their company below the rampart.




CHAPTER VI.

Meanwhile the white flag had again been raised by the
Indians upon the bomb-proof; and this having been readily
met by a corresponding signal from the fort, a numerous
band of savages now issued from the cover with which
their dark forms had hitherto been identified, and spread
themselves far and near upon the common. On this occasion
they were without arms, offensive or defensive, of any
kind, if we may except the knife which was always carried
at the girdle, and which constituted a part rather of
their necessary dress than of their warlike equipment.
These warriors might have been about five hundred in
number, and were composed chiefly of picked men from the
nations of the Ottawas, the Delawares, and the Shawanees;
each race being distinctly recognisable from the others
by certain peculiarities of form and feature which
individualised, if we may so term it, the several tribes.
Their only covering was the legging before described,
composed in some instances of cloth, but principally of
smoked deerskin, and the flap that passed through the
girdle around the loins, by which the straps attached to
the leggings were secured. Their bodies, necks, and arms
were, with the exception of a few slight ornaments,
entirely naked; and even the blanket, that served them