At Last,
They Cut Two Or Three High Capers, And Left The Room.
In their stead,
came in a parcel of Women and Girls, to the Number of Thirty odd;
every one
Taking place according to her Degree of Stature,
the tallest leading the Dance, and the least of all being plac'd last;
with these they made a circular Dance, like a Ring,
representing the Shape of the Fire they danced about: Many of these
had great Horse-Bells about their Legs, and small Hawk's Bells
about their Necks. They had Musicians, who were two Old Men,
one of whom beat a Drum, while the other rattled with a Gourd,
that had Corn in it, to make a Noise withal: To these Instruments,
they both sung a mournful Ditty; the Burthen of their Song was,
in Remembrance of their former Greatness, and Numbers of their Nation,
the famous Exploits of their Renowned Ancestors, and all Actions of Moment
that had (in former Days) been perform'd by their Forefathers.
At these Festivals it is, that they give a Traditional Relation of what
hath pass'd amongst them, to the younger Fry. These verbal Deliveries
being always publish'd in their most Publick Assemblies,
serve instead of our Traditional Notes, by the use of Letters.
Some Indians, that I have met withal, have given me
a very curious Description of the great Deluge, the Immortality of the Soul,
with a pithy Account of the Reward of good and wicked Deeds in the Life
to come; having found, amongst some of them, great Observers of Moral Rules,
and the Law of Nature; indeed, a worthy Foundation to build Christianity upon,
were a true Method found out, and practis'd, for the Performance thereof.
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