day called hominy, by boiling pounded corn ten or twelve hours. O^ the cooking of the Indians it has been said, " It has nothing commendable in it, but that it is performed with little trouble ; they have no other sauce but a good stomach, which they seldom want." They had three ways of cooking their flesh and fish. They boiled them in vessels of clay, or bark, by putting into them stones heated for the purpose. They broiled on the naked coals, and roasted by covering with hot ashes. Another method was to barbacue their meats, which consisted in hanging it up on sticks placed at a short distance from the fire. They used parched corn to a great extent. They extracted sugar from the maple tree, and used it to sweeten their cakes which were made of ground corn mixed with chestnuts, beans and berries. The food of the Indians of the present day continues to be much the same as in former times. Their mode of cookery has altered but little, and the change has been caused by the neighborhood of the whites. They have obtained from them various convenient utensils for cooking, of which their ancestors had ro knowl- edge. Wild rice is now one of their staple articles of food, which grows abundantly among the marshes of the west. The Chippewas and other tribes in the vicinity of the Great Lakes, subsist at certain sea- sons to a great extent upon the white fish^ which is considered as being superior to the trout or salmon. Among the Rocky Mountains, on the banks of rivers flowing into the Pacific Ocean, there are tribes who ^1 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 205 eat nothing but fish, and look upon everything of the flesh kind with superstitious dread. There is a great difference among the various tribes of Indians in regard to taste and choice of food. The Chippewas will eat almost everything, from the wild- cat and wolf, to the horse and dog, which the Dela- wares and other southern Indians would rather die than touch. The Five Nations were never scrupulous in their selection of food. Some savages cut up their feath- ered game and boil and eat it without any other pre- paration than to pluck off a few of the larger feathers. It has been said of the Indians, as a mass, that they were accustomed to eat human flesh ; in short, that they were cannibals. This charge has been unsup- ported by proof, and indeed, all the light obtained on the subject seems to refute rather than to sustain it. Cases have undoubtedly occurred, when, pressed by famine, the savage has killed and eaten one of his own race ; but so has the white man in like circumstances. A remarkable incident has been furnished by Mr. Henry, a traveller among the Indians, which will serve to give us some information on the subject. It is a belief among the Indians, that a person who has once eaten human flesh, will never be satisfied with any other food. A young Indian, belonging to a tribe who had fled from their home on account of famine, came suddenly into that part of the country where Mr. Henry was. His appearance is described as ac- tually frightful ; he was in an exhausted and starving state. From various circumstances which were con- nected with his arrival, he was suspected of having eaten human flesh to appease his hunger, and this I »w.v| J- 206 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. m 1 1 was afterwards found to be the fact. He seemed per- fectly indifferent to the food which was prepared for him, but keeping his eyes fixed upon some children in the lodge, frequently exclaimed, " how fat they are ! " His behavior, of course, excited alarm, and the Indians, apprehensive that he would find some means of killing and eating their children, determined to put him to death. Without informing him of their resolution, they despatched him the next day with a single stroke of the axe. It is a remarkable fact that the savage tribes of North America, should have been thus free from cannibalism, while it is well known that the civilized Mexicans sacrificed human victims by thousands and devoured their flesh, not only in cele- bration of religious rites, but also as a delicious treat. There can be but little doubt that this horrid custom was introduced by the priests, and that religious fan- aticism subverted the natural instincts of the race against the practice. As we have said, the Indians in early days had no other drink than water, and all kinds of intoxicating beverages were wholly unknown to them. They were not slow, however, in making acquaintance with spirituous liquors, introduced by the whites. These, which they called Jire-water, became the bane of the race, and were one of the chief instruments by which they were first degraded, and then swept from the earth. Spirits are now introduced among the western tribes uy the unscrupulous traders. When they are once under the influence of liquor, they lose all self- command, and have rather the appearance of demons than men. Even the chiefs give themselves up to the INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 207 intoxicating spell, and during its influt-nre, appear to be totally bereft o^*h°ir reason. The women are not permitted to engage in these revels : it is deemed their province to remain sober and take care of their drunk- en husbands. When they see that these are becoming intoxicated, they prudently conceal their knives, toma- hawks, bows and arrows, and other weapons, so that they may not kill each other in their brawls. Education. — The children were left almost entire- ly to form their character under the influence of exam- ple and experience. Nothing like regular training was adopted. They were never chastised with blows lest it might damp their spirit and substitute slavish motives for that love of liberty which their parents desired them to feel in its fullest extent. When grown, they were never commanded in an authorita- tive manner, and even the wishes of the chiefs were made known rather in the form of persuasion than imperative injunction. Great efforts were made by the parents to inspire their children with revenge against their enemies, and they were made to drink the blood of their captives to increase this feeling. They were also instructed in the traditions of their fathers. Great respect for old age was inculcated, and the advice of a grandfather was considered like the words of an oracle. Obe- dience to parents is obtained by appealing to the pride and ambition of the children. If a father says, " I want such a thing done ; I want one of my children to run upon such an errand ; let me see who is the good child that will do it," — the word good operates as a powerful incentive, and the children generally 1*: »5 w;> ■^ ^m 208 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. vie with each other in fulfilling the wishes of the pa- rent. Praise always follows good actions, and the ambition of the boys is particularly stimulated to ex- cel in athletic exercises, and in every daring and manly achievement. Awkwardness, ignorance, and coward- ice are made the theme of the bitterest ridicule. The names of children are generally given after animals, as the beaver, otter, rattlesnake, blackfish ; and other titles, perhaps significant or descriptive, are bestowed according to some qualities which the chil- dren are fancied to possess. In after life, other names are added, having allusion to remarkable events. kf 'I Indian woman and child. Domestic Life. — In civilized society, the chief in- terests of life lie within that little kingdom which is INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 209 ,t U^ called home. But with the savage, the larger portion of his thoughts and feelings are bestowed upon objects beyond the precincts of the domestic circle. War and the chase absorb the souls of the men, and out-door cares occupy a considerable share of the attention of the women. William Wood, whom we have be- fore quoted, thus speaks of the duties of the New England Indian women : " An other work is their planting of come, wherein they exceede our English husband-men, keeping it so cleare with their Clamme shell-hooes, as if it were a garden rather than a corne-field, not suffering a choak- ing weede to advance his audacious head above their infant come, or an undermining worme to spoile his spurnes. Their corne being ripe, they gather it, and drying it hard in the sunne, conveigh it to their barnes, which be great holes digged in the ground in forme of a brasse pot, seeled with rinds of trees, wherein they put their come, covering it from the in- quisitive search of their gurmandizing husbands, who would eate up both their allowed portion, and re- served seede, if they knew where to finde it. But our hon'o'es having found a way to unhindge their barne doores, and robbe their garners, they are glad to im- plore their husbands helpe to roule the bodies of trees over their holes, to prevent those pioners, whose iheevorie they as much hate as their flesh. "An other of their employments is their summer processions to get lobsters for their husbands, where- with they baite their hookes when they goe a fish- wy for basse or codfish. This is an every dayes ^valke, be the weather cold or hot, the waters rough N •jM m 210 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. MtTT m ■•a '' i or calme, they must dive sometimes over head and eares for a lobster, which often shakes them by their hands with a churlish nippe, and bids them adiew. The tide being spent, they trudge home two or three miles, with a hundred weight of lobsters at their backs, and if none, a hundred scoules meete them at home, and a hungry belly for two days after. Their husbands having caught any fish, they bring it in their boates, as farre as they can by water, and there leave it ; as it was their care to catch it, so it must be their wives paines to fetch it home, or fast : which done, they must dresse it and cooke it, dish it, and present it, see it eaten over their shoulders; and their loggerships having filled their paunches, their svvccte lullabies scramble for the scrappcs. " In the summer these Indian women when lobsters be in their plenty and prime, they drie them to keepe for winter, erecting scaffolds in the hot sun-shine, making fires likewise underneath them, by whose smoake the flies are expelled, till the substance re- mains hard and drie. In this manner they drie basse and other fishes without salt, cutting them very thinne to dry suddainely, before the flies spoil them, or the raine moist them, having a speciall care to hang them in their smoakie houses, in the night and dankish weather, •' In summer they gather flagges, of which they make matts for houses, and hempe and rushes, with dying stuffe of which they make curious baskets with intermixed colours and portractures of antique Imaj^e- rie : these baskets be of all sizes from a quart to a quarter, in which they carry their luggage. In winter INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 211 time they are their husbands' caterers, trudging to the clamm bankes for their belly timber, and their por- ters to iugge home their venison, which their lazi- nesse exposes to the woolves till they impose it upon their wives shoulders. They likewise sew their hus- bands shooes, and weave coates of Turkie feathers, besides all their ordinary household drudgerie which daily lies upon them." Of the treatment of babes the writer says : " The young Infant being greased and sooted, wrapt in a beaver skin, bound to his good behaviour with his feete upon a board two foote long and one foote broade, his face exposed to all nipping v/eather ; this little Pappouse travells about with his bare footed mother to paddle in the ice Clamm banks after three or foure dayes of age have sealed his passeboard and his moth- ers recoverie. For their carriage it is very civill, smiles being the greatest grace of their mirth ; their musick is lullabies to quiet their children, who gene- rally are as quiet as if they had neither spleene or lungs. To hear one of these Indians unseene, a good eare might easily mistake their untaught voyce for the warbling of a well tuned instrument. Such com- mand have they of their voices." lu the outset of Indian life, the husband usually pro- vi'les the wigwam for his family to live in, together with the axes, hoes, and implements of agriculture ; he builds a canoe, and makes a variety of bowls, dishes and other utensils for culinary purposes. He then procoeds to supply his family with food and clothing, which he procures by fishing, hunting and trapping. This duty is constant, and sometimes severe. He ? I •■ ■I .. -F*t'' 212 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. .*t> 1^5 1 i; rises very early, and frequently has the good fortune to return to his wigwam with a deer or wild turkey for breakfast. The duty of the wigwam for the wife is very tri- fling; there is no scouring of paint, nor scrubbing of floors. A single kettle over the fire, or a cake made of meal, in the ashes, is all that requires her attention in the cooking department. But she has work to per- form in the field, such as sowing, reaping, and hoe- ing. After the harvest, she has little to do, except to procure firewood and cook the daily food. The care of -the children does not impose a heavy burden. During infancy they remain a large part of the time strapped to the cradle, and demand little attention. Indian cradle. When farther advanced, their clothing is slight, and they are left much to themselves. On the return of the husband from a journey, on entering the house he says, " I am returned," — his wife replies, '* I rejoice." He then asks after the health of the family, and, being satisfied on this point, says nolhing of himself or his adventures till the evening, when he tells them all at full length to his neighbors and family. In general, the intercourse between the hu^^band and wife is of a kindly nature. She is proud of his INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 213 achievements in war, and is gratified to see him the object of attention and respect. She desires also to see him well dressed, and he has a similar feeling with respect to her. If she is sick, he takes the ut- most pains to procure medicine and dainties for her. A Delaware has been known to travel forty miles to obtain some cranberries for his sick wife ; and in a similar case, another Indian travelled a hundred miles to get some corn, which, at the time, was very scarce. He was able to obtain only his hat full, but for this he parted with his horse, and returned on foot. Hospitality is among the chief virtues of the In- dians ; they will even share their last mouthful with a stranger and those of a different nation. If any re- fuse to partake of their food it is a matter of offence. All are allowed to enter any lodge, even that of the chiefs, when they are hungry and take what they can find to eat. The most worthless drone is not an ex- ception to this rule, though an improvident person, who lives upon others, is branded with the epithet of poltroon and beggar. Chateaubriand says that " Hospi- tality still lingers on the banks of the Mississippi ; it will accompany the advanced guard of settlers down the shores of the Missouri, be driven thence to the neigh- borhood of the Columbia river, and be finally drowned in the Pacific." Marriage. — Courtship with the Indians is usually a brief and simple affair. If there are no parents, a man makes a direct proposition to a woman he fan- cies, to become his wife. If the answer is favorable, she usually goes to live with him immediately. In some cases, the admirer goes to the cabin of the ob- ■ - ; ■ I ■. ».■■ 1 .'« Ip^y^M ,.,.;j|| 214 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 1 - ject of his affection and regard, and sits by her side. If she suffers this, it is significant of her assent, and the marriage accordingly follows. In most cases, where there are parents, the mother of the lover conducts the negotiation, generally opening it with a present to the mother of the girl, with a leg of veni- son, or a piece of bear's meat, saying that the animal was killed by her son. If the proposal thus implied is acceptable, the mother of the girl prepares a savo- ry dish, perhaps of succotash, and carries it to the mother of the lover, saying, " This comes from my daughter's field." A few other presents are usually exchanged ; intimacy between the young people en- sues ; the man raises a wigwam, and, being supplied by his parents, with a few bowls and baskets, an axe, a hoe, and a kettle, the bride and bridegroom take possession of their new residence, and live as man and wife. The marriage is celebrated by no particu- lar ceremony. The custonns in relation to courtship vary in the different tribes. In many cases, the whole affair is managed by the parents. Divorce is allowed, and frequently practised. If the husband is dissatisfied, he may put away the wife, and she may leave him when she pleases. In point of fact, however, repu- diation or desertion, without serious cause, is regard- ed as disreputable, and thus restraints are ' i"^osed upon improvident and causeless separations. Polyga- my is allowed, and an Indian usually has as many wives as he is able to maintain. These, trained to their lot, generally live together without jealousy or disagreement. If, indeed, the husband pays a dis- INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 215 s a savo- proportionate attention to one wife, the neglected partner will sometimes indicate her feelings by kick- ing his dog, or spilling his food on the ground. In cases of separation, the children are divided between the parents. When it chances that two wives quarrel, the tongue, teeth and nails of the parties are often called upon to aid in carrying on the war. In these cases the husband usually sits by with an air of un- concern, smoking his pipe, and seeming lost in thoughts about something else. If the dispute becomes serious, he rises with the air of a judge and separates the combatants. Arts and Manufactures. — The utensils were few in number, and simple in kind. Their dishes and spoons were made of a kind of box-wood, and also of the skulls of bisons. They manufactured a few earth- en vessels, and made bowls of the knotty excrescences of the maple tree. They wove very neat baskets of osier and birch bark. Having no iron, their knives consisted of sharp stones, bones or shells. They also made mortars and chisels of stone. A cockle shell served for a spoon, and a gourd for a water jug. Among many tribes the only utensil used for boiling, was a piece of hard wood, hollowed out and filled with red hot stones, till the process was accomplished. Their spears and arrow-heads were made of hard ^tone, and fashioned with great labor. The tomahawk was made of a softer kind of rock. The wooden part of the arrow was a straight stick cut from an elder- bush, or other light wood. The bow-string was made of the sinews of deer, or the Indian hemp. The bow Was usually about six feet in length. The stones most used for arrow-heads were quartz and flint, - 'Ml iwSjIil 216 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. In SVJ which were preferred on account of the facility of sha- ping them, the keenness of the points and edges, .,. r>r ./i' VII . IIWWU/C^^TTTlli Modern tomahawk. which they readily present under the hlows of a skil* ful manufacturer, as well as their superior hardness and imperishable nature. Multitudes of specimens still exist, Avhich show the various forms and sizes to which the red man reduced stones of these kinds; and they excite our admiration, by their perfect state of preservation, as well as by the skilfulness of their manufacture. Other stones, however, were not unfrequently used: and a collection will present a considerable variety of materials, as well as of sizes, shapes and colors. Hard sand-stone, trap, or greywacke, jasper, and chalcedony, appear occasionally; some almost transparent. These arrow-heads were fastened to the shaft, by inserting the butt into the split end, and tjnng round it a string of deer's sinews. A groove or depression is commonly observable in the stone, designed to receive the string. The Indians knew nothing of navigation, beyond the construction and uses of canoes. These were of bark, and more frequently of the trunk of some soft- wooded tree. The largest would hold fifty men, though many smaller ones were used. To aid them V INDIANS OF NORTH A^^ERICA. 217 in bringing down a tree, fire was applied around the trunk, and it was afterwards burnt off at the desired Birch-bark boat. length. The bark was then stripped off, and the log was hollowed out by means of instruments and gentle fires. This was all the process necessary to form a canoe. Some northern tribes construct their canoes of bark, in the same manner as they are made at present by the Chippewas and others. Wampum was an ornament manufactured from va- rious colored shells ; they filed these into bits, and per- forated them, giving them the shape of pieces of broken pipe-stems ; they strung them on deers' sinews, and wore them on their necks, or wove them into belts. They were also used to record treaties and other pub- lic matters. On the Atlantic coast, wampum was highly valued as a species of money, instead of coins, of which they had no knowledge. So many strings, or so many hands' breadths, were the fixed value of a horse, a gun, or a robe. In treaties the wampum was passed as a pledge of friendship, and from time immemorial it was sent to hostile tribes as a messinger of peace. The fur traders at the West have manufac- tured an imitation of the Indian wampum, so closely resembling it, and it is sold at so low a price, that the value and meaning of the original article are destroyed, I !;.■■■■!«•.-. *■ t.r. 218 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. and a string of the genuine manufacture is now rarely to be found in any part of the country. Among the Indians, there were a class of persons who professed to have remarkable power in the cure of diseases. Most of these were impostors, who per- formed certain incantations, serving no other purpose than to delude the patients, and enable the quack to extort from them an exorbitant fee. They were generally persons who held a sort of sacer- dotal character, and were called medicine-men. Of these, we shall give a more particular account here- after. There was another class, who might with pro- priety be called doctors, and who really possessed considerable knov^^ledge of the medicinal virtues of plants. They had antidotes for the bites of venom- ous reptiles, and could cure many of the diseases common among the savages. In surgery they had also no small degree of skill ; their practice, however, was often blended with gross quackery, and in most cases of serious disease, superstitious juggles constitu- ted a great part of the treatment. Frequently a med- icine would be prepared with strange incantation?, and swallowed by the physican in order to cure the patient. Mr. Heckewelder tells us that he once saw an emetic given to a Delaware who was poisoned, which consisted of a piece of burnt raccoon skin, dry pounded beans and gunpowder. It may well be believed that such a dose procured the vomiting that was desired. The juggler who professes to cure diseases which spring from witchcraft, having received an ample fee, such as a horse, or a rifle, usually commences opera- tions by dressing himself in a frightful manner. He -^-^^^■ INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 219 then approaches his patient with a variety of strange contortions and grotesque gestures. He breathes on him ; blows in his mouth ; squirts medicine In his nose and mouth ; rattles beans, or pebbles in a dry gourd, and continues to make horrid gesticulations to frighten away the disease ; he then leaves the patient to await the issue of the experiment. There are also jugglers who performed various feats of legerdemain. Mr. Flint tells us that '• these undoubtedly possess a rigidity of muscle, a callousness of nerve, and a contempt of pain and wounds, that enable them to achieve swallowing fire, putting knives and swords down their throats, and such like exploits with great success." The picture writings that are often found on the rocks in various parts of the country, consist of the symbolic names of Indians who have visited these places. Catlin remarks that from the feeling of vanity everywhere belonging to man, has proceeded the habit of recording their names or symbols, such as birds, beast^S or reptiles, by which every family and each individual Is known. The paintings on their robes, being also a species of hieroglyphic writing, were in many cases very curious, and generally represented the exploits of their military lives which they are always anxious to record. The same system was to some extent adopted for more practical purposes. Thatcher says that on a piece of bark, or on a large tree, with the bark taken off for the purpose, by the side of a path, they can, and do give every necessary informa- tion to those who travel the same way. They will in this manner let them know that they were a war 1 220 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. m iW parly of so many men, from such a place, of such a nation, and of such a tribe ; how many of each tribe were in the party ; to which tribe the chief or captain belonged ; in what direction they proceeded to meet the enemy ; how many days they were out, and how many returning ; what number of the enemy they had killed ; how many prisoners they had brought ; how many scalps they had taken ; whether they had lost any of their party, and how many ; what enemies they had met with, and how many they consisted of: of what nation or tribe their captain was, &c., — all which is perfectly well understood by them at a single glance. They will describe a chase in the same style. All the tribes adopt this practice to some extent; and the principle upon which it is founded, is so natural and so plain, that the Delawares will read the draw- ings of the Chippewas, Shawanees, Wyandots, or Six Nations, with nearly as much ease as they decipher those of their own tribe. Mr. Tanner, who lived some time among the Indi- ans, and was adopted by one of the tribes, furnishes the following anecdote. He was traversing the woods in the early spring, on his way towards Red River, when one morning he noticed on the borders of a stream, a little stick standing in the bank, and a piece of birch bark attached to the top of it. On examina- tion, he found the mark of a rattlesnake with a knife, the handle touching the snake, and the point sticking into a hear vnth a drooping head. Near the snake also was the mark of a beaver, with one of its legs touch- ing the snake. This had been left for Mr. Tanner's information by his foster brother, Wa-no-gou-a-biew ; INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 221 and he gathered froiu it, that the latter, whose badge was a rattlesnake, and whose mother's badge was a beaver, had killed a man whose badge was the bear. That he was dead and not wounded merely, was indi- cated by the position of the head. The event proved his suppositions to be entirely correct. Indian song. Mr. Catlin furnishes us with a copy of an Indian song, which was drawn on birch bark, and sung by the Chippewas, previous to a hunt. The song is com- posed, and the drawing made by a medicine-man, or priest, and it is sung by him while the hunters dance around, and join in the chorus. The purpose of this incantation, is to conciliate the spirits that pre- side over the animals, and thus ensure to the hunting party a successful expedition. The figures drawn on the bark, and which constitute the song, are symboli- cal representations of ideas, but are generally under- stood only by the jugglers who compose them. ^1^ ■ .1 222 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. Agriculture. — The cultivation of the Indians was scanty and inartificial. They planted corn, squashes, beans and pumpkins, which were generally permitted to grow to maturity with little or no care, though it is said that the New England Indians were better hus- bandmen. The chief tools for breaking the soil, were shells and bones. In more modern times, the agricul- tural arts and implements of the whites have been adopted to some extent. Indians, disguised as wolves, attacking buffaloes. H'lNTiNG. — However the Indian may be disposed to indolence, in the chase he is roused to the utmost activity. He attacks the bear, the deer and various other wild animals. In ancient times these were killed with the bow and arrow, and also caught in traps. Raccoons, partridges, beavers, wild turkies and other INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 223 game were taken in great numbers. In the rivers, salmon and other fish were struck with spears ; they also used small nets, and hooks made of fish bones. The modes of hunting and fishing at the present day, are modified by the introduction of fire-arms, steel traps, &c. The hunters pursue the buffalo on horse- back, bringing them down either with the bullet, or the arrow. They practise various devices to deceive these animals, sometimes driving them over a preci- pice where they are dashed in pieces ; and sometimes stealing upon them dressed in bufTalo robes, or the / < — '••• \ .X / ^••*'' .^M.::: ;;:!.; *-^ H'lv';'' •■ ■ ''f '/M ■..•■7- '/,'!■' V.W "'"•""'u' """.1 WW/ .wyt/f •■.;•' ^ T"^:'^;^ ~"'i„! \ skins of the prairie wolf. They often set the prairies on fire in a circle ; this encloses the deer and other game, and as the flames advance, these arc driven to- gether and shot down in lartre numbers. The ardor of the hunters in the pursuit of game, seems to render 224 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 1«1 ,%«*- ^ m them insensible for the time, to everything but the immediate object in view. War club. War. — A love of war was the predominant passion throughout the savage tribes of North America. Their m?irtial spirit was kept alive, as well by the necessity of defence, as the desire of revenge, and the love of stir- ring excitement. When roused from his accustomed lethargy, by the war-whoop, the Indian seemed to be transformed into another being. His slothful facul- ties were at once stimulated to the highest pitch. His courage, his sagacity, his ingenuity, were all called into requisition, to circumvent and overcome his foe. In general it was the custom of the tribes to issue a fornnil declaration of war, and to make it known to the adverse party. The setting out of the warriors is preceded by various ceremonies. A council is held, fastings are observed, and dancing is practised. As the party leave the village, they sing their war songs; these usually consist of boastful defiance of the ene- my, with a plaintive farewell to friends left behind, _Jwi INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 225 and petitions to the Great Spirit to watch over the women of -the warriors. The following is a specimen of a Chippewa war-song : Do not — do not weep for me, Loved woman, should I die — For yourselves alone should you weep. Poor are ye all, and to be pitied. Ye women ! ye are to be pitied ! I seek, I seek our fallen relations ; I go to revenge — revenge the slain ; Our relations, fallen and slain. And our foes — our foes, they shall lie, Like them — like them they shall lie. I go — I go, to lay them low — to lay them low ! Their cautions as they approach the enemy's coun- try evince great cunning. A arge war party, in or- der to deceive the foe, will often walk in one, two, or three rows, each man lifting his feet high, so as not to bear down the grass — the largest footed man of the party walking behind, to cover up the track of the others. Sometimes they place the hoofs of buffaloes or bear's paws on their feet, walking round and round the woods and imitating the windings of those ani- mals. On arriving near the place, or party to be at- tacked, the assailants place themselves on each side of the path, near enough to each other to hear the signal ; this is frequently an imitation of the cry of some bird, or beast that inhabits that vicinity, or per- haps a whistle. They are wonderful mimics, and can imitate, with surprising exactness, the howl of the wolf, the neighing of the wild horse, the chipping of the squirrel, or the hoot of the owl. 226 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. mi When, after all this stratagem, the opposing par- ties discover one another, the war cry is sounded, and each warrior seeks for some place of concealment, from which he may use his deadly weapons. The gun, bow and arrow, the javelin, and the tomahawk, are all employed, dealing around death and destruc- tion. They pursue each other from one ambush to another, both parties striving to save their wounded and dying from the scalping knife of the foe. The Indian seldom comes to a general engagement. He always carries on a concealed fight, now lying flat on the ground, now firing from behind trees and rocks, and now springing away to some different location. They continue their desperate warfare till victory declares itself, and the defeated party retreat. Scalping Jmife and sheath. Scalping, the most important part of an Indian's campaign, is thus performed. The victorious party seizes the head of his dead or dying foe, and placinij his foot on the neck, he twists one hand in the lock of hair on the top of the head, while, with the other, he draws his knife dexterously round in a circle, and strips off the skin. This, called the scalp, is after- wards dried, and strung upon a hoop or pole, to be preserved as a trophy of victory. The number of INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA, 227 '■;rjM« these is always made known as they approach their village, by the scalp yell of the returning warriors. It is different from the alarm-whoop, and consists of the sounds aw oh., successively uttered, the last note being an octave higher, and prolonged into a con- tinued cry. The alarm-whoop always betokens dan- ger. It is a very rapid utterance of two notes, the last being a little higher than the first. Wild animals show the greatest terror at the sound of the different war-whoops, prancing about in all directions, snorting and plunging through the thickets, and over the plains. There is nothing in the Indian manners more bar- barous than their treatment of prisoners. These are frequently put to the torture, and made to endure every species of suffering that burning, cutting, and maiming can inflict. The fortitude with which the Indian withstands these trials, seems beyond the power of humanity. When bleeding with wounds, or encompassed with flames, he will taunt the enemy, nnd boast of the injuries he had inflicted upon them. The women and children attend these spectacles and seem to share in the horrid joy which they elicit. Young warriors are not unfrcquently adopted by their captors, being taken into some family in place of a ?on who had been lost. White persons have occa- sionally been received among the Indians, in a simi- l;u' manner. The Five Nations were accustomed to re- ceive conquered tribes as part of the nation, by which nieins their strength and numbers were greatly in- creased. hi assailing the whites, the Indians have always I ■ :■■■*•* ¥^ ':•/ ■•'•"-'';iL'i I" i^- 1 228 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. relied much on ambush and surprise. They general- ly commence the attack just before day-break, when they suppose the enemy to be in the soundest repose. They creep forward in silence, winding their way like serpents, through woods and thickets, and, at a signal from their war chief, start np with horrid yells, and pour a cloud of arrows upon the foe. Taking advan- tage of the confusion thus produced, they rush for- ward with their clubs and tomahawks. "The wars of the red men," says Bancroft, "are terrible, but not from their numbers ; for on any one expedition, they rarely exceeded forty men ; it was the parties of six or seven that were most to be dreaded. Skill consisted in surprising the enemy. They fol- low his trail to kill him when he sleeps ; or they lie in ambush near a village, and watch for an opportunity of suddenly surprising an individual, or it may be a wo- man and her children ; and with three strokes to each, the scalps of the victims being suddenly taken off, the brave flies back with his companions, to hang the tro- phies in his cabin, to go from village to village, in ex- ulting procession, to hear orators recount his deeds to the elders and the chief people, and by the number of scalps taken by his own hand, to gain the high war titles of honor. Nay, war parties of but two or three were not uncommon. Clad in skins, with a supply of red paint, a bow and quiver of arrows, they would roam through the wide forests as a bark would over the ocean ; for days and weeks they would hang on the skirts of their enemy, waiting the moment for striking a blow. From the heart of the Five Nations, two young warriors would thread the wilderness of INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 229 ■^M- ''■■\ Scalp dance. l)y the light of torches, and is continued for fifteen successive nights. In these, as in other exhibitions, 230 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. i the warriors are exceedingly boastful of their exploits, while they brandish their weapons, and represent in pantomime, their deeds in battle. A number of young women are placed in the centre of the ring to hold up the scalps, while the warriors dance around in a circle, all the time flourishing their war-clubs, jumping and barking and yelping in a most frightful manner. It would seem to the spectator, that they were actually hewing each other in pieces. " During these frantic leaps and thrusts," says Catlin, " every man distorts his face to the umost, darting about his glaring eye- balls, and snapping his teeth, as if he were in the heat of battle ! No description, that can be written, could ever convey more than a feeble outline of the friglit- ful effect of these scenes, enacted in the dead and dark- ness of night, under the glaring light of their dazzling flambeaus ; nor could all the years allotted to mortal man, in the least obliterate or deface, the vivid im- press that one scene of this kind would leave upon his memory." The large pipe called the calumet, or pipe of peace, was used to express a pledge of faith between the parties who joiui statesmen being take tion of the a party oi pipe is bro is first sm( handed to it, and smc of amity, tility. Th the ancient calumet is The head polished, made of n various bri hair. GoVERNI without w] pressed in of the savE straint. \ of usage a coin, no pre and in sh( secutor. 1 the duty o would go,' pose of re^ .;' >isii INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 231 who joined in smoking it. At a grave council of statesmen, it was solemnly smoked, a whiff or two being taken by one and then by another, as a ratifica- tion of the peace between the parties concerned. When a party of strangers come to an Indian village, the pipe is brought and filled with tobacco and lighted. It is first smoked by the chief man of the place, and then handed to the chief of the strangers. If he receives it, and smokes in return, it is regarded as significant of amity. If he refuses the pipe, it is a token of hos- tility. The practice of smoking was general among the ancient Indians, and it continues to this day. The calumet is now, as formerly, the emblem of peace. The head or bowl was made of stone, and finely polished. The stem was two and a half feet long, made of reed or cane, and adorned with feathers of various brilliant colors, interlaced with locks of female hair. Government. — The Indian tribes were not only without written law, but without a formal code ex- pressed in language. Liberty was the great passion of the savage, and he hated nothing so much as re- straint. Whatever government there was, was that of usage and opinion. There was no commerce, no coin, no promissary notes, no persons employed on hire, and in short, no contracts. Exchanires were but a reciprocity of gifts. Prisons, lawyers, and sheriffs, were unknown ; each man was therefore his own pro- secutor. In case of death by violence, it was deemed the duty of the kindred to seek retaliation. " They would go," says Adair, " a thousand miles for the pur- pose of revenge ; over hills and mountains ; through Ik' ' 232 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. large caves and swamps, full of grape-vines and bri- ers ; over broad lakes, rapid rivers, and deep creeks, and all the time endangered by poisonous snakes, ex- posed to the extremities of heat and cold, to hunger and thirst." This necessity of retaliation often involved families, and even whole tribes in strife for a series of years. The tribe was but a union of families, and in gen- eral, the head of the family was the chief The succession depended on birth, and was inherited through the female line. This rule of descent, how- ever, was often modified, and sometimes disregarded. A chief was occasionally forced to surrender his au- thority , and sometimes an individual became the ruler, throu^rh the gradual influence of opinion, without any formal act of election, or even any avowed recognition of his authority. The Indian chief had no symbols of supremacy, and no guard to enforce his decrees. His power depended upon his personal character, and his authority existed only in the current of opinion around him. There have been chiefs who seem to rule with des- potic sway, while others are possessed of little autho- rity. No measures were ever undertaken but with the assent of the people. They held frequent coun- cils for deliberation, in which the eloquent and brave acquired an ascendancy. They seem to delight in as- sembling together, and listening to messengers from abroad. " Seated in semicircles on the ground, in double or triple rows, with the knees almost meeting the face — the pain'-^d and tattooed chiefs, adorned with skins and plumes, with the beaks of the red-bird, INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 233 or the claws of the bear ; each listener perhaps with a pipe in his mouth, and preserving deep silence, — they would give solemn attention to the speaker, who, with great action and energy of language, delivered his mes- sage ; and if his eloquence pleased, they esteemed him as a god. Decorum was never broken ; there were never two speakers struggling to anticipate each other ; they did not express their spleen by blows ; they re- strained passionate invective ; the debate was never dis- turbed by an uproar ; questions of order were unknown." " After all," says Flint, " that which has struck us, in contemplating the Indians, with the most astonish- ment and admiration, is the invisible, but universal energy of the operation and influence of an inexplica- ble law, which has, when it operates, a more certain and controlling power, than all the municipal and writ- ten laws of the whites united. There is despotic rule without any hereditary or elected chief. There are chiefs with great power, who cannot tell when, or how they became such. There is perfect unanimity in a question involving the existence of a tribe, where every member belonged to the wild and fierce demo- cracy of nature, and could dissent without giving a reason. A case occurs, where it is prescribed by cus- tom, that an individual should be punished by death. Escaped far from the control of his tribe, and as free as the winds, this invisible tie is about him ; and he returns and surrenders himself to justice. His ac- counts are not settled and he is in debt ; he requests delay till he shall have accomplished his summer's hinit. He finishes it, pays his debt, and dies with a constancy which has always been, in all views of the Indian character, the theme of admiration." ^^^^BiV '^ '>MiH mm ir- X -A '■■.r '■■'Iv.z'mi 234 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. The chiefs of the southern tribes were more abso- hite in their authority than those of the northern. Powhatan, who was the ruler over thirty confederated tribes in Virginia, had somewhat the state and bearing of a monarch. He had four places of residence, at each of which, he had a house made of poles and bush- es, about a hundred feet in length. He had many wives and numerous attendants, and a body guard of forty of his stoutest warriors. His summer residence, called Orapakes, was fifty yards in length, — some of his wives generally attended him. When he lay down, one sat at his feet and another at his head. When he dined or supped, one of them, both before and after the meal, brought him a wooden platter full of water to wash his hands ; and a second a bunch of feathers to serve the purpose of a towel, which, after being used, were dried to be used again. When he was weary of these women, he gave them away to his best warriors. Amusements. — The ancient Indians appear to have had few amusements separate from war and the chase, and the rites and ceremonies connected with religion. The greater part of their time was spent either in in- dolent repose, like that of wild animals when gorged with food, or in the stormy excitement of religion, hunt- ing and war. They have numerous dances, most of which were in some way connected with religious ob- servances. These are preserved till the present day, and seem to afford a large share of the recreation of the people. These vary in different tribes, but most of them have war dances, in which the various feats of the campaign are represented in pantomime, — the INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 235 scalp dance, the war dance, dog dance, &c. In these the ag-ed council chiefs beat the drums, and the young warriors dance with great vehemence, beating the ground with their feet. They pursue the business with a vigor, which causes the perspiration to pour from their bodies. Each dance has its particular tune, which is very monotonous, consisting only of three or four notes. Smoking tobacco in long pipes has ever been a fa- vorite recreation among the Indians, and in early times occupied the place of exciting beverages. They have various modes of gambling, to which they are greatly addicted. When engaged in play, the man of sluggish temperament and concealed emotions, becomes roused almost to a pitch of madness. Indi- ans have been known to stake their whole property upon the hazard of a die. The '* game of the moccasin " is thus performed. Four moccasins are used, and a little bit of cloth or stick being put into one of these, one of the parties guesses which it is. If he guesses right, his opponent loses eighty if not, the guesser loses eight. Any num- ber of persons can join in the game. Another diver- sion is that of " Biig-ga-sauk,'^ which is played in a wooden bowl, with dice made of pieces of an old ket- tle, which are kept bright on one side, and stained with some color on the other. Religion. — It has been imagined by some writers, that a portion of the Indians are without religious no- tions, but as a whole, they seem to have been among the most religious people in the world. "Wherever there was being, motion, or action, there to the red ^■}■:■m V f^.1 236 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. man was a spirit, — and in a special manner, wherever there appeared singular excellence among beasts or birds, or in the creation, there to him was the pres- ence of a divinity. When he feels his pulse throb, he knows that it is a spirit. A god resides in the flint, to give forth the kindling, cheering fire ; in the mountain cliff; in the cool recesses of the grottoes which nature has adorned ; in each ' little grass ' that springs miraculously from the earth. The woods, the wilds and the waters, respond to savage intelli- gence ; the stars and the mountains live; the river and the lake, and the waves have a spirit. Every hidden agency, every mysterious influence is personi- fied, — a god dwells in the sun and in the moon, and in the firmament ; the spirit of the morning reddens in the eastern sky; a deity is present in the ocean, and in the fire ; the crag that overhangs the river, has its genius, there is a spirit to the waterfall; household god makes its abode in the Indian's wigwam, and con- sequently his home ; spirits climb upon the forehead to v/eigh down the ej'^elids in sleep. Not the heavenly bodies only, but the sky is filled with spirits that minis- ter to man. To the savage, divinity, broken, as it were, into an infinite number of fragments, fills all place and all being." In the midst of all this diversity, there seems to have been an idea of a Supreme Being, or Manitou, the creator of the world, to whom different names were given, — as the Great Spirit, or Master of Life. Their priests also taught them that there is a ma- lignant spirit, and as he is deemed very powerful, he is the object of a large portion of their rites and INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 237 ceremonies. They appear to worship animals, — as the buffalo and bear. But it seems that it is the in- visible spirit, or type of the animals, to which their adoration is paid. The modes and objects of their worship seem to be almost innumerable. Their su- perstition is without bounds. All that is wonderful, or past comprehension is attributed by them to the supernatural agency of spirits. The notions of the Indian in respect to creation are much diversified. Some traces of the deluge appear in their traditions. Many tribes believed that their ancestors existed within the bosom of the earth, either in human shape, or in the form of the rabbit, the tortoise, or the wood- chuck, and hence the reverence paid to these animals. Some of the Delawares imagined that they lived un- der a lake, till one of them, luckily, found a hole, by which they all crept out. The Mandans, also, had a tradition, that they lived in a cavity of the earth, until one of their young men climbed up to the surface by means of a vine. Being pleased with what he saw, he returned and told his friends of the upper world. They were delighted with the intelligence, and a rush immediately commenced to clamber up the vine. Several succeeded in reaching the surface, but unhap- pily, a very fat old woman gave the vine such a wrench in ascending, that she fell to the ground, and thus inter- rupted all further means of escape. Those on the surface estnblished a Mandan village, while those in the bowels of the earth, continue there to the present day. Among the religious ceremonies of the Indians, dan- ces hold a conspicuous place. Mr. Catlin describes one of these which took place at the return of the sea- IVr ■li'-m "ISI lid s ■U 238 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. son of green corn, and the dance was designed as a thanksgiving to the Great Spirit for his beneficence in bestowing upon them such a luxury. The day- being appointed by the medicine-men, the villagers are all assembled, and in the midst of the pomp, a kettle is hung over the fire, and filled with the green corn, which is well boiled to be given to the Great Spirit, as a sacrifice necessary to be made before any one can indulge the cravings of his appetite. Whilst their first kettle full is boiling, four medicine-men with a stalk of corn in one hand and a rattle in the other, — their bodies painted with white clay, dance round the kettle, chanting a song of thanksgiving to the Great Spirit, to whom the offering is to be made. At the same time, a number of warriors are dancing around in a more extended circle, with stalks of corn INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 239 in their hands, and joining also in the song of thanks- giving, whilst the villagers are all assembled and looking on. During this scene, there is an arrange- ment of wooden bowls laid upon the ground, in which the feast is to be dealt out, each one having in it a spoon, made of buffalo or mountain sheep's horn. In this wise the dance continues until the doctors decide that the corn is sufficiently boiled. After a few other juggles, the ceremony is considered com- plete, and permission is given to commence the feast, F; o ♦his time a scene of license generally follows til: ields are exhausted, or the ears have become too nard for use. Though the modes of burial were various, yet the Indians universally agreed in paying particular at- tention of some kind to the manes and memory of the dead. If slain in battle, every exertion was made to carry ofT their bodies, to be properly buried, as well [IS to save them from being scalped. The dead body was frequently interred in a sitting posture. The Chippewas have a custom of building a fire over the grave for several nights succeeding interment. The Mandans placed their dead bodies on slight scaf- folds, just above the reach of human hands, and out of the way of wolves and dogs, and there they were left to decay. The skulls were afterwards collected and arranged in a circle around two medicine poles. They had several cemeteries at a little distance from their village, where hundreds of bodies were to be seen reposing in this manner. It was the custom of the friends here to visit the remains of the departed, and fathers, mothers, wives and children might be often «iS ■.'C m 240 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. seen beneath the scafiblds, bewailing in the most pite- ous manner the decease of their kindred. Sometimejj they tore their hair, rolled upon the ground, and lacer- ated their flesh with knives, to appease and put to rest the spirits of the departed. Nor were these places vi:>it- ed only for penance. The women often resorted hither to hold converse with the dead, and not unfrequenlly, the mother might be seen with her needle-work by the skull of her child, and chatting to the ghastly relic, as if it were the living offspring. The Indians believed in the immortality of the soUi, but this was rather a continuance of life than a resur- rection. His faith was like that of a child, which still believes its mother alive, though buried in the tomb. In the new state of existence, they believed that they should enjoy, without abatement, the pleasures of this INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 241 life : that tliey would roam tliroiigli dclig-htful forests, stocked with g-amc, and that, ever attended hy atten- tive squaws, they should feast on the buflalo and the deer. The delights of their Elysium they supposed to be enhanced by having attained distinction in this world as hunters and warriors : the chief that num- bered many scalps was supposed to be entitled to the highest state of bliss. Their simple confiding faith led them to cherish the memory and remains of the departed. They buried the warrior with his pipe, his tomahawk, his quiver and the bow bent for action, and his most splendid apparel. They placed by his side the bowl of maize and the haunch of venison, to feed him in the long journey to the land of spirits. The mother would bury, by the tomb of her infant, its cradle, its beads, and its rattles ; and even draw milk from her bosom and burn it in the fire, that the passing flame might bear nourishment to the child in the realms of the departed. " Of all the nations of the earth," says Chateau- briand, " the Indians discover the greatest veneration f'lr their dead. In nationul calamities the first thing thoy think of is to save the treasures of tiie tomb. They recognize no legal properly, but where the remains of ancestors have been interred. When the Indians have pleaded their right of possession, they have always ciii[)loyed this argument, which in their opinion is irrefragable — ' Shall we say to the bones of our fathers. Rise, and follow us to a strange land?' Finding this plea disregarded, they carried with them die bones which could not follow. 'iJf'^'Silmi 8i;: ■ ■ i':'.:* i.| &.- 'jii ■'■: Hi ' ■tK ' it ^~'k ■^li 242 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. " The motives of this attachment to sacred relics may easily be discovered. Civilized nations have monu- ments of literature and the arts for the memorials of their country. They have cities, palaces, towns, col- umns, obelisks ; they have the furrows of the plough, the fields cultivated by them ; their names are en- graven in brass and marble ; their actions are recorded in their chronicles. The savajxes have none of these things. Their names are not inscribed on the trees of their forests. Their huts, built in a few hours, perish in a few moments. Their traditional songs are vanishing with the last memory which retains them, with the last voice which repeats them. For the tribes of the New World there is therefore but a single monument — the grave. Take from the savages the bones of their fathers, and you take from their his- tory, their laws, and their very gods." The offerings of the Indians to their deities were made either by the chiefs, or by individuals on their own account. The belief in sorcery was universal, and their medicine'men, who united the character of prophet and priest, were supposed to exercise dominion over nature and the unseen world. They professed to command the elements, to call water from above, be- neath, or around, to foretell the drought, and direct the lightning. By their spells they could give success to the hunter's arrow, and the fisherman's net. They could soften the heart of a maid towards her lover, endow the warrior with power to win victory, and compel disease to depart from its victim. These powers were accorded to the prophets by universal assent, and the crafty priests were not slow to take INDIANS OF NORTH AIMERICA. 243 advantage of the credulity of the people around. They often practised the grossest imposition, and often the character of the medicine-man was blended with that of the juggler. A Medicine-man. The confidence of the Indians in dreams was im- plicit. These were imagined to open the avenues of futurity, and enabled the soul to tread the paths of the invisible world. Instances have been known in which individuals have sacrificed their lives to what were deemed religious visions. Mr. Schoolcraft^ furnishes * See " Oneota, No. 1," a work which promises to be of much value iu collecting and disseminating knowledge respecting the Indians. WMm *f.. .•!-. m SI WvM^M 244 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. US with the following^ legend of the Ottawas, which illustrates this point of Indian faith : " A long time ago, there lived an aged Odjlbwa and his wife, on the shores of Lake Huron. They had an only son, a very beautiful boy, whose name was 0-nn- wut-a-qut-o, or he that catches the clouds. The familv were of the totem of the beaver. The parents Avcrc very proud of him, and thought to make him a cele- brated man, but when he reached the proper ago, lie would not submit to the We-koon-de-Avin, or fast. When this time arrived, they gave him charcoal, instead of his breakfast, but he would not blacken his face. If they denied him food, he would seek for birds' eggs along the shore, or pick up the heads of fish that had been cast awav, and broil them. One day, they took away violently the food he had thus prepared, and cast him some coals in place of it. This act brought him to a decision. He took the coals and blackened his face, and Avent out of the lodge. He did not return, but slept without ; and during the night, he had a dream. He dreamed that he saw a very beautiful female come down from the clouds and stand by his side. ' 0-no-wut-a-qut-o,' said she, 'I am come for you — step in my tracks.' The young man did so, and presently felt himself ascending above the tops of the trees — he mounted up, step hy step, into the air, and through the clouds. His guide, at lenfTth, passed through an orifice, and he, following her, found himself standing on a beautiful plain. " A path led to a splendid lodge. He followed her into it. It was large, and divided into two parts. On one end he saw bows and arrows, clubs and spears, INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 245 and various warlike implements tipped with silver. On the other end, were things exclusively belonging 10 females. This was the home of his fair guide, and he saw that she had, on the frame, a broad rich belt, of many colors, which she was weaving. She said to him : ' My brother is coming and I must hide you.' Putting him in one corner, she spread the belt over him. Presently the brother came in, very richly dressed, and shining as if he had had points of silver all over him. He took down from the wall a splendid pipe, together with his sack of a-pa-ko-ze-gun, or smoking mixture. When he had finished regalinof himself in this way, and laid his pipe aside, he said to his sister : ' Nemissa,' (which is, my eldest sister,) 'when will you quit these practices? Do you forget that the Greatest of the Spirits has commanded that you should not take away the children from below ? Perhaps you suppose that you have concealed 0-na- wiit-a-qut-o, but do I not know of his coming ? If you would not offend me, send him back immediately.' But this address did not alter her purpose. She would not send him back. Finding that she was purposed in her mind, he then spoke to the young lad, and called him from his hiding place. ' Come out of your concealment,' said he, 'and walk about and amuse yourself. You will grow hungry if you remain there.' He then presented him a bow and arrows, and a pipe of red stone, richly ornamented. This was taken as the word of consent to his marriage ; so the two were considered husband and wife from that time. "0-no-wut-a-qut-o found everything exceedingly fair and beautiful around him, but he found no inhabitants :■' ■■?■ ■";!:■ >■■■■ esasSiS MW iliS-Pf :fl:.-. +'':.1 m um \ . :M -; *:"■'■;■] m- 246 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. except her brother. There were flowers on the plains. There were bright and sparkling streams. There were green valleys and pleasant trees. There were gay birds and beautiful animals, but they were not such as he had been accustomed to see. There was also day and night, as on the earth ; but he obserwd that every morning the brother regularly left the lodge, and remained absent all day ; and every even- ing the sister departed, though it was commonly hut for a part of the night. " His curiosity was aroused to solve this mystery. He obtained the brother's consent to accompany him in one of his daily journeys. They travelled over a smooth plain, without boundaries, until 0-no-wiit-a- qut-o felt the gnawings of appetite, and asked his companion if there were no game. * Patience ! my brother,' said he, ' we shall soon reach the spot where I eat my dinner, and you will then see how I am pro- vided.' After walking on a long time, they came to a place which was spread over with fine mats, where they sat down to refresh themselves. There was, at this place, a hole through the sky ; and 0-no-wut-a- qut-o looked down, at the bidding of his companion, upon the earth. He saw below the great lakes, and the villages of the Indians. In one place he saw a war party stealing on the camp of their enemies. In another, he saw feasting and dancing. On a green plain, young men were engaged at ball. Along a stream, women were employed in gathering the a-puk-wa for mats. " ' Do you see,' said the brother, ' that group of chil- dren playing beside a lodge. Observe that beautiful INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 247 and active boy,' said he, at the same time darting something at him, from his hand. The child imme- diately fell, and was carried into the lodge. " They looked again, and saw the people gathering about the lodge. They heard the shc-she-gwan of the meeta, and the song he sung, asking that the child's life might be spared. To this request, the companion of 0-no-wut-a-qui-o made answer — ' send me up the sacrifice of a white dog.' Immediately a feast was ordered by the parents of the child, the white dog was killed, his carcass was roasted, and all the wise men and medicine-men of the villao-e assem- bled to witness the ceremony. ' There are many be- low,' continued the voice of the brother, * whom vou call great in medical skill, but it is because their ears are open, and they listen to my voice, that they are able to succeed. When I have struck one with sick- ness, they direct the people to look to me : and when they send me the offering I ask, I remove my hand from off them, and they are well.' After he had said this, they saw the sacrifice parcelled out in dishes, for those who were at the feast. The master' of the feast then said, * we send this to thee. Great Manito,' and immediately the roasted animal came up. Thus their dinner was supplied, and after they had eaten, they returned to the lodge by another way. "After this manner they lived for some time ; but the place became Aveariscme at last. 0-no-wut-a-qut-o thought of his friends, and wished to go back to them. He had not forgotten his native village, and his father's lodge; and he asked leave of his wife to return. At length she consented. ' Since you are better pleased,' wmm -'(■ Si .-ii^; *■ ui ;,■ '.'.il ('•A' 248 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. she replied, ' with th" cares, and the ills, and the pov- erty of the world, than with the peaceful delights of the sky, and its houndless prairies, go! I give you porinis>ion; and since I have brought you hither, I will conduct you back ; but remember, you are still my hu; ■■■I 256 INDIANS OF NORTH AMEUICA. — there was no ice, no chilly winds — no one shivered for the want of warm clothes : no one suffered from hunger — no one mourned for the dead. They saw no graves. They heard of no wars. There was no hunting of animals; for the air itself was their food. Gladly would the young warrior have remained there forever, but he was obliged to cfo back for his bodv. He did not see the Master of Life, but he heard his voice in a soft breeze. ' Go back,' said this voice, ' to the land from whence you came. Your time has not yet come. The duties for which I made you, nnd which you are to perform, are not yet finished. Re- turn to your people, and accomplish the duties of a good man. You will be the ruler of your tribe for many days. The rules you must observe will be told you by my messenger, who keeps the gate. When he surrenders back your body, he will tell you wlmt to do. Listen to him, and you shall afterwards rejoin the spirit, which you must now leave behind. She is accepted and will be ever here, as young and as happy as she was when I first called her from the land of snows.' When this voice ceased, the narrator awoke. It was the fancy work of a dream, and he was still ia the bitter land of snows, and hunger, and tears." The following is a specimen of an Odjibwa fable: and may compare with the same class of fictions, among civilized nations : "A lynx, almost famished, met a hare one day in the Avoods, in the winter season, but the hare was sep- arated from its enemy by a rock, upon which it stood. The lynx began to speak to it in a very kind manner. ' Wabose ! Wabose ! ' said lie, ' come here, my little white one, hare, ' I an never to go pretty,' repl your parent of yours ; come down called prett tive, she jur and immed her to piece " Commo craft, " it is tain accural culties of t' not easy to and judgm^ a lingering on the part > withheld b] perstitious i To these mi peculiaritiei very differe tion. "In the f unless it be in the singe ration and imperfect, flash out, { striking an INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 257 white one, I wish to talk to you.' * Oh no,' said the hare, • I am afraid of you, and my mother told me never to go and talk with strangers.' ' You are very pretty,' replied the lynx, • and a very obedient child to your parents ; but you must know that I am a relative of yours ; I wish to send some word to your lodge ; come down and see me.' The hare was pleased to be called pretty, and when she heard that it was a rela- tive, she jumped down from the place where she stood, and immediately the lynx pounced upon her and tore her to pieces." " Common as the Indian songs are," says School- craft, " it is found to be no ordinary acquisition to ob- tain accurate specimens of them. Even after the diffi- culties of the notation have been accomplished, it is not easy to satisfy the requisitions of a correct taste and judgment, in their exhibition. There is always a lingering fear of misapprehension, or misconception, on the part of the interpreter — or of some things being withheld by the never-sleeping suspicion, or the su- perstitious fear of disclosure, on the part of the Indian. To these must be added, the idiomatic and imaginative peculiarities of this species of wild composition — so very different from every notion of English versifica- tion. " In the first place there is no unity of theme, or plot, unless it be that the subject, war, for instance, is kept in the singer's mind. In the next place both the nar- ration and the description, when introduced, is very imperfect, broken, or disjointed. Prominent ideas flash out, and are dropped. These are often most striking and beautiful, but we wait in vain for any Q :i:i . J* ^fX \ ^J d 258 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. sequence. A brief allusion — a shining symbol, a burst of feeling or passion, a fine sentiment, or a bold asser- tion, come in as so many independent parts, and there is but little in the composition to indicate the leading theme, which is, as it were, kept in mental reserve by the singer. Popular, or favorite expressions are often repeated, often transposed, and often exhibited with some new shade of meaning. "The structure and flexibility of the language is highly favorable to this kind of wild improvisation. But it is difficult to translate, and next to impossible to preserve its spirit. Two languages more unlike, in all their leading characteristics, than the English and the Indian, were never brought into contact. The one monosyllabic, and nearly without inflections — the other polysyllabic, polysynthetic, and so full of inflec- tions of every imaginative kind, as to be completely transpositive — the one from the north of Europe, the other, probably, from Central Asia — it would seem that these families of the human race had not wandered wider apart, in their location, than they have in the sounds of their language, the accidence of their gram- mar, and the definition of their words. So that, to find equivalent single words in translation, appears often as hopeless as the quadrature of the circle. "The great store-house of Indian imagery is the heavens. The clouds, the planets, the sun and moon, the phenomena of lightning, thunder, elec- tricity, aerial sounds, electric or atmospheric, and the endless variety produced in the heavens by light and shade, and by elemental action, — these constitute the fruitful themes of allusion in their songs and poetic INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 259 chants. But they are mere allusions, or broken de- scriptions, like touches on the canvass, without being united to produce a perfect object. The strokes may be those of a master, and the coloring exquisite ; but without the art to draw, or the skill to connect, it will still remain but a shapeless mass. " In war excursions great attention is paid to the flight of birds, particularly those of the carnivorous species, which are deemed typical of war and bravery, and their wing and tail feathers are appropriated as marks of honor, by the successful warrior. When the minds of a war party have been roused up to the sub- ject, and they are prepared to give utterance to their feelings by singing and dancing, they are naturally led to appeal to the agency of this class of birds. Hence the frequent allusions to them, in their songs. The following stanza is made up of expressions brought into connection, from diflTerent fragments, but expresses no more than the native sentiments : The eagles scream on high, They whet their forked beaks, Raise — raise the battle cry, 'T is fame our leader seeks. " Generally the expressions are of an exalted and poetic character, but the remarks before made of their efforts in song, being discontinuous and abrupt, apply with peculiar force to the war songs. To speak of a brave man — of a battle — or the scene of a battle, or of the hovering of birds of prey above it, appears suf- ficient to bring up to the warrior's mind, all the details consequent on personal bravery or heroic achievement. Il would naturally be expected, that they should de- piii, 260 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. light to dwell on scenes of carnage and Llood : but however this may be, all such details are omitted or suppressed in their war songs, which only excite ideas of noble daring. The birds of the brave take a flight round the sky, They cross the enemy's line, Full happy am I — that my body should fall, Where brave men love to die. " Very little effort in the collocation and expansion of some of their sentiments, would impart to these bold and unfettered rhapsodies, an attractive form, among polished war songs. " The strain in which these measures are sung, is generally slow and grave in its commencement and progress, and terminates in the highest note. While the words admit of change, and are marked by all the fluctuation of extempore composition, the air and the chorus appear to be permanent, consisting not only of a graduated succession of fixed sounds, but always exact in their enunciation, their quantity, and their wild and startling musical expression. " Rhyme is permitted by the similarity of the sounds from which the vocabulary is formed, but the structure of the language does not appear to admit of its being successfully developed in this manner. Its forms are too cumbrous for regularly recurring expressions, sub- jected at once to the laws of metre and rhyme. The instances of rhyme that have been observed in the na- tive songs are few, and appear to be the result of the fortuitous positions of words, rather than art. " In the translation of hymns, made during the mod- ern period of missionary effort, there has been no INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 261 general attempt to secure rhyme ; and as these trans- lations are generally due to educated natives, under the inspection and with the critical aid of the mission- ary, they have evinced a true conception of the genius of language, by the omission of this accident. Eliot, who translated the Psalms of David into the Mas- sachusetts language, vi'hich were first printed in 1661, appears to have deemed it important enough to aim at its attainment: but an examination of the work, now before us, gives but little encouragement to others to follow his example, at least while the languages re- main in their present rude and uncultivated state. The followincr is the XXIIId Psalm from this version : 1. Mar teag nukquenaabikoo shepse nanaauk God. Nussepsinwahik ashkoshqut nuttinuk ohtopagod 2. Nagum nukketeahog kounoh wutomohkinuh wonk Nuluss oounuk ut sampoi may newutch oowesnonk. 3. "Wutonkauhtamut pomushaon muppcxonk oonauhkoe Woskehettuonk mo nukqueh tamoo newutch koowetomah : 4. Kuppogkomunk kutanwohon nish noonenehiquog Koonochx hkah anquabhettit wame nummatwomog 5. Kussussequnum nuppuhkuk weetepummee na^hpea Wonk woi God nxtallamwaitch pomponetuphos hau t-.:^ .'V mw 11 262 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. QDniyeuonk monaneteonk nutasukkonkqunash Tohsohke pomantatn wekit God raichem nuttain pish.* (( This appears to have been rendered from the ver- sion of the Psalms appended to an old edition of King James' Bible of 1611, and not from the versification of Watts. By comparing: it with this, as exhibited below, there will be found the same metre, eights and sixes, the same syllabical quantity, and the same coincidence of rhyme at the second and fourth lines of each verse ; although it required an additional verse to express the entire psalm. It could therefore be sung to the ordinary tunes in use in Eliot's time, and, taken in connection with his entire version, including the Old and New Testament, evinces a degree of pa- tient assiduity on the part of that eminent missionary. which is truly astonishing : The Lord is my shepherd, I '11 not want j 2. He makes me down to lie In pastures green : he leadeth me the quiet waters by. 3. My soul he doth restore again and me to walk doth make "Within the paths of righteousness E'en for his own name's sake. 4. Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale. yet will I fear none ill ; For thou art with me and thy rod and staff me comfort still. * Eliot employed the figure 8, set horizontally; to express a peculiar sound : otherwise he used the English alphabet in its ordinary powers. 5. M M 6. G. A Mr. Scho pleasing p the childre shores of t tudes, frequ and amuse kinds, with such shout one evenin St. Mary's of the mea the plain v escent ligl peated on sion of wc this insect \M Kinfj INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 263 5. My table thou hast furnished in presence of my foes ; My liead thou dost with oil anoint, and my cup overflows. 6. Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me ; And in God's house forevermore my dwelling place shall be. Mr. Schoolcraft furnishes us also with the following pleasing passage. — " In the hot summer evenings, the children of the Chippewa Algonquins, along the shores of the upper lakes, and in the northern lati- tudes, frequently assemble before their parents' lodges, and amuse themselves by little chants of various kinds, with shouts and wild dancing. Attracted by such shouts of merriment and gambols, I walked out one evening, to a green lawn skirting the edge of the St. Mary's river, with the fall in full view, to get hold of the meaning of some of these chants. The air and the plain were literally sparkling with the phosphor- escent light of the fire-fly. By dint of attention, re- peated on one or two occasions, the following succes- sion of words was caught. They were addressed to this insect : Wau wau tay see ! Wau wau tay see ! E mow e shin Tshe bwau ne baun-e wee ! Be eghaun — be eghaun — ewee! Wa wau tay see ! Wa wau tay see ! Was sa koon ain je gun Was sa koon ain je gun. ii^pr mm itM '■>^M 'Si 264 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. " The literal translation is as follows : — ' Flilting- white-fire-insecl ! waving-white-fire-bug ! give me light before I go to bed ! give me light before I go to sleep. Come, little dancing-white-fire-bug ! Come little flitting-white-fire-beast ! Light me with your bright white-flame-instrument — your little candle.' Metre there was none, at least, of a regular character : they were the wild improvisations of children in a merry mood. The following will serve as a free translation : Fire-fly, fire-fly ! bright little thing, Light me to bed, and my song I will sing. Give me your light, as you fly o'er my head, That I may merrily go to my bed. Give me your light o'er the grass as you creep, That I may joyfully go to my sleep Come little fire-fly — come little beast Come ! and I '11 make you to-morrow a feast. Came little candle that flies as I sing, Bright little fairy-bug — night's little king ; Come, and I '11 dance as you guide me along, Come, and I '11 pay you, my bug, with a song." Languages. — Nothing, in respect to the aborigines of America, has excited more wonder and curiosity, than their languages. Balbi, who has summed up the labors of his predecessors with great industry, states, that among the 10,000,000 Indians of the whole conti- nent, there are 43S languages, and 2000 dialects ! Yet, in the midst of this prodigious diversity, so re- markable an analogy of structure has been found to pervade them all, that Mr. Duponceau has classed them under one genus. Among the sava^ies of our portion of the continent, each tribe h formly been the Algonqi been spoken of the Potom teneaux or Ottawas, Po mies, the SI: the Miamis, tribes, now therefore clu The Wye federacy ca prising the Onondagas Southern, I\ the Cherok The lichees former. T] these other included th( pineboins, ( ways, Otoe &c. The J pahoes, Cai eluded the It might phenomena their origin people to ^^ thorn as im of the insti INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 265 each tribe had its dialect ; but many dialects have uni- formly been found referable to one parent stock. Thus, the Algonquin language appears at one time to have been spoken over a greater part of the continent, north of the Potomac, and east of the Mississippi. The Knis- teneaux or Crees, Micmacs, Chippewas or Odjibwas, Ottawas, Potavvatomies, the Sacs and Foxes or Oltoga- mies, the Shawanese, the Kickapoos, the Menomonies, the Miamis, the Delawares or Lenni Lenapes and other tribes, now extinct, spoke Algonquin dialects, and are therefore classed as belonging to the Algonquin family. The Wyandot or Huron family included the con- federacy called the Iroquois, or Six Nations, com- prising the Mohawks, Senecas, Oneidas, Cayugas, Onondagas and Tuscaroras, and the Wyandots. The Southern, Floridian, or Mobilian family, comprised the Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws, and Choctaws. The lichees and Natchez tribes were blended with the former. The Seminoles were but runaways from these other tribes. The Sioux, or Dahcotah family included the Winnebagos, Dahcotahs, Hohays, or As- Pineboins, Omahaws, Mandans, Kanzas, Osages, lo- ways, Otoes, Missouris, Quapaws, Mahas, Puncahs, &c. The Paumee family included the Pawnees, Arra- pahoes, Camanches, &c. The Columbian family in- cluded the Flatheads, Shoshonees, Eshelotes. &c. It might seem in vain to attempt to account for the phenomena presented by the American languages ; their origin appears to be as inscrutable as that of the people to whom they belong. IVlr. Bancroft considers thorn as indigenous to the country, and the " ofTspring of the instinctive powers of man." The following ex- W: :-'■ ':t:] 'a ■If;;. i' '' i,' ^■Cf'^ 11 ill.' :lii -.'»;-' 11- '•I i- I"' •■'■''It' I'g '■ '' i '■/ ■ ■ '4'V: ^ i^ * i. '■ V" mm . A. '..ifii ■iU ■,,..|ilij .1 ■!''■' J'' ,!; 1}]J.:'*;!Hi 266 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. tracts will convey an idea of his theory, with the grounds upon which it rests ; as well as of some important inferences deduced from his doctrine on the subject : " The study of the structure of the dialects of the red m^n, sheds light on the inquiry into their condi- tion. Language is their oldest monument, and the record and image of their experience. No savage horde has been caught with it in a state of chaos, or as if just emerging from the rudeness of indistinguishable sounds. No American languEige bears marks of being an arbitrary aggregation of separate parts ; but each is possessed of an entire organization, having unity of character, and contiolled by exact rules. Each ap- pears, not as a slow formation by painful processes of invention, but as a perfect whole, springing directly from the powers of man. A savage physiognomy is imprinted on the dialect of the dweller in the wilder- ness ; but each dialect is still not only free from con- fusion, but is almost absolutely free from irregulari- ties, and is pervaded and governed by undeviating laws. " As the bee builds his cell regularly, yet without the recognition of the rules of geometry, so the unreflect- ing savage, in the use of words, had rule, and method and completeness. His speech, like everything else, underwent change ; but human pride errs in believing that the art of cultivated man was needed to resolve it into its elements, and give to it new forms, before it could fulfil its ofHce. Each American language was competent of itself, without improvement from ^^rholar- ship, to exemplify every rule of the logician, and give INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 267 utterance to every passion. Each dialect that has been analyzed has been found to be rich in derivatives and compounds, in combinations and forms. As cer- tain as every plant which draws juices from the earth has root and sap vessels, bark and leaves, so certainly each language has its complete organi;^ation — includ- ing the same parts of speech, though some of them may be concealed in mutual coalitions. Human con- sciousness and human speech exist every where, in- dissolubly united. A tribe has no more been found without an organized language, than without eyesight or memory. " From these investigations, two momentous con- clusions follow. The grammatical forms which con- stitute the organization of language, are not the work of civilization, but of nature. It is not writers, nor ar- bitrary conventions, that give laws to language : the forms of grammar ; the power of combinations, the possibility of inversions, opring from within us, and are a consequence of our own organization. If lan- guage is a human invention, it was the invention of savage man ; and this creation of barbarism would be a higher trophy to human power than any achieve- ment of civilization. The study of these rudest dia- lects tends to prove, if it does not conclusively prove, that it was not man who made language, but He who made man gtive him utterance." " Another and a more certain conclusion is this — that the ancestors of our tribes wore rude like them- selves. It has been asked if our Indians were not the wrecks of more civilized nations. Their lan«riiage refutes the hypothesis ; every one of its forms is a 'M '§fii§ 268 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. k witness that their ancestors were, like themselves, not yet disenthralled from nature. The character of each Indian language is one continued, universal, all-per- vading synthesis. Those to whom these languag-es were the mother-tongue were still in that earliest age of intellectual culture, where reflection has not begun." It seems, therefore, that Mr. Bancroft's view is, that organized language springs from the instincts of sav- age man, and this theory is oflfered as affording a so- lution of the remarkable fact, that among .iearly 500 various languages broken into 2000 dialects, there is a general aspect of uniformity. " From the country of the Esquimaux to the Strait of Magellan," says Humboldt, '• mother-tongues, entirely different in their roots, have, if we may use the expression, the same physiognomy." It would seem an equally rational exposition of this phenomenon to suppose that all the Indian tribes descended from one family, from which they derived their language, and that this in the course of centuries has been broken into the multitudinous (^.iolects which now exist. If we suppose the indivi- dual tribes, or the heads of them, amounting to seve- ral hundreds, to have made their languages independ- ently of each other, it is indeed an astonishing cir- cumstance that they should all bear the family resem- blance which Humboldt notices. The supposition seems, indeed, cO imply an instinct in man, like that of the bee in framing its cells, which guides them, in all lands, to adopt precisely the same form and the same angle ; and if such an instinct exists, why are not the languages of all countries alike, or at least so far alike as to possess " the same physiognomy ?" If it i^i be said tha only to the languages Teutonic, s in Asia, midable obj his opinion deem the tribes as ar Endowm eyes ? Ha senses, affe hurt with l eases, heah by the sam If you pric do we not and if you are like yo^ If a Jevv A revenge, his sufferar The villan] go hard, bi Thus, ac a similar a America w with their the same chilled wit call them right gove INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 269 be said that Mr. Bancroft's remarks are to be applied only to the great American family, we then ask how languages so radically different as the Celtic and Teutonic, should come from nearly the same regions in Asia. These suggestions seem to present a for- midable objection to Mr. Bancroft's theory, and though his opinion is entitled to great respect, we must still deem the origin of the language of the American tribes as an open question. Endowments of the Indians. — " Hath not a Jew eyes ? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, afTections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same dis- eases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is ? If you prick us, do we not bleed ? If you tickle us, do we not laugh ? If you poison us, do we not die ? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge ? If we are like you in the rest, we Avill resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? why, revenge. The villany you teach me, i will execute ; and it shall go hard, but I will belter the instruction." Thus, according to Shakspeare, a Jew is a man. Tn. a similar vein Mr. Bancroft lays, " The natives of America were men and women of like endowments with their more cultivated onquorors ; they have the same afTections and the same powers ; are chilled with an ague, or burn with a fever. We may call them savage, just as we call fruits wild; natural right governs them. They revere unseen powers; f It! I'lSLI ^f *J1I 270 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. m m-^ 0. tiiey respect the nuptial ties ; they are careful of their dead ; their religion, their marriages and their burials, show them possessed of the habits of humanity and bound by a federative compact to the race. They had the moral faculty which can recognize the distinction between right and wrong. *' There is not a quality belonging to the white man, which did not also belong to the American savage ; there is not among the aborigines a rule of language, a custom or an institution, which, when considered in its principle, has not a counterpart among their con- querors. The unity of the human race is established by the exact correspondence between their respective powers ; the Indian has not one more, has not one less than the white man ; the map of the faculties is for both identical." But while it is admitted that the several races of men possess the same faculties in kind, they are en- joyed in very different degrees. The red man may be said, in general, to possess imitative, rather than in- ventive faculties. His observation is quick and pene- trating. In the sagacity of the senses, he rivals, if not surpasses, the white man, and his judgment acting upon these is sound. But in abstraction — ir rising above experience, and grouping together a ri.ass of materials for the deduction of general truth, of prin- ciples, he liolds a secondary rank. In his powers of reasoning, and perhaps in moral qualities, he is infe- rior to his white brother. It is said that they have a difficulty in comprehending numbers, and some of the tribes are said to be greatly perplexed in carrying iheir ideas beyond a hundred. Mr. Flint tells us. that when great numl English V says Mr. I of attache ners. Th their unwe ancient me displays a His detern m the orgf little flexil and theref( contortions ready to I the moven the movenc of animate to the eye Such, ac physical c the Ameri( the puritar ravian Los Casheil ar civilize th capacity f take the d( early Brit( tellectual of the In( mass of tl \l INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 271 that when a question turns upon a point that involves great numbers, they generally avail themselves of the English word, heap. " They are characterized," says Mr. Bancroft, " by a moral inflexibility, a rigidity of attachment to their hereditary customs and man- ners. The birds and the bees as they chime forth their unwearied canticles, chime them ever to the same ancient melodies, and the Indian child, as it grows up, displays a propensity to the habits of its ancestors. His determinateness of moral character is marked also in the organization of the American savage. He has little flexibility of features, or transparency of skin ; and therefore, if he depicts his passions, it is by strong contortions, or the kindling of the eye, that seems ready to burst from its socket. He cannot blush ; the movement of his blood does not visibly represent the movement of his affections ; for him, the domain of animated beauty is circumscribed ; he cannot paint to the eye the emotions of moral sensibility." Such, according to high authorites, are some of the physical characteristics, — the native endowments, of ihe American savages ; — and the imperfect success of the puritan Eliot, Brainard and Mayhew; of the Mo- ravian Loskiel ; the German Heckewelder ; the Jesuit Casheil and others, in attempting to christianize and civilize them, has led to a desponding view of their capacity for civilization. If, however, we were to take the delineations furnished by Julius Cucsar of the early Britons, we could hardly make out a higher in- tellectual and moral c>limfite than is here furnished of the Indians. The ancient Celts, as well as the mass of the modern Irish, are often depicted as pos- i i. ?ri"y'v?;i 272 INDIANS OF NORTH AMEllICA. sessing fe;|v qualities peculiarly adverse to the diffusion of knowledge and refinement among them. Yet, of this stock we reckon Swift, Burke, Grattan and Goldsmith, among the dead, and among the living, Wellington, Moore and O'Connel. We are not disposed, therefore, to receive these disparaging estimates of Indian char- acter, as excluding hopes of their redemption from sav- age life. The race has produced a Caupolican, a Lan- taro, a Logan, Pontiac and Red Jacket, — ornaments of humanity in savage life, — and examples of brilliant suc- cess at the bar, and in the church, have been furnished. But while we maintain the capacity of the Indians for civilization, we must admit that their present con- dition is one of the deepest degradation. They have now lived for centuries in contact with the whiles, imbibing their vices and withering beneath the scorn and hatred of a master race. The following dark picture is drawn with equal truth and force. " As a race, they have countenances, that are gen- erally unjoyous, stern and ruminating. It is with them, either gloomy taciturnity, or bacchanalian revel. When you hear Indians laughing, you may generally infer that they are intoxicated. An Indian seldom jests, generally speaks low, and under his breath ; lo- quacity is with him an indication of being a trifling personage, and of deeds inversely less, as his words are more. Even the young men and ^^ s have a sul- len, moody and thoughtful countenan ,., and seem lo have little of that elastic gaiety, with which the be- nevolence of providence has endowed the first days of the existence of most other beings. From this general remark, we ought, perhaps, to except the squaw, who shows som She has qi and when rents, to wl and often and seems " The ma the acute not easily c None but them. Th We have s children ; I ternary moc ashamed t( melancholy whatever t dinary occa one has ren whatever is ual convers with the roi and gloom from social hunger, the certain exis to maintain sppm lo ha^ nature ••'■•at cunistano'« aliorable gl here and th mtM INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 273 shows some analogy of nature to the white female. — She has quicker sensibilities, is more easily excited, and when out of the sight of her husband or her pa- rents, to whom these things are matters of espionage, and often reprehension, she laughs and converses, and seems conscious of a pleasurable existence. " The males evidently have not the quick sensibilities, the acute perceptions of most other races. They do not easily or readily sympathize with external nature. None but an overwhelming excitement can arouse them. They seem callous to all the passions but rage. We have seen fathers in their cabins caressing their children ; but even their caressing was of their cus- tomary moody and stern character, and as if they were ashamed to do it. They are apparently a sullen, melancholy and musing race, who appear to have whatever they have of emotion or excitement, on or- dinary occasions, going on in the inner man. Every one has remarked how little surprise they express for whatever is new, striking, or strange. Their contin- ual converse with woods, rocks, and sterile deserts, with the roar of winds and storms, and the solitude and gloom of the wilderness ; their apparent exile from social nature, their alternation of satiety and hunger, their continual exposure to danger ; their un- certain existence ; their constant struggle with nature to maintain it ; the little hold which their affections seem to have upon life ; the wild, savage and hostile nature ^hut it\cpssant]y surrounds them; — these cir- cunistanc'-- seem to have impressed a steady and un- alterable gloom upon their countenances. If there be, here and there among them, a young man, who feels R .' ,;■" 'Mm 'M 274 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. the freshness and vivacity of youthful existence, and shows anything cf the gaiety and volatility of other animals under such circumstances, though otherwise born to distinction, he is denounced as a trifling thini:; and the silent, s\dlen young savages will naturally tuko the place of him. They seem to have been born with a distinctive determination to be, as much as possibjp, independent of nature and society, and to concentrate, as much as possible, within themselves an existence, which, at any moment, thev seem willing to lay down. " Their impassable fortitude and endurance of suffer- ing, their contempt of pain and death, invest their character with a kind of moral grandeur. It is to be doubted, whether some part of this vaunted stoicism, bo not the result of a more than ordinary degree of physical insensibility. It has been said, with how much truth we know not, that in amputations, and other surgical operations, their nerves do not shrink, or show the same tendency to spasm, with those of the wliites. When the savage, to explain his insensi- bility to cold, called upon the white man to recollect how little his own face was affected by it, in conse- quence of constant exposure, the savage added ' my body is all face.' This increasing insensibility, trans- mitted from generation to generation, finally becomes inwrought with the whole web of animal nature, and the body of the savage at last approximates the insen- sibility of the hoofs of horses. Considering the necessary condition of savage existence, this tempera- ment is the highest boon of providence. *' Of course, no ordinary stimulus excites them to action. Few of the common motives, excitements or I endearmen things thai in proud d fare ; the i fury of gra despair in even beyo drunkenne These are and joyou: excitement long and cagmg th( unpitying their victir lent make and condii to convey their rugg to admire us never i iiicipal ani ties and er ncss of sav lit war wit clher, can il reaming ^ lual condit Antiqui can Indiai ornaments heads, pip INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 275 ^kf'^\ p 1 I \ th( ill. Most of the endearments, operate up things that move us, they either do not feel, or hold in proud disdain. The horrors of their dreadful war- fare ; the infernal rage of their battles; the demoniac fury of gratified revenge ; the alternations of hope and despair in their gambling, to which they are addicted, even beyond the whites ; the brutal exhilaration of drunkenness ; — these are their pleasurable excitements. These are the things that awaken them to a stronof and joyous consciousness of existence. When these excitements arouse the imprisoned energies of their long and sullen meditations, it is like -^ilolus un- cagmg the whirlwinds. The tomahawk flies with unpitying and unsparing sway, and the writhing of their victims inspires a horrible joy. Let the benevo- lent make every exertion to ameliorate their character and condition. Let Christianity arouse every effort to convey her pity, mercy, and immortal hopes to their rugged bosoms. But surely, it is preposterous to admire the savage character in the abstract. Let us never undervalue the comfort and security of mu- nicipal and civilized life ; nor the sensibilities, chari- ties and endowments of our own homes. The happi- ness of savages, steeled against sympathy and feeling, nl war with nature, with the elements, and wath each iher, can have no existence, except in the visionary h'oamlng of those, who never contemplated their ac- tual condition." Antiquities. — The antiquities of the North Ameri- can Indians, may be divided into two classes, — the ornaments, rude inscriptions and paintings, arrow- heads, pipes, stone vessels and weapons, &c., all of HI 9y S^, V^V. '' "°' IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 11.25 " I4£ IIJIIIO 1.4 1.8 1.6 ^ <^ /; PhotDgraphic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 V ^^ \\ % c^ i/.A 276 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. which resemble those still in use by the existino- tribes, and which are, of course, referable to the pres- ent race. They are evidently the work of mere sav- ages, yet they give indications of that mechanical talent, which is a trait of nearly the whole Indian family. With the exception of the Esquimaux, whom we have not included in our sketch, there are no indi- cations of architectural or military structures, evincing much art, which appear to be the work of the present tribes, or their immediate ancestors. Numerous tu- muli, or mounds, sometimes of earth, and sometimes mere heaps of stones, covering human bones, and hence known to be burial places, are found throughout the western country ; some of these are supposed to be the work of modern tribes, while others are of more ancient date. Having already noticed the antiquities of Mexico and Central America, the former referable to the Az- tecs, and the latter to their predecessors, the Toltecs, we have now only to give a brief account of those re- mains of past generations to be found in the United States. The first class of these vestiges, consists of articles of mechanical skill, found in ancient graves, mounds and walls. Among them are many curious specimens of pottery. On the banks of the Ohio, has been found a pitcher of clay, very nicely modelled, in the shape of a bottle-gourd, the neck being formed in imitation of a woman's, with clubbed hair. At Nashville, twenty feet below the earth, a vessel wz^ discovered with a flat bottom, and standing upwards, the top, or mouth, having the shape of a female head, covered with a cap, an ancient been found joined toge heads rep young and with red ai brilliancy, lips, high c pointed sh? An idol sents the fi and chin the sun wi arms, cont£ elegant mc cient vesse discovered pacity to h been met v ter, Ohio, i measuring has been d '^''"Thes ture. Th( stance uni matter — oi chemical \ and former appear to * For our are indebte( tiquities," & INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 277 with a cap, and the ears extending to the chin. Near an ancient rock on the Cumberland river, a vessel has been found, the top of which represents three heads, joined together at the back by a hollow stem. The heads represent three diflferent countenances, two young and the other old. The faces are partly painted with red and yellow, the colors still preserving great brilliancy. The features are distinguished by thick lips, high cheek bones, the absence of a beard, and the pointed shape of the head. An idol discovered in a tumulus at Nashville pre- sents the figure of a man without arms, and the nose and chin mutilated. Colored medals, representing the sun with its rays, and idols of other forms, \vith arms, containing calcined human bones, (some of very elegant models,) have been found. Many of the an- cient vessels of earthen ware were of great size ; one, discovered eighty feet below the surface, was of a ca- pacity to hold ten gallons, and others still larger have been met with. In a mound lately opened at Lancas- ter, Ohio, a vessel composed of clay and broken shells, measuring eighteen feet in length and six in width, has been discovered. ''♦'"These articles ofpottery vary much in their struc- ture. The material is either simply clay — that sub- stance united with pulverized sandstone or calcareous matter — or a composition as well calculated as our chemical vessels to encounter a high degree of heat, and formed upon scientific principles. Some of them appear to have been painted before burning, are skil- * For our view of the Antiquities of the United States, we are indebted to the excellent treatise, entitled " American An- tiquities," &c., by Alexander W. Bradford. "J 278 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. fully wrought and polished, well glazed and burned, and are inferior to our own manufactures in no re- spect. There exist other spc iniens, of ancient origin, corroborating this view of • le chemical knowledge of their authors. At Hamburg, in the State of New York, within an urn in the interior of a mound, curious beads have been found deposited, consisting of transparent green glass, covered with an opaque red enamel, be- neath which and in the tube of the bead was a beauti- ful white enamel, indicative of great art in its forma- tion. On opening an old grave at Big River, in tlie state of Missouri, whose antiquity was sufficiently at- tested by a heavy growth of forest trees over the spot, beads of similar shape, appearance and composition have also been brought to light. " The bricks discovered in the mounds appear to have been formed after the modern method, and are well burnt ; those found in the ancient fortifications are of similar construction and appearance, with the excep- tion of possessing a lighter color. " The art of working in stone, and other hard sub- stances, was carried to a considerable degree of per- fection by this people ; and beads of bone and shell. carved bones, and hewn and sculptured stones are by no means rare. Their weapons and implements were often formed from the oldest and hardest of rocks; and arrow-heads, axes, and hatchets of granite, and hornblende, nicely cut and polished, are of frequent occurrence. The covers of some of the urns are com- posed of calcareous breccia, skilfully wrought; tho pieces of stone worn as ornaments, and found interred with the dead, have been drilled and worked into pre- cise shapes, and the pipe-bowls are adorned with beau- !•■ i I- tifully car the humai sculptured mound at Columbus tures has sippi, neai stone bear rock is a ( taining th feet are qi delineated the feet li "Thee actual im soft substt the contri and exhil pearances "Ancie served, tum of r( fifty mile I numbers, quainted hardened one of th( dicular n above th( tions of b •' Near ers, in th s INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 279 tifully carved reliefs. An idol of stone, representing the human features, has been found at Natchez, the sculptured head and beak of a rapacious bird in a mound at Cincinnati, and an owl carved in stone at Columbus, Ohio. The most singular of thcse sculp- tures has been discovered on the banks of the Missis- sippi, near St. Louis. This is a tabular mass of lime- stone bearing the impression of two human feet. The rock is a compact limestone of grayish-blue color, con- taining the encrinite, echinite, and other fossils. The feet are quite flattened, but the muscular marks are delineated with great precision. Immediately before the feet lies a scroll, sculptured in a similar style. "The opinion sometimes entertained, that these are actual impressions of the human fef ,;, made upon a soft substance subsequently indurated, is incorrect ; on the contrary, they are undoubtedly the result of art, and exhibit an extraordinary analogy with similar ap- pearances in Asia and in Central America. "Ancient inscriptions upon rocks have also been ob* served. Dr. Barton examined some, on a large stra- tum of rock upon the east shore of the Ohio, about fifty miles below Pittsburg, and found them in great numbers, and apparently * the work of a people ac- quainted with the use of iron instruments, or with hardened metallic instruments of some kind.' Upon one of the branches of the Tennessee river are perpen- dicular rocks, on which, more than one hundred feet above the present high-water mark, are representa- tions of beasts, birds, and other figures. " Near the confluence of the Elk and Kanhawa riv- ers, in the western part of Virginia, Bishop Madison h'S'l 280 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. observed some remarkable remains of sculpture. Upon the surface of a rock of freestone lying on the margin of the river, about twelve feet in length and nine in breadth, he saw the outlines of several figures, cut without relief, except in one instance, and some- what larger than the life. The depth of the outline was about half an inch, and its width three quarters, nearly, in some places. ' In one line, ascending from the part of the rock nearest the river, there is a tor- toise ; a spread eagle executed with great expression, particularly the head, to which is given a shallow re- lief; and a child, the outline of which is very well dra>vn. In a parallel line there are other figures, but among them that of a woman only can be traced: these are very indistinct. Upon the side of the rock there are two awkward figures which particularly caught my attention. One is that of a man, with his arms uplifted and hands spread out, as if engaged in prayer. His head is made to terminate in a point, or rather he has the appearance of something upon the head, of a triangular or conical form : near to him is another singular figure, suspended by a cord fastened to his heels.' *A turkey, badly executed, with a few other figures, may also be seen. The labor and the perseverance requisite to cut those rude figures in a rock, so hard that steel appeared to make but little impression upon it, must have been great, much more so than making of enclosures in a loose and fertile soil.' " Many metallic remains have also been discovered among the ancient niins, some quite perfect, and oth- ers in a state of decomposition. Copper appears to have been in the most general use. It has been surfaces w finely gild " Circur the wester many of t article, i large exca in which digging at were disc( been foun the in fere surplus w depths be! sition the At Harris Ohio sail appearanc larly the have ser\ INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 281 found in the mounds, either in irregular masses or worked into various forms, and sometimes plated with Siiver. Arrow-heads, bracelets, circular plates or medals, beads, a cross, and pipe-bowls, all composed of this metal, have been disinterred from the tumuli. " One of the ancient mounds at Marietta, Ohio, was situated on the margin of a stream, which had gradu- ally washed away the surrounding soil and part of the structure itself, when a silver cup was observed in the side of the mound. Its form was extremely simple, and resembled some of the earthenware patterns, be- ing an inverted cone. It consisted of solid silver, its surfaces were smooth and regular, and its interior was finely gilded. " Circumstances favor the idea, that the authors of the western antiquities were in the habit of working many of the salt springs, for the manufacture of that article. At the state salt-works in Illinois occurs a large excavation, four hundred feet in circumference, in which a deep well has formerly been sunk. In digging at this place, ashes, and fragments of pottery were discovered in great abundance ; and a drain has been found, so connected with the works as to justify the inference of its being intended to carry away the surplus water. The earthenware found here is at vast depths below the surface, and it resembles in compo- sition the specimens occurring in the ancient mounds. At Harrisonville, in St. Clair county, and near the Ohio saline, the presence of broken pottery and other appearances authorize similar conclusions; particu- larly the shape of the vessels, which may very well have served as evaporators. M :-fVTl'ii t I- d 282 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. " The antiquities discovered in the western caves are of a remarkable character, and have excited much speculation. They cannot be ascribed to the present tribes of Indians, in consequence of the very general reverence in which caverns are held by them. They view them with deeply superstitious feelings, esteem- ing them as the residence of the Great Spirit, and never appearing there for any other purpose than for the occasional celebration of solemn religious festivals. In the saltpetre caves of Gasconade county, Missouri, axes, hammers, and other implements have been found, which are probably of identical origin with some an- cient works in the vicinity. Below the falls of St. Anthony is another cavern, distinguished for its great length, and called, in the Indian language, ' The dwelling of the Great Spirit.' The walls are com- posed of a soft stone, easily yielding to the knife, and they contain many hieroglyphical figures, so covered with moss and defaced by time as to be traced with great difficulty. "Within the saltpetre cave in Warren county, Ten- nessee, two bodies have been discovered, interred in a sitting posture in baskets made of cane, the hip joints dislocated, and the legs brought up close to the body. One of them was a male and the other a female. Great care had manifestly been taken to secure them a durable preservation, and at the period of discovery the flesh, teeth, hair, and nails were still entire. They were enveloped in dressed deer-skins, and in a species of cloth, of firm texture, woven from the fibres of the nettle, or from bark, and overlaid with the most bril- liant feathers of various hues, symmetrically arranged ; INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 283 another covering, of undressed deer-skin, succeeded, and the exterior wrapper was cloth of the same kind, but unornamented. The female had a fan in her hand, composed of turkey feathers so disposed, that it might be opened and closed. " Human bodies have been discovered near the Cum- berland river, in the same state ; in the nitrous caves near Glasgow, and in the Mammoth Cave, in Ken- tucky ; all placed in the same sitting position, clothed in skins and cloths of various textures, inlaid with feathers — the bodies remaining in a high state of pre- servation, and the hair generally of a color varying from brown to yellow and red. This last peculiarity has given rise to many fanciful conjectures concern- ing the race to which the skeletons may be ascribed. Within the same caves many other miscellaneous ar- ticles have been found, far below the surface, — such as bows and arrows, earthenware, fishing nets, cloths, mats, cane baskets, beads, wooden cups, moccasons of bark, various utensils and relics indicative of the char- acter of the deceased with whom they were buried ; and, more singular still, the bones of the pec ari or Mexican hog, an animal not indigenous to the United States, but belonging to the more southern climates. In general, these caves have been great cemeteries of the dead, for bodies are being continually disinterred from the earth within them, and more than a hundred human skulls have been counted in one cave, within a space of twenty feet square. " The second class of Antiquities in the United States, proceeding from the same ancient people, ex- hibits, in an extended view, decisive proof of the im- ■I 284 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. mense numbers and advanced social condition of their authors. It comprehends the Mural Remains, or en- closures — formed by earthen embankments and trench- es ; which appear most numerously in the district bordering upon the Mississippi and its branches, and in the vicinity of the great lakes and their tributaries; though they may be found stretching at intervals from New York to Florida, and from the Territory west of the Mississippi to the Alleghanies." We cannot here enter into a minute detail, respect- ing these interesting relics ; we can do little more than give a hasty enumeration of the most prominent. On ithe banks of the Genesee, there existed works, of an apparently military character, enclosing an area of nearly six acres. These were surrounded on three sides by a circular fosse, crossed by six entrances. On the open side was a high natural bank, through which a covered way led down to a neighboring stream. At a short distance to the south, were similar works, of even a more striking character. On the river Tona- wonde were two forts, one enclosing four and the other eight acres. In the town of Pompey were for- merly the remains of a fortified town, containing more than five hundred acres. This was defended by three elliptical forts, about eight miles distant from each other. Many other similar remains of fortifications and fortified towns, amounting to at least a hundred, have been found in the State of New York, between the head waters of the Delaware and Lake Erie. They are generilly of regular forms, oblong, circular, triangular or elliptical : and they are now obliterated by cultivation, or overgrown by large forest trees. INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 285 In the western parts of Virginia, there are similar remains. In Georgia are " many very magnificent monuments of the power and industry of the ancient inhabitants," consisting in one instance of traces of an extensive town, a stupendous terraced pyramid, &c.; and in others, of towns, fortifications and tumuli. Near Petersburg, on the Savannah river, is a truncated mound, fifty feet high, and eight hundred in circum- ference. A spiral path leads to the top, and there are four niches at the four cardinal points. Several infe- rior mounds are dispersed around it. Many similar remains extend through the whole country, from the Ohio to Florida, seeming to present a continuous line, pointing out the abodes of generations, long since passed away. Antiquities, similar to those we have described, abound in Ohio. " At Marietta, within the city limits, some years since, there were two large, oblong enclo- sures, and a conical mound ; the largest of the en- closures contained forty, and the other twenty acres of ground. They were encompassed by ramparts of earth, from six to ten feet high, and thirty feet in breadth at the base, and on each side were three gate- ways, at equal distances apart. A sort of covert way, formed of two parallel walls, two hundred and thirty- one feet apart, defended the approach to the Muskin- gum ; the walls were forty-two feet wide at the base, twenty-one feet high within, and five feet high on the outer sides. A line of smaller parallel walls leads down to the w^ater from the corner of the fortification. Within the area enclosed, at the north-west corner, was an oblong terrace, nine feet high j at the middle ;i;i!'..ff,l,;,ji|;1 .1! 286 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. of each of its sides the earth was projected, forming gradual ascents to the top, ten feet in width. Near the south wall was another terrace, nearly similar ; at the south-east corner was another ; about the middle was a circular elevation ; and at the south-west cor- ner was a semicircular parapet, covered with a mound, which guarded the gateway or entrance in that quarter. •' The other enclosure had a gateway in the middle of each side, and at the corners was defended by cir- cular mounds. A short distance from its south-east side was a conical mound, one hundred and fifteen feet in diameter, thirty feet high, and surrounded by a ditch and embankment, through which there was a gateway opening towards the fortification. The mound was protected in addition by outworks, and parapets, and other mounds. There were also found here ex- cavations, — originally of great size and depth, — still perceptible ; which were probably wells, and supplied the inhabitants with water." Near Newark, in Licking county, another extensive series of fortifications existed. " At Circleville, Ohio, there were two earthen enclosures, one an exact circle, and the other a 'precise square, with its sides facing the cardinal points, under no greater variation than that of the needle. The square enclosure had eight entrances, equidistant, and all defended by circular mounds within ; each side was fifty-nine rods in length, and the wall ten feet high. Upon its west side it was immediately connected with the circular enclosure, which was sixty-nine rods in diameter, and encompassed by double w^alls, twenty feet high, with a ditch int this circle pavement without th high." Kentucl surface of remains si been more and espec main buri tation, wh notice of t " The ] States coi or circulai mit. Th( the vicini ramidal e sitories of mounds n though th fortificatic purpose cated pyr Most there are erally fo wood, en At Cine broad, ar ed to th( INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 287 E ii a ditch intervening between them. In the centre of this circle was a mound, with a curious semicircular pavement on its eastern side ; and a short distance without the walls stood another mound, ninety feet high." Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and indeed the whole surface of the great valley of the west, is strewn with remains similar to those we have noticed. They have been more carefully examined in the settled districts, and especially in Ohio ; but doubtless many yet re- main buried in the forests, or encumbered with vege- tation, which have yet hardly attracted even the casual notice of the hunter or the traveller. " The last order of these antiquities in the United States consists of Mounds, which are square, oblong, or circular at the base, and conical or flat at the sum- mit. They are either tumuli, terraced elevations in the vicinity of the mural remains, or trur.^ated py- ramidal erections. The tumuli are always the repo- sitories of the dead, and it ia probable most of the other mounds may have served, secondarily, as sepulchres ; though the principal object of many, contiguous lo the fortifications, was unquestionably defensive, while the l)urpose of others, and particularly of the larger trun- cated pyramids, was religious." Most of the ancient tumuli consist of earth, though there are some of stone. In their bosoms are gen- erally found ashes, calcined bones, and charred wood, enclosed in tombs made of flat pieces of stone. At Cincinnati was one of these mounds, 60 feet broad, and 620 long ; it was of an oval shape, adjust- ed to the cardinal points, and contained articles made Hi,, ," u, 288 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. of jasper, crystal and coal ; carved bones, beads, lead, copper, plates of mica, marine shells formed into uten- sils, and the sculptured head of a bird of prey. " So common are these tumuli, that on the Cahokia, nearly opposite to St. Louis, in the State of Illinois, within a circuit of four to seven miles, there are up- wards of one hundred and fifty mounds. One of these, called the Monk mound, from having been occupied by some friars of the order of La Trappe, is truncated, and in the form of a parallelogram, stretching from the north to *,he south. Its height is ninety feet, and the circumference of its base has been estimated to be from two thousand to two thousand four hundred feet. Upon the southern side is a terrace, twenty feet lower than the summit, which formerly was ap- proached by an inclined plane, projecting from its middle, about fifteen feet wide. The arrangement of some of the smaller mounds appears to 'lave been made with reference to this ; and the mounds of another group, near by, are symmetrically placed in the form of a semicircle. Arrow-heads, earthenware, and human bones have been discovered in the vicini- ty, and by excavations into the body of the Monk mound." We cannot enter into further details respecting these interesting relics, but must refer the reader to the source already indicated, for a full view of the subject. It may be sufficient to state, in respect to the number of these ancient mounds and fortifications, that a careful author has said, " The traces of them are astonishir.gly numerous in the western country. I should not exaggerate if I were to say that five thou- sand migh than a huii The am variety of posed that They prov in the dim sive waves traces of the modern people can tions to w After a c£ Bradford 1 which are the subject " L Tho es of the so and institui "2. The extent of tt »3. Tho of civilizati and lived ii "4. The metals, sue bably the a "5. Thi used that r "6. Tk receding s utensils an INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 2S9 sand might be found, some of them enclosing more than a hundred acres." The antiquity of these remains is attested by a variety of circumstances, though it is not to be sup- posed that they are all of contemporaneous origin. They prove that these regions have been swept over, in the dim and distant ocean of the past, by succes- sive waves of population, all of them marked with traces of civilization which distinsfuish them from the modern Indian tribes. Whence and when these people came, and whither they emigrated, are ques- tions to which no certain answer can be returned. After a careful survey of the whole subject, Mr. Bradford has arrived at the following conclusions, which are perhaps all that can be ascertained upon the subject. " 1. That they were all of the same origin, branch- es of the same race, and possessed of similar customs and institutions. " 2. That they were populous, and occupied a great extent of territory. "3. That they had arrived at a considerable degree of civilization, were associated in large communities, and lived in extensive cities. " 4. That they possessed the use of many of the metals, such as lead, copper, gold and silver, and pro- bably the art of working in them. *' 5. That they sculptured in stone, and sometimes used that material in the construction of their edifices. " 6. That they had the knowledge of the arch of receding steps ; of the art of pottery, — producing utensils and urns formed with taste, and constructed s 290 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. upon the principles of chemical composition ; and of the art of brick-making. " 7. That they worked the salt springs, and manu- factured that substance. " 8. That they were an agricultural people, living under the influence and protection of regular forms of fTovernment. " 9. That they possessed a decided system of reli- gion, and a mythology connected with astronomy, which, with its sister science geometry, was in the hands of the priesthood. " 10. That they were skilled in the art of fortifica- tion. "11. That the epoch of their original settlement, in the United States, is of great antiquity; and, " Lastly, That the only indications of their origin, to be gathered from the locality of their ruined monu- ments, point towards Mexico." Wc close this topic by an extract from Flint. — " These vestiges of the past are generally found on fertile wooded bottoms, plains, or the richer alluvial prairies, where wild fruits, game and fish are abun- dant and at hand. The most dense ancient population existed precisely in the places where the most crowd- ed future population will exist in the generations to come. The appearance of a series of mounds <^vu'- rally indicates the contiguity of rich and level lands. easy communications, fish, game, and the most favor- able adjacent positions. The only circumstance, which strongly discredits their having been formed by the progenitors of the present Indinns, is the immensity w^^'^ tT-^..wv AKH^t^m-^^^^v^^vc--:;; :^J^ Camanchee on horseback. The Cabianchees. — This famous and formidable tribe, numbering from twenty to forty thousand souls, INDIANS OF THE WEST. 297 inhabits a fine territory upon the Red River, within the limits of Texas, yet bordering upon the State of Louisiana. This is their home, but they wander westward and exercise a sort of casual domain over the wilds as far as the Pacific. They have long held an Ishmaelite character among their neighbors, and the adjacent Spaniards have often suffered from their depredations. Mr. Flint has drawn the following glowing picture of their country. ^ >>. » >(», - -MtWIitfW' Camanchee tent and family. " At the extremity of the village, the torrent, whose sources were in the mountains, poured down, from a prodigious elevation, a white and perpendicular cas- cade, which seemed a sheet suspended in the air. It falls into a circular basin, paved with blue limestone of some rods in circuit. The dash near at hand has 8iHv W^ f^W 298 INDIANS OF THE WEST. a startling oncct upon the ear. But at a little distance, it is just the murmur to inspire repose, and it spreads a delicious coolness all around the place. " From the hasin the stream seems to partake of the repose of the valley ; for it broadens into a trans- parent and quiet water, whose banks are fringed with pawpaw, persimon, laurel, and catalpa shrubs and trees, interlaced with vines, under which the green carpet is rendered gay with flowers of every scent and hue. The soil is black, tender and exuberantly fertile. The coolness of the vale and the shade, together with the irrigation of the stream, cover the whole valley with a vivid verdure. The beautiful red-bird with its crimson- tufted crest, and the nightingale sparrow, pouring from a body scarcely larger than an acorn, a continued stream of sound, a prolonged, plaintive, and sweetly modulated harmony, that might be heard at the dis- tance of half a mile, had commenced their morning voluntary. The mocking bird, the bufToon of song- sters, was parodying the songs of all the rest. Its short and jerking notes, at times, imitated bursts of laughter. Sometimes, laying aside its habitual levity, it shows, that it knows the notes of seriousness, and trills a sweetly melancholy strain. " Above the summits of the frowning mountains, that mortal foot had never yet trodden, soared the mountain eagle, drinking the sunbeam in the pride of his native independence. Other birds of prey, appar- ently poised on their wings, swam slowly round in easy curves, and seemed to look with delight upon the green spot embosomed in the mountains. They sailed back and forwards, as though they could not INDIANS OF THE WEST. 299 tire of the view. The sun, which had burnished all the tops of the mountains with gold, and here and there glistened on banks of snow, would not shine into the valley, until he had almost gained his meridian height. The natives, fleet as the deer, when on ex- peditions abroad, and at home, lazy and yawning, were just issuing from their cabins, and stretching Camanchee village. their limbs supinely in the cool of the morning. The smoke of their cabin fires had begun to undulate and whiten in horizontal pillars athwart the valley. The distant roar of the cascade, like the gong in Chinese music, seemed to mingle and harmonize all other sounds in the valley. It was a charming assemblage of strong contrasts, rocky and inaccessible mountains, the deep and incessant roar of the stream, a valley that seemed to sleep between these impregnable ram- tpi 300 INDIANS OF THE WEST. parts of nature, a little region of landscape surrounded by Llack and rugged cliffs, on every side dotted thick with brilliant and beautiful vegetation, and fragrant with hundreds of acacias and catalpas in full flower — a spot sequestered like a lonel}'^ island in the midst of the ocean ; in the midst of it a busy, simple, and un- described people, whose forefathers had been born and had died here for uncounted generations ; a people, who could record w^ars, loves, and all the changes of fortune, if they had had their historian. Such was the valley of the Camanchees." From the same authority we extract the following sketch. " The Camanchees bear a general resemblance to the rest of the North American Indians. Inhabiting a healthful and temperate climate, living in constant abundance from their inexhaustible supplies of game, and having vast herds of ca.ttle, horses, and mules, and constantly exercising in the open air, they attain the most perfect and entire development of the human form. They are of fine persons, large, muscular, and athletic. They are courageous, fierce, and indepen- dent, knowing no law but their own proud wills. I saw manifest proofs of their having put the Spaniards under frequent and heavy contributions ; for, besides that their trade with the Americans supplied them with rifles and yagers, they had levied from the Span- iards carbines, powder, and lead ; and quantities of bullion, silver, gold, and massive plate appeared in the cabins of the principal war chiefs. There were also cumbrous articles of mahogany furniture, splendid dresses and trappings, and crosses of gold, decked with ^: INDIANS OF THE WEST. 301 gems among thei . The Creole captives from the Spaniards were retained as slaves, and performed me- 1 '.il drudgery. Some of them were intermarried among the savages, and there were numbers of chil- dren of this mixed race." These people have permanent villages, which they occupy in winter, but at other seasons they move from place to place, chiefly for the purpose of living in the vicinity of the herds of buffaloes, confining their mi- grations, however, to what is deemed their own terri- tory. Their wigwam?, like those of the Sioux and some other tribes, are made of skins, erected upon poles, and forming tents. When they remove, the poles are attached to their horses, making a kind of dray, and on these, the skins and other furniture are laid. The labor in these operations, is performed by the women, the whole charge of taking down, trans- porting and re-erecting the tents, being left to them. "The Camanchees," says Mr. Catlin, "like the northern tribes, have many games, and in pleasant weather seem to be continually practising more or less of them on the prairies, back of, and contiguous to their village. In their ball plays, and some other games, they are far behind the Sioux and others of the northern tribes ; but in racing horses, and riding, they are not equalled by any other Indians on the continent. Racing horses, it would seem, is a con- stant and almost incessant exercise, and their principal mode of gambling ; and perhaps a more finished set of jockeys are not to be found. The exercise of these people in a country where horses are so abundant, and the country so fine for riding, is chiefly done on horse- !!# ■m *':^;tl- . I" Mlli-'^" 302 INDIANS OF THE WEST. back : and it stands to reason, that such a people, who have been practising from their childhood, should be- come exceedingly expert in this wholesome and beau- tiful exercise. " Amongst the feats of riding, there is one that has astonished me more than anything I have ever seen, or expect to see in my life : — a stratagem of war, learned and practised by every young man of the tribe ; by which he is able to drop his body upon the side of his horse at the instant he is passing, effectu- ally screened from his enemy's weapon as he lies in a horizontal position behind the body of his horse, with his heels hanging over the horse's back ; by which he has the power of throwing himself up again and changing to the other side of the horse if neces- sary. In this wonderful condition, he will hang while his hors( and his length, f enemy a over the success, which t off to 01 have be( pletely ] the resi practice "I hi them, tc be susp( seen bu these c one da^ distance and he cntly to it one perse vc a short horse, { or the neck, a in the falls, tr the up dcrdy ; the ba I- INDIANS OF THE WEST. 303 his horse is in full speed, carrying with him his bow and his shield, and also his lance of fourteen feet in length, all or either of which he will wield upon his he id thro\ enemy as ne passes : rismg ana tnrowing nis arrows over the horse's back, or with equal ease and equal success, under the horse's neck. This astonishing feat which the young men have been repeatedly playing off to our surprise as well as amusement, whilst they have been galloping about in front of our tents, com- pletely puzzled the whole of us ; and appeared to be the result of magic, rather than of skill acquired by practice. " I had several times great curiosity to approach them, to ascertain by what means their bodies could be suspended in this manner, where nothing could be seen but the heel hanging over the horse's back. In these endeavors I was continually frustrated, until one day I coaxed a young fellow up within a little distance of me, by offering him a few plugs of tobacco, and he in a moment solved the difficulty, so as appar- ently to render it more feasible than before, yet leaving it one of the most extraordinnry results of practice and persevering endeavors. I found on examination, that a short hair halter was passed around the neck of the horse, and both ends tightly braided into the mane, or the withers, leaving a loop to hang under the neck, and against the heart, whicli being caught up in the hand, makes a sling, into which the elbow falls, taking the weight of the body on the middle of the upper arm. Into tliis loop, the rider drops sud- denly and fearlessly, I'Mving his heel to hang over the back of the horse, to steady him, and also to re- iliiill m H'wm m liiiiP' irS "' itih mm 30i INDIANS OF THE WEST. store him, when he wishes to regain his upright po- sition on the horse's back. Osage chief ivith his war club. The Osages. — The Osage Indians at present reside within what is called the Indian Territory, and near the Creeks. They live in villages, some of which deserve rather the name of large towns. In person they are among the largest and best formed of the Indian race, and are said to possess great genius for war ; but as they lead something like a settled life, and have made some progress in agriculture, they are less addicted to war than most of their neighbors. One of their vil- lages on the Arkansas is thus described by a traveller : INDIANS OF THE WEST. 305 *' The Osage village is built compactly, in the centre of a vast prairie. All the warriors, chiefs and young men, met us two miles from the town, mounted on good liorses, and as fine as they had feathers, or anything else, to make them. The town consisted of one hun- dred and fifty dwellings, with from ten to fifteen per- sons in each house. The average height of the men is more than six feet. They are almost entirely in a state of nature, for few white people have ever been among them. They know nothing of the use of mo- ney ; nor do they use any ardent spirits. I pitched my tent about half a mile from the town, and remained five days. They made dances and plays every night, to amuse me. These Indians have a native religion of their own, and are the only tribe I ever knew that had. At daybreak, every morning, I could hear them at prayer for an hour : they appeared to be as devout in their way as any class of people." The dress of the Osages consists of deerskin leggins, reaching upAvard to the hips, and a buflfalo robe or blanket about their shoulders. They shave ofif their hair close to the hend, except a line about half an inch wide, running round the head. The hair thus left is allowed to grow an inch long, and to this they attach ornaments. Their ears are slit in several places, and filled with strings of beads. They also wear orna- ments on their arms and legs. Their houses are made of poles, arched from fifteen to twenty feet high, and covered by matting? of flags. The inside is planked and lined with mats. Several fires are built in the house, according to its size and the number of wives m m Ml m vti »l ti m 306 INDIANS OF THE WEST. possessed by the owner. The fire-place is a hole of the size of a bushel basket, and the smoke goes out at a hole in the roof : around the fire they spread their mats upon which they eat. They have the common Indian weapons, the bow and arrow, tomahawk, Avar-club and scalping knife : a great number of them also have guns. Their govern- ment is of the same description as that of most of the other tribes, but their manners are less fierce and warlike. The neighboring tribes hold them in con- tempt as cowards. They have good horses, which they keep in excellent order. To obtain these ani- mals they go in large parties to the country on the Red River, where they are found wild in great num- Itcrs. When they discover a gang of horses they distribute themselves into three parties, two of which take their stations at places where they know by ex- perience that the horses are likely to pass in attempt- ing to escape. The Indians being all mounted, the first party starts the wild horses and pursues them to- wards the second party, where the chase is continued with fresh horses to the station of the third party. The wild horses being by this time pretty well spent, tliis party succeeds generally in running them down, and noosing considerable numbers. The Osages raise every year crops of corn, beans ;iud pumpkins : these they cultivate entirely with the hoc in the simplest manner. They usually plant in April, and give their fields one dressing before fhey leave their villages for the summer hunt, in May. About the first week in August, they return to their vil- lage to gather their crops, which have been left unhoed and unfem can save besides a autumnal lage abou of spring, tervals of their coun make then The Os terest the their fine ous comf Osage, the ington, sai your mani wide field: work-shop know not yourselves can do air power of i Bat you a yourselves suits for y my sons— i your fashi sons, but I and I wis] Among nothing m their orig INDIANS OF THE WEST. 307 and unfenced all the season. Each family, if prudent, can save twenty or thirty bushels of corn and beans, besides a quantity of dried pumpkins. They have an autumnal hunt in September, and return to their vil- lage about Christmas, and remain till the beginning of spring, making short hunting excursions in the in- tervals of fine weather. The game is diminishing in their country, but this has had no other effect than to make them more expert hunters and warriors. The Osages have observed with much apparent in- terest the effects of the agricultural skill of the whites, their fine gardens, abundant crops, and their numer- ous comforts and conveniences. A very sensible Osage, the Big Soldier, who had been twice at Wash- ington, said to an American agent : " I see and admire your manner of living, your good warm houses, your wide fields of corn, your gardens, your cows, oxen, work-shops, wagons, and a thousand machines that I know not the use of. I see that you are able to clothe yourselves, even from weeds and grass. In short, you can do almost whatever you choose, and possess the power of subduing almost every animal to your use. But you are surrounded by slaves, and you are slaves yourselves. I fear that if I should exchange my pur- suits for yours, I should also become a slave. Talk to my sons — perhaps they may be persuaded to adopt your fashions, or, at least, to recommend them to their sons, but for myself, I was born free, brought up free, and I wish to die free." Among the peculiarities of the Osages, there is nothing more remarkable than the tradition relative to their origin. According to the universal belief, the ii 30S INDIANS OF THE WEST. founder of the nation was a snail, who passed a quiet existence along the banks of the Osage river, till a high flood swept him down to the Missouri, and left liini exposed on the shore. The heat of the sun at length ripened him into a man : but with the change of his na- ture he had not forgotten his native seat on the Osage, towards which he immediately bent his way. He was, however, soon overtaken by hunger and fatigue, when happily the Great Spirit appeared, and giving him a bow and arrow, showed him how to kill and cook deer, and cover himself with the skin. He then proceeded to his original residence, but as he ap- proached the river he was met by a beaver, who in- quired haughtily who he was, and by what authority he came to disturb his possession. The Osage answered that the river was his own, for he had once lived on its borders. As they stood disputing, the daughter of ihe beaver came, and by her entreaties reconciled her father to the young stranger. It was proposed that the Osage should marry the young beaver, and share with her family the enjoyment of the terri- tory. The Osage readily consented, and from this happy union soon arose the village and nation of the Washasha or Osages. These for a long time preserved a pious reverence for their ancestor the beaver, ab- staining from the chase of that animal, till their com- merce with the whites rendered beaver-skins so val- uable as to overcome their scrupV ., and at the pre- sent day the beavers have nearly lost all privilege of kindred. At the period of Lewis and Clarke's expedition the Osaircs numbered between twelve and thirteen him- I dred warri( numbers e are contin quarrelling of no part tained : bi ishing. 5 formed am twenty-fiv( Yet they dren in thi The I bands, ci I u quiet II a high I left him I It length ^ f his na- ^f 3 Osage, i ay. He V latigue, I i giving I kill and I in. He IS ho ap- who in- lority he nswered ed on its :er of ihe iled her ised that /er, and be lerri- rom this n of the reserved iver, £ib- jir com- po val- tlic pre- ilege of ition the en hun- INDIANS OF THE WEST. 309 dred warriors, and were divided into three tribes. Their numbers at present are not accurately known : they are continually removing from one village to another, quarrelling and intermarrying; so that the population of no particular village can ever be correctly ascer- tained : but their numbers are supposed to be dimin- ishing. Several missionary establishments have been formed among them. The Indians above the age of twenty-five years generally refuse all instruction. Yet they seldom oppose the instruction of their chil- dren in the arts of civilized life. Pawnee chief. The Pawnees. — This nation is divided into three bands, called the Grand Pawnees, the Republican f I ''ihfiilj 310 INDIANS OF THE WEST. Pawnees, and the Pawnee Loups. They dwell upon the river Platte and its branches. Their villages are large, and at a distance have the appearance of regu- larly built towns. The Pawnees are generally tall -^(v and well shaped, except the females, who are dimin- utive in size, and brutified in appearance by hard labor. When they smoke, the first puff is upward, intended for the Great Spirit, as an act of homage to him ; the second is to their mother earth, from whom they obtain their corn, and the third is horizontal, ex- pressive of their good will to their fellow man. The duties of the women are to cultivate the ground, to dress skins, and make clothes, saddles, bridles, &c., ofbufful to them in war c horsebac a large during pointed of warri then re sons ar tions no The tuft on valued grace fu make tl in buffj their h clothed The gether propitij which this sa perfori tural c haps i belief, of ma lamit) of eit voted INDIANS OF THE WEST. 311 of buffalo hides ; and to preserve the dead game brought to them by the hunters, '^he men, when not engaged in war and hunting, amuse themselves by exercise on horseback. Adjacent to each lodge in the village, is a large pen, in which the horses are placed for safety during the night. The police of each village is ap- pointed by the chief, and consists of a certain number of warriors ; they remain in office a few days, and are then replaced by others. While in office, there per- sons are held sacred, and when executing their func- tions no resistance against them is suffered. The Pawnee men cut their hair close, except a tuft on the top of the head, and which they plait as a valued ornament; the removal of this would be dis- graceful. In seasons of mourning, however, they make this sacrifice to express their grief. They dress in buffalo robes and deer skins. The women suffer their hair to grow long. The girls of all ages are clothed, but the boys generally go naked in summer. The Pawnee Loups formerly had a custom alto- gether unique among the American Indians, of making propitiatory offerings to the Great Star, the name which they give to the planet Venus. The origin of this sanguinary rite is unknown. The ceremony was performed annually, immediately before their agricul- tural operations, for the success of which it was per- haps instituted: a breach of this duty would, in their belief, be followed by the total failure of their crops of maize, beans and pumpkins. To obviate this ca- lamity, any person was at liberty to offer up a prisoner of either sex, whom he had taken in war. The de- voted victim was clothed in the gayest and most costly 312 INDIANS OF THE WEST. attire, profusely supplied with the choicest food, and constantly attended by the magicians or jugglers, who anticipated all his wants, cautiously concealed from him the real object of their sedulous attentions, and endeavored to maintain him in a state of cheerful- ness, that he might grow fat, and render the sacrifice more acceptable. When the victim was thought sufficiently prepared, a day was appointed for the sacrifice, and the whole tribe assembled. He was bound to a cross, and a solemn dance was performed, with various other cer- emonies : after which the warrior who had taken him captive, clove his head with a tomahawk, and the mul- titude completed the execution by piercing him with iheir arrows. In the volume of this work which treats of the history of the Indians, an anecdote is related of a Pawnee brave, who rescued an letan woman, destined to this sacrifice. This brave was Petalcshavoo, the son of the Knife Chief, at that time the head of the nation. The old chief, who was of a mild and philanthropic disposition, had in vain attempt- ed to abolish this bloody ceremony. The success of Petalcshavoo in his daring enterprise, was the first step toward the accomplishment of this design. The young warrior was determined to repeat his attempts on every occasion that oflfered. The ensuing spring, a Pawnee who had captured a fine Spanish boy, vowed to sacrifice him to the Great Star, and accord- ingly placed him under the care of the jugglers for that purpose. The Knife Chief learning this, consulted with his son, respecting the means of preventing the bloody sacrifice. *' I will rescue the boy," said Petalcshavoo, «• as a w unwillin a dange exchang obtain was the and corr generou to whic contribu temptinj together moned t his war' and con dize an death, club. ' to assisi friends, added 2 the war his woi were a to St. sacrifio and su and th it is b( has ta Th( ihousi INDIANS OF THE WEST. 313 r:. " as a warrior should, by force." But the old chief, unwilling that his son should again expose himself to a danger so imminent, hoped to induce the ^♦arrior to exchange his victim for some article of value. To obtain this, he resorted to an American trader, who was then in the village, with commodities for sale, and communicated to him his design. This person generously gave him a large quantity of merchandize, to which the chief, his son, and other Indians, added contributions sufficient to make the whole a very tempting offer. All this treasure was laid in a heap together, in the lodge of the chief, who then sum- moned the warrior before him. Arming himself with his war-club, he explained the object of the summons, and commanded the warrior to accept the merchan- dize and yield up the boy, or prepare for instant death. The warrior refused, and the chief lifted his club. " Strike," said Petaleshavoo, who stood near to assist his father, " I will meet the vengeance of his friends." But the more prudent and politic chief added a few articles of merchandize, in order to give the warrior an excuse for acquiescing, without forfeiting his word. The expedient was successful ; the goods were accepted ; the boy was liberated and conducted to St. Louis by the trader. The merchandize was sacrificed in his stead : the cloth was cut in shreds, and suspended at the place appointed for the ceremony, and the other articles were burnt. Since this period it is believed that no human sacrifice of this nature has taken place among the Pawnees. The Pawnees at present number about ten or twelve thousand souls, only one half the population which If 314 INDIANS OF THE WEST. existed in 1S32, when the smallpox was introduced among them by the fur traders. So destructive was the progress of this terrible disease, that in a few months ten thousand of their number were swept away. The tribes of the Omahas, the Otoes and the Missou- ris were so leduced by the same calamity that they were unable to contend against their enemies, and sought the protection of the Pawnees, into which tribe they are now merged. The great nation of the Sioux also suffered by this visitation, as well as the Osages, Kanzas and Puncahs ; the latter were almost totally extirpated by it. The Pawnee Picts are a numerous and powerful tribe, inhabiting the country between the head waters of the Red River and the Rocky Mountains. They number from eight to ten thousand souls, and hold an established alliance with the Camanchees, hunting and feasting with them, and associating together for their common defence. Notwithstanding their name, these people are no way related to the Pawnees of the Platte, from whom they are separated by a distance of a thousand miles, and whom they know only as enemies. They are clumsily formed, but are expert horsemen. In their dress and customs they bear a strong resemblance to the Camanchees. The Sacs and Foxes. — These two tribes, former- ly distinct, are now completely amalgamated. Their territory lies west of the Mississippi. They are very expert hunters, and also display some skill in agri- culture. They leave their villages as soon as their crops are harvested and the traders have arrived and furnish them with goods, and proceed to their hunting grount !«• ^ INDIANS OF THE WEST. 315 ground . The old men, women and children embark Woman and child. in canoes ; the young men go by land, on horses. The winter hunt lasts about three months. The traders follow them, and establish themselves at pla- ces convenient for collecting their debts, and supplying them with such commodities as they need. In a fa- vorable season, most of the Indians are able not only to pay the traders and to supply themselves with articles for the winter, but to lay up a considerable surplus of valuable peltry. The agricultural labor is chiefly performed by the women, and this is done entirely with the hoe. These also braid floor mats of a superior quality. The men III m 316 INDIANS OF THE WEST. who do not hunt, work at mining in the lead region. The chiefs take a great deal of pains to instruct the people in their duty. As soon as daylight appears, one of the principal men goes through the vilhige pro- claiming in a loud voice what every man ought to do. Their communities in general, appear to be well re- gulated. The children of both sexes seem to be par- ticularly under the charge of their mothers ; the boys till they are of a suitable age to handle the bow or the gun. Corporal punishment is seldom used. If the child commits any fault deserving of correction, it is common for the mother to blacken its face and send it out of the wigwam : when this is done the child is not allowed to eat until the paint is removed. When the boys are six or seven years old, small bows and arrows are put into their hands, and they are sent to shoot birds around the village : this is practised five or six years, after which they are furnished with short guns, and begin to hunt ducks, geese, &c. Dur- ing the winter evenings, their fathers relate to them the manner of approaching a deer, elk, or bufTalo, and the method of setting a trap, &c. These people appear to have some dim traditions of the Mosaic account of the creation of man. They state that the Great Spirit originally made two men of the dust of the earth, but finding that these alone would not answer his purpose, he took from each man a rib, and made two women. From these four sprang all the red men. At first they were all one nation ; but afterwards in consequence of their bad behavior, the Great Spirit paid them a visit and talked difller- ent languages to them, which caused a confusion of i I : INDIANS OF THE WEST. 317 tongues, and a general dispersion of mankind. In consideration of the superiority of the white men, they suppose them to have been created from fine dust, and the Indians from a coarser material. Sioux ball player. The Sioux. — These Indians are called in their own language Dahcotahs. The name of Sioux was be- stowed upon them by tlie French : but the meaning of it is not apparent. They constitute one of the most numerous tribes in North America ; their population being estimated at forty or fifty thousand. It is sup- posed that they could bring into the field eight or ten thousand warriors well armed, and a large portion of !P llli i I m I m m 11 Hi ii 318 INDIANS OF THE WEST. them mounted. They capture vast numbers of the wild horses on the plains toward the Kocky Moun- tains. Some of them have fire-arms, but the greater part hunt with bows and arrows, and long lances, shooting their game from their horses' backs while at full speed. Their personal appearance is fine and prepossessing; their figures are tall and straight, and their movements elastic and graceful; one half of their warriors measure six feet or more in height. The Sioux occupy a large tract of country extend- ing from the Mississippi to the base of the Rocky Mountains. They are everywhere a migratory, roam- ing people, and their difl^erent hordes or bands amount to forty-two, each of which has a chief; but there is a superior or head chief, whose authority is acknowledged by all. In general they are considered as divided into two main bodies, the Mississippi and the Missouri Sioux. Those inhabiting the banks of the Mississippi have made some advances toward civilization, and have held considerable intercourse with white people for several years. They are much addicted to the use of strong liquor, and are a very unfair representation of the great mass of their nation who dwell along the Missouri, and roam over the vast plains that lie between that river and the Rocky Mountains : this portion of the Sioux still maintain the original wildness of their character. These Indians have many modes of worshipping the Good, and conciliating the Evil Spirit : they have numerous fasts and feasts, and various forms of sa- crifices. An extraordinary and sanguinary custom prevails among them, which finds no parallel in any other t and is which at the strippe run thi tached pole s< back, ing to and tl him. their r tain h mean eyes turnin below there brave tion tion t fail tc have andr been The red I The gem T havi r the oun- eater nces, e at and and of INDIANS OF THE WEST. 319 other tribe. It is a sort of penance of great cruelty, and is attended with only one palliating circumstance, which is, that it is voluntary. It is called " looking at the Sun." The individual who performs it is stripped nearly naked, and splints or skewers are run through his flesh on both breasts : cords are at- tached to these splints, and fastened to the top of a pole set in the ground. In this position, he leans back, with nearly the whole weight of his body hang- ing to the pole. The blood trickles from his wounds, and the crowd around him look on and encourage him. The musicians beat their drums and shake their rattles, and sing as loud as they can yell, to sus- tain his courage and fortitude. The sufferer in the mean time takes no notice of any one, but fixes his eyes upon the sun from morning lo night, gradually turning his body with its progress, till he sees it sink below the ho.izon. If he faints and falls, of which there is imminent danger, he loses his reputation as a brave man, and suffers a signal disgrace in the estima- tion of the tribe, like all men who have the presump- tion to set themselves up for heroes or magicians, and fail to sustain the character. If his heart and strength have not failed him at sun-set, lie is then liberated, and receives a liberal donatiofi of presents which have been thrown into a pile before him, during the day. The title of doctor or medicine-man, is also confer- red upon him, which ensures him respect through life. The honorary degrees bestowed by our colleges are generally purchased at a far easier rate ! The Sioux are inordinately fond of dancing, and have such a variety of this kind of amusement, that u' |i:l M iJ M \m iiyf )i 1(1 320 INDIANS OF THE WEST. they might he characteristically termed the " dancing Indians." They seem to have dances appropriate to almost every occasion. Some of them are so gro- tesque and laughable as to keep the spectators in a constant roar of merriment; some are calculated to excite pity ; others disgust. In their villages, there is scarcely an hour of the day or night when the beat of the drum is not heard. Dancing in fact enters into their forms of worship, and is also their method of honoring and entertaining strangers of distinction. upon tl The bear dance. The Sioux, like the other tribes, are fond of bear's meat, and are careful to lay in good stores of the grease of this animal for the purpose of anointing their hair and skin. Previous to setting out upon a bear-hunt, the bear-dance is performed for several days together, in which they all join in a song to the Bear Spirit, which they imagine has somewhere an invisible ex- istence, and must be conciliated before they can enter extrava *' medil of a bl w^ear ii All th runninl The themsc mass The nation, into th Winni is deri^ is perf animal line it and th by the cess is pie arc The their p and p are tol and a sports of th( let th( of the to the INDIANS OF THE WEST. 321 i upon the chnce with any prospect of success. In this extravagant and amusing scene, one of the chief " mcdicine-incn" places over his body the entire skin of a bear, and takes the lead in the dance. Others wear masks made of the skin taken from bears' heads. All the performers imitate the motions of this beast, running on all fours, squatting, jumping up, &c. The Sioux have many other customs peculiar to themselves, but on the whole they resemble the great mass of the Western tribes. The Assineboiris appear to be a branch of the Sioux nation. They occupy a tract of country extending into the British possessions, as far north as Lake Winnipeg. Their name signifies *' stone-boiler," and is derived from their practice of cooking meat ; which is performed in the following manner. When an animal is killed, they dig a hole in the ground and line it with its raw hide. Water is poured into this, and the meat is boiled by keeping the wa'.cr heated by the constant addition of red hot stones. This pro- cess is a very awkward and tedious one ; but the peo- ple are too unskilful to construct articles of pottery. The Assineboins are tall and well shaped, and wear their pictured robes of buffalo hide with much grace and picturesque effect. They are good hunters, and are tolerably well supplied with horses. Their games and amusements arc numerous ; one of the favorite sports is playing at ball. They have also the garae of the moccasin, horse-racing and dancing. Th(^y let their hair grow to a very great length ; and many of them maybe seen with their tresses reaching down to the ground ; this, however, is sometimes the work u %. Ill iiii: m I I I t ill li 3?g INDIANS OF THE WEST. of art, for they have the facuhy of splicing on addi- tional lengths which are fastened so ingeniously with glue and paste as completely to deceive the eye. The Sioux women, like those of most of the other Indian tribes, carry their children upon their backs. The child, in its earliest infancy, has its back lashed to a straight board, being fastened to it by bandages, which pass around it in front, and on the back of the board they are tightened to the necessary degree by lacing strings, which hold the infant in a straight and healthy position, with its feet resting on a broad hoop, passing around the foot of the cradle. The manner of suspending the cradle may be seen in the annexed engraving. The child's position as it hangs on its Sioux women. mother's back, that of standing erect, no doubt has a tendency to produce straight limbs, and sound lungs. The cradles are often highly ornamented. The band- ages are covered with a beautiful embroidery of por- cupine quills, exhibiting figures of horses, men, &c. INDIANS OF THE WEST. 323 In front, is suspended a little toy of exquisite work- manship, for the child to play with. If the infant dies during the time it should continue in the cradle, it is buried, and the disconsolate mother fills the cradle with black quills and feathers, and car- ries it around with her wherever she goes, for a year or more, with as much care, as if it were occupied by the living child. While at her work in the wigwam, she is engaged also in chatting and talking familiarly to her infant, as if it heard and understood her lan- guage. So strong and lasting is the affection of moth- ers for their lost children, that it matters not how heavy are the loads which they are obliged to carry, or how rugged and painful the route they are travel- ling, they will faithfully carry this 'mourning cradle' from day to day, with the utmost care, and even more strictly perform their duties to it, than if the child were alive. The Knisteneaux. — The Knisteneaux, or Crecs, inhabit the territory north of the Missouri, and west of the Mississippi. They constitute a numerous tribe, and associate with the Assineboins, sometimes inter- marrying with them. Their manners and customs are similar, but there is no resemblance in their languages. Thoy are well supplied with horses, and seldom travel f r hunt on foot. Their clothing consists of cloth leg- gins, a shirt and a frock of deer skin, and a blanket or dressed buffalo hide thrown over the shoulders and tied round the waist. When attacked by disease, their com- mon method of cure is much the same as is practised by our modern steam doctors. The women erect a sort of hut of bended willows, nearly circular, three or four ■11 M ii I! if • I 11 I Wa 324 INDIANS OF THE WEST. feet high. Over this they lay buffalo hides and other coverings, and in the centre of the hut they place a heap of red hot stones. The patient is then stripped, and enters with a dish of water in his hand, a little of which he throws from time to time on the stones ; this raises a hot steam, and causes a profuse perspiration. In this condition he remains about an hour, sustaining the most intense heat. On coming out he is fre- quently plunged into a river, or rubbed with snow. Chippervay chief. The Chippeways. — The Chippeways, or Odjibwas, as they are sometimes called, reside on the shores of Lakes Superior and Michigan. Their manners, dress, Sec, resemble very nearly those of the tribes we have just described, but their method of going to war is peculi enemy pares he sit! tent h scarlet pany or clo smoke I. INDIANS OF THE WEST. 325 peculiar. A warrior wisliiiiij to niarcli against the enemy, blacks his face, abstains from food, and pre- pares a temporary lodge without the village, in which he sits and smokes his pipe. In the middle of the tent hangs a belt of wampum, a piece of ornamented scarlet cloth. A young Indian, who wishes to accom- pany him, goes into the lodge and draws the wampum or cloth through his left hand ; then sits down and smokes. Another and another follow in the same manner, and when a sufFicient number are collected, they begin to compare their dreams day after day. If the dreams are favorable, they march immediately; if otherwise, the expedition is deferred. In setting out, the whole party meet at their leader's lodge, where they beat the drum, and pray to the Great Spirit to grant them success against their enemies. One in whom they place confidence is appointed to carry the medicine bag, which is made of the skin of some animal, and is regarded as a kind of amulet. Most of these Indians marry young, the men from sixteen to twenty, and the girls from fourteen to eigh- teen years of age. Wives are purchased, and consid- ered as the property of their husbands. Polygamy is practised among them, and they appear to have no marriage ceremonies whatever. Among the customs of this people, may be noticed the snow-shoe dance, which is performed at the falling of the first snow. It is described as being quite pic- turesque, and appears, like most other Indian dances, to blend amusement with religious feeling. It is de- signed, at least in part, as a thanksgiving to the Great Spirit, for the return of the season in which they may ill m ti \ 326 INDIANS OF THE WEST. more easily pursue their game, for, wliile they are supported on the snow by their shoes, the animals are obstructed in their progress, and are the less able to make their escape. Snow-shoe dance, " The bark canoe of the Chippeways," says Catlin, " is perhaps the most beautiful and light model of all the water crafts that were ever invented. They are generally made complete with the rind of one birch tree, and so ingeniously sewed together with roots of the tamarack, that they are water-tight, and ride upon the water as light as a cork. They gracefully lean and dodge about under the skilful balance of an Indian, or the ugliest squaw, but, like everything wild, seem timid and treacherous under the guidance of white men." The Chippeways are much addicted to the use of canoes, as well for business as amusement. i jSk: y INDIANS OF THE WEST. 327 They often engage in boat races, which elicit all the wild and passionate energy of the savage. Chippeway boat race. « The Blackfeet. — The Blackfeet are one of the most powerful and warlike tribes on the continent. They occupy the whole of the territory about the sources of the Missouri, and from this region to the Rocky Mountains. Their numbers are estimated at forty or fifty thousand. They roam fearlessly over the country, through every part of the mountainous territory, maintaining a perpetual hostility with almost all the neighboring tribes. Being aware of their strength, they have stubbornly resisted the formation of trading establishments in their country. This re- gion abounds in beaver and bufTalo, and the American Fur Company, with an unconquerable spirit of trade !l I ''.iSl 'I!' I % !|i It II. 1 i ill 13 328 INDIANS OF THE WEST. and enterprise, has pushed its establishments across their borders, and the numerous parties of trappers are traversing the banks of their rivers, and destroying the beavers. The Blackfeet have repeatedly informed the traders of the company, that if their men persist in hunting beaver upon the Indian territory, they should kill them wherever they met with them, which threat they have frequendy put in execution. Blachfoot woman. This tribe is divided into four bands, or families. They are of a middling height, but stout, with broad shoulders and great expanse of chest. The skins of which their dresses are made, are chiefly of a dark icross ppers rmed ersist they k^hich I i INDIANS OF THE WEST. 329 i fc i I: les. )ad ins irk color ; and their black leg-gins, or moccasons, have probably given them the name which they bear. No tribe on the continent pays a greater attention to dress than the Blackfeec, unless it be their hereditary enemies, the Crows. Their apparel is not only more ample and comfortable than that of other Indians, but is exceedingly gaudy. The Blackfeet construct their wigwams, or lodges, of buflfalo skins, sewed together and made into the form of a tent. This is supported on the inside by twenty or thirty long poles, having an opening at the top to admit the light and let out the smoke. These lodges are taken down in a few minutes by the squaws, when they wish to change their residence, and are easily transported to any part of the country. They generally remove six or eight times in the course of a summer, following the immense herds of buffaloes as they range over the vast plains. The manner in which an encampment of Indians strike their tents, and transport them, is curious, and affords a novel and interesting sight to a traveller. The chief sends his runners, or criers through the village, a few hours before the removal is to be made, announcing his de- termination to decamp, and the hour fixed upon for the departure. The preparations are immediately made, and at the moment prescribed, the lodge of the chief is seen flapping in the wind, a part of the poles having been taken out from under it. This is the signal, and in one moment five or six hundred tall tents are seen waving and flapping in the wind, and in a minute more, are flat upon the ground. The horses and dogs are all rcady, and each one is speedily I I ■ 330 INDIANS OF THE WEST. loaded willi his burden, and prepared to fall into the procession. Blackfect Indians removing. For this curious cavalcade, preparation is made in tlie following manner. The poles of a lodge are divided into two bundles, and the small ends of each bundle are fastened upon the shoulders, or Avithers of a horse, leaving the but ends to drag upon the ground on each side. Just behind the animal, a brace is tied across, which keeps these shafts in their respective places. On this dragging vehicle, is placed a heavy load, con- sisting of the tent covering, rolled up, numerous articles of domestic furniture, and on the top of all, two, three or four women and children. Each of the horses has a conductress, who sometimes walks before and leads it, with an enormous pack upon her own »-i ^ ^.:, w- INDIANS OF THE WEST. 331 if-i V -Djs f -^■■-- f - !K*# mt'l back ; at other timos sho sits upon the animal, with a child perhaps at her breast, and another astride of the horse behind her. In this way, five or six hundred Indian dwellings, with all their furniture, maybe seen drawn out for miles, creeping over the grass-covered plains of the west, and three times that number of men mounted on fine horses, strolling along in front or on the flanks. In some tribes, the rear of this heterogeneous caravan will be brought up by a body of two or three thousand dogs, each of the large ones dragging a car or sled. The Shoshonees. — The Shoshonees are a small tribe of the race called Snake Indians, a vague deno- mination which embraces at once the inhabitants of the southern parts of the Rocky Mountains, and of the plains on each side. They live a migratory life, residing in summer on the head streams of the Oregon, where they are secure from their enemies the Paw- nees. During this period, they subsist on salmon, which are abundant in those streams ; but on the ap- proach of autumn, they are compelled to seek subsist- ence elsewhere. They then cross the mountains to the head streams of the Missouri, where they join their friends the Flatheads, and hunt buffaloes in the plains, east of the mountains, near which they spend the winter, till the return of the salmon invites them affain to the waters of the Oregon. But such is their terror of the Pawnees, that as long as they can obtain the scantiest subsistence, they do not leave the ele- vated country ; and as soon as they have collected a large stock of dried meat they again retreat, thus al- ternately obtaining their food at the hazard of their « I 332 INDIANS OF THE WEST. lives, and hiding themselves to consume it. In this loose and wandering- existence they suffer the ex- tremes of want ; for two thirds of the year they are forced to live among the mountains, passing whole weeks without meat, and with no other food than a scanty supply of fish and roots. Yet notwithstanding the incessant hardships to which they are exposed, the Shoshonees are cheerful and even gay. In their intercourse with strangers, they are frank and communicative, and in their deal- ings perfectly fair. But little government exists among them. Each individual is his own master, and the only rule to which he is subjected as a member of the community is the advice of a chief, supported by his influence over the opinions of the rest of the tribe. The chief himself is in fact no more than the most experienced person among the warriors, a rank neither distinguished by any external honor nor invested by any personal ceremony, but gradually acquired through the good opinion of his companions, and by a sense of his superior merit. In their domestic economy, the man is the sole proprietor of his wives and daughters, and can barter them away or dispose of them in any manner he may think proper. The children are seldom corrected, and the boys soon be- come their own masters ; they are never whipped, from a belief that it breaks their spirit. Polygamy is very common. The females are condemned, as among almost all savage nations, to the lowest and most laborious drudgery. When the tribe is stationary, they collect the roots, and do the cooking : they build the huts, dress INDIANS OF THE WEST. 333 |.'- dress the skins, and make clothing, gather fuel, and assist in taking care of the horses. The only husi- ness of the man is to fight, hunt and fish : he therefore takes on himself the care of his horse, the companion of his warfare. He would consider himself degraded by being compelled to walk any distance, and were he so poor as to possess only two horses, he would ride the better one, and leave the other for his wives, children and baggage. Their stock of horses, how- C'/er, is commonly very large: each warrior has one or two tied to a stake near his hut day and night, so as to be always ready for action. The Shoshonees \xe a warlike tribe. Their cold and rugged country ^nures them to fatigue ; their long abstinence enables them to support the dangers of mountain warfare. They always fight on horseback. They have a few bad guns, but their common arms are the bow and ar- row, a shield, a lance, and a weapon called the poggamoggo?iy which consists of a stone fastened to the end of a thong, and is capable of striking a very severe blow. They have a sort of armor, which is something like a coat of mail, and is formed by a great many folds of dressed antelope skins, united by a ce- ment of glue and sand. They are expert horsemen, and when armed and mounted, the Shoshonee is a formidable enemy, notwithstanding the inferiority of his weapons. When they attack at full speed, they bend forward and cover their bodies with their shields, while with the right hand they shoot under the horse's neck. These Indians are among the most ill-looking of all the North American savages. They are of a diminu- i^ \\\ 334 INDIANS OF THE WEST. live stature, and chirk complexion, with thick flat feet and crooked K^gs. They hold some intercourse with the Spmiiards, from whom they ohtain mules and certain articles for domestic use. They have the com- mon Indian fondness for fniery, and the fur tippets of the women are uncommonly heautiful. They wear pearl ornaments which they ohtain from a friendly trihe living to the south-west, heyond the harren plains on the western side of the mountains. • The Chinnooks. — These Indians inliabit the coun- try about the mouth of the Oregon. They are an ill- looking race, of a diminutive stature, with broad, thick flat feet, thick ankles and crooked legs ; this last deformity is owing, probably, to the universal prac- tice of squatting or sitting upon their heels, and to the tight bandages of beads and strings worn by the women round their ankles. Their complexion is the usual copper-colored brown, but somewhat lighter than that of the Indians east of the Rocky Mountains. The Chinnooks, as well as all the neighboring tribes, prac- tise the custom of flattening the head, by placing it, during infancy, between two boards. The females tattoo their skins; but the favorite ornaments of both sexes, arc coarse Avhite and blue beads, strings of which are wound very tightly about their wrists and ankles, to the width of three or four inches. They also wear large quantities round the neck, in the ears, and hanging from the nose, which last mode is pecu- liar to the men. The moral qualities of these people have been de- scribed in a very contradictory manner by the diflerent individuals who have visited them. Lewis and Clarke i: % : P ll mr> m:i f,:\i INDIANS OF THE WEST. 335 wear \^4 «■■! ■ '■i J. % %■> found them mild and inoffensive, and uniformly expe- rienced the most friendly treatment from them, al- though they would occasionally pilfer small articles. In their traffic, they were acute and intelligent, cm- ploying in all their bargains, a dexterity and foresight which seemed to belong to a more civilized race. They began by asking double and treble the value of their commodities, and lowering their demands in proportion to the wariness of the purchaser. The first offer they always rejected, so that after refusing the most extravagant prices which were first proposed by way of experiment, they would at last importune for a tenth part of the sum. In this respect they differ from almost all other Indians, who will generally ex- change in a thoughtless moment the most valuable article they possess for any bauble which happens to please their fancy. A modern traveller has declared that their good qualities are few, and their vices many. According to his accovmt, they are industrious, patient and sober, but addicted to theft, lying, incontinence, gaming and cruelty. They are also complete hypocrites. Each community accuses the other of envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness. Even the inhabitants of the same village, while thoy feign an outward appear- ance of 'friendship, indulge in backbiting, — in this re- spect differing little from the people of more civilized countries. Their bravery seems doubtful ; but what they lack in courage^ they make up in effrontery. Fear alone prevents them from making open attempts at robbery, and what they practise in this way, amounts to no more than petty larceny. 336 INDIANS OF THE WEST. They purchase slaves from the neighuoring tribes, for beaver and other skins, beads, &c. While in good health and able to work, these are well treated ; but as soon as they fall sick, or become unfit for labor, the unfortunate slaves are totally neglected, and left to perish. It sometimes happens that a slave is adopt- ed by a family, in which case he is permitted to marry one of the tribe, and his children by undergoing the flattening process, become adopted into it. When a Chinnook dies, his body is placed in a small canoe, with his bow, arrows, and other weapons by his side. The canoe is then lodged upon a high platform near the seaside, or upon rocks out of the reach of the tide, and covered with mats. If the rela- tives of the deceased can afford it, a larger canoe is placed bottom upwards, over him, and both are firmly bound together. His wives, relatives, and slaves go into mourning, by cutting their hair, and for some time after his death, repair twice a day, at the rising and setting of the sun, to an adjoining wood, to chant his funeral dirge. The Chinnooks, in common with all the tribes of the Oregon territory, differ remarkably in one impor- tant respect from most other Indians ; they have a strong and unconquerable dislike to intoxicating liquors. They, however, sometimes exhilarate them- selves by smoking tobacco, of which they are exces- sively fond, and the enjoyment of which they prolong as much as possible, by retaining large quantities of smoke, till after circulating through the lungs and stomach, it issues in volumes from the mouth and nos- trils. Their worst vice appears to be gaming, which they pursue with a reckless and ruinous avidity. I 'I III