in battle, instead of being reckoned an honourable death, is a misfortune which subjects the memory of a warrior to the imputation of rashness or imprudence.[33] Buchanan in his Sketches of the North American Indians, speaking of the military tactics of the Five Nations observes, “Previous to setting out on any warlike expedition they have a feast, to which all the noted warriors of the nation are invited; when they have their war-dance to the beat of kettle drums. The warriors are seated on two rows; each rises in turn, and sings the deeds he has performed; so that they work up their spirits to a high degree of enthusiasm. They come to these dances with faces painted in a frightful manner, to make themselves look terrible to their enemies. By these war-songs they preserve the history of their great achievements. The solemn reception of these warriors, and the acclamation of applause which they receive at their return, cannot but have on the hearer the same effect in raising an emulation for glory, that a triumph had on the old Romans. After their prisoners are secured they never offer them the least bad treatment, but on the contrary, will rather starve themselves than suffer them to want; and I have been always assured that there is not one instance of their offering the least violence to the chastity of any woman that was their captive. The captives are generally distributed among those who have lost a member of their family in battle: if they are accepted, they enjoy all the privileges which the person had; but if otherwise, they die in torment to satiate the revenge of those who refuse them. “They use neither drum nor trumpet, nor any kind of musical instruments in their wars; their throats serve them on all occasions. We find the same was practised by Homer’s heroes:— ‘Thrice to its pitch, his lofty voice he rears, O friend! Ulysses’ shouts invades my ears’”! The mode of torturing prisoners taken in battle, alluded to in the preceding extract, prevails among all the Indian tribes in North America. _Heckewelder_, a Moravian Missionary, who had acquired a great deal of information respecting Indian customs, during a residence of the greater part of his life among the Indians of Pennsylvania and the adjoining states, thus speaks of this custom:—