November 10th.-I witnessed yesterday, the singular ceremony performed at a treaty with the Six Nations of Indians. General Schuyler, and two other gentlemen, were the commissioners on our part. Of the Indians, about two hundred men and women attended. In the morning, I walked into the woods near this city, and was amused to see them occupied in dressing and ornamenting themselves for the ceremony; painting their faces, adjusting their hair, putting jewels into their ears, noses, &c. The face was painted of various colors; in general red, spotted with black and white in a fanciful manner. The men had their hair cut close to the skin, except a lock on the top of the head. The women wore long hair, ornamented with beads and other trinkets. The bodies and limbs of both sexes were decently covered in the Indian style, and some displayed large silver rings round the arm, and a profusion of party-colored beads, fancifully arranged about the legs and feet. Several of the young men, and girls, were furnished with little bells about their feet, to make a jingling when dancing. About eleven o'clock, the ceremony commenced on the common; the Indians arranged themselves, by sitting on the ground in a circle, the men on one side, the women on the other, leaving a vacancy for our commissioners, who were seated in chairs. In the centre of the circle was a fire, over which a large pot containing meat broth, or soup, was placed. The speakers were three elderly chiefs; their speeches or talks were short, and at the close of each, the speaker delivered to the commissioners a belt or string of wampum, curiously worked with porcupine quills, and handsomely painted, as a pledge of sincerity. The interpreter explained in English. In the intervals between the talks, the whole of the Indians and squaws threw their bodies into odd motions, and at the same time a noise came from their throats very similar to the grunting of swine, which I suppose, was a token of approbation. They next

commenced dancing, by uniting hands two or three at a time, and jumping merrily round the pot over the fire, animated by the music of a small drum resembling a keg covered with a skin, and the jingling of the bells attached to their legs and feet. The interpreter, by desire of the chiefs, requested that our commissioners would not be offended at the liberty which they were about to take. One of the chiefs then took the commissioners, one at a time, by the hand, and danced them round the circle, then rubbing his hand about the grease and blacking of the pot, he blackened the face, first of General Schuyler, and then the other gentlemen, which excited much laughter. Whether this was a trick to excite a laugh, or a part of their national ceremony, I was unable to ascertain. The Indians continued dancing round the fire, drinking the soup from the pot and regaling themselves with rum all night, and many of them were found drunk in the morning.

My professional duties have been so pressing as to preclude the possibility of journalizing to the full extent of my wishes. The numerous important events which have occurred to our main army under General Washington, in the Jerseys, and Pennsylvania, have been from time to time announced in the public papers, and in our general orders. A very brief retrospect of the most interesting occurrences during the campaign in that quarter must suffice me.

General Washington, having ascertained that it was the great object of Sir William Howe to possess himself of the city of Philadelphia, put in requisition every effort in his power to counteract his measures for this purpose. His force during the whole campaign was considerably inferior to that of the enemy. Battles and skirmishing of more or less importance were frequent, but not decisive, though attended by no inconsiderable loss of human lives. On the 11th of September the two armies approached each other in the order of battle, and a general action took place

at Brandywine, in which the officers and soldiers of both armies displayed a spirit of intrepidity and heroism, scarcely ever exceeded. The British claim the victory; but it was only a partial one, and besides a prodigious sacrifice of lives, they failed in their main object, that of forcing their way to Philadelphia. It is stated, that from particular circumstances, little more than one half of General Washington's force was opposed to nearly the whole strength of the enemy. Our loss is mentioned in round numbers at one thousand. The Marquis de la Fayette, and General Woodford were slightly wounded. The loss of the royalists, according to accounts published, greatly exceeds that of the Americans.

On the 16th of September, Monsieur de Condry, an officer of rank and distinction in the French service, and acting as a volunteer in our army, having occasion to cross the Schuylkill ferry, rode a high spirited horse into the boat, which, taking fright, leaped into the river, and the rider was unfortunately drowned. Congress resolved that the corpse of Monsieur de Condry be interred at the expense of the United States, and with the honors of war.

Sir William Howe, on the 26th of September, after much manoeuvring and skirmishing, accomplished his great enterprize, and made his triumphal entry into the city of Philadelphia, where he met with a cordial welcome from the Quakers, and a considerable number of the inhabitants, who have long been known to be in favor of the royalists.

On the 4th of October, General Washington planned an attack on the main body of the enemy stationed at Germantown, near Philadelphia. The enterprize was planned with such judgment and skill, as to afford promise of a complete victory. The execution of it was conducted by his Excellency, who attacks like a hero and retreats like a general, and whose presence infuses into the ranks the spirit of heroism and enthusiasm. Were it not for some

unfortunate incidents, and the faulty conduct of a few individuals, his most sanguine hopes would have been realized. The enemy was actually taken by surprize, and in one point a party was routed and one hundred and ten made prisoners, but were afterwards retaken. Almost the whole force of both armies was involved in the tremendous contest, in which British and American bravery were equally conspicuous, and sealed the fate of many valiant officers and men. "The morning," says General Washington's letter to Congress," was extremely foggy, which prevented our improving the advantage we had gained, so well as we otherwise should have done. This circumstance, by concealing from us the true situation of the enemy, obliged us to act with more caution and less expedition than we could have wished, and gave the enemy time to recover from the effects of our first impression; and what was still more unfortunate, it served to keep our different parties in ignorance of each other's movements, and hindered their acting in concert; it also occasioned them to mistake one another for the enemy, which I believe more than any thing else, contributed to the misfortunes which ensued. In the midst of the most promising appearances, when every thing gave the most flattering hopes of victory, the troops began suddenly to retreat, and entirely left the field in spite of every effort that could be made to rally them. On the whole, it may be said, this day was rather unfortunate than injurious. The principal impediment to our success was, that at the moment of victory, the enemy threw a party into Mr. Chew's stone house, who were in a situation not easily to be forced; and had it in their power, from the windows, to give us considerable annoyance, and in a measure to obstruct our advance."

A general officer who was engaged in the battle, says, "Fortune smiled on our arms for hours. The enemy were broken, dispersed and flying on all

quarters: we were in possession of their whole encampment, together with their artillery park, &c. But confusion at last ensued, and we ran away from the arms of victory ready to receive us." It is not to be concealed however, that our army suffered a very considerable loss, the whole number is not ascertained. General Nash, of North Carolina, received a mortal wound, and General Sullivan's two aids were killed. On the side of the royalists, General Agnew, General de Heister's son, and several other officers were killed. General Kniphausen was wounded, and a great number of rank and file were wounded and slain.

The Americans have erected several forts and redoubts on the banks of the Delaware river, and on Mud Island, to guard against the passage of the British fleet up this river to Philadelphia. In one of these forts at Red Bank, Colonel Greene, of Rhode Island, was posted with about four hundred men. General Howe, perceiving the great importance of reducing these works, detached Count Donop, an officer held in high estimation in the royal army, with twelve or fifteen hundred Hessian troops, well supplied with artillery, to take possession of it. Having arrived near the redoubts, he summoned the commander to surrender, to which he resolutely replied, he would defend the place to the last extremity. This fort being originally constructed on a large scale, it was found necessary to run a line across the middle, and divide it into two, so that the external part was left without defence. The Hessian commander ordered his troops to advance under cover of the smoke of his cannon and storm the redoubt; they soon gained the unoccupied part with loud huzzas on their supposed victory; but on approaching the new lines within, where our troops were stationed, the brave garrison poured on them such hot and well directed fire for about forty minutes, that they were completely overpowered, and