SW_GH1804_126

business of the tribe. And in every nation, there is what they call the central council house, or council fire, where the chiefs of the several tribes, with the principal warriors, convene to consult and determine on their national affairs. When any matter is proposed in the national council, it is common for the chiefs of the seve-ral tribes to consult thereon apart with their counsellors, and when they have agreed, to deliver the opinion of the tribe at the national council. And as their government seems to rest wholly on persuasion, they endeavor by mutual conces-sions to obtain unanimity. Such is the govern-ment that still exists among the Indian nations bordering on the United States. To the north-ward of these, there was another powerful nation, which occupied the country from the head of the Chesapeake Bay, up to the Kittatinny mountain, and as far eastward as Connecticut river, comprehending that part of New York, which lies between the Highlands and the ocean. All the State of New Jersey, that part of Penn-sylvania which is watered below the range of Kittatinny Mountains, by the rivers or streams falling into the Delaware, and the County of New Castle, in the State of Delaware as far as Duck Creek. It is to be observed that nations of Indians distinguish their countries one from another, by natural boundaries, such as ranges of mountains or streams of water. But as the heads of rivers frequently interlock or approach