236 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [1764, Nov. 



to death, enough to satisfy the shades of then- 

 departed relatives, they usually treat those who 

 survive their wrath with moderation and humanity ; 

 often adopting them to supply the place of lost 

 brothers, husbands, or children, whose names are 

 given to the successors thus substituted in their 

 place. By a formal ceremony, the white blood is 

 washed from their veins ; and they are regarded 

 thenceforth as members of the tribe, faring equally 

 with the rest in prosperity or adversity, in famine 

 or abundance. When children are adopted in this 

 manner by Indian women, they nurture them with 

 the same tenderness and indulgence which they 

 extend, in a remarkable degree, to their own off- 

 spring ; and such young women as will not marry 

 an Indian husband are treated with a singular for- 

 bearance, in which superstition, natural tempera- 

 ment, and a sense of right and justice may all claim 

 a share. ^ The captivu, unless he excites suspicion 

 by his conduct, or exhibits peculiar contumacy, is 

 left with no other restraint than his own free will. 

 The warrior who captured him, or to whom he was 

 assigned in the division of the spoil, sometimes 

 claims, it is true, a certain right of property in him, 

 to the exclusion of others ; but this claim is soon 

 forgotten, and is seldom exercised to the incon- 

 venience of the captive, who has no other prison 

 than the earth, the air, and the forest.^ Five hun- 



1 This and what precedes is meant to apply only to tribes east of the 

 Mississippi. Some of the western and south-western tribes treat prisoners 

 merely as slaves, and habitually violate female captives. 



2 The captives among the Shawanoes of the Scioto had most of them 

 been recently taken ; and only a small part had gone through the cere- 



