172 NATURAL AND CIVIL 



address and vigilance, in following and sui'pri- 

 sing the game. Their mode of war is the 

 same, as that of hunting. With great ingenui- 

 ty, they will find and follow the track of their 

 enemies : With a surprising patience and per- 

 severance, they "will wait for the moment, when 

 they find him the least able to defend himself. 

 And when they can find an enemy unprepared, 

 they make their attack with great fury, and with 

 pretty sure success. In their battles they al- 

 ways endeavour to secure themselves behind 

 the trees or rocks, and never meet their enemy 

 in the open field, or upon equal terms, if they 

 can avoid it. The method of the Europeans, 

 of deciding a battle in the open field, they re- 

 gard as extreme folly and want of prudence. 

 Their established maxims are to obtain a supe- 

 riority in situation, numbers, concealment, or 

 some other circumstance before the battle : In 

 this Vv'-ay, to preserve the lives of their own par- 

 ty, and destroy their enemies, Avith as little loss 

 as possible to themselves. A victory obtained 

 with the loss of m^any of their ovv^n part}', is a 

 matter of s:rief and di3o:race, rather than of exul- 

 tation : And it is no honour to fall in the field 

 ^of battle, but viewed rather as an evidence of 

 want of wisdom, discernment, and circumspec- 

 tion. When the attack is to be made, nothing 

 can exceed the courage and im.petuosity of the 

 savage. The onset befjins with a [general out- 

 cry, terminating in a universal yell. Of all the 

 sounds that discord has produced, the Indian 

 warwhoop is the most awful and horrid. It is 

 designed and adapted to increase the ardor of 

 ■those who make the attack, and to carry terror 



