supernatural; Action, so- far as respects cause
and effect, takes the. -widest and wildest range,
through, the agency df good or. evil influences*
which are put in motion alike for noble or ignoble
ends—alike by men, beasts, devilsorgods. See-
insr some things mysterious and wonderful,111
believes all thingsmysterious and wonderful; and
he, is afloat, without shore or Compass,’ on the
wildest-sea of superstition and necromancy.. 'He
sees-a god in every phenomenon, and . fears a
sorcerer in every enemy . Life, under such a, a
system of polytheism and wild belief^is a constant
scene of fears and alarms. Fear is the"
predominating passion, and he is ready, ydaerever
he goes,'to sacrifice, .-iat’, any altar, be/the-sup*
posed deity ever so grotesque. -When spili^a
man Comes to narrate events, he stops*at nothing,,
be it ever so gross or piuerrle. He relates?|ust
what he believes, and unluckily her- believes
every thing that can possibly be told. É A'beast,
or a bird, or a man, or a god, or a devil, a stone,
a sérpent, or a wizzard, a wind or a sound,, or a
ray of light—these are sö many causes of action,
which the meanest and lowest of the series, ndtay
put in motion, but which shall, in his theology
and philosophy, vibrate along the mysterious
chain through the uppermost skies; and life or
death may, at any moment, he the reward or the
penalty. If there be truth mingled in the man’s
narrations, as there sometimes is, it must be
judged of by the lights of reason, common sense,
science, sound philosophy, and religion. It is a
Gordian knot for the modern historian to untie;
or it is a mass of. traditionary chaff, from which
we may perhaps, winnow a few grains of wheat.
Herodotus had, probably, just such materials to
work upon, and he made the best, possible use
#ft#rem, -by * letting the events stand as they
were given, without exercising any inductive
faculty upon them, or telling us the why and the
wheirefbre M or if he ever, deviates from the rule,
as in the case -of the fishes descending the Nile,
it is a species of labor which might as well have
been omitted.*
By the figure., of a long house, the Iroquois
meant tu denote the confederated frame work
of the-league; by a great tree planted, they
symbolized its deep seated natural power, one in
blood and| lineage, and its overshadowing influence
and permanency. To assail such a combination
of stout hearts, nature, they thought,
must send forth the stoutest and most appaling
objects of her creation.
■ The first enemy that apeared to question their
power, or: disturb their peace, was the fearful
phenomenon of Ko-nea-rau-neh-neh, or the flying
heads. These heads were enveloped in a
heard and hair, flaming like fire; they were of
monstrous size, and shot through the air with
the velocity of meteors. Human power was not
adequate to cope with them. The priests pro-
*It was designed, -when these preliminary remarks were
ppnned, to add some wilder legends than are here presented,
which are, at present, withheld.
35