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P. 8 280 hundreds of hair threads running from the principal root which was of just sufficient for connecting them with the stem, or top. Neither the priest nor any of the boys must cas? till a sufficient quantity of this was obtained, and put away in a very secret place to dry. During this night he expected dreams, ominous of the suece? of the warriors. These usually^brought a melancholy over his mind, and rendered him more tardy in completing the work; so that on this day he retired alone & fasted. Just before sunset, however, he pounded the blood (root) to a powder He then put a cane sieve, in the pot containing the dye, and putting the blood powder on his hand? divided it & put half in the pot and put the other away. He then took the feathers, tied them in bunches as he and dipped them four times as before, and then sent them, praying at the same time that when the enemy should see their antagonists, ornamented with the red feathers, their strength might be taken away, and they rendered unable to fight. He then set the pot on the fire, and just as it boiled, he put in the rest of the powder of the blood (root) and very soon, just as the sun was going down, took off the pot, - took out the feathers & put them away, where no eye could see them; but above all a woman must not see them.
The next morning the priest wrapped the feathers so that neither the bearer nor any other person could see them and when called for, delivered them to the messenger. Now if they were for a national war, this messenger took them to the great war priest, and carried them with other, sacred things for him, to the war. About the seventh night after commencing their march, observing it as a vigil, the priest took the raw unpainted feathers, mentioned at the commencement of these ceremonies, and tied a red feather on the end of each, and then tied one so prepared onto the head of each warrior. But should a warrior get killed in battle his feather was not preserved. Otherwise it would be laid up for future use. These were the same as used at ball plays, only in painting those the prayers were different, and they were fastened to the hair, just as the onset commenced. ____ What I have said respecting war has been in such fragments that it must be difficult, if not impossible, to put them together into a connected narrative. My only apology is that I should obtain information only by piecemeals.