Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1827-07-11

Nation, as his tawdry costume; his name Is
Bad Moccasin. This red gentleman wore
gold laced scarlet coat, a necklace ofwbite bear
talons. and stood, an upright man in green
leggin and crimson one, the advocate ior
mercy-,the friend Of christians. lie had VS.
tied the'metropolis of the Union; and, IN IAN
puape as bold as it was eloquent, he urged the
reIrase Of the captive his interc curse with
the White Men, he said, he was convinced oil
the improperly Of the sacrifce-he had taken
his Great Father Cat Washjngton)oy the manu-
and pledped himself to oppose those oaroarou'
rites A Young brave likewise told MS country
men, that he knew it was the opinion ol ..H:.
.,aos that these sacrifices would insure their
.,no.,er;tv at the hands of the master OIL lie;
hut said he, let US distrast our own oPimon'
For the Whites have more intercourse ana are
better acquainted with God himish'y uhs,. we
are therefore, let us listen to them' iet u,
them; for we cannot please oe "s"
Th. form of conducting human sacrihces
among the Pawnees was detailed to Mr.. Dough.
er,v and his party by the Frenchman, VINO rad
witnessed one or two
aWhen it is, by the Big Medicine man deem
ed advisable to procure subject ior human
sacrifice, he commits this medicine to the care
Of partizan at the head OF a war party, just as
he is about to open campaign; one or more
of the prisoners captured by the party, is es-
teemed the property Of the Big Star-that u.s.
the planet Venus. When the subject Is
BROUGHT i'm, he is turned over to Old medicine,
the high priest of Beelzebub; he is then Piaced
in confinement in the medicine iodge, "here
every possible exerton is made to fatten the
victim for the sacri6ce-mean time, the medi-
cine men relieve each other In the duty OIL
guarding the subject, and in chanting at his
Side. increasingly, internal lulabys, or anthems
of the damned When the victim is brought
out for execution, he is placed between TWO
stakes resembling may-poles surmounted on
black flag-the hands and feet being extended,
are made fast to the poles, and a small hre Is
kindled near the feet Of the subject, IN which
irons are heated, and applied to his breast aho
groins. This torture is continued until the
victim begins to sink under it, when spy, or
vdette Of war party previously ORGANISED
for this ceremony is seen approaching win
the same caution that is observed in actual war
After this mockery he reports to the Cher OF
the war party, that he HAS discovered the enc
nv. and that he is in bad position and of his
guard. Under these circumstances an lmme-
diate attack i. determined on, when the Ualor'
Gus war party rush forward to the place OF sac.
riice. and dispach the victim with literal
shower of arrows. After this the fire is in
creased until the fat exudes freely from the roast
ed subject; and at this stage.of the ceremony,
the women of the nation who are corn planters,
press around the pile, oil their hoes, and hold
ing them up, implore abundant harvests; the
arrows of the warriors having been lnglori-
ously dipped in the blood Of the enemy, are NJ
ted for successful Buffalo hunt"
THE Hussar Fyigaie.-Dr. Mitchell has made
report. which is published in the New-York
Statesman, describing the action Of salt water
arrici1s iarriy taken from this frigate,
after being sunken to the depth of seventy feet,
for the period OF forty seven years. TWAS sup.
posed that this frigate contained large sum Of
money, in specie. Various attempts have been
made to recover it, without success. The Nep-
tune Company of New York succeeded in OBJ
tanning the articles described.
The wood of the vessel, lying near the bot
tom, escaped the rayages Of the pipe.worm or
,eredo. This destructive animal lives and bores
nearer the water level
Il telescope had undergone surprisingly
small alteration. Not only was the wooden case
nearly entire, but the brass was so little rusted,
| that the tube could be pushed in and out, and
the glasses so little corroded, that objects could
be tolerably well distinguished through it,
The brass work Of a quadrant was much more
corroded, owing probably to Its being differ.
ent composition Of that metallic alloy. Can
dlesticks, and other works in brass, had suffer-
ed different degrees of corrosion. The brass
was corroded in proportion to the abundance of
copper 1t contained, and resisted the surroun-
ing agents the better, as the zinc preponderated.
Iron and steel were mostly destroyed. The
blades of knives andforks had entirely disap.
peared, while the horn oftheir handles remain
ed almost unaitered. In like manner the blades
| OF swords were eaten up while the horn of the
hits remained. A glded belt and some of its
tassels still possessed considerable share of
their original lustre and structure.
Black bottles had undergone remarkable al.
terations on their outside surfaces. In some,
there were appearances Of rainbow colors, as il
the lead in the constitution had been oxyGed,
or converted into sort Of Iitharge; and on Sc
veral there was yellowish coat or crust, ap-
parently formed by the decomposition of por-
ton Of the sea salt, and the formation of a mu.
rate OF lead, as in the we'll known patent yell
low. 1t could be readily scaled off
spoons OF pswter had been corroded to some