ce. As if the panther could
forget its nature, or the rattlesnake cease to remember its means of
defence; as if the Mengwe had forgotten the blood of their race, which
had been shed by the sons of the Lenape, and could think of forgiveness
while their defeats were the subject of every dream.

In a luckless hour, the Delawares gave their consent, and agreed to
become women. Then the Iroquois appointed a great feast, and invited the
Delaware nation to it. They came at the bidding of their treacherous
foes, and were declared by them, in the following words, to be no longer
men and warriors, but women and peace-makers. "We dress you," said the
orator, "in a woman's long habit, reaching down to your feet, and we
adorn your ears with rings," meaning that they should no more take up
arms. "We hang a calabash, filled with oil and medicines, upon your arm.
With the oil you shall cleanse the ears of other nations, that they may
attend to good and not to bad words; and with the medicine you shall
heal those who are walking in foolish ways, that they may return to
their senses, and incline their hearts to peace. And we deliver into
your hands a plant of Indian corn and a hoe, which shall be the emblems
of your future calling and pursuits." So the great peace-belt, the chain
of friendship, was laid upon the shoulders of the new mediator, who
became a woman, buried the tomahawk, planted the corn, and forgot the
glories which Areskoui confers upon the successful and dauntless
warrior.

Before this, no Mengwe had been permitted, even when at peace, to visit
the country of the Delawares. Whenever such had appeared, whenever the
blue feather of an Iroquois was seen in a glade of the Lenape
wihittuck[A], its possessor was hunted down as one hunts a wolf or a
bear. But, now _the woman_ had voluntarily abandoned her bow and her
spear, what had she to do with weapons of war? The former warrior needed
now no paints, unless to attract the eye of a maiden; the Mengwe needed
not to fear the Lenape women. Then the pleasant glades of the Lenape
wihittuck became thronged with curious eyes and false hearts; hostile
feet threaded the mazes of her forest; hostile hands were laid upon the
most fertile spots of her territory. To-day, came a few Iroquois; they
wished for but a little piece of land--they had it. To-morrow, came
another band; they wanted permission to kill a very few deer--it was
granted them, and the cry of the hunter of the lakes was he