was like striking a spark into a keg of powder. The ire of the Senecas was
kindled in an instant, and they in turn boasted of the number of scalps
taken from the Oneidas in that contest. They moreover taunted the Oneidas
as cowards. Quick as lightning the hands of the latter were upon their
weapons, and in turn the knives and tomahawks of the Senecas began to
glitter in the moon-beams, as they were hastily drawn forth. For an
instant it was a scene of anxious, almost breathless suspense, a death-
struggle seeming inevitable, when the storm was hushed by the
interposition of Old Fish Carrier, who rushed forward, and striking the
post with violence, exclaimed '_You are all a parcel of boys. When you
have attained my age, and performed the warlike deeds that I have
performed, you may boast of what you have done; but not till then._'

"Saying which he threw down the post, put an end to the dance, and caused
the assembly to retire. This scene in its reality must have been one of
absorbing and peculiar interest. An assembly of nearly two thousand
inhabitants of the forest, grotesquely clad in skins and strouds, with
shining ornaments of silver, and their coarse raven hair falling over
their shoulders, and playing wildly in the wind as it swept past, sighing
mournfully among the giant branches of the trees above, such a group
gathered in a broad circle of an opening in the wilderness, the starry
canopy of heaven glittering above them, the moon casting her silver mantle
around their dusky forms, and a large fire blazing in the midst of them,
before which they were working their spells, and performing their savage
rites, must have presented a spectacle of long and vivid remembrance."
[Footnote: Stone's Life and Times of Sa-go-ye-wat-ha.]

This meeting conducted with evident good feeling, served much to allay the
excitement and anger of the Senecas, and other tribes there represented,
but the question concerning their lands, was still agitated and created