the scalps he had taken the two former nights, to
carry, as the proof of his victory, and then stole privately from
house to house, till at last he found an Indian nodding, who was upon
the watch in one of the houses; he knocked this man on the head: but,
as this alarmed the rest, he was forced immediately to fly. He was,
however, under no great concern from the pursuit, being more swift of
foot than any Indian then living. He let his pursuers come near him
from time to time, and then would dart from them. This he did with
design to tire them out with the hopes of overtaking him. As it began
to grow dark, he hid himself, and his pursuers stopped to rest. They,
not being apprehensive of any danger from a single man, soon fell
asleep, and the bold Piskaret observing this, knocked them all on the
head, and carried away their scalps with the rest."--_Colden's History
of the Five Nations, Lond._ 1747, p. 26.

Another instance which I shall relate of courage and intrepidity will
at the same time show the abolition of a bloody rite said to have been
peculiar to the Pawnee Loups, of making propitiatory sacrifices to
Venus, or the Great Star.

"An Ietan woman, who was brought captive into the village, was doomed
to the Great Star, by the warrior, whose property she had become by
the fate of war. She underwent the usual preparations, and, on the
appointed day, was led to the cross, amidst a great concourse of
people, as eager, perhaps, as their civilized fellow-men, to witness
the horrors of an execution. The victim was bound to the cross with
thongs of skin, and the usual ceremonies being performed, her dread of
a more terrible death was about to be terminated by the tomahawk and
the arrow. At this critical juncture, Petalesharoo (son of the Knife
Chief), stepped forward into the area, and, in an hurried but firm
manner, declared that it was his father's wish to abolish this
sacrifice; that, for himself, he had presented himself before them,
for the purpose of laying down his life upon the spot, or of releasing
the victim. He then cut the cords which bound her to the cross,
carried her swiftly through the crowd to a horse, which he presented
to her, and having mounted another himself, he conveyed her beyond the
reach of immediate pursuit; when, after having supplied her with food,
and admonishing her to make the best of her way to her own nation,
which was at the distance of at least four hundred miles, he was
constrained to