1763, April.] A MOTLEY ENCAMPMENT. 201 



Here too were young damsels, radiant with bears' 

 oil, ruddy with vermihon, and versed in all the 

 arts of forest coquetry ; shrivelled hags, with limbs 

 of wire, and the voices of screech-owls ; and troops 

 of naked children, with small, black, mischievous 

 eyes, roaming along the outskirts of the woods. 



The great Koman historian observes of the 

 ancient Germans, that when summoned to a pub- 

 lic meeting, they would lag behind the appointed 

 time in order to show their independence. The 

 remark holds true, and perhaps with greater 

 emphasis, of the American Indians ; and thus it 

 happened, that several days elapsed before the 

 assembly was complete. In such a motley con- 

 course of barbarians, where different bands and 

 different tribes were mustered on one common 

 camp ground, it would need all the art of a pru- 

 dent leader to prevent their dormant jealousies 

 from starting into open strife. No people are 

 more prompt to quarrel, and none more prone, in 

 the fierce excitement of the present, to forget the 

 purpose of the future ; yet, through good fortune, 

 or the wisdom of Pontiac, no rupture occurred ; 

 and at length the last loiterer appeared, and farther 

 delay was needless. 



The council took place on the twenty-seventh 

 of April. On that morning, several old men, the 

 heralds of the camp, passed to and fro among 

 the lodges, calling the warriors, in a loud voice, 

 to attend the meeting. 



In accordance with the summons, they issued 

 from their cabins: the tall, naked figures of the 



