When we consider how sparingly they eat in their usual way of living, it is surprising to see what a vast quantity of food they consume {109} on their festival days. It would equally surprize a stranger to see how exceedingly they vary their dishes, their dainties consisting only of dried flesh, fish, oil, corn, beans, pease, pompions, and wild fruit. During this rejoicing time, the warriors are drest in their wild martial array, with their heads covered with white down: they carry feathers of the same colour, either in their hands, or fastened to white scraped canes, as emblems of purity, and scepters of power, while they are dancing in three circles, and singing their religious praises around the sacred arbour, in which stands the holy fire. Their music consists of two clay-pot drums covered on the top with thin wet deer-skins, drawn very tight, on which each of the noisy musicians beats with a stick, accompanying the noise with their voices; at the same time, the dancers prance it away, with wild and quick sliding steps, and variegated postures of body, to keep time with the drums, and the rattling calabashes shaked by some of their religious heroes, each of them singing their old religious songs, and striking notes _in tympano et choro_. Such is the graceful dancing, as well as the vocal and instrumental music of the red Hebrews on religious and martial occasions, which they must have derived from early antiquity. Toward the conclusion of the great festival, they paint and dress themselves anew, and give themselves the most terrible appearance they possibly can. They take up their war-instruments, and fight a mock-battle in a very exact manner: after which, the women are called to join in a grand dance, and if they disobey the invitation they are fined. But as they are extremely fond of such religious exercise, and deem it productive of temporal good, all soon appear in their finest apparel, as before suggested, decorated with silver ear-bobs, or pendants to their ears, several rounds of white beads about their necks, rings upon their fingers, large wire or broad plates of silver on their wrists, their heads shining with oil, and torrepine-shells containing pebbles, fastened to deer-skins, tied to the outside of their legs. Thus adorned, they join the men in three circles, and dance a considerable while around the sacred fire, and then they separate.