Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Curious Account Of The Characters, Customs, And Manners , Of The Savages Of Cape Breton.
fleet , project , and determine ; while they are excited ancl encouraged by the women . The result of this council is to send and declare war against those people , to whom they have already done so much mischief , ad who are therefore to consider it as duly and properly declared . They send off two different sorts of heralds . They carry along with th rn their bow and quiverwith their arrows ant ! stone hatchets . Thus
, accoutred , they set out for the chief habitation of the enemy , and take care not to apprize any body upon the road of their intention , or even to open their mouth . Then they halt within a certain distance of the village , and strike the ground several times with their hatchets . In consequence of ( his signal , the enemy know that their lands have been ravaged , and that the } ' are henceforward to be upon their guard
for the safety of their persons . In the mean-time , the heralds , after shooting two of their best arrows against the village , return very quickly , to give an account of their errand ; and in order to prove their having been at the place appointed , they bring along with them such marks as put it beyond all manner of doubt . One day I asked a Savage , for what reason they did not declare tvar before they committed hostilities ; and how they came to trouble themselves afterwards with so useless a ceremony ? ' What , ' answered he , ' would you have ns be such fools as to give our enemy time to
fill their magazines , and to deprive ourselves of the means of drawing provisions from their territory ? Is it not sufficient to warn them to defend their persons ? A declaration of war , so necessary for mutual preservation , should not be a foolish civility , such as the custom of European nations has made it . ' I leave you to judge , Sir , whether the good sense contained in this argument ought to supersede , or give way to the established laws of civilized nations ! But 1 foresee that
this question will be some time or other determined by abler masters . In the mean time the Savages , being apprized , by word and deed , of the intention of the enemy , think , on both sides , either of maintaining their ground , or of removing themselves to a better spot , or of meeting one another in the field . In order to determine which of these three to embrace , they hold both long and frequent debates .
These councils , however , are extremely entertaining , being a matter of curiosity and importance . As the Savages are directed by reason only , and have no other view than the public good , being no way biassed , either by ambition or private interest ; he who is most skilled in the military art , and most capable of directing an enterprize , presides on those occasions . If the person who has hitherto possessed the confidence of the nation , perceives that another is more deserving of it than himself , he resigns his authority to him , without the least reluctance .
In regard to their military stratagems , they are so plain and simple , that one would think they could -hardly meet with sriccess ; yet so careful are they in adapting them to circumstances ancl persons , that they seldom miscarry . Sometimes they pretend to give over all thoughts of attacking , and retire into the woods . There they lay
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Curious Account Of The Characters, Customs, And Manners , Of The Savages Of Cape Breton.
fleet , project , and determine ; while they are excited ancl encouraged by the women . The result of this council is to send and declare war against those people , to whom they have already done so much mischief , ad who are therefore to consider it as duly and properly declared . They send off two different sorts of heralds . They carry along with th rn their bow and quiverwith their arrows ant ! stone hatchets . Thus
, accoutred , they set out for the chief habitation of the enemy , and take care not to apprize any body upon the road of their intention , or even to open their mouth . Then they halt within a certain distance of the village , and strike the ground several times with their hatchets . In consequence of ( his signal , the enemy know that their lands have been ravaged , and that the } ' are henceforward to be upon their guard
for the safety of their persons . In the mean-time , the heralds , after shooting two of their best arrows against the village , return very quickly , to give an account of their errand ; and in order to prove their having been at the place appointed , they bring along with them such marks as put it beyond all manner of doubt . One day I asked a Savage , for what reason they did not declare tvar before they committed hostilities ; and how they came to trouble themselves afterwards with so useless a ceremony ? ' What , ' answered he , ' would you have ns be such fools as to give our enemy time to
fill their magazines , and to deprive ourselves of the means of drawing provisions from their territory ? Is it not sufficient to warn them to defend their persons ? A declaration of war , so necessary for mutual preservation , should not be a foolish civility , such as the custom of European nations has made it . ' I leave you to judge , Sir , whether the good sense contained in this argument ought to supersede , or give way to the established laws of civilized nations ! But 1 foresee that
this question will be some time or other determined by abler masters . In the mean time the Savages , being apprized , by word and deed , of the intention of the enemy , think , on both sides , either of maintaining their ground , or of removing themselves to a better spot , or of meeting one another in the field . In order to determine which of these three to embrace , they hold both long and frequent debates .
These councils , however , are extremely entertaining , being a matter of curiosity and importance . As the Savages are directed by reason only , and have no other view than the public good , being no way biassed , either by ambition or private interest ; he who is most skilled in the military art , and most capable of directing an enterprize , presides on those occasions . If the person who has hitherto possessed the confidence of the nation , perceives that another is more deserving of it than himself , he resigns his authority to him , without the least reluctance .
In regard to their military stratagems , they are so plain and simple , that one would think they could -hardly meet with sriccess ; yet so careful are they in adapting them to circumstances ancl persons , that they seldom miscarry . Sometimes they pretend to give over all thoughts of attacking , and retire into the woods . There they lay