He shared the spiritual feeling
which was impressed upon the red faces about him. The bright
moonlight, too, added to the effect, giving it the tinge of an
old Druidical ceremony.
The chiefs relapsed into silence and sat thus about ten minutes.
Then rose the sound of a chant, distant and measured, and a
procession of young and inferior chiefs, led by Oneidas,
appeared, slowly approaching the fire. Behind them were
warriors, and behind the warriors were many women and children.
All the women were in their brightest attire, gay with feather
headdresses and red, blue, or green blankets from the British
posts.
The procession stopped at a distance of about a dozen yards from
the chiefs about the council fire, and the Oneida, Kathlahon,
formed the men in a line facing the head chiefs, with the women
and children grouped in an irregular mass behind them. The
singing meanwhile had stopped. The two groups stood facing each
other, attentive and listening.
Then Hahiron, the oldest of the Onondagas, walked back and forth
in the space between the two groups, chanting a welcome. Like
all Indian songs it was monotonous. Every line he uttered with
emphasis and a rising inflection, the phrase "Haih-haih" which
may be translated "Hail to thee!" or better, "All hail!"
Nevertheless, under the moonlight in the wilderness and with rapt
faces about him, it was deeply impressive.
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