WHITE EAGLE. >.ij| 



'the reliques of their prey. Law/on faysj they breed very often, lay- 

 ing agiin under their callow young.; whofe warmth hatches the eggs. 

 In Bering's ifle they make their nefts on the clifFsj near fix feet wide, 

 and one thick ; and lay two eggs in the beginning of July, 



''TpHIS rnofl: beautiful and fcarce fpecies is entirely white, except 90- White 



the tips of the wings, which are black. We know nothing of ' 



this bird, but what is colle6ted from Du Praiz*. The natives oi- 

 Louifiana fet a high value on the feathers, and give a large price for 

 thofe of the wings ; with them they adorn the Calumet, or pipe 

 of peace. Different nations make ufe of the wings, or feathers of 

 different birds ; but, according to /^K?zfpz«, always decorate it with 

 the moft beautiful. 



The Calumet is an inftrument of the firfl: importance among the Calumet^ 

 Americans. It is nothing more than a pipe, whofe bowl is generally 

 made of a foft red marble f : the tube of a very long reed, orna- 

 mented with the wings and feathers of birds. No affair of confe- 

 quence is tranfafted without the Calumet. It ever appears in meet- 

 ings of commerce, or exchanges ; in congrefTes for determining of 

 peace or war ; and even in the very fury ef a battle. The accept- 

 ance of the Calumet is a mark of concurrence with the terms pro- 

 pofed ; as the refufal is a certain mark of rejedtion. Even in the 

 rage of a conflift this pipe is fometimes offered ; and if accepted, the 

 weapons of deftruftion inftantly drop from their hands, and a truce 

 enfues. It feems the facrament of the Savages; for no compaft is 

 ever violated, which is confirmed by a whiff from this holy reed. 

 The Dance of the Calumet is a folemn rite which always confirms a . 

 peace, or precedes a war. It is divided into three parts : the firfl:, 

 appears an aft of devotion, danced in meafured time: the fecond, 

 is a true reprefentation of the Pyrrhic . dance % : the third, is 

 attended with fongs exprelTive of the vidories they had obtained, 

 the nations they had conquered, and the captives they had made. 



* Du Pratz, ii. 75. Latham, i. 36. f Du PratKt i. 298. Kalm, iii. 230. 



I &trabo, lib, x. p. 736. edit, AmJieU 1707. 



From 



