FRONTISPIECE. 

_Vol. 2. _

[Illustration: _Designed & Etched by W. H. Brooks, A. R. E. A. _She is gone! that beautiful form is but shadow. _page 87. _]_London, Published by Colburn & Bentley, April 1830_. 

TRADITIONS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS:

 BEING

 A SECOND AND REVISED EDITION OF

 "TALES OF AN INDIAN CAMP. "

 BY

 JAMES ATHEARN JONES. 

 IN THREE VOLUMES. 

 VOL. II. 

LONDON:HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 1830. F. SHOBERL, JUN. , LONG ACRE. 

PLATES. 

VOL. I. PAGE. 

Frontispiece _to face the title_The Wahconda's Son 159

VOL. II. 

Frontispiece _to face the title_Caverns of the Kickapoo 204

VOL. III. 

Frontispiece _to face the title_Garanga 204

CONTENTSOFTHE SECOND VOLUME. 

 Page. Legends of the Creation. I. The Two Chappewees. A Tradition of the Dog-Rib Tribe 1 II. Sakechak, the Hunter 21 III. The Bird of Ages 35 IV. The Great Hare 43 V. The Six Nanticokes 49 VI. The Universal Mother 93 The Coming of Miquon 99 The Funeral Fire 115 The Portioning of the Sons 125 The Maiden's Rock 131 The Expedition of the Lenni Lenapes 141 Gittahee Gauzinee 181 Ampato Sapa 189 The Caverns of the Kickapoo 201 The Mountain of Little Spirits 207 The Valley of the Bright Old Inhabitants 223 The Legend of Moshup 261 The Phantom Woman. A Tradition of the Winnebagoes 273 The Two Ghosts 285 The Vision of the Abnakis Chief 303

TALES OF AN INDIAN CAMP. 

LEGENDS OF THE CREATION. 

I. THE TWO CHAPPEWEES. A TRADITION OF THE TRIBE OF THE DOG-RIBS. 

Upon a narrow strait, between two tempestuous and stormy seas, livedthe young man Chappewee, whose father, the old man Chappewee, was thefirst of men. The old man Chappewee, the first of men, when he firstlanded on the earth, near where the present Dog-ribs have theirhunting-grounds, found the world a beautiful world, well stocked withfood, and abounding with pleasant things. There is nothing in theworld now which was not in it then, save red clay, a canoe with twelvepaddles, and the white man's rum. Then, as now, whales were disportingin the liquid element; musk-oxen filled the glades, and deer, andbears, and wolves, were browzing on the hills, or prowling about theforest. But there was at that time no canoe, for there was nobody topaddle it; no rum, for who would drink it? and red clay was not foundtill a long time afterwards, when the young man Chappewee's nose bled, and coloured the earth, a portion of which has since been red. 

When the old man Chappewee came upon the earth, he found no man, woman, or child, upon it. Knowing that it was not good to be alone, he createdchildren. To these children he gave two kinds of fruit, the black andthe white, but forbade them to eat the black. Having issued hiscommands for the government and guidance of his family, and laid upplenty of provisions for them, he took leave of them for a time, to gointo a far country where the sun dwelt, for the purpose of conductinghim to the world, which was yet unvisited by his beams. So, takingwith him three thousand large roasted porpoises, oceans of black fish, thirty large whales, and a good deal of tobacco, that he might do bythe way those necessary things, eat and smoke, he departed for theresidence of the sun. After a very long journey and a long absence, hereturned, bringing with him the glorious orb, which ever since haslighted the earth, in some countries, for a portion of the hours ofeach day, and, in other countries, for a part of the days of eachyear. When he returned, he found to his great joy that his childrenhad remained obedient; had eaten only of the white fruit; and weretherefore, as yet, beyond the reach of disease and death. So he leftthem again, to go on another distant expedition. He saw that the greatluminary he had given the world lighted it only for a part of thehours of each day; and, in the frozen regions of the North, only for aportion of the days of each year. Now, in the land from which the oldman Chappewee fetched the sun, he saw another orb, formed to be thelamp of the dark hours. It was to conduct this second sun to theborders of his land, that he again bade adieu to his children anddwelling, and departed upon the second expedition. 

While the old man Chappewee was absent on his first expedition, hischildren ate up all the white fruit, and he forgot, before he leftthem on the second, to replenish their stock. For a long time theyresisted the imperious calls of hunger, but, at length, their cravingsfor food became so importunate, that they devoured the forbiddengift--the black fruit. Chappewee soon returned, bringing with him thebeautiful bright round moon, the lamp of the dark hours, and theglory of the season when the sun is away. He had no sooner come, thanhe saw in the eyes of his children that they had transgressed hiscommands, and had eaten the fruit of disease and death. He saw it inthe countenance of one stretched out on the bed of sickness; there wasspeedy death written in the eyes of another; and the slighter painsincidental to the human frame on the brow of a third. He was very muchdispleased with them, and told them, that in future the earth shouldproduce bad fruits; that sickness should lay them on beds of leaves, and pains rack their bones; that their lives should be lives offatigue and danger, and their deaths, deaths of doubt and agony--penaltieswhich have attached to his descendants to this day. 

Having brought the sun and moon to the earth, the old man Chappeweerested from his labours, and made no more distant expeditions. Many, very many, years he lived, and death came not to him. But, to allaround him, the consequences were what he denounced, and he had theunhappiness to see his prediction verified. The earth produced badfruits; the cranberry and the whortleberry rotted on the frost-nippedbushes, and the strawberry shrivelled on the mildewed vine. He sawtrees grow up crooked, that, before the disobedience of his children, grew only straight; and animals, which before were only sleek andround, now were poor and emaciated. He saw sickness lay his childrenon beds of leaves, and pains rack their bones; he saw their lives, lives of fatigue and danger; and their deaths, deaths of doubt andagony. He saw their spirits again in the mist of the Falls, and heardthe music of their voices, while their bodies lay in the sacred shed. Still death came not to him. He had now lived so long, that his throatwas worn out, and he could no longer enjoy life, but he was unable todie. His teeth had rotted out, and had been renewed a hundred times;his tongue had been repeatedly chafed out, and replaced; and of eyes, blue, white, and grey, he had had very many pair. Finding that lifewas a gift which he could not part with easily, perhaps, not withoutsome stratagem, he called to him one of his people--it was not hisson, nor his son's son; no, nor one of the twentieth generation--allthese had passed away. 

"Go, " said he, "to the river of the Bear Lake, and fetch me a man ofthe Little Wise People. [A] Let it be one with a brown ring round theend of the tail, and a white spot on the tip of the nose. Let him bejust two seasons old, upon the first day of the coming Frog-Moon, andsee that his belly be not too big, and see that his teeth be sharp. And make haste, that I may die. "

[Footnote A: Little Wise People, the Beavers, so called by theAssiniboins. The Indians, though they kill this animal whenever theycan, nevertheless esteem him scarcely inferior to man in wisdom. A bitof his skin, or his paw, or any part of him, is esteemed a verypowerful "medicine" or amulet. ]

The man did as he was directed. He went to the river of Bear Lake, andbrought a man of the Wise Four-Legged People. He had a brown ringround the end of his tail, and a white spot on the tip of his nose. Hewas just two seasons old, upon the first day of the Frog-Moon, and histeeth were very sharp, as any one would find that put his fingersbetween them. He brought him by force, for he was very unwilling tocome to the old man Chappewee, who gave the following directions forhis treatment. 

"Take the Wise Four-Legged Man, " said he, "to the head of theCoppermine river, and dip his four paws in the bubbling spring whichgives it birth. Give him a little neshcaminnick to drink, and comb hishair, and scratch his belly, to put him in good temper. Whisper in hisear words of encouragement. Tell him not to disgrace himself, norshame the heroism of his race by cries, nor tears, nor groans, butbear pain like a man. And, when you have spoken the words of comfort, pull from his jaws seven of his teeth. "

So they did as the old man Chappewee bade them. They went to theBeaver, and spoke to him thus:

"Wise Little Man of the Four-Legged Race, the old man Chappewee hascommanded us to dip your four paws in the bubbling spring, which givesrise to the Coppermine, to give you to drink a little cup of thepleasant juice of the neshcaminnick, and to put you in good temper bycombing your hair and scratching your belly. And he begs that you willnot disgrace yourself, nor shame the boasted sagacity of your race, bycries, nor tears, nor groans; but bear pain like a man, as you are. And we are directed, after our words of peace have been spoken, topull out seven of your teeth. "

To this speech the beaver replied, as every other man in captivityreplies. He professed himself "much pleased to part with seven of histeeth to oblige the old man Chappewee, and had no objection to dip hispaws in the head waters of the Coppermine, provided he were carriedthither. A draught of neshcaminnick none but a fool would refuse; andthe having his head combed, and his belly scratched, was almost asgood as a feast. " Which was all mere stuff, as every body knows. 

The things which Chappewee asked being all performed, they brought theseven sharp teeth of the Wise Four-Legged Man to the old manChappewee. He bade them call all his descendants around him; and, whenthey were gathered together, he thus addressed them:--

"I am old--the old man Chappewee indeed. My throat is worn out, and Ican no longer enjoy life; my tongue has repeatedly been chafed out, and renewed; my teeth have been replaced a hundred times; and I havelooked upon the beautiful things of the earth, and the glorious onesof the sky, upon trees, and flowers, and fruits, and the bright stars, and the pale moon, and the glorious orb of day, with eyes of manydifferent colours. But I am tired of life, and wish to sleep the sleepof death. When I look upon the beings and things around me, and seethe pain, and sickness, and sorrow, and want, which have become thebitter portion of all, since the disobedience of my children, I losethe wish for a new pair of eyes, nor ask longer use of the fadingvision of those which are now in their sockets. I will go hence. Take the seven teeth of the Wise Little Four-Legged Man, and drivethem--one into each temple, and one into the middle of my forehead, one into each breast, one into the hollow of my back, and one intothe great toe of my right foot. " They did as he bade them, and drovethe teeth into his body at the appointed places. The old man gavethree groans when the tooth was driven into his great toe, and then hedied. 

 * * * * *

Upon a narrow strait, between two noisy and tempestuous seas, livedthe young man Chappewee, whose ancestor was the old man Chappewee, andwith him resided his family. He lived by hunting and fishing, but moreby the latter, because of the great ease with which he caught thevarious kinds of fishes, which travelled from one sea to the other, through the narrow strait. He had but to cast his net into the water, and to draw it out full; his spear, thrown at random into the strait, might almost be said to be sure of attaching to it a good fat fish. Once upon a time, having constructed a weir to catch fish, such a vastquantity were caught, that the strait was choked up, and the waterrose and overflowed the whole face of the earth. To save himself andhis family from the dreadful deluge, he embarked them all in his greatcanoe, taking with him all manner of beasts and birds. The watercovered the earth for many moons, and their food was nearly exhausted, a few roasted sharks, and a little boiled sea-ooze, being all that wasleft them. Still there was no sign of the abating of the victoriouselement from the face of the conquered earth. No land was visible, andthe sun, which sometimes by his beams upon the waves indicates whereland lies sunk beneath the ocean, gave not now the evidence ofsubsiding waters. The young man Chappewee, finding how matters weregoing, said to his family, "We cannot live thus, we must find landagain, or we shall die; we and all the animals we have with us. " So hecalled a great council of all the creatures, and proposed that one ofthem should dive into the great abyss, and fetch up some mud to make aworld of. The ox, being asked to undertake the hazardous service, declined, because, he said, his tail was in the way; the mammothrefused because of his trunk; the elk and deer pleaded their horns;the legs of the musk-ox, were 'too short'; in fact, all the animalsmade some excuse except the beaver. He professed his willingness toencounter a risk, which must be encountered by some one, and, withoutany ado, down he went, amidst the applauses of all the animals. Soonhis carcase was seen floating on the surface of the waters, and theyknew that he had fallen a victim to his courage and intrepidity. 

Another attempt was necessary, and, after much persuasion, themusk-rat was induced to make it. He was gone a long, very long time, and was supposed by them to have met the same fate as the unfortunatebeaver; but, just as they had given him over, and were preparing tochuse by lot a third animal for the same errand, he appeared, nearlydead with fatigue, but he had a little earth in his paws. The sight ofthe earth very much rejoiced the young man Chappewee; but his firstcare was about the safety of his faithful servant, the rat, which herubbed gently with his hands, and cherished in his bosom until itrevived. He next took up the earth, and, moulding it with his fingersinto a ball, he placed it on the waters, where it increased bydegrees, until it formed a little island in the ocean. His next carewas to furnish this island with man, beast, and bird. A wolf, which hewas anxious to put out of the way, he being a sad snarler, was thefirst animal which the young man Chappewee placed on the infant earth;but the weight of the creature was so great, that it began to sinkupon one side, and was in danger of turning over. To prevent thisaccident, the wolf was directed to keep moving with a quick step roundthe island, which he did for a whole year; and, in that time, theearth increased so much in size, that all on board the canoe were ableto disembark upon it. After a long and perilous drifting of the canoehither and thither, its voyagers were at length able to lay theirheads down at night upon solid land, and to sleep unrocked by thetempestuous billow. 

Chappewee, on landing, saw that there were no trees on the earth: hewould have some. He stuck a piece of a stick into the ground; itbecame a fir-tree, and grew with such amazing rapidity, that its topsoon reached the skies. Once upon a time, Chappewee being out hunting, saw a squirrel, and gave chase to it. The nimble animal ran up thefir-tree, pursued by the hunter, who endeavoured to knock it down, buthe could not overtake it. He continued the chase, however, until hereached the country of the stars. As he went, he saw many curiousthings, meteors, comets, departed friends dancing their dances in theNorthern sky; clouds of every kind and colour; spirits flying aboutthe air. Now he felt keen winds, and now warm breezes; now he passed acompany of storms marching down upon the earth; or a lightning or twostraggling back again to the skies; or a thunder riding a cloud; or atroop of hail rushing to battle with a deal of bluster and fury; or acrowd of snows looking for colder weather and a roosting-place. Atlast, he reached the country of the stars. He found a land far morebeautiful than that he had left behind him, upon the narrow strait, between the two tempestuous and stormy seas. He found it one vastplain, over which led a wide and smooth-beaten road, but he did notsee the squirrel. After feasting his eyes awhile upon the surroundingsplendours, and regaling his ears with soft music, which came he knewnot whence, nor from whom, he bethought him of setting, in the road, with a view to catch the squirrel, a snare made of his sister's hair. This done, he descended the tree till he came to the earth. The nextmorning the sun appeared as usual in the heavens; but, at noon, it wascaught by the snare which Chappewee had set for the squirrel, and thesky was instantly darkened. This, never having happened before, created much surprise and consternation among the people that dwelt atthe narrow strait, between the two tempestuous and stormy seas. Chappewee's wife said to him, "You must have done something very wrongwhen you were up the tree, for we no longer enjoy the light of theday. The glorious orb, which the old man Chappewee brought to us, before his children ate of the black fruit, has disappeared. Alas, forus, who have lost our best friend, the sun! Alas, for us, who, it maybe, are involved in a night that will never know an end!"

The young man Chappewee replied to his wife, "I have indeed donesomething very wrong, but it was not intentionally. I see through thewhole business. The sun is caught in the snare I set for the squirrel. It must be liberated, and enabled again to light our steps, for acertain number of the months of the year, and a portion of the hoursof each day. "

With a view to repair the fault he had committed, he called to him thecarcajou, and bade him go up the tree, and release the sun by cuttingthe snare. 

The courageous cat of the mountains readily obeyed, but the heat ofthat luminary was so intense, that it reduced him to ashes. After himthe bear, the wolverine, the wolf, and the panther, were severallysent, but they all experienced the same fate. The efforts of the moreactive animals being thus frustrated, Chappewee knew not what to do, nor could any one in the great council tell him. After a long periodof silence, the ground-mole got up, and said he would make the attempt. Whereupon, there was a loud and general titter among all the beasts, that such an awkward and grovelling creature as he was should proposeto himself such a dangerous and distant task. The wolf laughed in theshape of a hideous growl; the fox chuckled as much as if he hadcommitted a successful theft; the horse neighed and kicked, as usualwith him in moments of extravagant joy or anger; and the bear shookhis sides till they nearly split. 

"Week, week, week, what a fool!" squeaked the pig. 

"Bah, what a nincompoop!" cried the sheep. 

"Bow, wow, wow, where's my tail?" cried the dog, running round to findit, as he always does when much delighted. All the animals, in someway or other, testified their scorn of the good little creature whohad kindly made the offer. But, awkward and grovelling as he was, andmuch as they laughed at him, he succeeded in performing it, byburrowing under the road in the sky, until he reached and cut asunderthe snare which bound the sun. He lost his eyes, however, the instanthe thrust his head into the light, and his nose and teeth have eversince been brown, as if burnt. During these transactions, Chappewee'sisland had continued growing, till it had increased to the presentsize of the great island. 

And now the young man Chappewee prepared his island for the residenceof creatures. He first traced out the courses of the rivers, bydrawing his fingers through the earth, and scraped out the lakes withhis spoon. When he came to the mountains, he made a stop. "What shallI do with these heaps of earth?" demanded he of himself. Afterreflecting a long time upon the labour which would attend theirremoval, he concluded to let them remain. Hitherto, all the animals, beasts, fishes, &c. Had dwelt indifferently on the land or in thewater. The shark and the porpoise, though very clumsy and easilytired, could nevertheless walk some, and the whale, though hiswaddling gait would have made you laugh, yet contrived to go over aconsiderable piece of dry ground in a short time. Chappewee nowallotted to the quadrupeds, birds, and fishes, their proper stationsand habitations, and, endowing them with certain capacities, he toldthem that they were in future to provide for their own safety, becauseman would destroy them whenever he found their tracks; but, to consolethem, he said to them kindly, "when you die, you shall be as a seed ofgrass, which, when thrown into water, springs again into life. " Theanimals objected to this arrangement, and the hog who did the talkingsaid, "No, let us when we die be as a stone, which, when thrown into alake, disappears for ever from the sight of man. " So it was orderedthat the ceasing of the beast to breathe should be his utterannihilation, and that the dog only should be the companion of manafter death. 

The family of the young man Chappewee complained of the penalty ofdeath, entailed upon them by the old man Chappewee for eating theblack fruit, and they petitioned for an alteration of the sentence; onwhich he granted, that such of them as dreamed certain dreams shouldbe men of medicine, capable of curing certain diseases and ofprolonging life. In order to preserve this virtue, they were directednot to tell their dreams until a certain period had elapsed. Toacquire the power of foretelling events, to gain the eye which shouldsee the dark secrets of futurity, to hear the words of fate in the cryof the winds, and to see the character of unknown things in the aspectof the heavens, they were ordered to insert a live ant under the skinof the left hand, without letting any one know that they had done so. And, whenever they felt it stirring in the flesh, they were commandedto bind over their eyes the skin of a young badger, lay down theirheads upon a bundle of the leaves of the black hornbeam, and sleep assoon as possible. The first dream which they should have thereafterwould always prove true. 

For a long time, Chappewee's descendants were united as one family, but at length, some young men being killed in a game, a quarrelensued, and a general dispersion of mankind took place. Some--a greatmany--went beyond the mountains, which the young man Chappeweeneglected to level. Others went to the brink of the ocean, where thewalrusses dwelt; others again to the lands which have the beams of thesun from the Buck-Moon till it comes again. Some went to the shores ofthe sea that is never thawed; and some to the brink of the waters thatnever freeze. One Indian fixed his residence on the borders of theGreat Bear Lake, taking with him only a dog big with young. In duetime, this dog brought forth eight pups. Whenever the Indian went outto fish, he tied up the pups, to prevent the straying of the litter. Several times, as he approached his tent, he heard noises proceedingfrom it, which sounded like the talking, the laughing, the crying, thewail, and the merriment of children; but, on entering it, he onlyperceived the pups tied up as usual. His curiosity being excited bythe noises he had heard, he determined to watch and learn whence thosesounds proceeded, and what they were. One day he pretended to go outto fish, but, instead of doing so, he concealed himself in aconvenient place. In a short time he again heard voices, and, rushingsuddenly into the tent, beheld some beautiful children sporting andlaughing, with the dog-skins lying by their side. He threw thedog-skins into the fire, and the children, retaining their properforms, grew up, and were the ancestors of the Dog-rib nation. 

II. SAKECHAK, THE HUNTER. 

There was, in the land of the Caddos, a good and devout hunter andfisherman, named Sakechak, or "he that tricks the otter. " He dweltwith his family upon the little hill Wecheganawaw, on the border ofthe lake Caddoque. He was a tall man, spare in flesh, but very active, and able to endure more fatigue than the wolf or the wild cat--able tolive six days without food, and feast the next six days withoutintermission. None had eyes like Sakechak to follow the trail of alight-footed animal over the frozen earth; none like him could strike, unerringly, a salmon at twice the depth of a man. Nor was this hunterwithout the qualities of a warrior. When the Padoucas came, withhostile intent, to the borders of the lake Caddoque; among those whofirst took down the spear, and braided the scalp-lock, was Sakechak, the hunter of the little hill Wecheganawaw. He it was who firstsounded the war-whoop; he it was who took the first Padouca scalp; heit was who pursued farthest the retreating enemy, and he who returnedfrom the weary pursuit to dance longest the dance of Triumph. AndSakechak was as wise as brave, and as good as wise. Never was hecaught suffering his feelings to escape from his controul ormanagement; his word was esteemed in the council as the word ofwisdom; his warning of danger was regarded as the cry of the owl. Never did he mock the wretched, or laugh, or scoff at the insane; hewas always respectful to the aged; and he daily cried to the Master ofLife, from the high grounds, with clay spread thick upon his hair, andat every successful hunt offered, to the same Great Judge andprotecting guide of man, the best part of the animals he had caught. That Great Being regarded him with more love than he regards othermortals, and showed it by many signs. The fish he speared were alwaysfatter than those taken by other hunters; the deer that lay at thefoot of the wife of Sakechak could not be lifted like other men's by amere boy. The thunder that shattered, and the wind that prostrated, the forest-trees in other places were never known to do the like bythe tall oaks that sheltered the hill Wecheganawaw. The corn of thisgood hunter came out of the ground two suns sooner than other men's, and the tobacco in his garden was ripe, yellow, and fit for use, whilethat of his neighbours was green, and food for the worm. TheCaddoques, and the other Indians, might have seen enough of therewards bestowed upon goodness, in the person of Sakechak, to havemade them leave off their wickedness. But no, they kept on sinning, until the Great Being deemed them unfit longer to live upon the earthwhich he had created for their use. 

Once upon a time, as Sakechak was about to rest his limbs for theperiod of darkness, he felt the stirring of the ant which lay underthe skin of his left hand, and, binding over his eyes the hide of theyoung badger, he laid his head upon a bundle of the leaves of theblack hornbeam, and slept as soon as possible[A]. His dream wasstrange and wonderful, and it was accomplished. He saw the Master ofLife, being the first Caddoque who had ever seen him. He was a verytall and big man, shaped like an Indian in all save his hands, whichwere each a sharp spear of terrible proportions, and his tongue was animmense arrow. His eyes were bright as the sun, and each much larger;his hair was very long, and swept the earth, and he wore a great whitehat[B]. Each of his feet was larger than the lake Caddoque. He spoketo the dreamer in his lowest whisper, which, nevertheless, was louderthan the loudest thunder, and his words were these:--

[Footnote A: See this superstition in the last tale. ]

[Footnote B: The Indians always give a corporeal form to the SupremeBeing, and, in every instance that I have heard of, when supposing himto have a human form, imagine him with some kind of covering upon hishead. Since their introduction to the white people, they haveinvariably supposed this covering to be a hat. ]

"Sakechak!"

The hunter replied, "I hear. "

"The world is getting very wicked, Sakechak. "

"I know it, " answered the hunter. 

"I hear no longer the voices of men supplicating me forfavours--soliciting my lightnings to cool the air, nor my rains torefresh the earth, nor my suns to ripen the harvest. They no longerthank me for the fat bears, and mooses, and deer, and bisons, which Isend to their hunting-grounds, nor the salmon, and other juicy fish, which I bid to their waters, nor the corn which I command to grow talland sweet for their use, nor the rich grapes which I make to bow theirvines to the earth. I must sweep, and wash, and purify, the earth; Imust destroy all living creatures from off the face of it. "

Then Sakechak said, "What have I done, Master of Life! that I shouldbe involved in this general destruction? Have I not offered thee thebest of my spoils?--Have I ever neglected to solicit thy favour uponmy labours, or to thank thee for the rich gifts thou hast showeredupon me and my family--health, plenty, and cheerful hearts?"

The Master answered, "No, Sakechak, thou hast indeed been a goodservant; it hath never been my purpose to destroy thee; I will exceptthee from the general doom: but I will thee to assist in thedestruction of thy brethren. Listen!

"Go now, and cut thee a young hemlock, from the spot which mylightnings struck in the last Fever-Moon. Let it be not more than tenseasons old--straight, well-grown, a finely-proportioned trunk, withthriving branches, full of cones, and with leaves of dark green. Knockoff the cones, and bring them, together with the trunk and leaves, tothe bottom of the hill Wecheganawaw, when the sun of the morning istinging the eastern clouds with his brightness. Burn them in a firemade of the dry branches of the oak, kindled with the straw of thewild rice. When the heap is completely reduced to ashes, take theashes, and strew them in a circle around the hill Wecheganawaw. Nothing need be gathered within the circle of the hill, for the livingcreatures will, of themselves, retreat to it for safety; and, whenthis is done, take the trunk of the hemlock, divested of its branches, and strike it into the earth, at the spot where the large tuft ofgreen grass is seen growing on the dry and barren hill. There lies thegreat fountain of the waters; and when the staff is struck into theearth, the fountain shall burst forth, and the earth be swept, andwashed, and purified, by the great deluge that shall overwhelm it. Sakechak and his family shall alone, of all the inhabitants of theearth, be saved, and the creatures he assembles around him on thelittle hill Wecheganawaw be alone those exempted from the all-sweepingdestruction. "

So saying, the Great Being retreated from the vision of the sleepinghunter, who awoke with the dream fixed on his mind, and, in obedienceto the orders he had received, prepared to do his part towards itsaccomplishment. He went to the spot which the Master had pointedout--the place which the lightnings had stricken in the lastFever-Moon--and he cut from the grove of hemlocks a young tree, fullof cones, with a finely shaped trunk, and with thriving branches anddark green leaves. This trunk, with the leaves, he brought to the hillWecheganawaw, when the sun of the morning was tinging the easternclouds with his brightness. He burnt them all, save the trunk, in afire made of the dry branches of the oak, kindled with the straw ofthe wild rice. When the heap was completely reduced to ashes, he took the ashes and strewed them in a circle around the hillWecheganawaw. --Then he took the staff, or trunk of the hemlockdivested of its branches, and struck it deep into the earth, at thespot on the hill where the large tuft of green grass sprung up amidstbarrenness. When he did so, the great fountain was broken up, and thewaters burst out in a mighty volume. Slowly and gradually the elementbegan to cover the earth, while the hunter and his family looked on. Now the low grounds appeared but as they appear in the season ofshowers, here a little water, and there a little water; soon theybecame one vast sheet. Now a little hill sunk from view, then the topsof the trees disappeared; again a tall hill was observed to be hidingits summits in the overmastering water. At length the waves rose sohigh that Sakechak could see nothing more: he stood as it were in awell. The waters were piled up on every side of him, restrained fromharming him, or his, by the magic belt of hemlock ashes. While thewaters had been rising, the animals in the vicinity of the hill hadbeen running to it for shelter; and there now stood gathered aroundhim a pair of each of the different species of animals. 

"Sakechak!" said a voice, which the hunter knew to be that of him hehad heard in his sleep. 

The hunter answered, "I hear. "

"When the Moon is exactly over thy head, Sakechak, she will draw thewaters on to the hill Wecheganawaw. She is angry with me because Iflogged a comet to whom she had taken a liking, and wishes to berevenged on me. I cannot prevent that unless I destroy her, which Icannot do, for she is my wife, and bore me many sons, which are thestars thou seest, and she is besides necessary to the existence of theworld, which shall re-appear swept, and washed, and purified, for theuse of thee and thy descendants. Sakechak!"

The hunter answered, "I hear. "

"Bid every living creature which is on the hill take off the nail fromthe little finger of his right hand, if a man; if a bird, or beast, ofthe right foot or claw. When each has done this, bid him blow in thehollow of the nail with the right eye shut, pronouncing thesewords--'_Shake Tebe skahpeshim ose_, ' that is, 'Nail become a canoe, and save me from the wrath of the moon. ' The nail so besought willbecome a large canoe, and in this canoe will its owner be safe. "

The Master of Life ceased speaking, and the hunter rose to see thathis commands were obeyed, both by his family and the beasts. Soon waseach supplied with a vehicle of safety, by the side of which he stoodas the influence of the mother of the stars caused the waters to flowin upon the hill Wecheganawaw. The canoes rose buoyant upon the element, and soon floated upon the surface of the waters which covered theface of the earth. That they might not be dispersed Sakechak causedthem all to be bound together by thongs of buffalo-skin. 

They continued floating for a long time upon the surface of thewaters, till at last Sakechak said, "This will not do--we must haveland. Go, " said he, to a raven which sat in her canoe near him, "andfetch me a little earth from the bottom of the abyss. I will send awoman, because the eyes of a woman are so curious, and searching, andinquisitive, that if it is wished to find anything hidden in utterdarkness, and lost to all else, a woman will be sure to find it beforeyou have counted your fingers over twice. "

The raven, proud of the praise bestowed on her sex, answered, that shehad no objection to undertake the commission. So, leaving hertail-feathers at home, she dived into the abyss. She was gone a longtime, but, notwithstanding her being a woman, she returned baffled ofher object. Whereupon Sakechak said to the otter, "My little man, Iwill send you to the bottom, and see if your industry and perseverancewill enable you to accomplish what has been left undone by the wit andcunning of the raven. " So the otter departed upon his dangerousexpedition. 

He accomplished its object. When he again appeared on the earth, heheld in his paw a lump of black mud, as large as the tip of the thumbof a full-grown man. This he gave into the hands of Sakechak. But thehunter of the hill Wecheganawaw was without the wisdom which wouldmake the mud avail to the re-production of the world. He fell on hisknees, and besought the Great Master of all to endow him with theknowledge which should lead to the re-establishment of things as theywere before the deluge. The Master answered not; but his intentions tocommunicate his wishes to the good hunter were made known by the ant. So Sakechak slept and dreamed, and this was his dream:--

He saw again the Great Master, who bade him divide the lump of mudinto five portions. The central portion--that which came out of themiddle of the lump--he was commanded to take into the hollow of hishand, to wet with spittle, and to mould into a cake, a little highestin the middle, and flattened all around the edges. He was commanded, when he had done this, to blow a bubble upon the water, and set thelittle cake afloat in the bubble; with these words:--_I-yahask-ke_--"I make an earth. " He was not to suffer the little world tobreak away, but was to attach it to his canoe by a string formed ofthe sinews of the mud-turtle. As it increased in size, he was to strewupon it the remaining portions of mud, which he was enjoined to bevery careful to crumble fine, and rub thoroughly to dust. The voicetold him, that in less than three moons the lump would be so swelledthat he might disembark upon it, he and all the creatures that werewith him. 

Sakechak did as the voice of the Master bade him. He divided the lumpinto five portions, and that which came out of the middle of the lumphe moulded into a cake, a little highest in the middle, and flattenedall around the edges. He blew the bubble upon the water, and he setthe cake afloat in the bubble, having first fastened it to his canoewith a string formed of the sinews of the mud-turtle. As it increasedin size, he strewed upon it a part of the remaining portions of thelump, first crumbling them very fine, and rubbing them thoroughly intodust. The wind, which was high at the time, blew the yellow dust, which was lightest, into his eyes, and thence the eyes of the Indianhave always been tinged with yellow. The little cake increased rapidlyin size. One day, as Sakechak had taken up the third portion of themud to prepare it, by crumbling and rubbing, for strewing upon theearth, his wife discovered a star--the first which had been seen sincethe breaking up of the fountain. The loud shout of joy which burstfrom her, and her cry "A star! a star!" so discomposed Sakechak, thathe forget what he was about, and threw down the lumps, unrubbed oruncrumbled. This carelessness occasioned the unevenness of the earth;the mountains and the rocks which are now found upon it are the lumpswhich he threw down unrubbed. He, however, strewed upon it theremaining portion, which is the reason why rocks are found so farbelow the surface. And the earth, so formed from the mud brought up bythe otter, grew so fast that, upon the seventh sun of the third moon, the hunter Sakechak, and his family, and all the beasts, birds, andother living things which were with him, left their canoes for the dryand stable earth, which thenceforth became, and has since continued, their residence. 

Upon the earth thus created trees soon sprung up; but they were onlytrunks destitute of branches. But the wit of Sakechak soon gave themwhat they wanted. He shot arrows into the trunks, and these becamebranches, and took the nature of the trunks. Each became an oak, or apine, or a tulip, or a sweet gum, following the nature of the trunks. Many seasons passed away, however, before the hills were all clothedwith trees, or the dense cloud of leaves hid the bosom of the valleys. 

The earth was re-peopled from the loins of Sakechak; from him, fromone family of Caddos, are all men descended. No matter whither theyhave been carried; whether they have covered their tent with leavesbeneath the warm sky of the south, or built it of ice, where the earthnever thaws; whether they are red like myself, or white like the wiseman at whose bidding we are gathered together; they are descended fromone man, the hunter Sakechak, of the hill Wecheganawaw. 

III. THE BIRD OF AGES. 

The waters were spread over the face of the earth; there was nothingto be seen but one vast and entire ocean, save the mighty Bird ofAges, which had lived from the beginning of time, whose eyes werefire, whose glances were lightning, and the clapping of whose wingswas thunder. He had lived long in the skies above the stars; but, whenhe heard the rushing and dashing about of the waters, he descendedfrom his seat to the ocean, and touching it, the earth instantly rose, and remained on the surface of the water. It rose of its present size, covered with verdure, as the low grounds which have been flooded bywinter rains are green when these rains are withdrawn from them. Themountains, then as now, towered to the skies, and the valleys weredeep, and the rivers rushed impetuously over the steeps whichattempted to impede their course. Winters locked up a portion of theearth, and the summer suns beamed fiercely and intensely upon anotherportion. The stars shone by day, and the beams of the moon gladdenedthe hours of darkness. Winds swept the vast expanse of ocean, and apart of the time was calm as a part of the time is now. The worldwas very like what it is at this day, save that, within its mightyboundaries, over all its far limits, neither on mountain, hill, valley, tree, nor bush, in den nor burrow, in water nor air, dwelt aliving creature. No gentle song of bird arose to break the stillnessof morning, no cry of wild beast to disturb the unbroken hush ofmidnight; the noise of the winds chasing each other over the vastwaste was all that was heard breaking the monotonous repose of theearth. 

"This will not do, " said the bird, talking to himself; "here is a fineworld and nobody to occupy it. Here are stars, beautiful as anythingcan be; a moon, that sheds her mild light on--what?--and a sun sobright that not even the Bird of Ages can look steadily on hisbeams--with that bird alone to behold him or them. How balmy is theair which I feel fanning my feathers!--but it cannot breathe to revivethe human heart after sickness or toil, or gladden the spirit of thebeast which lies panting in the shade from excessive heat. It is lost, wasted, and so are the beams of the sun, the moon, and the stars; andso are the sweet fruits that grow spontaneously about the earth, andthe beautiful flowers that waste their fragrance on the desert air. This must not be, " repeated the Bird. 

So he flew up to the highest pinnacle of the Mountain of the Thunders, and there fell to musing, the while scratching the side of his headwith his mighty claw. At last he bethought himself of a spell orcharm, which was taught him by his father, who lived before time was, and survived its commencement many ages. He recollected that thisvenerable and wise bird, who did not die till his claws were rottedoff, and his feathers all dispersed to the winds, told him that if oneof his descendants were to eat nothing for seven days, and to quenchhis thirst with the dew which should lie upon the mountain-laurel, hewould enjoy the power to accomplish that which ought to be done. "Nothing can be clearer, " said the Bird of Ages to himself, "than thatthe world ought to be inhabited. Now I, by fasting seven days, andquenching my thirst with the dew of the mountain-laurel alone, shall, according to the word of my father, be enabled to see this earthtenanted by beautiful creatures; the seeds, which now lie dormant inthe earth, will spring up to furnish food for innumerable creatures, and those innumerable creatures will enjoy the bounties spread out insuch profusion before them! How delightful it will be to see and hearthe birds of soft notes and splendid plumage, singing and hoppingabout on bush and tree; and the kid, and the fawn, and the lamb, gambolling on the sunny hill-side, and the fishes disporting in theirown element; and Man, the lord of all, painted on his cheek and browwith the ochre of wrath, and wearing the gallant scalp-lock, deckedwith the plumes of the eagle; and to hear his cry of battle, risingfrom the gathering place of warriors, and to mark the pole of redscalps, and better yet the resolution of the captive, when thetorments are inflicted upon him, when the pincers tear his flesh, whenthe hot stones sear his eye-balls. All these pleasures will delightthe eyes and ears of those who shall live on this beautiful world, when I shall have done what I conceive ought to have been done. "

So he commenced his fast. Seven days he ate no food, and quenched histhirst with only the dew which lay upon the mountain-laurel. Upon themorning of the eighth day he began his task. "There ought to be a vastnumber of fishes, " said he, "and of different sizes, for each mustfeed upon the other and smaller. " So he called into existence all thefishes that people the waters. Then he said to the quadrupeds andfour-footed beasts, to worms and snakes, and every thing else whichare not fishes, "Be, for you ought to be;" and they were. So the earthbecame peopled and inhabited. All were called into existence then, and in that manner, except the Chepewyans, and they had their originages after, from the loins of a dog; which was performed thus:

There was among the Crees a man, whose upper lip was split, displayingthe upper teeth to every one that saw him; he was not a courageousman, but feared every thing in the shape of danger; even the cry ofbeasts and the singing of birds, and the growl of the bear, and thesong of the bittern, alarmed him. He was very fond of dogs, andpossessed the power of transforming them into the shape of men, thoughhe was without the power to make them continue in that shape for alonger period than that between sun and sun. He could make a wolf-dogstep into the form of a handsome hunter; he could clothe an old curwith the skin of a very wise _powwow_. After his charm was spoken overa spaniel sneaking with his tail between his legs, you would see, inhis stead, a white man doing the very same mean act of cowardice, withhis back upon his enemy. A hoity-toity little she-puppy would becomein a twinkling a very pretty girl; and an ugly old snarling she-wolf, a crabbed and sour old squaw. But, when the sun arose, the handsomehunter became again the wolf-dog; and the very wise powwow, the oldcur; and the white man running from his enemy, the spaniel sneakingoff with his tail between his legs; and the very pretty girl, thehoity-toity little she-puppy; and the crabbed and sour old squaw, theugly and snarling old she wolf-dog. He would have been very glad tohave made them retain the form of human beings, but he possessed notthe power. At last, he bethought himself of the mighty Bird of Ages, who dwelt among the lofty peaks of the Mountain of Thunders. To thisbird he repaired, and telling him what he had come for, he receivedthe command to go to the Lake of the Woods, and bring thence a flat, white stone, which lay upon the southern shore of that lake. Itpossessed, the mighty Bird said, the power to enable almost any thingto be done which should be asked of it by men of the Cree nation; bythe great ancestor of which it had been endued with its present power. 

The man did as he was bidden. He went to the southern shore of theLake of the Woods, and brought away the great white _memahoppa_, ormedicine-stone, which has ever since remained with the Crees. Havingplaced this stone in the corner of his cabin, and addressed it as histutelar deity, he proceeded to make the transformation of a fine, handsome, courageous, young dog into the shape of a man. When this waseffected, he led the man to the memahoppa, and first praying thesacred stone to protect him against the power of change, he placed theman upon it. The charm was effective. The wonderful properties of themedicine-stone operated to keep the man a man. And this man married awoman of the Crees, and from them are the Chepewyans descended. 

When the mighty Bird of Ages had finished his work of calling intoexistence the different creatures, he made a great arrow to be thesign of the deeds he had done; with the command that it should remainlodged in the great council-house of the Chepewyans, until time shouldbe no more. As long as they should obey this command, they should everbe victorious over their enemies, and fortunate in all their huntingexpeditions; their word should be law to all the tribes and nations, from the Frozen Sea to the land of the Shawanos, from the towns of theIroquois to the Mountains of Thunder. But, whenever they should bycarelessness lose it, they should be doomed to encounter their fullshare of the losses and defeats, and difficulties, and disappointments, which belong to other and less favoured tribes. They should sometimesbe overcome by a force of inferior numbers; and often seek the beastsof the chace for many weary days without finding them. And, sayingthus, he gave the arrow into the hands of the chief man of theChepewyans. 

For many, very many ages, the Chepewyans scrupulously remembered theinjunctions of the mighty Bird respecting the arrow, and kept ittreasured up in the house of the great council. While they did so, they were the most fortunate tribe on the earth, and became lords overall, conquerors in every battle, and the most fortunate hunters theworld has ever known. But, at length carelessness got the better ofprudence, and they suffered the arrow to be stolen; the sacrilege soenraged the Bird of Ages, that he quitted the earth, and winged hisway to the place he inhabited before he descended from above. He hasnever been seen on earth since; but the Chepewyans, and other tribeswhom this tale has reached, believe that the thunder of the hot moonsis the clapping of his wings, and the lightning which accompanies it, the glancing of his eye. When a dark cloud that has no rain crossesthe earth, they say he is flying between it and the sun; and theybelieve that the snow of the winter is the down which he strips fromhis breast. 

IV. THE GREAT HARE. 

Michabou, or the Great Hare, sat upon the face of the waters--he, andhis creatures, which were all four-legged. The form of this Being wasunlike that of any thing ever seen on the earth, before or since. Hehad four legs, or rather two legs and two arms, but he used them allas if they were legs, and he used the two arms for purposes for whichlegs could not be used to advantage. So he had four legs and two arms, and yet there were but four in all. Each of his creatures was unlikethe others: all were known and distinguished by something which didnot belong to another. Some had but one leg, some had twenty; some hadno legs, but many arms; and some had neither legs nor arms. The samediversity prevailed with regard to the eyes, and mouth, and nose, andears. Indeed they were a strange crowd of creatures, and not the leaststrange of all was Michabou himself, the head chief, or rather greatfather of all the creatures which moved over the face of the mightywaters. 

Michabou was married to a woman quite as odd and deformed as himself, who bore him many children, of strange and various shapes. When thetime had come for her to bring forth her one thousandth child, shehad a strange dream. She dreamed that the child within her refusedto see the light, till he had something firm and stable to standupon--something which would permit him to enjoy rest undisturbed bymotion. She told this dream to her husband, whom it puzzled very much. At length he made out that he was to create a world. He knew before, that the bottom of the ocean was covered with sand. So he dived down, and brought up from thence a glittering grain to serve as the germ ofthe world. 

Having taken this grain of glittering sand into the hollow of hishand, Michabou blew upon it until it so expanded, that it became alittle earth. He then set it afloat upon the waters, where itcontinued increasing in magnitude, until it was large enough tosustain, without sinking, the child which the wife of the great chief, after bearing about her for forty seasons, brought forth to the lightof day. This child, upon being born, had the form of a man, and wasplaced upon the earth thus created. He was the first being which hadever borne the form of a man, and the first occupier of the earth. They gave him the name of Atoacan, which signifies the "great father, or beginner of a race. " When he was born, he was larger in staturethan any man that has been born since, and he increased in size, untilhis head towered above the tallest woods. 

But Atoacan was alone, and life soon became a burthen to him. He wassolitary and sad, and found no pleasure in the beautiful things whichwere daily, hourly, springing up on the earth. He saw the flowersbloom, and scent the air, but they afforded no pleasure to his eyes, no refreshment to his soul. Sweet fruits were bending the bushes tothe earth, or clustering on the boughs, but they were tasteless;for it was in his nature to enjoy nothing, prize nothing, unlessparticipated in by another--the counterpart of himself. So he putclay upon his head, and cried loud to his father, the Great Hare, for a companion. Michabou, perceiving that he and his strange-shapedcreatures would be supplanted in power by the son whom he had begotten, the new creature _man_, had ascended to the heavens: he heard the prayerof his son, and listened to it. 

There was among the people of the skies a beautiful maiden, whose namewas Atahensic. She was fairest of all the daughters of the air, beautiful as the sun, mild as the moon, and sportive as the stars. Michabou asked her if she would descend to the earth, and become thecompanion and wife of his son; and she, delighted as women always are, at the prospect of a journey, no matter whither, consented. SoMichabou made a long string of the sinews and tendons of the variousland animals, and by this string he lowered Atahensic into the arms ofhis delighted son. 

The man, no longer solitary, but furnished with the being, intendedby the constitution of nature and the Great Master of all for thecompanion and comfort of his life, set about appropriating to his usethe various things he saw. He was no longer solitary, but met thedifficulties which spring up in the path of human life, and thelabours which he is compelled to bestow upon the procuring of food, with cheerfulness and alacrity. He now went in the morning to theforest glade to hunt the red deer, and his toils were not thought of, because, when they were ended, when the woods, made dark by the comingshades of night, rang shrill with the lay of the fire-bird, and hisshafts were all spent, he could bear home the spoils they had won, andbe rejoiced by the smiles of his companion and wife. 

Atahensic bore her husband two children, a son and a daughter. Thesetwo married, and built themselves a lodge far from their parents. Theyhad many children, but Michabou, who came down now and then, to seehow things were going on, observing the slow rate at which the worldwas peopling, determined to adopt another plan. So he told Atoacanthat, upon the death of every animal, he must skin it. He must burnthe skin, drop a drop of his own blood upon the carcase, and cover itup carefully with dry leaves from the forest trees. Upon the fourthday after he had covered it with leaves, if he would remove theleaves, he would find beneath them a sleeping infant, which, uponwaking, would utter a cry of surprise, at finding itself no longer abeast but a human being. Each of these beings would possess the powerto assist in the like multiplication of the species, but be deniedother power of procreation. Having thus left directions for the speedypeopling of the world, Michabou again ascended to the heavens, whichhe has not left since. 

Atoacan and his son carefully obeyed the commands which had been laidupon them, and of every beast or four-footed creature that died heformed a human being. These human beings were gifted with thequalities and passions which belonged to them in life: these they haveretained, and thence it is that, at this day, the dispositions of menare so various. We see one crafty and subtle--he has the blood of thefox; another cruel, malicious, blood-thirsty--he is descended fromthe wolf. The red skin is courageous--the horse was his father; thewhite man is a coward--his mother was a sheep. One is full ofsprightliness and agility--he is of the blood of the mountain-cat;another is clumsy--the musk-ox was his father. Strange and various arethe dispositions which men have--cunning, subtle, sly, wise, brave, prudent, careless, cowardly, peaceable, blood-thirsty. These arequalities derived from the beasts, which died as beasts, and becamemen and the ancestors of the tribes living on the earth. 

V. THE SIX NANTICOKES. 

Once upon a time, there was a very bright and sunny day on the earth, and, upon this day so bright and sunny, a strange thing happened. Itwas in the country inhabited by the tribe of Nanticokes, and upon theborders of the Great Lake. It was in the morning of the day, and themoon was the moon in which the shad, leaving the waters which aresalt, make their journey to those which are fresh. Beautiful was theday; the salt and bitter waters lay as motionless as a little childsleeping on the bosom of its mother. The winds were hushed in thecaverns of the earth, and the beams of the sun fell gladdening andrefreshing every thing beneath them. They shone upon field and forest, hill and valley; upon bird and beast, and fish and reptile, and manyother things, beautiful or ugly, curious or strange; but they fell notupon man, for he was not. The tall and erect form, which commandsobedience from all other creatures, was not then seen walking amongthe glades of the forest, with the firm step and haughty eye whichdistinguishes him. Beasts were many, birds were many, fishes weremany, but of men, the lords of all, there were none. 

Before the sun descended behind the mountains of the West, he shoneupon man also. Six Indians, the first men that were ever on earth, andthe ancestors of the tribe of Nanticokes, all at once, they knew nothow, nor by what means, found themselves sitting upon the same shore, upon the verge of the ocean. Whether they were created on the spot, orcame from some other place beyond the seas; whether they had swum upfrom the waters, or crawled out of the mud, or bounded from the depthsof the forest, or alighted from the regions of the air, and werechanged into men, receiving a gift to forget their former state, theyknew not, or if they dropped from the skies, and forgot whence theycame through dizziness and the violence of the fall. But this theyknew, that they found themselves sitting on the shores of the GreatLake, in the country now inhabited by the Nanticokes, on the latterpart of a warm and pleasant day, in the moon in which the shad leavethe waters which are salt, and make their journey to those which arefresh. And they knew that there were six of them, and this was allthey knew. 

These six Indians were all men; there was not amongst them, nor on theearth, a single woman. The song-sparrow, and the mocking-bird, and thedove, and the crested wren, and the spotted lynx, and the gorgeouswoodpecker, and the fish with shining scales, and all the otherbeautiful creatures that have since lived, and now live, were thenupon the earth, even in greater numbers, and possessed of greaterbeauty than now; but woman, more beautiful than any, the most gloriousthing that walks the earth, lived not then. It was soon that theseIndians found out their wants, and began to provide themselves withfood and clothing by means of hunting. They built themselves canoes, and made them bows and arrows, wherewith they took the spoils of landand water; and they set springes for birds, and traps for thosecreatures which live alike on the land and water. And they cultivatedthe various plants which they found growing spontaneously--corn, andtobacco, and roots; and gathered ripe grapes, and abundance ofdelicious berries. They lived well enough, and had they been wisewould have sought no further; but they took it into their heads, thatthey could not live without women. So, led by the gloomy and solitaryfeeling of a vacant heart, they left the cabins which they had built, and wandered forth in search of the coveted objects. That their chanceof success might be greater, they agreed to separate, and each totravel on different paths, and so they parted. One went towards theclime of the snows, another towards the land of the summer winds, thethird sought the distant east, the fourth bent his steps towards themountains of the setting sun, the fifth descended into the bowels ofthe earth, and the sixth climbed a sunbeam. Before they separated, they agreed that those who were living when the Moon of Grapes againcame round, should repair to the same great tree in the shade of whichthey were then sitting, and there, while the pipe of friendship waspassing around, recount their adventures. 

The Moon of Grapes again came round, and found, upon one of itspleasantest days, these six Nanticokes sitting beneath the great tree, on the bank of the river which gives its name to the tribe. With themsate six beautiful women, and laughing, and sporting, and rollingabout on the green and grassy sod at their feet, lay six beautifulchildren. The six Indians and their wives appeared very happy, andwhile they passed the pipe about, laughed and talked very loud andjoyfully, and were very, very merry, as though they had been drinkingsomething much stronger than water. At last, one of them, whose namewas Sinipuxent, rose and said:

Brothers! it was in the Moon of Grapes of the last year, that we foundourselves sitting on the shore of the Great Lake, endued with thefaculties that we now exercise. It was in the Moon of Grapes, that wedeparted in quest of the beloved beings who are now the light of oureyes. And we agreed, that those who were living when the nextGrape-Moon came round should repair to the same great tree, beneathwhose shade we then sate, and there, while the pipe of friendship waspassing round, we should relate what had befallen us. The Great Spirithas permitted our return to that spot, and the beautiful beings, whomwe have brought with us from countries so far apart, are proofs thatadventures have befallen us, which are worth recounting. Brothers, youshall hear of what befel Sinipuxent, who left you to climb the sunbeam. 

When he parted from his five brothers, he climbed a sunbeam for manydays, until he came to the land where the glorious luminary of theearth, the Sun, takes his refreshment of sleep and rest during thedark hours. It was in the morning of the day, and the great light ofthe world had risen from his couch, and set out upon his journey, buthis wife and his children were all, save one, stretched out inprofound sleep. That one, the most beautiful of all creatures--look ather, and say if she is not!--sat bathing her lovely cheeks and statelyneck in the morning dew, and brushing off the stray drops with thewhite lily of the lake. Her little feet were carelessly thrust intothe clear stream gliding by her, beneath which they glittered like thesparkling sands washed from the mountains into the river of theNanticokes. Her long bright hair, coloured by the beams of her father, the Sun, lay floating over her naked shoulders and bosom, morebeautiful--but ye behold her. Beautiful creature! she saw not theNanticoke till he stood at her side. When she raised her head, andfound a stranger standing near her, she would have fled, but hedetained her gently with these words:

"Beautiful creature! what is it thou fearest? I am not he that wouldharm thee. On the contrary, I would encounter any risk, brave anyperil, rather than harm one of the glossy hairs that is straying overthy beautiful brow. My heart tells me, gentle creature, that thou artthe object for which my soul hath panted, ever since I first knew thatI was. I love thee, deeply and fervently, and wish thee to be mine. Iask thee to leave the clime of thy father, and go with me to thepleasant land and beautiful river of the Nanticokes. Though its skiesbe not so bright as those in which thou wert born, yet are theymellower. And the waters of the land are clear, cool, and sweet, andthe shades are refreshing. The vines are bending to the earth withrich ripe grapes, berries are loading every bush, and the earth iscovered with flowers. Thou shalt become my companion in the cabin Ihave built me beside the Nanticoke; and even as that river, whenunvexed by the swell of rains, glides along in the months of summer, so shall our lives pass away. Thou shalt be the wife of my bosom, andtogether will we live, till we are called to the land revealed to usby our dreams as the land of souls. "

The lovely maiden heard the words of the Nanticoke, and answered thatshe knew not well what she should say. She knew not where the land ofthe Nanticokes lay, nor did she know who was he that spoke to her. Butshe timidly confessed that she loved him, and would become the wife ofhis bosom, if the consent of her father and mother could be obtained. So he asked the mother, who gave her consent at once, if that of herhusband could be procured. 

When the Sun came home at night, his wife said to him, "One of the sixIndians that dropped from the North Star, on the shores of the GreatLake in the Frog-Moon, has come hither, and demanded our daughterAtahensic in marriage. He appears to be a bold and handsome youth, andour daughter loves him. "

"But he shall not have her, " answered the fiery father; "the blood ofthe Sun shall not mingle with the blood of the beings of the earth. "

Then he called the Nanticoke to him, and spoke to him thus: "Thoucanst not have my daughter--thy blood cannot mingle with mine. --Depart. "

The Nanticoke, who, like all the others of that tribe, was brave andfearless, but prudent, held his peace, but departed not. When the Sunwas asleep he wooed the maiden; when he was awake, and his eyes werepeering into every spot however obscure, and every dingle howeverdark, he hid himself where even those rays could not penetrate. Andoften was the beautiful maiden of his love prevailed upon to hideherself with him. But he had suffered himself to forget theconsequences of a mutual and unrestrained love. The beautifulAtahensic gave evidence that she should in due time become a mother. The quick-eyed father soon discovered what had happened, and heard thewhole from the lips of his weeping daughter. Nothing could equal therage of the mighty king of the skies, when he learned the disgraceinflicted upon his family. In the frenzy of the moment, he seized boththe daughter and her lover, and hurled them from the highest part ofthe skies to the region where the land of the Nanticokes lay. But thekind mother protected both from the consequences of the fall, and theearth, by her command, received them unhurt upon her lap. Brothers, Iam that Nanticoke, and the beautiful Atahensic is the woman by myside, and the child at her feet is the child of our love. I have nomore to say. 

 * * * * *

When the first Nanticoke had finished his story, the second, whosename was Conestogo, rose, and thus addressed his brothers:

Listen, said he, and you shall hear of what befel Conestogo, who leftyou to travel into the bowels of the earth. 

When he parted from his five brothers, he went to the deep cavernwhich lies among the mountains west of the river of the Nanticokes, and into this cavern he entered at the time of nightfall. After havinggroped his way for many days through deep darkness, over rocks andmany other obstructions, living on the dried meat he had taken withhim, all at once, upon passing through a small door or opening, hecame to a great chamber, vaulted like the rooms which are unfolded toour eyes, when we enter those great houses in the City of the Rock, where men dressed in glittering robes, and little boys clothed inwhite, call upon the Great Spirit, and sing loud songs to his praise. Around the sides of this great room were tall pillars, which lookedliked icicles, and glittered like them when they are visited by thebeams of the sun. Over-head was a vast field of ice, of many differentcolours, green, red, white, yellow; the reflection of which on thefloor of the mighty building occasioned a strange blending of rays. Beautiful, wonderful, was the appearance of this room, and of allwithin it. 

But the most beautiful, wonderful things of the cavern remain to bespoken of. In the further corner of this spacious apartment was acompany of beautiful maidens, clothed in robes of the same colours asthose which glittered on the roof and walls of the building; thedazzling beauty of their dress may be guessed, but who shall painttheir own charms? who shall describe their bright black eyes, longblack locks, and voice like the music of the streams in spring? theirbeautiful necks, and little feet and hands, their swelling bosoms, andgraceful footsteps? When I entered they were employed in chasing eachother around the apartment, and amongst the lofty pillars; but, whenthey saw a stranger invade their retirement, they uttered a shrill cryof terror, and fled along the vaulted passages. The Nanticoke pursuedthem until he came to an inner range of apartments, all glitteringlike that he had left, but smaller in dimensions; there were a greatmany little recesses, and behind those pillars he saw many littleheads peering out, which he knew to be those of the beautiful maidenswho had escaped from the room of mighty pillars. He could see upontheir countenances that they were not so fearful as they pretended tobe; but when they hid, always preferred to be found. There was an archsmile upon their beautiful little faces, and their red lips werepursed up in affected contempt of the Nanticoke. He, whom naturequickly taught the best means of winning woman's love, which was notto seem over-anxious to obtain it, said nothing; but, seating himselfupon a broken pillar, leisurely drew out his pipe and fell to smoking, rightly judging that if the fair creatures were not sought they wouldseek. It was not long that they remained hidden. First one contrivedto put forth her little hand or foot; then a head became visible;still the Nanticoke affected to see neither. At last, finding thatConestogo would not play their childish game, one stepped forth, thenanother, and soon the whole stood visible. They now came up to thehunter, and, with many soft smiles, bade him welcome. Seatingthemselves upon the smooth floor around him, they commenced askingquestions. "Who was he? what was he? how old was he? where did he comefrom? how far was he going? who was his father? what was the name ofhis mother? how many brothers had he? how many sisters? was hisgrandmother living? how long would he stay with them? to what placewould he go when he left them?" and many other questions, which, fortunately for him, were asked with so little pause, that he had noopportunity to answer one of them. Nor did they seem to expect ananswer, but appeared to ask, only that they might have the pleasure oftalking. All were not so talkative, however. There was one beautifulcreature, the most beautiful of all the company, who sat apart fromthe rest, said nothing with her tongue, but spoke a language with herdowncast eyes, which the smitten Nanticoke interpreted into that ofbashful love. While the rest were talking and laughing, displayingtheir white teeth, and shaking their black hair over their polishedforeheads, he was thinking only of the silent woman, and contrastingher modest and quiet deportment with the noisy and boisterous mirthof her sisters. When she saw that the stranger bent his eyes a greatportion of the time on herself, and that their expression denoted thesame sentiment in him as filled her own bosom, she turned her faceaway to fix them in listless gaze upon a distant object. 

After the beautiful maidens had laughed, and chattered, and questioned, as much as they would, they left the Nanticoke to enjoy his slumbers. The silent maiden retired last, and the look which she gave him, asshe left the little chamber, did not quit his soul till more than halfof the hours of darkness had run through. The next morning he roseearly, and wandered about till he came to a little spring, whichrattled over a bed of pebbles, and fell into a cavern beneath; it wasa beautiful little spring, and its waters were cold and sweet, and asclear as the sky. He had just placed himself by the side of thislittle stream, when the silent maiden came thither also. The Nanticokesat hidden from observation by one of the pillars, while she whisperedher soft tale of love to the echoes of the cavern. She told them thatshe loved the stranger with the black hair, and sunny eyes, and proudmien; that she wished them to carry to the Great Spirit her wishesthat he should ask her to become his own--his companion--his wife. More she would have said, but the Nanticoke caught her gently in hisarms, preventing her slight screams with the kiss of love. "Thou shaltbecome my own--my companion--my wife, " said he. "Lovely, and gentle, and dearly beloved creature! I had feared thou hadst no tongue, because to hear thee silent for a little while was something so newand strange in thy sex. But thou hast found a tongue to tell theechoes what thy bashful lips would not have dared tell me. I thank theGreat Spirit that I overheard thy soft confession; it has removedthose impediments which thy bashful timidity would else haveinterposed to our immediate union. Lovely maiden! with the black hair, and the bright forehead, and the slender waist, and the beautiful handand foot, and the white teeth, what prevents thy accompanying me atonce--to-day--this minute, to the land where I have taken up my abode, the pleasant and fruitful land of the Nanticokes? Again thou artsilent, but the soft smile upon thy features tells me that thou artnot averse to my proposal. I see in the look of thy sunny eye, in thydecreasing hesitation, and yielding reluctance, that thou wilt becomethe star of my pleasant cabin, the hope, the solace, and the joy of mylife. Let us go then; ere ten suns be passed, thou shalt find thyselfseated upon a bank, whose flowers are only less sweet than thyself. Thou shalt listen to a stream whose voice is only less musical thanthine own, and see the beautiful night lit up by its very manyglorious lamps. 

"Brothers, I am that Nanticoke, and the beautiful maiden is she thatsits by my side, and the child that rolls about on the green sod isthe child of our love. I have no more to say. "

 * * * * *

The story of the second Nanticoke being finished, the third, whosename was Appomattox, rose, and thus addressed his brothers:--

Listen, said he, and you shall hear what befel Appomattox, who leftyou to travel eastward. 

When he parted from his five brothers, he crossed the Great Arm[A] ofthe Salt Lake, and, in consequence of the revelations made by thespirit of a dream, pursued his journey towards the land of the coldspring-storms. He travelled fast, till he had wearied himself out, andthen, building a small hut of bark to protect him from the rains andnight-dews, he laid himself down to repose. He had not slept long, forthe moon, that was a far way up when he sunk to sleep, had notreached the highest part of the heavens, when he heard a voice crying, "Appomattox! Appomattox!"

[Footnote A: Chesapeak Bay. ]

"Here I am, " answered the Nanticoke. As he spoke, he raised himself upfrom his couch of leaves, and saw standing at his feet a strange-lookingcreature, whom the beams of the moon revealed to be a little, ugly, squat, brown man, not much higher than an Indian's hip. His shape wasodd and singular, beyond anything the Nanticoke had ever seen. Hislegs were each as large as his body, and his feet were quite as muchout of proportion. But his arms and hands were not larger than thearms and hands of the child which is playing at my feet, and his headwas of the size of the head of a small dog, and similarly shaped. Hiseyes were red as the leaf of the maple in autumn; his skin was greenas the bosom of the meadow in spring; yellow hair, as coarse asrock-moss, fell over his shoulders; and his nose was turned up till itreached his forehead; his ears were scarce larger than a man'sthumb-nail, and his mouth than the blade of a pipe. It would have beena matter of wonder with the Nanticoke, how he could get the victualsinto such a little mouth, if he had not been employed in noting theodd actions of the strange creature, and in listening to the tones ofhis voice, which resembled those of a cat when you tread upon itstail. 

"Who are you!" asked the strange creature, and then gave a jump, turning himself head over heels, and stood upon his feet as before. 

"I am a Nanticoke--one of the six who found themselves, in the morningof a clear day, in the Frog-Moon, standing upon the shores of theGreat Lake, in the country where we have built cabins, and plantedcorn and tobacco. We know not how we were carried thither. We were, when we first knew we were--that is all we know. And who are you?"

"And that is as much as anybody knows, " squeaked, or rather snarled, the strange creature, and again he took his tumble. "Wherever you camefrom, you seem a fine fellow, and I don't doubt wish for a wife. Come, go home with me. I live in a cave, in the hill close by, and will giveyou some fine fat toads, stewed with greens, for supper--or, if youlike better, you shall have a roasted rabbit. As to who I am, I don'tknow myself. I only know that I am an odd sort of a fish. "

The Nanticoke, who had not tasted food for many days, liked the offerof the rabbit very well, though he felt no relish for the stewedtoads. So he went home with the strange creature to his dwelling inthe hill. When they came to the the door of the cabin, the creaturegave a knock with his foot, when the door was opened by a creature, stranger, if possible, than that which had conducted him to the cave. Upon entering, he beheld, scattered about the floor, a great manylittle children, quite as ugly and misshapen as the parents. Here layone with a large leg and a little one, a full arm and a shrunken one, one-handed, or one-footed, or one-eyed. One had no hair: one wascompletely enveloped in it--in truth, the shapes were most various andsingular. But all were not thus. Upon a bench, upon one side of thecave, sat a very little maiden--ye see how very little, and ye see howbeautiful. When the Nanticoke entered, she drew her furred mantlearound her, and pretended to hide her face, but she hid not her eyes, which were bent on the stranger youth. He had seen enough of hercountenance to judge that she was very beautiful, and he loved herslight form, which he saw was light and graceful as the young fawn. Henow entered into conversation with the old man, and they talked ofmany matters--he conversing quite like a sensible man, except that nowand then he would take his strange tumble. At length, victuals wereplaced before them, and they sat down. The beautiful little maiden--withthe usual pride of woman--dressed herself, and her black locks, withmuch care, and then came and placed herself at the table at which theywere eating. Soft and fond glances were interchanged; and, before theyhad finished their meal, each had as good as said "I love. " When theyhad done eating, the old man and woman arose, and under some pretenceor other left the room, carrying with them the whole brood of odd andbeast-like creatures. So the Nanticoke was left alone with thebeautiful little maiden, to press her soft little hand, and to say inher ears those affectionate things which are always held sweeter bylovers for being told in whispers. Not much persuasion was necessaryto obtain her consent to leave her father's house, and go withAppomattox to the spot where he had taken up his abode--to the cabinhe had built beside the beautiful river Nanticoke. Their journeythither was not long--upon the sixth sun, they sat down upon thelittle plat of grass before the door of the cabin, and plucked theripe grapes from the vines that leant upon its roof, and drank of thecrystal stream which rattled over the pebbly bottom to the gentleriver, and gathered the delicious berries that hung on every bush. Andthey saw the glorious sun illumine the earth, and the moon and starslighting up the night, and the northern skies red with the dance ofdeparted friends, and both blessed the moment that carried theNanticoke to the hut of the very odd fish. 

Brothers, I am that Nanticoke; and the beautiful little creature isshe that sits at my side, and the little child that rolls about on thegrass is the child of our love. My story is told. 

 * * * * *

And then the fourth Nanticoke rose, and told his story in thefollowing words:

When I left my five brothers, said he, I crossed the river that glidesby my cabin, and travelled towards the mountains which are called byIndians the Backbone of the Great Spirit. Upon the sixth day, I cameto the hither part of the mountain, and sat down upon its eastern edgeto rest my wearied limbs. It was near the hour of evening; the sun hadnot retired from the earth, but the lofty peaks of the mountains hidhis beams from those who sat in the shade of those peaks, making itnight to them. At length the sun set, and a thick veil of darkness wascast over the face of the earth. The ugly bat came forth, the mournfulnight-bird began his song, the wise owl hooted on the limb of thetree, and the dazzling little fire-fly twinkled in the glades, andamong the trunks of the giant oaks. Then it was that a distant soundof music came to the ears of Apaumax the Nanticoke, who is myself. Helistened, and caught the words, of a song issuing from a valley nearthe hillock upon which he sate. Softer than the plaintive cry of thedove, sweeter than the love-notes of the song-sparrow, was that song. Presently other voices could be heard laughing or singing, singly, orin concert. The Nanticoke was so greatly charmed with those notes thathe determined to know whence they issued, and whose were the voicesthat sang them. So, descending the hill, he approached cautiously thespot where he had heard them, until he came suddenly upon a company ofstrange women who were dancing upon a green spot in the valley. Theywere the greater part of them very small, many being not taller thanthe sprout of three moons; but there were others, whose stature aroseto the height of a full-grown person. Of the latter there was one whomthe whole seemed to obey, the tallest woman of the group, and the mostbeautiful. She did not seem very youthful; at least her features spokenot of youth, nor did they imply age, but the period of life whenwoman is like a ripe grape, the sweetness of which is diminished bybeing suffered to hang a single day more on the vine untasted. She hada pale skin--ye see how pale--her cheeks were red as the flower thatblooms among thorns, and her eye shone like the little flower whichemulates the blue of the sky. Her lips were red and pouting, and herteeth whiter than the lily. Beautiful creature! lovely and belovedwoman!

Cautiously did the Nanticoke approach the merry dancers, and, seatinghimself upon the earth where they could not observe him, he watchedtheir sprightly and rapid motions. Nothing could exceed the beauty ofthe dances, or the grace of the dancers, or the sweetness of the tunesto which they danced. At last, one of the little maidens, in a fit offrolic, ran out of the circle of dancers, and by chance came to thespot where the Nanticoke had seated himself; a loud scream told himthat he was discovered. When they found that a stranger had hiddennear them, and witnessed their mystic dances, they were filled withgreat wrath, and all, as one, rushed up to the spot where he hadconcealed himself. He, knowing no fear, stood up boldly amongst them, and suffered them to scrutinize his person, rightly judging thatnothing would so soon mollify their anger as to look upon his handsomeand finely proportioned form. When they had gazed as much as theyliked, she, the tallest, the one whom all obeyed, spoke in a sternvoice, and asked, why he had dared to steal upon them while they weredancing the Sacred Dance of Darkness, and singing the Spirit's Song ofMidnight? Did he not know that they were Spirits, the Spirits of theMountain, who, for many hundred years, had nightly come, while summerlasted, to this green spot, to hold their joyous carousals, mixingmusic with mirth, and drinking the sweet drink which they found in thecups of the flowers and mottling the leaves of the rose. What had heto say why death should not be inflicted upon him?

The Nanticoke answered that he had much to say why death should not beinflicted upon him; that, having heard tones sweeter than those of themocking-bird, and wishing to see who they were that laughed somerrily, and sung so sweetly, he had approached cautiously for thatpurpose. When he beheld the most beautiful creatures of the earth orthe air engaged in dancing, and heard them singing their sweet songs, he was struck with wonder, astonishment, and admiration; and, fearinglest his discovering himself should frighten them away, he had hiddenhimself. This was all the crime he had committed. And, as forpunishment, rather than die he was content to take the tall youngwoman to wife. 

Upon this the spirits all laughed, except the one thus singled out, and she held down her head, though apparently not displeased. TheNanticoke, emboldened by her silence, whispered in her ear that heloved her; and, notwithstanding that her manner was at firstrepulsive, and she pretended to be displeased, and to frown upon theconfident Apaumax, he could perceive that she had not suffered hiswords to fall to the ground. At first her face was averted, presentlyhe caught a view of her mouth, and at last her face was actuallyturned towards him, and she was smiling bashfully upon the bold lover. Before the moon had advanced to the highest part of the heavens, theyhad given each other the kiss of love, and she had promised theNanticoke to leave the cold regions of the mountain, and to go withhim to his own sunny clime. 

Brothers, I am that Nanticoke, and the tall, beautiful woman is shethat sits at my side, and the child that is playing at my feet is thechild of our love. 

 * * * * *

When Apaumax had finished his story, the fifth Nanticoke, whose namedwells not in my memory, rose and said:

When I left my five brothers, I went according to my agreement withthem to the land of the warm sun, the smiling south. I travelled manydays, and became hungry, faint, and weary. I saw no beasts upon whichI could exercise my bow, no fish gliding about the waters, provokingthe thrust of my spear. Here and there were scattered a few birds, butthey were those upon which none can afford to feed, but a very patientman, or one that has nothing to do but eat. So, finding a pleasantresting-place, I lay down, and tried to call to my aid the Good Spirit, that refreshes the soul of man with pleasant dreams. He came and bademe arise with the morning sun, and travel further on, following thebend of the little river, at whose source I stood. I should come, hesaid, to a little hill upon the banks of a lake, filled with shiningfish, and not far from the Great River. And, so saying, he left me tothe sleep of night. 

I rose refreshed by my slumbers, and pursued the route pointed out bythe Spirit. Travelling in this path, I came on the morning of the nextday to a little hill on the backs of a lake, and saw in its clearcurrent the shining fish which had been spoken of by the spirit ofdreams, and by this I knew that I had travelled right. The hill was avery little hill, and the lake was a very little lake, and the fishwere very little fish. The hill was scarce half so high as the flightof an arrow; the lake was not broader than twice the flight of thesame, when impelled by a vigorous arm; and the fishes were minnowsindeed. Upon either side of the lake arose tall trees, around whichgrape-vines had wreathed themselves, and upon which fruit, ripe, black, and delicious, hung temptingly exposed to the eye of thetraveller. The birds were twittering about the boughs, and swallowswere skimming the bosom of the lake. But what most astonished theNanticoke was, the great number of little cabins scattered along itsshores. They were none of them higher than his hip, and were built ofmud and grass. The Nanticoke, who loved to look upon the fair thingsof nature, the sun, and moon, and stars, and leafy woods, and greenmeads, and quiet waters, and other beautiful things of nature, satdown upon the border of the lake, and permitted the throb of delightto enter his bosom, through the medium of his eyes. While he sate thusabsorbed, he saw a little black creature, with four legs, creep out ofthe water near him, and stretch itself at its length upon the greensod. It was black, glossy, and not longer than a man's arm. While itwas devouring its food, which in this instance was roots dug from themarsh, it raised itself upon its two hind legs, to an upright posture, sitting erect as a Nanticoke, until it had finished. During the timeit was eating, it was continually talking and chattering to itself, ina language, which the Nanticoke could discover, by the few wordswhich reached his ear, to be that in which he himself spoke. Astonished, beyond the power of words to express, at hearing a beast speak, abeast, too, of such a mean appearance, he rose and advanced towardsit. When it saw him coming, instead of retreating to the water, asbeasts which are untamed usually do at the approach of man, whom allinferior creatures thus acknowledge as their chief, it advanced tomeet him, made the sign of friendship in use among the Nanticokes, andspoke to him thus:

"Stranger! I bid thee welcome to the waters of the Lake of Musk-rats. Thou hast come to a region, rich in sunny skies, and yieldingabundance of fruit. Thou hast come to the great village of my race, tothe spot where we have dwelt ever since ourselves, and this lake, andthat hill, were formed at the nod of the Great Spirit. Hitherto wehave dwelt in peace, unvisited by one of thy race, but reason, andinstinct alike inform me that thou wilt become the enemy of my tribe. Hitherto we have dwelt in peace, with none to vex us, or make usafraid--that period is past, and now thou wilt destroy us, unlesssomething is done to unite us in the bonds of firm friendship. Thouhast proclaimed thyself a Nanticoke--one of the six that foundthemselves sitting upon the shores of the Great Lake, in the latterpart of a warm and pleasant day, in the Moon in which the shad leavethe waters that are salt, and journey to those that are fresh. It iswell. Thou must be joined with the nation of Musk-rats in a lastingleague. Come to my cabin. "

So saying, the grave old Musk-rat led the Nanticoke to his dwelling, which stood at the farther part of the lake. It was built like therest of the cabins in the village, but it was very much larger andhandsomer than the rest, and there were a great many doors to it, andlittle houses around it, all of which showed it to be the residence ofa Musk-rat of honour and eminence, a chief of high degree among hispeople. The chief of the Musk-rats bade the Nanticoke enter thiscabin, but a moment after he said, "No, no, that cannot be done. It isnot high enough for such a tall, strapping gawky as you are. So sityou here, while I go and fetch you food. " So the Nanticoke seatedhimself on the sward, while the chief of the Musk-rats went to hishouse to fetch food for his guest. 

He soon returned, and brought with him a variety of things to eat, which he placed on the sward, beside the Nanticoke. Some were suchthings as men may well eat, and some were only fit for a Musk-rat. TheNanticoke drew out his flint, and struck fire, while the chief of theMusk-rats, who had never seen fire before, sat looking on andexpressing loud amazement. After they had finished the meal, the chiefgave a loud cry, upon which a number of little Musk-rats ran out ofthe house, and approached the spot where they were sitting. They wereof all sizes, fat, sleek, glossy, little things, which seemed todelight in the pure air, and to enjoy greatly a roll about on thegrassy sod. Approaching the Nanticoke, those which were old enough, with a very pretty nod, bade him welcome to the village of theMusk-rats--which showed that they had been taught good manners, thoughthey were four-legged creatures. Shortly after, a beautiful Musk-ratwas observed to leave the cabin of the chief, and to approach themcircuitously. It came timidly, the beautiful creature, and sat down ata short distance from them. The chief of the Musk-rats upon this spoketo the Nanticoke, and asked him what he thought of his littledaughter. The Nanticoke who, like all other good and brave men, alwaysspoke the truth, answered that "she was indeed a most beautifulMusk-rat--what a pity that she was still a Musk-rat!"

"True, but she is the finest Musk-rat in the waters of the lake, "answered the father; "and she knows better than any other the bestmethod of keeping a house tidy. And as for her knowledge--Musk-ratknowledge--who has more? and for cunning and stratagem, match me mylittle daughter among all the females of the lakes. What say you tomarrying her?"

"All you have said in praise of your daughter, no doubt, is verytrue, " answered the Nanticoke, "but she has four legs, and besides istoo little to be the wife of a big fellow like myself. "

"She has no more legs than you have, " answered the wise creature. "What are your arms pray, but legs? But all her faults can beremedied. Wait here till I return. "

So saying, the chief of the Musk-rats retired behind a little hillock, and, digging a small hole in the earth, he filled it with a kind ofred sand mixed with mud. When he had done this, he dropped into itseven drops of a kind of green water, and seven times repeated theword "Tuscaloosa, " which was, as he said, the name of the guardianSpirit of the Musk-rats. When he had done invoking the name, he laidhimself down upon the earth, hid his head between his paws, and histail between his legs, and pretended to be sleeping. Presently, theNanticoke saw arise from the bottom of the lake a creature shaped likea Musk-rat, but larger than any beast he had ever seen. Each of hislegs was as large as a tree, and his tail was broader than the lengthof a man, and his ears were of great size. He had a great white ringaround his neck, and around each leg, and his belly was as red as theleaf of the maple in autumn. But the most singular things about himwere his face, which was like the face of a man, and his fore-paws, which were like the hands of a man. The strange creature, who was theguardian Spirit of the nation of Musk-rats, came swimming along as afrog swims, and in scarce more than two breaths landed upon the shorewhere they sat. Going up to the chief of the Musk-rats, he gave him aslight blow on the back, exclaiming:

"What is your wish?"

"Take away from my daughter the shape of a Musk-rat, and give her theshape of a Nanticoke, " answered the father. 

"Not of me, but of my master must the favour be asked, " answered theSpirit. "I will try what can be done for you. " So saying, he went tothe side of the little maiden Musk-rat, and whispered certain words inher ear. When he had done this, he went to the forest near them, cutdown a young pine-tree, dug up a root of the hemlock, took a sprucecone, an oak acorn, a hickery nut, and a birch-leaf, and laid them allin the fire which the Nanticoke had kindled. While they were burning, he walked round the fire muttering many words in an unknown tongue, and striking the earth repeatedly with the stone staff which he heldin his hand. When the different things he had put in the fire werereduced to ashes, he gathered the ashes into the hollow of his hand, dropped upon them seven drops of a kind of green water, and seventimes cried aloud to his master, with his mouth applied to the ear ofthe earth. Ere the echo of the last cry had died away among the hills, a little red man crept out of the hole which had been dug by the chiefof the Musk-rats, and stood before them. He was shaped like aNanticoke, but he was exceeding small. His face was very beautiful, his eyes shone like the blue of the sky, and his hair like the blushof sunset. When he came, all the Musk-rats, as well as the genius whopresided over them, bowed themselves to the earth, and remained withtheir eyes hidden, while he addressed them thus:

"What would you with the Master of Life, Musk-rats, that you summonhim from his house of shining stone, in the bowels of the earth, tosmell the tainted breezes of the upper air?"

The Spirit told his master what was wanted by the Musk-rats. "It shallbe done, " said the kind and beneficent Master. "Man of the SixNanticokes, who found themselves, all at once, they knew not how, norby what means, sitting upon the shores of the Great Lake, upon a sunnyday in the Frog-Moon, rise, take thy bride, and lead her to the borderof the lake. When thou shalt come to the water, bid her dip her feetin the water, while thou, standing over her, shalt pronounce thesewords: "For the last time as a Musk-rat, for the first time as awoman. Go in a beast--come out a human being. In the name of theMaster of Life, I command thee to wear no more the form of an animal, but to assume that shape which is appointed by Him to be the ruler, the head chief, the governor of all. This do, and thou shalt see thechange that will come. ""

The Master ceased speaking, and the Nanticoke did as he was bid. Hetook the glossy little maiden Musk-rat by the paw, led her to theborder of the lake, and, while she dipped her feet in the water, hepronounced aloud the words: "For the last time as a Musk-rat, for thefirst time as a woman. Go in a beast--come out a human being. In thename of the Master of Life, I command thee to wear no more the form ofan animal, but to assume that shape which is appointed by Him to bethe ruler, the head chief, the governor of all. "

Scarcely were the words spoken, when the change commenced upon thelittle animal. Her body was observed to be assuming the posture of ahuman being, gradually erecting itself, as a sapling, which has beenbent to the earth, re-ascends to its upright position. When the littleanimal became erect, the skin began to fall from the head and neck, and gradually unveiling the body to the very feet, displayed to allaround the form of a maiden, beautiful as the flowery mead, or theblue sky filled with stars, or the north, lit up by the dance ofdeparted friends, or the rainbow, which precedes, or follows thesummer rain; but not so large as the little child which stands at myfeet. Her hand was scarce larger than a hazel-leaf, and her foot notlonger than the wing of the ring-dove. Her arm was so very slight, that it seemed the breeze might break it. The Nanticoke gazed withdelight on his beauteous bride, and how was his delight heightenedwhen he saw that she was gradually increasing in stature, and swellingto the fair size and proportions of a human being, as exhibited inhimself! Before the great star of day had retired beyond the mountainsof the west, she stood fair in size as matchless in charms, and waspressed to the heart of the Nanticoke, with a suitable acknowledgmentto the Great Being, who had bestowed her upon him. 

Brothers, I am that Nanticoke, and the beautiful woman that was once aMusk-rat is she that sits at my side, and the child that is playingat my feet is the child of our love. And this is all I have to say. 

 * * * * *

The last of the Six Nanticokes commenced his story thus:

I left my brothers, and travelled towards the regions of cold andsnow--the land of perpetual ice and frost. I travelled many, very manydays, over hill and through dale, now encountering the keen air of themountains, and now the damp fogs of the low grounds, when I came, atthe hour of noon, to the bottom of a deep valley. In the bottom ofthis valley, was a well dug in the earth, and which appeared to haveno bottom. It was half as wide over as the flight of an arrow, and howdeep no one could say. The waters which met the eye at a vast distancebelow the surface of the earth were green as grass, and, what seemedmost strange to those who saw them, appeared to be full of eyes, bright shining eyes, resembling what bubbles blown upon the waterwould be, if they could be lit up by the beams of the sun. And whetherit was that there were winds uttering sounds in the well or not, couldnot be told, but certain it is that whispers proceeded therefrom likethose of human voices, sounding in deep caves. Fatigued by my longjourney, I lay down upon the earth by the side of the well, intendingto sleep. But the spirit which presides over the night came not at mysummoning, and I lay restless and discontented, until the moon hadclimbed the tops of the highest hills. Then it was that shapes ofstrange appearance, Spirits, which bore the likeness of human beingsin all save their eyes, began to come out of the well. They were ofall colours and sizes, tall, short, thick, spare, black, white, grey, green, yellow, red. But in colour the eyes of all were alike--all werebright, and shining, and glittering like the blush of sunset. Therewere both men and women, and there were also many children. As soon asthe Spirits of the Well stood upon the earth, they immediately formedthemselves into a circle, and began dancing. Lightly did they tripaway on the green sod, dancing without intermission for the wholeperiod between their first appearance on the earth and the firstglimmer of day upon the tall peaks of the mountains. When the redtinge which announces the approach of the sun first appeared, they allstole into their hiding-place, and again were the waters of the wellfilled with eyes, resembling sun-lit bubbles, and again whispersproceeded therefrom like those of human voices sounding from deep caves. 

The Nanticoke--that is myself--who was now burning with curiosity toknow something more of the strange creatures dwelling in the well, determined to stay yet another night to accost them, and to learn whoand what they were. So he built him a hut of bark near, and reposedbeneath it, until the shadows of night again descended upon the earth. With the beam of the rising moon again ascended these merry dancers, the Spirits of the Well, and commenced their gambols on the green sod. But what most astonished him was, that on neither night had theyspoken to him, or given indications that they considered him a livingbeing. In performing their mazy dances, they had several times comewithin a few feet of him, and once one of the agile creatures, runningout of the circle, cleared his head with a bound, which showed thatthe impediment was observed and avoided. Determined to make himselfknown to them, if words could do so, the Nanticoke, a stranger tofear, approaching the circle of dancers, thrust himself into the midstof them. Yet was his object unaccomplished. They danced around him, they crossed their hands touching him, they leaped over him, inappearance they ran against him, though he felt them not. Still noneof the circumstances produced recognition. He hallooed, apparentlythey heard him not; he danced with them, they heeded not his motions. Determined, whatever it might cost him, to make them know him, hecaught at a passing form, selecting, for the object of his embrace, the most beautiful of all the dancers, a lovely woman, whose beautiescannot be described. What did he embrace? A shadow! a mere phantom!That beautiful form is a shade! He draws not to his bosom a creatureinvested with the attributes of humanity, with its virtues, itsfaults, its weaknesses. He feels not the soft breath of woman fanninghis cheek, nor the throb of her little heart bounding against his own. There comes a cold, clammy air to his brow, like that of water in acold morning, and the pulsation of his heart is checked instead ofquickened. She is gone. He finds he has no more power to retain her inhis arms, or to awaken in her a knowledge of his existence, than hehas to arrest the march of the summer wind, or to hold conversationwith the stars of night. Another, and another, and yet anotherfruitless attempt to clasp that form, for whom he begins to feel anew, and strange, and predominating interest, convince him that theyare not of his order, but exist unapproachable by beings of clay. Again the morning dawns, and again they fly to their damp and chillretreat. 

The Nanticoke, exhausted by long watching, and wearied out byincessant exertion to embrace the beautiful phantom, lay down upon theearth, and sunk into a deep sleep. Then it was that the Manitou ofDreams came to his couch, and whispered in his ear these words:

"Nanticoke! the shadows which nightly appear to thee are the Spiritsof the Well. In this well for many hundred years have they dwelt, andevery night do they visit the upper air to respire its breezes. Unlikeother spirits, they see not human beings, nor can they by any means, short of the direct interference of the Master of Life, be madesensible of their presence. Blows touch them not, nor do their eyesbehold those things which mortals behold, but those which mortalsbehold not. They have a world of their own, which, though it becomprised within the space of the world we inhabit, is distinctlyseparate in its nature and properties, and requires things of adifferent order to inhabit it. They wear, as you see, the shape of ahuman being, but they have none of its properties save the shape. 

"How shall I make myself known to them? how shall I make myself knownto the beautiful creature I have so often tried to clasp in my arms?"demanded the Nanticoke. 

"It is to tell thee how that I am now at thine ear, " answered theMaster of Dreams. "Listen. "

"Peel from the vine that bears no fruit its inner bark, and of thistwist thee a long cord that shall carry to the water of the well thething thou shalt tie to it. When it is finished, attach to it thewhite flat stone having in it little shining specks, which thou shaltfind lying upon the edge of the near rivulet, where the feet of deerhave worn a deep and broad path. Thou must let this stone descend witha quick motion till it reach the water, the whilst crying aloud, 'Comeforth, maiden spirit with the bright eyes, and assume the corporealstate which shall fit thee for becoming a resident of the upper earth. Quit the impalpable form thou didst wear in the world of thine own, and be flesh, and blood, and bones, and marrow, in ours. Be no morethe cold and chilled inhabitant of a dark, damp, and murky well, butbecome a warm and impassioned woman. Awake to the joys and sorrows, and hopes and fears, and doubts and disappointments, and cares andanxieties, which belong to human life. Awake to the throbs of love, and the joys of maternity. '" So saying, the Spirit departed to theplace of his rest in the land of dreams. 

The Nanticoke arose, and did as he was bidden. He peeled from the vinethat bore no fruit its inner bark, and with it he made a cord ofsufficient length to reach the water of the well. He searched for theflat, white stone with little shining specks in it, and having foundit he attached it to the cord, and let it descend with a quick motiontill it reached the water. Whilst it was descending, he cried aloud, "Come forth, maiden spirit with the bright eyes, and assume thecorporeal state of a human being. Quit the impalpable form thou didstwear in the world of thine own, and be flesh, and blood, and bones, and marrow, in ours. Be no more the cold and chilled inhabitant of adark, damp, and murky well, but become a warm and impassioned woman. Awake to the joys and sorrows, and hopes and fears, and doubts anddisappointments, and cares and anxieties, which belong to human life. Awake to the throbs of love, and the feelings of maternity. "

Scarce had the words escaped from his lips, when, by a ray of lightwhich beamed into the well, he saw her he loved, her whose beauteousform he had so often attempted to clasp to his breast, ascending. Nowshe rises, suspended as it were, by nothing, now she has gained theearth. Already has she felt the change which has come over her, already she knows herself invested with other feelings and propertiesthan those which have accompanied her in the state which she hasquitted. Sounds are ringing in her ears which never rang there tillnow; visions are before her eyes which are now awakened for the firsttime. The music of birds, and the hum of bees, and the rattling of thedistant rill, and the sighing of the wind, greet her ear, and her eyesare made happy by all the bright things which the Great Being hasplaced in this glorious world. And, most of all the objects which meether eye, does the form of the Nanticoke please and gratify her. Herbeautiful cheek is covered with a blush, her eye grows mellower, andher heart beats with a new, and till now unfelt passion. Few minutespass ere she is in his arms, and has given and received the kiss ofaffection. She has awoke to the feelings of humanity, her heart hasfelt the throb of love, her bosom has been pained by the fear that itmay not be returned; and anxiety, and joy, and grief, and many of theother passions of human nature, have visited her bosom. Beautifulcreature! she has blushed on the Nanticoke her consent to be his, shehas whispered in his delighted ear her happiness and pleasure; and, while she sits on the green sod at his side, she lays her head on hisshoulder, and sings a sweet song of happy lovers, in the language ofthe Nanticoke which has become her own. I recollect not the words ofthat song, but it came to the ears of the enraptured Indian as thefirst word of a little child to the ears of its mother. 

Brothers! I am that Nanticoke, and the beautiful spirit is she thatsits at my side, and the child at my feet is the child she bore me. And this is all I have to say. 

VI. THE UNIVERSAL MOTHER. 

Before the world existed, and before mountains, men, and animals, werecreated; while the sky was yet without a sun, ere the moon and starswere hung up for the lamps of darkness, the Great Being, who is alikethe preserver and sustainer of the red man and his younger brother thewhite man, was with the woman, the beautiful spirit, the UniversalMother. This woman was not of the same nature as the Great Being. Hewas a spirit, bloodless, fleshless, bodiless; she bore the form, andwas gifted with the properties of a human being. 

At that time all was water, at least water covered all things. No eyecould have discovered aught else, had there been an eye to see. Thatwhich existed was darkness--all was darkness--darkness. --Darkness wasall, in all, and over all. There were no sounds abroad, no winds sweptthe face of the waters, which lay black, still, and stagnant, as theslime of a pool surrounded by a thick copse. The waters were rotted bytheir long continued stagnation, and the winds could not exist in theheavy and murky air. 

Upon a certain time, this beautiful woman descended from heaven, tillshe came to the sleeping and stagnant waters. She was pregnant by theGreat Being; and her immense proportions denoted that she would bringforth more than one. When she struck the waters, in her fall, she didnot sink deep into them, but where she settled down, immediately landappeared, upon which she rested, and continued sitting. The land grewby degrees, and increased around her, so that in a short time there wasso much spare room, that she could draw up her legs out of the water, in which they had hung for so long a time, that they were covered withgrass, like logs which have been floating in the sea. And still widergrew the space of solid earth, like that which would appear when thewater recedes from sand which it had previously covered. Gradually theland spread itself from the seat of the beautiful woman, until itsextent was soon beyond the reach of the eye. And, as the landincreased, the motion of the waves, from the rush of the new-bornwinds, threw it up into the heaps and piles which are the hills andmountains, leaving, along its low spaces, the waters, which are therills and rivers of the earth. 

While the woman sat thus, watching the growth of the earth, sheperceived unusual appearances upon its surface. Grass and herbs beganto appear; trees, both fruitful and unfruitful, sprang up; and, in ashort time, all things proceeded, and grew as they now are. Soon was arobe of grass and flowers spread over the naked sod; and soon, thoughnot so soon, was it shadowed by a thick and almost impervious forest. The pine, and the oak, and the walnut, and the spruce, and thehemlock, broke through the crust of the earth, and the inferior shrubsmade themselves a way to the light of the air. Soon all thingsproceeded, and grew as they now are, and the world became thebeautifully green, and verdant, and flourishing, world it is now. 

When the earth had grown to its present size, and had become coveredwith grass, the beautiful woman, who had carried her burthen in herwomb for forty seasons, gave it to the light. She was delivered ofthree kinds of fruit. The first was like a deer, in every respect; thesecond had the shape of a bear; the third had the form and nature of awolf. The woman nursed these fruits with great care and tenderness, until they had attained their full growth. Then she took all the threesons, or kinds of fruit, as husbands, living with each by turns. Theresult of this connexion or cohabitation was the production of otheranimals, always more than one at a birth, and from these sprung allthe other animals of the various kinds and species to be seen at thisday. In time, as well from natural instinct as suitableness, eachassociated, with its own kind and species, and has so continued to doever since. But the connexion did not always produce progeny ofthe same nature and stock as the parents. Every production andre-production further diversified the animal race, until the almostinfinite variety of creatures was produced. The dog was the son of thewolf, and the house-cat was the daughter of the panther; the teal wasof the children of the grey goose; and who fathered the sparrow-hawkbut the eagle?

When all things were properly disposed, and placed in a condition tosubsist, and to continue of themselves, the Universal Mother, havingaccomplished her designs, joyfully ascended to the sky which she hadleft. In the mean time, she told the Great Being what she had done. Hesaid to her, "You have done well as far as you have done, but you haveleft undone one thing you ought to have done. You have created aninnumerable number of beasts, but they are without a head. You oughtto have made a being endowed with wisdom, to govern, with a little ofmy help, the affairs of the world, and to preserve its less importantmatters in some kind of order. The animals and creatures you have madeare, many of them, great fools, and none very wise, and, besides, arewithout souls competent to receive instruction. There is not one ofthem that has understanding enough to direct the feet of his neighbourin the path he should go--it would be the blind leading the blind, andtogether would they fall into the ditch. What more would the bear do, if he were made ruler, than train his subjects to perform great featsof strength, or to climb a tree, or to suck their paws through thelong nights of winter?--The panther would teach them savage crueltyand a speedy step, and the deer would counsel them to fly from thepursuit of a snail, or a land-tortoise, or the cry of a wren, or theprate of a jackdaw; the fox might teach them cunning, and the dogsagacity, and the wild cat nimbleness, and the antelope fleetness, andthe wolf courage, and the owl an insight into my ways. But there mustbe a being to repress the insolence, and controul the rage, of themore savage creatures, and to protect, as far as he can, the weakerfrom the oppression of the stronger. Such a being must be created, andbe called MAN. Descend, once more, to the earth, beautiful andUniversal Mother! and give birth to one more being, who shall be thelord of all the creatures that live, move, or breathe, on the land, inthe air, or in the water. "

Upon receiving this command, the Universal Mother again descended tothe earth. She selected for her husband, in order to the production ofthe new being, a very subtle owl, who was the half-brother of a bearand a wolf, the cousin of a dog and a deer, and distantly related tothe panther, the fox, the eagle, and the adder. By him she had, at onebirth, two children. Men take their qualities from the beasts, to whomthey are related, and most from those of whose blood they have most intheir veins. If they have most of their great father's, the owl, theyare wise, and generally become priests; if the wolf predominates, theyare bloody-minded; if the bear, they are dirty and sluggish, greateaters, and love to lick their fingers; if the deer, they are exceedinglytimorous and feeble; if the fox, cruel and sly; the eagle, bold, daring, and courageous, and the adder, treacherous. Thus men have, alltheir different natures and properties from the brutes, and oftentimesare worse than brutes. 

THE COMING OF MIQUON. 

Will my brother listen? will he hear what a Mohegan has to say of themanner in which his nation first became acquainted with the whitepeople?

A great many seasons ago, when men with a white skin had never beenseen in the land of the Mohegans, before the Fire-eater had come totake the place of the Yagesho(1), or the pale-face had succeeded tothe less destructive Mammoth(2); some men of our nation, who were outat a place where the sea widens, espied, far away on the bosom of theGreat Lake, a very large creature floating on the water. It was suchan object as they had never seen before. Fear of this creatureimmediately filling their bosoms, they hastily returned to the shore. Having apprised their countrymen of what they had seen, they pressedthem to accompany them, and make further discoveries of its nature andits purpose in coming thither. Launching their canoes, they hurriedout together, and saw with increased astonishment the wonderful objectwhich was approaching. Their conjectures were very various as to whatit was; some believed it to be a great fish, or animal; while otherswere of opinion that it was a very big house floating on the bosom ofthe Great Lake. They were not long in concluding that this wonderfuland mysterious object was moving towards the land, and they also sawthat it was endued with life. Deeming it proper to inform all theirbrethren, to whom intelligence could be conveyed, of what was coming, that they might be on their guard, they dispatched swift runners andfast rowers in every direction, to the east, west, and north, to carrythe news to the scattered chiefs, and tribes, that they might gathertheir warriors together, and prepare to combat, if need were, thestrange creature. Soon, the chiefs and warriors of the neighbouringtribes were collected in great numbers, at that part of the shorewhich the strange creature was clearly approaching. It soon came sonear that they were able to make it out to be a large moving house, (though they had never beheld such) in which, as they supposed, theGreat Spirit himself was present, and coming to visit them. 

Wishing to receive him in a manner which should mark their sense ofhis goodness to them and their fathers, to the giver of the corn, andthe meat, and the victory over their enemies, they deliberated inwhat manner that object could be best accomplished. The first thingwas to provide plenty of meat for a sacrifice, and with this view thebest hunters were dispatched to the forest, in quest of those animalssupposed to be most acceptable to the mighty guest. The women weredirected to prepare _tasmanane_ and pottage in the best manner. Allthe idols were brought out, examined, and put in order. As a granddance was always supposed to be an agreeable entertainment to theGreat Spirit, one was ordered, not only for his gratification, butthat it might, with the aid of a sacrifice, appease him, if he wereangry with them, and induce him to stay his hand, rather than slaythem. The priests and _powwows_ were called, and set to work todetermine, if possible, what this remarkable event portended, and whatthe possible result might be. They came habited in their robes ofmagic, skins of black bears, the head, nose, ears, teeth, as also thelegs, with the long claws, appearing the same as when the animallived, with a huge pair of buffalo-horns upon the head, and a largebushy tail projecting from behind. Some were frightfully painted, somehad the skin of an owl drawn over their heads, and some had snakeswreathed around their bodies. To them, and to the chiefs and wise menof the nation, the women and children, and the men of inferior note, were looking up for advice and protection. And now, filling theirgourds with water from the stump of a fallen cypress, they began theirwork of incantation, by muttering over the magic water a charm thathad hitherto been of potent influence, and words that called upon manyspirits to assist in effecting the wishes of the masters of the spell. The spirits answered not, and the priests became so distracted withfears at the unusual deafness of those who had given them their power, that they increased the fever of apprehension they should haveassisted to calm. The gourds, with the charmed water, fell from theirhands, and, though the dance was commenced with fervour andenthusiasm, yet, such was the alarm, that it did not possess theregularity and order with which the Great Spirit through songs, dances, and sacrifices, must be approached. 

While in this situation, those men in canoes who had approachednearest to the strange object returned, and declared that it was agreat house painted of various colours, and crowded with human beings. They thought it certain that it was the Great Spirit, bringing themsome gift which they did not possess before. Other messengers soonarrived, who had seen the inhabitants of the house, and made a reportwhich did not lessen their wonder, fear, or curiosity. They toldtheir friends that they were men of a different colour from theIndians, and differently dressed; they were white as the flesh of aplucked bird, and wore no skins; and one of them, who must be theGreat Spirit himself, was dressed entirely in red. The great house, orwhatever it was, continued to approach. While approaching, some one init cried to them in a loud voice, and in a language which they couldnot understand, yet they shouted in reply, according to the custom ofthe Mohegans. Much frightened at the strange voices, and at the stillstranger creature which floated towards them, many proposed to retreatto the hills for security; others opposed this, lest offence should begiven to their visiter, who would find them out and destroy them. Atlast, the strange creature, which they now found to be a great canoe, stopped, and, at once, the robes white as snow, which were spread overits numerous arms, and covered its three heads, fluttered in the windslike clouds in the season of ripe corn. Soon were many of the strangemen employed in gathering these robes into folds, as Indians packskins. Presently a canoe of smaller size approached the shore wherethe Indians sat, having in it the man who was dressed in red and manyothers. When he had landed, leaving his canoe with some of his men toguard it, he approached the Mohegan chiefs and warriors who wereassembled in council, and had seated themselves in a circle, as istheir custom when about to receive ambassadors and messengers ofpeace. The man in red walked fearlessly into the midst of them, andsaluted them all with great kindness, taking a hand of each, which heshook very hard. The Indians, on their part, testified their gladness, and their friendship, and their emotions of joy and satisfaction attheir arrival, by loud shouts, and by rubbing their cheeks againstthose of their new acquaintance, and by patting them on the back. Lostin admiration of the strangers, of their dress, so gay and sodissimilar to that of the Indians, their manners so unlike, theirfeatures so different, and their language so utterly unknown, theMohegans could do nothing but wonder and applaud. A large portion oftheir admiration, was however, reserved for the man who wore theglittering red coat, and who, they doubted not, was the Great Spirit. The curiosity of the people was expressed in a thousand differentways; the priests wondered whether the Great Spirit knew andrecognised them as old acquaintances; the warriors, whether the menwho accompanied him were fleet, and courageous as themselves; and thewomen were very curious to know if the men were like our own men, andloudly expressed their determination to ascertain the fact. Allagreed in this, that whether beings of this world, or of the land ofdreams, they must be treated with great kindness(3), and fed upon thechoicest viands of the tribe. 

Meanwhile, a large hackhack, or gourd, was brought to the man in redby one of his servants, from which he poured an unknown liquorresembling rain-water, into a small cup of such an appearance as theIndians had never before seen. He drank the liquor from this cup, and, filling it again, he handed it to the Mohegan chief standing next him. The chief received it, smelt to it, and passed it untested to thechief standing by him, who did the same, till it had been handled andsmelt to by all the Indians in the circle, while not one had tastedit. The man who last took the cup was upon the point of returning itto the supposed Manitou in red; when the Bender of the Pine Bow, oneof the bravest Mohegans, and the stoutest warrior in the nation, roseand spoke to his brothers thus:

"It is not right for us to return the cup with its contents untested. It is handed to us by the Manitou, that we may drink as he has done. To follow his example will be pleasing to him; it will show ourconfidence in him, and the courage which we have been told is highlyvalued by him. To return the cup with its contents untasted, willgive him reason to think that we believe it to be the juice of thepoison-tree; it will provoke his anger and bring destruction upon usall. It is for the good of the nation that the contents of the cupshould be swallowed, and, as no one else will do it, the Bender of thePine Bow devotes himself to the killing draught. It is better that oneman should perish than that a whole nation should be destroyed. "

The Bender of the Pine Bow then took the glass, and, giving manydirections, and bidding a solemn farewell to his family and friends, resolutely drank its fearful contents. Every eye was fixed upon thebrave man, to see what effect the strange liquor would produce. Soonhe began to stagger, to whine fearfully, to roll up the whites of hiseyes, to loll out his tongue, to shout, and to act a thousand otherextravagancies. At last, he fell prostrate on the ground, and a deepsleep came over him. His companions, supposing him dead, fell tobemoaning his fate, and his wife set up the death-howl; all thoughthim a martyr to his valour and his love for his nation. But the man inred only laughed at their grief, and by signs gave them to understandthat he would rise again. He told them true: the chief awoke, anddeclared to his friends that he had enjoyed, while apparently lifeless, the most delicious sensations, and that he had never before felt sohappy as after he had drunk the cup. He asked the stranger in red formore; his wish was granted: the other Indians made the same request, and so was theirs; the whole assembly tasted the contents of the cup, and all became as mad and intoxicated as their leader. Soon was theMohegan camp a scene of noise and tumult, brawl and bloodshed. 

After the general madness had ceased, the man in red and hisassociates, who, while it lasted, had confined themselves to theircanoe, returned to the shore, and distributed presents, such as beadsand axes, among the Indians. The two nations soon became familiar witheach other, and a conversation ensued, wherein the wants and wishes ofeach, as far as they could be made intelligible, were conveyed bysigns. The strangers gave them to understand that they must recrossthe Great Salt Lake, to the vales which contained their wives andlittle ones; but that they would be back again when the season ofsnows should have passed, and would bring with them more and richerpresents. With these promises, they departed. 

When the season of flowers came round again, it brought with it theman in red, and a great band of followers. The Indians were very gladto see the pale faces, who appeared equally pleased at the meeting. But the latter were much diverted, and made a great laugh at the usesto which the Indians had put their presents, for they had suspendedthe axes and hoes around their necks, and used the stockings fortobacco-pouches. The visiters now taught them the proper use of thoseimplements. Having put handles to the axes and hoes, with the formerthey felled great trees, making the forest ring with their blows; withthe latter they cut up the weeds which choked the maize. The variousbenefits conferred upon the Indians by their visiters confirmed themin the belief that they were indeed spiritual beings, he in red beingin their estimation the Supreme Manitou, and his attendants, theinferior Manitous. The visiters did not this time all go back in thecanoes; many of them continued to abide with the Indians, who gave orsold them land(4), and lived very contentedly with them until theywished to dispossess them of the very grounds where they had buriedthe bones of their fathers. Wars were then commenced, and the Indianswere soon dispossessed of the soil which was theirs by their birthright. 

NOTES. 

(1) _The Yagesho. _--p. 99. 

I have not the means of judging whether this is an imaginary beast ornot, probably it was. The following is the Indian account: TheTagisho, or Yagesho, was an animal much superior to the largest bear, remarkably long-bodied, broad down by his shoulders, but thin ornarrow just at its hind legs. It had a large head and fearful look. Its legs were short and thick; its paws (at the toes of which werenails or claws, nearly as long as an Indian's finger), spread verywide. It was almost bare of hair, except the hinder part of its legs, in which places the hair was very long. For this reason, the Indiansgave it the name of "_Naked Bear_. " Several of these animals had beendestroyed by the Indians, but the one of which the following accountis given, had escaped them, and for years had from time to timedestroyed many Indians, particularly women and children when they wereout in the woods gathering nuts, digging roots, or at work in thefields. Hunters, when overtaken by this animal, had no way ofescaping, except where a river or lake was at hand, by plunging intoit, and swimming out or down the stream to a great distance; when thiswas the case, and the beast was not able to pursue further, then hewould set up such a roaring noise, that every Indian hearing it wouldtremble. This animal preyed on every beast he could lay hold of; hewould catch and kill the largest bears and devour them; while bearswere plenty, the Indians had not so much to dread from him; but, whenthis was not the case, he would run about the woods, searching for thetrack or scent of hunters, following them up, and making prey of them. The women were so afraid of going out to work, that the men assembledto deliberate on the manner or plan of killing him. At, or near a lake(Hoosink), whence the water flowed two ways, one on the northern andthe other on the southern end, this beast had his residence, of whichthe Indians were well informed. A resolute party, well provided withbows, arrows, and spears, made towards the lake; on a highperpendicular rock they stationed themselves, climbing up this rock bymeans of Indian ladders, and then drawing these after them. Afterbeing well fixed, and having taken up a number of stones, they beganto imitate the voices and cries of the various beasts of the woods, and even that of children, to decoy him thither. Having spent somedays without success, a detached party took a stroll to some distancefrom the rock. Before they had reached the rock again, this beast hadgot scent, and was in full pursuit of them; yet they reached it beforehe arrived. When he came to it, he was in great anger, and sprungagainst it with his mouth wide open, grinning and seizing the flintysubstance as if he would tear it to pieces. He had several timessprung nearly up. During all this time, numbers of arrows and stoneswere discharged at him, until his death was finally effected, and hedropped down and expired. 

(2) _The Mammoth. _--p. 99. 

"An Indian chief of the Delaware tribe, who visited the governor ofVirginia, during the Revolution, informed him that it was a traditionhanded down from their fathers, that in ancient times a herd of thesetremendous animals came to the Big-bone Licks, and began a universaldestruction of the bear, deer, elk, buffalo, and other animals, whichhad been created for the use of the Indians. The Great Man above, looking down and seeing this, was so enraged that he seized hislightning, descended on the earth, seated himself on a neighbouringmountain, on a rock, (on which his seat and the prints of his feet areto be seen to this day) and hurled his bolts among them, till thewhole were slaughtered, except a big bull, who, presenting hisforehead to the shafts, shook them off as they fell; but, missing oneat length, it wounded him on the side, whereon, springing round, hebounded over the Ohio, the Wabash, and the Illinois, and finally overthe great lakes, where he is living at this day. "--_Jefferson's Noteson Virginia. _

(3) _White People treated with great kindness. _--p. 105. 

In every instance the white people, on their first interview with theIndians, were treated well. Varrazano (see _Hakluyt's Voyages_, vol. Ii, p. 295, 300, Lond. 1600. ) upon his landing on the North Americancoast, (which was near Wilmington, North Carolina), found the nativesvery hospitable. "Great store of people, " says he, "came to the seaside, and, seeing us approach, they fled away, and sometimes wouldstand still and look back, beholding us with great admiration; butafterwards, being animated and assured with signs that we made them, some of them came hard to the sea-side, seeming to rejoice much at thesight of us, and marvelling greatly at our apparel, shape, andwhiteness; and shewed us, by sundry signs, where we might mostcommodiously come to land with our boat; offering us also of theirvictuals to eat. " Again, at another place, one of the sailors who hadlanded with a few articles designed as presents, found himself treatedin the kindest manner. "These guileless people conducted him to theshore, and held him some time in a close embrace, with great love, clapping him fast about, in order to evince their regret atparting. "--_See Varrazano's Letter in Hakluyt, and New York Hist. Collect. _

The treatment experienced by Columbus was equally kind. When AmericusVesputius landed, he was treated as a superior Being; all the earlyvoyagers, the Cabots, Jacques Cartier, Sir Humphry Gilbert, Hudson, speak of the unbounded kindness and hospitality they experienced fromthe Indians. In the first report of Sir Walter Raleigh's Captain, itis said that they were entertained with as much bounty as couldpossibly be devised. They found the people most gentle, loving, andfaithful, void of all guile and treason, and such as live after themanner of the golden age. --_See Hakluyt. _

In the first sermon ever preached in New England, the preacher says ofthe Indians: "They have been to us like lambs, so kind, so submissiveand trusty, as a man may truly say many Christians are not so kind andsincere. When we first came into this country, we were few, and manyof us were sick, and many died by reason of the cold and wet, itbeing the depth of winter, and we having no houses nor shelter; yet, when there were not six able persons among us, and that they camedaily to us by hundreds, with their sachems or kings, and might, inone hour, have made a dispatch of us, &c. Yet they never offered usthe least injury. "--_Sermon_ printed 1622, reprinted Bost. 1815. 

(4) _Gave or sold them land. _--p. 99. 

At Stoke Pogis, Buckinghamshire, the seat of John Penn, Esq. Thegrandson of the founder of Pennsylvania, is preserved a portion ofthe trunk of a tree, supported on a marble base. On a brass plateis this inscription:

"This part of the great elm, under which the treaty was held, A. D. 1681, between Penn and the first inhabitants of America, inthe neighbourhood of Philadelphia, and which was blown down A. D. 1810, is a present from some of the Society of Friends or Quakers, residing in Pennsylvania. "

It is added: "The tree was in some danger during the American war, while the British army was in possession of that city, it being oftennecessary to cut down the trees in its vicinity for firing. But thelate General Simcoe, who had the command of the district in which itgrew, was induced, by his esteem for the character of William Penn, and the history connected with it, to order a guard of Britishsoldiers to protect it from the axe. "

By the side are some portraits of the Indian chiefs who signed thefollowing deed:

"This indenture witnesseth, that we, Packenah, Jaultham Jickals, Partsequolt, Jerois Essepimank, Felktroy, Hekellappace, Eromas, Macloah, Wissy Powy, Indian kings, sackmakers, right owners of alllands from Quing Quingus, called Duck Creek, all along by the westside of Delaware river, and so between the said creeks backwards asfar as a man can ride in two days with a horse, for and inconsideration of these following goods, and as paid in hand andsecured by William Penn, proprietary and governor of the province ofPennsylvania and territories thereof; viz. 20 guns, 20 fathomsmatchcoat, 20 fathoms stroud-water, 20 blankets, 20 kettles, 20 lbs. Of powder, 100 bars of lead, 40 tomahawks, 100 knives, 40 pairs ofstockings, 1 barrel of beer, 20 lbs. Of red lead, 100 fathoms ofwampum, 30 glass bottles, 30 pewter spoons, 100 awl-blades, 300tobacco-pipes, 100 hands of tobacco, 20 tobacco-tongs, 20 steels, 300flints, 30 pair of scissars, 30 combs, 60 looking-glasses, 200needles, 1 skipple of salt, 30 lbs. Of sugar, 8 gallons of molasses, 20 tobacco-boxes, 100 jews' harps, 20 hoes, 30 gimblets, 30 woodenscrew boxes, 100 strings of beads; do hereby acknowledge, &c. &c. Given under our hand at Newcastle, 2d day of the 8th month, 1685. "

The above is certified to be a true copy taken from the original, inDec. 1813, by Ephraim Morton, of Washington, Pennsylvania, formerly aclerk in the land-office. 

THE FUNERAL FIRE. 

Once upon a time, many years ago, a war raged between the Chippewasand their enemies, and the lands of the hostile tribes were red withblood. It was then that a small party of the former nation encountereda band of the latter upon an open plain in the country of the GreatLakes. Meteewan, the leader of the Chippewas, was a brave anddistinguished warrior; his martial deeds were the theme of every youthwho looked to obtain renown in arms, and formed one of the principalsubjects of discourse among the different tribes of the land. Andnever did the chief act with greater bravery, or more distinguishhimself for prudence and personal prowess, than on this occasion. After he had, by the valour of his arm, turned the tide of battleagainst his enemies, and while he was giving the great shout ofvictory, he received an arrow in his breast, and fell dead upon theplain. No Indian warrior killed thus is ever buried. According toancient custom, he was placed in a sitting posture upon the field ofbattle, his back supported by a tree, and his face turned towards thepath in which their enemies had fled. His head-dress, with all itsfeathers and decorations, his martial equipments, his spear, and club, were accurately adjusted, and his bow and quiver leaned against hisshoulder. In this posture his companions left him. A fate whichappeared so evident to all proved deceptive however in the result. Although deprived of the power of utterance, and the ability to move, he heard distinctly all that had been said by his friends. He heardthem lament his death without the power to contradict it; he heardthem speak of his great deeds; he heard them depict the grief of hiswife when she should be made acquainted with his fate. He felt thetouch of their hands as they adjusted his posture, without the powerto reciprocate it. His limbs, and all his faculties, except those ofthought, were bound in chains of terrible strength, and he could notburst them. His thoughts flowed as freely as ever, but his limbsrefused to second their commands. His anguish, when he felt himselfthus abandoned, was raised to a dreadful height; but he was compelledto bear it, for no endeavours of his could allay it. His wish tofollow his friends, who were about to return to their homes, socompletely filled his mind, that, after making a violent exertion, herose, or seemed to himself to rise and follow them. But he wasinvisible to them; they neither saw his form, nor heard his voice orsteps, and this gave new cause for surprise. Astonishment, disappointment, rage, alternately filled his breast, while heattempted to make himself heard, seen, or felt, and found that he hadlost the power to do either. He followed their track, however, withgreat diligence. Whereever they went, he went; when they walked, hewalked; when they ran, he ran; when they encamped, he encamped; whenthey slept, he slept; when they awoke, he awoke. In short, he mingledin all their labours and toils; but he was excluded from all thesources of refreshment and enjoyment, except that of sleeping, andfrom participating in their conversation, for nothing, he said, wasattended to. He saw them eat the sweet flesh of the deer, and thedelicious dish compounded of corn and bison-meat, but no portion cameto him; he saw them bend joyfully over the pleasant fire, whichadministered no reviving warmth to his shuddering limbs. He heard themrecount their valiant deeds, but he was unable to tell them how muchhis own exceeded theirs; he heard them paint the joys which awaitedtheir return to their homes, but wanted the power to say that he toohad relatives and kindred not less loving and beloved than theirs. 

"Is it possible, " he exclaimed, with bitterness, "that you do not hearme--that you do not understand me? Will you suffer me to bleed todeath without offering to stanch my wounds?--Will you give me novictuals to eat while your kettles are overflowing with the product ofa fortunate hunt, and even the dogs are fed upon the savoury bisonhump?--Have those whom I have so often led to war, so often enabled tocry the shrill cry of victory, and display the pole filled with scalpsof hostile warriors, have they forgotten me?--Is there no one whorecollects me, or who will offer me a morsel of food in mydistress?--Am I indeed, as I fear, invisible to all?--Do I cease towear the human form, and is my voice no longer a thing to be heard?"Thus he continued to upbraid his friends at every stage of thejourney, but no one seemed to hear his words, or, if they heard hisvoice, they mistook its sound for the winds of summer rustling amongthe green leaves, and shaking the branches of the trees. 

At length, the returning war-party reached their village, and theirwomen and children came out, according to custom, to welcome theirreturn, and proclaim their praises. _Kumaudjeewug! Kumaudjeewug!Kumaudjeewug!_ they have met, fought, and conquered, was shouted fromevery mouth, and resounded through the most distant parts of thevillage. The aged warrior, whom weakness and decrepitude had compelledto throw down the bow and the spear, and the eagle-eyed boy, who wasfast gaining upon the ripened period when he should take them up, dideach his part in celebrating the feats which the one had equalled, andthe other hoped to outdo. The wife, with a proud mien, came forward tomeet the embraces of her renowned husband; the timid maiden, with adowncast eye, to steal a look at her valiant lover. Those who had lostfriends came eagerly to enquire their fate, and to know whether theyhad died like men. The decrepid father consoled himself for the lossof his son with the reflection that he had fallen manfully, and thewidow half forgot her sorrow amid the praises that were bestowed onthe bravery of her departed husband. The breasts of the youths glowedwith martial ardour as they heard these flattering praises, andchildren joined in the shouts of which they hardly knew the meaning, except that they related to the scalps suspended from the bloody pole. But, amidst all this uproar and bustle, no one seemed conscious of thepresence of the wounded chief. He heard many inquiries about his ownfate; he heard them say that he had fought, conquered, and fallen, pierced through his breast with an arrow, and that his body had beenleft among the slain. 

"It is not true, " replied the indignant chief, with a loud voice, "that I was killed and left upon the field--I am here. I live! Imove!--See me! Touch me! I shall again raise my lance, and bend my bowin battle; I shall again sound my drum at the feast. My voice willagain be tuned to sing my exploits in the ears of listening youth, andmy arm raised to strike the painted post preparatory to the hostileincursion. " But nobody seemed conscious of his presence, and theymistook the loudest tones of his voice for the mildest whispering ofthe winds. He now walked to his own lodge; he saw his wife within, tearing her hair, and raising her lamentations over his fate: heendeavoured to undeceive her, but she also seemed equally insensibleto his presence or his voice: she sat in a despairing manner, with herhead reclining upon her hands: he asked her to bind up his wounds, butshe made no reply: he then placed his mouth close to her ear, andvociferated, "I am hungry, give me some food. " The wife thought sheheard a buzzing in her ear, and remarked it to one who sat near her. The enraged husband, now summoning all his strength, struck her a blowupon the forehead. She only complained of feeling a shooting painthere, such as is not unfrequent, and, raising her hand to her head, remarked, "I feel a slight head-ache. "

Foiled thus in every attempt to make himself known, the warrior chiefbegan to reflect upon what he had heard the priests and wise men say, that the spirit was sometimes permitted to leave the body, and wanderabout. He reflected that possibly his body had remained upon the fieldof battle, while his spirit only accompanied his returning companions. The part he had presented before the eyes of his apparently neglectfulfriends might have been that which mere human eyes see not. Hedetermined to return upon their track, although it was four days'journey to the place. He accordingly began his immediately. For threedays he pursued his way without meeting with any thing uncommon, but, on the fourth, towards evening, as he came to the skirts of thebattle-field, he saw a fire in the path before him. He walked to oneside of the path to avoid stepping into it, but the fire also changedits position, and was still before him. He then went in anotherdirection, but the mysterious fire still crossed his path, and seemedto bar his entrance to the scene of conflict. In short, whichever wayhe took, the fire was still before him: no expedient seemed capable ofeluding it. "Thou demon, " he exclaimed at length, "why dost thou barmy approach to the field of battle, to the spot which contains my owninanimate body? Knowest thou not that I am a spirit also, and that Iseek again to enter that body from which I have so lately beendriven?--Or dost thou presume that I shall return without effecting myobject because of thy opposition?--Know that I am a chief and awarrior, tried in many a hard battle, and never known to flinch. Ihave never been defeated by the enemies of my nation, and I will notbe defeated by thee. " So saying, he made a vigorous effort, andsucceeded in forcing a passage through the flame. In this exertion heawoke from his trance, having lain eight days on the field of battle. He found himself sitting on the ground, with his back supported by atree, and his bow leaning against his shoulder, having all his warlikedress and implements upon his body, the same as they had been left byhis friends on the day of battle. Looking up, he beheld a large_canieu_, or war-eagle, sitting upon the tree above his head. Heimmediately recognised this bird to be the same he had dreamt of inhis youth, and whom he had selected as his guardian spirit or personalManitou. While his body had lain in its breathless and soulless state, this friendly bird had watched it, and prevented other ravenous birdsfrom devouring it. He got up, and stood some time upon his feet, buthe was weak and exhausted, and it was a long time before respirationbecame full and perfect, and the blood coursed in his veins as it waswont to do before its transient suspension. The blood upon his woundhad stanched itself, and he now bound it up. Possessing, as everyIndian does, the knowledge of such roots as were efficacious for itscure, he sought diligently in the woods for them, and obtainedsufficient for his purpose. Some of them he pounded between stones andapplied externally; others he chewed and swallowed. In a short time hefound himself so much recovered as to be able to commence his journey, but he suffered greatly from hunger, not being able to see any largeanimals. With his bow and arrows, however, he killed small birdsduring the day, which he roasted before the fire at night. In this wayhe sustained himself, until he came to a water that separated his wifeand friends from him. He then gave that peculiar whoop which indicatesthe safe return of an absent friend. The signal was instantly known, and a canoe dispatched to bring him across. But, while this canoe wasabsent, conjecture was exhausting itself in designating the unknownperson who had given this friendly intimation of his approach. All whohad been of the war-party had returned, except those who were killedon the field. There was no hunter absent. It might be a hunter ofsome neighbouring nation. It might be some deep deception or stratagemof their enemies. It was rash to send a canoe without knowing whetherit was a friend or foe. In the height of these conjectures, thewarrior chief was landed amidst the shouts of his friends andrelations, who thronged from every lodge to welcome their faithfulleader. When the first wild burst of joy and wonder had subsided, andsome degree of quiet was restored in the village, he related to hispeople the account of his adventures which has been given. He thenconcluded his narration by telling them that it is pleasing to thespirit of a deceased person to have a fire built upon his grave forfour nights after his interment; that it is four days' journey to theland appointed for the residence of the spirit; that, in its journeythither, the spirit stood in need of a fire every night at the placeof its encampment; that, if the friends kindled this funeral fire uponthe place where the body was deposited, the spirit had the benefit ofits light and warmth in its sojourning; but, if they neglected thisrite, the spirit would itself be subjected to the irksome task ofbuilding its own fire at night. 

THE PORTIONING OF THE SONS. 

The Great Being, who governs the world, having finished his work, andcheated every thing which is found upon the land, in the air, or inthe water, called to him the red man, and his younger brother, thewhite man, and said to them, "Children, come hither. " So saying, hecarried them to a great pen or fold, upon one side of which stood alarge coop, and on the other a big pond of water. In the pen or foldwere a vast many animals, all four-legged, the deer, the bison, thehorse, the cow, the panther, the musk-ox, the antelope, the goat, andthe dog, with many more, such as the beaver, the otter, the mink, andthe musk-rat, which lay with their tails in the pond and their headsin the pen; and others, such as the tortoise and the alligator, whosesnouts preferred water, while their tails stuck to the land. In thecoop were a vast many birds and fowls, some of beautiful and variedplumage, while others were robed in dirty and dingy feathers; somewere very tender, and good to eat, and some were tough, and butso-so. I need not particularise the fishes, for my brother knows wellenough what they are. When the young men had spent a long time inexamining the animals, and birds, and fishes, admiring and praisingthem, as who would not that has never before seen them, the GreatCreator addressed them thus:

"My sons, I have created many creatures, and breathed into them thebreath of life; I have made the forests resound with the cry of bears, and panthers, and bisons; I have caused the air to be so thicklyinhabited, that you can scarcely move without having your cheeksfanned by the breath of the wings of my birds; I have made the riverspopulous with finny people. These--all things--I have created, are foryour use, and to you two I give them, equally and alike. " So saying, he began to divide the animals, and birds, and beasts, between them. To the red son, whom he loved best, because he was strong and fearednothing, he gave the beasts which partook of his own cunning andcourage--the bear, the dog, the panther, the fox, and the beaver, towhich he added for food, the deer, the elk, and the bison; to thepale-faced son he gave the horse to carry him, because his legs wereweak, the cow, the hog, the sheep, and the cat. The white son took, ofthe feathered tribes, the fowl which crows at the glimmering oflight, the duck and the goose, which love to dabble in mud, and theturkey, which sings a song that is none of the best; and the red mantook the eagle, the owl, and all the rest of the birds. The fisheswere not divided, because they could not be kept apart, but the sonsagreed that the better marksman, the Indian, should prey upon thosewhich called for a true aim with the spear, while the pale face shouldangle for those which required less skill, and were caught with lesstrouble. 

When the division had taken place, as far as it was ever to takeplace, the white son took his gifts, and carried them carefully to apleasant and clean field, where there was a bright sun, much waterclose at hand, and plenty of sweet and juicy grass. He then commencedthe task of making his animals tame and tractable. He put pieces oftrees across their necks, fastening them together by two and two, thecow and the horse, the hog and the sheep, the cat and the dog; but thehog pulled back so hard, and was so contrary, and the cat and the dogquarrelled so much and fought so furiously, that he unyoked the twolast pair, and never attempted to make them work together again. Withthe horse and cow, however, which he found exceeding tractable, hesucceeded in turning up the earth, for the planting of his corn, andhis beans, and his pumpkins. He also made the cow serviceable, byobtaining a delicious drink from her udder, and he made the horsefurther valuable and useful by fixing a string to his mouth, and bythrowing a bear-skin over his back, when, mounting him, he made himcarry him whithersoever he would. The sheep gave him a soft downwhereof he made his robes, and the blankets he sells to the Indians;the hog furnished him with meat; the dog helped him in many ways; butI know not to what use he put the cat. So the white son of the GreatSpirit brought all his animals to be tame and useful, either makingthem afford him milk and meat, or help him to prepare the ground forthe seeds he was commanded to plant therein. 

My brother demands what did the red man with the gifts which wereappointed to him. I will tell him. He looked on them very curiouslyfor a minute, then wrapped them up loosely in his blanket, and laidthem aside, intending to do with them the next day as his whitebrother had done with his. Just then the remembrance of something cameacross his mind, which led him astray from his purpose, and he thoughtno more of the blanket or the creatures which it contained, until manymoons had passed away. When the remembrance of the imprisoned animalsreturned to his mind, he repaired to the spot where he had depositedthem--nothing remained but the blanket. He immediately commenced asearch for them, and found the pleasure and excitement so great andexhilarating, that ever since he has adopted this mode of obtaininghis meat, instead of the method of raising tame animals followed bythe foolish white men. It is still his favourite pursuit, and he nolonger regrets his want of care, or wishes to repair his error. Whilethe white man is doomed to hear the cackling of geese and the gruntingof hogs, the lowing of kine and the bleating of sheep, and to watchover all and to tend all with the care and nursing which a motherbestows upon her helpless child, the red man with his arrows slung tohis shoulder, and his mocassins tight-laced to his legs, escapes tothe howl of the panther, and finds joy in the cry of the wolf. Overmountain, and through forest, goes the happy Indian, free as the air, while the white man is chained to his dull and spiritless pursuits, and fettered by his endless cares. The Great Being, doubtless, intended the Indian good when he made the apportionment of thecreatures, but the Indian has never found fault with the incidentwhich released him from the care of them, and gave him the pleasantoccupation of hunting in lieu thereof. 

THE MAIDEN'S ROCK. 

If my brother has seen the River of Fish, he will know that, at thedistance of a few moons' journey, below the rush of waters which thewhite man calls the Falls of St. Anthony, but which the Indians callthe Island of Eagles[A], there is a beautiful lake, which the samepeople have named Lake Pepin. It is a place so beautiful to behold, that distant Indian nations have journeyed thither, and white peoplecome from the city of Strong Walls, to look at it and admire. On oneside lies the rapid Mississippi, now in foam, and now in eddies, sweeping every thing thrown upon its current with the rapidity that aman walks, and winding, in devious courses, among many islands, someof which are covered with lofty trees, and some are but banks of sand. On the other side lies the lake, which presents to the eye but asmooth sheet of water, on which there is neither wave nor ripple, andunchequered by a single island. As the eye passes along its sluggishsurface, it rests at length upon the lofty bluffs which enclose it. One of these, a high projecting point, a precipitous crag resting upona steep bank, whose base is washed away by the never-ceasing action ofthe waters, is called _The Maiden's Rock_. It is known to every Indianin those regions, by a gloomy story of unfortunate love. It was thescene of one of the most melancholy transactions that has everoccurred among our people. 

[Footnote A: See the Tradition _post_. ]

There was once upon a time in the village of Keoxa, in the tribe ofWapasha, a young Indian woman, whose name was Winona, which means "thefirst-born. " She was good and beautiful, and much beloved by all. Shehad conceived a strong attachment to a young hunter of her nation, wholoved her as much as she loved him. They had frequently met, sometimesin the shady coverts of the wood, at others beneath the river's banks, but, according to the forms of Indian courtship, more frequently atthe side of her couch, when all the village were at rest. They hadconfessed their love, and agreed to be united as soon as the consentof her family could be obtained. But, when he asked her of her parents, he was denied, and told that she was to become the wife of a warriorof distinction, who had sued for her. The warrior was a greatfavourite with the nation; he had acquired a distinguished name bythe services he had rendered the village when it was attacked by theChippewas; yet, notwithstanding all this, and the support which hereceived from her parents and brothers, Winona persisted in preferringthe hunter. To all their loud commendations of the warrior, shereplied that she loved another better; that she had made choice of aman, who, being a professed hunter, would spend his life with her, andsecure to her comfort and subsistence, plenty of food, and abundanthappiness: while the warrior would be constantly intent upon martialexploits, exposing her, if she staid at home, to the evils of want andhunger; if she accompanied him, to the dangers of defeat and death. Winona's expostulations were, however, of no avail; and her parents, having succeeded in driving away him she preferred to all the world, began to use harsh measures in order to compel her to marry the man oftheir choice. To all her entreaties that she might not be forced intoa union with a man she did not love, they turned a deaf ear--to allher tears they were blind. She begged to be allowed to live a singlelife, and to spend her days watching the sleep, and preventing thecares, of her father and mother: they answered, No. Winona had at alltimes enjoyed a greater share in the affections of her family, and hadbeen indulged more than is usual among Indian females. She had notbeen obliged to join in the labours of the field, nor in the morearduous of those within doors. She planted no corn, and the fire-woodand the buffalo's meat were brought home on other shoulders than hers. Being a favourite with her brothers, they expressed a wish that herconsent to this union should be obtained by persuasive means, ratherthan that she should be compelled to it against her inclination. Witha view to remove some of her objections, they took means to providefor her future maintenance, and presented to the warrior all that intheir simple mode of life an Indian might covet. They furnished hiscabin with the various implements used in Indian housewifery--theskins to form the bed, the boiling pot, and the roasting spit. Aboutthat time, a party was formed to ascend from the village to LakePepin, in order to lay in a store of the blue clay which is found uponits banks, and which is used by the Indians to adorn their persons. Itwas on the very day that they visited the lake that her brothers madetheir presents to the warrior. Encouraged by these fresh signs oftheir approbation, and inflamed by the beauties of the charming Indiangirl, he again solicited her in the most passionate language to becomehis wife, but with the same ill success. Vexed at what they deemed anunjustifiable obstinacy on her part--for seldom does love amongIndians urge to lengthened opposition on the part of the female--herparents remonstrated in strong language, and even used threats tocompel her to obedience. They spoke, as parents always do, who have inview a husband to their liking, and care little for the peace andhappiness of a daughter, so they see her possessed of what they covet. "Well, " said Winona, "you will drive me to despair. I said I loved notthe man of your choice, the warrior covered with the blood of peaceablewomen, and helpless children, and painted to resemble only thosehideous things we see in sleep. I said I could not live with him andbe his wife. I wished to remain a maiden--my father's daughter, and mybrothers' sister--but you will not let me; you wish me to become awife. You say you love me; that you are my father, my brothers, myrelations, yet you have driven from my arms, and would now drive frommy heart, the only man with whom I wish to be united--the only man Iever loved. You have persecuted him with wrongs; you have reviled andtaunted him; you have compelled him to withdraw from the village. Alone, he now ranges through the gloomy and lonely forests, with noone to assist him, none to comfort him, none to spread his blanket, none to build his lodge, none to pound his corn. Yet, he was the manof my choice, the only beloved of my heart. Often have you taken me onyour knee, and smoothed down my hair, and kissed my cheek, and saidyou loved me. Is this your love? But it appears that even this is notenough; you would have me do more--you would have me rejoice in theabsence of my beautiful hunter. While yet his parting words are in myear, the light of his eyes in remembrance beaming on me, and histender promises all unforgotten, you wish me to unite with anotherman, with one whom I do not love, whose image comes before me but tomake me weep and shudder. Since this is your love, let it be so; butsoon you will have no daughter, sister, or relation, to torment withyour false professions of friendship. I will go to the happy land ofsouls, where I shall be free from your threats and reproaches. "

As she uttered these words, the canoe touched the shore in theimmediate vicinity of the high precipitous crag of which a descriptionhas been before given. Heedless of her complaints, and wearied outwith what they regarded as a most unreasonable repugnance, her parentsat the moment decreed that Winona should that very day be united tothe warrior. Her resolution was at once taken; it was such a one ascould have been adopted only in a moment of deep love and deepdespair. While all were engaged in busy preparations for the festival, she wound her way slowly to the top of the hill which overlooked thescene of their gay and mirthful doings. When she had reached thesummit, boldly approaching the edge of the precipice, she called outwith a loud voice to her friends below, upbraiding them with theircruelty to herself and her lover, and thanking the Good Spirit thathad put it in her power to baffle their designs, and laugh at theirtyranny. "You, " said she, "were not satisfied with opposing my unionwith the man whom I had chosen; you endeavoured, by deceitful words, to make me faithless to him; but when you found me resolved to remainsingle, you dared to threaten me: you knew me not, if you thought thatI could be terrified into obedience. Now, you are preparing the bridalfeast, but you shall see how well I can defeat your designs. " She thencommenced a plaintive song of death, which ran thus:

 WINONA'S DIRGE. 

 Adieu to these green vales, And to the pleasant shades, Where oft I sate and listened to the song Of birds at morn, and, in the evening hour, To that which gives the alarm, and bids the band Of Indian warriors grasp their spears. No more my ears shall hear those sounds, In this my father's land; The notes of singing-birds shall pass me by, And the soft sighing of the month of buds; But I shall hear no howl of wolves, Nor cry of famished bears, Nor hissing of envenomed snakes, Nor what more chills the heart, The tyranny of father, brothers, friends. 

 Nor shall I be compelled For ever to behold a hated face, And shudder at the voice of him who sleeps Beneath my blanket; Nor, when within my cabin, Young faces smile on old ones, shall I wish Another eye looked on their beaming cheeks; When the storms howl, I shall not think of one, Alone in the far forest, With none to spread his blanket, With none to build his lodge-- Cold, hungry, lonely, in the desert glen. 

 But I shall cross the sharp and fearful rock, And reach the dwelling-place of happy souls. No deeds shall bar me out. I never told a lie; Kind have I been to father and to mother. Returning from the hunt or field of war, His daughter handed him a lighted pipe; And she who gave her birth sat in the sun Upon her bench, beside the lodge's door, While young Winona baked the buffalo, And drew the crystal water from the stream. 

 And I shall go where there is peace, And where joy wakes for ever: There I shall meet my hunter; He shall build our lodge beside the murmuring stream, And thatch it with the vine, whose ripe, black grapes Shall hang adown in clusters; Our little babes shall pluck them. Warrior, I shall not be your wife-- Father, you have no daughter-- Brothers, your sister lies upon the earth, Cold, bleeding, lifeless, and too late you mourn!

The light wind which blew at the time wafted the bitter words of hermournful dirge to the spot where her friends were. They immediatelyrushed, some towards the summit of the hill to stop her, others to thefoot of the precipice to receive her in their arms, while all withtears in their eyes entreated her to desist from her fatal purpose. Her father promised her that no compulsive measures should be resortedto, that she should marry or not as, she chose. Her brothers, wholoved her with great affection, urged every thing that they thoughtlikely to be of avail, but in vain. She was resolved, and, as sheconcluded the words of her song, she threw herself from the precipice, and fell at their feet, a corpse. 

EXPEDITION OF THE LENNI LENAPES. 

The Lenni Lenapes, who are the grandfather of nations[A], were quietlyreposing in their lodges on the banks of a shallow and noisy river, that finds an outlet in the mighty waters beyond the great mountains, and far, very far, towards the setting sun. If my brother would seethis river; if he would behold the cataract that impedes the progressof the Indian canoe; if he would witness the strife that takes placewhen the waters that are fresh first mingle with those that are salt, let him call together his youngest and stoutest warriors, the nimbleof foot, and strong of heart--the faint and failing, the old andtrembling, the weak and cowardly, will not do, for the path is besetwith savage beasts and strong warriors, and hostile spirits. Let himload his women with much provision, and make his mocassins of tannedbear-skin, for many are the suns it will take to journey thither, androcky is the path that leads to that far abode. Mountains must becrossed, which are covered with snow, and upon whose summits theclouds break as the mist rises from the Oniagarah[B]. The warriors, who shall be seen in its path, will not bow down their heads to theaxe of the stranger, till their spears are broken, and their quiversare bare of arrows. Nor then will they die like women, but with songsof past glory and present defiance in their mouths. And the spiritswill not be appeased unless they have many offerings, and there willbe in their paths the Dread Destroyer of Deer[C], he who laughed atthe avenging arrow of the Master of Life, and is gone to prey upon themoose of the Lake of the Woods. 

[Footnote A: The greater part of the Indians of the Western Continentbelieve themselves descended from, or colonies of, the Lenni Lenapes, and hence give to that tribe the epithet, "grandfather. " Several ofthe tribes have a tradition, that they came from beyond the RockyMountains. ]

[Footnote B: Oniagarah, Niagara: the former is the Indianpronunciation of the name of that celebrated cataract. ]

[Footnote C: See the note relating to the Mammoth in the tradition of"The Coming of Miquon. "]

The Lenapes were living in their lodges, warring upon the Flatheads, feasting upon the salmon, and drinking the juice of the sacredbean[A], when it happened to one of their young warriors, that hedreamed a dream. Wangewaha, or the Hard Heart, though his years werebut few, was one of the most celebrated chiefs of the nation. His dayswere but those of a young eagle; yet the bravest, even those who hadwatched the nut-tree from its sprout to its bloom, ranged themselvesin battle under his faultless command, in the chase followed the kenof his eagle eye. He had struck more dead bodies, he had stolen morehorses, he had taken more scalps, than any man of his nation. He couldfollow the trail of a glass snake from sun to sun, he could see thewake of a fish a fathom below the surface of the water. When he casthis eye upon a young maiden, she became his without a wrestle(1); whenhe told the revelations of the spirit of sleep, the aged men and wisecouncillors never called their truth in question, but acted upon themwithout reflection, believing them to be the voice of the GreatSpirit, speaking through his favourite son. If he excelled in war andperilous pursuits, he excelled as much in those pastimes and games, wherewith the warrior in times of peace and rest beguiles the tedioushours. When Wangewaha struck the ball, its flight was above thesoaring of the bird of morning, and he never rose from the game ofbones(2) without giving proof that he was the favourite of heaven. 

[Footnote A: Intoxicating bean. --See Long's First Expedition to theRocky Mountains. ]

It was a beautiful night in the month in which the Indians gathertheir first green corn, when, as the chief lay sleeping on his bed ofskins, with the mother of his youngest child on his arm, he sawstrange things in his slumbers. He dreamed that the bands of the LenniLenapes had taken the bones of their fathers from the burying placesof the nation, loaded their women with pemmican and dried corn, foldedup their tents, and departed towards the regions of their greatfather, the sun. He saw mountains, whose summits breathed fire, andothers, which were the abode of the snow spirit--now noisy with thewar of the Holy People above the clouds, and now with the hissing ofthe Great Serpent in the deep, awful, and inaccessible valleys of thebright old inhabitants. [A] They overcame, he thought, the impedimentsof fire and storm; they charmed away the wrath of the evil spirits, and looked at length from the eastern ridge of those mighty hills uponthe interminable glades and prairies spread out in their shade. Onwardthey went, he thought, till at length they saw rolling before them amighty river, upon whose banks abode a nation of warriors, whose sizewas much greater than that of the Lenape, and who dwelt behind hillsof their own making, whence they would make incursions into theterritories of the neighbouring tribes. Before him stood one of themaidens of the land. She was beautiful as a straight tree, as a meadowof flowers, as a tree covered with blossoms, as a clear sky lit upwith stars. Her voice was sweeter than the notes of theMocking-Bird[B], and her eye brighter and softer than the eye of themountain-goat. She wore a cloak made of the tender bark of themulberry-tree, interlaced with the white feathers of the swan, and thegay plumage of the snake-bird, and the painted vulture. Strings ofshells depended from her ancles, and flowers were braided into herhair. When she spoke to the young Lenape, it was with a soft voice, asif it would assure him, that the heart which dwelt within was asgentle as that voice, and as mild as that eye. He thought he wooedthat maiden to be his wife, but, when she would have become such, andhe would have pressed to his bosom the lovely flower of the giantpeople, there only appeared a little white dove which flew away, andnestled in the branches of the great medicine trees[C]. 

[Footnote A: See the tradition, entitled "The Valley of the Bright OldInhabitants. "]

[Footnote B: When an Indian wishes to express his admiration of music, he likens it to the notes of the Mocking-Bird. When the Winnabagoesvisited Philadelphia, in the winter of 1828, they went to theChesnut-street theatre, to hear Mrs. Knight sing: one of the chiefs, wishing to testify his delight, plucked an eagle's feather, and sentit to her by the box-keeper, with the message, that "she was amocking-bird squaw. "--_American paper. _]

[Footnote C: The _physic-nut_, or Indian olive. The Indians, when theygo in pursuit of deer, carry this fruit with them, supposing that ithas the power of charming or drawing that creature to them. ]

Then the dream of the warrior took another direction, and he hadvisions, and saw sights, and the phantoms of things more congenial tohis disposition than even the smiles of beautiful maidens. He heard, in his sleep, the shrill war-cry of his nation, among whose foremostwarriors he stood; and his ears were open to a loud shout of defiancefrom the enemy. He saw himself and his nation victorious, the GreatRiver crossed, and the last canoe of his enemies committed in flightto its rapid bosom. The beautiful maiden became his wife. Again hiscourse was onward like a torrent unchecked, and again other mountainsopposed his course; but nothing offers insurmountable obstacles to theardent spirit of an Indian warrior. He stands on the sunny brink ofthat mountain, and sees the beautiful lands spread out before his eye. A voice speaks to him from the hollow wind, "Warrior of the LenniLenape, how likest thou the land which I place before thee? Therivers are beautiful--are they not? and yet thou canst not see, as Isee, their better part--the sleek and juicy fish which glide throughthem, or the fowls which feed on their margin. The forests aretall--are they not? but thine eyes do not pierce their glades as minedo, to behold the stately bucks which browze in their flowery copses, or the gay birds which sing their soft songs of love and joy, perchedon the lofty branches of the chesnut and the hickory. I have giventhese lands to thy tribe, and thou shalt continue to occupy them tillthe coming of Miquon. "

Wangewaha, or the Hard Heart, awoke from his dream, and callingtogether the priests and conjurors of the nation, related to them thestrange things he had seen and heard in his sleep. The expounders ofdreams gave it as their opinion, that the Great Spirit had bidden thefamiliar genius of the warrior to reveal to him the work to which hehad ordained the Lenapes. They were unanimous in this opinion. Yetthey advised, that the Master of Life should be consulted bysacrifices, after the due fasts should have been kept, and that hisassistance should be supplicated by songs and dances(3), as they wereever wont to be. The advice of the expounders of dreams was followed, and the priests prepared for the fast. First they feasted themselves, and the chiefs, and warriors. The remains of the feast were thenremoved to the outside of the camp, and the crumbs carefully sweptout, till the cabin, in which the fast was to be held, was as clean asthe brow of a grassy hill after a summer rain. Then it was proclaimedaloud by the head priest, that the warriors and chiefs of the Lenapenation should enter the cabin, and observe the fast, and that thewomen and children, and all who are uninitiated in war, who had neverhung up a scalp-lock in the temple of the Wahconda, nor offered avictim to the Great Star, should keep apart from those who had doneboth. When those who had bound themselves to observe the sacredceremonial had entered the holy square appointed for the fast, a manarmed with the weapons of war was stationed at each of the corners, tokeep out every thing except the initiated. If a dog had but dared tobreathe upon the sacred spot, he had met the fate of a thievishFlathead. 

Then the Lenapes drank, as is their wont, of the root[A], which purgesaway their evil and cowardly inclinations and propensities, makingthem tellers of nothing but truth, bold and strong in war, cunning anddexterous in the theft of horses, patient in scarcity, and beneath thetorments of the victor. The while they filled the air with loudinvocations to the great Wahconda, and with petitions to him, that, inthe succeeding sacrifice, he would reveal the meaning of the dreamwhich had so filled their minds. Lest the unexpiated sins of theuninitiated, the women and the children, should stifle their own purervoices, the priest sent by the hands of the oldest of the women aportion of the small green leaves of the beloved weed[B] to thesinners. And thus, for three suns, the priests and warriors of theLenapes ate no food, but mortified their sinful appetites to pleasethe Master of Life. 

[Footnote A: Button snakeroot. ]

[Footnote B: Tobacco. ]

The fast being over, and the expiation made, according to the customsof the nation, the multitude assembled to the feast and sacrifice. Proclamation was made, that, the holy rites being performed, it waslawful for the hungry to taste food. But first came the sacrifice. Thedeer's flesh was laid on the burning coals, and the warriors who hadfasted danced their most solemn dance around the hearth of sacrifice. The priest most reputed for intimacy with the Great Spirit, he who hadoftenest, by his incantations, procured plentiful crops of maize, whohad oftenest charmed the bisons to the unsheltered prairies, calledthe deer from the tangled coverts, and the horses from the hills ofthe Men of Black Garments[A], and given to the enemies of the Lenapethe heart of the bird that runs low among the grass[B], arose, andbegan his hymn of supplication:

 SONG OF THE LENAPE PRIEST. 

 Wangewaha dreamed a dream, The Hard Heart slept, When to him came the Manitou of Night, And visions danced before his eyes. What did Wangewaha see? This he saw. 

 He saw the valiant warriors of his land, Assembled as for warfare; wives and babes Were at their feet; the aged on their sheds. The dogs were harnessed; The bones of many generations Were taken from the burial places, where They had reposed for countless suns; The food was all prepared, Dried corn and pemmican, And folded tents proclaimed that the Lenapes Had shod their mocassins for lengthened travel. 

 Dread Master of the earth, Wahconda of the thunder, and the winds, Who bid'st the earth shake, and the hills be thick With hail and snow, Shall we arise, and take Our father's relics from the burial shed? Shall we depart, and wilt thou guide Our feet to fairer lands? Does success await us, In this, our distant pilgrimage? Will these, our young men, strike and overcome? Shall we possess the lands the dreamer saw? And will their maidens look with favouring eyes Upon our warriors? Answer us, Spirit of the Mighty Voice!

[Footnote A: The Spaniards. ]

[Footnote B: The partridge, a common figure with the Indians toexpress cowardice. ]

Scarcely had the song of the priest ceased, when the voice of theWahconda was heard sounding as sweetly as the notes of themocking-bird rejoicing for the return of her mate, whom she chides forhis long absence. The chiefs and warriors understood not the words hespoke, but they were heard by the priest, who repeated them to theawe-struck crowd. The Wahconda bade them gather up the bones of theirfathers, burn them, and take the ashes, with which, and their womenand children, and every thing they held valuable, they were to depart. They were to repair to the great Memahoppa, or Medicine Stone, whichstood in the midst of a prairie, many suns beyond their hunting-grounds;and to this stone they were to be directed by a mighty wise man, ofvery low stature and of cross and passionate disposition, wearing aparticoloured robe, and carrying a bag of rattles. Upon this memahoppathey would find further directions for their march engraved. Havingpointed out their path, he gave them his blessing for brave men andexpert horse-stealers, and his parting voice was as sweet as the voiceof a maiden, who has died from ill-requited affection, and revisitsthe shades of earth in the form of a little white dove. 

The Lenapes, having obeyed the orders of the Wahconda, set out ontheir march. The moment that their knapsacks were slung to theirshoulders, and their journey made certain, the spirits of theirdeparted friends struck up their glorious dance[A], far away over thegreat lakes, the favourite regions of the spirits of winds andtempests. The northern sky became lit all over with an effulgencebrighter than that which glimmers in the Path of the Master ofLife[B]. It was our departed friends who were showing their joy at thecontemplated removal of our nation to the pleasant shades of theLenape wihittuck, and the rich and beautiful lands which fringe itsborder. 

[Footnote A: Northern lights, _aurora borealis_. ]

[Footnote B: The milky way. ]

The Lenapes had not travelled very far, when they heard in the grassnear them a loud shaking, which sounded like the rattling of nuts in adry gourd, and soon they saw a little head with open jaws, and atongue moving quicker than the sparkle of the fire-fly, peering out ofthe low grass. The Lenapes knew not what it was, but they saw that itassumed a menacing posture: so one went forward with his raisedwar-club to dispatch it. When he drew near, the unknown creature threwitself into the form which our white brother gives to his whip; themotion of his tail became so rapid, that it seemed but the soul of avapour; his body swelled through excessive rage, till it became fourtimes its former size, rising and falling like the Longknife's windmedicine[A]; his beautiful skin became speckled and rough, his headand neck flattened, his cheeks swollen with ungovernable anger, hislips drawn up, showing his dreadful fangs, his eyes red as burningcoals, and his forked tongue of the colour of the hottest flame. 

[Footnote A: The name given by the Indians to the bellows. ]

"Back, back, " said he, "I am very passionate; I shall bite you. If youvalue your safety, go back before I make you very sorry that you havebit your thumb at me. Or, if you are really mad, let me know, that Imay pity you, and not harm you. "

Shamonekusse drew back with astonishment, and called the priest tocome and talk with the strange creature. The priest, having made ashort petition to his guardian Okki, which was the stuffed skin of ahorned owl, came forward, and demanded of the strange creature, "Whoare you?"

"I am, " answered he, "the partisan leader of the rattlesnakes. I amthe 'mighty wise man of very low stature, and of cross and passionatedisposition, wearing a particoloured robe, and carrying a bag ofrattles, ' spoken of by the Great Wahconda, as he who was ordered toguide the Lenapes to the River of Fish. "

"We are the Lenapes, " answered the priest. 

"Then you are the men I expected and was looking for, " answered thechief of the rattlesnakes. "But why were you about to declare waragainst me--me, who alone possess, under the Wahconda, the means ofconducting you in safety to the end of your journey? You are too braveand valiant, too hasty and choleric, Lenapes; it will be good for youto lose some of your blood to make you tamer. "

"We are very sorry, " answered the priest, perceiving the wisdom ofconciliating the old fellow, "that the war-club was raised, and thehatchet raked up. It is our wish that the hatchet shall be buriedagain, and that there shall be a clear sky between us. Shall it be so, rattlesnake?"

"The hatchet shall be buried again, and there shall be a clear skybetween us, " answered the snake. "Yet, a little bird tells me that ablack cloud shall arise, and that the hatchet may as well be put underthe bedstead[A], whence it may be easily drawn forth. The rattlesnakesand the Lenapes, ere many suns shall pass, will be enemies, and eachattempt the extermination of the other. "

[Footnote A: Put the hatchet under the bedstead, an Indian figure, signifying that peace will not last long. ]

"Oh, we will not talk of that now, " answered the priest; "we will putall thoughts of the evil day afar off. We will smoke with you, snake. "So the Lenapes smoked with their new acquaintance; a firm league ofpeace was made between the two nations, and they became very goodfriends. They chatted for a long time of various matters, of the warswhich the rattlesnakes had waged against the black snakes, thecopperheads, the hornsnakes, and other warlike tribes of snakes. Againthey moved on, the rattlesnake leading the way, till, much fatigued, their mocassins torn, and their wives cross, they spread their tents, and a night's encampment took place[A]. Again their course was onward, and again they encamped for another night. Spies were sent to searchout the land, while the Lenapes travelled after at their leisure. Atlength the cunning old reptile, who still continued to guide them, declared that he saw, in the dry grass, foot-prints of men who werebefore them. While they halted, one went forward to reconnoitre. Soonhe returned, and told our people that there was a band of Indiansencamped in the path of the Lenapes, at a little distance from us. Ourhot-blooded young warriors were for attacking them, but the wise oldsnake said, No. After offering many good reasons why peace should, atall times, be preferred to war, he advised, that a belt of wampumshould be sent, and a league formed with them. The belt of wampum isdelivered to a brave young warrior, Mottschujinga, or the LittleGrizzly Bear. This redoubted chief clothes himself in his best robe;he puts on his richest leggings; he fastens to his war-pipe the_trotters_ of the fawn, and the cock-spurs of the wild turkey; heplaces in his scalp-lock the wing of the red-bird, the crest of thebittern, and the tail feathers of the pole-pecker. He paints one sideof his face, to show that he can smoke in the war-pipe, which hangs inhis belt, as gracefully and willingly as in the pipe of peace hecarries in his hand, and as a fearless warrior, that his thoughts arequite as much of war as peace. 

[Footnote A: A night's encampment is a halt of one year at a place. ]

As he approaches the camp of the strange people, he puts on his mostmartial airs, and commences his song. He sings the lofty and warlikecharacter of his nation, who never retreated from a foe, nor quailedbefore the stern glance of warriors; who can fast for seven suns, and, on the eighth, tire out the deer in his flight. He sings, that hisfathers have been conquerors of all the tribes who roam between themountains and the distant sea. He sings, that the maidens of hisnation have eyes and feet like the antelope, that their songs aresweeter than the melodies of the song-sparrow, and their motions moregraceful than the motions of a young willow, bowed by the wind. Hesings, that the men of his tribe will smoke in the pipe of peace withthe strange warriors, or they will throw a war-club into thecouncil-house, as best suits them. The Lenapes are neither women nordeer, they are not suing for peace, but they ask themselves why thegreat storm of war should arise, and the sky be overcast with theblustering clouds of tumult and quarrel. The Lenapes wish to go tothe land of the rising sun; why should their path be shut up? theircourse is over a great river; why should it be made red with the bloodof either nation? As he concluded his song, he held up the pipe ofpeace, the bowl of which was of red marble, the stem of which was ofalder curiously carved, painted, and adorned with beautiful feathers. This, my brother must know is the symbol of peace among all the tribesof the wilderness. 

A Brave, painted for war, met the messenger from the Lenape camp, and, after he had given his blanket to the winds, conducted him to thecabin of the assembled chiefs of his nation, not, however, before hehad received the curses of the old women, and had been called "awrinkled old man with a hairy chin and a flat nose. "

Then meat was placed before the Lenape messenger. When he hadsatisfied his hunger, he pulled off his mocassins[A], and presentedthe pipe to the Brave who had been his conductor, who, filling it withtobacco and sweet herbs, handed it to him again. Then the youngestchief present took a coal from the fire, which flamed high in thecentre of the council-cabin, and placed it on the beloved herb, whichwas made to smoke high. Mottschujinga then turned the stem of the pipetowards the field of the stars, to supplicate the aid of the GreatSpirit, and then towards the bosom of his great mother, the earth, that the Evil Spirits might be appeased; now holding it horizontally, he moved round till he had made a circle, whereby he intimated that hesought to gain the protection of the spirits who sit on the clouds, and move in the winds of the air, of those who dwell in the deep andfearful glens and caverns, in the hollows of old and decayed oaks, onthe summits of inaccessible hills, and within the limits of the greatcouncil-fire[B] of Michabou[C]. Having secured the aid of thoseinvisible beings, in whose power it is to blow away the smoke of thepipe of peace, so that men shall speak from their lips only, and notfrom their hearts, and in consequence their promises shall be but asthe song of a bird that has flown over, Mottschujinga presented hispipe to the great chief of the strangers, who, before he would smokein it, arose and made a speech. 

[Footnote A: The Shoshonees, a tribe living west of the RockyMountains, to indicate the sincerity of their professions, pull offtheir mocassins before they smoke in the pipe of peace, an actionwhich imprecates on themselves the misery of going barefoot for ever, if they are faithless to their words. ]

[Footnote B: "Great council fire" means all the land or territorypossessed by the nation. ]

[Footnote C: Michabou is generally the Indian Neptune: sometimes, however, they mean by this title the Great Spirit. ]

"Our tribe, " said the chief, "are called Mengwe. We too have come froma distant country, and we also are bound to the land of the risingsun. We will smoke in the Lenape's pipe, and bury the war-club verydeep; we will assist to make the Lenapes very strong, and will neversuffer the grass to grow in our war-path when the Lenapes are assailedby enemies. We will draw out the thorns from your feet, oil yourstiffened limbs, and wipe your bodies with soft down. We will lifteach other up from this place, and the burthen shall be set down ateach other's dwelling-place. And the peace we make shall last as longas the sun shall shine, or the rivers flow. And this is all I have tosay. "

So a league was made, though no war had been, and the two nationsfreely intermingled. Each man unclosed his hand to his neighbour, theLenape warrior took the Mengwe maiden to his tent, and her brother hada woman of the former nation to roast his buffalo-hump, and boil hiscorn. 

And now the spies, who had been sent forward for the purpose ofreconnoitring, returned. They had seen many things so strange, thatwhen they reported them, our people half-believed them to be dreams, and for a while regarded them but as the songs of birds. They told, that they had found the further bank of the River of Fish inhabited bya very powerful people, who dwelt in great villages, surrounded byhigh walls. They were very tall--so tall that the head of the tallestLenape could not reach their arms, and their women were of higherstature and heavier limbs than the loftiest and largest man in theconfederate nations. They were called the Allegewi, and were mendelighting in red and black paint, and the shrill war-whoop, and thestrife of the spear. Such was the relation made by the spies to theircountrymen. 

This report of the spies increased the fears and dissatisfaction ofthe Lenapes to such a height, that part agreed to remain in the landsin which they then were, and not to attempt to cross the riveroccupied by so many hostile warriors. But the greater part declaredthat they were men, and rather than turn back from a foe, howeverstrong, or leave a battle-field without a blow or a war-whoop, theywould march to certain death, and leave their bones in a hostile camp. So one band, the strongest of the Lenapes, remained beyond theMississippi, while the others prepared to encounter the nations whowere the present lords of the soil. But, ere they committed theirfortunes to battle, they fasted, and mortified their flesh, to gainthe favour of the being who presides over war, and their priests wereconsulted to learn whether he would be propitious to them. "Shall weconquer?" "Shall we overcome?" was eagerly asked. The priests replied, "The Lenapes shall overcome, when they have obtained the great warmedicine. " They asked what it was; the priests replied, "It shall bemade known to you on the morrow. " The morrow came, and the priestsmade known the great war medicine, whose properties brought certainvictory to those possessed of it. In old times, the wild cat haddevoured their people; they set a trap for him and caught him in it, burned his bones, and preserved the ashes. These ashes had beencarefully kept by the priests, and they now brought them forth. Thegreat old snake, the father of strife, was in the water; the old mengathered together and sang, and he shewed himself; they sang again, and he showed himself a little further out of the water; the thirdtime he showed his horns. They were enabled to cut off one of thehorns. He showed himself a fourth time, and they cut off the otherhorn. A piece of these horns, and the ashes of the bones of the wildcat compounded, was the great war medicine of our nation. Preparedwith a medicine of such potency, the confederated nations movedtowards the land of reported giants. When they had arrived on thebanks of the Mississippi, they sent a message to the Allegewi, torequest permission to settle themselves in their neighbourhood. Thathaughty people refused the request, but they gave them leave to passthrough their country, and seek a settlement farther towards the landof the rising sun. The Lenapes accordingly began to cross theMississippi, when the Allegewi, seeing that their bands were verynumerous, outnumbering the birds on the trees or the fish in thewaters, made a furious attack upon those who had crossed, threateningall with destruction, if they dared to persist in coming to their sideof the river. Fired at the treachery of these people, and maddenedwith the loss of their brothers in arms, the Lenapes retired to thethick covert to consult on what was best to be done. It wasdeliberated in council, whether it was better to retreat in the bestmanner they could, or put forth their utmost strength, and let theenemy see they were not cowards, but men--brave men, who would notsuffer themselves to be driven into the woods, before they had testedthe strength of the enemy, and seen the power of their arms in hurlingthe spear, and striking with the war-club, and the truth of their eyein levelling the bow. It was determined, that brave men never turnedback, that the Lenape were brave men, and must steep their mocassinsin the blood of their enemies. The Mengwe, who till now had onlylooked on while our nation had done the fighting, offered to join ourwarriors, if, when the country was conquered, they should be allowedto share it with us. The proposal pleased our councillors, and the twonations renewed the faith of the calumet, resolved to conquer or die. The next sun was fixed on to attack the Allegewi in theirintrenchments. 

It was night; the bands of the confederate nations were sleeping intheir cabins, dreaming dreams of victory and glory, when Wangewaha, orthe Hard Heart, sleeping in his tent, was aroused by the tread of alight foot on the earth at his side, and the music of a voice sweeterthan that of the linnet or the thrush. Looking up he saw, by the beamsof the moon, a tall and beautiful woman, straight as a hickory, andgraceful as a young antelope. She wore over her shoulders a cloak madeof the tender bark of the mulberry, interlaced with the white feathersof the swan, and the gay plumage of the snake bird and the paintedvulture. Wangewaha started from his sleep, for he knew her to be thebeautiful maiden whom he had seen in his dream, ere he quitted theland of his father's bones--the shape tall and erect, the eye blackand sparkling, the foot small and swift, the teeth white and even, theglossy dark hair, and the small plump hand. He spoke to the beautifulstranger in mild accents, and the tones of her reply were as sweet asthe breathings of a babe rocked to rest on the bough of a tree. Heasked her who she was, and she replied she was a maiden from the campof the Allegewi. "Why, " he demanded, "had she come hither? Why had oneso young and fair adventured her person in a hostile camp, in the darkhours of night, among fierce warriors, who had sworn the destructionof her nation?"

"I have come hither, " replied the beautiful creature, "because I wouldescape the persecutions of a young warrior, the favourite of myfather, who solicits me to become his wife. I love him not, I havetold him so, yet he wishes to have me, while my heart revolts at thethought of becoming the companion of one, who boasts only the merit ofbeing able to slay men weaker than himself; and of showing cheekspainted for war, and hands red with blood. "

The Hard Heart, who felt not towards beautiful women the feeling whichhis name intimates, spoke to her words of consolation, and bade hergo sleep with his sister, whom he called to him from another part ofthe cabin. But the passion of love arose in the warrior's heart, andhe determined that, if the Great Spirit should give him victory in theapproaching contest, the beautiful maiden should become his wife. 

The sun of the next morning shone on fields of slaughter and prodigiesof valour. The confederated nations met the giant people; a greatbattle was fought, and many, very many, warriors fell. With the potentwar-medicine of the Lenapes, borne by a priest, the confederatesattacked their enemies, and were victors. The beaten and discomfitedAllegewi retreated within the high banks which surrounded theirvillages and great towns, and there awaited the assault of our braveand fearless warriors. They were attacked, and numbers, greater thanthe forest leaves, fell in the first engagement. None were spared; theman who asked for quarter sooner received the arrow in hisbosom--sooner felt the thrust of the spear, than he who was too braveto beg the poor boon of a few days longer stay on a cold and bleakearth, and preferred going hence without dishonour. Again, and again, were the Lenapes victorious. Beaten in many battles, and finding thatcomplete extirpation awaited them, if they longer delayed flight, theAllegewi loaded their canoes with their wives and children, and tooktheir course adown the broad bosom of the Mississippi. Never more werethey or their descendants seen upon the lands where the Lenapes foundthem. Of all the countless throngs of the Allegewi, the beautifulmaiden alone remained in our tents, and she was soon after taken tosleep in the bosom of Wangewaha. 

"And now, " said the chief of the rattlesnakes, "what do you propose togive me for my services? I have been a faithful and true guide, andhave brought you safe through many dangers, to a land of plenty andglory. I deserve a recompense, surely. "

"You do, " answered the Hard Heart; "suppose we give you a pair ofmocassins. "

"Ha, ha! don't mention the thing again; it will throw me into a rage, "answered the old fellow, beginning to flatten and swell at the joke. "But if you come to giving mocassins, they must be very many, for youknow I have many legs. Suppose you give me a Lenape maiden to wife. "

"Lenape maiden to wife! What will you do with a Lenape wife? Say, snake, what would be the cross between a rattlesnake and a Lenape?"

"Don't name the thing again, for I am very passionate, " cried the oldsnake. "I shall bite. What would be the cross, say you? Why, thecleverest possible cross--the cross between a wise and valiant snake, and a beautiful woman, for a beautiful woman she will be, if I havethe choosing of her. But, I demand as a recompense for my services, that I be allowed to unite myself in marriage with a woman of yournation. So set about it at once, for I am very hasty in these matters, and besides, wish to return to my nation, who have been for a longtime without a leader. "

Upon receiving this strange proposition, the Lenape chief to whom itwas addressed called together the counsellors of the nation, anddebated with them whether the request should be acceded to. Many werethe arguments which were used for and against, but, at length, theycame to the determination, that the wise old rattlesnake should havehis choice of the Lenape maidens for a wife. The old fellow heard theacceptance of his proposal with much joy, for, as he said, he was of avery impatient temper, and in proportion as he bore crosses with atotal want of patience, was his excessive joy, when he succeeded inhis views and wishes. So the maidens were brought out, and he madechoice of a beautiful girl, who had not seen the flowers bloom morethan fifteen times. A tear trembled in the dark eye of this lovelymaiden for a moment, at the thought of the strange and unequal matchshe was about to contract. But she was dazzled, as all women are, bythe promised glory of becoming the bride of the great chief of anation, and she wiped away the tears of regret, as women have oftendone before, with a leaf from the tree of consolation, and becamejoyous and light-hearted. They set off the next morning for the Valleyof the Bright Old Inhabitants, and for greater speed she bore him onher shoulders, being the first bride that ever, as far as my knowledgegoes, carried home her husband in a basket. 

The confederates divided the lands they had conquered. The Mengwe tookthe lands which lay on the shores of the lakes of the north; theLenapes chose those which received the beams of the warm suns of thesouth. Many, many ages passed away, the two nations continued atpeace, the war-whoop was banished from the shades of either, and theirnumbers waxed very great. At length, some of our young hunters andwarriors crossed the great glades[A], and travelled onward till theycame to the beautiful Lenape wihittuck, where they have remained eversince. And this is the story which is told throughout the tribes ofthe wilderness, of the emigration of our people, and their victoryover the original proprietors of the soil. I have done. 

[Footnote A: The mountains. ]

NOTES. 

(1) _She became his without a wrestle. _--p. 143. 

Hearne, in his Journey to the Frozen Ocean, says:--"It has ever beenthe custom, among those people, for the men to wrestle for any womanto whom they are attached; and, of course, the strongest party alwayscarries off the prize. A weak man, unless he be a good hunter, andwell beloved, is seldom permitted to keep a wife that a stronger manthinks worth his notice; for at any time when the wives of thosestrong wrestlers are heavily laden either with furs or provisions, they make no scruple of tearing any other man's wife from his bosom, and making her bear a part of his luggage. This custom prevailsthroughout all their tribes, and causes a great spirit of emulationamong their youth, who are, upon all occasions, from their childhood, trying their strength and skill in wrestling . . . The way in which theytear their women and children from one another, though it has theappearance of the greatest brutality, can scarcely be calledfighting . . . On these wrestling occasions the by-standers neverattempt to interfere in the contest. It sometimes happens that one ofthe wrestlers is superior in strength to the other, and, if a woman bethe cause of the contest, the weaker is frequently unwilling to yield, notwithstanding he is greatly overpowered. I observed that very few ofthose people were dissatisfied with the wives which had fallen totheir lot, for, whenever any considerable number of them were incompany, scarcely a day passed without some overtures being made forcontests of this kind, and it was often very unpleasant to me to seethe object of the contest sitting in pensive silence watching herfate, while her husband and his rival were contending for his prize. Ihave, indeed, not only felt pity for those poor wretched victims, butthe utmost indignation, when I have seen them won, perhaps by a manwhom they mortally hated. On these occasions, their grief andreluctance to follow their new lord has been so great, that thebusiness has often ended in the greatest brutality; for, in thestruggle, I have seen the poor girls stripped quite naked, and carriedby main force to their new lodgings. At other times it was pleasantenough to see a fine girl led off the field from the husband shedisliked, with a tear in one eye, and a finger in the other; forcustom, or delicacy, if you please, has taught them to think itnecessary to whimper a little, let the change be ever so much to theirinclination. "

(2) _Game of bones--gambling--games of chance. _--p. 143. 

Gaming seems to be a natural passion of man, and is carried to a greatexcess among the American Indians. The games they play are various, but all are for the acquisition of coveted wealth; they never playwithout a stake, and that, considering the amount of theirpossessions, a very heavy one. They are emphatically gamblers. I havesupposed that a description of their principal games may not beuninteresting to the reader, and have therefore subjoined thefollowing:--

The game of the dish, which they call the _game of the little bones_, is only played by two persons. Each has six or eight little bones, which at first sight may be taken for apricot stones; they are of thatshape and bigness. They make them jump up by striking the ground orthe table with a round and hollow dish, which contains them, and whichthey twirl round first. When they have no dish, they throw the bonesup in the air with their hands. If in falling they come all of onecolour, he who plays wins five. The game is forty up, and theysubtract the numbers gained by the adverse party. Five bones of thesame colour win but one for the first time, but the second time theywin the game. A less number wins nothing. 

He that wins the game continues playing. The loser gives his place toanother, who is named by the markers of his side; for they makeparties at first, and often the whole village is concerned in thegame. Oftentimes also, one village plays against another. Each partychoses a marker, but he withdraws when he pleases, which never happensbut when he loses. At every throw, especially if it happens to bedecisive, they make great shouts. The players appear like peoplepossessed, and the spectators are not more calm. They make a thousandcontortions, talk to the bones, load the spirits of the adverse partywith curses, and the whole village echoes with imprecations. If allthis does not recover their luck, the losers may put off their partytill next day. It costs them only a small treat from the company. 

Then they prepare to return to the engagement. Each invokes hisgenius, and throws some tobacco in the fire to his honour. They askhim above all things for lucky dreams. As soon as day appears, they goagain to play; but, if the losers fancy that the goods in their cabinsmade them unlucky, the first thing they do is to change them all. Thegreat parties commonly last five or six days, and often continue allnight. In the meantime, as all the persons present are in an agitationthat deprives them of reason, they quarrel and fight, which neverhappens among the savages but on these occasions, and when they aredrunk. One may judge, if, when they have done playing, they do notwant rest. 

It sometimes happens that these parties of play are made by order ofthe physician, or at the request of the sick. There needs no more forthis purpose than a dream of one, or the other. This dream is alwaystaken for the order of some spirit, and then they prepare themselvesfor play with a great deal of care. They assemble for several nightsto try and to see who has the luckiest hand. They consult their genii, they fast, the married persons observe continence; and all to obtain afavourable dream. Every morning they relate what dreams they have had, and all things they have dreamt of, which they think lucky; and theymake a collection of all, and put them into little bags, which theycarry about with them; and, if any one has the reputation of beinglucky, _that is_, in the opinion of these people, of having a familiarspirit more powerful, or more inclined to do good, they never fail tomake him keep near him who holds the dish, they even go a great way tofetch him; and, if through age or any infirmity he cannot walk, theywill carry him on their shoulders. 

There is a game played by the Miamis, which is called the _game ofstraws_. These straws are small reeds, about the size of wheat straws, and about six inches long. They take a parcel, which are commonly twohundred and one, and always an odd number. After having shuffled themin well together, making a thousand contortions, and invoking thegenii, they separate them with a kind of awl, or a pointed bone, intoparcels of ten each: every one takes his own at a venture, and he thathappens to get the parcel with eleven, gains a certain number ofpoints that are agreed on. The whole game is sixty or eighty **** Theyhave two games more, the first of which is called the _game of thebat_. They play at it with a ball, and sticks bent, and ending with akind of racket. They set up two posts, which serve for bounds, andwhich are distant from each other according to the number of players. For instance, if they are eighty, there is half a league distancebetween the two posts. The players are divided into two bands, whichhave each their post. Their business is to strike the ball to the postof the adverse party without letting it fall to the ground, andwithout touching it with the hand; for, in either of these cases, theylose the game, unless he who makes the fault repairs it by strikingthe ball at one blow to the post, which is often impossible. Thesesavages are so dexterous at catching the ball with their bats, thatsometimes one game will last many days together. 

The game described by Mackenzie, and called the _game of the platter_, is the same game, I think, that Charlevoix calls the "Game of theBones. " Of the passion for gaming of the Beaver Indians, see hisJournal, 149. The same author (page 311), describes another gameplayed by the Indians of the Rocky Mountains. It was played by twopersons, each of whom had a "bundle of about fifty small sticks, neatly polished, of the size of a quill, and five inches long; acertain number of these sticks had red lines round them; and as manyof these as one of the players might find convenient were curiouslyrolled up in dry grass, and, according to the judgment of hisantagonist, respecting their number and marks, he lost or won. "

(3) _Songs and Dances. _--p. 147. 

Dancing is the favourite amusement of the savage, and one of hismethods of propitiating the Deity. Does he feel cheerful, he dances;has he received benefits from a fellow-creature, he makes a dance tohis honour; if from the Supreme Being, he gathers his tribe to hiscabin, and gives thanks in a dance. When he has reason to fear his Godis offended, or when an occurrence takes place, from which he draws aninference of his displeasure, he begins a solemn dance. Thus we haveseen, that when the Dutch first landed on New York Island, theinhabitants, who believed them to be celestial beings, began a dancein order to propitiate them. 

The dances of the savages are the common dance, and the dances whichare held upon particular occasions, and the manner of dancing, variessomewhat. In dancing the _common dance_, they form a circle, andalways have a leader, whom the whole company attend to. The men gobefore, and the women close the circle. The latter dance with greatdecency, as if engaged in the most serious business; they never speaka word to the men, much less joke with them, which would injure theircharacter. They neither jump nor skip, but move lightly forward, andthen backward, yet so as to advance gradually, till they reach acertain spot, and then retire in the same manner. They keep theirbodies straight, and their arms hanging down close to their bodies. But the men shout, leap, and stamp, with such violence, that theground trembles under their feet. Their extreme agility and lightnessof foot is never displayed to more advantage than in dancing. 

Of the dances held on particular occasions, there are many, and, unlike the last, these are frequent. "Of these, " says Loskiel, "thechief is the _dance of peace_, called also the calumet or pipe dance, because the calumet or pipe of peace is handed about during the dance. This is the most pleasing to strangers who attend as spectators. Thedancers join hands, and leap in a ring for some time. Suddenly theleader lets go the hand of one of his partners, keeping hold of theother. He then springs forward and turns round several times, by whichhe draws the whole company around, so as to be enclosed by them, whenthey stand close together. They disengage themselves as suddenly, yetkeeping their hold of each other's hands during all the differentrevolutions and changes in the dance, which, as they explain it, represents the chain of friendship. " This writer, who is in generalvery indifferent authority for what concerns the Indians, and musthave made up his book from the relations of very careless or verystupid observers, never, I think from his own observation, differsvery much in his account of this dance from Charlevoix, whose bookgenerally is by far the best which has treated of the North Americansavages. He says, (vol. Ii. P. 68) "They were young people equipped aswhen they prepare for the march; they had painted their faces with allsorts of colours, their heads were adorned with feathers, and theyheld some in their hands like fans. The calumet was also adorned withfeathers, and was set up in the most conspicuous place. The band ofmusic and the dancers were round about it, the spectators divided hereand there in little companies, the women separate from the men. Beforethe door of the commandant's lodging, they had set up a post, onwhich, at the end of every dance, a warrior came up, and gave a strokewith his hatchet; at this signal there was a great silence, and thisman repeated, with a loud voice, some of his great feats, and thenreceived the applause of the spectators. When the dance of the calumetis intended, as it generally is, to conclude a peace, or a treaty ofalliance against a common enemy, they grave a serpent on one side ofthe tube of the pipe, and set on one side of it a board, on which isrepresented two men of the two confederate nations, with the enemyunder their feet, by the mark of his nation. "

Of the two accounts which, it may be seen, differ essentially, Iprefer Loskiel's. I think Charlevoix mistook another dance for thecalumet dance, especially as he confesses they did him (thecommandant) none of the honours which are mentioned. "I did not seethe calumet presented to him, and there were no men holding thecalumet in their hands. "

The _war dance_, held either before or after a campaign, is theirgreatest dance. It is a dreadful spectacle, the object being toinspire terror in the spectators. No one takes a share in it, exceptthe warriors themselves. They appear armed, as if going to battle. Onecarries his gun or hatchet, another a large knife, the third atomahawk, the fourth a large club, or they all appear armed withtomahawks. These they brandish in the air, to signify how they intendto treat, or have treated, their enemies. They affect such an anger orfury on the occasion, that it makes a spectator shudder to beholdthem. A chief leads the dance, and sings the warlike deeds of himselfor his ancestors. At the end of every celebrated feat of valour, hestrikes his tomahawk with all his might against a post fixed in theground. He is then followed by the rest, each finishing his round by ablow against the post. Then they dance all together, and this is themost frightful scene. They affect the most horrible and dreadfulgestures, threatening to beat, cut, and stab each other. To completethe horror of the scene, they howl as dreadfully as in actual fight, so that they appear as raving madmen. Heckewelder's description agreesherewith. He remarks, that "Previous to going out on a warlikecampaign, the war dance is always performed around the painted post. It is the Indian mode of recruiting. Whoever joins in the dance isconsidered as having enlisted for the campaign, and is obliged to gowith the party. "--_Heck. Hist. Acc. _ p. 202. The description whichCharlevoix gives of what he calls the "_dance of discovery_" among theIroquois, agrees so fully with the above account of the war dance, that we may presume it is the same, and that his is a new name for anold thing. 

Charlevoix describes another dance, which he calls the _dance of fire_. 

This last author describes another dance which is not mentioned by anyother traveller; it is called, he says, the _dance of the bull_, andis thus described by him: "The dancers form several circles or rings, and the music, which is always the drum and the chickicoue, is in themidst of the place. They never separate those of the same family. Theydo not join hands, and every one carries on his head his arms and hisbuckler. All the circles do not turn the same way, and though theycaper much, and very high, they always keep time and measure. Fromtime to time, a chief of the family presents his shield: they allstrike upon it, and at every stroke he repeats some of his exploits. Then he goes, and cuts a piece of tobacco at a post, where they havefastened a certain quantity, and gives it to one of his friends, "&c. --_Charlevoix_, ii. 72. 

The _dance of the green corn_, referred to in the text, or, moreproperly speaking, "the ceremony of thanksgiving for the first fruitsof the earth, " is described by Col. Johnston in vol. I. P. 286, of theArchๆlogia Americana. It does not differ materially from their commonfeasts. The principal ceremonies are described in the text. 

The following is a description of the Powwah or black dance, by whichthe devil was supposed to be raised. "Lord's Day, September 1st. --Ispent the day with the Indians on the island. As soon as they were upin the morning, I attempted to instruct them, and laboured to get themtogether, but quickly found they had something else to do; for theygathered together all their powwows, and set about a dozen of them toplaying their tricks, and acting their frantic postures, in order tofind out why they were so sickly, numbers of them being at that timedisordered with a fever and bloody flux. In this they were engaged forseveral hours, making all the wild, distracted motions imaginable, sometimes singing, sometimes howling, sometimes extending their handsto the utmost stretch, spreading all their fingers, and seemed to pushwith them, as if they designed to fright something away, or at leastkeep it at arm's end; sometimes sitting flat on the earth, then bowingdown their faces to the ground, wringing their sides, as if in painand anguish, twisting their faces, turning up their eyes, grunting orpuffing. These monstrous actions seemed to have something in thempeculiarly fitted to raise the devil, if he could be raised by anything odd and frightful. Some of them were much more fervent in thebusiness than the others, and seemed to chant, peep, and mutter, witha great degree of warmth and vigour. "--_Brainerd's Diary, E_. 

GITTSHEE GAUZINEE. 

Before the Bigknives or their fathers came to the land of the red men, the Indians generally, and the Chippewas in particular, were in thehabit of burying many articles with the dead--if a warrior died, hisweapons of war, his spear, his war-club, and his most valued trophies;if a hunter, his instruments of hunting were committed to the earthwith him. His beaver-trap, his clothes, even a piece of roasted meat, and a piece of bread, were deposited with him in his grave. The scalpshe had taken from the heads of his enemies, the skins of the bearsslain by him in encounter foot to foot, were laid by his side, and, when the earth was thrown upon his breast, the utensils of less momentwere laid upon his grave. If it was a woman who demanded the rites ofburial, various articles which had been most useful to her in lifewere destined to the same service. As it was supposed that it would beher lot in the other world to perform, for the shades of her husbandand family, the duties which she had performed for them while theywere living in this, the various domestic implements used in the cabinwere buried with her. This practice, once so universal, has beenlimited, since the coming of the white men among us, to comparativelya very few articles, such as the deceased was particularly fond of, orexpressed a desire to have deposited with his or her body. The changeI speak of was made in consequence of the following incident, whichoccurred in the life of a celebrated chief of former days, who hadoften led the Chippewas to victory and glory. 

Gittshee Gauzinee, after an illness of only a few days, expiredsuddenly in the presence of his numerous friends, by whom he wasgreatly beloved, and deeply lamented. He had been an expert hunter, and had traversed the wild forests, and threaded the mazes of thewilderness, with a success rarely equalled. As a warrior there wasnone to surpass him: he could transfix two enemies with the samespear; his arm could bend a bow of twice the size of that bent by anordinary arm; and his war-whoop sounded loud as the thunder of themoon of early corn. He was in the habit of cherishing, with deep andstudious care, the weapons of war which had given him his glory, andamong these he particularly attached great value to a fine gun whichhe had purchased of the first white man that had come to the city ofthe High Rock. It was with this gun that he had acquired his principaltrophies, in remembrance of which he requested that it might be buriedwith him. But the importance attached to this article, which then wasrarely met with among our people, and of great value, induced hisfriends to pause as to this injunction. 

In the meantime, there were some who supposed that his death was notreal, but that the functions of life were merely suspended, and wouldagain be restored. On this account the body was not interred, but laidaside in a separate lodge, where it was carefully watched by hisafflicted and weeping widow. It came to her mind that his spirit mightnot have left the tenement of clay; and she was inspired with freshhopes of his restoration to life, when, upon laying her hand upon hisbreast above his heart, she could perceive a feeble pulsation. Afterthe lapse of four days, their sanguine hopes were realised; he awoke, as if from a deep sleep, and complained of great thirst. By the kindattentions of his friends, and the use of certain drugs, with whichevery Indian is familiar, his health began to mend rapidly, and he wassoon able to return to the hunt. When he was completely restored, herelated the following account of his death, and recovery to life. 

He felt, he said, cold chills creeping over him; his respirationbecame impeded; the dim and shapeless forms of things floated beforehis eyes, and sounds such as he had never heard before were ringing inhis ears. He felt his breath come and go like the flashes of heatwhich dance before the wind on a summer's day. At length it went outto return no more, and he died. 

After death he travelled on in the path of the dead for three days, without meeting with any thing extraordinary. He kept the road inwhich souls go to the Cheke Checkecame, and over mountains, andthrough valleys, pursued his way steadily. Hunger at length visitedhim, and he began to suffer much from want of food. When he came insight of the village of the dead, he saw immense droves of statelydeer, mooses, and other large and fat animals, browzing tamely nearhis path. This only served to aggravate his craving appetite, andexcite more eagerly the feeling of hunger, because he had broughtnothing with him wherewith to kill them. The animals themselves seemedsensible of his inability to do them harm, frolicking fearlesslyaround him, now bounding away over the plain in mimic terror, nowadvancing in gambols to his very feet. The deer skipped lightly along, while the moose followed with a more clumsy step; the wild catsuspended himself by his tail from the trees, while the bear rolledand tumbled on the green sod. Gittshee Gauzinee now bethought himselfof the fine gun which he had left at home, and at once resolved toreturn and obtain it. On his way back, he met a great concourse ofpeople, men, women, and children, travelling onward to the residenceof the dead. But he observed that they were all very heavily ladenwith axes, kettles, guns, meat, and other things, and that each one asthey passed uttered loud complaints of the grievous burdens with whichthe officious and mistaken kindness of their friends had loaded them. Among others, he met a man bowed down by age and infirmity, wearilyjourneying to the land of the dead, who stopped him to complain of theburthen his friends had imposed upon him, and this aged man concludedhis address by offering him his gun, begging him to do so much towardsrelieving him of his load. Shortly after, he met a very old woman whooffered him a kettle, and, a little further on, a young man whooffered him an axe. He saw a beautiful and slender young maiden soheavily laden that she was compelled to rest her load against a tree, and a warrior bending under a weight twice as great as any that hadever yet been put on his shoulders. Gittshee Gauzinee accepted thevarious presents made him, out of courtesy and good nature, for hehad determined to go back for his own gun, and other implements, andtherefore stood little in need of these: so he journeyed back. 

When he came near his own lodge, he could discover nothing but a longline of waving fire, which seemed completely to encircle it. How toget across he could not devise, for, whenever he attempted to advancetowards those places where the blaze seemed to be expiring, it wouldsuddenly shoot up into brilliant cones, and pyramids of flame, andthis was repeated as often as he approached it. At last he drew back alittle, and made a desperate leap into the flames. The united effectsof the heat, the violent exertion, and the fear of being burned in thedesperate attempt, resulted in his restoration of life. He awoke fromhis trance, and, though weak and exhausted, he soon recovered hishealth and strength, and again made the valleys echo with his shoutsof war and the hunt. 

"I will tell you, " said he to his friends, one night after hisrecovery, "of one practice in which our fathers have been wrong, verywrong. It has been their custom to bury too many things with the dead. Such burthens have been imposed upon them that their journey to theland of the dead has been made one of extreme labour and tediousness. They have complained to me of this, and I would now warn my brethrenagainst a continuance of the practice. Not only is it painful to them, but it retards their progress in their journey. Therefore only putsuch things in the grave as will not be irksome to carry. The dresswhich the deceased was most fond of while living he should be clothedin when dead. His feathers, his head dress, and his other ornaments, are but light, and will be very agreeable to his spirit. His pipe alsowill afford him amusement on the road. If he has any thing more, letit be divided among his nearest relatives and friends, but on noaccount incumber his spirit with heavy and useless articles. "

AMPATO SAPA. 

Nothing, M. Verdier says, can be more picturesque and beautiful thanthe cascade of St. Anthony, so renowned in the topography of thewestern world. The irregular outline of the Fall, by dividing itsbreadth, gives it a more impressive character, and enables the eyemore easily to take in its beauties. An island, stretching in theriver both above and below the Fall, separates it into two unequalparts. From the nature of the rock which breaks into angular, andapparently rhomboidal fragments of a huge size, this fall issubdivided into small cascades, which adhere to each other, so as toform a sheet of water, unrent, but composed of an alternation ofretiring and salient angles, and presenting a great variety of shapesand shades. Each of these forms is in itself a perfect cascade. Whentaken in one comprehensive view they assume a beauty of which we couldscarcely have deemed them susceptible. Few falls assume a wilder andmore picturesque aspect than these. The thick growth of oaks, hickory, walnut, &c. Upon the island, imparts to it a gloomy and sombreaspect, contrasting pleasingly with the bright surface of the waterysheet which reflects the sun in many differently coloured hues. Alltravellers have spoken of it as possessing wonderful beauties, and thepoor unenlightened Indian, who ascribes every thing of an imposing, asublime, and a magnificent character, every thing which has phenomenahe cannot comprehend to a superior being, and who fancies a governingspirit in every deep glen in the wilderness, has associated many ofhis wild and fanciful traditions with this singular spot. Thefollowing favourite tale of, the Dahcotah is not the only traditionconnected with this romantic spot. 

An Indian of the Dahcotah nation had united himself early in life to ayouthful female, whose name was Ampato Sapa, which signifies, in theDahcotah language, the _Dark-day_. With her he lived for many yearsvery happily; their days glided on like a clear stream in the summernoon. There were few husbands and wives who enjoyed as much nuptialhappiness as fell to the lot of this Indian couple. Among that peoplethe duties allotted to the female sex are both laborious andincessant; with Ampato Sapa, they were ameliorated by the kindness ofher husband, who, in defiance of the customs of our people, performedthe greater part of her tasks herself. Their union had been blessedwith two children, upon whom both parents doated with a depth offeeling unknown to those who have other treasures besides those whichspring from nature. The man had acquired a reputation as a hunter, which drew around him many families who were happy to place themselvesunder his protection, and avail themselves of such part of his chace, as he needed not for the support of his family. Desirous ofstrengthening their interest with him, some of them invited him toform a connexion with their family, observing, at the same time, thata man of his talents, and present and increasing importance, requiredmore than one woman, to wait upon the numerous guests whom hisreputation would induce to visit his lodge. They assured him that hewould soon be acknowledged as a chief, and that in this case a secondwife was indispensable. Their pleadings and flattery infused new ideasinto his mind, and ambition soon succeeded in dispelling love, and theremembrance of years of conjugal endearment. Fired with the thought ofobtaining high honours, he resolved to increase his importance by aunion with the daughter of an influential man of his tribe. He hadaccordingly taken a second wife, without having ever mentioned thesubject to his former companion, being desirous to introduce hisbride into his lodge, in the manner which should be least offensive tothe mother of his children, for whom he yet retained much regard, though bad ambition "had induced him to countenance a divided bed andaffections. " It became necessary, however, that he should break thematter to her, which he did as follows: "You know, " said he, "that Ican love no woman so fondly as I doat upon you. You were the firstwoman I loved, and you are the only one. With regret have I seen youof late subjected to toils which must be oppressive to you, and fromwhich I would gladly relieve you, yet I know of no other way of doingso, than by associating to you, in the household duties, one who shallrelieve you from the trouble of entertaining the numerous guests whommy growing importance in the nation collects around me. I have, therefore, resolved to take another wife, but she shall always besubject to your controul, as she will always rank in my affectionssecond to you. "

With the utmost anxiety and deepest concern did his companion listento this unexpected proposal. She expostulated in the kindest terms;entreated him with all the arguments which undisguised love and thepurest conjugal affection could suggest. She replied to all theobjections he had raised, and endeavoured to dispel all the cloudshis seemingly disinterested kindness had thrown over her presentsituation. Desirous of winning her from her opposition, he concealedthe secret of his union with another, while she redoubled her care andexertion, to convince him that she was equal to all the tasks imposedupon her by his increasing reputation and notoriety. When he againspoke on the subject, she pleaded all the endearments of their pastlife; she spoke of his former kindness for her, of his regard for herhappiness, and that of their mutual offspring; she bade him beware ofthe fatal consequences of this purpose of his. Finding her bent uponwithholding her consent to his plan, he informed her that allopposition on her part was unavailing, as he had already selectedanother partner; and that, if she could not see his new wife as afriend, she must receive her as a necessary incumbrance, for he wasresolved that she should be an inmate in his house. The poor Dark-Dayheard these words in silent consternation. Watching her opportunity, she stole away from the cabin with her infants, and fled to herfather, who lived at a considerable distance from the place of herhusband's residence. With him she remained until a party of Dahcotahswent up the Mississippi, on a winter's hunt. Not caring whither shewent, so it was not to the lodge of her faithless husband, sheaccompanied them. All hope had left her bosom, and even her interestin her children had faded with the decay of the impassioned love shehad felt for their father. The world, the simple pleasures of Indianlife, had no farther charm for Ampato Sapa. She would wander forhours, listless and tearful, by the shaded river bank, or gaze in thenight with a distracted look upon the silver moon and star-lit sky. Attimes, as if fearful of impending pursuit, she would snatch up herchildren, and rush out into the woods. The Red Man of the forest has akind of instinctive veneration for madness(1) in every form; the meresupposition of such a misfortune has procured the liberation of avictim bound to the stake, whom no arts or persuasion could operate tosave. The people of her tribe saw, with deep commiseration, theseeming aberration of intellect of the poor Indian woman, but, knowinglittle of the feeling which possessed her bosom, could apply nohealing medicine. 

In the spring, as they were returning with their canoes loaded withfurs, they encamped near the falls which our white brother has seen, and which have became so celebrated in Indian story for the manytragical scenes connected with them. In the morning, as they lefttheir encamping ground on the border of the river, she for a whilelingered near the spot, as if working up her mind to some terriblefeat of despair. Then, launching her light canoe, she entered it withher children, and paddled down the stream, singing her death-song. Theair was one of those melancholy airs which are sung by our people whenin deep distress, or about to end the journey of life. 

 DEATH-SONG OF AMPATO SAPA. 

 I loved him long and well. And he to me Was the soft sun, which makes the young trees bud. In gentle spring, And bids the glad birds sing, From out the boughs, their song of love and joy. And he would sit beside me on the grass, And plait my hair with beads, And tell the trees, and flowers, and birds, That Dark-Day was more beautiful than they. 

 I lov'd him long and well. And he to me Was as the tree which props the tender vine, Or clustering ivy, letting them embrace His strength and pride. When he withdraws from them, They fall, and I must die. 

 He lov'd me once, And lov'd his little babes; And he would go with morning to the hills, And chase the buffalo. 

 But he would come And press me in his arms, when darkness hid Both beast and bird from the clear hunter's eye. Then he would creep to where our children slept, And smile--but sweeter smile upon their mother. 

 He loves another now. A younger bird is in his nest, And sings sweet songs from Dark-Days once fair bower, And I am lov'd no more. He will be no more to me as the sun, Which gives the young trees life in gentle spring. Nor as the tree which props the tender vine. He loves another better than Dark-Day-- He cares not for her, Nor for his children: No, he cares not for them. 

 I will die; I will go to the happy lands, Beyond the mighty river. There I shall see again my tender mother, There I shall meet the warriors of my tribe, And they shall make my sons good men. There I shall meet, ere many moons be past, My husband reconcil'd to me, and he Again shall sit beside me on the grass, And plait my hair with beads, And tell the trees, and birds, and flowers, That Dark-Day is more beautiful than they. 

As she paddled her canoe down the stream, her friends perceived herintent, but too late; their persuasions and attempts to prevent herfrom proceeding were of no avail. She continued to sing, in a mournfulvoice, the past pleasures which she had enjoyed while she was theundivided object of her husband's affections: at length, her voice wasdrowned in the sound of the cataract; the current carried down herfrail bark with inconceivable rapidity; it came to the edge of theprecipice, was seen for a moment enveloped with spray, but never afterwas a trace of the canoe or its passengers discovered. Yet the Indiansimagine that often in the morning a voice is heard singing a mournfulsong along the edge of the fall, and that it dwells on the inconstancyof a husband. They assert that sometimes a white dove is seen hoveringover the neighbouring sprays; at other times, Ampato Sapa wanders inher proper person near the spot, with her children wrapped in skins, and pressed to her bosom. 

NOTE. 

(1) _Instinctive veneration for madness. _--p. 194. 

Insanity is not common among the Indians. Men in this unhappysituation are always considered as objects of pity. Every one, youngand old, feels compassion for their misfortune; to laugh or scoff atthem would be considered as a crime, much more so to insult or molestthem. Heckewelder tells the following story concerning their treatmentof one suspected of insanity, which proves their peculiar feeling withregard to this unfortunate class of men:--

"About the commencement of the Indian war of 1763, a trading Jew, whowas going up the Detroit river with a bateau load of goods which hehad brought from Albany, was taken by some Indians of the Chippewasnation, and destined to be put to death. A Frenchman, impelled bymotives of friendship and humanity, found means to steal the prisoner, and kept him so concealed for some time, that, although the mostdiligent search was made, the place of his confinement could notdiscovered. At last, however, the unfortunate man was betrayed by somefalse friend, and again fell into the power of the Indians, who tookhim across the river to be burned and tortured. Tied to the stake, and the fire burning by his side, his thirst from the great heatbecame intolerable, and he begged that some drink might be given him. It is a custom with the Indians, previous, to a prisoner being put todeath, to give him what they call his last meal; a bowl of pottage orbroth was therefore brought to him for that purpose. Eager to quenchhis thirst, he put the bowl immediately to his lips, and, the liquorbeing very hot, he was dreadfully scalded. Being a man of a very quicktemper, the moment he felt his mouth burned, he threw the bowl withits contents full into the face of the man who had handed it to him. 'He is mad! he is mad!' resounded from all quarters. The by-standersconsidered his conduct as an act of insanity, and immediately untiedthe cords with which he was bound, and let him go where he pleased. "

THE CAVERNS OF THE KICKAPOO. 

The scenery of the Prairie _des Chiens_ is among the most beautiful ofthe western wilderness--nothing presents finer views than may be hadfrom the lofty hills, which lie east of the Wisconsan. The prairieextends about ten miles along the eastern bank of the river, and islimited on that side by the before-mentioned hills, which rise to theheight of about four hundred feet, and run parallel with the course ofthe river, at a distance of about a mile and a half from it. On thewestern bank, the bluffs which rise to the same elevation are washedat their base by the river. From the top of this majestic hill, whichis called Pike's Mountain, there is a beautiful and magnificent viewof the two rivers, Wisconsan and Mississippi, which mingle theirwaters at its foot. The prairie has retained its old Frenchappellation, derived from an Indian who formerly resided there, andwas called the Dog. The hill, or Pike's Mountain, has no particularlimits in regard to extension, being merely a part of the riverbluffs, which stretch along the margin of the river on the west forseveral miles, and retain nearly the same elevation above the water. The side fronting upon the river is so abrupt as to render the summitcompletely inaccessible even to a pedestrian, except in a very fewplaces, where he may ascend by taking hold of the bushes and rocksthat cover the slope. In general the acclivity is made up ofprecipices arranged one above another, some of which are a hundred andfifty feet high. 

In one of the niches or recesses formed by one of these precipices, inthe cavern of Kickapoo creek, which is a tributary of the Wisconsan, there is a gigantic mass of stone presenting the appearance of a humanfigure. It is so sheltered by the overhanging rocks, and by the sidesof the recess in which it stands, as to assume a dark and gloomycharacter. 

Has my brother--said the Indian chief to the traveller--ever heard howa beautiful woman of my nation became an image of stone? If he has, let him say so; if he has not, the Guard of the Red Arrows will tellhim the story. 

Once upon a time, many, very many ages ago, there lived in my nation awoman who was called Shenanska, or the White Buffalo Robe. She was aninhabitant of the prairie, a dweller in the cabins which stand uponthe verge of the hills. She was the pride of our nation, not so muchfor her beauty, though she was exceedingly beautiful, as for hergoodness, which made her beloved of all. The breath of the summer windwas not milder than the temper of Shenanska, the face of the sun wasnot fairer than her face. There was never a gust in the one, never acloud passed over the other. Who but Shenanska dressed the wounds ofthe Brave when he returned from battle? who but she interceded for thewarrior who came back from the fight without a blow? yet who was itencouraged him to wipe the black paint from the memory of his tribe bybrave deeds? It was she who dreamed the dreams that led to theslaughter of the Sauks and the Foxes; it was she who pointed out thefavourite haunts of the deer and the bison. When the warriors returnedvictorious from the field of blood, it was she who came out with songssweeter than the music of the dove; and, when they brought no scalps, it was she who comforted them with stories of past victories, anddreams of those which were yet to be. Before she had seen the flowersbloom twice ten times, she had been by turns the wife of manywarriors, for all loved her. 

At length, it became the fortune of our tribe to be surprised in ourencampment on the banks of the Kickapoo, by a numerous band of thebloody and warlike Mengwe. Many of our nation fell fighting bravely, the greater part of the women and children were scalped, and theremainder were compelled to fly to the wilds for safety. It was thefortune of Shenanska to escape from death, and perhaps worse evils. When the alarm of the war-whoop reached her ear, as she was sleepingin her lodge in the arms of her husband; she arose, and seizing herlance, and bow and arrows, she rushed with the Braves to battle. Whenshe saw half of the men of her nation lying dead around, then shefled, and not till then. Though badly wounded, she succeeded ineffecting her escape to the hills. Weakened by loss of blood, she hadnot strength enough left to hunt for a supply of food; she was nearperishing with hunger. 

[Illustration: _Designed & Etched by W. H. Brooks, A. R. E. A. _The Spirit breathed on her & she became Stone. _page 104. __London, Published by Colburn & Bentley, April 1830_]

While she lay in this languishing state beneath the shade of a tree, there came to her a Being, who was not of this world. He said to her, in a gentle and soothing voice, "Shenanska! thou art wounded andhungry, shall I heal thee and feed thee? Wilt thou return to the landsof thy tribe, and live to be old, a widow and alone, or go now to theland of departed spirits, and join the shade of thy husband? Thechoice is thine. If thou wilt live crippled, and bowed down by woundsand disease, thou mayest; if thou better likest to rejoin thyfriends in the country beyond the Great River, say so. " Shenanskareplied, that she wished to die. The Spirit then took her in his arms, and placed her in one of the recesses of the cavern, overshadowed byhanging rocks. He then spoke some low words, and, breathing on her, she became stone. Determined that a woman so good and so beautifulshould not be forgotten by the world, nor be deprived of the abilityof protecting herself from mutilation, he imparted to her statue thepower of killing suddenly any Indian that approached near it. For along time the statue relentlessly exercised this power. Many anunconscious Indian, venturing too near, fell dead without wound orbruise. At length, tired of the havoc it had made, the guardian Spirittook away the power he had given. At this day the statue may beapproached with safety. Yet the Indian people hold it in fear andveneration, and none passes it without paying it the homage of asacrifice. This is my story. 

THE MOUNTAIN OF LITTLE SPIRITS. 

At the distance of a woman's walk of a day from the mouth of the rivercalled by the pale-faces the Whitestone, in the country of the Sioux, in the middle of a large plain, stands a lofty hill or mound. Itswonderful roundness, together with the circumstance of its standingapart from all other hills, like a fir-tree in the midst of a wideprairie, or a man whose friends and kindred have all descended to thedust, has made it known to all the tribes of the West. Whether it wascreated by the Great Spirit, or piled up by the sons of men, whetherit was done in the morning of the world, or when it had grown fat andstately, ask not me, for I cannot tell you. Those things are known toone, and to one only. I know it is called by all the tribes of theland the Hill of Little People, or the Mountain of Little Spirits. Andthe tradition is yet freshly traced out on the green leaf of mymemory, which has made it the terror of all the surrounding nations, and which fills the Sioux, the Mahas, the Ottoes, and all theneighbouring tribes, with great fear and trembling, whenever theirincautious feet have approached the sacred spot, or their avocationcompels them to look at the work of spirits. No gift can induce anIndian to visit it, for why should he incur the anger of the LittlePeople who dwell within it, and, sacrificed upon the fire of theirwrath, behold his wife and children no more? In all the marches andcountermarches of the Indians; in all their goings and returnings; inall their wanderings, by day and by night, to and from lands which liebeyond it; their paths are so ordered that none approach near enoughto disturb the tiny inhabitants of the hill. The memory of the red manof the forest has preserved but one instance where their privacy wasviolated, since it was known through the tribes that they wished forno intercourse with mortals. Before that time many Indians weremissing every year. No one knew what became of them, but they weregone, and left no trace nor story behind. Valiant warriors filledtheir baskets with dried corn, and their quivers with tough arrowshafts and sharp points; put new strings to their bows; new shod theirmocassins, and sallied out to acquire glory in combat: but there wasno wailing in the camp of our foes; their arrows were not felt, theirshouts were not heard. Yet they fell not by the hands of their foes;but perished, we know not where or how. At length, the sun shone onthe mystery, and the parted clouds displayed a clear spot. Listen!

Many seasons ago, there lived within the limits of the greatcouncil-fire of the Mahas, a chief who was renowned for his valour andvictories in the field, his wisdom in the council, his dexterity andsuccess in the chase. His name was Mahtoree, or the White Crane. Hewas celebrated throughout the vast regions of the west, from theMississippi to the Hills of the Serpent[A], from the Missouri to thePlains of Bitter Frost, for all those qualities which render an Indianwarrior famous and feared. He was the terror of his enemies, whom inthe conflict he never spared; the delight as well as refuge of hisfriends, whom he never deserted. Yet, brave as he was, and fierce andreckless when met in the strife of warriors, never did his valour, orhis fierceness, or his recklessness of danger, betray him into thoseexcesses of wrath and cruelty, which, after great victories purchasedby much blood and loss of dear and valued friends, will often be seenin the camp of the red man of the forest. Never by his counsels wasthe captive tortured--never by his command were weak and defencelesswomen and children delivered over to slaughter. He had frequently beenknown, at the voice of pity crying at the door of the heart, and atthe suggestions of a great and proud mind, to cut the bonds whichbound the victim to the stake, thereby exposing himself to the wrathand anger of his stern warriors, and to rage which, but for theunequalled valour and daring boldness and wisdom of his career, bothas a warrior and a man, would have been attended with death tohimself, and the entailment of infamy upon his name. It has alreadybeen told our brother, that none but a noted and approved warrior daretake upon himself the liberation of a prisoner, devoted by the spiritof Indian warfare to tortures and death. 

[Footnote A: Hills of the Serpent, the Rocky Mountains. I have beforementioned the Indian superstition that thunder is the hissing of agreat serpent, which has his residence among those mountains. ]

In one of the war expeditions of the Pawnee Mahas against theBurntwood Tetons, it was the good fortune of the former to overcome, and to take many prisoners--men, women, and children. One of thecaptives, Sakeajah, or the Bird-Girl, a beautiful creature in themorning of life, after being adopted into one of the Mahas families, became the favourite wife of the chief warrior of the nation. Greatwas the love and affection which the White Crane bore his beautifulwife, and it grew yet stronger in his soul, when she had brought himfour sons--a gift the more highly prized by the wise and sagaciouschief, because, as my brother can see, for he is not a fool, it wasthe pledge of continued power and importance in the tribe, when hisown strength and vigour should have passed away, when the hand of ageshould no more find joy in bending the bow, and the trembling knee bebest pleased to rest upon soft skins by the warm fire of the cabin. Among the children of the forest he is most valued who has providedmost plentifully the means to maintain the honour, and secure thesafety, of his people; and hence he who can reckon the most brave andwarlike sons is esteemed the greatest of benefactors. Among all thered men of the land, that wife acquires the strongest hold on theaffections of her husband who has given him the largest family, asthat husband acquires the greatest consequence in the eyes of hisnation, who sees the most birds in his nest, and is able to carry mostvultures to prey upon the corpses of his enemies. Is the barren womanbeloved by her husband? Ask me if the male bird watches by the nest ofher who sits on addled eggs. I shall tell you "No, " nor does thehusband love or value the wife who lives alone in his cabin with noneto call her mother. 

The beautiful Sakeajah gave her husband but one daughter, and upon herdid her parents lavish all those affections which had not their originin war and bloodshed. The sons were loved for the promise they gave ofbending their father's bow, and raising his massy club in battle, andshouting his terrible war-cry with the ability to make good thethreats it contained--with the daughter were linked the few pacificremembrances which find entrance into that stony thing--an Indian'sheart. And well was Tatoka, or the Antelope, for that was the name ofthe daughter of Mahtoree and Sakeajah, worthy to be loved. She wasbeautiful, as young Indian maidens generally are, before the hardduties of the field and the cabin have bowed their limbs, andservitude has chilled the fire of their hearts. Her skin was butlittle darker than that of the chief from the far land who islistening to my story. Her eyes were large and bright as those of thebison-ox, and her hair black and braided with beads, brushed, as shewalked, the dew from the flowers upon the prairies. Her temper wassoft and placable, and her voice--what is so sweet as the voice of anIndian maiden when tuned to gladness! what so moves the hearer togrief and melancholy by its tones of sorrow and anguish! Our brotherhas heard them--let him say if the birds of his own forests, the doveof his nest, have sweeter notes than those he hears warbled in thecabin of the red man. His eyes say no. It is well. 

It may not be doubted that the beautiful Tatoka had many lovers; therewas not a youth in the nation, whose character authorised theapplication, that did not become a suitor to the fair daughter of theWhite Crane. But the heart of the maiden was touched by none of them;she bade them all depart as they came; she rejected them all. Thefather who loved his daughter too well to sell her as he would abeaver-trap or a moose-skin, or to compel her to become a wife, wouldhave been glad to see her choose a protector from among the manyBraves who solicited her affections. But, with the perverseness whichis often seen among women, who are but fools at best, though made tobe loved, she had placed her affections upon a youth, who haddistinguished himself by no valiant deeds in war, nor even by industryor dexterity in the chase. His name had never reached the surroundingnations; his own nation knew him not, unless it was as a weak andimbecile man: he was poor in every thing that constitutes the richesof Indian life, and poorer still in spirit and acquirements. Who hadheard the twanging of Karkapaha's bow in the retreats of the bear? orwho beheld the war-paint on his cheek or brow?--Where were the scalpsor the prisoners that betokened his valour or daring? No song ofvaliant exploits had been heard from his lips, for he had none toboast of--if he had done aught becoming a man, he had done it whennone were by. The beautiful Tatoka, who knew and lamented thedeficiencies of her lover, strove long to conquer her passion; but, finding the undertaking beyond her strength, surrendered herself tothe sweets of unrepressed affection, and urged her heart no more tothe unequal task of subduing her love. Their stolen interviews weremanaged with much care, and for a long time no one suspected them; butat length the secret of their love and the story of their shame becameso apparent as to do away the possibility of further concealment. Thelovers were in an agony of fear and terror. Though beloved by herfather, she had no reason to hope that he would so far forget hisdignity and the honour of his family, and so far sacrifice his viewsof aggrandizement, as to admit into his family a man who was neitherhunter nor warrior, and whose want of qualifications would haveensured his rejection by families of ordinary note--how much more fromthat of a proud and haughty chief! Love conquers the strongest; and, rather than be separated, those who love each other well will dareevery danger. Rather than be torn apart, the fond pair, whoseaffections were strengthened by the pledge of love which Tatoka boreabout her, determined to fly the anger of the father. The preparationsfor flight were made, the night fixed upon came, and they left thevillage of the Mahas and the lodge of Mahtoree for the wilderness. 

With all their precautions, and supposed exemption from suspicion, their flight was not unmarked: their intimacy had been for some timesuspected; but it was only the day preceding their elopement that themother had discovered undoubted proofs of their guilty intimacy. Whenthe justly indignant father was made acquainted with the disgracewhich had befallen his house, he called his young men around him, andbade them pursue the fugitives, promising his daughter to whomsoevershould slay the ravisher. Immediate pursuit was made, and soon ahundred eager youths were on the track of the hapless pair. With thatunerring skill and sagacity in discovering foot-prints which mark ourrace, their steps were tracked, and themselves soon discoveredretreating. But what was the surprise and consternation of thepursuers, when they found that the path taken by the hapless pairwould carry them to the Mountain of Little Spirits, and that they weresufficiently in advance to reach it before the pursuers could come upwith them! None durst venture within the supposed limits, and theyhalted till the White Crane should be informed of their having putthemselves under the protection of the spirits. 

In the mean time the lovers pursued their journey towards the fearfulresidence of the little people of the hill. Despair lent them courageto do an act to which the stoutest Indian resolution had hitherto beeninadequate. They determined, as a last resource, to tell their storyto the spirits, and demand their protection. They were within a fewfeet of the hill, when, in a breath, its brow, upon which no objecttill now had been visible, became covered with little people, thetallest of whom was not higher than the knee of the maiden, and manyof them, but these children, were of lower stature than the squirrel. Their voice was sharp and quick, like the barking of the prairie dog;a little wing came out at each shoulder; each had a single eye, whicheye was a right in the men, and in the women a left; and their feetstood out at each side. They were armed as Indians are armed, withtomahawks, spears, and bows and arrows. He who appeared to be the headchief, for he wore the air of command and the eagle feather of aleader, came up to them, and spoke as follows:--

"Why have you invaded the village of a race whose wrath has been sofatal to your people? How dare you venture within the sacred limits ofour residence? Know you not that your lives are forfeited?"

The trembling pair fell on their knees before the little people, andTatoka, for her lover had less than the heart of a doe, and wasspeechless, related her story. She told them how long she had lovedKarkapaha, and holding down her head confessed her fatal indiscretion. Then she pictured the wrath of her father, the pursuit which wasmaking, doubtless with a view to the punishment by death of her lover, and concluded her tale of sorrow with a burst of tears, which camefrom her eyes like the rain from a summer cloud, and sighs which mightbe compared to summer winds breathing from a bed of flowers. Thelittle man who wore the eagle's feather appeared very much moved withthe sorrows of the pair, and calling around him a large number of men, who were doubtless the chiefs and counsellors of the nation, a longconsultation took place. The result was a determination to favour andprotect the lovers. They had but just talked themselves into aresolution to inflict vengeance on all who should approach the hillwith the intent to injure the pair who had thrown themselves upontheir protection, when Shongotongo, or the Big Horse, one of theBraves whom Mahtoree had dispatched in quest of his daughter, appearedin view in pursuit of the fugitives. It was not till Mahtoree hadtaxed his courage that the Big Horse had ventured on the perilous andfearful quest. He approached with the strength of heart and singlenessof purpose which accompany an Indian warrior who deems the eyes of hisnation upon him. When first the Brave was discovered thus wantonly, and with no other purpose but the shedding of blood, intruding on thedominions of the spirits, no words can tell the rage which appeared topossess their bosoms, manifesting itself in a thousand wild andsingular freaks of passion and coarseness of language. Secure in theknowledge of their power to repel the attacks of every living thing, the intrepid Maha was permitted to advance within a few steps ofKarkapaha. He had just raised his spear to strike the unmanly lover, when, all at once, he found himself riveted to the ground: his feetrefused to move; his hands, which he attempted to raise, hungpowerless at his side; his tongue, when he attempted to speak, refusedto utter a word. The bow and arrow fell from his hand, and his spearlay powerless. A little child, not so high as the fourth leaf of thethistle, came and spat upon him, and a company of young maidens, whose feet were not longer than the blue feather upon the wing of theteal, danced a mirthsome dance around him, singing a taunting song ofwhich he was the burthen. All and each of the tiny spirits did theirpart towards inflicting pain and ignominy on the hapless Maha. Whenthey had finished their task of punishing by preparatory torture, athousand little Spirits drew their bows, and a thousand winged arrowspierced his heart. In a moment, a thousand mattocks, of the size of anIndian's thumb-nail, were employed in preparing him a grave. And hewas hidden from the eyes of the living, ere Tatoka could have thricecounted over the fingers of her hand. 

When this was done, the chief of the Little Spirits called Karkapahato his seat, and spoke to him thus:--"Maha, you have the heart of adoe; you would fly from a roused wren. Cowards find no favour in theeyes of the spirits of the air, who do not know what fear is, savewhen they see it painted on the cheeks of a mortal. We have not sparedyou because you deserved to be spared, but because the maiden lovesyou, and we would pleasure her. It is for this purpose that we willgive you the heart of a man, that you may return to the village of theMahas, and find favour in the eyes of Mahtoree and the Braves of thenation. We will take away your cowardly spirit, and will give you thespirit of the warrior whom we slew, whose heart was firm as a rock, and whose knees would have trembled when mountains caught the touch offear, and not before. Sleep, man of little soul, and wake to be betterworthy the love of the beauteous Antelope. "

Then a deep sleep came over the Maha lover. How long he slept he knewnot, but when he woke he felt at once that a change had taken place inhis feelings and temper. The first thought that came to his mind was abow and arrow; the second the beautiful Indian girl who lay sleepingat his side. The Little Spirits had disappeared--not a solitary being, of the many thousands, who, but a few minutes before, peopled the hilland filled the air with their discordant cries, was now to be seen orheard. At the feet of Karkapaha lay a tremendous bow, larger than anybowman ever yet used, and a sheaf of arrows of proportionate size, anda spear of a weight which no Maha could wield. Wonder of wonders! theweak and slender Karkapaha could draw that bow, as an Indian boy bendsa willow twig, and the spear seemed in his hand but a reed, or afeather. The shrill war-whoop burst unconsciously from his lips, andhis nostrils seemed dilated with the fire and impatience of anewly-awakened courage. The heart of the fond Indian girl dissolvedin tears, when she saw these proofs of strength and those evidences ofspirit, which, she knew, if they were coupled with valour--and howcould she doubt the completeness of the gift to effect the purposes ofthe giver!--would thaw the iced feelings of her father, and tune hisheart to the song of forgiveness. Yet, it was not without many fears, and tears, and misgivings, on the part of the maiden, that they begantheir march for the Maha village. The lover, now a stranger to fear, used his endeavours to quiet the beautiful Tatoka, and in some measuresucceeded. 

Upon finding that his daughter and her lover had gone to the Hill ofthe Spirits, and that Shongotongo did not return from his perilousadventure, the chief of the Mahas had recalled his Braves from thepursuit, and was listening to the history of the pair, as far as thereturned warriors were acquainted with it, when his daughter and herlover made their appearance. With a bold and fearless step the oncefaint-hearted Karkapaha walked up to the offended father, and, foldinghis arms on his breast, stood erect as a pine, and motionless as thattree when the winds of the earth are chained above the clouds. It wasthe first time that Karkapaha had ever looked on angry men withouttrembling, and a demeanour so unusual in him excited universalsurprise. 

"Karkapaha is a thief, " said the White Crane. 

"It is the father of my beautiful and beloved Tatoka that says it, "answered the lover; "else would Karkapaha say it was the song of abird that has flown over. "

"My warriors say it. "

"Your warriors are singing-birds; they are wrens; Karkapaha says theydo not speak the truth. --Karkapaha has the heart of a tiger, and thestrength of a bear; let the Braves try him. He has thrown away thewoman's heart; he has become a man. "

"Karkapaha _is_ changed, " said the chief thoughtfully, "but when, and how?"

"The Little Spirits of the Mountain have given him a new soul. Bidyour Braves draw this bow; bid them poise this spear. Their eyes saythey can do neither. Then is Karkapaha the strong man of his tribe;"and as he said this he flourished the ponderous spear over his head asa man would poise a reed, and drew the bow as a child would bend awillow twig. 

"Karkapaha is the husband of Tatoka, " said Mahtoree, springing to hisfeet, and he gave the beautiful maiden to her lover. The traditionarylore of the Mahas is full of the exploits, both in war and the chase, of Karkapaha, who was made a man by the Spirits of the Mountain. 

THE VALLEY OF THE BRIGHT OLD INHABITANTS. 

On the northern branch of the river of the Cherokees, the mostnumerous and powerful tribe of the south, there are two high mountainsnearly covered with mossy rocks, and lofty cedars, and pines. Thesemountains, rugged and terrible to behold, are made yet more fearful tothe mind of the red man of the forest, who sees the Great Being in theclouds, and hears him in the winds, and fancies a spirit in everything that moves, by the horrid sights and awful sounds which proceedfrom them. Often, as the sun sinks behind those mountains, persons whohave their eyes intently fixed upon them will see lofty forms whoseheads stretch far into the sky, standing upon their summits, oroftener leaping from one mountain to the other clean across the widevalley which separates them. Those shapes we can see wear the shape ofman, yet their actions do not seem to belong to a race of mortals, andwe deem them spirits--giant spirits, which never had the sinews, andbones, and muscle, and flesh, of men. And often, in the midnighthour, the listener hears sounds proceeding from those mountains--thewhispers of love, the loud tones of strife, or the merry ones ofjoy--laughing and weeping--wooing and strife--expressing all thevarious passions and emotions which find a place in the bosoms ofmortals. With these mighty spirits no mortal hath had communication, for they never leave the mountain--and who shall dare approach theirvillages? No one has heard their story, no one knows their creator, nor when they were born, nor when they shall die, if death beappointed to them. They have lived in mystery: showing their forms asthe trunk of a decayed, and branch-less tree shows itself from out amorning mist, and raising their voices but as a thunder-cloud insummer, they will depart as a spirit departs, noiselessly, and go noone knows whither. 

Between these two lofty and dreaded mountains, there is a deep valley, or rather a succession of deep valleys, for the occurrence at shortspaces of low hills breaks the continuousness of that with which thespace between those mountains commences. In these valleys the beams ofthe sun are concentrated and drawn together, creating at times a heatso great, that nothing can live in them but those reptiles, which areripened and fattened to full growth only by suns which scorch likefire. In these same valleys have dwelt, ever since the earth was firstplaced on the back of the great tortoise, those Kind Old Kings, the_Bright Old Inhabitants_(1), which are rattlesnakes of a mostprodigious size, possessed of singular properties, and endowed withtremendous and fearful powers. It is death to venture within theirlimits, and equally fatal to displease them. So well convinced are thepeople of my nation of their power to inflict an instant and dreadfuldeath on all, that no temptation can induce them to betray theirsecret recesses to the wanton stranger. They well know that, if theydo so, they shall be exposed to the unceasing attacks of all theinferior species of snakes who love their kings, which are theseBright Old Inhabitants, and know by instinct those who injure, orattempt to injure them. They know that, let but those kings issuetheir commands, there is not a snake that crawls but will open hismouth or use his sting to inflict the greatest possible degree ofvengeance in his power on the enemies and oppressors of those whom heloves and obeys. Hence the place of residence of the Kind Old Kings iskept a secret by our people. For a long time they did not know itthemselves, and only became acquainted with it when the occurrencetook place which I am about to relate to my brother. 

Once upon a time, many years ago, there lived among the Cherokees aman who was neither a warrior nor a hunter, yet was the mostcelebrated man of his nation, and further known than its proudestwarrior or most expert hunter. He was a priest, and knew the secretways, and the will, and the wishes, of his master, the Great Spirit. Not only was he skilled in the wisdom of the land of souls, but he waslearned in matters which affect the dwellers in the body. He knew howto cure the ailments of the body, as well as to give answers to thequestions which related to the ways and doings of the Being above all. He could tell at what time in the morning men should go to the Hill ofPrayer, with clay on their heads, to cry for mercy and aid, and whenthey should repair to the Cave of Sacrifice, to gather the will of theGreat Spirit from the hollow voice[A] within it. He alone, of all themighty nation of the Cherokees, had seen that Spirit; he alone hadheard him speak, and to none other would that Spirit deign to listen, or to give reply. Chepiasquit, for that was the name of this famouspriest, was indeed a very wise man, and his sayings were reckoned ofscarcely less authority then the words of his master. Whatever he saidhad a weight which other men's words had not; and all his actions, however trifling in their nature, were magnified into actions ofimportance, and became invested with a character, which did notbelong to those of men in other respects more gifted than he. Yet theunbounded respect in which his nation held him was not undeserved. Wisdom he possessed, and he used it to the furthering of theinterests, and the advancing of the happiness, of his people. If theywanted rain, they asked Chepiasquit for it, and he gave it to them. Iftoo much fell, they had only to complain to him, and the cloudswitheld their floods, and the waters were locked up in the hollow ofthe hand of him that created them. If the thunders were heard to rollawfully, and the fearful lightnings were seen to flash along the blacksky, they spoke to Chepiasquit, who uttered a short prayer to Him whocontrouls the elements as well as man, and all became hushed andstill; the black clouds passed away, and the bright stars looked outfrom their places of rest in the clear blue sky. All things seemedobedient to him, when he chose to open his lips in supplication to hismaster. The fame which he had acquired by this intimacy and friendshipwith the Great Spirit was the means of giving peace to his nation. Hisreputation being spread far and near, no tribe durst try theirstrength in war, or measure their weapons in combat, with a people whowere possessed of such a friend, protector, leader, and priest. So theCherokees rested in peace, and the earth was no more made red withblood, but wore the robe which nature provided for it--the robe ofgreen. They planted their corn in the Budding-Moon, and lived to seeit harvested in the Moon of Falling Leaves. They left the doors oftheir cabins unlatched at night, and the sentinel slept as sound andas long as the new-born babe. Their arrows were eaten up by the rustof sloth and inactivity, and the strings of their bows were rotted bythe mildew of carelessness and idleness. The aged met not now in thegreat council-house, to plan distant expeditions, or frustrateexpected invasions; the youth spent their time in courting andmarrying. The fame of Chepiasquit changed the character of the nationfrom warlike to peaceable, and banished from the land the vulture ofwar and havoc, to give place to the dove of peace and tranquillity. 

[Footnote A: Hollow voice--echo. ]

Four wives had this wise priest; they bore him many children: but, great as was his power with the Master of the World, it did not enablehim to obtain for them a continuance of life beyond the second moon oftheir birth. All, save one, died while they were yet swinging in theircradles of willow-bark from the bough of the tree--that one, adaughter, was spared to his entreaties and prayers. Winona, or thefirst-born, for that was the name bestowed on the child, grew up inthe cabin of her father, beautiful beyond any maiden that ever gracedthe nation of Cherokees. How shall I describe to my brother from thefar country the matchless charms of Chepiasquit's virgin daughter!Shall I tell him that her eyes were the eyes of the mountain kid, andher hair long and glossier than the plumage of the raven, and herteeth white and even, and her hand delicate and plump, and her footsmall and speedy? Shall I say that her voice was joyful as the voiceof a mated bird in spring, and her temper cheerful, sweet, mild, kind, and always the same? Shall I increase his admiration for the beautifulcreature, by telling him that she best loved to sit by the quiethearth of her parents, leaving it to lighter and less amiable maidensto rove on idle errands and frivolous pursuits through the village. For, let my brother learn, she was that wonder, a woman, contented andhappy in her own house, with none but her own father to listen orreply. During the long evenings of the period when the sun is awayfrom the earth for so great a portion of the day, she would sit on hersoft couch of skins and dried moss, listening to the tales he wouldrepeat of the wonderful things he had seen and heard; the dreams ofstrange and fearful creatures which had troubled his hours of sleep, and the actual appearance to him, when sleep was far from his eyelids, of beings or phantoms not of this world; and the traditions whichtold of the love, or hatred, or favour, or punishment, of the GreatSpirit--of his bounties sent to the Cherokees, when famine reared hisgaunt form among them, or of wrath provoked, and punishment inflicted, when pride dwelt in their villages, when their thoughts were far fromhim, when no clay was put on their heads, when the tender and juicyflesh of the deer smoked not in his sacrifice. Wars he had seen, though he had left victory to be achieved by others, for he had been aman of peace. To the tales of her beloved father would the fair maidenlisten with great delight, for they accorded with the belief inwonderful events and supernatural appearances, which is earlyimpressed on the mind of every Indian, and never leaves him but withlife. She would sit for hours with her little head rested on her palm, her whole soul absorbed by the wild narratives, which, during the longseason of winter, are related to while away the hours spared from warand the chace. 

Beloved with a greater degree of affection than is usually felt evenamong those whose lives are little subject to the incidents whichweaken or destroy attachments, the beautiful daughter of the Cherokeepriest grew up to womanhood, the cherished idol of all her friends, the boast and pride of the nation. The young and ardent Braves soughther hand in marriage; but she was deaf to all their entreaties andprotestations, and refused all their offers. Yet she did it with somuch kindness, and said so many sweet words to blunt the severity ofthe refusal, that all her lovers became her friends, and each, withaffectionate kindness, blended with the bold bearing of one who sayswhat he knows he has courage to perform, promised that his lovemellowed into friendship should remain firmly fixed in his heart, andthat he would defend its object, should danger cross her path, as longas strength was given him to carry a spear. The rejection by the fairWinona of so many youths, most of whom were deemed worthy of herchoice, gave the father pain; but he loved his daughter too well towish to make her unhappy by a marriage with one she did not love. Hehad seen--and who does not?--that the bird selects for its mate thebird it likes best; that love and affection go to the pairing of allcreatures, save man and woman; and that only with them is it a practiceto bind together, and fetter for life, those whose hearts are farapart. And he knew, that the Great Spirit disliked that force orconstraint should be used in affairs of this kind. So, in obedience tothe will of his master, as well as the dictates of his own reason, and the affection he bore her, he permitted his lovely and gentlechild to remain unmarried in his house. 

But it was not decreed by him who governs all things that thebeautiful maiden should always remain a stranger to the delightfulpains and agonising pleasures of love. It was in the second month ofspring, when all nature feels the influence of the returning sun, whenbirds are carolling on every spray, and the grass and flowers arewaking up from their long and chilled, sleep, and the joyous deer isout to nip the young buds, that a company of young hunters from thedistant but far-famed nation of the Muscogulgees, passing through thelands of the Cherokees, stopped for rest and refreshment, and to trythe strength of our young men in the exercises which youth love, atthe village in which the father of the beautiful maiden abode. Theseyoung hunters were the flower of that valiant nation, bred up topursue with equal courage and ardour the savage bear into his fearfulretreats, and the foe, notwithstanding his treacherous ambuscades, through the dark and almost impervious forest. War was their naturaland most beloved pursuit; but now they had doffed their martialhabiliments, wiped off their war-paint, and taken up the bow and spearto pursue the peaceful occupation of hunting. The leader of thisyouthful band of Muscogulgees, was a tall and stately youth, formed inthe noblest and most animated mould of the human form, straight as ayoung cedar, with eyes that indicated the fire of his soul, and brow, and cheek, and lip, that showed the mildness of his heart. With asmall eagle feather, the badge of his chieftainship in his hair, hisrobe of dressed deer-skin thrown lightly over his shoulder, at whichhung his bow and well filled quiver, he walked among the admiringyouths and maidens of our nation, a thing to be feared, dreaded, andloved. He and his company of chosen young Braves now received thewelcome, and experienced, the hospitality, which, in every situation, and at every season, the red man of the forest offers to those whovisit him. They were feasted and caressed by each and all. The paintedpole was erected and the feast prepared, that an opportunity might beafforded them of recounting their exploits in the ears of thelistening Braves of our nation; the wrestling ring was formed, thattheir skill and strength, if they possessed such, in that exercise, might be shown; games of chance were appointed, that the favour of theGreat Spirit, and the strength of the protecting _okkis_ of eachnation and individual, might be demonstrated. In every undertaking, was the superior skill and strength of the youthful leader of theMuscogulgee band made apparent. In the wrestling ring, the strongestman of the Cherokees was but a child in his hands; his voice, in thesong of his own exploits, and the recital of the glories of hisnation, was sweeter than the sighing of the gentlest spring wind, andclearer than the prattling music of the waterfall. In the games whichwere played he was equally successful, and he rose from the _match ofstraws_ winner of half the valued treasures and trophies of theopposing Braves. Was it strange, that one so bold and brave shouldingratiate himself with the beautiful maidens of our tribe? Was itstrange, that bright eyes should glisten with tears, and soft bosomsbe filled with throbs, and red lips be fraught with sighs, when theGuard of the Red Arrows passed before the eyes of beauty? Was it anything to excite especial wonder, that the beautiful daughter of thepriest should suffer the fires of love to be lit in her tender bosom?or that the valiant and handsome Muscogulgee should think her thefairest creature he had ever seen, should reciprocate the soft passionwhich glowed in her bosom, and wish to transfer the lovely flower ofthe Cherokees from the cabin of her father to his distant home?

The Guard of the Red Arrows said to the father of the maiden, "I loveyour daughter. Her bright black eyes, and long black locks, hermelodious voice, and her gentleness, and her sweet temper, and herwinning air, have caught my heart, as a bird is entangled in the snareof the fowler, or a deer entrapped in the toils of the hunter. She hasbecome the light of my soul--when I see her not, all is darkness. Ihave no eyes but for her; my ears drink in no other accents than hers;my last thought when I sink to rest is of the beautiful Fawn, my firstwhen I awake of the bright-eyed little maiden who gits by thecabin-fire of the wise priest of her nation. I hare opened my heart tothis charming maiden, and have heard from her lips a soft confessionof her love for the Muscogulgee. She consents to leave the house ofher father, and the home of her childhood, to go, with the Guard ofthe Red Arrows, to the cabin he has built himself beside the beautifuland rapid river of his nation. "

The father answered, "I cannot spare my daughter to go to the far homeof him who asks her hand. She is the light of my eyes, and the joy ofmy heart. What would her mother say, and how should I answer the fondquestions which, with eyes streaming with tears, she would ask, if Ipermitted the little fawn she has nursed with so much care to go forthto a distant land--to be in the morning of her youth separated fromall her friends and companions, and taken to a new and unknown abode?Gloom would be in my cabin, and tears would rush from the eyes, thatfor seventeen harvests have been accustomed to see the gentle maidenperforming her acts of dutiful kindness, and gliding with a footnoiseless as snow around the couches of her beloved parents. We shouldlisten in the morning for the carol of the sweetest of all birds, andmiss in the evening the tread of the lightest mortal foot that everbrushed the dew from the flowers of the prairie. There would be onemissing from the repast of meat; one from the dance of maidens beneaththe shady oak; one from the couch of moss where we sleep. No, Muscogulgee! I cannot spare the fawn. How should I answer the fondquestions of her mother, when, with eyes streaming with tears, sheshould ask me for her daughter? When I told her the truth, she wouldcry, 'Hard and cruel man! thou hast torn from me the darling of myheart, the idol of my soul. --What shall become of me--of thee, thusdeprived of our sweet child?' No, Muscogulgee! I must refuse thee mydaughter. And yet, if thou wilt renounce thine own nation, and comeand take up thy residence in the native land of her thou lovest, orpretendest to love, the maiden shall be thine. Thou shalt have a cabinbuilt beside my own, and, as is our Indian wont, the friends of thybride shall place within it all the household implements needed in oursimple life. Her friends shall be thy friends, and her father thyfather, and her mother thy mother. When there is thunder and darknessin the sky of the Cherokees, it shall thunder and be dark in the skyof the Muscogulgee sojourner among them, and with whomsoever theCherokees have buried the hatchet of war, and made a league of amity, with that tribe or people shall the Muscogulgee keep terms of peace. "

The Muscogulgee answered, as became him, that "his father, and hismother, and his brothers, and his sisters, and all the friends of hisyouth, were dwelling in the land of his birth--the land of hisfather's bones--how could he quit it? Why should he fly hisfather-land, a land pleasant to look upon, and healthful to live in, abounding in quiet glades where the deer loved to browze, in pleasantstreams filled with fish, in smooth and tranquil lakes, fanned by thewings of the innumerable fowls which went thither for food. Much as heloved the beautiful flower of the Cherokees, and much as he wished tomake her his bride, he could not become an exile to obtain her. Whyshould her father object to her following the steps of him she loved, and who would be unto her father, mother, sister, brother, friend, inthat one word _husband_?"

And thus pleaded the lover, but he pleaded in vain, for the fatherremained deaf to his entreaties and prayers. Not so the daughter. Shehad drunk the sweet poison of his words, and, when he clasped her tohis breast, felt that there was more bliss in that clasp than could becommunicated by the kindest words, and fondest looks, and richestgifts, of those who were the authors of her being. She heard his fondwords, and believed them true; she saw his face, and knew it fair, andshe trusted him. It was agreed between them, that when the moon hadhid herself behind the lofty woods which skirted the village of herbirth, she should fly from the house of her father, with the Guard ofthe Red Arrows, to the cabin he had built him beside the beautifulriver of his nation. But they forgot--these fond and foolishlovers!--that the Great Spirit was the friend of Chepiasquit, and madehim acquainted with all the secret doings of those who would harm him, or interfere with his family concerns. They forgot, --simplechildren!--that the wise powwow had but to feel the stirring of theant under the skin of the left hand, when, binding over his eyes thehide of a young badger, and laying his head upon a pillow composed ofthe leaves of the black hornbeam, the Manitou of Dreams would makeknown to him every machination of his enemies. The plans of theyouthful pair for flight were soon revealed to the cunning powwow byhis faithful spirit, and he arose in the morning, knowing what thenight would bring forth, and fully prepared to punish the attemptswhich were to be made against the peace of his family. He made allthose careful preparations for impending danger which a wise andprudent chief should make. He shut up his daughter in his lodge, and, calling around him the Braves of his nation, he made them acquaintedwith the designs of the Muscogulgee, and bade them keep guard aroundthe endangered cabin and its coveted treasure, but on no account--ifit could be dispensed with--to do harm to the strangers. Havingprepared to oppose violence by violence, if need should be, he, wishing to prevent bloodshed, for he was a man of peace, called to himthe lover of his daughter, and addressed him thus:

"I did say thou couldst not have my daughter, but upon onecondition--I recall my word, and add thereto a second. She shall be, with the consent of her father, the companies of thy homeward journey, if thy heart be strong enough to undertake one quest, and it be thewill of the Great Spirit that thou be spared to accomplish it. Let thevaliant Muscogulgee, who has man written on his brow and eye, thoughthe down on his cheek proclaims him boy, listen to the words of thefather of Winona, and remember that the manifestation of a strongheart, at this time, may avail much to gain him the object he soardently covets. 

"Between the two mountains which rear their lofty heads on thenorthern branch of the river of the Cherokees, there is a deep valley, in which the beams of the sun, being concentrated and drawn together, create a heat so insupportable that nothing can live there but thosereptiles, which are ripened and fattened to full growth only by fervidand burning suns. In these deep valleys have dwelt, ever since thebeginning of the world, those Bright Old Inhabitants, the chiefs andfathers of the rattlesnakes, who are called by our nation the "KindOld Kings, " being, indeed, the sovereigns of all the tribes or speciesof snakes to be found on the earth. It has been death to venturewithin their limits, and almost as fatal to displease them by speakingill of them, or by harming any of their subjects. Hence we knownothing of their villages, or their numbers, or their policy--whetherthey die like ourselves, or if the copy of nature be eternal in them. These things would I know; but above all would I know if the lightswhich shine so transcendently in those valleys be, as many say, theeyes of those Kind Old Kings, or be substances not connected withthem--precious stones lit up by the beams of the sun, or dazzlingmeteors shining by their own light. Go, brave young man, visit thisvalley; confer with the wise old reptiles that inhabit it: above allsee if the lights which illumine it be the eyes of those snakes, ordazzling meteors shining by their own light, or precious stones lit upby the beams of the sun. And thou must bring me a tooth from the jawof a living king, and a rattle from his tail, and an eye from hisskull. When thou shalt bring us an account of these things, the handof my daughter shall accompany her heart, and the one shall become, asthe other hath been, the property of the valiant Muscogulgee. But, until thou hast performed the required task, my daughter remainsguarded in my cabin. "

The Muscogulgee heard the words of the father, and grief filled hissoul. He had heard--for who in those wilds was ignorant of thetradition?--of the "bright old inhabitants, " and he knew how deadlythe enmity which they bear to those who trespass upon their sacred andsecluded retreats. He knew that, in undertaking this invasion of theirsolitudes, small chance remained to him of escaping death from theirdreadful fangs. Though they were called the Kind Old Kings, they wereknown not to deserve that appellation when just cause was given foranger. These considerations presented themselves to the youngMuscogulgee, but they did not appal him. He loved the beautifuldaughter of the priest, and, deeming that life passed without herwould not be worth possessing, he determined to attempt the task whichwould end it, or give to his arms the object of his love, the brightand blooming Cherokee maiden. So he made answer to Chepiasquit, thathe would do, or attempt to do, the thing required of him, and receivedfrom the wise old _powwow_ a renewal of his promise, that the maidenshould be his when his task should be accomplished. Then, turning tohis companions, who had gathered around him, he bade them returnimmediately to the land of the Muscogulgees, and impart to his friendsa knowledge of the hazardous expedition which he had undertaken. Andthen, in the presence of her father and mother, he bade adieu to theblushing maiden, who received, with many tears, the kiss of affectionupon her soft cheek, and raised her wet eyes in speechless prayer tothe Great Spirit that he might be returned to her arms. 

The powwow said to the Muscogulgee, "Thou hast undertaken a fearfulthing, and one which I warn thee will require much and deep thoughtand caution, and great valour and wisdom. Thou shalt have my aid andcounsel, but they may not avail so much as thine own steadiness ofsoul, and strength of arm. Nevertheless, I will give thee a charm, apotent charm, and see thou rememberest my directions for its use. "

So saying, he drew forth from his basket of amulets the skin of amountain cat, in which was a medicine, compounded of those powerfulsubstances which nature furnishes, to enable men to acquire commandover their own and the inferior species. There were the vine whichnever bore fruit, the dry cones of the pine, steeped in the dew thatdrops from the leaves of the mountain-laurel, the claws of the tiger, the teeth of the alligator, the thighbone of the tortoise, and theribs of the snail, reduced to a powder, and mixed up with waterdropped from the shell of the butternut, through the ochre of war. Thewise master of the spell had drawn from field, and forest, earth, air, and water, from beast and bird, and fish and reptile, and insect andtree, and flower and fruit, all the various properties which have anagency in subduing things to the will of him, to whom those propertieshave been taught. From these he had compounded a medicine, the mightypower of which was unknown even to himself. Placing this amulet inthe hands of the wondering youth, he bade him remember to repeat aloudthe following words, and in the following manner, should he deem therewas occasion for its use. "I am lost! I am lost! save me! save me! Inthe name of the seven men that were bewildered in a foggy morning, andcooked for the breakfast of the Kind Old Kings, I call upon thee, Maiden in Green, to protect me from the like fate. " The youthful loverreceived the sacred amulet, with all the reverence which it ought toinspire, and, before the great star of day had sunk to sleep behindthe hills of the west, he had slung his bow and quiver to hisshoulder, and taken up the line of his march to the fated valley. 

Travelling onward with great expedition, he came near the close of thenext day to the entrance of the eventful spot. He saw the highmountains covered with mossy rocks, and tall cedars, and pines, andbeheld the "lofty forms, whose heads stretched far into the sky, " andheard the sounds which proceeded from their lips, the soft whispers oflove, the loud tones of strife, or the merry ones of joy, laughing andweeping, wooing and strife, signs that they were possessed of thevarious passions and emotions which find a place in the breasts ofmortals. Between these mountains lay the deep valley spoken of, butwhat it was which glittered and glistened in it, he knew not. Whateverit was, it shone with a splendour which eclipsed the meridian beams ofthe sun. The whole space between the two mountains seemed a glare oflight, which dazzled even more than the fiercest glare of noon in theMonth of Thunder. What still more astonished and perplexed the youthwas, that the light seemed of various colours, ever changing, neverfor a moment wearing the same appearance. Now it wore the hue of themaple leaf in autumn, now of the tuft of the blue heron--now it waspurple, now green, now yellow, and then it seemed a mixture of themall, a blending of all the colours ever beheld into one. Astonishedand dismayed, but still determined to win the hand of the beautifulWinona or perish, the Guard of the Red Arrows undauntedly entered thevalley, and approached the scene of wondrous splendour. Moving withgreat difficulty, for the entrance was overrun with briars and manyother vicious impediments, he came all at once to a clear field, andbeheld what had so enchanted and spell-bound at a distance--what sofilled with horror now it was nearer beheld. He saw the earth coveredwith rattlesnakes of a more enormous size than any ever beheld by man, ay, beyond what even his imagination had pictured in his mostrestless and diseased hours of sleep. The bodies of many of them werelarger than the trunks of the largest forest trees, and so unwieldythat, when they would turn round, they were compelled to take a circlealmost as wide as their length. But bountiful nature, which alwayscompensates for a defect or disadvantage by adding an excellence, madeup for the heavy motion of their bodies by bestowing upon them thepower of irresistible fascination. She gave to them an eye--to each asingle eye--placing it in the centre of their foreheads, possessingthe power to draw to them every living creature. It was this eye whichemitted the wonderful light which had so dazzled the Muscogulgee at adistance, and still more dazzled now that he was within reach of thehorrid fascination. These eyes were of every possible colour, and thelight they sent forth was as various as the colour of the eyes. Norcould the colour of any one of those eyes be set down as positivelythis or that, for each moment was it changing. Now the green eyebecame blue as the midnight sky--look again, it was yellow as thefallen leaf; a fourth time, the scarlet hue was entering upon oneside, while the yellow was retreating from the other, leaving themiddle a strange combination of both. Long might the Muscogulgee havegazed on the brilliant, but terrible scene--a field, stretchingfarther than the eye could reach, and all covered with immense snakes, hissing with a sound loud as the roar of the tempest, shaking theirrattles with a noise like thunder, the while their eyes emitted thelight which he shuddered to look at, and yet, such was their power offascination, he was unable to turn from--long, I repeat, might he havegazed on the scene, but he found himself irresistibly impelled toenter the field of light. His feet were irresistibly drawn forward, his mouth was opened to deprecate the anger of the Great Being, hishands were upraised at what he knew must be instant destruction, foralready were their dreadful jaws expanded, and their hideous tongues, red as burning coals, twinkling with a motion so quick that it seemedbut the soul of a vapour, when he bethought himself of the charm givento him by the wise priest, and drew it forth. Bowing, as he wasbidden, to the spirit of storms, who rules the east, to the kindgenius of the south, to the master of the west wind, and to the NorthStar, which is the best friend of hunters and bewildered men, hethrice called upon the Great Spirit, crying in a loud voice, "I amlost! I am lost! save me! save me! In the name of the seven men whowere bewildered in a foggy morning, and cooked for the breakfast ofthe Kind Old Kings, I call upon thee, Maiden in Green, to protect mefrom a like fate. " Is my brother prepared to hear what was the effectproduced by these words? Does he wish to know if that shrill crycalled up a being unable to protect him, or if the rattles werestilled, and the jaws were closed, and if darkness was imparted tothose glittering eyes, and silence to those wicked tongues? Listen. 

There came to the ears of the Muscogulgee youth, from the summit ofthe Northern mountains, a sound of distant thunder, which in a momentwas succeeded by the sweetest song that ever was breathed upon mortalears. He could not distinguish all the words, but he heard enough toteach him that it was a song of supplication to the Great Spirit for a"brave and good Muscogulgee hunter, about to be caught in the fangs ofthe Kind Old Kings. " The moment the thunder and the song were heard, the rattles were still, the bright eyes sent forth no more light, andthe fiery tongues retreated within the closed and recumbent jaws. Ofall that body of hideous reptiles not one seemed to be imbued withbreath. Nearer and nearer came the song, and as it came the hunterfancied that it was the music of a being moving level with the earth, if not beneath its surface. He was right. Soon, in the grass at hisfeet, appeared a little snake scarcely thicker than his little finger, and not longer than the space between his hand and his shoulder. Thecolours of this little reptile were as various and beautiful as thoseof the eyes of the Kind Old Kings, but these were fixed and permanent, those as I have said changeable and changing as a woman's mind. Thehead was green, the sides were yellow, the belly white, down its backran two red stripes, and there were rings of bright crimson around itstail. Elevating its head as it drew near, it remained stationary andsilent for a moment, and then addressed the Muscogulgee in thesewords:--

"I am the spirit raised by the potent _medicine_ of the Cherokee priest;and, invoked by thy call, I have hastened hither at thy cry of distress, to tell thee thou art not _lost_. Though thou didst a foolish thing tocome to this valley of death, and he, at whose bidding the thing wasundertaken, a wicked one in sending thee, yet thou shalt not die thistime. I am the Maiden in Green, the ruling Spirit of both mountain andvalley, having power over even the Bright Old Inhabitants, and theyshall not harm thee. Thou art, if I remember right, commanded, as theprice of the beautiful daughter of the Cherokee _powwow_, to carry tohim a tooth from the jaw of a living King and a rattle from his tail, and an eye from his skull; and to report of sundry things notnecessary to be named. Thou shalt have my aid to accomplish thesethings. "

So saying, the Maiden in Green re-commenced her song, the while makinga circuit around the prisoner at a small distance from him. When shehad finished the circuit, she changed her song to one which seemed asong of reproach and threatening. Whatever was the subject, it had theeffect of rekindling the Bright Old Inhabitants to their former stateof wrath. Their eyes were relit with the glittering beams, and thehissing and the rattling re-commenced. Seemingly determined to takeinstant vengeance upon the intruder, they were now seen making suchhaste as their natural tardiness admitted of, towards the Muscogulgee. From every part of the valley heads could be seen displaying forkedtongues, and all pressing towards the alarmed warrior. But he stoodinvulnerable to them, though he knew it not, within the charmed circlemade by his protecting spirit. Their powers of fascination had beentaken away by the Maiden in Green, or rather the counter-fascination, which kept him within the charmed space, was more powerful than theinfluence of their eyes. 

Calling to one of the largest of the Kind Old Kings to come near, theMaiden in Green spoke to him thus:--"This youth is a brave youth, andhe is a Muscogulgee. He loves the beautiful daughter of the _powwow_Chepiasquit, and has asked her of her father to wife. The father hasimposed on him the task to visit your valley, and make report whetheryour eyes are dazzling meteors, or precious stones. And he has biddenhim bring a tooth from the jaw of a living King, and a rattle from histail, and an eye from his skull, the which, being faithfully and fullyaccomplished, entitles him to claim, as a pledged boon, the hand ofthe lovely Winona. What say you, chief of the kings, shall he returnand be made happy?"

The chief of the kings answered that he knew of no one who wouldwillingly spare an eye, or a tooth, or a rattle. For himself, he hadfound them all of use, and could spare neither eye, tooth, nor rattle. And he bade the Spirit remember, that though queen of both valley andmountain, her sway extended but to protect, and not to injure. She hadno right to demand from the Kind Old Kings a thing which shouldinflict pain or death upon them. And did she not know that, wheneverone of those eyes of light should be carried beyond the limits of thevalley, the transcendent power and brightness which their owners nowpossessed should be enjoyed by them no more. Such was the will of theGreat Being; strange that the Maiden in Green should be ignorant of it. 

The Spirit answered that she knew not this, yet she was prepared tosay that the decree should be revoked, if they would, without anyfurther molestation, impart to the Muscogulgee the requiredinformation, and bestow upon him the gift which would make him happyand prosperous in his suit to the Cherokee maiden. Should they favourhis request, brilliancy should be added to, rather than taken from, their eyes, and their rattles should grow in size, and increase innumber and speed of motion. But, if they refused to grant him theboon, the eye, and the tooth, and the rattle, should be taken fromthem by force, whereby they would lose the benefit of having donesomething to be thanked for. 

Upon hearing this, the chief of the Wise Old Kings called a council ofhis nation. I know not what was said in this council, but I can tellmy brother what was done. They drew lots among them, and he upon whomthe lot fell submitted to lose an eye, and a tooth, and a rattle. Having given these to the Muscogulgee, the eldest of the Kingsinstructed him in their history, their laws, and their policy, replying particularly to the questions suggested by the Cherokee_powwow_. 

"We were created, " said he, "after all the other beings were created, and were formed from the variegated sand which is found on the shoresof the distant Lake of the Woods. It was in a pleasant and sunnymorning in the Buck-Moon, that the Great Spirit, having nothing elseto do, amused himself, as he sat in the warm sun on the bank of thislake, with twisting ropes of those particoloured sands. Havingtwisted, in mere sport, a considerable number, and laid them aside, itcame to his mind that amidst all the variety of creatures he hadformed, whose means of locomotion were walking, flying, swimming, hopping, trotting, running, there were none ordained to movealtogether by crawling. 'Now, ' said he to himself, 'if I were breatheinto these ropes the breath of life, and to invest them with the powerto run about, would it not be a sight worth seeing?--would it notcreate a deal of sport among the other animals? But I will make themmore wonderful yet. '

"So saying, he selected a number of small round stones, of which hethrust several into one end of the ropes. Before him, upon the shore, were scattered many stones of different hues, but all of surpassingbrilliancy, and each outshining the beams of the meridian sun. Heplaced one of these shining gems in the other end of each rope, andthen blew upon them until they exhibited signs of life. When the ropesbegan to move, their strange and zigzag motions, and the rattling oftheir tails, excited the mirth of the Great Being, who laughed loudand long at the oddity he had formed. That portion of them to which hehad given rattles and the shining eye were appointed rulers over allthe other and inferior species of snakes. And he bade them rememberthat he had formed them to crawl in the dust all the days of theirlives, and on no account to attempt an upright posture. 'But, ' saidhe, as he concluded the word which bade them be ever of the dust, 'this is no place for your tribes. Ye are a thin-skinned, or rather askinless race, and should have a habitation and a name only wherefervid suns beam, and the frosts and snows of winter are little known. Ye could never reach that land if left to your own exertions--I mustassist you. ' So saying, he gathered all the new-born reptiles into hishand, and, hiding them in the folds of his robe, took his departuretowards the warm regions of the South. A few hours sufficed to bringhim to the valley which we now occupy, and here he committed us, andall the tribes over which we are appointed rulers, to the fosteringcare of the bright and glorious star of day. Having created us, andbreathed into us the breath of life, he bade us, as he had done allthe other creatures, each, for the future, to provide for his ownwants. We who carried the rattles were to live for ever; all theothers were to die at an appointed time. We were commanded never toleave the valley, and, as a compensation for being restricted in ourwalks, we were to exercise for ever dominion over all the otherspecies of snakes. And, as a protection from those who might wage awar of invasion against us, our eyes were gifted with the power tofascinate, and attract to us, every living creature that came withinthe scope of their vision, save those who were specially favoured bythe Spirit of the Mountain. And thus it is. We, the Kind Old Kings, are the identical ropes of sand which were twisted in the beginning ofthe world by the Maker of all; those of small stature, which ye seearound us, are our children, and the children of our children. _They_die, but to us who carry the dazzling eyes, death is not appointed. Yet we increase in stature, and shall continue increasing in stature, till the Great Tortoise upon which the earth reposes shall sink intothe endless abyss of waters, carrying with him that earth and all itsnumerous creatures. 

"You may thank the Spirit of the Mountain, Muscogulgee, for your life. It was forfeited, and would have been taken, but for the interventionof the Maiden in Green. You may now return--the bearer of what neverbefore left the valley of the Bright Old Inhabitants--an eye, and atooth, and a rattle--wisdom gathered from my words, and instructionfrom my lips. They shall not avail him for whom they are intended, since their possession would convey to him a power which the GreatSpirit would not--could not, without danger to himself--permit amortal to exercise. I hand you a tooth: already does the great_powwow_ of the Cherokees feel, with the increase of the strength ofhis mind, the decrease of the strength of his body: here is therattle, his strength is ebbing away; the eye, I behold him helpless onthe bed of death. His face is bright with the wisdom and knowledgeimparted by the gifts he hath obtained from us, but, alas! his tongueis nerveless, he may not communicate the knowledge he hath gained. Hasten back in peace, Muscogulgee, deliver to him the gifts which sealhis fate and thine--his, to die ere the moon be two days older--thine, to gain the maiden thou so ardently longest for, and with her todescend the stream of time, loving and beloved--the happiest of thehappy. But, remember, let none of thy race or name presume again tovisit this valley, lest the most dreadful fate be theirs. "

So spoke the eldest of the Wise Old Kings, and his words wererepeated by all his brothers. They permitted the Muscogulgee to departin peace, and he returned to the village of the Cherokee priest. Hedelivered the gifts as he had been directed, and witnessed the end hehad been taught to expect. He saw the countenance of the _powwow_lighted up with intelligence more than mortal, but, at the delivery ofeach gift, he beheld a third part of the vigour of animal life fadeaway, as the eye, the bright, the unfading, but fatal eye, was placedin his trembling hand, he saw the spark of life quivering like a lampin the socket. The priest had just time to beckon to him his lovelydaughter, when, placing her hand in that of the Muscogulgee youth, heexpired. 

Brother, I am a Muscogulgee, and my mother was the beautiful daughterof the Cherokee priest, and my father the brave youth who adventuredinto the valley of the Bright Old Inhabitants. I have done. 

NOTE. 

(1) _Valley of the Bright Old Inhabitants. _--p. 225. 

Several of the Indian nations believe themselves descended fromrattlesnakes, and all, more or less, profess relationship with thatreptile. A Seneca chief told me that his maternal ancestor was amaiden rattlesnake, but he destroyed the sublimity of the fiction byasserting that on their nuptial night she bit off her husband's nose. 

Heckewelder, after remarking that some of the Tuscaroras claimaffinity with the rabbit and the ground hog, says: "I found also thatthe Indians, for a similar reason, paid great respect to therattlesnake, whom they called their _grandfather_, and would on noaccount destroy him. One day, as I was walking with an elderly Indianon the banks of the Muskingum, I saw a large rattlesnake lying acrossthe path, which I was going to kill. The Indian immediately forbade mydoing so, 'for, ' said he, 'the rattlesnake is grandfather to theIndians, and is placed here on purpose to guard us, and to give uswarning of impending danger by his rattles, which is the same as if hewere to tell us 'Look about!' 'Now, added he, ' if we were to kill oneof those, the others would soon know it, and the whole race wouldrise upon us, and bite us. ' I observed to him that the white peoplewere not afraid of this, for they killed all the rattlesnakes they metwith. On this he enquired whether any white man had been bitten bythose animals, and of course I answered in the affirmative. 'Nowonder, then, ' he replied, 'you have to blame yourselves for that. Take care you do not irritate them in our country, they and theirgrandchildren are on good terms, and neither will hurt the other. '"

Adair, after killing one which infested the camp of the Seminoles, found himself in serious danger, whereupon he remarks in a note page263, that the Seminoles "never kill the rattlesnake. "

THE LEGEND OF MOSHUP. 

The sound or strait, which divides Nope[A] from the main land and theislands of Nashawn, was not, in the days of our fathers, so wide as itis now. The small bays which now indent the northern shore of Nope, and the slight promontories, which, at intervals of a mile or two, jutout along its coast of a sun's journey, were then wanting; neither theone nor the other obtruded on its round and exact outline. The strongcurrent of waters from the boundless bosom of the Great Lake, sweepingdown between this island and the opposite little islands of Nashawnand its sisters, has made great encroachments upon the former, widening to a journey of two hours what was once only the work of oneto perform. My brothers, who are with me from the lands of thePawkunnawkuts, know that my words are true. They know that the air hasalso changed as much as the shape of the shores of Nope. In the timesof our grandfathers, the waves which roll between these islands werealways frozen over, from the hunting month to the month of the redsinging bird. During the cold months, the canoe of the Indian hunterand fisherman was not permitted to traverse its dark and angry watersin quest of finny spoil, or in chase of the wild fowl. Then, toprocure his food he took down his spear, and wandered far out on thefrozen water to catch the foolish duck, which had suffered itself tobe imbedded in the congealed clement; or, nearer to his cabin, he cutholes in the ice, and, as the stupid and benumbed fish glided acrossthe opening, applied his unerring dart, and threw him to his delightedwoman. 

[Footnote A: Martha's Vineyard, a little island upon the coast of NewEngland. ]

But the face of Nope changed, and with it the winters grew milder andmilder. The hunting month was no longer the month of early snow, andwhen the red singing bird came, he hopped on an opening bud, andlistened to the croaking of frogs. The alarm of the great sentinel[A]was heard no longer in the hour of darkness in the depth of the woods. There was too much sun for the hardy old warrior, and he followed hisgreat chief, the brown eagle, to the regions of the north. Meantimethe waters, no longer bound up with a chain by the Manitou of Cold, scooped out bays and heaped up headlands, till they made the shoresof Nope crooked as the path of a bewildered white man, or the threadof a story which has no truth. 

[Footnote A: The owl. See the tradition, vol. 1. P. 61. ]

Once upon a time, in the month of bleak winds, a Pawkunnawkut Indian, who lived upon the main land, near the brook which was ploughed out bythe great trout[A], was caught with his dog upon one of the pieces offloating ice, and carried in spite of his endeavours to Nope. Hitherto, it had remained unknown, and, as our people supposed, unapproachable. Several times they had attempted to visit it, buttheir canoes had always been swept away, or pushed back by someinvisible hand, some friendly Manitou of the water, who feared dangerto them, or some angry spirit of the island, who, by these signs, forbade their approach to his dominions. For many years, and eversince the memory of our fathers, the Indians, supposing it theresidence of Hobbamock, the being who rules over evil men, sendsdisease and death to the Indians, breeds storms in the air, and uttersthe fearful sound in the black clouds, had carefully abstained fromattempting to visit it. Nor was it altogether a mere uncertain dreadof evil, which had operated on their minds to people it with livingand moving beings. They could see at times men of monstrous staturemoving rapidly over the island, and at all seasons in the calmevening, or when the winds blew from it, could hear sounds of anger orwailing, or of music and merriment, proceeding from its gloomy shades. And some pretended to have seen distinctly the form of a tall manwading into the water to grasp whales. The forced visit to its shoresof Tackanash, the Pawkunnawkut, made them see it was not the dream ofa sleeper who has eaten too much meat, but like that which men seewith their eyes when they are awake, and would talk only what the GoodSpirit may hear. 

[Footnote A: A brook in Barnstable County, respecting which thistradition is current among the Indians. ]

When Tackanash and his dog arrived at Nope, he found the man whoseexistence had been doubted by many of the Indians, and believed tohave been only seen by deceived eyes, heard by foolish ears, andtalked of by lying tongues, living in a deep cave near the end of theisland, nearest the setting sun. And this was the account whichTackanash on his return gave the chiefs of the strange creature. Hewas taller than the tallest tree upon Nope, and as large around him asthe spread of the tops of a vigorous pine, that has seen the years ofa full grown warrior. His skin was very black; but his beard, which hehad never plucked nor clipped, and the hair of his head, which hadnever been shaved, were of the colour of the feathers of the greygull. His eyes were very white, and his teeth, which were only two innumber, were green as the ooze raked up by the winds from the bottomof the sea. He was always good-natured and cheerful, save when hecould not get plenty of meat, or when he missed his usual supply ofthe Indian weed, and the strong drink which made him see whaleschasing deer in the woods, and frogs digging _quawhogs_. His principalfood was the meat of whales, which he caught by wading after them intothe great sea, and tossing them out, as the Indian boys do black bugsfrom a puddle. He would, however, eat porpoises, when no larger fishwere to be had, and even tortoises, and deer, and rabbits, rather thanbe hungry. The bones of the whales, and the coals of the fire in whichhe roasted them, are to be seen now at the place where he lived. Ihave not yet told my brothers the name of this big man of Nope--itwas Moshup. 

I hear the stranger ask, "Who was he?" I hear my brothers ask, "Was hea spirit from the shades of departed men, or did he come from thehills of the thunder? I answer, he was a Spirit, but whence he came, when first he landed in our Indian country, I know not. It was a longtime ago, and the Island[A] was then very young, being just placed onthe back of the Great Tortoise which now supports it. As it was veryheavy the tortoise tried to roll it off, but the Great Spirit wouldnot let him, and whipped him till he lay still. Moshup told thePawkunnawkut that he once lived upon the main land. He said that muchpeople grew up around him, men who lived by hunting and fishing, whiletheir women planted the corn, and beans, and pumpkins. They had_powwows_, he said, who dressed themselves in a strange dress, muttered diabolical words, and frightened the Indians till they gavethem half their wampum. Our fathers knew by this, that they were theirancestors, who were always led by the priests--the more fools they!Once upon a time, Moshup said, a great bird whose wings were theflight of an arrow wide, whose body was the length of ten Indianstrides, and whose head when he stretched up his neck peered over thetall oak-woods, came to Moshup's neighbourhood. At first, he onlycarried away deer and mooses; at last, many children were missing. This continued for many moons. Nobody could catch him, nobody couldkill him. The Indians feared him, and dared not go near him; he in histurn feared Moshup, and would seek the region of the clouds the momenthe saw him coming. When he caught children, he would immediately flyto the island which lay towards the hot winds. Moshup, angry that hecould not catch him, and fearing that, if the creature hatched othersof equal appetite and ferocity, the race of Indians would becomeextinct, one day waded into the water after him, and continued inpursuit till he had crossed to the island which sent the hot winds, and which is now called Nope. There, under a great tree, he found thebones of all the children which the great bird had carried away. Alittle further he found its nest, with seven hatched birds in it, which, together with the mother, he succeeded after a hard battle inkilling. Extremely fatigued, he lay down to sleep, and dreamed that hemust not quit the island again. When he waked, he wished much tosmoke, but, on searching the island for tobacco, and finding none, hefilled his pipe with _poke_, which our people sometimes use in theplace of tobacco. Seated upon the high hills of Wabsquoy, he puffedthe smoke from his pipe over the surface of the Great Lake, which soongrew dim and misty. This was the beginning of fog, which since, forthe long space between the Frog-month and the Hunting-month, has attimes obscured Nope and all the shores of the Indian people. This wasthe story which Moshup told Tackanash and his dog. If it is not true, I am not the liar. "

[Footnote A: The Indians, as I have before remarked, believe the worldto be an island, and always speak of it as such. ]

Moshup, at the time when Nope was visited by Tackanash, had a wife ofequal size with himself, and four sons, and a daughter, the formertall, strong, and swift, very expert at catching fish, and nimble inpursuit of deer, the latter beautiful, sweet-voiced, and bounding asthe fawn. She would sit in the first of the evening, when the dewbegan to fall, and the shadows of men lengthened, and sing to herfather songs of the land of the shades of evil men, songs which toldof the crimes they had committed, and their repentance, and guilt, andcompunction, and shame, and death. Though Moshup appeared to carelittle for any body, he nevertheless loved his little daughter, as hecalled her, whose head peered over the tallest trees, and whose voicewas heard upon the main land. He shewed by many signs how much heloved his daughter. He strung up the teeth of the shark as a necklacefor her, gathered the finest shells for her anklets, and always gaveher the fattest slice of whale's meat to her portion. 

The story of Tackanash, who very soon returned to Waquoit, and hisdescription of the beauties of Nope, carried many of the Pawkunnawkutsthither to live. It was indeed a pleasant place, pleasant to theIndian, for it abounded with all the things he covets. Its ponds weremany, and stocked with fine fish and fat wild ducks; its woods werefilled with deer, and the fertile banks of its streams overrun withwild vines, on which the grape thickly clustered, and where the walnutand the hazel-nut profusely loaded both bush and tree. Soon, thePawkunnawkuts, at peace among themselves, and blessed by the GoodSpirit with every thing they needed, became very numerous. There wasnot a pleasant spot on the island, from which did not arise the smokeof a cabin fire; nor a quiet lake, in which, in the months of flowersand fruits, you would not see Indian maidens laving their dusky limbs. The wild duck found no rest in his sunny slumber on the banks ofMenemshe, the _pokeshawit_ could no longer hide in the sedge, on thebanks of his favourite Quampeche, and the deer, that went to quenchhis thirst in the Monnemoy, found the unerring arrow of the Indian inhis heart. 

But to Moshup the increase of the Indians seemed to give pain--noneknew why, since the only enjoyments he appeared to covet were still asnumerous as before. Whales were still plenty, _poke_ was still plenty, and sleep and sunshine as easily enjoyed as ever. Though he neverharmed the Indians, he grew discontented and unhappy, cross andpeevish in his family, and sour and unneighbourly to all around him. He would beat his wife, if she did but so much as eat a falling scrapof the whale; toss his sons out of the cave, if, in the indulgence ofboyish glee, they made the least noise while he was taking his nap;and box the ears of his little daughter, if she did but so much aslook at an Indian youth. 

Once upon a time, he bade his children go and play ball upon the beachthat joins the hill[A] of White Paint to Nomensland, telling them thathe would look on and see the sport. When they had played awhile, hemade a mark with his great toe across the beach at each end, and sodeep that the water followed the mark, leaving them surrounded withit, and in great danger of being drowned. When the tide at lengthbegan to flow across the beach, covering with water the whole spacebetween the two high lands, the brothers took their little sister, andheld her up out of the water, while Moshup, seated on the high cliffs, looked on. He told them to act as if they were going to kill whales, which they did, and were all turned into the fish called _killers_, afish which has ever since been an enemy to whales, and is its greatestterror; As the sister was always a gay girl, painting her cheeks ofmany hues, and loving many-coloured ornaments, he commanded her tobecome, and she became, the striped killer. He bade her brothers bealways very kind to her, and they have obeyed him. 

[Footnote A: Gayhead, which has a chalk cliff. ]

When Moshup's wife learned the transformation of her children, shegrieved very much for their loss. Night and day she did nothing hutweep and call for them, till, at length, Moshup grew tired of hernoise, and, catching her up in his arms in a paroxysm of passion, hethrew her as far as he could towards the country of the Narragansetts. She fell upon the point which juts far into the ocean, and over whoserocks the evil Manitou of the deep throws the great waves. The Indianscall it Seconet. There, seated upon the rocks, she began to make allwho came that way contribute to her support. She grew to be so crossand cruel, exacting so much from Indians, and making so much noise, that the Great Spirit changed her into a huge rock; the entire shapeof which remained many years. But, when the Yengees came, some of thembroke off her arms, fearing she would use them to their injury, andher head, lest she should plot mischief; but her body stands there now. 

Moshup did not stay long on Nope after he had thrown away his wife, but while he did remain he was very good to the Indians, sending themmany whales and other good things. He did very little save watch onthe edge of the sea the sport of the killers, and in particular thatwhich was striped, feeding it with certain pieces of fish, talkingkindly to it, and always calling it by the name his daughter bore. Sometimes he would remain for many suns perched on the high cliff ofWhite Paint, looking eagerly towards the place where he had thrown hisold woman. At last, he went away, no one could say with certaintywhither. Some of the Indians supposed they could see him at timeswalking on the high hills beyond the tides; others thought that he hadgone back to his master; the Evil Spirit. 

THE PHANTOM WOMAN. 

A TRADITION OF THE WINNEBAGOES. 

The days of Mishikinakwa, or the Little Turtle, were numbered, and thesigns made visible of his approaching dissolution. There had beenvoices calling from the hills in the hour of the silent night, "Come, Mishikinakwa! she waits for thee. " The _Nant-e-na_, or little spirits, which inhabit the earth, and the air, and the fire, and the water, according to their different natures, had all been busy, proclaimingthe approaching translation of the chief from the troubles andhardships of this world to the happiness and quiet of another and abetter. There were the rattling of their voices in the brook, andtheir whisperings in the air, and their hissings in the fire and theirgroanings in the earth. There were the falling of green leaves in thehour of calm, and the whirl of dry ones in the wind, the hoot of thegrey owl on the ridge of his cabin, and the cry of the muckawiss inthe hollow woods. The _Hottuk Ishtohoollo_ or Holy People(1), withtheir relations the _Nana Ishtohoollo_, proclaimed from the cloudsthe threatened danger to the life of the warrior; while the _NanaOokproose_, or accursed beings, howled out the tidings from theirdwellings in the far west. 

His years were not the years of an aged man; his hair was yetunstained by the frost of tune, his eye yet flashed with the fire ofmanhood, his step remained strong and steady. Yet, without hunger, without want, without pain, without disease, without a wound, in theprime of life, in the vigour of manhood, beloved by his friends, andfeared by his enemies, the pride of the Winnebagoes was seen fastapproaching the house of the dead. 

None knew why, yet from one fatal day he was seen to droop, as a lilybends before, a fervid sun. From one fatal day his joy forsook him, and his eye became like a troubled water. His laugh had no more thejoyousness of his healthful hour; his step was no more light andbuoyant; food no more pleased his palate; sleep refreshed him no more. They came and sang the war-song at the door of his cabin, and hesuffered them to depart without the answering shout. It was sung inhis ears, "The Potowatomies are in in our war-path, " but he raised nothis head--"The Hurons have the scalp of thy brother's son, " and no cryof vengeance burst from his lips. Slowly and gradually he faded away, and the time soon came that he could move no more from his bed ofsoft grass, but lay in silent expectation of the sound of the voicethat calls the spirit home. It was while he was thus laid on the couchof death that he called the tribe around him, and told them why peacehad departed from his soul, and why he waited anxiously the moment ofhis release from the chains of the flesh. 

"I launched my canoe, " said he, "upon the lake which has given itsname to our nation, when the sun was getting low in the latter part ofthe month of the blooming lilies. Stilness was abroad upon the face ofthe waters, and the lake lay as calm as a babe rocked to sleep on thebreast of its mother. Not the slightest ripple broke upon its surface, which was smooth as a field of ice frozen in a calm. Nothing marredits beauty, save now and then a sportive fish gliding over its bosom, or the swallow skimming along, catching the flies as they rose fromthe quenching of their thirst. The brown eagle was wheeling in spiralmazes towards his beloved sun, and I heard the chirping of thegrasshopper, and the hum of the bee, each carolling away in hislight-hearted labour. Afar lay the headlands, jutting into the lake, and the precipitous cliffs which rise over the deeper portion of itswaters. Behind me were the smokes of the cabins of my people, andbefore me the beautiful expanse of the unruffled lake. 

"As I brushed my light bark along, I saw, standing on the water at adistance from me, a very beautiful woman. My tongue has not the powerto paint the charms of this stately and bright-eyed creature. She wastall, and as straight as a youthful fir, and her eyes shone with suchbrilliancy, that you could not endure to look upon them, any more thanupon the sun, but turned away to contemplate other objects. She wasclothed in a garment which glittered in the sun like the sparklingsand of the Spirits' Island[A], and her locks, which were yellow asthe beams of that sun falling upon the folds of a cloud, flowed downher beautiful form till they swept the surface of the waters. Filledwith sudden love for this beautiful creature, and anxious to secureher to myself, I spread the blanket of friendship to the wind[B], andpaddled my canoe towards her. As I came near her, I could perceive astrange alteration in her appearance. Her shape gradually altered, herarms imperceptibly disappeared, her complexion assumed a differenthue, her cheek no more glowed with life, her eyes had lost theirbrilliancy, her before glittering locks glittered no longer, and, whenI came to the spot where she stood, I found only a shapeless monumentof stone, having a human face and the fins and tail of a fish. For along time I sat in amazement and uncertainly of purpose, fearingeither to approach nearer, or to speak to the once loved, but nowfearful object. At length, having made an offering of tobacco topropitiate the spirit, and deprecated its wrath for having dared tolove it, I addressed it in these words:

[Footnote A: See note, vol. I. Page 59. ]

[Footnote B: See note, vol. I. Page 253. ]

"'Spirit, that wast beautiful but now, and hast only become divested ofthy unequalled brilliancy because a poor mortal approaches thee!guardian spirit of our nation! messenger to myself from the GreatSpirit! or whatever other name thou bearest, tell me why thou artchanged. Why has thy form, but now straight as the fir and scarcelyless tall, become crooked and misshapen, and no higher than the oak oftwo summers? why has thine eye, but now so bright that my own werepained by its brilliance, faded, and become of the lack-lustre colourof stone? And thy garments, which glittered like the folds of a cloudtinged by the beams of the setting sun--why have they partaken of thechange? And thy locks, which were yellow and shining as the sparklingsand of the Spirits' Island, why have they become of the hue of thebrown moth? Is it because I dared to think thee beautiful--because myheart dared to feel for thee the flame of sudden love! If thine angerhath been aroused at my presumption, forgive me, so thou wearest againthe beautiful form that was thine when I first saw thee. '

"Having addressed the beautiful spirit thus, I paused for her reply. It came in tones soft and sweet as the wind of summer lightly sweepingthe bosom of a prairie, and these were the words which belonged tothem:

"'Mishikinakwa, it is not hatred of thee that makes me refuse to beseen by thee save at a distance, it is not hatred of thee which makesme refuse to re-animate that mass of stone and re-shape it to theproportions thou didst say were so beautiful. Oh no! I have seen theebefore, chief of the Winnebagoes, and spirit as I am, have beheld theewith the eyes of love. But the beings which are not of clay are notallowed to associate with flesh and blood. I permitted thee a distantview of my face and form, that if thou thoughtest them worth the painsof death, thou mightst encounter those pains, and thy spirit, divestedof its fleshly form, might fly to the arms of thy Light of the Shades, and rove with her through the valley of endless bliss. Choose, then, between me, and a longer stay upon earth--between the pains of a lifewhich must be assailed by woes and sorrows, by continual storm, angrywinter, parching thirst, pinching hunger, and chilling nakedness, andthe joys which will attend thee when thou art clasped in the arms ofher thou lovest, and who will return thy love with equal ardour. Unlike the maidens of the earth, my charms can never fade; never, liketheirs, can my love be turned into hatred, or my heart grow cold, ormy eyes cease to regard the beloved object with favour. Loving onthrough all changes, and loving on for ever, thy mind cannot fancyhalf the bliss which will be thine--mine--ours--if thou darest todie. '

"She ceased speaking, but my pleased ears remained listening longafter her gentle voice had died away. And the delighted breeze softlyreturned from the calm and transparent waters, and the spirit of theecho gently repeated from the neighbouring hills, 'Unlike the maidensof the earth, my charms can never fade; never like theirs can my lovebe turned into hatred, or my heart grow cold, or my eyes cease toregard the beloved object with favour. Loving on through all changes, and loving on _for ever_, thy mind cannot fancy half the bliss whichwill be thine--mine--ours--if thou darest to die. 

 'Come to me, lover, come! I'll wait thy death, In the evening's breath, On the brow of the mountain, That shadows the fountain, Come, my lover, come!

 'Come to me, lover, come! Again will I wear Bright gold in my hair, And my eyes shall be bright As the beam of light. Come, my lover, come!

 'Come quick, my lover, come! And thou shall be prest To a faithful breast, And thou shalt be led To a bridal bed. Mishikinakwa, come!'

"Thus called to the shades of happiness by so bright, and beautiful, and beloved, a being, how can I remain on the earth? Since that momentI have wished much to die; every day have I asked the Master of Lifeto take from me the breath he has given, and permit me to go to theland that holds the spirit of my affianced wife. I loathe the vilechain which binds me from her; I hate all the things I see, for theyare all less beautiful than she; and all sounds pain mine ear, for isit not filled with her voice, a hundred times sweeter than aught everheard on earth? Ha! her voice again! She calls me to her arms! Shebids me come and drink of the crystal streams in the land of souls;she bids me come and chase with her the fawn and the kid, to bring herberries from the hills, and flowers from the vales, and to brush withour mingled footsteps, in early morning, the dew from the glades, andto blend in early evening the music of our lips, and the breath of oursighs, by the sides of the grass-wrapt fountain. She bids me come, andbe clasped to a faithful breast, and called to a bridal bed. I come, beautiful spirit, to the appointed spot, To the brow of the mountain, That shadows the fountain. 

Put then the bright gold in thy rolling locks, and let thine eyesshine as when I first saw thee. Be again as straight as the young fir, and array thyself in the garment which glittered like the sands of theSpirits' Island. "

With a convulsive start, the warrior raised himself upon his couch toan upright posture. Gazing wildly around for a moment, he threw hisarms forward, shouting "I come, beloved, I come!" and then fallingback he lay a lifeless corpse. And so died Mishikinakwa, the LittleTurtle of the Winnebagoes, of love for a phantom woman. 

Note. 

(1) _The Hottuk Ishtohoollo, or Holy People. _--p. 273. 

Almost every hill and cavern has, in the eye of the Indian, itstutelary deity. The tradition entitled "The Mountain of LittleSpirits" is one which paints a genuine belief. 

Adair, in his History of the North American Indians, says, "They (viz. The Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, &c. ) believe the higher regions to beinhabited by good spirits, whom they call _Hottuk Ishtohoollo_, and_Nana Ishtohoollo_, 'Holy People, ' and relations to the 'Great HolyOne?' The _Hottuk Ookproose_, or _Nana Ookproose_, 'accursed people, 'or 'accursed beings, ' they say possess the dark regions of the West;the former attend and favour the virtuous; and the latter in likemanner accompany and have power over the vicious. Several warriorshave told me, " he says, "that their _Nana Ishtohoollo_, 'concomitantHoly Spirits, ' or angels, have forewarned them, as by intuition, of adangerous ambuscade, which must have been attended with certain death, when they were alone and seemingly out of danger; and, by virtue ofthe impulse, they immediately darted off, and with extreme difficultyescaped the crafty, pursuing enemy. "

All the Northern Indians are very superstitious with respect to theexistence of fairies. One of their tribes, the Chepewyans, speak of arace whom they call _Nant-e-na_, whom they say they frequently see, and who are supposed by them to inhabit the different elements ofearth, sea, and air, according to their several qualities. To one orthe other of these fairies they usually attribute any change in theircircumstances either for better or worse; and, as they are led intothis way of thinking entirely by the art of the conjurors, there is nosuch thing as any general mode of belief; for those jugglers differ somuch from each other in their accounts of these beings, that those whobelieve any thing they say have little to do but change their opinionsaccording to the will and caprice of the conjuror, who is almost dailyrelating some new whim or extraordinary event. 

Every thing which is not easily understood is a spirit. Among theCreek Indians the Whip-poor-will is a spirit; the Jack o' Lantern isthe same: and, with regard to the latter, they agree with the remnantof the Massachusett Indians, who believe it is the shape which theEvil Spirit takes in his visits to the sons of men. An old Indianwoman, who lived some time as a domestic in my father's family, andwas possessed of all the genuine traits of Indian character, wasnearly thrown into convulsions by being caught a few rods from thehouse when one of these meteors made its appearance. 

Tonti, in his account of De la Salle's Expedition, says: "They are soextravagant as to believe that every thing in the world has a spirit. It is upon this principle that are grounded all the foolishsuperstitions of their jugglers or Manitous, who are their priests ormagicians. "

THE TWO GHOSTS. 

Once upon a time, many ages ago, there lived, near the shores of LakeSuperior, a hunter, who was considered the most intrepid and expert inhis vocation of all the hunters of the wilderness. His lodge, whichwas built with the steady reference to the wants of nature, which arealways seen in the location of an Indian village or habitation, wassituated in a remote part of the forest, at the distance of many days'journey from any other dwelling. Here, alone, and free from the bloodyspirit of warfare which distinguished the men of his tribe, his daysglided on like the quiet flow of a river that has no fall. He spentthe period of light in the noble amusement of hunting, and hisevenings in relating to his beautiful and bright-eyed wife theincidents which had befallen him that day in the chace; or he detailedthose which had happened to him before she became the star of hislodge; or he spoke of their long-tried, and mutual love; or he fondlysketched scenes of future bliss; or he held on his knee, and pressedto his heart, the little pledge of their love, which now, for thefirst time, began to venture across the floor of his cabin without ahand to sustain it. As game was then very abundant, he seldom failedto bring home in the evening a store of meats sufficient to last themuntil the succeeding evening; and, while they were seated beside thepleasant fire of their lodge, partaking of the fruits of his labour, he would relate those tales, and enforce those precepts, which everygood Indian thinks necessary for the instruction of his wife andchildren. This was his occupation, these were his pleasures. Who couldask a better or nobler than the first? who desire more intense, orpurer, than the last? Far removed from all sources of disquiet, surrounded with all that they deemed necessary to their comfort, tenderly loving, and thence completely happy, their lives passed awaywith scarcely less bliss than that of the disembodied spirits of thegood in the Happy Shades. The breast of the hunter had never felt thepangs of remorse, for he had been a just man in all his dealings. Hehad never violated the laws of his tribe, by encroaching upon thehunting-grounds of his neighbours, or by taking that which did not ofright belong to him. No offended hunter waylaid his steps to revengean interference with his rights, no haughty chief came to the door ofhis lodge, to say, "Chippewa, give back that which you have stolen. "No dream of the fame to be acquired by war--by the frequent slaughterof unoffending women and children, or even of hardy warriors, hisequals in strength and valour--danced before his eyes, filling hissleep with bloody images and sights of horror. The white man had notyet come to fill the mind of the poor Indian with cravings for thingswhich were not needed till they were known; as yet, he had not beentaught that clothes and blankets were necessary to his comfort, orthat game could not be killed without guns. The skin of the buffalo, the moose, the bear, and the deer, answered the purpose of protectinghim from the heat and the cold; and the bow and arrow well suppliedthe place of the gun, especially when pointed by the steady hand andunerring eye of an Indian hunter. Having then, no more than now, occasion to fell large trees, the axes of stone in use among us whenwhite men landed on our shores answered all the simple purposes ofIndian life. Iron and powder, which, with _one_ other fatal gift, havealready led to the almost total, and will soon effect the total, extinction of the race by furnishing us with a surer mode ofdestruction, had not yet found their way into those remote andpeaceful forests, nor had the white man poured that one other fatalgift, his wrathful phial of liquid fire[A] upon our devoted Indianrace. Our wants were then few, easily supplied, and totallyindependent of white men. 

[Footnote A: "Wrathful phial of liquid fire" is a literal translationof the Chippewa word for ardent spirit. ]

Peacefully glided away the life of the Chippewa hunter, happy in hisignorance, but still happier in his simplicity. Relying fully upon thesuperintending care of an overruling Great Spirit, whom he had alwaysserved, no anxious dread of present want, no fears for the futurefilled his bosom. His life was as unruffled as the surface of a lakein the calm of the summer. 

One evening, during the winter season, when snow covered the earth, and ice locked up the waters of the Great Lake, it chanced that thishappy Chippewa hunter remained out much later than usual. His wifesate lonesome in her tent, and began to be agitated with fears thatsome fatal accident had befallen him. Darkness had already veiled theface of nature, and gathering gloom rested upon the brow of night. Shelistened attentively, to catch the sounds of coming footsteps, butnothing could be heard but the wind whistling around the sides oftheir slender lodge, and through the creaking branches of thesurrounding forest of oaks and pines. Time passed away in this stateof suspense; he came not, and every moment augmented her fears, andadded to the loneliness of her heart. With the little pledge of theirmutual love clasped to her bosom, she sat counting every moment as itflew, with difficulty commanding her tears, and singing them down withfragments of some of the simple songs which all the sons of the earthare in the habit of using, to while away hours rendered weary by anypassing occurrence. At length her heart gave way, and she burst into adeep and fervent passion of tears. Suddenly she heard the sound ofapproaching footsteps upon the frozen surface of snow. Not doubtingthat it must be her beloved husband, she quickly undid the loop, whichheld, by an inner fastening, the door of the lodge, and, throwing itopen, beheld two strange females standing in front of it. She couldnot hesitate what course to pursue. She bade them enter and warmthemselves, knowing, from the distance to the nearest cabin, that theymust have walked a long way. When they had entered she invited them toremain. She soon observed that they were total strangers in that partof the country, and the more closely she scrutinized their manners, their dress, and their dignified deportment, the stronger grew herconviction that they were persons of no ordinary character. Noefforts, no persuasions, could induce them to come near the fire; theytook their seats in a remote part of the lodge, and drew theirgarments about their persons in such a manner as almost completely tohide their faces. They seemed shy and taciturn, spoke not, andremained as motionless as stones fixed in the earth. Occasionally, though but seldom, glimpses could be caught of their faces, which werepale and ghastly, even to the hue of death. Their eyes she saw werevivid but sunken, their cheek-bones as prominent as if all flesh hadleft them, and their whole persons, as far as could be judged, emaciated and fleshless. Seeing that her strange guests, of whom shenow began to feel much fear, avoided all conversation, and appearedanxious to escape observation, she forbore to question them, and satin silence until her husband entered. He had been led farther thanusual in pursuit of game, but returned with the carcase of a large andvery fat deer. No sooner had he laid his spoil on the floor of hiscabin, than the mysterious females, exclaiming, "Behold! what a fine, fat animal!" immediately ran up, and pulled off pieces of the whitestfat, which they ate with great avidity. As this is esteemed thechoicest part of the animal, and is generally, by Indian courtesy, left to the share of the master of the lodge, such conduct appearedvery strange to the hunter. Supposing, however, that they had been along time without food, for he attributed their extreme leanness andghastliness to hunger and privation, he forbore to accuse them ofrudeness, and his wife, following her husband's example, was equallyguarded in her language. On the following evening, the same scene wasrepeated. He brought home the best portions of the deer he had killed, and, while in the act of laying it down before his wife, according tocustom, the two females again ran up, and tore off, as on the firstnight, the choicest and most delicate portions, which they ate withthe same eagerness and unappeasable avidity as before. Such unhandsomebehaviour, such repeated abuses of his hospitality, were calculated toraise displeasure on the brow of the hunter, but still the deferencedue to strange guests induced him to pass it over in silence. Observing their partiality for this part of the animal, he resolvedthe next day to anticipate their wants, by cutting off and tying up aportion of the fat for each. These parcels he placed upon the top ofhis burthen, and, as soon as he entered the lodge, he gave to eachher portion. Still the guests appeared dissatisfied, and took morefrom the carcass lying before the wife. Many persons would haverepressed this forwardness, by some look, word, or action, but thisman, being a just and prudent man, slow to provocation, and patientunder afflictions of every kind, abstained from any of them. He was, perhaps, the more disposed to this quiet spirit of forbearance, from asuspicion that his guests were persons of distinguished rank, whochose thus to visit him in disguise, and also from reflecting, thatthe best luck had attended him in hunting, since the residence of themysterious strangers beneath his roof. 

In other respects, the deportment of the females was unexceptionable, though marked with some peculiarities. They were quiet, modest, anddiscreet. They maintained a cautious silence through the day, neitheruttering a word nor moving, but folded up in their skin mantles theyremained in the corner of their lodge. When it became dark, they wouldget up, and, taking those instruments which were then used in breakingup and preparing fuel, would repair to the forest. There they wouldbusy themselves in seeking dry limbs and fragments of trees, blowndown by tempests. When a sufficient quantity had been gathered to lasttill the succeeding night, they carried it home upon their shoulders;then, carefully putting every thing in its proper place within thelodge, they resumed their seats and their studied silence. They wereever careful to return from their nocturnal labours before the dawningof day, and were never known to go out before the hour of dusk. Inthis manner they repaid, in some measure, the kindness of the hunter, and relieved his wife from her most laborious duties. 

Thus nearly the whole winter passed away, every day leading to somenew development of character or office of friendship, which served toendear the parties to each other. Their faces daily lost something ofthat deathlike hue which had at first marked them, and they visiblyimproved in strength. They began to throw off some of that coldreserve and forbidding austerity, which had kept the hunter so long inignorance of their true character. Every day, their appearance andbehaviour approximated more nearly to that of the beings of ordinarylife. One evening the hunter returned very late, after having spentthe day in toilsome exertion. Again he deposited the product of hishunt at the feet of his wife, and again the silent females began totear off the flesh as before, though with still greater rudeness andill-breeding. The patience of the wife was completely lost, she couldno longer controul her feelings, and suffered the thought to pass hermind, "Their conduct is certainly very strange! how can I bear with itany longer!" She did not, however, give utterance to her feelings inwords. But an immediate change was seen in the females. They becameunusually reserved, and gave evident signs of being uneasy in theirsituation. The good hunter immediately perceived this change, and, fearful that they had taken offence, so soon as they had retired torest, he enquired of his wife whether any harsh expression had escapedher lips during the day. She replied that she had uttered nothing togive the least offence. He now tried to compose himself to sleep, buthe felt restless and uneasy, for he could plainly hear the sighs andhalf-smothered lamentations of the two females. Every moment added tohis conviction that his guests had taken deep offence, and, as hecould not banish this idea from his mind, he raised himself on hiscouch, and addressed the sobbing inmates thus:

"Tell me, ye women that have so long been the inmates of my lodge, what is it that causes you pain of mind, and makes you unceasinglyutter these sighs? Has the wife of my bosom given you any cause ofoffence while I was absent in the chase? My fears persuade me that, insome unguarded moment, she has forgotten what is due to the rights ofhospitality, and used expressions ill befitting the mysteriouscharacter which you seem to sustain. Tell me, ye strangers from astrange country--ye women who appear to be not of this world--what isit that causes you pain of mind, and makes you utter these unceasingsighs?"

"It is not for this that we weep; it is not for this that we sigh, "replied the mysterious women. "No unkind expressions have been usedtowards us since our residence in your hospitable lodge. We havereceived from you all the affectionate attentions which we couldexpect, far more than could reasonably be asked of one who procureshis food and supports his family by a life of incessant toil andlabour. We thank you for all your kindness. No, it is not for this: itis not for ourselves that we weep. We are weeping for the fate ofmankind. We are weeping for the fate of mortals whom death awaits atevery stage of their existence--weak mortals! whom death cuts downequally while the bloom of youth is on their cheek, and when theirhair is whitened by the frosts of time--proud, vain men! whom hungerpinches, cold benumbs, and poverty emaciates--frail beings! who areborn in tears, who are nurtured in tears, who die in tears, and whosewhole course is marked upon the thirsty sands of life in a broad lineof tears. It is for these that we weep. 

"You have spoken truly, brother; we are not of this world. We areSpirits from the land of the dead, sent upon the earth to try thesincerity of the living. It is not for the dead but the living that wemourn. It is not for the dead, whose flesh quietly reposes in thedust, and whose souls repair to the mansions of happiness, that wemourn, but for the living who are subjected to many, many pains, andbeset with innumerable troubles and anxieties. It was by no meansnecessary that your wife should express her thoughts by words; we knewthem ere they were spoken. We saw that for once displeasure towards ushad arisen in her heart. It is enough--our mission is ended. We camehither but to try you. We knew before we came that you were a kindhusband, an affectionate father, a temperate and honest man. We saw, from the mansions of the blest, the patience with which you bore yourdisappointments in the chace; the gratitude to the Great Spirit whichyou always evinced; the tribute to his goodness which you always paidwhen your hunts were successful, and you were enabled to return toyour cabin with the wealth of the forest. Still we find that you havesome of the weaknesses of a mortal, and your wife is found still morewanting in our eyes. But it is not for you alone that we weep; it isfor the fate of mankind. 

"Often, very often, has the widowed husband exclaimed, 'Oh death, howcruel, how relentless thou art, to take from me my best friend, mybeloved wife, in the spring of her youth, in the prime of herstrength, in the morning of her usefulness, in the bloom of herbeauty! Just when I had come to know her best, and to love her most, thou didst take her from my arms, leaving me to pine in unavailingregrets. If thou wilt permit her, just Judge! to return once more tomy arms, and again be the star of my humble abode, my gratitude shallnever cease; my thankfulness shall be daily manifested in songs andsacrifices to thy name. The high hill shall hear the cry of a man withclay in his hair, and the valley shall be filled with the smoke of asacrificial flame. I will raise my voice continually to thank theMaster of Life for the return to my arms of his excellent gift. And toher shall the return be productive of unbounded felicity. I willdevote my time to study how I can best promote her happiness, whileshe is permitted to remain, and our lives shall roll away, like apleasant stream through a vale of flowers. ' If a parent has beenbereaved of a child rendered dear by its innocence and sportivefondness, he has said, while tears were furrowing his cheek, 'GreatManitou, wilt thou return this beloved child for a few more years tomy bosom? It was but young and little. Its voice, softer than thebreath of spring, had not fashioned its tones of tenderness intowords. I had not heard it thank me for the gift of life; it was aflower blasted in the bud. If thou wilt permit its return, it shall betaught to sing thy praises; it shall be made to walk in the straightpath; it shall be a just hunter and a true warrior. ' The bereft loverhas besought the Great Spirit for the return of his deceased mistress:his petition has painted the charms of her voice sweet as the southwind; her step light and graceful as the fawn's; her locks clusteringlike grapes. And, 'Oh!' he has said, 'will it disarrange the harmonyof thy system, if she may but for a little while return to my arms; ifbut for a few, a very few years, she may illumine the darkness of mylodge by the splendour of her eyes, and send joy to my soul by thesoft tones of her voice, and the sound of her steps?' Thus, also, hasthe mother prayed for her daughter; the wife for her husband; thesister for her brother; the friend for his bosom-companion, until thesounds of mourning, and the cries of the living, have pierced the veryrecesses of the dead. Among those who have wished their departedfriends to return, were many who were cruel and unkind to them whileliving. These have not failed to promise the most endearing conduct, should their relatives be allowed to return. 

"The Great Spirit has, at length, consented to make a trial of theirsincerity, by sending us upon the earth at a very severe season of theyear, and in a time of general scarcity. He did this to see how weshould be received, coming as strangers, no one knowing whence. It wasnecessary that this severity of proof should be exacted. Three monthswere allowed us to make the trial; and if, during that time, noirksomeness of feeling had been evinced, no angry passions excited, atthe place where we should have taken up our abode, all those in theland of spirits, whom their relations had desired to return, wouldhave been restored to them. We had already passed more than half thetime assigned to us, and had already dared to hope for a successfultermination of our mission. Had your wife maintained those feelings ofunmixed generosity and kindness which have heretofore marked herconduct, the ransom would have been complete. When the leaves began tobud, and the birds to sing their sweet songs of love, and to warbletheir gentle burdens of gratitude for the return of their belovedspring, our mission would have been successfully terminated. Thedeceased husband and wife would then have been each returned to thearms of his or her rejoicing partner, the maiden to the arms of hertender lover, the infant to the bosom of its adoring mother. But it isnow too late. Our trial is finished, and we are called to the pleasantfields, and beautiful shades, whence we came. It is not for those whoremain in those shades; it is not for the souls we left in the abodeof happy spirits, that we grieve, but for you that are left on earth. 

"Brothers, it is necessary and proper, that one man should die to makeroom for another who is born in his place; otherwise the world wouldbe filled to overflowing. It is just, that the goods gathered by oneshould be left to be divided by others, for in the land of spiritsthere is no want. There is neither sorrow nor hunger, death nor pain, in that land. Pleasant fields filled with game lie spread before theeye, and birds of most beautiful plumage and shapes are singing onevery bush. Every stream is filled with fat fish, and every hill iscrowned with groves of trees, whose fruit is sweet and pleasant to thetaste and beautiful to the eye. No piercing winds rack the bones, nostorms, no whirlwinds, assail the ear. All kinds of games have beeninvented to amuse, and many, very many, instruments to play upon. Itis not here, brother, but _there_, that men begin truly to live. It isnot for those that rejoice through those pleasant groves, but for youthat are left behind, that we weep. 

"Brother, take our thanks for your hospitality. Regret not ourdeparture. We go not in anger with thee, nor with thy wife. Fear notevil. Thy luck shall still be good in the chace, and a bright skyprevail over thy lodge. Mourn not for us, for no corn will spring upfrom tears; but join us in lamentations for the fate of mankind. Mournfor mortals whom death awaits at every stage of their existence; whomdeath cuts down equally while the bloom of youth is on their cheek, and when their hair is whitened by the frosts of time--proud, vainmen, whom hunger pinches, cold benumbs, and poverty emaciates--frailbeings, who are born in tears, nurtured in tears, die in tears, andwhose whole course is marked upon the thirsty sands of life by a broadline of tears. It is for those that we weep. "

The spirits ceased; but the hunter had no power over his voice toreply. As they continued their address, he saw a light beaming fromtheir faces, and gradually a blue vapour filling the whole lodge withan unnatural light. As soon as the females ceased speaking, a deep anddense darkness prevailed. He listened, but the sobs of the spiritshad ceased. He heard the door of his tent open and shut, but he neversaw more of his mysterious visitors. Their promise was not forgotten;he found the success which they spoke of. He became a most celebratedhunter, and never wanted for any thing necessary to his ease. Hebecame the father of many children, all of whom grew up to manhood:and health, peace, and long life, were the rewards of hishospitality. 

THE VISION OF THE ABNAKIS CHIEF. 

Wangewaha, the great chief of the Abnakis, in one of his huntingexcursions, lay down beneath the shade of a stately fir, on the shoreof the stormy lake, beside which he was born, and the spirit of sleepcame over him. He dreamed a dream, the like of which was never dreamedbefore among the red men of the forest. That dream hath come to pass;each jot and tittle of it has been performed; the things were donebefore mine own eyes, and the words spoken into mine own ears. Listento the dream of Wangewaha, the great war chief of the Abnakis. 

He saw, far in the east, upon the face of the waters, a white cloudwhich seemed to be impelled by a strong wind, and it was approachingthe shores of the same land in which the Abnakis dwelt. Along itslower extremity appeared a narrow outline of exceeding blackness, andever and anon the cloud became larger or grew less, now increased andnow diminished, as the wind, or other causes, spread it out, orcontracted it. At length, the wind, which before blew towards theland, veered and blew from it, but, strange to tell, the cloud was notcarried back, but kept its course onward in defiance of the wind, andthus fared the cloud. 

Upon the shore, watching with extreme and undivided interest theprogress of the cloud, stood many of the sons of the forest. Wonderand astonishment had seized their souls, at the strange and hithertounheard-of sight of a low, compact, dark cloud, moving rapidly againsta strong wind. They saw that it was of unusual shape, and that therewere other circumstances connected with it, such as are not usual withthe spirit-mists of the air. Rightly deeming it a cloud from some veryfar region, perhaps some a๋rial messenger sent by the Great Spirit tocommunicate an important errand, they awaited in silent awe theprogress of that to which they could not give a name. Yet, deeming itpossible that grim war might in some one of his thousand forms behidden under the semblance of a cloud--that hostile beings mightinhabit what appeared but thin air--they prepared to oppose violencewith violence, and to meet battle with manful battle. Some went andcut new lance poles, others tough and elastic bows. The priestsprepared sacrifices to appease the spirit, if spirit it were, andsang propitiatory songs, in which they first called it a good Spirit, and thanked it as such for the fat deer and mooses it had sent totheir hunting-grounds, and the juicy fish which filled their waters, and the tender fowls which stocked their lakes. Then they addressed itas the Spirit of Evil, deprecating its wrath, and imploring its mercy, beseeching it, if it came in anger, to go away and discharge its venomelsewhere; if it came to bring them rich gifts, to be speedy about it, for such never came too soon. 

In the mean time, the cloud came every moment nearer, till, at last, it was scarcely the flight of an arrow distant from the shore. Thengradually it disappeared, and, in its stead, appeared a large animal, with innumerable arms and legs of all sizes and shapes, and of alllengths, and of several colours. Perched on various parts of the legsand arms of this strange animal were other animals, whose appearancewas unlike any other being ever beheld by the Indians. They wore insome respects the character of man--were gifted with his strength andwisdom, his power and capacities--were by turns a prey to lust, ambition, hate, despair, revenge--commencing life with tears, anddying with a sigh. Their fangs were for venom the fangs of a snake;their cunning, the cunning of a fox; and their fierceness, thefierceness of a mountain cat, or a panther. Very nimble they seemed, and sprang about the legs and arms of the bigger animal, like asquirrel leaping from one branch of a tree to another branch. One ranup a rope till it had reached one of the arms; another slid down inlike manner; a third was perched half-way up; a fourth was running toand fro on the back of the animal. At length, one of the littleanimals dropped a great rope, to which was appended an enormous forkedtree, and this operated to tie up the bigger animal, which rolledabout very much, as if in vain attempts to liberate itself from thethraldom to which they had subjected it. 

After a while, there was a smaller animal seen leaving the side of thebigger, as a kid leaves the side of its mother, similar in shape tothe bigger, but having neither arms nor legs; and, upon the back ofthis animal, many of the smaller animals sought the shore. When theyhad arrived, they presented themselves to the eyes of the astonishedAbnakis, in a shape which seemed to the sleeper to be that of apanther, wearing the shape of man, yet fierce and cruel as any everfound in the wilds of the river of the Abnakis. With this fierce andcruel disposition was coupled a cunning beyond that of the fox, and amalignity greater than the rattlesnake's. Their fierceness andcruelty, and the malignity and savage ferocity of their natures, werehidden, however, under a show of peace. They laughed, and grinned, anddid the other things, which mortals do when they are, or pretend tobe, pleased, making the unsuspecting Abnakis think that they weretheir very good friends, when they were only waiting for a chance torend them limb from limb. Nor was their disposition wholly hidden bythe mask, which these worthless and wicked beasts had only assumed forthe purpose of beguiling the poor red man. Occasionally the pantherwould show his teeth, and the rattlesnake his malignity, though thecunning of the fox would soon throw a veil over the one, and hush thenoise of the other. 

Strange, indeed were the bodies, tempers, and dispositions of thebeasts, which thus passed in sleep before the eyes of the dreamingchief. He saw them invested with the habits and feelings of men, asthey appeared to be gifted with their capacities and acquirements. They had courage, not indeed as the Abnakis have it, not the couragewhich delights in the post of danger, and encounters difficulties forthe mere honour of overcoming them, but in another, and less activeform, that of endurance. And their wisdom and power were greater thanthe wisdom and power of the Abnakis priests, who could draw waterfrom the clouds, and foretell the coming of tempests and storms(1). The wisdom and power of the strange beasts was very great--they weresubtler than the fox or the beaver, and stronger than the bear. 

Among these beasts, there was one of most transcendent beauty, whoappeared to be their queen. She bore the form of a stately woman. Shewas clothed, not as beasts generally are, in fur, but in a robe of anunknown material, that reached to her feet, which were shrouded in aveil of so thin a texture, that the pure flesh was transparent throughthem, and not shod with mocassins, but with something of a differentform. Around her head was bound a grape-vine, from which hungbeautiful clusters of rich, ripe grapes, intermingled with locks ofhair, of a hue resembling the yellow leaf. Her round and plump armswere bound with bracelets of a very bright material; and, upon herlong and slender fingers, were rings set with sparkling stones, ofvarious and exceedingly radiant hues--green, blue, purple, white. Inone of her delicate hands, she carried a small bunch of grain, of akind which was never seen before by the Abnakis, but the ears of whichbent over like the wings of a hawk hovering over his prey, or or abird settling upon its perch. The same fair hand carried theinstrument wherewith it was reaped. The other hand bore a huge shelland a three-forked sceptre, emblems of her dominion upon the element, which supported the cloud upon which she came. Upon her breast shewore a shield, on which was painted the likeness of two animals, oneof them wearing a shaggy mane, and both looking exceedingly fierce andwarlike. There were upon this shield other paintings and devices, which even the ingenuity of the priests could not explain. Altogether, the appearance of the being, animal, or whatever it was, which theAbnakis dreamer saw, was exceedingly noble and beautiful. They whocame with her said she was the genius of the land beyond the GreatWater, the guardian spirit of an island more powerful than all theworld besides. And surely great power was written in her countenance, and authoritative command engraved on the lines of her face. 

Then Wangewaha saw, and a being also wearing the appearance of a womancame down from the shades, and confronted the stranger. She was of astill taller stature than the other, and of the same complexion as theinhabitants of the land, her skin red, black her hair, her eyesshining, her step yet more noble and commanding, and her bearingprouder and more haughty than that of her who appeared to be heryounger sister. Her hair, long, straight, and black, hung over hershoulders till it reached her feet; her mocassins were of the gaudiestcolours; and beads, and shells, and wampum, were profusely employed inadorning her person. Above her head towered feathers, the canieu's orwar-eagle's, and the painted vulture's--in her hands she carried aspear and a sheaf of arrows. A bow hung at one of her shoulders, whileover the other was carelessly thrown the game slain by her archery. Her robe was made of the furs of the gayest forest animals, and heremblems were an ear of maize and the antlers of a buck. Stately shemoved, as a wild swan on a calm lake, or a black cloud over the browof a mountain; and the boldness of her demeanour, and the fiercenessof her eyes, contrasted strongly with the softness and effeminacy ofher that seemed her younger, and more delicate, sister. 

Anon, these two sisters entered into speech with each other, and theartless and unsuspecting soul of the one was contrasted strongly withthe cunning of the other. Said the stranger to her who was of theland, "Thou hast a most beautiful land. "

"It is indeed a most beautiful land, " answered the other. 

"It has lofty mountains. "

"Its mountains are very lofty. "

"It has many beautiful and rapid rivers. "

"It has. "

"Its suns--"

"Are bright as the eyes of a dove. "

"Its winds--"

"Soft as the breath of a young maiden. "

"Methinks I should like to live in thy cabin--to rove uncontrolledthrough thy green glades, and to listen in dreamy and indolent reposeto the merry music of thy waterfalls. "

"Do, and thou shalt be welcome, " replied the dark but beautiful, thestern but guileless, genius of the land. 

"Knowest thou not that we are sisters?" asked the bright-eyed, fair-skinned, stranger. 

"Nay, I knew it not, " replied she of the wilderness. 

"We are, and we have two others--thou, the youngest, and I thy nextelder. I am come hither to direct thy footsteps, and to render thee myassistance in beautifying the clime so beautiful in itself, and togive to those over whom thou presidest the light of the knowledge Ihave conducted to my own realms. I have brought with me those who arethe pioneers of my footsteps whithersoever I go. "

"It is well, " answered the genius of the wilderness. "Take as much asthou wilt of my lands. Choose for thyself the fairest spots--make mypeople as thine own--we are sisters, thou sayest, and I believe thee, for I love thee--sisters should dwell together in peace and love. Yonriver bank is very fertile. "

"It is indeed very fertile, " answered the strange genius, hercountenance brightening up as she surveyed the beautiful spot to whichher attention was directed. 

"Thou shalt have it for thine own, " said the elder sister kindly. 

"Thou art very good, " answered the other. "What use dost thou make ofyonder broad, and beautiful, and rapid river?"

"It furnishes food to my people. In the summer moons, the light canoesof my beloved red men are seen gliding over it in swift pursuit of thesturgeon; the fishes which sport in its clear bosom are the sweetestin all the waters of my wide domain. "

"I should like to have that river to be mine own, " said the palegenius. 

"I can spare it, " answered the other kindly. "It is thine. "

"Yon is a beautiful lake, " said the younger. "How calm and unruffledis its surface!"

"It is a very beautiful lake, but thou hast not seen it in its mostbeautiful season, " answered the elder. "Thou shouldst behold it whenit waves a wide sea of water-lilies, white as the snow of winter, orwhen myriads of gay wild-fowl skim its level surface, or settle downupon its pellucid bosom, to take their repast. Then it is indeedbeautiful--very beautiful. "

"A river and a lake should go together, " said the younger. 

"They should, " answered she of the land, "nor will I be the one toseparate them. I give thee the lake. "

"How much loftier than all the mountains of my own clime is that whichI see towering in the distance towards the land of the warm breezes!"

"That mountain is indeed very lofty, " answered the dark Genius. 

"I have a noble river, with a flowery bank rising above it, and I havea level lake, but thou hast not given me a mountain, to whose cool andrefreshing breezes I may retire, when the fervid and scorching suns ofsummer invade the lowlands. I would--thou wilt deem me greedy as thehawk or the heron--I would have some such spot, whose breezes, whenthey kindly dispense health, nerve the soul to great actions, andwithin whose wild and inaccessible fastnesses, which, ever since Timewas, have been the keepers of the free, the weak may find aresting-place, and the wearied by oppression a refuge. "

"Take thou the mountain, and name what else thou wilt have. "

"Only a few more rivers and a few more vales, which thou canst easilyspare, and another mountain for a further refuge, and some more lakesto breed more wild-fowl in, and a forest or two well stocked withdeer, and a part of the Great Lake to put my whales in--nothing more, except it be another vale, and another mountain, and another river, and a piece more of the sea. "

The dark Genius of the land smiled at the _narrow_ wishes of heryounger sister, and replied, that she could spare them all. So theyounger sister appropriated to herself the highest mountains, and themost pleasant vales, and the broadest lakes, and the most rapidrivers, and a large piece of the sea to put whales in, and someforests well stocked with deer, and said, "she had taken so little itwas scarcely worth thanking for. "

Then the dreamer saw in his sleep that, at her bidding, the strangebeasts which came in the cloud issued forth to take possession. Howtheir eyes gloated upon the fair gifts which had been made them bythe kind spirit of the land! And how grateful they appeared to be, andhow exceedingly kind and affectionate they were to the poor Indians!They stroked their heads gently with one hand, while with the otherthey released them from their oppressive burdens--their beaver skinsand their maize--indeed they were too kind. Then to gratify them stillfurther, they produced a burning water[A], which they distributedamong them, assuring them of its power to create pleasing images inthe mind, and to make bright visions dance before the eyes of thosewho drank it. The Indians drank as they were bidden, and realised thepredicted effects. What a wonderful medicine was the strong water!Under its potent influence, the mirror of the soul became enlarged, and a thousand images, till then unseen, floated before the mentaleye. Then might a man receive certain intimations of the object heshould choose as his protecting spirit, and astonish his brothers by amedicine of strange proportions and great power. And secrets of theland of souls--the way to pass the "narrow bridge over the fearfulriver, " and how to stay the anger of the dog that guards it at thepoint where the Huron passes--how to tread the sharp and steep rockupon which the Chippewa finds entrance to his land of rest--all this, and much more, to be attained by no other means, was learned from thestrong waters given to the Abnakis by the strange spirit. AndWangewaha, the dreamer, woke from his sleep, rubbed his eyes, andindulged in deep thought of what the dream might portend. 

[Footnote A: Burning water, ardent spirits, commonly called by themthe "fire-eater. "]

Again he sunk to sleep, and again he dreamed. Still his dream was ofstrange creatures, aliens to his land, and usurpers of the rights ofits native sons. But they had multiplied till their numbers were asthe sands upon the sea shore. He stood in imagination upon a loftyhill, and cast his eyes upon the broad lands beneath him. How changed!The forests had been swept away, the land was cleared of its mossy oldoaks, and lofty pines, and cedars, but, where they once raised theirleafy heads to the winds of heaven, now rose cabins, white as thefolds of a cloud, and glittering in the sun like a sheet of ice in awinter's day. The broad and rapid river, as well as the waters of theGreat Lake, was marked in streaks of white foam by the many cloudstraversing it, like that he had seen in his first dream. The loftymountains were seamed like the breast of a tattooed warrior(2), by theroads which the strangers had made over it. The vales waved with theyellow wheat, and, herds of tame bisons lay resting on the grassyknolls, or stood grouped at the outlets of the fields, which theindustrious strangers had girded in with fences of rock. 

And what had become of the former inhabitants of the soil? where werethe dusky men who met the strange creatures upon the shore, and badethem welcome, and gave them the fat things of the sea and the land fortheir subsistence, and warm furs to protect them from the searchingwinds of the Snow-Moon, and taught them how to follow the trail offorest animals, and to thread, unerringly, their way for manysuccessive nights through the lonely wilderness, by the flow ofstreams and the course of fishes, and the light of the Hunter's Star, and the moss upon the oaks, and the flight of birds? Listen, and Iwill tell you. 

He sees upon the edge of a stream, overgrown with a thick grove ofalders and luxuriant vines, an Indian man and woman. The woman held inher arms a dying child--at the feet of the man, lay a lean andfamished dog. Deep thought was in the eye of the one, and absorbinggrief in that of the other. Now the hunter cast his eyes into thedepths of the river in anxious search for the signs of the approach ofthe finny people; now he laid his ear to the earth after the manner ofhis race, when they would detect the sound of footsteps. 

"Didst thou see aught in the current, which thine eye is searching?"asked the wife tremulously, fixing her bright black eye, moistenedwith a tear, upon her hungry infant. 

"I saw nothing in the current, " answered the hunter. "The net of thestranger hath swept from the flood that which was in part the food ofour tribes, when he first became acquainted with these shores. Thebarbed spear no more brings up the sleeping conger; the Indian throwshis hook into the once populous stream, but it returns with the baituntouched. "

"Did thy quick ear catch the sound of aught in the mazes of the wood?"asked the fond mother, and her tears fell thick on the cheeks of herlittle babe. 

"My ear caught no sound in the mazes of the wood, " answered thehunter. "How should it? The stranger hath left nothing save the mouse, and the mole, and few of them. He has swept away the beloved retreatsof the bounding beauty of the forest, the nimble deer, and none areleft in the glades, where once they were thicker than the stars. Thebear, and the wolf, and the panther, love not their crafty brother, and have gone yet deeper into the forest. The wild duck feeds now inthe deep waters only, the mother teaches her brood that death lurksbehind the wood-skirted shore. "

"Then must this little child--thine and mine--our first-born, die ofhunger. Yet bethink thee. I see among yonder lofty trees a cabin, thewhiteness of which tells us that one of the despoilers of our joyshath there taken up his abode. "

"Wouldst thou have the son of Alknomook--the son of the rightfullord--himself the rightful lord of these wide regions--beg bread fromthe stranger?"

"Not to save thy life or mine would I ask it, but what would I not doto save the life of this beautiful babe, which the Great Spiritgranted to my prayers, when for sixty moons I had lived in thy cabin adisgraced woman(3). "

"Not therefore should the soul of an Indian warrior bend to a master. I cannot beg. "

"What was the dream which thou hadst in the last Worm-Moon?"

"Thou sayest well--it was of vengeance had by means of the boy. Theson of Alknomook will humble his pride--he will wipe off the warpaint, which he laid as deep on his face as the memory of his wrongsweigh on his heart, and he will supplicate the stranger to give himfood for his little one. "

Still the sleeping chief continued to take note of the things whichoccurred. He beheld the enfeebled and emaciated Indians at thedwelling of the proud stranger. The stranger sat at the door of hislofty cabin, and thus he addressed the friendless outcasts:

"Why have you dared to trespass on my soil, to bruise my prettyflowers with your rude feet, and to frighten my flocks and herds withyour shrill halloos?"

The son of the forest was about to reply fiercely, when his ear caughtthe plaintive moan of his famished child, and he controlled thetempest of wrath which was rising in his bosom. 

"Thine eyes are the eyes of an owl by daylight, " replied he calmly. "They have seen a thing which has not happened. The son of Alknomookdid not bruise the flowers of the pale face, nor frighten his flocksand herds by his shrill halloos. Wilt thou give me a morsel of foodfor my famished child?"

"Begone, thou Indian dog!" said the proud and cruel man. "Thou shalthave no food here. "

"But my child will die of hunger. "

"If thy child die of hunger, there will be a red skin less. Back tothy woods, and herd with wolves and panthers, thy fit associates. "

The soul of the stern but generous warrior filled with ire and thespirit of vengeance, as he poured out his feelings in the emphaticlanguage of his people. "Not so spoke the Abnakis to the weary, naked, and hungry, men who came to their shores, and besought them togrant them shelter, " said he. "We gave them the food from our ownmouths, and took the skins which fenced our wigwams to protect themfrom the winds of the cold moon. " Nor did he cease speaking till hehad denounced upon the pale faces the wrath of the Great Spirit forthe injuries they had inflicted upon the Indians. 

Ah, what is that which draws tears to the eyes of the dreamer, andbrings sighs to his labouring heart? He beholds an Indian mother lyingdead in the skirts of the forest. Upon her arm is laid a little child, and beside them, leaning on a bow, is the husband of the one and thefather of the other. Sorrow has bowed him down, as far as the soul ofan Indian may be bowed--there are no tears in his eyes, yet distressis written on the features of his face, in letters of enduring agony. For a while he surveys the scene of death in stern silence, but soonthe memory of his wrongs weighs upon his soul and rouses him toaction. He springs upon his feet, and his shrill war-whoop ringsthrough the forest, like the echo of the tap of the woodpecker on thehollow beech. His eye flashes fire as he grasps his war spear, and hislaugh, when he examines his good ash bow, is like the cry of a hungrypanther. Is not vengeance his? Look at yonder flames! He hath kindledthem. Listen to that wail of many over the slaughtered corpses oftheir friends, who lay down to rest at the beginning of darkness, andwoke ere the sun came over the hills in the shades of the valley ofdeath. Bitterly, deeply, deadly, has the son of Alknomook revenged hisown, and the wrongs of his race. 

Again the dreamer saw, and still his dream was of the land where hedwelt. He saw the two sister Genii sitting in the same spot where hehad at first beheld them. She who was of the far clime still retainedthe beauty and grace which were her's when her little foot firsttouched the greensward of the hitherto, by her, untrodden island. Still around her head was bound the grape-vine laden with rich, ripe, clusters, amongst which were intermingled locks of hair, of a hueresembling the yellow leaf. Still were her round and plump arms boundwith the shining bracelets, and her long and slender fingers adornedwith the glittering rings. The sheaf of nodding grain was still anemblem of her power, and the shell and sceptre another. But she woreno more the suppliant air which at first distinguished her. Pride andhaughtiness, and command and oppression, were now written on her face, and ruled her gestures. 

By her side stood the other Genius, the spirit of the land, her eldersister--but oh, how changed! Her once glossy black locks now hunguncombed upon a shoulder once beautifully rounded, but rounded nolonger; her mocassins were torn and soiled; and missing from herwrists and ancles the gay ornaments of bead and shell-work whichadorned them in the day of her prosperity and pride. The feathers ofthe canieu or war-eagle, and the painted vulture, towered above herhead no more, and gone from her shoulder was the emblem of the raceover which she had borne rule, the bow and the arrow. 

Anon these two sisters entered into speech with each other. She whowas of the land, from the moment that the Bird of Ages planted it inthe bosom of the waters, said to the other, "Thou hast a most beautiful land. "

"It is indeed a most beautiful land, " answered the other, casting hereye proudly over the space beneath her feet. 

"It has lofty mountains. "

"Its mountains are very lofty. "

"It has many rapid and beautiful rivers. "

"It has. "

"Its suns--"

"Are bright as the eyes of a dove in the moon of buds. "

"Its winds--"

"Soft and balm-scented as the breath of a young maiden. "

"I should like to live in thy cabin, to range uncontrolled through thygreen glades, and to listen in dreaming repose to the music of thymerry waterfalls. "

"Ah, no doubt thou wouldst, but dost thou think I would permit thee?"replied she, who was once a stranger in the land, but was a strangerno longer. 

"Knowest thou not that we are sisters?" asked the dark Genius timidly. 

"Nay, I knew it not, " replied the other. 

"We are, and so thou didst say when thou camest in the white cloud, and I gave thee hills, and mountains, and rivers, and lakes, andglades, and a part of the sea. "

"The more fool thou, for admitting one to wrest from thee thy fairpossessions. "

"I deemed thee in want, and then wert thou not my sister?"

"If thou wert I have forgotten it, " replied the other haughtily. "Ifthou didst me favours, thine impertinence in remembering them hathmore than cancelled the obligation. Depart from me, and let me beholdthy face no more. "

The dark Genius withdrew at the bidding of her haughty sister, and thechief of the Abnakis awoke, and related his dream to his tribe. Hathit not come to pass? Look abroad on the land, and make answer. Therace of the red man hath disappeared from the earth, as the snowsdisappear before the beams of a spring sun, or the hues of purple andgold on the western sky, at the approach of darkness. It is only inthe regions of the Hunter's Star, where the pale face dare notventure, that the red man may now be found. 

NOTES. 

(1) _Foretell the coming of tempests and storms. _--p. 308. 

The Indian jugglers--I am not now speaking of those who pretend tocure disease--are sometimes successful in their legerdemain, to adegree, which almost makes a convert of the sceptic. The followingstory is related by the interesting Carver. 

"One day, whilst we were all expressing our wishes for this desirableevent, (the arrival of the traders with provisions) and looking froman eminence in hopes of seeing them come over the lake, the chiefpriest, belonging to the band of the Killistinoes, told us, that hewould endeavour to obtain a conference with the Great Spirit, and knowfrom him when the traders would arrive. I paid little attention tothis declaration, supposing that it would be productive of somejuggling trick, just sufficiently covered to deceive the ignorantIndians. But the king of that tribe telling me that this was chieflyundertaken by the priests, to alleviate my anxiety, and, at the sametime, to convince me how much interest he had with the Great Spirit, Ithought it necessary to restrain my animadversions on his design. 

"The following evening was fixed upon for this spiritual conference. When every thing had been properly prepared, the king came to me andled me to a capacious tent, the covering of which was drawn up, so asto render what was transacting within visible to those who stoodwithout. We found the tent surrounded by a great number of theIndians, but we readily gained admission, and seated ourselves onskins laid on the ground for that purpose. In the centre, I observedthat there was a place of an oblong shape, which was composed ofstakes stuck in the ground, with intervals between, so as to form akind of chest or coffin, large enough to contain the body of a man. These were of a middle size, and placed at such a distance from eachother, that whatever lay within them was readily to be discerned. Thetent was perfectly illuminated by a great number of torches, made ofsplinters cut from the pine or birch tree, which the Indians held intheir hands. 

"In a few minutes the priest entered; when an amazing large elk's-skinbeing spread on the ground, just at my feet, he laid himself down uponit, after having stripped himself of every garment, except that whichhe wore close about his middle. Being now prostrate on his back, hefirst laid hold of one side of the skin, and folded it over him, andthen the other, leaving only his head uncovered. This was no soonerdone, than two of the young men who stood by took about forty yards ofstrong cord, made also of an elk's hide, and rolled it tight round hisbody, so that he was completely swathed within the skins. Being thusbound up like an Egyptain Mummy, one took him by the heels and theother by the head, and lifted him over the pales into the enclosure. Icould also now discern him as plain as I had hitherto done, and Itook care not to turn my eyes a moment from the object before me, thatI might the more readily detect the artifice; for such, I doubted not, but that it would turn out to be. 

"The priest had not lain in this situation more than a few seconds, when he began to mutter. This he continued to do for some time, andthen by degrees grew louder and louder, till at length he spokearticulately; however, what he uttered was in such a mixed jargon ofthe Chippewas, Ottawas, and Killistinoe languages, that I couldunderstand but very little of it. Having continued in this tone for aconsiderable while, he at last exerted his voice to its utmost pitch, sometimes raving and sometimes praying, till he had worked himselfinto such an agitation, that he foamed at his mouth. 

"After having remained nearly three quarters of an hour in the place, and continued his vociferation with unabated vigour, he seemed to bequite exhausted, and remained speechless. But in an instant he sprangupon his feet, notwithstanding, at the time he was put in, it appearedimpossible for him to move either his legs or arms; and, shaking offhis covering as quick as if the bands with which it had been boundwere burned asunder, he began to address those who stood around, in afirm and audible voice. 'My brothers, ' said he, 'the Great Spirit hasdeigned to hold a talk with his servant, at my earnest request. He hasnot, indeed, told me when the persons we expect will be here; butto-morrow, soon after the sun has reached his highest point in theheavens, a canoe will arrive, and the people in that will inform uswhen the traders will come. '

"Having said this, he stepped out of the enclosure, and, after he hadput on his robes, dismissed the assembly. 

"I own I was greatly astonished at what I had seen; but as I observedthat every eye in the company was fixed on me with a view to discovermy sentiments, I carefully concealed every emotion. 

"The nest day the sun shone bright, and long before noon all theIndians were gathered together on the eminence that overlooked thelake. The old king came to me and asked me whether I had so muchconfidence in what the priest had foretold, as to join his people onthe hill, and wait for the completion of it? I told him I was at aloss what opinion to form of the prediction, but that I would readilyattend him. On this we walked together to the place where the otherswere assembled. Every eye was again fixed by turns on me and on thelake; when, just as the sun had reached his zenith, agreeable to whatthe priest had foretold, a canoe came round a point of land about aleague distant. The Indians no sooner beheld it, than they set up auniversal shout, and by their looks seemed to triumph in the interesttheir priest thus evidently had with the Great Spirit. "

It is related by a Madame de Marson, that she was one day very uneasyabout her husband, who commanded at that time a post in Acadia; he wasstill absent, though the time be had fixed for his return was alreadypast. An Indian woman, seeing Madame de Marson uneasy, asked her thereason of it, and, having learned it, told her, after musing some timeon it, not to vex herself, that her husband would return such a day atsuch an hour, naming both, with a grey hat on his head. As sheperceived the lady gave no credit to her prediction, she returned toher at the day and hour she had assigned, and asked her whether shewould not come to see her husband arrive, and pressed her so stronglyto follow her, that at last she led her to the bank of the river. They had scarcely arrived there, when Mons. De Marson appeared in acanoe, with a grey hat on his head, and being told what had passed, assured them that he was utterly at a loss to conceive which way theIndian woman could know the day and hour of his arrival. 

Another well attested story of successful jugglery is related in aHistory of Virginia, the second edition of which appeared in 1722. "Some years ago, " says the author, "there happened a very dry time, towards the heads of the rivers, and especially on the upper parts ofJames River, where Colonel Byrd had several quarters of negroes. Thisgentleman has been for a long time extremely respected and feared byall the Indians round about, who, without knowing the name of anygovernor, have ever been kept in order by him. During this drought, anIndian, well known to one of the Colonel's overseers, came to him, andasked if his tobacco was not like to be spoiled. The overseeranswered, yes, if they had not rain very suddenly. The Indian, whopretended great kindness for his master, told the overseer, if hewould promise to give him two bottles of rum, he would bring him rainenough. The overseer did not believe anything of the matter, notseeing at that time the least appearance of rain, nor so much as acloud in the sky; however, he promised to give him the rum when hismaster came thither, if he would be as good as his word; upon this theIndian went immediately a _pauwawing_, as they call it; and in abouthalf an hour there came up a black cloud into the sky, that showereddown rain enough upon this gentleman's corn and tobacco, but none atall upon any of the neighbours, except a few drops of the skirts ofthe shower. "

With a belief that these tales of Indian _diablerie_ will not beuninteresting to the reader, I will relate one more. It is copied fromLong's Expedition to the Source of St. Peter's River. "About twentyyears ago, a large party of Indians, collected near Lake Travers, werequite destitute of tobacco; not knowing how to procure any, theyapplied to Tatankanaje (Standing Buffalo), a prophet of somedistinction, and the uncle of the present chief of the Kahras. Thisman usually carried about him a little stone idol, carved into a humanshape; this he called his little man, and to it he always applied whenconsulted in the way of his profession. Tatankanaje, being requestedto advise the best means of obtaining tobacco, made answer to them, that if they would go to a certain place which he pointed out to them, they would find his idol, and, by examining it, they would observe inits hand a piece of tobacco. They did as he bade them, and found inthe little fellow's hand a piece about four inches long; this wasbrought to the camp, and was thought to redound much to the creditboth of the prophet and the idol; but Tatankanaje then observed thathe would consult the little man, and ascertain where he had found thetobacco, and how he came by it. This he did by putting interrogatoriesto him, to which he pretended that audible answers were returned, though of the many present not one heard them beside himself. Thepurport of these answers, however, as he subsequently informed them, was, that at a spot on the St. Peter, near to Redwood River, there wasa boat loaded with goods; that her commander, a French trader, havingbeen murdered by the Sioux, the crew had been alarmed, and had runaway, leaving the boat unguarded, together with her cargo, consistingprincipally of tobacco; that the little man had seen her, and findinga piece of tobacco on a keg, had brought it up. The prophet havinginvited them to seek for it, they repaired to the spot, found theboat, took the tobacco, and returned the rest of the goods to thefirst French traders that passed up the river. This event happened, aswe were informed, in the presence of Renville and Freniers, two Frenchtraders of reputation, both considered as intelligent and enlightenedmen; they were the fathers of the two half-breed traders, with whom wewere acquainted. The story is given with all the particulars thatmight be wished for; the name of the owner of the boat was Benjamin LaGoterie, a name well known in that country. The story has been currentever since. The traders, who appear to credit it, state that it wasimpossible for the prophet to have visited the spot and returnedwithout his absence being known, as the distance exceeds one hundredmiles; from whom he received his intelligence they never knew. As tothe Dahcotahs themselves, they never considered it possible that itmight be a knavery of the prophet's, but attributed it altogether tohis mystic lore. 

"On another occasion, Tatankanaje acquired great reputation inconsequence of a prediction that he would lead a war party; that, onthe day which he appointed, and at a particular spot which hedescribed, he would fall in with a camp of fifteen Assiniboin lodges;that he would attack and defeat them, kill a certain number of theenemy, and make a stated amount of prisoners: he predicted, in likemanner, the loss of lives which would attend this victory. The eventjustified, as it is said, the prediction; not only as to the generalresults, but even as to the circumstances of time, place, number ofkilled and wounded on both sides, and amount of prisoners taken fromthe enemy. Of course, so valuable a prophet was constantly resorted tofor the recovery of stolen property, or of goods that were lost, for aknowledge of the fate of persons that were travelling, for the cure ofdiseases, and for all such other important points, upon which thecredulity both of civilized and savage man induces them to lend awilling ear to the impositions of knaves. Of his talent in recoveringproperty, we regret that we can only mention a circumstance in whichthe object at stake was very trifling. Some one had ventured to stealaway the prophet's bridle; it was concealed in a lodge that formed onein a camp of one hundred lodges. The prophet took a mirror in hishand, and walked round the village, until, as he said, he saw the lostbridle reflected in his mirror: he entered the adjoining lodge, andrecovered his property. 

"Not only do they prophesy, but they perform tricks of legerdemain, all which they ascribe to the success of their incantations. We areindebted to Mr. Charles Hess, a French trader, with whom Mr. Say hadseveral conferences at Fort St. Anthony, for the account of a trickperformed by an Assiniboin. The magician asserted, in Mr. Hess'spresence, as well as in that of many Indians, that he could causewater to flow into an empty keg, though he might at that time be upona dry prairie, and at a distance from any spring or stream. Mr. Hesshaving told him that he did not believe him, but that, if hesucceeded, he would give him a keg of whiskey, the Indian offered torepeat the trick. He exhibited to them his keg, which they examined, and all judged to be empty. The bung was removed, the cask turnedover, and no liquid issued from it. The Indian then commenced hisincantations, raising his keg towards the heavens, dancing andperforming many unmeaning gestures; after which he presented it to theIndian chief that was present, bidding him to drink of the water whichit contained; the latter drank of it, found it very good, and passedit to his neighbour; the cask was circulated, to the greatsatisfaction of all the Indians, who drank of its contents, and evenMr. Hess was convinced that the keg really held pure water. "

(2) _Tattooed Warrior. _--p. 316. 

This expression may be hardly used of the tribes to which the talerelates. Tattooing, in the sense in which it is commonly spoken of, was never, as far as I have learnt, in use among the Indians, occupying the tract of country which is now called New England. 

Among those tribes with whom the practice is in use, the process oftattooing is performed by persons who make it a business of profit. Their instrument consists of three or four needles, tied to atruncated and flattened end of a stick, in such an arrangement, thatthe points may form a straight line; the figure desired is traced uponthe skin, and some dissolved gunpowder, or pulverised charcoal, ispricked in with the instrument, agreeably to the figure. It is saidnot to be painful, but it is sometimes accompanied by inflammation andfever, and has been known to terminate fatally. 

(3) _Disgraced Woman. _--p. 319. 

Not to have borne children is one of the deepest and most indelibledisgraces that can be endured by an Indian wife. She becomes astanding theme of ridicule to those of her own sex who are blest withchildren. The pride and honour of parents among them depend upon thenumber of their family. Another reason why barrenness is disgraceful, is, that it is considered to be brought on by incontinence or wilfulabortions. 

END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 

LONDON:F. SHOBERL, JUN. , LAZENBY COURT, LONG ACRE.