Within a day’s march of home, he sent a runner a-head with the glad tidings—and to order his dark winter house to be swept out very clean, for fear of pollution. By ancient custom, when the out-standing party set off for war, the women are so afraid of the power of their holy things, and of prophaning them, that they sweep the house and earth quite clean, place the sweepings in a heap behind the door, leaving it there undisturbed, till _Opáe_, who carries the ark, orders them by a faithful messenger to remove it. He likewise orders them to carry out every utensil which the women had used during his absence, for fear of incurring evil by pollution. The party appeared next day painted red and black, their heads covered all over with swan-down, and a tuft of long white feathers fixt to the crown of their heads. Thus they approached, carrying each of the scalps on a branch of the ever-green pine[XXXIX], singing the awful death song, with a solemn striking air, and sometimes YO HE WAH; now and then sounding the shrill death _Whóo Whoop Whoop_. When they arrived, the leader went a-head of his company, round his winter hot house, contrary to the course of the sun, singing the monosyllable YO, for about the space of five seconds on a tenor key; again, HE HE short, on a bass key; then WAH WAH, gutturally on the treble, very shrill, but not so short as the bass note. In this manner they repeated those sacred notes, YO, HE HE, WAH WAH, three times, while they were finishing the circle, a strong emblem of the eternity of Him, “who is, was, and is to come,” to whom they sung their triumphal song, ascribing the victory over their enemies to his strong arm, instead of their own, according to the usage of the Israelites by divine appointment. The duplication of the middle and last syllables of the four-lettered essential name of the deity, and the change of the key from their established method of invoking YO HE WAH, when they are drinking their bitter drink, (the _Cusseena_) in their temples, where they always spend a long breath on each of the two first {165} syllables of that awful divine song, seems designed to prevent a prophanation. Footnote XXXIX: As the Indians carry their enemies scalps on small branches of evergreen pine, and wave the martial trophies on a pine-branch before YO HE WAH; I cannot help thinking that the pine was the emblematical tree so often mentioned in divine writ, by the plural name, _Shittim_; especially as the mountain Cedar, comparatively speaking, is low and does not seem to answer the description of the inspired writers; besides that כפר _Chepher_ is figuratively applied to the mercy-seat, signifying, literally, a screen, or cover against storms; which was pitched over with the gum of the pine-tree.