They
then place their file leader on the consecrated seat of what imports in
their language, the "beloved cabin." Afterwards they commence singing
the peace song, with an air of great solemnity. They begin to dance,
first in a prone or bowing posture. They then raise themselves erect,
look upwards, and wave their eagles' tails towards the sky, first with a
slow, and then with a quick and jerky motion. At the same time, they
strike their breast with a calabash fastened to a stick about a foot in
length, which they hold in their left hand, while they wave the eagles'
feathers with the right, and keep time by rattling pebbles in a gourd.
These ceremonies of peace-making they consider among their most solemn
duties; and to be perfectly accomplished in all the notes and gestures
is an indispensable acquirement to a thorough trained warrior.
Boone has related, at different times, many oral details of his private
and domestic life, and his modes of getting along in the family, of
which he was considered a member. He was perfectly trained to their
ways, could prepare their food, and perform any of their common domestic
operations with the best of them. He often accompanied them in their
hunting excursions, wandering with them over the extent of forest
between Chillicothe and lake Erie. These conversations presented curious
and most vivid pictures of their interior modes; their tasks of diurnal
labor and supply; their long and severe fasts; their gluttonous
indulgence, when they had food; and their reckless generosity and
hospitality, when they had any thing to bestow to travelling visitants.
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