Ixiv INTRODUCTION. 



ingly imperfect and derived all its efficiency from their 

 civil union and their personal prowess. There were two 

 hereditary war-chiefs, both belonging to the Senecas ; 

 but, except on occasions of unusual importance, it does 

 not appear that they took a very active part in the con- 

 duct of wars. The Iroquois lived in a state of chronic 

 warfare with nearly all the surrounding tribes, except a 

 few from whom they exacted tribute. Any man of suffi- 

 cient personal credit might raise a war-party when he 

 chose. He proclaimed his purpose through the village, 

 sang his war-songs, struck his hatchet into the war-post, 

 and danced the war-dance. Any who chose joined him ; 

 and the party usually took up their march at once, with 

 a little parched-corn-meal and maple-sugar as their sole 

 provision. On great occasions, there was concert of ac- 

 tion, — the various parties meeting at a rendezvous, and 

 pursuing the march together. The leaders of war-par- 

 ties, like the orators, belonged, in nearly all cases, to the 

 class of subordinate cliiefs. The Iroquois had a disci- 

 pline suited to the dark and tangled forests where they 

 fought. Here they were a terrible foe : in an open coun- 

 try, against a trained European force, they were, despite 

 their ferocious valor, far less formidable. 



In observing this singular organization, one is struck 

 by the incongruity of its spirit and its form. A body of 

 liereditary oligarchs was the head of the nation, yet the 

 nation was essentially democratic. Not that the Iroquois 

 were levellers. None were more prompt to acknowledge 

 superiority and defer to it, whether established by usage 

 and prescription, or the result of personal endowment. 

 Yet each man, whether of high or low degree, had 

 a voice in the conduct of affairs, and was never for a 

 moment divorced from his wild spirit of independence. 

 Where there was no property worthy the name, authority 



