[Footnote 286: Chateaubriand, vol. i., p. 233; Charlevoix. "The dances of the Red Indians form a singular and important feature throughout the customs of the aborigines of the New World. In these are typified, by signs well understood by the initiated, and, as it were, by hieroglyphic action, their historical events, their projected enterprises, their hunting, their ambuscades, and their battles, resembling in some respects the Pyrrhic dances of the ancients."--Washington Irving's _Columbus_, vol. ii., p. 122. "In the province of Pasto, on the ridge of the Cordillera, I have seen masked Indians, armed with rattles, performing savage dances around the altar, while a Franciscan monk elevated the host."--Humboldt's _Nouveau Espagne_, vol. i., p. 411. See, also, Lafitau's Moeurs _des Sauvages Ameriquains compares aux moeurs des premiers temps_, tom. i., p. 526. He refers to Plutarch, _in Lycurgo_, for an account of similar Spartan dances.] [Footnote 287: Charlevoix; Lafitau; Boucher, _Histoire du Canada_. "The players prepare for their ruin by religious observances; they fast, they watch, they pray."--Chateaubriand, vol. i., p. 240. See Appendix, No. LIX. (see Vol II)] CHAPTER IX. While the French were busied in establishing themselves upon the banks of the St. Lawrence, their ancient rivals steadily progressed in the occupation of the Atlantic coasts of North America. Generally speaking, the oldest colonies of England were founded by private adventurers, at their own expense and risk. In most cases, the soil of the new settlements was granted to powerful individuals or companies of merchants, and by them made over in detail to the actual emigrants for certain considerations. Where, however, as often occurred, the emigrants had settled prior to the grant, or were in a condition to disregard it, they divided the land according to their own interests and convenience. These unrecognized proprietors prospered more rapidly than those who were trammeled by engagements with non-resident authorities. The right of government, as well as the nominal possession of the soil, was usually granted in the first instance, and the new colonies were connected with the crown of Great Britain by little more than a formal recognition of sovereignty. But the disputes invariably arising between the nominal proprietors and the actual settlers speedily caused, in most cases, a dissolution of the proprietary government, and threw the colonies one by one under royal authority.