HUNTING THE VIRGINIAN DEER. 77 



necessaries of life. To all of them the flesh is the principal food 

 throughout the year; for drying it over a gentle but clear fire, after 

 cutting it into small pieces, it is not only capable of long preserva- 

 tion, hut is very portable in their excursions, especially when 

 reduced to powder, which is frequently done. Hunting is more 

 than an amusement to these people. They use it not only for the 

 sake of subsistence, but to fit themselves for war, by habituating 

 them to fatigue. A good huntsman is an able warrior. Those 

 who fail in the sports of the field are never supposed to be capable 

 of supporting the hardships of a campaign ; they are degraded to 

 ignoble offices, such as dressing the skins of deer, and other employ- 

 ments allotted only to women and slaves. 



When a large party meditates a hunting match, which is usually 

 at the beginning of winter, they agree on a place of rendezvous, 

 often five hundred miles distant from their homes, and where per- 

 haps many of them had never been. When this matter is settled, 

 they separate into small parties, travel and hunt for subsistence all 

 day, and rest at night. The Indians have tl\eir particular hunting 

 countries; but if they invade the limits of those belonging to other 

 nations, the most deadly feuds ensue. As soon as they arrive on 

 the borders of the hunting country, the captain of the band delineates 

 on the bark of a tree his own figure, with a rattlesnake twined rom.d 

 h nn with distended mouth ; and in his hand a bloody tomahau k. 



By this he implies a destructive menace to any who shall invndo- 

 their territories, or interrupt their diversion. The chase is carried 

 on in different ways. Some surprise the deer by using the stale 



