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diff --git a/26688-8.txt b/26688-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e6f725a --- /dev/null +++ b/26688-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7034 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of History, Manners, and Customs of the North +American Indians, by George Mogridge + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: History, Manners, and Customs of the North American Indians + +Author: George Mogridge + +Editor: Thomas O. Summers + +Release Date: September 22, 2008 [EBook #26688] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY, NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS *** + + + + +Produced by Irma Spehar and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + HISTORY, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS + OF THE + NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. + + + BY OLD HUMPHREY. + + + REVISED BY THOMAS O. SUMMERS, D.D. + + + Nashville, Tenn.: + SOUTHERN METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE. + 1859. + + + + + Prefatory Note. + + +This volume is one of a series of books from the ready and prolific +pen of the late George Mogridge--better known by his _nom de plume_, +"Old Humphrey." Most of his works were written for the London +Religious Tract Society, and were originally issued under the auspices +of that excellent institution. In revising them for our catalogue, we +have found it necessary to make scarcely any alterations. A "Memoir of +Old Humphrey, with Gleanings from his Portfolio"--a charming +biography--accompanies our edition of his most interesting works. + +Every Sunday-school and Family Library should be supplied with the +entertaining and useful productions of Old Humphrey's versatile and +sanctified genius. + + T. O. SUMMERS. + + NASHVILLE, TENN., Sept. 27, 1855. + + + + + PREFACE. + + +The present volume is in substance a reprint from a work published by +the _London Religious Tract Society_, and is, we believe, chiefly +compiled from the works of our enterprising countryman, CATLIN. It is +rendered especially attractive by the spirited and impressive +pictorial illustrations of Indian life and scenery with which it +abounds. + +Great changes have occurred in late years, in the circumstances and +prospects of the Indian tribes, and neither their number nor condition +can be ascertained with much accuracy. We have endeavoured to make the +present edition as correct as possible, and have omitted some parts of +the original work which seemed irrelevant, or not well authenticated. +We have also made such changes in the phraseology as its republication +in this country requires. + + + + + THE INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA + + + [Illustration] + + CHAPTER I + + +It was on a wild and gusty day, that Austin and Brian Edwards were +returning home from a visit to their uncle, who lived at a distance of +four or five miles from their father's dwelling, when the wind, which +was already high, rose suddenly; and the heavens, which had for some +hours been overclouded, grew darker, with every appearance of an +approaching storm. Brian was for returning back; but to this Austin +would by no means consent. Austin was twelve years of age, and Brian +about two years younger. Their brother Basil, who was not with them, +had hardly completed his sixth year. + +The three brothers, though unlike in some things--for Austin was +daring, Brian fearful, and Basil affectionate--very closely resembled +each other in their love of books and wonderful relations. What one +read, the other would read; and what one had learned, the other wished +to know. + +Louder and louder blew the wind, and darker grew the sky, and already +had a distant flash and growling thunder announced the coming storm, +when the two brothers arrived at the rocky eminence where, though the +wood was above them, the river rolled nearly a hundred fathoms below. +Some years before, a slip of ground had taken place at no great +distance from the spot, when a mass of earth, amounting to well nigh +half an acre, with the oak trees that grew upon it, slid down, all at +once, towards the river. The rugged rent occasioned by the slip of +earth, the great height of the road above the river, the rude rocks +that here and there presented themselves, and the giant oaks of the +wood frowning on the dangerous path, gave it a character at once +highly picturesque and fearful. Austin, notwithstanding the loud +blustering of the wind, and the remonstrance of his brother to hasten +on, made a momentary pause to enjoy the scene. + +In a short time the two boys had approached the spot where a low, +jutting rock of red sand-stone, around which the roots of a large tree +were seen clinging, narrowed the path; so that there was only the +space of a few feet between the base of the rock and an abrupt and +fearful precipice. + +Austin was looking down on the river, and Brian was holding his cap to +prevent it being blown from his head, when, between the fitful blasts, +a loud voice, or rather a cry, was heard. "Stop, boys, stop! come not +a foot farther on peril of your lives!" Austin and Brian stood still, +neither of them knowing whence came the cry, nor what was the danger +that threatened them; they were, however, soon sensible of the latter, +for the rushing winds swept through the wood with a louder roar, and, +all at once, part of the red sand-stone rock gave way with the giant +oak whose roots were wrapped round it, when the massy ruin, with a +fearful crash, fell headlong across the path, and right over the +precipice. Brian trembled with affright, and Austin turned pale. In +another minute an active man, somewhat in years, was seen making his +way over such parts of the fallen rock as had lodged on the precipice. +It was he who had given the two brothers such timely notice of their +danger, and thereby saved their lives. + +Austin was about to thank him, but hardly had he began to speak, when +the stranger stopped him. "Thank God, my young friends," said he with +much emotion, "and not me; for we are all in his hands. It is his +goodness that has preserved you." In a little time the stranger had +led Austin and Brian, talking kindly to them all the way, to his +comfortable home, which was at no great distance from the bottom of +the wood. + +Scarcely had they seated themselves, when the storm came on in full +fury. As flash after flash seemed to rend the dark clouds, the rain +came down like a deluge, and the two boys were thankful to find +themselves in so comfortable a shelter. Brian's attention was all +taken up with the storm while Austin was surprised to see the room all +hung round with lances, bows and arrows, quivers, tomahawks, and other +weapons of Indian warfare together with pouches, girdles, and garments +of great beauty, such as he had never before seen. A sight so +unexpected both astonished and pleased him, and made a deep impression +on his mind. + +It was some time before the storm had spent its rage, so that the two +brothers had some pleasant conversation with the stranger, who talked +to them cheerfully. He did not, however, fail to dwell much on the +goodness of God in their preservation; nor did he omit to urge on them +to read, on their return home, the first two verses of the forty-sixth +Psalm, which he said might dispose them to look upwards with +thankfulness and confidence. Austin and Brian left the stranger, truly +grateful for the kindness which had been shown them; and the former +felt determined it should not be his fault, if he did not, before +long, make another visit to the place. + +When the boys arrived at home, they related, in glowing colours, and +with breathless haste, the adventure which had befallen them. Brian +dwelt on the black clouds, the vivid lightning, and the rolling +thunder; while Austin described, with startling effect, the sudden cry +which had arrested their steps near the narrow path, and the dreadful +crash of the red sand-stone rock, when it broke over the precipice, +with the big oak-tree that grew above it. "Had we not been stopped by +the cry," said he, "we must in another minute have been dashed to +pieces." He then, after recounting how kind the stranger had been to +them, entered on the subject of the Indian weapons. + +Though the stranger who had rendered the boys so important a service +was dressed like a common farmer, there was that in his manner so +superior to the station he occupied, that Austin, being ardent and +somewhat romantic in his notions, and wrought upon by the Indian +weapons and dresses he had seen, thought he must be some important +person in disguise. This belief he intimated with considerable +confidence, and assigned several good reasons in support of his +opinion. + +Brian reminded Austin of the two verses they were to read; and, when +the Bible was produced, he read aloud, "God is our refuge and +strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, +though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into +the midst of the sea." + +"Ah," said Austin, "we had, indeed, a narrow escape; for if the +mountains were not carried into the sea, the rock fell almost into the +river." + +On the morrow, Mr. Edwards was early on his way, to offer his best +thanks, with those of Mrs. Edwards, to the stranger who had saved the +lives of his children. He met him at the door, and in an interview of +half an hour Mr. Edwards learned that the stranger was the son of a +fur trader; and that, after the death of his father, he had spent +several years among the Indian tribes, resting in their wigwams, +hunting with them, and dealing in furs; but that, having met with an +injury in his dangerous calling, he had at last abandoned that mode of +life. Being fond of solitude, he had resolved, having the means of +following out his plans, to purchase a small estate, and a few sheep; +he should then be employed in the open air, and doubted not that +opportunities would occur, wherein he could make himself useful in the +neighbourhood. There was, also, another motive that much influenced +him in his plans. His mind had for some time been deeply impressed +with divine things, and he yearned for that privacy and repose, which, +while it would not prevent him from attending on God's worship, would +allow him freely to meditate on His holy word, which for some time had +been the delight of his heart. + +He told Mr. Edwards, that he had lived there for some months, and +that, on entering the wood the day before, close by the narrow path, +he perceived by the swaying of the oak tree and moving of the +sand-stone rock, that there was every probability of their falling: +this had induced him to give that timely warning which had been the +means, by the blessing of God, of preserving the young lads from their +danger. + +Mr. Edwards perceived, by his conversation and manners, that he was of +respectable character; and some letters both from missionaries and +ministers, addressed to the stranger, spoke loudly in favour of his +piety. After offering him his best thanks, in a warm-hearted manner, +and expressing freely the pleasure it would give him, if he could in +any way act a neighbourly part in adding to his comfort, Mr. Edwards +inquired if his children might be permitted to call at the house, to +inspect the many curiosities that were there. This being readily +assented to, Mr. Edwards took his departure with a very favourable +impression of his new neighbour, with whom he had so unexpectedly been +made acquainted. + +Austin and Brian were, with some impatience, awaiting their father's +return, and when they knew that the stranger who had saved their lives +had actually passed years among the Indians, on the prairies and in +the woods: that he had slept in their wigwams; hunted beavers, bears, +and buffaloes with them; shared in their games; heard their wild +war-whoop, and witnessed their battles, their delight was unbounded. +Austin took large credit for his penetration in discovering that their +new friend was not a common shepherd, and signified his intention of +becoming thoroughly informed of all the manners and customs of the +North American Indians. + +Nothing could have been more agreeable to the young people than this +unlooked-for addition to their enjoyment. They had heard of the +Esquimaux, of Negroes, Malays, New Zealanders, Chinese, Turks, and +Tartars; but very little of the North American Indians. It was +generally agreed, as leave had been given them to call at the +stranger's, that the sooner they did it the better. Little Basil was +to be of the party; and it would be a difficult thing to decide which +of the three brothers looked forward to the proposed interview with +the greatest pleasure. + +Austin, Brian, and Basil, had at different times found abundant +amusement in reading of parrots, humming birds, and cocoa nuts; lions, +tigers, leopards, elephants, and the horned rhinoceros; monkeys, +raccoons, opossums, and sloths; mosquitoes, lizards, snakes, and scaly +crocodiles; but these were nothing in their estimation, compared with +an account of Indians, bears, and buffaloes, from the mouth of one who +had actually lived among them. + + + + + [Illustration: Indian Scenery.] + + CHAPTER II. + + +Austin Edwards was too ardent in his pursuits not to make the intended +visit to the cottage near the wood the continued theme of his +conversation with his brothers through the remainder of the day; and, +when he retired to rest, in his dreams he was either wandering through +the forest defenceless, having lost his tomahawk, or flying over the +prairie on the back of a buffalo, amid the yelling of a thousand +Indians. + +The sun was bright in the skies when the three brothers set out on +their anticipated excursion. Austin was loud in praise of their kind +preserver, but he could not at all understand how any one, who had +been a hunter of bears and buffaloes, could quietly settle down to +lead the life of a farmer; for his part, he would have remained a +hunter for ever. Brian thought the hunter had acted a wise part in +coming away from so many dangers; and little Basil, not being quite +able to decide which of his two brothers was right, remained silent. + +As the two elder brothers wished to show Basil the place where they +stood when the oak tree and the red sand-stone rock fell over the +precipice with a crash; and as Basil was equally desirous to visit the +spot, they went up to it. Austin helped his little brother over the +broken fragments which still lay scattered over the narrow path. It +was a sight that would have impressed the mind of any one; and Brian +looked up with awe to the remaining part of the rifted rock, above +which the fallen oak tree had stood. Austin was very eloquent in his +description of the sudden voice of the stranger, of the roaring wind +as it rushed through the wood, and of the crashing tree and falling +rock. Basil showed great astonishment; and they all descended from the +commanding height, full of the fearful adventure of the preceding day. + +When they were come within sight of the wood, Brian cried out that he +could see the shepherd's cottage; but Austin told him that he ought +not to call the cottager a shepherd, but a hunter. It was true that he +had a flock of sheep, but he kept them more to employ his time than to +get a living by them. For many years he had lived among the Indians, +and hunted buffaloes with them; he was, therefore, to all intents and +purposes, a buffalo hunter, and ought not to be called a shepherd. +This important point being settled--Brian and Basil having agreed to +call him, in future, a hunter, and not a shepherd--they walked on +hastily to the cottage. + +In five minutes after, the hunter was showing and explaining to his +delighted young visitors the Indian curiosities which hung around the +walls of his cottage, together with others which he kept with greater +care. These latter were principally calumets, or peace-pipes; +mocassins, or Indian shoes; war-eagle dresses, mantles, necklaces, +shields, belts, pouches and war-clubs of superior workmanship. There +was also an Indian cradle, and several rattles and musical +instruments: these altogether afforded the young people wondrous +entertainment. Austin wanted to know how the Indians used their +war-clubs; Brian inquired how they smoked the peace-pipe; and little +Basil was quite as anxious in his questions about a rattle, which he +had taken up and was shaking to and fro. To all these inquiries the +hunter gave satisfactory replies, with a promise to enter afterwards +on a more full explanation. + +In addition to these curiosities, the young people were shown a few +specimens of different kinds of furs: as those of the beaver, ermine, +sable, martin, fiery fox, black fox, silver fox, and squirrel. Austin +wished to know all at once, where, and in what way these fur animals +were caught; and, with this end in view, he contrived to get the +hunter into conversation on the subject. "I suppose," said he, "that +you know all about beavers, and martins, and foxes, and squirrels." + +_Hunter._ I ought to know something about them, having been in my time +somewhat of a _Voyageur_, a _Coureur des bois_, a _Trapper_, and a +_Freeman_; but you will hardly understand these terms without some +little explanation. + +_Austin._ What is a Coureur des bois? + +_Brian._ What is a Voyageur? + +_Basil._ I want to know what a Trapper is. + +_Hunter._ Perhaps it will be better if I give you a short account of +the way in which the furs of different animals are obtained, and then +I can explain the terms, Voyageur, Coureur des bois, Trapper, and +Freeman, as well as a few other things which you may like to know. + +_Brian._ Yes, that will be the best way. + +_Austin._ Please not to let it be a short account, but a long one. +Begin at the very beginning, and go on to the very end. + +_Hunter._ Well, we shall see. It has pleased God, as we read in the +first chapter of the book of Genesis, to give man "dominion over the +fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, +and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth +upon the earth." The meaning of which is, no doubt, not that he may +cruelly abuse them, but that he may use them for his wants and +comforts, or destroy them when they annoy and injure him. The skins of +animals have been used as clothing for thousands of years; and furs +have become so general in dresses and ornaments, that, to obtain them, +a regular trade has long been carried on. In this traffic, the +uncivilized inhabitants of cold countries exchange their furs for +useful articles and comforts and luxuries, which are only to be +obtained from warmer climes and civilized people. + +_Austin._ And where do furs come from? + +_Hunter._ Furs are usually obtained in cold countries. The ermine and +the sable are procured in the northern parts of Europe and Asia; but +most of the furs in use come from the northern region of our own +country. + +If you look at the map of North America, you will find that between +the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans the space is, in its greatest +breath, more than three thousand miles; and, from north to south, the +country stretches out, to say the least of it, a thousand miles still +further. The principal rivers of North America are the Mackenzie, +Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, and St. Lawrence. The Mississippi is +between three and four thousand miles long. Our country abounds with +lakes, too: Ontario and Winipeg are each near two hundred miles long; +Lakes Huron and Erie are between two and three hundred; Michigan is +four hundred, and Lake Superior nearly five hundred miles long. + +_Brian._ What a length for a lake! nearly five hundred miles! Why, it +is more like a sea than a lake. + +_Hunter._ Well, over a great part of the space that I have mentioned, +furry animals abound; and different fur companies send those in their +employ to boat up the river, to sail through the lakes, to hunt wild +animals, to trap beavers, and to trade with the various Indian tribes +which are scattered throughout this extensive territory. + +_Austin._ Oh! how I should like to hunt and to trade with the Indians! + +_Hunter._ Better think the matter over a little before you set off on +such an expedition. Are you ready to sail by ship, steam-boat, and +canoe, to ride on horseback, or to trudge on foot, as the case may +require; to swim across brooks and rivers; to wade through bogs, and +swamps, and quagmires; to live for weeks on flesh, without bread or +salt to it; to lie on the cold ground; to cook your own food; and to +mend your own jacket and mocassins? Are you ready to endure hunger and +thirst, heat and cold, rain and solitude? Have you patience to bear +the stings of tormenting mosquitoes; and courage to defend your life +against the grizzly bear, the buffalo, and the tomahawk of the red +man, should he turn out to be an enemy? + +_Brian._ No, no, Austin. You must not think of running into such +dangers. + +_Hunter._ I will now give you a short account of the fur trade. About +two hundred years ago, or more, the French made a settlement in +Canada, and they soon found such advantage in obtaining the furry +skins of the various animals wandering in the woods and plains around +them, that, after taking all they could themselves, they began to +trade with the Indians, the original inhabitants of the country, who +brought from great distances skins of various kinds. In a rude camp, +formed of the bark of trees, these red men assembled, seated +themselves in half circles, smoked their pipes, made speeches, gave +and received presents, and traded with the French people for their +skins. The articles given in exchange to the Indian hunters, were +knives, axes, arms, kettles, blankets, and cloth: the brighter the +colour of the cloth, the better the Indians were pleased. + +_Austin._ I think I can see them now. + +_Basil._ Did they smoke such pipes as we have been looking at? + +_Hunter._ Yes; for almost all the pipes used by the red men are made +of red stone, dug out of the same quarry, called pipe-stone quarry; +about which I will tell you some other time. One bad part of this +trading system was, that the French gave the Indians but a small part +of the value of their skins; and besides this they charged their own +articles extravagantly high; and a still worse feature in the case +was, that they supplied the Indians with spirituous liquors, and thus +brought upon them all the evils and horrors of intemperance. + +This system of obtaining furs was carried on for many years, when +another practice sprang up. Such white men as had accompanied the +Indians in hunting, and made themselves acquainted with the country, +would paddle up the rivers in canoes, with a few arms and provisions, +and hunt for themselves. They were absent sometimes for as much as a +year, or a year and a half, and then returned with their canoes laden +with rich furs. These white men were what I called _Coureurs des +bois_, rangers of the woods. + +_Austin._ Ah! I should like to be a coureur des bois. + +_Hunter._ Some of these coureurs des bois became very lawless and +depraved in their habits, so that the French government enacted a law +whereby no one, on pain of death, could trade in the interior of the +country with the Indians, without a license. Military posts were also +established, to protect the trade. In process of time, too, fur +companies were established; and men, called _Voyageurs_, or canoe men, +were employed, expressly to attend to the canoes carrying supplies up +the rivers, or bringing back cargoes of furs. + +_Basil._ Now we know what a _Voyageur_ is. + +_Hunter._ You would hardly know me, were you to see me dressed as a +voyageur. Just think: I should have on a striped cotton shirt, cloth +trousers, a loose coat made of a blanket, with perhaps leathern +leggins, and deer-skin mocassins; and then I must not forget my +coloured worsted belt, my knife and tobacco pouch. + +_Austin._ What a figure you would cut! And yet, I dare say, such a +dress is best for a voyageur. + +_Hunter._ Most of the Canadian voyageurs were good-humoured, +light-hearted men, who always sang a lively strain as they dipped +their oars into the waters of the lake or rolling river; but +steam-boats are now introduced, so that the voyageurs are but few. + +_Basil._ What a pity! I like those voyageurs. + +_Hunter._ The voyageurs, who were out for a long period, and navigated +the interior of the country, were called _North-men_, or _Winterers_, +while the others had the name of _Goers and Comers_. Any part of a +river where they could not row a laden canoe, on account of the rapid +stream, they called a _Décharge_; and there the goods were taken from +the boats, and carried on their shoulders, while others towed the +canoes up the stream: but a fall of water, where they were obliged not +only to carry the goods, but also to drag the canoes on land up to the +higher level, they called a _Portage_. + +_Austin._ We shall not forget the North-men, and Comers and Goers, nor +the Décharges and Portages. + +_Basil._ You have not told us what a Trapper is. + +_Hunter._ A _Trapper_ is a beaver hunter. Those who hunt beavers and +other animals, for any of the fur companies, are called Trappers; but +such as hunt for themselves take the name of _Freemen_. + +_Austin._ Yes, I shall remember. Please to tell us how they hunt the +beavers. + +_Hunter._ Beavers build themselves houses on the banks of creeks or +small rivers, with mud, sticks, and stones, and afterwards cover them +over with a coat of mud, which becomes very hard. These houses are +five or six feet thick at the top; and in one house four old beavers, +and six or eight young ones, often live together. But, besides their +houses, the beavers take care to have a number of holes in the banks, +under water, called _washes_, into which they can run for shelter, +should their houses be attacked. It is the business of the trappers to +find out all these washes, or holes; and this they do in winter, by +knocking against the ice, and judging by the sound whether it is a +hole. Over every hole they cut out a piece of ice, big enough to get +at the beaver. No sooner is the beaver-house attacked, than the +animals run into their holes, the entrances of which are directly +blocked up with stakes. The trappers then either take them through the +holes with their hands, or haul them out with hooks fastened to the +end of a pole or stick. + + [Illustration] + +_Austin._ But why is a beaver hunter called a trapper? I cannot +understand that. + +_Hunter._ Because beavers are caught in great numbers in steel traps, +which are set and baited on purpose for them. + +_Brian._ Why do they not catch them in the summer? + +_Hunter._ The fur of the beaver is in its prime in the winter; in the +summer, it is of inferior quality. + +_Austin._ Do the trappers catch many beavers? I should think there +could not be very many of them. + +_Hunter._ In one year, the Hudson's Bay Company alone sold as many as +sixty thousand beaver-skins; and it is not a very easy matter to take +them, I can assure you. + +_Austin._ Sixty thousand! I did not think there were so many beavers +in the world. + +_Hunter._ I will tell you an anecdote, by which you will see that +hunters and trappers have need to be men of courage and activity. A +trapper, of the name of Cannon, had just had the good fortune to kill +a buffalo; and, as he was at a considerable distance from his camp, he +cut out the tongue and some of the choice bits, made them into a +parcel, and slinging them on his shoulders by a strap passed round his +forehead, as the voyageurs carry packages of goods, set out on his way +to the camp. In passing through a narrow ravine, he heard a noise +behind him, and looking round, beheld, to his dismay, a grizzly bear +in full pursuit, apparently attracted by the scent of the meat. Cannon +had heard so much of the strength and ferocity of this fierce animal, +that he never attempted to fire, but slipping the strap from his +forehead, let go the buffalo meat, and ran for his life. The bear did +not stop to regale himself with the game, but kept on after the +hunter. He had nearly overtaken him, when Cannon reached a tree, and +throwing down his rifle, climbed up into it. The next instant Bruin +was at the foot of the tree, but as this species of bear does not +climb, he contented himself with turning the chase into a blockade. +Night came on. In the darkness, Cannon could not perceive whether or +not the enemy maintained his station; but his fears pictured him +rigorously mounting guard. He passed the night, therefore, in the +tree, a prey to dismal fancies. In the morning the bear was gone. +Cannon warily descended the tree, picked up his gun, and made the best +of his way back to the camp, without venturing to look after his +buffalo-meat. + +_Austin._ Then the grizzly bear did not hurt him, after all. + +_Brian._ I would not go among those grizzly bears for all in the +world. + +_Austin._ Do the hunters take deer as well as other animals? + +_Hunter._ Deer, though their skins are not so valuable as many furs, +are very useful to hunters and trappers; for they not only add to +their stock of peltries, but also supply them with food. When skins +have been tanned on the inside, they are called _furs_; but, before +they are tanned, they are called _peltries_. Deer are trapped much in +the same way as buffaloes are. A large circle is enclosed with twisted +trees and brushwood, with a very narrow opening, in the neighbourhood +of a well-frequented deer path. The inside of the circle is crowded +with small hedges, in the openings of which are set snares of twisted +thongs, made fast at one end to a neighbouring tree. Two lines of +small trees are set up, branching off outwardly from the narrow +entrance of the circle; so that the further the lines of trees extend +from the circle, the wider is the space between them. As soon as the +deer are seen moving in the direction of the circle, the hunters get +behind them, and urge them on by loud shouts. The deer, mistaking the +lines of trees set up for enemies, fly straight forward, till they +enter the snare prepared for them. The circle is then surrounded, to +prevent their quitting it, while some of the hunters go into it, +blocking up the entrance, and kill the deer with their bows and +arrows, and their spears. + +_Basil._ I am sorry for the poor deer. + +_Brian._ And so am I, Basil. + +_Hunter._ Hunters are often obliged to leave food in particular +places, in case they should be destitute on their return that way. +They sometimes, too, leave property behind them, and for this purpose +they form a _cache_. + +_Austin._ What is a _cache_? + +_Hunter._ A _cache_ is a hole, or place of concealment; and when any +thing is put in it, great care is required to conceal it from enemies, +and indeed from wild animals, such as wolves and bears. + +_Austin._ Well! but if they dig a deep hole, and put the things in it, +how could anybody find it? A wolf and a bear would never find it out. + +_Hunter._ Perhaps not; unless they should smell it. + +_Austin._ Ay! I forgot that. I must understand a little more of my +business before I set up for a hunter, or a trapper; but please to +tell us all about a cache. + +_Hunter._ A cache is usually dug near a stream, that the earth taken +out of the hole may be thrown into the running water, otherwise it +would tell tales. Then the hunters spread blankets, or what clothes +they have, over the surrounding ground, to prevent the marks of their +feet being seen. When they have dug the hole they line it with dry +grass, and sticks, and bark, and sometimes with a dry skin. After the +things to be hidden are put in, they are covered with another dry +skin, and the hole is filled up with grass, stones, and sticks, and +trodden down hard, to prevent the top from sinking afterwards: the +place is sprinkled with water to take away the scent; and the turf, +which was first cut away, before the hole was dug, is laid down with +care, just as it was before it was touched. They then take up their +blankets and clothes, and leave the cache, putting a mark at some +distance, that when they come again they may know where to find it. + +_Austin._ Capital! I could make a cache now, that neither bear, nor +wolf, nor Indian could find. + +_Brian._ But if the bear did not find the cache, he might find you; +and then what would become of you? + +_Austin._ Why I would climb a tree, as Cannon did. + +_Hunter._ Most of the furs that are taken find their way to London; +but every year the animals which produce them become fewer. Besides +the skins of larger animals, the furs of a great number of smaller +creatures are valuable; and these, varying in their habits, require to +be taken in a different manner. The bison is found on the prairies, +or plains; the beaver, on creeks and rivers; the badger, the fox, and +the rabbit, burrow in the ground; and the bear, the deer, the mink, +the martin, the raccoon, the lynx, the hare, the musk-rat, the +squirrel, and ermine, are all to be found in the woods. In paddling up +the rivers in canoes, and in roaming through the woods and prairies, +in search of these animals, I have mingled much with Indians of +different tribes; and if you can, now and then, make a call on me, you +will perhaps be entertained in hearing what I can tell you about them. +The Indians should be regarded by us as brothers. We ought to feel +interested in their welfare here, and in their happiness hereafter. +The fact that we are living on lands once the residence of these +roaming tribes, and that they have been driven far into the wilderness +to make room for us, should lead us not only to feel sympathy for the +poor Indians, but to make decided efforts for their improvement. Our +missionary societies are aiming at this great object, but far greater +efforts are necessary. We have the word of God, and Christian +Sabbaths, and Christian ministers, and religious ordinances, in +abundance, to direct and comfort us; but they are but scantily +supplied with these advantages. Let us not forget to ask in our +prayers, that the Father of mercies may make known his mercy to them, +opening their eyes, and influencing their hearts, so that they may +become true servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. + +The delight visible in the sparkling eyes of the young people, as +they took their leave, spoke their thanks. On their way home, they +talked of nothing else but fur companies, lakes, rivers, prairies, and +rocky mountains; buffaloes, wolves, bears, and beavers; and it was +quite as much as Brian and Basil could do, to persuade their brother +Austin from making up his mind at once to be a voyageur, a coureur des +bois, or a trapper. The more they were against it, so much the more +his heart seemed set upon the enterprise; and the wilder they made the +buffaloes that would attack him, and the bears and wolves that would +tear him to pieces, the bolder and more courageous he became. However, +though on this point they could not agree, they were all unanimous in +their determination to make another visit the first opportunity. + + [Illustration: Indian Cloak.] + + + + + [Illustration: Chiefs of different Tribes.] + + CHAPTER III. + + +The next time the three brothers did not go to the red sand-stone +rock, but the adventure which took place there formed a part of their +conversation. They found the hunter at home, and, feeling now on very +friendly and familiar terms with him, they entered at once on the +subject that was nearest their hearts. "Tell us, if you please," said +Austin, as soon as they were seated, "about the very beginning of the +red men." + +"You are asking me to do that," replied the hunter, "which is much +more difficult than you suppose. To account for the existence of the +original inhabitants, and of the various tribes of Indians which are +now scattered throughout the whole of North America, has puzzled the +heads of the wisest men for ages; and, even at the present day, though +travellers have endeavoured to throw light on this subject, it still +remains a mystery." + +_Austin._ But what is it that is so mysterious? What is it that wise +men and travellers cannot make out? + +_Hunter._ They cannot make out how it is, that the whole of +America--taking in, as it does, some parts which are almost always +covered with snow, and other parts that are as hot as the sun can make +them--should be peopled with a class of human beings distinct from all +others in the world--red men, who have black hair, and no beards. If +you remember, it is said, in the first chapter of Genesis, "So God +created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male +and female created he them." And, in the second chapter, "And the Lord +God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom +he had formed." Now, it is known, by the names of the rivers which are +mentioned in the chapter, that the garden of Eden was in Asia; so that +you see our first parents, whence the whole of mankind have sprung, +dwelt in Asia. + +_Austin._ Yes, that is quite plain. + +_Hunter._ Well, then, you recollect, I dare say, that when the world +was drowned, all mankind were destroyed, except Noah and his family in +the ark. + +_Brian._ Yes; we recollect that very well. + +_Hunter._ And when the ark rested, it rested on Mount Ararat, which is +in Asia also. If you look on the map of the world, you will see that +the three continents, Europe, Asia, and Africa, are united together; +but America stands by itself, with an ocean rolling on each side of +it, thousands of miles broad. It is easy to suppose that mankind would +spread over the continents that are close together, but difficult to +account for their passing over the ocean, at a time when the arts of +ship-building and navigation were so little understood. + +_Austin._ They must have gone in a ship, that is certain. + +_Hunter._ But suppose they did, how came it about that they should be +so very different from all other men? America was only discovered +about four hundred years ago, and then it was well peopled with red +men. Besides, there have been discovered throughout our country, +monuments, ruins, and sites of ancient towns, with thousands of +enclosures and fortifications. Articles, too, of pottery, sculpture, +glass, and copper, have been found at times, sixty or eighty feet +under the ground, and, in some instances, with forests growing over +them, so that they must have been very ancient. The people who built +these fortifications and towers, and possessed these articles in +pottery, sculpture, glass, and copper, lived at a remote period, and +must have been, to a considerable degree, cultivated. Who these people +were, and how they came to America, no one knows, though many have +expressed their opinions. But, even if we did know who they were, how +could we account for the present race of Indians in North America +being barbarous, when their ancestors were so highly civilized? These +are difficulties which, as I said, have puzzled the wisest heads for +ages. + +_Austin._ What do wise men and travellers say about these things? + +_Hunter._ Some think, that as the frozen regions of Asia, in one part, +are so near the frozen regions of North America--it being only about +forty miles across Behring's Straits--some persons from Asia might +have crossed over there, and peopled the country; or that North +America might have once been joined to Asia, though it is not so now; +or that, in ancient times, some persons might have drifted, or been +blown there by accident, in boats or ships, across the wide ocean. +Some think these people might have been Phenicians, Carthagenians, +Hebrews, or Egyptians; while another class of reasoners suppose them +to have been Hindoos, Chinese, Tartars, Malays, or others. It seems, +however, to be God's will often to humble the pride of his creatures, +by baffling their conjectures, and hedging up their opinions with +difficulties. His way is in the sea, and his path in the great waters, +and his footsteps are not known. He "maketh the earth empty, and +maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the +inhabitants thereof." + +_Austin._ Well, if you cannot tell us of the Indians in former times, +you can tell us of the Indians that there are, for that will be a +great deal better. + +_Brian._ Yes, that it will. + +_Hunter._ You must bear in mind, that some years have passed since I +was hunting and trapping in the woods and prairies, and that many +changes have taken place since then among the Indians. Some have been +tomahawked by the hands of the stronger tribes; some have given up +their lands to the whites, and retired to the west of the Mississippi; +and thousands have been carried off by disease, which has made sad +havoc among them. I must, therefore, speak of them as they were. Some +of the tribes, since I left them, have been utterly destroyed; not one +living creature among them being left to speak of those who have gone +before them. + +_Austin._ What a pity! They want some good doctors among them, and +then diseases would not carry them off in that way. + +_Hunter._ I will not pretend to give you an exact account of the +number of the different tribes, or the particular places they now +occupy; for though my information may be generally right, yet the +changes which have taken place are many. + +_Austin._ Please to tell us what you remember, and what you know; and +that will quite satisfy us. + +_Hunter._ A traveller[1] among the Indian tribes has published a book +called "Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of +the North American Indians;" and a most interesting and entertaining +account it is. If ever you can lay hold of it, it will afford you +great amusement. Perhaps no man who has written on the Indians has +seen so much of them as he has. + + [Footnote 1: Mr. Catlin] + +_Brian._ Did you ever meet Catlin? + +_Hunter._ O yes, many times; and a most agreeable companion I found +him. He has lectured in most of our cities, and shown the beautiful +collection of Indian dresses and curiosities collected during his +visits to the remotest tribes. If you can get a sight of his book, you +will soon see that he is a man of much knowledge, and possessing great +courage, energy, and perseverance. I will now, then, begin my +narrative; and if you can find pleasure in hearing a description of +the Indians, with their villages, wigwams, war-whoops, and warriors; +their manners, customs, and superstitions; their dress, ornaments, and +arms; their mysteries, games, huntings, dances, war-councils, +speeches, battles, and burials; with a fair sprinkling of prairie +dogs, and wild horses; wolves, beavers, grizzly bears, and mad +buffaloes; I will do my best to give you gratification. + +_Austin._ These are the very things that we want to know. + +_Hunter._ I shall not forget to tell you what the missionaries have +done among the Indians; but that must be towards the latter end of my +account. Let me first show you a complete table of the number and +names of the tribes. It is in the Report made to Congress by the +Commissioners of Indian Affairs for 1843-4. + +_Statement showing the number of each tribe of Indians, whether +natives of, or emigrants to, the country west of the Mississippi, with +items of emigration and subsistence._ + ++--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +|Names of |Number |Number |Present |Number |Number |Number |Daily | +|tribes. |of each |removed |western |remain- |removed|of each|expense| +| |tribe |of each |popula- |ing east|since |now |of sub-| +| |indigenous|tribe |tion of |of each |date of|under |sisting| +| |to the |wholly or|each |tribe. |last |subsi- |them. | +| |country |partially|tribe | |annual |stence | | +| |west of |removed. |wholly or| |report.|west. | | +| |the Missi-| |partially| | | | | +| |ssippi. | |removed. | | | | | +|----------+----------+---------+---------+--------+-------+-------+-------| +|Chippewas,| | | | | | | | +|Ottowas, | | | | | | | | +|and Potta-| | | | | | | | +|watomies, | | | | | | | | +|and Potta-| | | | | | | | +|watomies | | | | | | | | +|of Indiana| -- | 5,779 | 2,298 | 92[a] | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Creeks | -- | 24,594 | 24,594 | 744 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Choctaws | -- | 15,177 | 15,177 | 3,323 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Minatarees| 2,000 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Florida | | | | | | | | +|Indians | -- | 3,824 | 3,824 | -- | 212 | 212 |$7 68˝ | +| | | | | | | | | +|Pagans | 30,000 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Cherokees | -- | 25,911 | 25,911 | 1,000 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Assina- | | | | | | | | +|boins | -- | 7,000 | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Swan Creek| | | | | | | | +|and Black | | | | | | | | +|River | | | | | | | | +|Chippewas | -- | 62 | 62 | 113 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Appachees | 20,280 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Crees | 800 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Ottowas | | | | | | | | +|and Chip- | | | | | | | | +|pewas, to-| | | | | | | | +|gether | | | | | | | | +|with Chip-| | | | | | | | +|pewas of | | | | | | | | +|Michigan | -- | -- | -- | 7,055 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Arrapahas | 2,500 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|New York | | | | | | | | +|Indians | -- | -- | -- | 3,293 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Gros | | | | | | | | +|Ventres | 3,300 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Chickasaws| -- | 4,930 | 4,930 | 80[b] |288[c] | 198[d]| 9 40˝ | +| | | | | | | | | +|Eutaws | 19,200 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Stock- | | | | | | | | +|bridges | | | | | | | | +|and Mun- | | | | | | | | +|sees, and | | | | | | | | +|Delawares | | | | | | | | +|and | | | | | | | | +|Munsees | -- | 180 | 278 | 320 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Sioux | 25,000 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Quapaws | 476 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Iowas | 470 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Kickapoos | -- | 588 | 505 | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Sacs and | | | | | | | | +|Foxes of | | | | | | | | +|Missis- | | | | | | | | +|sippi | 2,348[e]| | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Delawares | -- | 826 | 1,059 | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Shawnees | -- | 1,272 | 887 | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Sacs of | | | | | | | | +|Missouri | 414[e] | | | | | | | +|Weas | -- | 225 | 176 | 30 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Osages | 4,102 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Pianke- | | | | | | | | +|shaws | -- | 162 | 98 | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Kanzas | 1,588 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Peorias | | | | | | | | +|and | | | | | | | | +|Kaskaskias| -- | 132 | 150 | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Omahas | 1,600 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Senecas | | | | | | | | +|from | | | | | | | | +|Sandusky | -- | 251 | 251 | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Otoes and | | | | | | | | +|Missourias| 931 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Senecas | | | | | | | | +|and | | | | | | | | +|Shawnees | -- | 211 | 211 | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Pawnees | 12,500 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Winneba- | | | | | | | | +|goes | -- | 4,500 | 2,183 | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Camanches | 19,200 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Kiowas | 1,800 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Mandans | 300 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Crows | 4,000 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Wyandots | | | | | | | | +|of Ohio | -- | 664 | -- | 50[g]| 664 | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Poncas | 800 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Miamies | -- | -- | -- | 661 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Arickarees| 1,200 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Menomonies| -- | -- | -- |2,464 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Cheyenes | 2,000 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Chippewas | | | | | | | | +|of the | | | | | | | | +|Lakes | -- | -- | -- |2,564 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Blackfeet | 1,300 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Caddoes | 2,000 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Snakes | 1,000 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Flatheads | 800 | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Oneidas | | | | | | | | +|of Green | | | | | | | | +|Bay | -- | -- | -- | 675 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Stock- | | | | | | | | +|bridges of| | | | | | | | +|Green Bay | -- | -- | -- | 207 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Wyandots | | | | | | | | +|of | | | | | | | | +|Michigan | -- | -- | -- | 75 | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +|Pottawato-| | | | | | | | +|mies of | | | | | | | | +|Huron | -- | -- | -- | 100 | | | | ++----------+----------+---------+---------+--------+-------+-------+-------+ +| | 168,909 | 89,288 | 83,594 |22,846 | 1,164 | 410 | 17 09 | ++----------+----------+---------+---------+--------+-------+-------+-------+ + + + NOTES. + + [Footnote a: These 92 are Ottowas of Maumee.] + + [Footnote b: This, as far as appears from any data in the + office; but, in point of fact, there are most probably no, or + very few, Chickasaws remaining east.] + + [Footnote c: In this number is included a party, assumed to + be 100, who clandestinely removed themselves; but they are + withheld from the next column, because, it is not yet known + what arrangement has been made for their subsistence, though + instructions on that subject have been addressed to the + Choctaw agent.] + + [Footnote d: Ten of these emigrated as far back as January, + 1842; but, as the number was so small, the arrangements for + their subsistence were postponed until they could be included + in some larger party, such as that which subsequently + arrived.] + + [Footnote e: These Indians do not properly belong to this + column, but are so disposed of because the table is without + an exactly appropriate place for them. Originally, their + haunts extended east of the river, and some of their + possessions on this side are among the cessions by our + Indians to the Government, but their tribes have ever since + been gradually moving westward.] + + [Footnote g: This number is conjectural, but cannot be far + from the truth, as Mr. McElvaine, the sub-agent, states that + but 8 or 10 families still remain.] + +_Hunter._ And now, place before you a map of North America. See how it +stretches out north and south from Baffin's Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, +and east and west from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. What a +wonderful work of the Almighty is the rolling deep! "The sea is His, +and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land." Here are the great +Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario; and here run the +mighty rivers, the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Ohio, and the St. +Lawrence: the Mississippi itself is between three and four thousand +miles long. + +_Basil._ What a river! Please to tell us what are all those little +hills running along there, one above another, from top to bottom. + +_Hunter._ They are the Rocky Mountains. Some regard them as a +continuation of the Andes of South America; so that, if both are put +together, they will make a chain of mountains little short of nine +thousand miles long. North America, with its mighty lakes, rivers, and +mountains, its extended valleys and prairies, its bluffs, caverns, and +cataracts, and, more than all, its Indian inhabitants, beavers, +buffaloes, and bisons, will afford us something to talk of for some +time to come; but the moment you are tired of my account, we will +stop. + +_Austin._ We shall never be tired; no, not if you go on telling us +something every time we come, for a whole year. But do tell us, how +did these tribes behave to you, when you were among them? + +_Hunter._ I have not a word of complaint to make. The Indians have +been represented as treacherous, dishonest, reserved, and sour in +their disposition; but, instead of this, I have found them generally, +though not in all cases, frank, upright, hospitable, light-hearted, +and friendly. Those who have seen Indians smarting under wrongs, and +deprived, by deceit and force, of their lands, hunting-grounds, and +the graves of their fathers, may have found them otherwise: and no +wonder; the worm that is trodden on will writhe; and man, unrestrained +by Divine grace, when treated with injustice and cruelty, will turn on +his oppressor. + +_Austin._ Say what you will, I like the Indians. + +_Hunter._ That there is much of evil among Indians is certain; much of +ignorance, unrestrained passions, cruelty, and revenge: but they have +been misrepresented in many things. I had better tell you the names of +some of the chiefs of the tribes, or of some of the most remarkable +men among them. + +_Austin._ Yes; you cannot do better. Tell us the names of all the +chiefs, and the warriors, and the conjurors, and all about them. + +_Hunter._ The Blackfeet Indians are a very warlike people; +_Stu-mick-o-súcks_ was the name of their chief. + +_Austin._ Stu-mick-o-súcks! What a name! Is there any meaning in it? + +_Hunter._ O yes. It means, "the back fat of the buffalo;" and if you +had seen him and _Peh-tó-pe-kiss_, "the ribs of the eagle," another +chief dressed up in their splendid mantles, buffaloes' horns, ermine +tails, and scalp-locks, you would not soon have turned your eyes from +them. + +_Brian._ Who would ever be called by such a name as that? The back fat +of the buffalo! + +_Hunter._ The Camanchees are famous on horseback. There is no tribe +among the Indians that can come up to them, to my mind, in the +management of a horse, and the use of the lance: they are capital +hunters. The name of their chief is _Eé-shah-kó-nee_, or "the bow and +quiver." I hardly ever saw a larger man among the Indians than +_Ta-wáh-que-nah_, the second chief in power. Ta-wáh-que-nah means "the +mountain of rocks," a very fit name for a huge Indian living near the +Rocky Mountains. When I saw _Kots-o-kó-ro-kó_, or "the hair of the +bull's neck," (who is, if I remember right, the third chief,) he had a +gun in his right hand, and his warlike shield on his left arm. + +_Austin._ If I go among the Indians, I shall stay a long time with the +Camanchees; and then I shall, perhaps, become one of the most skilful +horsemen, and one of the best hunters in the world. + +_Brian._ And suppose you get thrown off your horse, or killed in +hunting buffaloes, what shall you say to it then? + +_Austin._ Oh, very little, if I get killed; but no fear of that. I +shall mind what I am about. Tell us who is the head of the Sioux? + +_Hunter._ When I was at the upper waters of the Mississippi and +Missouri rivers, _Ha-wón-je-tah_, or "the one horn," was chief; but +since then, being out among the buffaloes, a buffalo bull attacked and +killed him. + +_Basil._ There, Austin! If an Indian chief was killed by a buffalo, +what should _you_ do among them? Why they would toss you over their +heads like a shuttlecock. + +_Hunter._ _Wee-tá-ra-sha-ro_, the head chief of the Pawnee Picts, is +dead now, I dare say; for he was a very old, as well as a very +venerable looking man. Many a buffalo hunt with the Camanchees had he +in his day, and many a time did he go forth with them in their +war-parties. He had a celebrated brave of the name of _Ah'-sho-cole_, +or "rotten foot," and another called _Ah'-re-kah-na-có-chee_, "the mad +elk." Indians give the name of _brave_ to a warrior who has +distinguished himself by feats of valour, such as admit him to their +rank. + +_Brian._ I wonder that they should choose such long names. It must be +a hard matter to remember them. + +_Hunter._ There were many famous men among the Sacs. _Kee-o-kuk_ was +the chief. Kee-o-kuk means "the running fox." One of his boldest +braves was _Má-ka-tai-me-she-kiá-kiák_, "the black hawk." The history +of this renowned warrior is very curious. It was taken down from his +own lips, and has been published. If you should like to listen to the +adventures of Black Hawk, I will relate them to you some day, when you +have time to hear them, as well as those of young Nik-ka-no-chee, a +Seminole. + +_Austin._ We will not forget to remind you of your promise. It will be +capital to listen to these histories. + +_Hunter._ When I saw _Wa-sáw-me-saw_, or "the roaring thunder," the +youngest son of Black Hawk, he was in captivity. _Náh-se-ús-kuk_, "the +whirling thunder," his eldest son, was a fine looking man, beautifully +formed, with a spirit like that of a lion. There was a war called The +Black Hawk war, and Black Hawk was the leader and conductor of it; and +one of his most famous warriors was _Wah-pe-kée-suck_, or "white +cloud;" he was, however, as often called The Prophet as the White +Cloud. _Pam-a-hó_, "the swimmer;" _Wah-pa-ko-lás-kak_, "the track of +the bear;" and _Pash-ce-pa-hó_, "the little stabbing chief;" were, I +think, all three of them warriors of Black Hawk. + +_Basil._ The Little Stabbing Chief! He must be a very dangerous fellow +to go near, if we may judge by his name: keep away from him, Austin, +if you go to the Sacs. + +_Austin._ Oh! he would never think of stabbing me. I should behave +well to all the tribes, and then I dare say they would all of them +behave well to me. You have not said any thing of the Crow Indians. + +_Hunter._ I forget who was at the head of the Crows, though I well +remember several of the warriors among them. They were tall, +well-proportioned, and dressed with a great deal of taste and care. +_Pa-ris-ka-roó-pa_, called "the two crows," had a head of hair that +swept the ground after him as he walked along. + +_Austin._ What do you think of that, Basil? No doubt the Crows are +fine fellows. Please to mention two or three more. + +_Hunter._ Let me see; there was _Eé-heé-a-duck-chée-a_, or "he who +binds his hair before;" and _Hó-ra-to-ah_, "a warrior;" and +_Chah-ee-chópes_, "the four wolves;" the hair of these was as long as +that of Pa-ris-ka-roó-pa. Though they were very tall, +Eé-heé-a-duck-chée-a being at least six feet high, the hair of each of +them reached and rested on the ground. + +_Austin._ When I go among the Indians, the Crows shall not be +forgotten by me. I shall have plenty to tell you of, Brian, when I +come back. + +_Brian._ Yes, if you ever do come back; but what with the sea, and the +rivers, and the swamps, and the bears, and the buffaloes, you are sure +to get killed. You will never tell us about the Crows, or about any +thing else. + +_Hunter._ There was one of the Crows called The Red Bear, or +_Duhk-pits-o-hó-shee_. + +_Brian._ Duhk-pitch a--Duck pits--I cannot pronounce the word--why +that is worse to speak than any. + +_Austin._ Hear me pronounce it then: _Duhk-pits-o-hoot-shee_. No; that +is not quite right, but very near it. + +_Basil._ You must not go among the Crows yet, Austin; you cannot talk +well enough. + +_Hunter._ Oh, there are much harder names among some of the tribes +than those I have mentioned; for instance there is +_Aú-nah-kwet-to-hau-páy-o_, "the one sitting in the clouds;" and +_Eh-tohk-pay-she-peé-shah_, "the black mocassin;" and +_Kay-ée-qua-da-kúm-ée-gish-kum_, "he who tries the ground with his +foot;" and _Mah-to-rah-rish-nee-éeh-ée-rah_, "the grizzly bear that +runs without fear." + +_Brian._ Why these names are as long as from here to yonder. Set to +work, Austin! set to work! For, if there are many such names as these +among the Indians, you will have enough to do without going to a +buffalo hunt. + +_Austin._ I never dreamed that there were such names as those in the +world. + +_Basil._ Ay, you will have enough of them, Austin, if you go abroad. +You will never be able to learn them, do what you will. Give it up, +Austin; give it up at once. + +Though Brian and Basil were very hard on Austin on their way home, +about the long names of the Indians, and the impossibility of his ever +being able to learn them by heart, Austin defended himself stoutly. +"Very likely," said he, "after all, they call these long names very +short, just as we do; Nat for Nathaniel, Kit for Christopher, and Elic +for Alexander." + + + + + [Illustration: Wigwams.] + + CHAPTER IV. + + +It was not long before Austin, Brian, and Basil were again listening +to the interesting accounts given by their friend, the hunter; and it +would have been a difficult point to decide whether the listeners or +the narrator derived most pleasure from their occupation. Austin began +without delay to speak of the aborigines of North America. + +"We want to know," said he, "a little more about what these people +were, and when they were first found out." + +_Hunter._ When America was first discovered, the inhabitants, though +for the most part partaking of one general character, were not without +variety. The greater part, as I told you, were, both in hot and cold +latitudes, red men with black hair, and without beards. They, perhaps, +might have been divided into four parts: the Mexicans and Peruvians, +who were, to a considerable extent, civilized; the Caribs, who +inhabited the fertile soil and luxuriant clime of the West Indies; the +Esquimaux, who were then just the same people as they are now, living +in the same manner by fishing; and the Red Men, or North American +Indians. + +_Austin._ Then the Esquimaux are not Red Indians. + +_Hunter._ No; they are more like the people who live in Lapland, and +in the North of Asia; and for this reason, and because the distance +across Behring's Straits is so short, it is thought they came from +Asia, and are a part of the same people. The red men are, however, +different; and as we agreed that I should tell you about the present +race of them, perhaps I may as well proceed. + +_Austin._ Yes. Please to tell us first of their wigwams, and their +villages, and how they live. + +_Brian._ And what they eat, and what clothes they wear. + +_Basil._ And how they talk to one another. + +_Austin._ Yes; and all about their spears and tomahawks. + +_Hunter._ The wigwams of the Indians are of different kinds: some are +extremely simple, being formed of high sticks or poles, covered with +turf or the bark of trees; while others are very handsome. The Sioux, +the Blackfeet, and the Crows, form their wigwams nearly in the same +manner; that is, by sewing together the skins of buffaloes, after +properly dressing them, and making them into the form of a tent. This +covering is then supported by poles. The tent has a hole at the top, +to let out the smoke, and to let in the light. + +_Austin._ Ay, that is a better way of making a wigwam than covering +over sticks with turf. + +_Hunter._ The wigwams, or lodges, of the Mandans are round. A circular +foundation is dug about two feet deep; timbers six feet high are set +up all around it, and on these are placed other long timbers, slanting +inwards, and fastened together in the middle, like a tent, leaving +space for light and for the smoke to pass. This tent-like roof is +supported by beams and upright posts, and it is covered over outwardly +by willow boughs and a thick coating of earth; then comes the last +covering of hard tough clay. The sun bakes this, and long use makes it +solid. The outside of a Mandan lodge is almost as useful as the +inside; for there the people sit, stand, walk, and take the air. These +lodges are forty, fifty, or sixty feet wide. + +_Brian._ The Mandan wigwam is the best of all. + +_Hunter._ Wigwams, like those of the Mandans, which are always in the +same place, and are not intended to be removed, are more substantial +than such as may be erected and taken down at pleasure. Some of the +wigwams of the Crow Indians, covered as they are with skins dressed +almost white, and ornamented with paint, porcupine quills and +scalp-locks, are very beautiful. + +_Austin._ Yes; they must look even better than the Mandan lodges, and +they can be taken down and carried away. + +_Hunter._ It would surprise you to witness the manner in which an +encampment of Crows or Sioux strike their tents or wigwams. I have +seen several hundred lodges all standing; in two or three minutes +after, all were flat upon the prairie. + +_Austin._ Why, it must be like magic. + +_Hunter._ The time has been fixed, preparations made, the signal +given, and all at once the poles and skin coverings have been taken +down. + +_Brian._ How do they carry the wigwams away with them? + +_Hunter._ The poles are dragged along by horses and by dogs; the +smaller ends being fastened over their shoulders, while on the larger +ends, dragging along the ground, are placed the coverings, rolled up +together. The dogs pull along two poles, each with a load, while the +horses are taxed according to their strength. Hundreds of horses and +dogs, thus dragging their burdens, may be seen slowly moving over the +prairie with attendant Indians on horseback, and women and girls on +foot heavily laden. + +_Brian._ What a sight! and to what length they must stretch out; such +a number of them! + +_Hunter._ Some of their villages are large, and fortified with two +rows of high poles round them. A Pawnee Pict village on the Red River, +with its five or six hundred beehive-like wigwams of poles, thatched +with prairie grass, much pleased me. Round the village there were +fields of maize, melons and pumpkins growing. + +The Indians hunt, fish, and some of them raise corn for food; but the +flesh of the buffalo is what they most depend upon. + +_Austin._ How do the Indians cook their food? + +_Hunter._ They broil or roast meat and fish, by laying it on the fire, +or on sticks raised above the fire. They boil meat, also, making of it +a sort of soup. I have often seated myself, squatting down on a robe +spread for me, to a fine joint of buffalo ribs, admirably roasted; +with, perhaps, a pudding-like paste of the prairie turnip, flavoured +with buffalo berries. + +_Austin._ That is a great deal like an English dinner--roast beef and +a pudding. + +_Hunter._ The Indians eat a great deal of green corn, pemican, and +marrow fat. The pemican is buffalo meat, dried hard, and pounded in a +wooden mortar. Marrow fat is what is boiled out of buffalo bones; it +is usually kept in bladders. They eat, also, the flesh of the deer and +other animals: that of the dog is reserved for feasts and especial +occasions. They have, also, beans and peas, peaches, melons and +strawberries, pears, pumpkins, chinkapins, walnuts and chestnuts. +These things they can get when settled in their villages; but when +wandering, or on their war parties, they take up with what they can +find. They never eat salt with their food. + +_Basil._ And what kind of clothes do they wear? + +_Hunter._ Principally skins, unless they trade with the whites, in +which case they buy clothes of different kinds. Some wear long hair, +some cut their hair off and shave the head. Some dress themselves +with very few ornaments, but others have very many. Shall I describe +to you the full dress of _Máh-to-tóh-pa_, "the four bears." + +_Austin._ Oh, yes; every thing belonging to him. + +_Hunter._ You must imagine, then, that he is standing up before you, +while I describe him, and that he is not a little proud of his costly +attire. + +_Austin._ I fancy that I can see him now. + +_Hunter._ His robe was the soft skin of a young buffalo bull. On one +side was the fur; on the other, were pictured the victories he had +won. His shirt, or tunic, was made of the skins of mountain sheep, +ornamented with porcupine quills and paintings of his battles. From +the edge of his shoulder-band hung the long black locks that he had +taken with his own hand from his enemies. His head-dress was of +war-eagle quills, falling down his back to his very feet; on the top +of his head stood a pair of buffalo horns, shaven thin, and polished +beautifully. + +_Brian._ What a figure he must have made! + +_Hunter._ His leggings were tight, decorated with porcupine quills and +scalp-locks: they were made of the finest deer skins, and fastened to +a belt round the waist. His mocassins, or shoes, were buckskin, +embroidered in the richest manner; and his necklace, the skin of an +otter, having on it fifty huge claws, or rather talons, of the grizzly +bear. + +_Austin._ What a desperate fellow! Bold as a lion, I will be bound for +it. Had he no weapons about him? + +_Hunter._ Oh, yes! He held in his left hand a two-edged spear of +polished steel, with a shaft of tough ash, and ornamented with tufts +of war-eagle quills. His bow, beautifully white, was formed of bone, +strengthened with the sinews of deer, drawn tight over the back of it; +the bow-string was a three-fold twist of sinews. Seldom had its twang +been heard, without an enemy or a buffalo falling to the earth; and +rarely had that lance been urged home, without finding its way to some +victim's heart. + +_Austin._ Yes; I thought he was a bold fellow. + +_Hunter._ He had a costly shield of the hide of a buffalo, stiffened +with glue and fringed round with eagle quills and antelope hoofs; and +a quiver of panther skin, well filled with deadly shafts. Some of +their points were flint, and some were steel, and most of them were +stained with blood. He carried a pipe, a tobacco sack, a belt, and a +medicine bag; and in his right hand he held a war club like a sling, +being made of a round stone wrapped up in a raw hide and fastened to a +tough stick handle. + +_Austin._ What sort of a pipe was it? + +_Basil._ What was in his tobacco sack? + +_Brian._ You did not say what his belt was made of. + +_Hunter._ His pipe was made of red pipe-stone, and it had a stem of +young ash, full three feet long, braided with porcupine quills in the +shape of animals and men. It was also ornamented with the beaks of +woodpeckers, and hairs from the tail of the white buffalo. One thing I +ought not to omit; on the lower half of the pipe, which was painted +red, were notched the snows, or years of his life. By this simple +record of their lives, the red men of the forest and the prairie may +be led to something like reflection. + +_Basil._ What was in his tobacco sack? + +_Hunter._ His flint and steel, for striking a light, and his tobacco, +which was nothing more than the bark of the red willow. His medicine +bag was beaver skin, adorned with ermine and hawks' bills; and his +belt, in which he carried his tomahawk and scalping-knife, was formed +of tough buckskin, firmly fastened round his loins. + +_Austin._ Please to tell us about the scalping knife. It must be a +fearful instrument. + +_Hunter._ All instruments of cruelty, vengeance and destruction are +fearful, whether in savage or civilized life. What are we, that wrath +and revenge and covetousness should be fostered in our hearts! What is +man, that he should shed the blood of his brother! Before the Indians +had dealing with the whites, they made their own weapons: their bows +were strung with the sinews of deer; their arrows were headed with +flint; their knives were sharpened bone; their war-clubs were formed +of wood, cut into different shapes, and armed with sharp stones; and +their tomahawks, or hatchets, were of the same materials: but now, +many of their weapons, such as hatchets, spear-heads, and knives, are +made of iron, being procured from the whites, in exchange for the +skins they obtain in the chase. A scalping-knife is oftentimes no more +than a rudely formed butcher's knife, with one edge, and the Indians +wear them in beautiful scabbards under their belts. + +_Austin._ How does an Indian scalp his enemy? + +_Hunter._ The hair on the crown of the head is seized with the left +hand; the knife makes a circle round it through the skin, and then the +hair and skin together, sometimes with the hand, and sometimes with +the teeth, are forcibly torn off! The scalp may be, perhaps, as broad +as my hand. + +_Brian._ Terrible! Scalping would be sure to kill a man, I suppose. + +_Hunter._ Not always. Scalps are war trophies, and are generally +regarded as proofs of the death of an enemy; but an Indian, inflamed +with hatred and rage, and excited by victory, will not always wait +till his foe has expired before he scalps him. The hair, as well as +the scalp, of a fallen foe is carried off by the victorious Indian, +and with it his clothes are afterwards ornamented. It is said, that, +during the old French war, an Indian slew a Frenchman who wore a wig. +The warrior stooped down, and seized the hair for the purpose of +securing the scalp. To his great astonishment, the wig came off, +leaving the head bare. The Indian held it up, and examining it with +great wonder, exclaimed, in broken English, "Dat one big lie." + +_Brian._ How the Indian would stare! + +_Basil._ He had never seen a wig before, I dare say. + +_Hunter._ The arms of Indians, offensive and defensive, are, for the +most part, those which I have mentioned--the club, the tomahawk, the +bow and arrow, the spear, the shield and the scalping-knife. But the +use of fire-arms is gradually extending among them. Some of their +clubs are merely massy pieces of hard, heavy wood, nicely fitted to +the hand, with, perhaps, a piece of hard bone stuck in the head part; +others are curiously carved into fanciful and uncouth shapes; while, +occasionally, may be seen a frightful war-club, knobbed all over with +brass nails, with a steel blade at the end of it, a span long. + +_Austin._ What a terrible weapon, when wielded by a savage! + + [Illustration: _a_, scalping-knife. _b_, ditto, in sheath. + _c_, _d_, war-clubs. _e_, _e_, tomahawks. _g_, whip.] + +_Brian._ I would not go among the Indians, with their clubs and +tomahawks, for a thousand dollars. + +_Basil._ Nor would I: they would be sure to kill me. + +_Hunter._ The tomahawk is often carved in a strange manner; and some +of the bows and arrows are admirable. The bow formed of bone and +strong sinews is a deadly weapon; and some Indians have boasted of +having sent an arrow from its strings right through the body of a +buffalo. + +_Austin._ What a strong arm that Indian must have had! Through a +buffalo's body! + +_Hunter._ The quiver is made of the skin of the panther, or the otter; +and some of the arrows it contains are usually poisoned. + +_Brian._ Why, then, an arrow is sure to kill a person, if it hits him. + +_Hunter._ It is not likely that an enemy, badly wounded with a +poisoned arrow, will survive; for the head is set on loosely, in order +that, when the arrow is withdrawn, the poisoned barb may remain in the +wound. How opposed are these cruel stratagems of war to the precepts +of the gospel of peace, which are "Love your enemies, bless them that +curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which +despitefully use you, and persecute you!" + +_Basil._ What will you do, Austin, if you go among the Indians, and +they shoot you with a poisoned arrow? + +_Austin._ Oh, I shall carry a shield. You heard that the Indians carry +shields. + +_Hunter._ The shields of the Crows and Blackfeet are made of the thick +skin of the buffalo's neck: they are made as hard as possible, by +smoking them, and by putting glue upon them obtained from the hoofs of +animals; so that they will not only turn aside an arrow, but even a +musket ball, if they are held a little obliquely. + +_Austin._ There, Basil! You see that I shall be safe, after all; for I +shall carry a large shield, and the very hardest I can get anywhere. + +_Hunter._ Their spears have long, slender handles, with steel heads: +the handles are a dozen feet long, or more, and very skilful are they +in the use of them; and yet, such is the dread of the Indian when +opposed to a white man, that, in spite of his war horse and his eagle +plumes, his bow and well-filled quiver, his long lance, tomahawk and +scalping-knife, his self-possession forsakes him. He has heard, if not +seen, what the white man has done; and he thinks there is no standing +before him. If he can surprise him, he will; but, generally, the red +man fears to grapple with a pale face in the strife of war, for he +considers him clothed with an unknown power. + +_Austin._ I should have thought that an Indian would be more than a +match for a white man. + +_Hunter._ So long as he can crawl in the grass or brushwood, and steal +silently upon him by surprise, or send a shaft from his bow from +behind a tree, or a bullet from his rifle from the brow of a bluff, he +has an advantage; but, when he comes face to face with the white man, +he is superstitiously afraid of him. The power of the white man, in +war, is that of bravery and skill; the power of the red man consists +much in stratagem and surprise. Fifty white men, armed, on an open +plain, would beat off a hundred red men. + +_Brian._ Why is it that the red men are always fighting against one +another? They are all brothers, and what is the use of their killing +one another? + +_Hunter._ Most of the battles, among the Indians, are brought about by +the belief that they are bound to revenge an injury to their tribe. +There can be no peace till revenge is taken; they are almost always +retaliating one on another. Then, again, the red men have too often +been tempted, bribed, and, in some cases, forced to fight for the +white man. + +_Brian._ That is very sad, though. + +_Hunter._ It is sad; but when you say red men are brothers, are not +white men brothers too? And have they not been instructed in the +truths of Christianity, and the gospel of peace, which red men have +not, and yet how ready they are to draw the sword! War springs from +sinful passions; and until sin is subdued in the human heart, war will +ever be congenial to it. + +_Austin._ What do the Indians call the sun? + +_Hunter._ The different tribes speak different languages, and +therefore you must tell me which of them you mean. + +_Austin._ Oh! I forgot that. Tell me what any two or three of the +tribes call it. + +_Hunter._ A Sioux calls it _wee_; a Mandan, _menahka_; a Tuscarora, +_hiday_; and a Blackfoot, _cristeque ahtose_. + +_Austin._ The Blackfoot is the hardest to remember. I should not like +to learn that language. + +_Brian._ But you must learn it, if you go among them; or else you will +not understand a word they say. + +_Austin._ Well! I shall manage it somehow or other. Perhaps some of +them may know English; or we may make motions one to another. What do +they call the moon? + +_Hunter._ A Blackfoot calls it _coque ahtose_; a Sioux, _on wee_; a +Riccaree, _wetah_; a Mandan, _esto menahka_; and a Tuscarora, +_autsunyehaw_. + +_Brian._ I wish you joy of the languages you have to learn, Austin, if +you become a wood-ranger, or a trapper. Remember, you must learn them +all; and you will have quite enough to do, I warrant you. + +_Austin._ Oh! I shall learn a little at a time. We cannot do every +thing at once. What do the red men call a buffalo? + +_Hunter._ In Riccaree, it is _watash_; in Mandan, _ptemday_; in +Tuscarora, _hohats_; in Blackfoot, _eneuh_. + +_Basil._ What different names they give them! + +_Hunter._ Yes. In some instances they are alike, but generally they +differ. If you were to say "How do you do?" as is the custom with us; +you must say among the Indians, _How ke che wa?_ _Chee na e num?_ +_Dati youthay its?_ or, _Tush hah thah mah kah hush?_ according to the +language in which you spoke. I hardly think these languages would suit +you so well as your own. + +_Brian._ They would never suit me; but Austin must learn every word of +them. + +_Austin._ Please to tell us how to count ten, and then we will ask you +no more about languages. Let it be in the language of the Riccarees. + +_Hunter._ Very well. _Asco, pitco, tow wit, tchee tish, tchee hoo, +tcha pis, to tcha pis, to tcha pis won, nah e ne won, nah en._ I will +just add, that _weetah_, is twenty; _nahen tchee hoo_, is fifty; _nah +en te tcha pis won_, is eighty; _shok tan_, is a hundred; and _sho tan +tera hoo_, is a thousand. + +_Austin._ Can the Indians write? + +_Hunter._ Oh no; they have no use for pen and ink, excepting some of +the tribes near the whites. In many of the different treaties which +have been made between the white and the red man, the latter has put, +instead of his name, a rough drawing of the animal or thing after +which he had been called. If the Indian chief was named "War hatchet," +he made a rough outline of a tomahawk. If his name was "The great +buffalo" then the outline of a buffalo was his signature. + +_Basil._ How curious! + +_Hunter._ The _Big turtle_, the _Fish_, the _Scalp_, the _Arrow_, and +the _Big canoe_, all draw the form represented by their names in the +same manner. If you were to see these signatures, you would not think +these Indian chiefs had ever taken lessons in drawing. + +_Brian._ I dare say their fish, and arrows, and hatchets, and turtles, +and buffaloes, are comical figures enough. + +_Hunter._ Yes: but the hands that make these feeble scrawls are +strong, when they wield the bow or the tomahawk. A white man in the +Indian country, according to a story that is told, met a Shawnese +riding a horse, which he recognised as his own, and claimed it as his +property. The Indian calmly answered: "Friend, after a little while I +will call on you at your house, when we will talk this matter over." A +few days afterwards, the Indian came to the white man's house, who +insisted on having his horse restored to him. The other then told him: +"Friend, the horse which you claim belonged to my uncle, who lately +died; according to the Indian custom, I have become heir to all his +property." The white man not being satisfied, and renewing his demand, +the Indian immediately took a coal from the fire-place, and made two +striking figures on the door of the house; the one representing the +white man taking the horse, and the other himself in the act of +scalping him: then he coolly asked the trembling claimant whether he +could read this Indian writing. The matter was thus settled at once, +and the Indian rode off. + +_Austin._ Ay; the white man knew that he had better give up the horse +than be scalped. + +After the hunter had told Austin and his brothers that he should be +sure to have something new to tell them on their next visit, they took +their departure, having quite enough to occupy their minds till they +reached home. + + + + + [Illustration] + + CHAPTER V. + + +"Black Hawk! Black Hawk!" cried out Austin Edwards, as he came in +sight of the hunter, who was just returning to his cottage as Austin +and his brothers reached it. "You promised to tell us all about Black +Hawk, and we are come to hear it now." + +The hunter told the boys that it had been his intention to talk with +them about the prairies and bluffs, and to have described the wondrous +works of God in the wilderness. It appeared, however, that Austin's +heart was too much set on hearing the history of Black Hawk, to +listen patiently to any thing else; and the hunter, perceiving this, +willingly agreed to gratify him. He told them, that, in reading or +hearing the history of Indian chiefs, they must not be carried away by +false notions of their valour, for that it was always mingled with +much cruelty. The word of God said truly, that "the dark places of the +earth are full of the habitations of cruelty."[2] "With untaught +Indians," continued he, "revenge is virtue; and to tomahawk an enemy, +and tear away his scalp, is the noblest act he can perform in his own +estimation; whereas Christians are taught, as I said before, to +forgive and love their enemies. But I will now begin the history of +Black Hawk." + + [Footnote 2: Ps. lxxiv. 20.] + +_Austin._ Suppose you tell us his history just as he would tell it +himself. Speak to us as if you were Black Hawk, and we will not say a +single word. + +_Hunter._ Very well. Then, for a while, I will be Black Hawk, and what +I tell you will be true, only the words will be my own, instead of +those of the Indian chief. And I will speak as if I spoke to American +white men. + +"I am an old man, the changes of many moons and the toils of war have +made me old. I have been a conqueror, and I have been conquered: many +moons longer I cannot hope to live. + +"I have hated the whites, but have been treated well by them when a +prisoner. I wish, before I go my long journey, at the command of the +Great Spirit, to the hunting grounds of my fathers in another world, +to tell my history; it will then be seen why I hated the whites. Bold +and proud was I once, in my native forests, but the pale faces +deceived me; it was for this that I hated them. + +"Would you know where I was born? I will tell you. It was at the Sac +village on Rock River. This was, according to white man's reckoning, +in the year 1767, so that I am fifty years old, and ten and seven. + +"My father's name was Py-e-sa; the father of his father was +Na-nŕ-ma-kee, or Thunder. I was a brave, and afterwards a chief, a +leading war-chief, carrying the medicine bag. I fought against the +Osages. Did I fear them? No. Did I often win the victory? I did. + +"The white men of America said to the Sacs and Foxes, to the Sioux, +the Chippewas, and Winnebagoes, 'Go you to the other side of the +Mississippi;' and they said, 'Yes.' But I said, 'No: why should I +leave the place where our wigwams stand, where we have hunted for so +many moons, and where the bones of our fathers have rested? +Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak, or Black Hawk, will not go.' + +"My heart told me that my great white father, the chief of America, +would not do wrong; would not make me go to the other side of the +river. My prophet also told me the same. I felt my arm strong, and I +fought. Never did the hand of Black Hawk kill woman or child. They +were warriors that Black Hawk fought with. + +"Though I came down from the chief Na-nŕ-ma-kee, yet my people would +not let me dress like a chief. I did not paint myself; I did not wear +feathers; but I was bold and not afraid to fight, so I became a brave. + +"The Osages were our enemies, and I went with my father and many more +to fight. I saw my father kill an enemy, and tear away the scalp from +his head. I felt determined to do the same. I pleased my father; for, +with my tomahawk and spear, I rushed on an enemy. I brought back his +scalp in my hand. + +"I next led on seven of our people against a hundred Osages, and +killed one. After that, I led on two hundred, when we killed a +hundred, and took many scalps. In a battle with the Cherokees my +father was killed. I painted my face black, and prayed to the Great +Spirit, and did not fight any more for five years; all that I did was +to hunt and to fish. + +"The Osages had done us great wrong, so we were determined to destroy +them. I set off, in the third moon, at the head of five hundred Sacs +and Foxes, and one hundred Ioways. We fell upon forty lodges. I made +two of their squaws prisoners, but all the rest of the people in the +lodges we killed. Black Hawk killed seven men himself. In a battle +with the Cherokees, I killed thirteen of their bravest with my own +hand. + +"One of our people killed a pale-face American, and he was put in +prison; so we sent to St. Louis, to pay for the killed man, and to +cover the blood. Did the pale faces do well? No, they did not; they +set our man free, but when he began to run they shot him down; and +they gave strong drink to our four people, and told them to give up +the best part of our hunting ground for a thousand dollars every +twelve moons. What right had they to give our men strong drink, and +then cheat them? None. + +"American white faces came, with a great, big gun, to build a fort, +and said it was to trade with us. They treated the Indians ill: we +went against the fort. I dug a hole in the ground with my knife, so +that I could hide myself with some grass. I shot with my rifle and cut +the cord of their flag, so that they could not pull it up to fly in +the air; and we fired the fort, but they put out the fire. + +"One of our people killed a white, and was taken. He was to die, but +asked leave to go and see his squaw and children. They let him go, but +he ran back through the prairies next day, in time to be shot down. He +did not say he would come back, and then stay; he was an Indian, and +not a white man. I hunted and fished for his squaw and children when +he was dead. + +"Why was it that the Great Spirit did not keep the white men where he +put them? Why did he let them come among my people with their +fire-drink, sickness, and guns? It had been better for red men to be +by themselves. + +"We went to a great English brave, Colonel Dixon, at Green Bay: there +were many Pottawatomies, Kickapoos, Ottowas, and Winnebagoes there. +The great brave gave us pipes, tobacco, new guns, powder, and clothes. +I held a talk with him in his tent; he took my hand. 'General Black +Hawk,' said he, and he put a medal round my neck, 'you must now hold +us fast by the hand; you will have the command of all the braves to +join our own braves at Detroit.' I was sorry, because I wanted to go +to Mississippi. But he said, 'No; you are too brave to kill women and +children: you must kill braves.' + +"We had a feast, and I led away five hundred braves to join the +British. Sometimes we won, and sometimes we lost. The Indians were +killing the prisoners, but Black Hawk stopped them. He is a coward who +kills a brave that has no arms and cannot fight. I did not like so +often to be beaten in battle, and to get no plunder. I left the +British, with twenty of my braves, to go home, and see after my wife +and children. + +"I found an old friend of mine sitting on a mat in sorrow: he had come +to be alone, and to make himself little before the Great Spirit: he +had fasted long, he was hardly alive; his son had been taken prisoner, +and shot and stabbed to death. I put my pipe to my friend's mouth; he +smoked a little. I took his hand, and said 'Black Hawk would revenge +his son's death.' A storm came on; I wrapped my old friend in my +blanket. The storm gave over; I made a fire. It was too late; my +friend was dead. I stopped with him the remainder of the night; and +then my people came, and we buried him on the peak of the bluff. + +"I explained to my people the way the white men fight. Instead of +stealing on each other, quietly and by surprise, to kill their enemies +and save their own people, they all fight in the sunlight, like +braves; not caring how many of their people fall. They then feast and +drink as if nothing had happened, and write on paper that they have +won, whether they have won or been beaten. And they do not write +truth, for they only put down a part of the people they have lost. +They would do to _paddle_ a canoe, but not to _steer_ it. They fight +like braves, but they are not fit to be chiefs, and to lead war +parties. + +"I found my wife well, and my children, and would have been quiet in +my lodge; for, while I was away, Kee-o-kuk had been made a chief: but +I had to revenge the death of the son of my old friend. I told my +friend so when he was dying. Why should Black Hawk speak a lie? I took +with me thirty braves, and went to Fort Madison; but the American pale +faces had gone. I was glad, but still followed them down the +Mississippi. I went on their trail. I shot the chief of the party with +whom we fought. We returned home, bringing two scalps. Black Hawk had +done what he said. + +"Many things happened. Old Wŕsh-e-own, one of the Pottawatomies, was +shot dead by a war chief. I gave Wŕsh-e-own's relations two horses and +my rifles to keep the peace. A party of soldiers built a fort at +Prairie du Chien. They were friendly to us, but the British came and +took the fort. We joined them; we followed the boats and shot +fire-arrows, and the sails of one boat were burned, and we took it. + +"We found, in the boats we had taken, barrels of whiskey: this was bad +medicine. We knocked in the heads of the barrels, and emptied out the +bad medicine. We found bottles and packages, which we flung into the +river as bad medicine too. We found guns and clothes, which I divided +with my braves. The Americans built a fort; I went towards it with my +braves. I had a dream, in which the Great Spirit told me to go down +the bluff to a creek, and to look in a hollow tree cut down, and there +I should see a snake; close by would be the enemy unarmed. I went to +the creek, peeped into the tree, saw the snake, and found the enemy. +One man of them was killed, after that we returned home: peace was +made between the British and Americans, and we were to bury the +tomahawk too. + +"We went to the great American chief at St. Louis, and smoked the pipe +of peace. The chief said our great American father was angry with us, +and accused us of crimes. We said this was a lie; for our great father +had deceived us, and forced us into a war. They were angry at what we +said; but we smoked the pipe of peace again, and I first touched the +goose quill; but I did not know that, in doing so, I gave away my +village. Had I known it, I would never have touched the goose quill. + +"The American whites built a fort on Rock Island; this made us sorry, +for it was our garden, like what the white people have near their big +villages. It supplied us with plums, apples and nuts, with +strawberries and blackberries. Many happy days had I spent on Rock +Island. A good spirit had the care of it; he lived under the rock, in +a cave. He was white, and his wings were ten times bigger than swan's +wings: when the white men came there, he went away. + +"We had corn and beans and pumpkins and squashes. We were the +possessors of the valley of the Mississippi, full seven hundred miles +from the Ouisconsin to the Portage des Sioux, near the mouth of the +Missouri. If another prophet had come to us in those days, and said, +'The white man will drive you from these hunting grounds, and from +this village, and Rock Island, and not let you visit the graves of +your fathers,' we should have said, 'Why should you tell us a lie?' + +"It was good to go to the graves of our fathers. The mother went there +to weep over her child: the brave went there to paint the post where +lay his father. There was no place in sorrow like that where the bones +of our forefathers lay. There the Great Spirit took pity on us. In our +village, we were as happy as a buffalo on the plains; but now we are +more like the hungry and howling wolf in the prairie. + +"As the whites came nearer to us, we became more unhappy. They gave +our people strong liquor, and I could not keep them from drinking it. +My eldest son and my youngest daughter died. I gave away all I had; +blackened my face for two years, lived alone with my family, to humble +myself before the Great Spirit. I had only a piece of buffalo robe to +cover me. + +"White men came and took part of our lodges; and Kee-o-kuk told me I +had better go West, as he had done. I said I could not forsake my +village; the prophet told me I was right. I thought then that +Kee-o-kuk was no brave, but a coward, to give up what the Great Spirit +had given us. + +"The white men grew more and more; brought whiskey among us, cheated +us out of our guns, our horses and our traps, and ploughed up our +grounds. They treated us cruelly; and, while they robbed us, said that +we robbed them. They made right look like wrong, and wrong like right. +I tried hard to get right, but could not. The white man wanted my +village, and back I must go. Sixteen thousand dollars every twelve +moons are to be given to the Pottawatomies for a little strip of land, +while one thousand dollars only was set down for our land signed away, +worth twenty times as much. White man is too great a cheat for red +man. + +"A great chief, with many soldiers, came to drive us away. I went to +the prophet, who told me not to be afraid. They only wanted to +frighten us, and get our land without paying for it. I had a talk with +the great chief. He said if I would go, well. If I would not, he would +drive me. 'Who is Black Hawk?' said he. 'I am a Sac,' said I; 'my +forefather was a Sac; and all the nation call me a Sac.' But he said I +should go. + +"I crossed the Mississippi with my people, during the night, and we +held a council. I touched the goose quill again, and they gave us some +corn, but it was soon gone. Then our women and children cried out for +the roasted ears, the beans, and squashes they had been used to, and +some of our braves went back in the night, to take some corn from our +own fields; the whites saw and fired upon them. + +"I wished our great American father to do us justice. I wished to go +to him with others, but difficulties were thrown in the way. I +consulted the prophet, and recruited my bands to take my village +again; for I knew that it had been sold by a few, without the consent +of the many. It was a cheat. I said, 'I will not leave the place of my +fathers.' + +"With my braves and warriors, on horseback, I moved up the river, and +took with us our women and children in canoes. Our prophet was among +us. The great war chief, White Beaver, sent twice to tell us to go +back; and that, if we did not, he would come and drive us. Black +Hawk's message was this: 'If you wish to fight us, come on.' + +"We were soon at war; but I did not wish it: I tried to be at peace; +but when I sent parties with a white flag, some of my parties were +shot down. The whites behaved ill to me, they forced me into war, with +five hundred warriors, when they had against us three or four +thousand. I often beat them, driving back hundreds, with a few braves, +not half their number. We moved on to the Four Lakes. + +"I made a dog feast before I left my camp. Before my braves feasted, I +took my great medicine bag, and made a speech to my people; this was +my speech:-- + +"'Braves and warriors! these are the medicine bags of our forefather, +Muk-a-tŕ-quet, who was the father of the Sac nation. They were handed +down to the great war chief of our nation, Na-nŕ-ma-kee, who has been +at war with all the nations of the lakes, and all the nations of the +plains, and they have never yet been disgraced. I expect you all to +protect them.' + +"We went to Mos-co-ho-co-y-nak, where the whites had built a fort. We +had several battles; but the whites so much outnumbered us, it was in +vain. We had not enough to eat. We dug roots, and pulled the bark from +trees, to keep us alive; some of our old people died of hunger. I +determined to remove our women across the Mississippi, that they might +return again to the Sac nation. + +"We arrived at the Ouisconsin, and had begun crossing over, when the +enemy came in great force. We had either to fight, or to sacrifice our +women and children. I was mounted on a fine horse, and addressed my +warriors, encouraging them to be brave. With fifty of them I fought +long enough to let our women cross the river, losing only six men: +this was conduct worthy a brave. + +"It was sad for us that a party of soldiers from Prairie du Chien were +stationed on the Ouisconsin, and these fired on our distressed women: +was this brave? No. Some were killed, some taken prisoners, and the +rest escaped into the woods. After many battles, I found the white men +too strong for us; and thinking there would be no peace while Black +Hawk was at the head of his braves, I gave myself up and my great +medicine bag. 'Take it,' said I. 'It is the soul of the Sac nation: +it has never been dishonoured in any battle. Take it; it is my life, +dearer than life; let it be given to the great American chief.' + +"I understood afterwards, a large party of Sioux attacked our women, +children, and people, who had crossed the Mississippi, and killed +sixty of them: this was hard, and ought not to have been allowed by +the whites. + +"I was sent to Jefferson Barracks, and afterwards to my great American +father at Washington. He wanted to know why I went to war with his +people. I said but little, for I thought he ought to have known why +before, and perhaps he did; perhaps he knew that I was deceived and +forced into war. His wigwam is built very strong. I think him to be a +good little man, and a great brave. + +"I was treated well at all the places I passed through; Louisville, +Cincinnati, and Wheeling; and afterwards at Fortress Monroe, +Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the big village of New York; and I was +allowed to return home again to my people, of whom Kee-o-kuk, the +Running Fox, is now the chief. I sent for my great medicine bag, for I +wished to hand it down unsullied to my nation. + +"It has been said that Black Hawk murdered women and children among +the whites; but it is not true. When the white man takes my hand, he +takes a hand that has only been raised against warriors and braves. It +has always been our custom to receive the stranger, and to use him +well. The white man shall ever be welcome among us as a brother. What +is done is past; we have buried the tomahawk, and the Sacs and Foxes +and Americans will now be friends. + +"As I said, I am an old man, and younger men must take my place. A few +more snows, and I shall go where my fathers are. It is the wish of the +heart of Black Hawk, that the Great Spirit may keep the red men and +pale faces in peace, and that the tomahawk may be buried for ever." + +_Austin._ Poor Black Hawk! He went through a great deal. And +Kee-o-kuk, the Running Fox, was made chief instead of him. + +_Hunter._ Kee-o-kuk was a man more inclined to peace than war; for, +while Black Hawk was fighting, he kept two-thirds of the tribe in +peace. The time may come, when Indians may love peace as much as they +now love war; and when the "peace of God which passeth all +understanding" may "keep their hearts and minds in the knowledge and +love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." + +_Austin._ Now, just before we go, will you please to tell us a little +about a buffalo hunt; just a little, and then we shall talk about it, +and about Black Hawk, all the way home. + +_Hunter._ Well, it must be a short account now; perhaps I may describe +another hunt, more at length, another time. In hunting the buffalo, +the rifle, the lance, and the bow and arrow are used, as the case may +be. I have hunted with the Camanchees in the Mexican provinces, who +are famous horsemen; with the Sioux, on the Mississippi; the Crows, +on the Yellow-stone river; and the Pawnees, at the Rocky Mountains. +One morning, when among the Crows, a muster took place for a buffalo +hunt: you may be sure that I joined them, for at that time I was +almost an Indian myself. + +_Austin._ How did you prepare for the hunt? + +_Hunter._ As soon as we had notice, from the top of a bluff in the +distance, that a herd of buffaloes was on the prairie, we prepared our +horses; while some Indians were directed to follow our trail, with +one-horse carts, to bring home the meat. + +_Brian._ You were sure, then, that you should kill some buffaloes. + +_Hunter._ Yes; we had but little doubt on that head. I threw off my +cap; stripped off my coat; tying a handkerchief round my head, and +another round my waist; rolled up my sleeves; hastily put a few +bullets in my mouth, and mounted a fleet horse, armed with a rifle and +a thin, long spear: but most of the Crows had also bows and arrows. + +_Basil._ Your thin spear would soon be broken. + +_Hunter._ No; these thin, long spears are sometimes used, in buffalo +hunting, for years without breaking. When an Indian chases a buffalo, +if he does not use his rifle or bow and arrow, he rides on fast till +he comes up with his game, and makes his horse gallop just the same +pace as the buffalo. Every bound his horse gives, the Indian keeps +moving his spear backwards and forwards across the pommel of his +saddle, with the point sideways towards the buffalo. He gallops on in +this way, saying "Whish! whish!" every time he makes a feint, until he +finds himself in just the situation to inflict a deadly wound; then, +in a moment, with all his strength, he plunges in his lance, quick as +lightning, near the shoulders of the buffalo, and withdraws it at the +same instant: the lance, therefore, is not broken, though the buffalo +may be mortally wounded. + +_Brian._ The poor buffalo has no chance at all. + +_Austin._ Well! you mounted your horse, and rode off at full gallop-- + +_Hunter._ No; we walked our steeds all abreast, until we were seen by +the herd of buffaloes. On catching sight of us, in an instant they set +off, and we after them as hard as we could drive, a cloud of dust +rising from the prairie, occasioned by the trampling hoofs of the +buffaloes. + +_Basil._ What a scamper there must be! + +_Hunter._ Rifles were flashing, bowstrings were twanging, spears were +dashed into the fattest of the herd, and buffaloes were falling in all +directions. Here was seen an Indian rolling on the ground, and there a +horse gored to death by a buffalo bull. I brought down one of the +largest of the herd with my rifle, at the beginning of the hunt; and, +before it was ended, we had as many buffaloes as we knew what to do +with. Some of the party had loaded their rifles four or five times, +while at full gallop, bringing down a buffalo at every fire. + +Very willingly would Austin have lingered long enough to hear of half +a dozen buffalo hunts; but, bearing in mind what had been said about +a longer account at another time, he cordially thanked the hunter for +all he had told them, and set off home, with a light heart, in earnest +conversation with his brothers. + + [Illustration] + + + + + [Illustration: Buffalo Hunt.] + + CHAPTER VI. + + +The description of the buffalo hunt, given by the hunter, made a deep +impression on the minds of the young people; and the manner of using +the long, thin lance called forth their wonder, and excited their +emulation. Austin became a Camanchee from the Mexican provinces, the +Camanchees being among the most expert lancers and horsemen; Brian +called himself a Sioux, from the Mississippi; and Basil styled himself +a Pawnee, from the Rocky Mountains. + +Many were the plans and expedients to get up a buffalo hunt upon a +large scale, but the difficulty of procuring buffaloes was +insurmountable. Austin, it is true, did suggest an inroad among the +flock of sheep of a neighbouring farmer maintaining that the +scampering of the sheep would very much resemble the flight of a herd +of buffaloes; but this suggestion was given up, on the ground that the +farmer might not think it so entertaining an amusement as they did. + +It was doubtful, at one time, whether, in their extremity, they should +not be compelled to convert the chairs and tables into buffaloes; but +Austin, whose heart was in the thing, had a bright thought, which +received universal approbation. This was to make buffaloes of their +playfellow Jowler, the Newfoundland dog, and the black tom-cat. +Jowler, with his shining shaggy skin, was sure to make a capital +buffalo; and Black Tom would do very well, as buffaloes were not all +of one size. To work they went immediately, to prepare themselves for +their adventurous undertaking, dressing themselves up for the +approaching enterprise; and, if they did not succeed in making +themselves look like Indians, they certainly did present a most +grotesque appearance. + +In the best projects, however, there is oftentimes an oversight, which +bids fair to ruin the whole undertaking; and so it was on this +occasion; for it never occurred to them, until they were habited as +hunters, to secure the attendance of Jowler and Black Tom. Encumbered +with their lances, bows, arrows and hanging dresses, they had to +search the whole house, from top to bottom, in quest of Black Tom; and +when he was found, a like search was made for Jowler. Both Jowler and +Black Tom were at length found, and led forth to the lawn, which was +considered to be an excellent prairie. + +No sooner was the signal given for the hunt to commence, than Black +Tom, being set at liberty, instead of acting his part like a buffalo, +as he ought to have done, scampered across the lawn to the shrubbery, +and ran up a tree; while Jowler made a rush after him; so that the +hunt appeared to have ended almost as soon as it was begun. Jowler was +brought back again to the middle of the lawn, but no one could prevail +on Black Tom to descend from his eminence. + +Once more Jowler, the buffalo, was set at liberty; and Austin, Brian, +and Basil, the Camanchee, Sioux, and Pawnee chieftains, brandished +their long lances, preparing for the chase: but it seemed as though +they were to be disappointed, for Jowler, instead of running away, +according to the plan of the hunters, provokingly kept leaping up, +first at one, and then at another of them; until having overturned the +Pawnee on the lawn, and put the Sioux and Camanchee out of all +patience, he lay down panting, with his long red tongue out of his +mouth, looking at them just as though he had acted his part of the +affair capitally. + +At last, not being able to reduce the refractory Jowler to obedience, +no other expedient remained than that one of them should act the part +of a buffalo himself. Austin was very desirous that this should be +done by Brian or Basil; but they insisted that he, being the biggest, +was most like a buffalo. The affair was at length compromised, by each +agreeing to play the buffalo in turn. A desperate hunt then took +place, in the course of which their long lances were most skilfully +and effectually used; three buffaloes were slain, and the Camanchee, +Sioux, and Pawnee returned in triumph from the chase, carrying a +buffalo-hide (a rug mat from the hall) on the tops of their spears. + +On their next visit to the hunter, they reminded him that, the last +time he saw them, he had intended to speak about the prairies; but +that the history of Black Hawk, and the account of the buffalo hunt, +had taken up all the time. They told him that they had come early, on +purpose to hear a long account; and, perhaps, he would be able to tell +them all about Nikkanochee into the bargain. + +The hunter replied, if that was the case, the sooner he began his +narrative the better; so, without loss of time, he thus commenced his +account. + +_Hunter._ Though in our country there are dull, monotonous rivers, +with thick slimy waters, stagnant swamps, and pine forests almost +immeasureable in extent; yet, still, some of the most beautiful and +delightful scenes in the whole world are here. + +_Austin._ How big are the prairies? I want to know more about them. + +_Hunter._ They extend for many hundreds of miles, though not without +being divided and diversified with other scenery. Mountains and +valleys, and forests and rivers, vary the appearance of the country. +The name _prairie_ was given to the plains of North America by the +French settlers. It is the French word for meadow. I will describe +some prairie scenes which have particularly struck me. These vast +plains are sometimes flat; sometimes undulated, like the large waves +of the sea; sometimes barren; sometimes covered with flowers and +fruit; and sometimes there is grass growing on them eight or ten feet +high. + +_Brian._ I never heard of such high grass as that. + +_Hunter._ A prairie on fire is one of the most imposing spectacles you +can imagine. The flame is urged on by the winds, running and spreading +out with swiftness and fury, roaring like a tempest, and driving +before it deer, wolves, horses, and buffaloes, in wild confusion. + +_Austin._ How I should like to see a prairie on fire! + +_Hunter._ In Missouri, Arkansas, Indiana, and Louisiana, prairies +abound; and the whole State of Illinois is little else than a vast +prairie. From the Falls of the Missouri to St. Louis, a constant +succession of prairie and river scenes, of the most interesting kind, +meet the eye. Here the rich green velvet turf spreads out immeasurably +wide; breaking towards the river into innumerable hills and dales, +bluffs and ravines, where mountain goats and wolves and antelopes and +elks and buffaloes and grizzly bears roam in unrestrained liberty. At +one time, the green bluff slopes easily down to the water's edge; +while, in other places, the ground at the edge of the river presents +to the eye an endless variety of hill and bluff and crag, taking the +shapes of ramparts and ruins, of columns, porticoes, terraces, domes, +towers, citadels and castles; while here and there seems to rise a +solitary spire, which might well pass for the work of human hands. But +the whole scene, varying in colour, and lit up and gilded by the +mid-day sun, speaks to the heart of the spectator, convincing him that +none but an Almighty hand could thus clothe the wilderness with +beauty. + + [Illustration] + +_Austin._ Brian! Do you not wish now to see the prairies of North +America? + +_Brian._ Yes; if I could see them without going among the tomahawks +and scalping-knives. + +_Hunter._ I remember one part where the ragged cliffs and cone-like +bluffs, partly washed away by the rains, and partly crumbled down by +the frosts, seemed to be composed of earths of a mineral kind, of clay +of different colours and of red pumice stone. The clay was white, +brown, yellow and deep blue; while the pumice stone, lit up by the +sunbeam, was red like vermilion. The loneliness, the wildness and +romantic beauty of the scene I am not likely to forget. + +_Basil._ I should like to see those red rocks very much. + +_Hunter._ For six days I once continued my course, with a party of +Indians, across the prairie, without setting my eyes on a single tree, +or a single hill affording variety to the scene. Grass, wild flowers, +and strawberries, abounded more or less through the whole extent. The +spot where we found ourselves at sundown, appeared to be exactly that +from which we started at sunrise. There was little variety, even in +the sky itself; and it would have been a relief, (so soon are we weary +even of beauty itself,) to have walked a mile over rugged rocks, or to +have forced our way through a gloomy pine wood, or to have climbed the +sides of a steep mountain. + +_Brian._ I hardly think that I should ever be tired of green grass and +flowers and strawberries. + +_Hunter._ Oh yes, you would. Variety in the works of creation is a +gift of our bountiful Creator, for which we are not sufficiently +thankful. Look at the changing seasons; how beautifully they vary the +same prospect! And the changing clouds of heaven, too; what an +infinite and pleasurable variety they afford to us! If the world were +all sunshine, we should long for the shade. + +_Austin._ What do you mean by bluffs? + +_Hunter._ Round hills, or huge clayey mounds, often covered with grass +and flowers to the very top. Sometimes they have a verdant turf on +their tops, while their sides display a rich variety of many-coloured +earths, and thousands of gypsum crystals imbedded in the clay. The +romantic mixture of bluffs, and hills, with summits of green grass as +level as the top of a table, with huge fragments of pumice stone and +cinders, the remains of burning mountains, and granite sand, and +layers of different coloured clay, and cornelian, and agate, and +jasper-like pebbles; these, with the various animals that graze or +prowl among them, and the rolling river, and a bright blue sky, have +afforded me bewildering delight. Some of the hunters and trappers +believe that the great valley of the Missouri was once level with the +tops of the table hills, and that the earth has been washed away by +the river, and other causes; but the subject is involved in much +doubt. It has pleased God to put a boundary to the knowledge of man in +many things. I think I ought to tell you of Floyd's grave. + +_Austin._ Where was it? Who was Floyd. + +_Hunter._ You shall hear. In the celebrated expedition of Clark and +Lewis to the Rocky Mountains, they were accompanied by Serjeant Floyd, +who died on the way. His body was carried to the top of a high +green-carpeted bluff, on the Missouri river, and there buried, and a +cedar post was erected to his memory. As I sat on his grave, and +looked around me, the stillness and the extreme beauty of the scene +much affected me. I had endured much toil, both in hunting and rowing; +sometimes being in danger from the grizzly bears, and, at others, with +difficulty escaping the war-parties of the Indians. My rifle had been +busy, and the swan and the pelican, the antelope and the elk, had +supplied me with food; and as I sat on a grave, in that beautiful +bluff in the wilderness--the enamelled prairie, the thousand grassy +hills that were visible, with their golden heads and long deep +shadows, (for the sun was setting,) and the Missouri winding in its +serpentine course, the whole scene was of the most beautiful and +tranquil kind. The soft whispering of the evening breeze, and the +distant, subdued and melancholy howl of the wolf, were the only sounds +that reached my ears. It was a very solitary, and yet a very +delightful hour. + +_Basil._ I should not like to be by myself in such a place as that. + +_Hunter._ There is another high bluff, not many miles from the cedar +post of poor Floyd, that is well known as the burial-place of +Blackbird, a famous chief of the O-ma-haw tribe; the manner of his +burial was extremely strange. As I was pulling up the river, a +traveller told me the story; and, when I had heard it, we pushed our +canoe into a small creek, that I might visit the spot. Climbing up the +velvet sides of the bluff, I sat me down by the cedar post on the +grave of Blackbird. + +_Austin._ But what was the story? What was there strange in the burial +of the chief? + +_Hunter._ Blackbird on his way home from the city of Washington, where +he had been, died with the small-pox. Before his death, he desired his +warriors to bury him on the bluff, sitting on the back of his +favourite war-horse, that he might see, as he said, the Frenchmen +boating up and down the river. His beautiful white steed was led up to +the top of the bluff, and there the body of Blackbird was placed +astride upon him. + +_Brian._ What a strange thing! + +_Hunter._ Blackbird had his bow in his hand, his beautiful head dress +of war-eagle plumes on his head, his shield and quiver at his side, +and his pipe and medicine bag. His tobacco pouch was filled, to supply +him on his journey to the hunting-grounds of his fathers; and he had +flint and steel wherewith to light his pipe by the way. Every warrior +painted his hand with vermilion, and then pressed it against the white +horse, leaving a mark behind him. After the necessary ceremonies had +been performed, Blackbird and his white war-horse were covered over +with turf, till they were no more seen. + +_Austin._ But was the white horse buried alive? + +_Hunter._ He was. The turfs were put about his feet, then piled up his +legs, then placed against his sides, then over his back, and lastly +over Blackbird himself and his war-eagle plumes. + +_Brian._ That was a very cruel deed! They had no business to smother +that beautiful white horse in that way. + +_Basil._ And so I say. It was a great shame, and I do not like that +Blackbird. + +_Hunter._ Indians have strange customs. Now I am on the subject of +prairie scenes, I ought to speak a word of the prairies on the Red +River. I had been for some time among the Creeks and Choctaws, +crossing, here and there, ridges of wooded lands, and tracts of rich +herbage, with blue mountains in the distance, when I came to a prairie +scene of a new character. For miles together the ground was covered +with vines, bearing endless clusters of large delicious grapes; and +then, after crossing a few broad valleys of green turf, our progress +was stopped by hundreds of acres of plum trees, bending to the very +ground with their fruit. Among these were interspersed patches of rose +trees, wild currants, and gooseberries, with prickly pears, and the +most beautiful and sweet-scented wild flowers. + +_Austin._ I never heard of so delightful a place. What do you think of +the prairies now, Basil? Should you not like to gather some of those +fruits and flowers, Brian? + +_Hunter._ And then just as I was stretching out my hand to gather some +of the delicious produce of that paradise of fruit and flowers, I +heard the sound of a rattlesnake, that was preparing to make a spring, +and immediately I saw the glistening eyes of a copper-head, which I +had disturbed beneath the tendrils and leaves. + +_Basil._ What do you think of the prairie now, Austin? + +_Brian._ And should you not like to gather some of those fruits and +flowers? + +_Austin._ I never suspected that there would be such snakes among +them. + +_Hunter._ The wild creatures of these delightful spots may be said to +live in a garden; here they pass their lives, rarely disturbed by the +approach of man. The hunter and the trapper, however thoughtlessly +they pursue their calling, are at times struck with the amazing beauty +of the scenes that burst upon them. God is felt to be in the prairie. +The very solitude disposes the mind to acknowledge Him; earth and +skies proclaim his presence; the fruits of the ground declare his +bounty; and, in the flowers, ten thousand forget-me-nots bring his +goodness to remembrance. "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be +praised; and his greatness is unsearchable."[3] + + [Footnote 3: Ps. cxlv. 3.] + +_Austin._ I could not have believed that there had been such beautiful +places in the prairies. + +_Hunter._ Some parts are varied, and others monotonous. Some are +beautiful, and others far from being agreeable. The Prairie la Crosse, +the Prairie du Chien, and the Couteau des Prairies on the Mississippi, +with the prairies on the Missouri, all have some points of attraction. +I did intend to say a little about Swan Lake, the wild rice grounds, +Lover's Leap, the salt meadows on the Missouri, the Savannah in the +Florida pine woods, and Red Pipe-stone Quarry; but as I intend to +give you the history of Nikkanochee, perhaps I had better begin with +it at once. + +_Austin._ We shall like to hear of Nikkanochee, but it is so pleasant +to hear about the prairies, that you must, if you please, tell us a +little more about them first. + +_Basil._ I want to hear about those prairie dogs. + +_Brian._ And I want to hear of Lover's Leap. + +_Austin._ What I wish to hear the most, is about Red Pipe-stone +quarry. Please to tell us a little about them all. + +_Hunter._ Well! If you will be satisfied with a little, I will go on. +Swan Lake is one of the most beautiful objects in the prairies of our +country. It extends for many miles; and the islands with which it +abounds are richly covered with forest trees. Fancy to yourselves +unnumbered islands with fine trees, beautifully grouped together, and +clusters of swans on the water in every direction. If you want to play +at Robinson Crusoe, one of the islands on Swan Lake will be just the +place for you. + +_Basil._ Well may it be called Swan Lake. + +_Hunter._ The first time that I saw wild rice gathered, it much +surprised and amused me. A party of Sioux Indian women were paddling +about, near the shores of a large lake, in canoes made of bark. While +one woman paddled the canoe, the other gathered the wild rice, which +flourished there in great abundance. By bending it over the canoe with +one stick, and then striking it with another, the grains of rice fell +in profusion into the canoe. In this way they proceeded; till they +obtained full cargoes of wild rice for food. + +_Brian._ I wish we had wild rice growing in our pond. + +_Hunter._ What I have to say of Lover's Leap is a little melancholy. +On the east side of Lake Pepin, on the Mississippi, stands a bold +rock, lifting up its aspiring head some six or seven hundred feet +above the surface of the lake. Some years since, as the story goes, an +Indian chief wished his daughter to take a husband that she did not +like. The daughter declined, but the father insisted; and the poor, +distracted girl, to get rid of her difficulty, threw herself, in the +presence of her tribe, from the top of the rock, and was dashed to +pieces. + +_Basil._ Poor girl, indeed! Her father was a very cruel man. + +_Hunter._ The chief was cruel, and his daughter rash; but we must not +be too severe in judging those who have no better standard of right +and wrong than the customs of their uncivilized tribe. It was on the +Upper Missouri river, towards the mouth of the Teton river, that I +came all at once on a salt meadow. You would have thought that it had +been snowing for an hour or two, for the salt lay an inch or two thick +on the ground. + +_Austin._ What could have brought it there? + +_Hunter._ The same Almighty hand that spread out the wild prairie, +spread the salt upon its surface. There are salt springs in many +places, where the salt water overflows the prairie. The hot sun +evaporates the water, and the salt is left behind. + +_Brian._ Well, that is very curious. + +_Hunter._ The buffaloes and other animals come by thousands to lick +the salt, so that what with the green prairie around, the white salt, +and the black buffaloes, the contrast in colour is very striking. +Though Florida is, to a great extent, a sterile wilderness, yet, for +that very reason, some of its beautiful spots appear the more +beautiful. There are swamps enough, and alligators enough, to make the +traveller in those weary wilds cheerless and disconsolate; but when, +after plodding, day after day, through morasses and interminable pine +woods, listening to nothing but the cry of cranes and the howling of +wolves, he comes suddenly into an open plain covered with a carpet of +grass and myriads of wild flowers, his eye brightens, and he recovers +his cheerfulness and strength. He again feels that God is in the +prairie. + +_Basil._ Remember the alligators, Austin! + +_Brian._ And the howling wolves! What do you think of them? + +_Hunter._ The Red Pipe-stone Quarry is between the Upper Mississippi +and the Upper Missouri. It is the place where the Indians of the +country procure the red stone with which they make all their pipes. +The place is considered by them to be sacred. They say that the Great +Spirit used to stand on the rock, and that the blood of the buffaloes +which he ate there ran into the rocks below, and turned them red. + +_Austin._ That is the place I want to see. + +_Hunter._ If you go there, you must take great care of yourself; for +the Sioux will be at your heels. As I said, they hold the place +sacred, and consider the approach of a white man a kind of +profanation. The place is visited by all the neighbouring tribes for +stone with which to make their pipes, whether they are at war or +peace; for the Great Spirit, say they, always watches over it, and the +war-club and scalping-knife are there harmless. There are hundreds of +old inscriptions on the face of the rocks; and the wildest traditions +are handed down, from father to son, respecting the place. Some of the +Sioux say, that the Great Spirit once sent his runners abroad, to call +together all the tribes that were at war, to the Red Pipe-stone +Quarry. As he stood on the top of the rocks, he took out a piece of +red stone, and made a large pipe; he smoked it over them, and told +them, that, though at war, they must always be at peace at that place, +for that it belonged to one as much as another, and that they must all +make their pipes of the stone. Having thus spoken, a thick cloud of +smoke from his great red pipe rolled over them, and in it he vanished +away. Just at the moment that he took the last whiff of his great, +long, red pipe, the rocks were wrapped in a blaze of fire, so that the +surface of them was melted. Two squaws, then, in a flash of fire, sunk +under the two medicine rocks, and no one can take away red stone from +the place without their leave. Where the gospel is unknown, there is +nothing too improbable to be received. The day will, no doubt, +arrive, when the wild traditions of Red Pipe-stone Quarry will be done +away, and the folly and wickedness of all such superstitions be +plainly seen. + +Here the hunter, having to attend his sheep, left the three brothers, +to amuse themselves for half an hour with the curiosities in his +cottage; after which, he returned to redeem his pledge, by relating +the history he had promised them. + + [Illustration: Indian Pipes.] + + + + + [Illustration] + + CHAPTER VII. + + +"And now," said the hunter, "for my account of Nikkanochee.[4] I met +with him in Florida, his own country, when he was quite a child; +indeed he is even now but a boy, being not more than twelve or +thirteen years of age. The Seminole Indians, a mixed tribe, from whom +prince Nikkanochee is descended, were a warlike people, settled on the +banks of the River Chattahoochee. In a battle which took place between +the Indians and a party of whites, under Major Dade, out of a hundred +and fourteen white men, only two escaped the tomahawks of their +opponents. A Seminole was about to despatch one of these two, when he +suddenly called to mind that the soldier had once helped him in +fitting a handle to his axe. This arrested his uplifted weapon, and +the life of the soldier was spared." + + [Footnote 4: This sketch is supposed to be a narrative of + facts, though the authority for it is not within the + publishers' reach.] + +_Austin._ Noble! noble! If all the Seminoles were like him, they were +a noble people. + +_Hunter._ The tribe had good and bad qualities; but I tell you this +anecdote, because it affords another proof that the hardy Indian +warrior, in the midst of all his relentless animosity against his +enemy, is still sensible of a deed of kindness. On another occasion, +when the Seminoles, to avenge injuries which their tribe had received, +wasted the neighbourhood with fire and tomahawk, they respected the +dwelling of one who had shown kindness to some of their tribe. Even +though they visited his house, and cooked their food at his hearth, +they did no injury to his person or his property. Other dwellings +around it were burned to the ground, but for years his habitation +remained secure from any attack on the part of the grateful Seminoles. + +_Basil._ When I go abroad, I will always behave kindly to the poor +Indians. + +_Hunter._ The father of Nikkanochee was king of the Red Hills, in the +country of the Seminoles; but not being very much distinguished as a +warrior, he gave up the command of his fighting men to his brother +Oseola, a chief famous for bodily strength and courage. Before the war +broke out between the Seminoles, Oseola was kind and generous; but +when once the war-cry had rung through the woods, and his tomahawk +had been raised, he became stern and implacable. He was the champion +of his nation, and the terror of the pale faces opposed to him. + +_Brian._ He must have made terrible work with his tomahawk! + +_Hunter._ No doubt he did, for he was bold, and had never been taught +to control his passions. The command of the Saviour had never reached +his ears: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to +them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and +persecute you." The red man of the forest and the prairie has had much +to embitter his spirit against his enemies; but I will proceed. It was +in the year 1835, that between two and three hundred red warriors +assembled at Camp King, to hold a "talk," or council. They were met by +a battalion of white soldiers, who had two generals with them. At this +council, it was proposed by the whites that a contract should be made +between the two parties, wherein the Seminoles should give up their +lands in Florida in exchange for other lands at a great distance from +the place. Some of the red warriors were induced to make a cross on +the contract as their signature, showing that they agreed therewith; +but Oseola saw that such a course was bartering away his country, and +sealing the ruin of his nation. + +_Austin._ I hope he did not put his sign to it. + +_Brian._ So do I, and I hope he persuaded all the rest of the red +warriors not to sign it. + +_Hunter._ When they asked him in his turn to sign the contract, his +lip began to curl with contempt, and his eye to flash with fiery +indignation. "Yes!" said he, drawing a poniard from his bosom, with a +haughty frown on his brow. "Yes!" said he, advancing and dashing his +dagger while he spoke, not only through the contract, but also through +the table on which it lay; "there is my mark!" + +_Austin._ Well done, brave Oseola! + +_Brian._ That is just the way that he ought to have acted. + +_Basil._ He was a very bold fellow. But what did the generals say to +him? + +_Hunter._ His enemies, the whites, (for they were enemies,) directly +seized him, and bound him to a tree. This was done in a cruel manner, +for the cords cut deep into his flesh. After this, he was manacled and +kept as a prisoner in solitary confinement. When it was thought that +his spirit was sufficiently tamed, and that what he had suffered would +operate as a warning to his people, he was set at liberty. + +_Austin._ The whites acted a cruel part, and they ought to have been +ashamed of themselves. + +_Brian._ Yes, indeed. But what did Oseola do when he was free? + +_Hunter._ Revenge is dear to every one whose heart God has not +changed. No wonder that it should burn in the bosom of an untaught +Indian. He had never heard the words of Holy Scripture, "Vengeance is +mine; I will repay, saith the Lord," Rom. xii. 19; but rather looked +on revenge as a virtue. Hasting to his companions, he made the forest +echo with the wild war-whoop that he raised in defiance of his +enemies. + +_Brian._ I thought he would! That is the very thing that I expected he +would do. + +_Hunter._ Many of the principal whites fell by the rifles of the +Indians; and Oseola sent a proud message to General Clinch, telling +him that the Seminoles had a hundred and fifty barrels of gunpowder, +every grain of which should be consumed before they would submit to +the whites. He told him, too, that the pale faces should be led a +dance for five years for the indignities they had put upon him. Oseola +and the Seminoles maintained the war until the whites had lost +eighteen hundred men, and expended vast sums of money. At last, the +brave chieftain was made prisoner by treachery. + +_Austin._ How was it? How did they take him prisoner? + +_Hunter._ The whites invited Oseola to meet them, that a treaty might +be made, and the war brought to an end. Oseola went with his warriors; +but no sooner had he and eight of his warriors placed their rifles +against a tree, protected as they thought by the flag of truce, than +they were surrounded by a large body of soldiers, and made prisoners. + +_Brian._ That was an unjust and treacherous act. Oseola ought to have +kept away from them. + +_Basil._ And what did they do to Oseola? Did they kill him? + +_Hunter._ They at first confined him in the fort at St. Augustine, and +afterwards in a dungeon at Sullivan's Island, near Charleston. It was +in the latter place that he died, his head pillowed on the faithful +bosom of his wife, who never forsook him, and never ceased to regard +him with homage and affection. He was buried at Fort Moultrie, where +he has a monument, inscribed "Oseola." His companions, had they been +present at his grave, would not have wept. They would have been glad +that he had escaped from his enemies. + +_Austin._ Poor Oseola! + +_Hunter._ This is only one instance among thousands, in which the red +man has fallen a victim to the treachery and injustice of the whites. +It is a solemn thought, that when the grave shall give up its dead, +and the trumpet shall call together, face to face, the inhabitants of +all nations to judgment; the deceitful, the unjust and the cruel will +have to meet those whom their deceit, their injustice and cruelty have +destroyed. Well may the oppressor tremble. "The Lord of hosts hath +purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, +and who shall turn it back?" + +_Basil._ But you have not yet told us of Nikkanochee. Please to let us +hear all about him. + +_Brian._ Ay; we have forgotten Nikkanochee. + +_Hunter._ I will now tell you all that I know of him; but I thought +you would like to hear of his uncle, he being so famous a warrior. +Nikkanochee is called Oseola Nikkanochee, prince of Econchatti, in +order that he may bear in mind Oseola, his warlike uncle, and also +Econchatti-mico, king of the Red Hills, his father. It is thought +that Nikkanochee was born on the banks of the river Chattahoochee. He +can just remember the death of his mother, when he was left alone with +her in a wigwam; but what I have to tell you about Nikkanochee took +place during the lifetime of his father, and his uncle Oseola. The +white men being at war with the Seminoles, the war-men of the latter +were obliged to band themselves together to fight, leaving their +squaws and children to travel as well as they could to a place of +safety. Nikkanochee, child as he was, travelled with the women through +the pine forests night and day; but a party of horse-soldiers overtook +them, and drove them as captives towards the settlements of the +whites. + +_Brian._ Ay! now Nikkanochee is a prisoner! What is to become of him +now? + +_Hunter._ The mothers were almost frantic. The wigwams they saw on the +road had been destroyed by fire, and the whole country had been +devastated. At nightfall they came to a village; and here, when it +grew dark, Nikkanochee, a little girl and two Indian women made their +escape. For some days they fled, living on water-melons and Indian +corn, till they fell in with a party of their own war-men, and among +them was Nikkanochee's father. + +_Austin._ I hope they were safe then. + +_Hunter._ Not being numerous, they were obliged to retreat. Pursued by +their enemies, they fled, sometimes on horseback, and sometimes on +foot; a part of the way through the swamps, thickets and pine forests. +At night, while the party were sitting round a fire, in the act of +preparing for refreshment some dried meat, and a wild root of the +woods reduced into flour, an alarm was given. In a moment they were +obliged once more to fly, for their enemies were upon their track. + +_Brian._ Dreadful! dreadful! + +_Hunter._ The fire was put out by the Indians, their blankets hastily +rolled up, and the squaws and children sent to hide themselves in the +tangled reeds and brushwood of a swamp, while the war-men turned +against the enemy. The Indians beat them off, but Econchatti-mico was +wounded in the wrist, a musket ball having passed through it. + +_Brian._ Did Econchatti die of his wound? + +_Hunter._ No; but he and the war-men, expecting that their enemies +would return in greater numbers, were again forced to fly. The dreary +pine forest, the weedy marsh, and the muddy swamp were once more +passed through. Brooks and rapid rivers were crossed by Econchatti, +wounded as he was, with his son on his back. He swam with one hand, +for the other was of little use to him. + +_Austin._ Econchatti seems to be as brave a man as Oseola. Did they +escape from their enemies? + +_Hunter._ While they were sitting down to partake of some wild turkey +and deer, with which their bows and arrows had furnished them during +their flight, their enemies again fell upon them. The Seminoles had, +perhaps, altogether two thousand warriors, with Oseola at their head; +but then the whites had at least ten thousand, to say nothing of their +being much better armed. No wonder that the Seminoles were compelled +to fly, and only to fight when they found a favourable opportunity. +But I must not dwell longer than necessary on my account; suffice it +to say, that, after all the bravery of the warriors, and all the +exertions of Econchatti, Nikkanochee once more fell into the hands of +the enemy. + +_Basil._ Oh, that was terrible! I hoped he would get away safe. + +_Brian._ So did I. I thought the white men would be tired of following +them into those dreary forests and muddy swamps. + +_Austin._ How was it that Nikkanochee was taken? + +_Hunter._ He was captured on the 25th of August, 1836, by some +soldiers who were scouring the country, and brought by them the next +day to Colonel Warren. Poor little fellow, he was so worn, emaciated +and cast down, that he could not be looked upon without pity. For +several weeks he hardly spoke a word. No tear, no sob, nor sigh +escaped him; but he appeared to be continually on the watch to make +his escape. The soldiers who had taken him prisoner declared that they +had followed his track full forty miles before they came up to him. +From the rising to the setting of the sun they hurried on, and still +he was before them. Nikkanochee must then have been only about five or +six years old. + +_Basil._ Why, I could not walk so far as forty miles to save my life. +How did he manage it? + +_Hunter._ You have not been brought up like an Indian. Fatigue and +hardship and danger are endured by red men from their earliest +infancy. The back to the burden, Basil. You have heard the saying, +"God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb." When the soldiers came up to +Nikkanochee, he darted into the bushes and long grass, where they +found him. At first, he uttered a scream; but, soon after, he offered +the soldiers a peach which he had in his hand, that they might let him +go. Placed on horseback behind one of the troopers, he was brought to +the military station. + +_Brian._ They have him now, then, fast enough. I wonder what became of +Econchatti-mico, his father. + +_Hunter._ That is not known. I should have told you that, in the +Seminole language, "Econ," means hill or hills; "Chatti," is red; and +the signification of "mico," is king: so that Econchatti-mico is, all +together, King of the Red Hills. The soldiers who captured Nikkanochee +disputed among themselves whether he ought not to be killed. Most of +them were for destroying every Indian man, woman, or child they met; +but one of them, named James Shields, was determined to save the boy's +life, and it was owing to his humanity that Nikkanochee was not put to +death. + +_Brian._ That man deserves to be rewarded. I shall not forget James +Shields. + +_Hunter._ When Nikkanochee had afterwards become a little more +reconciled to his situation, he gave some account of the way in which +he was taken. He said, that as he was travelling with his father and +the Indians, the white men came upon them. According to Indian +custom, when a party is surprised, the women and children immediately +fly in different directions, to hide in the bushes and long grass, +till the war-men return to them after the fight or alarm is over. Poor +little Nikkanochee, in trying to cross a rivulet, fell back again into +it. Besides this misfortune, he met with others, so that he could not +keep up with the party. He still kept on, for he saw an old coffee-pot +placed on a log; and Indians, in their flight, place things in their +track, and also break off twigs from the bushes, that others of their +tribe may know how to follow them. Nikkanochee came to a settlement of +whites, but he struck out of the road to avoid it. He afterwards +entered a peach orchard, belonging to a deserted house, and here he +satisfied his hunger. It was then getting dark, but the soldiers saw +him, and set off after him at full gallop. In vain he hid himself in +the grass, and lay as still as a partridge, for they discovered him +and took him away. + +_Austin._ I wonder that Econchatti-mico, his father, or the brave +Oseola, his uncle, did not rescue him. + +_Hunter._ It is thought that they did return upon the back trail, for +the place they had been in was shortly after surrounded by Indians, +with Oseola at their head; but just then a reinforcement of soldiers +arrived, and the Indians were obliged to retire. Had not the soldiers +come up just in time, the whole garrison might have fallen by the +rifles and scalping-knives of enraged Seminoles. Nikkanochee passed a +year with the family of Colonel Warren, and was beloved by them all +There was, no doubt, much sympathy felt for him, as the nephew of a +well-known warrior, and the son of the king of a warlike people. +Nikkanochee was afterwards taken under the protection of a gentleman, +who became much attached to him. He was educated with other children, +and taught to bend the knee in prayer, and to offer praise to the King +of kings and Lord of lords. Thus, in the providence of God, was +Nikkanochee brought from being a heathen to be a worshipper of the +true God and Jesus Christ. + +_Brian._ How much longer did he remain abroad? + +_Hunter._ A very few years, during which he became expert in climbing, +swimming, loading the rifle, and using the spear. He was bold enough +to attack the raccoon and otter, and was not afraid even of the +alligator; few of his age were more hardy, or could bear an equal +degree of fatigue. His kind protector, who adopted him as his own +child, took him over to England in the year 1840. But I have given you +a long account. May Nikkanochee become as celebrated for virtue and +piety as his ancestors and relations were for valour and war. + + + + + [Illustration: Resting place for the Dead.] + + CHAPTER VIII. + + +In the next visit of the three brothers to the hunter, he pointed out +to them the great influence that religion had on the character of any +people or country. A false religion brings with it a train of +unnumbered evils; while a knowledge of the true God, and a living +faith in the Saviour who died for sinners, continually promote among +mankind principles of justice and kindness, and communicate to their +hearts the blessings of peace and joy. "True it is," said he, "that +among professedly Christian people there is much of evil; much of +envy, hatred, malice, uncharitableness; of injustice, covetousness and +cruelty. But this proceeds not from Christianity, but from the fallen +state of human nature, which nothing but the grace of God can renew, +and from the great number of those who profess to be Christians, while +they are uninfluenced by the gospel of the Redeemer. Christianity will +neither allow us to dishonour God by bowing down to idols, nor to +injure man by injustice and oppression. The Indians of our country are +not found bowing down to numberless idols, as the inhabitants of many +countries are: they worship what they call 'the Great Spirit,' with a +deep reverence, humbling themselves before him, and undergoing +self-imposed torments, to gain his good will, which the generality of +Christians, in the manifestation of their faith, would find it hard to +endure. They believe also in an Evil Spirit, as well as in a future +state; and that they shall be happy or unhappy, just as they have done +good or evil, according to their estimate of those qualities, but this +belief is mixed up with mysteries and superstitions without number. I +speak of Indians in the forest and the prairie, who know nothing of +God's word, and who have never heard the voice of a missionary." + +_Hunter._ The different tribes believe, that if they are expert in the +chase, bold in battle, and slay many of their enemies, they shall live +for ever, after death, in beautiful hunting-grounds, enjoying the +pleasures of the chase continually. You know that we, as Christians, +are enjoined to forgive our enemies; but untutored Indians delight in +revenge: they love to boast, and to shed blood; but we are taught, by +God's holy word, to be humble and merciful. There is one thing that +mingles much with the Indian character; and that is, medicine, or +mystery. I must try to make you understand it. + +_Austin._ Yes; I should like to know all about it very well. + +_Hunter._ Go where you may, among the Choctaws, the Seminoles, the +Crows, or the Blackfeet, every Indian has his medicine or mystery bag, +which he regards with reverence, and will not part with for any price. +He looks upon it as a kind of charm, or guardian spirit, that is to +keep him from evil. He takes it with him to battle, and when he dies +it is his companion. + +_Austin._ But what is it? Is there any thing in the bag? What is it +that makes medicine? + +_Hunter._ Every thing that is mysterious or wonderful to an Indian, he +regards as medicine. I do not mean such medicine as we get from an +apothecary; but he regards it as something awful, and connected with +spirits. This is a strong superstition, which has laid hold of the red +man throughout the whole of his race. + +_Brian._ But is there any thing in the medicine bag? + +_Hunter._ The medicine bag is usually the skin of some animal, such as +the beaver, otter, polecat, or weazel; or of some bird, as the eagle, +the magpie, or hawk; or of some reptile, as the snake or the toad. +This skin is stuffed with any thing the owner chooses to put into it, +such as dry grass, or leaves; and it is carefully sewed up into some +curious form, and ornamented in a curious manner. Some medicine bags +are very large, and form a conspicuous part of an Indian's +appendages; while others are very small, and altogether hidden. + +_Basil._ Why, it is very foolish in the red men to carry such things +about with them. + +_Hunter._ It certainly is so; but their fathers and their tribes have +done so for many generations, and it would be a disgrace to them, in +their own estimation, if they neglected to do the same. A young +Indian, before he has his medicine bag, goes perhaps alone on the +prairie, or wanders in the forest, or beside some solitary lake. Day +after day, and night after night, he fasts, and calls on the Great +Spirit to help him to medicine. When he sleeps, the first animal, or +bird, or reptile that he dreams of, is his medicine. If it be a +weazel, he catches a weazel, and it becomes his medicine for ever. If +it be a toad or snake, he kills it; and if it be a bird, he shoots it, +and stuffs its skin. + +_Austin._ This is one of the most wonderful things you have told us +yet. + +_Hunter._ What is called a medicine man, or a mystery man, is one who +ranks high in his tribe for some supposed knowledge. He can either +make buffaloes come, or cure disease, or bring rain, or do some other +wonderful things, or persuade his tribe that he can do them. Indeed, +among Indians, hardly any thing is done without the medicine man. A +chief, in full dress, would as soon think of making his appearance +without his head as without his medicine bag. There is a saying among +the Indians, that "a man lying down, is medicine to the grizzly +bear;" meaning, that in such a position a bear will not hurt him. + +_Basil._ Is it true? Will not the grizzly bear hurt a man when he is +lying down? + +_Hunter._ So many people say; but I should be very sorry to trust the +grizzly bear. I am afraid that he would be paying his respects to me +in a very rough way. + +_Austin._ What was it that you said about the medicine man bringing +rain? + +_Hunter._ Some of them are famous for bringing rain in a dry season. + +_Austin._ But they cannot really bring rain. + +_Hunter._ The matter is managed in this way.--When once they undertake +to bring rain, they keep up their superstitious ceremonies, day after +day, till the rain comes. Oftentimes it is very long before they +succeed. It was in a time of great drought, that I once arrived at the +Mandan village on the Upper Missouri. At the different Indian +villages, peas and beans, wild rice, corn, melons, squashes, pumpkins, +peaches and strawberries were often found in abundance; but, on this +occasion, the Mandans had a very poor prospect of gathering any thing +that required rain to bring it to perfection. The young and the old +were crying out that they should have no green corn. + +_Austin._ Why did they not tell the medicine men earlier to make the +rain come? + +_Hunter._ They did so: but it was not quite convenient to the medicine +men; for they saw clearly enough that there was not the slightest +appearance of rain. After putting it off, day after day, the sky grew +a little cloudy to the west, when the medicine men assembled together +in great haste to make it rain. + +_Brian._ Ay! they were very cunning. + +_Hunter._ No sooner was it known that the medicine men were met +together in the mystery lodge, than the village was all in commotion. +They wanted rain, and they were very sure that their medicine men +could bring it when they pleased. The tops of the wigwams were soon +crowded. In the mystery lodge a fire was kindled, round which sat the +rain-makers, burning sweet-smelling herbs, smoking the medicine pipe, +and calling on the Great Spirit to open the door of the skies, and let +out the rain. + +_Basil._ That is the way they make it rain, is it? + +_Hunter._ At last, one of the rain-makers came out of the mystery +lodge, and stood on the top of it with a spear in his hand, which he +brandished about in a commanding and threatening manner, lifting it up +as though he were about to hurl it up at the heavens. He talked aloud +of the power of his medicine, holding up his medicine bag in one hand, +and his spear in the other; but it was of no use, neither his medicine +nor his spear could make it rain; and, at the setting of the sun, he +came down from his elevated position in disgrace. + +_Austin._ Poor fellow! He had had enough of rain-making for one day. + +_Hunter._ For several days the same ceremony was carried on, until a +rain-maker, with a head-dress of the skins of birds, ascended the top +of the mystery lodge, with a bow in his hand, and a quiver at his +back. He made a long speech, which had in it much about thunder and +lightning, and black clouds and drenching rain; for the sky was +growing dark, and it required no great knowledge of the weather to +foretell rain. He shot arrows to the east and west, and others to the +north and the south, in honour of the Great Spirit who could send the +rain from all parts of the skies. A fifth arrow he retained, until it +was almost certain that rain was at hand. Then, sending up the shaft +from his bow, with all his might, to make a hole, as he said, in the +dark cloud over his head, he cried aloud for the waters to pour down +at his bidding, and to drench him to the skin. He was brandishing his +bow in one hand, and his medicine in the other, when the rain came +down in a torrent. The whole village was clamorous with applause. He +was regarded as a great mystery man, whose medicine was very powerful, +and he rose to great distinction among his tribe. You see, then, the +power of a mystery man in bringing rain. Does it not astonish you? + +_Austin._ No, not a bit. I see that it was all a cheat. + +_Brian._ I could make it rain myself as well as he did, for he never +shot his arrow to pierce the cloud till it was over his head. + +_Hunter._ To be a mystery man is regarded as a great honour; and some +Indians are said to have suspended themselves from a pole, with +splints through their flesh, and their medicine bags in their hands, +looking towards the sun, for a whole day, to obtain it. + +_Austin._ When I go among the Indians, I will not be a mystery man. + + * * * * * + +_Hunter._ Now I will tell you something about Indian marriages. There +is very little ceremony in an Indian marriage. The father may be seen +sitting among his friends, when the young Indian comes in with +presents, to induce him to give him his daughter for a wife. If the +presents are not liked, they are not accepted; if they are approved, +the father takes the hand of his daughter, and the hand of the young +Indian, and slaps them together; after which a little feasting takes +place. + +_Austin._ Why, that is like buying a wife. + +_Hunter._ It is; but the young Indian has already gained the good will +of his intended wife: not by his fine clothes and his wealth, for he +has neither the one nor the other, but by showing her the skins of the +bears he has killed, and the scalps and scalp-locks of the foes he has +slaughtered; and by telling her that he will hunt for her, that she +may be kept from want, and fight for her, that she may be protected +from the enemies of her tribe. Indians have strange customs: some +flatten the heads of their young children, by laying them in a cradle, +with a pillow for the back of the head, and then pressing the +forehead, day after day, with a board, that comes down upon it, till +the nose and forehead form a straight line. + +_Brian._ I should not like my head to be flattened in that manner. + +_Hunter._ Children are carried about in their cradles on the backs of +their mothers, wherever they go; and when children die, they are often +left, in their cradles, floating on the water of a brook or pool, +which their superstition teaches them to regard as sacred. A cluster +of these little arks or cradles, or coffins as they may be called, of +different forms, in a lone pool, is a very picturesque and affecting +sight. + +_Basil._ I shall often think of the pool, and the little cradles +swimming on it. It would remind me of Moses in the bulrushes. + +_Hunter._ There are other singular customs among the Indians. The +Kowyas, the Pawnees, the Sacs and Foxes, the Osages, and the Iowas, +all shave their heads, leaving a tuft on the crown two or three inches +in length, and a small lock in the middle of it, as long as they can +make it grow. By means of this small lock of hair braided, they +ornament the tuft with a crest of the deer's tail dyed scarlet, and +sometimes add to it a war-eagle's feather. + +_Austin._ How different from the Crow Indians! They do not shave off +their hair; but let it grow till it hangs down to the very ground. + +_Hunter._ You have not forgotten that, I see. There is a cruel custom +among the Indians, of exposing their aged people, that is, leaving +them alone to die. If a party are obliged to remove from one place to +another in search of food, and there is among them an aged man, who +can no longer fight, nor hunt, nor fish, nor do any thing to support +himself, he is liable, although in his time he may have been a +war-chief, to be left alone to die. I have seen such a one sitting by +a little fire left him by his tribe, with perhaps a buffalo skin +stretched on poles over his head, and a little water and a few bones +within his reach. I have put my pipe to his mouth, given him pemican, +and gathered sticks, that he might be able to recruit his fire; and +when, months after, I have returned to the spot, there has been +nothing left of him but his skeleton, picked clean by the wolves and +bleaching in the winds. + +_Austin._ This is one of the worst things we have heard of the +Indians. + +_Basil._ Oh, it is very sad indeed! + +_Hunter._ You would not forsake your father, in old age, in that +manner, would you? + +_Austin._ No! As long as we could get a bit of bread or a drop of +water, he should have part of it, and we would die with him rather +than desert him. + +_Brian_ and _Basil._ Yes; that we would! + +_Hunter._ I hope so. This is, I say, a cruel custom; but it forms a +part of Indian manners, so that the old men expect it, and, indeed, +would not alter it. Indians have not been taught, as we have, to +honour their parents, at least not in the same way; but I can say +nothing in favour of so cruel and unnatural a custom. Among the Sioux +of the Mississippi, it is considered great medicine to jump on the +Leaping Rock, and back again. This rock is a huge column or block, +between thirty and forty feet high, divided from the side of the Red +Pipe-stone Quarry. It is about seven feet broad, and at a distance +from the main rock of about six or eight feet. Many are bold enough to +take the leap, and to leave their arrows sticking in one of its +crevices; while others, equally courageous, have fallen from the top +in making the attempt, and been dashed to pieces. + +_Brian._ When you go to Pipe-stone Quarry, Austin, have nothing to do +with the Leaping Rock. You must get your medicine in some other way. + +_Austin._ I shall leave the Leaping Rock to the leaping Indians, for +it will never suit me. + +_Hunter._ There is a very small fish caught in the river Thames, +called white bait, which is considered a very great luxury; but, to my +taste, the white fish, of which the Chippewas take great abundance in +the rapids near the Falls of St. Mary's, are preferable. The Chippewas +catch them in the rapids with scoop-nets, in the use of which they are +very expert. The white fish resemble salmon, but are much less in +size. + +_Austin._ The white fish of the Chippewas will suit me better than the +Leaping Rock of the Sioux. + +_Hunter._ Among the Indians, feasting, fasting, and sacrifices of a +peculiar kind, form a part of their religious or superstitious +observances. Some of the Pawnees, in former times, offered human +sacrifices; but this cruel custom is now no more. The Mandans +frequently offered a finger to the god, or Evil Spirit; and most of +the tribes offer a horse, a dog, a spear, or an arrow, as the case +may be. Over the Mandan mystery lodge used to hang the skin of a white +buffalo, with blue and black cloth of great value. These were intended +as a sacrifice or an offering to the good and evil spirits, to avert +their anger and to gain their favour. + +_Brian._ How many things you do remember! + +_Hunter._ All the chiefs of the tribes keep runners: men swift of +foot, who carry messages and commands, and spread among the people +news necessary to be communicated. These runners sometimes go great +distances in a very short space of time. + +_Brian._ You must have your runners, Austin. + +_Austin._ Oh yes, I will have my runners: for I shall want pipe-stone +from Red Pipe-stone Quarry, and white fish from the Chippewas; and +then I shall send messages to the Cherokees and Choctaws, the +Camanchees, the Blackfeet and the Crows. + +_Hunter._ The squaws, or wives of the Indians, labour very +contentedly, seeming to look on servitude as their proper calling. +They get in wood and water; they prepare the ground for grain, cook +victuals, make the dresses of their husbands, manufacture pottery, +dress skins, attend to the children, and make themselves useful in a +hundred other ways. + +_Brian._ I think the squaws behave themselves very well. + +_Hunter._ The smoking of the pipe takes place on all great occasions, +just as though the Indians thought it was particularly grateful to the +Good and Evil Spirits. In going to war, or in celebrating peace, as +well as on all solemn occasions, the pipe is smoked. Oftentimes, +before it is passed round, the stem is pointed upwards, and then +offered to the four points--east, west, north and south. In the hands +of a mystery man, it is great and powerful medicine. If ever you go +among the red men, you must learn to smoke; for to refuse to draw a +whiff through the friendly pipe offered to you, would be regarded as a +sad affront. + +_Basil._ What will you do now, Austin? You never smoked a pipe in your +life. + +_Austin._ Oh, I should soon learn; besides, I need only take a very +little whiff. + +_Hunter._ You must learn to eat dog's flesh, too; for when the Indians +mean to confer a great honour on a chief or a stranger, they give him +a dog feast, in which they set before him their most favourite dogs, +killed and cooked. The more useful the dogs were, and the more highly +valued, the greater is the compliment to him in whose honour the feast +is given; and if he were to refuse to eat of the dog's flesh, thus +prepared out of particular respect to him, no greater offence could be +offered to his hospitable entertainers. + +_Brian._ You have something a little harder to do now, I think, +Austin; to learn to eat dog's flesh. + +_Austin._ You may depend upon it, that I shall keep out of the way of +a dog feast. I might take a little whiff at their pipe, but I could +not touch their dainty dogs. + +_Hunter._ In some of the large lodges, I have seen very impressive +common life-scenes. Fancy to yourselves a large round lodge, holding +ten or a dozen beds of buffalo skins, with a high post between every +bed. On these posts hang the shields, the war-clubs, the spears, the +bows and quivers, the eagle-plumed head-dresses, and the medicine bags +of the different Indians who sleep there; and on the top of each post +the buffalo mask, with its horns and tail, used in the buffalo dance. +Fancy to yourselves a group of Indians in the middle of the lodge, +with their wives and their little ones around them, smoking their +pipes and relating their adventures, as happy as ease and the supply +of all their animal wants can make them. While you gaze on the scene, +so strange, so wild, so picturesque and so happy, an emotion of +friendly feeling for the red man thrills your bosom, a tear of +pleasure starts into your eye; and, before you are aware, an +ejaculation of thankfulness has escaped your lips, to the Father of +mercies, that, in his goodness and bounty to mankind, he has not +forgotten the inhabitants of the forest and the prairie. + +The Indians have a method of hardening their shields, by smoking them +over a fire, in a hole in the ground; and, usually, when a warrior +thus smokes his shield, he gives a feast to his friends. Some of the +pipes of the Indians are beautiful. The bowls are all of the red stone +from Pipe-stone Quarry, cut into all manner of fantastic forms; while +the stems, three or four feet long, are ornamented with braids of +porcupine's quills, beaks of birds, feathers and red hair. The +calumet, or, as it is called, "the peace-pipe," is indeed, as I have +before said, great medicine. It is highly adorned with quills of the +war-eagle, and never used on any other occasion than that of making +and solemnizing peace, when it is passed round to the chiefs. It is +regarded as altogether a sacred utensil. An Indian's pipe is his +friend through the pains and pleasures of life; and when his tomahawk +and his medicine bag are placed beside his poor, pallid remains, his +pipe is not forgotten. + +_Austin._ When an Indian dies, how do they bury him? + +_Hunter._ According to the custom of his tribe. Some Indians are +buried under the sod; some are left in cots, or cradles, on the water; +and others are placed on frames raised to support them. You remember +that I told you of Blackbird's grave. + +_Austin._ Ay! he was buried on horseback, on the top of a high bluff, +sitting on his horse. He was covered all over with sods. + +_Hunter._ And I told you of the Chinock children floating on the +solitary pool. + +_Basil._ Yes, I remember them very well. + +_Hunter._ Grown-up Chinocks are left floating in cradles, just in the +same manner; though oftener they are tied up in skins, and laid in +canoes, with paddles, pipes and provisions, and then hoisted up into a +tree, and left there to decay. In the Mandan burial place, the dead +were ranged in rows, on high slender frames, out of the way of the +wolf, dressed in their best robes, and wrapped in a fresh buffalo +skin, with all their arms, pipes, and every necessary provision and +comfort to supply their wants in their journey to the hunting-grounds +of their fathers. In our burial grounds, there are generally some +monuments grander than the rest, to set forth the wealth, the station, +or the talents of those who slumber below; and, as human nature is the +same everywhere, so in the resting place of the Indians. Here and +there are spread out a few yards of red or blue cloth, to signify that +beneath it a chief, or a superior brave, is sleeping. The Mandan dead +occupied a spot on the prairie. Here they mouldered, warrior lying by +the side of warrior, till they fell to the ground from their frames, +when the bones were buried, and the skulls ranged with great care, in +round rings, on the prairie, with two buffalo skulls and a medicine +pole in the centre. + +_Austin._ Ay! it would be of no use for the wolf to come then, for +there would be nothing for him. I should very much like to see an +Indian burying-place. + +_Hunter._ Were you to visit one, you would see that the heart and +affections are at work under a red skin, as well as under a white one; +for parents and children, husbands and wives, go there to lament for +those who are dear to them, and to humble themselves before the Great +Spirit, under whose care they believe their departed relatives to be. +The skulls, too, are visited, and every one is placed carefully, from +time to time, on a tuft of sweet-smelling herb or plant. Life is but a +short season with both the white and the red man, and ought to be well +spent. It is as a flower that flourishes: "For the wind passeth over +it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more." But +I have now told you enough for the present. Come again, as soon as you +will; I shall have some anecdotes of Indians ready for you. + + [Illustration: Indian Cradle.] + + + + + [Illustration] + + CHAPTER IX. + + +With willing feet, sparkling eyes and happy hearts, Austin and his two +brothers again set off for the cottage near the wood. On an ordinary +occasion, they might have found time for a little pleasant loitering; +but the Indian anecdotes they expected to hear excited their curiosity +too much to allow a single minute to be lost. A pin might have been +heard falling on the ground, when, seated in the cottage, they +listened to the following anecdotes of the hunter. + +_Hunter._ It has pleased God to endue Indians with quick perceptions. +They are amazingly quick in tracing an enemy, both in the woods and +the prairie. A broken twig or leaf, or the faintest impression on the +grass, is sufficient to attract their attention. The anecdotes I am +about to relate are believed to be true, but I cannot myself vouch for +their correctness, having only read them, or heard them related by +others. + +An Indian, upon his return home to his hut one day, discovered that +his venison, which had been hung up to dry, had been stolen. After +going some distance, he met some persons, of whom he inquired if they +had seen a _little, old, white man_, with a short gun, and accompanied +by a small dog with a bob-tail. They replied in the affirmative; and, +upon the Indian's assuring them that the man thus described had stolen +his venison, they desired to be informed how he was able to give such +a minute description of a person whom he had not seen. The Indian +answered thus:-- + +"The thief I know is a _little_ man, by his having made a pile of +stones in order to reach the venison, from the height I hung it +standing on the ground; that he is an _old_ man, I know by his short +steps, which I have traced over the dead leaves in the woods; that he +is a _white_ man, I know by his turning out his toes when he walks, +which an Indian never does; his gun I know to be short, by the mark +which the muzzle made by rubbing the bark of the tree on which it +leaned; that the dog is small, I know by his tracks; and that he has a +bob-tail, I discovered by the mark of it in the dust where he was +sitting at the time his master was taking down the meat." + +_Brian._ Well done, Indian! Why, nothing could escape a man like +that. + +_Austin._ An Englishman would hardly have been able to describe the +thief without seeing him. + +_Hunter._ You shall have another instance of the quick perceptions of +the red men. A most atrocious and shocking murder was once committed, +by a party of Indians, on fourteen white settlers, within five miles +of Shamokin. The surviving whites, in their rage, determined to take +their revenge by murdering a Delaware Indian, who happened to be in +those parts, and who was far from thinking himself in any danger. He +was a great friend to the whites, was loved and esteemed by them, and, +in testimony of their regard, had received from them the name of Duke +Holland, by which he was generally known. + +This Indian, satisfied that his nation were incapable of committing +such a foul murder in a time of profound peace, told the enraged +settlers that he was sure the Delawares were not in any manner +concerned in it, and that it was the act of some wicked Mingoes or +Iroquois, whose custom it was to involve other nations in wars with +each other, by secretly committing murders, so that they might appear +to be the work of others. But all his representations were vain; he +could not convince exasperated men, whose minds were fully bent on +revenge. + +At last, he offered that, if they would give him a party to accompany +him, he would go with them in quest of the murderers, and was sure +that he could discover them by the prints of their feet, and other +marks well known to him, by which he would convince them that the +real perpetrators of the crime belonged to the Six Nations. + +His proposal was accepted. He marched at the head of a party of whites +and led them into the tracks. They soon found themselves in the most +rocky part of a mountain, where not one of those who accompanied him +could discover a single track, nor would they believe that men had +ever trodden on this ground, as they had to jump from rock to rock, or +to crawl over them. They began to believe that the Indian had led them +across these rugged mountains in order to give the enemy time to +escape. They threatened him with instant death the moment they should +be convinced of the fraud. + +The Indian, true to his promise, took pains to make them perceive that +an enemy had passed along the places through which he was leading +them. Here, he showed them that the moss on the road had been trodden +down by the weight of a human foot; there, that it had been torn and +dragged forward from its place. Again, he would point out to them, +that pebbles, or small stones on the rocks, had been removed from +their beds by the foot hitting against them; that dry sticks, by being +trodden upon, were broken; and, in one particular place, that an +Indian's blanket had been dragged over the rocks, and had removed or +loosened the leaves lying there, so that they did not lie flat, as in +other places. All these marks the Indian could perceive as he walked +along, without even stopping. + +At last, arriving at the foot of the mountain, on soft ground, where +the tracks were deep, he found that the enemy were eight in number; +and, from the freshness of the foot-prints, he concluded that they +must be encamped at no great distance. + +This proved to be the exact truth; for, after gaining the eminence on +the other side of the valley, the Indians were seen encamped: some +having already laid down to sleep, while others were drawing off their +leggings, or Indian stockings, for the same purpose, and the scalps +they had taken were hanging up to dry. + +"See," said Duke Holland to his astonished companions, "there is the +enemy; not people of my nation, but Mingoes, as I truly told you. They +are in our power. In less than half an hour they will be all fast +asleep. We need not fire a gun, but go up and tomahawk them. We are +nearly two to one, and need apprehend no danger. Come on, and you will +now have your full revenge." + +But the whites, overcome with fear, did not choose to follow the +Indian's advice, but desired him to take them back by the nearest and +best way. This he did; and when they arrived at home, they reported +the enemy to have been so great that they durst not venture to attack +them. + +_Austin._ This instance is quite as wonderful as the other. + +_Brian._ I would not have an Indian after me if I had done wrong; for +he would be sure to find me out. + +_Hunter._ Red men often act very conscientiously. One day, an Indian +solicited a little tobacco of a white man, to fill his pipe. Having +some loose in his pocket, the white man gave him a handful. The next +day the Indian returned in search of the man who had given him the +tobacco. + +"I wish to see him," said the Indian. + +"Why so?" inquired some one. + +"Why, I find money with the tobacco." + +"Well! what of that? Keep it; it was given to you." + +"Ah!" said the Indian, shaking his head, "I got good man and bad man +here," pointing to his breast. "Good man say, 'Money not yours; you +must return it:' bad man say, '_'Tis_ yours; it was given to you.' +Good man say, 'That not right: _tobacco_ yours, _money_ not yours.' +Bad man say, 'Never mind, nobody know it; go buy rum.' Good man say, +'Oh no; no such thing.' So poor Indian know not what to do. Me lie +down to sleep, but no sleep; good man and bad man talk all night, and +trouble me. So now, me bring money back: now, me feel good." + +_Basil._ I like that Indian very much. + +_Brian._ No one could have acted more honestly. + +_Hunter._ Whatever the Indians may be, when oppressed, wronged and +deceived by the whites; and however they may act towards their +enemies; they are usually honest towards their own tribe. While I was +residing on the Big Beaver, says one who lived much among them, I +passed by the door of an Indian who was a trader, and had, +consequently, a quantity of goods in his house. He was going with his +wife to Pittsburg, and they were shutting up the house; as no person +remained in it during their absence. This shutting up was nothing else +than putting a large block, with a few sticks of wood, outside against +the door, so as to keep it closed. As I was looking at this man with +attention, while he was so employed, he addressed me in these words:-- + +"See, my friend, this is an Indian lock that I am putting to my door." + +I answered, "Well enough; but I see you leave much property in the +house: are you not afraid that those articles will be stolen while you +are gone?" + +"Stolen! by whom?" + +"Why, by Indians, to be sure." + +"No, no," replied he, "no Indian would do such a thing. Unless a white +man, or white people, should happen to come this way, I shall find all +safe on my return." + +_Basil._ If we were to leave our doors in that way, our houses would +be sure to be robbed. + +_Hunter._ No doubt they would; but Indians have good and bad +qualities. The notion entertained by the Iroquois Indians, respecting +the creation of mankind, will show how ignorant they are with respect +to the Creator of all things; but, indeed, if the blessed book of +truth were not in our hands, we should be equally ignorant ourselves. +Before man existed, say they, there were three great and good spirits; +of whom one was superior to the other two, and is emphatically called +the Great Spirit and the Good Spirit. At a certain time, this exalted +being said to one of the others, "Make a man." He obeyed; and, taking +chalk, formed a paste of it, and moulding it into the human form, +infused into it the animating principle, and brought it to the Great +Spirit. He, after surveying it, said, "This is too white." + +He then directed the other to make a trial of his skill. Accordingly, +taking charcoal, he pursued the same process, and brought the result +to the Great Spirit; who, after surveying it, said, "It is too black." + +Then said the Great Spirit, "I will now try myself;" and taking red +earth, he formed an Indian. On surveying it, he said, "This is a +proper or perfect man." + +After relating the strange opinion of the Iroquois Indians, the hunter +advised the young people, on their return home, to look over the +account of the creation of the world and mankind, in the first chapter +of Genesis; telling them that they could not be too thankful for the +opportunity of reading God's word, which was not only sufficient to +keep them from error in such things, but was able also to make them +"wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." He told +them, that though the Indians were ignorant of holy things, they did +not want shrewdness and sagacity. "When General Lincoln," said he, +"went to make peace with the Creek Indians, one of the chiefs asked +him to sit down on a log; he was then desired to move, and, in a few +minutes, to move still farther. The request was repeated, until the +general got to the end of the log. The Indian still said, 'Move +farther;' to which the general replied, 'I can move no farther.' +'Just so it is with us,' said the chief. 'You have moved us back to +the water, and then ask us to move farther!'" + +In the account of his expedition to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, +in 1821, Major Long relates the following anecdote of a Pawnee brave, +son of Red Knife, who, in the succeeding winter, visited the city of +Washington, during the session of Congress. + +This brave, of fine size, figure and countenance, is now about +twenty-five years old. At the age of twenty-one, his heroic deeds had +acquired for him in his nation the rank of the bravest of the braves. +The savage practice of torturing and burning to death their prisoners +existed in this nation. An unfortunate female, of the Paduca nation, +taken in war, was destined to this horrid death. + +The fatal hour had arrived. The trembling victim, far from her home +and her friends, was fastened to the stake. The whole tribe were +assembled on the surrounding plains to witness the awful scene. + +Just as the funeral pile was to be kindled, and the whole multitude of +spectators were on the tiptoe of expectation, this young warrior, +having, unnoticed, prepared two fleet horses, with the necessary +provisions, sprang from his seat, rushed through the crowd, liberated +the victim, seized her in his arms, placed her on one of the horses, +mounted the other himself, and made the utmost speed towards the +nation and friends of the captive. + +The multitude, dumb and nerveless with amazement at the daring deed, +made no effort to rescue their victim from her deliverer. They viewed +it as the immediate act of the Great Spirit, submitted to it without a +murmur, and quietly retired to their village. + +The released captive was accompanied three days through the +wilderness, towards her home. Her deliverer then gave her the horse on +which she rode, and the necessary provisions for the remainder of the +journey, and they parted. + +On his return to the village, such was his popularity, that no inquiry +was made into his conduct, and no censure was passed upon it. Since +this transaction no human sacrifice has been offered in this or any +other of the Pawnee tribes; the practice is abandoned. How influential +is one bold act in a good cause! This deed illustrates a grand +principle, boys. It is by such men that great reformations are made in +the world, and yet there is no mastery in it. Every one is capable of +doing that which he knows to be right, regardless of the opinions of +wicked men, or the habits of the weak and foolish, who follow customs +which have no apology but that others have done so before. + +The publication of this anecdote at Washington led some young ladies, +in a manner highly creditable to their good sense and good feeling, to +present this brave and humane Indian with a handsome silver medal, +with appropriate inscriptions, as a token of their sincere +commendation of the noble act of rescuing one of their sex, an +innocent victim, from a cruel death. Their address, delivered on this +occasion, is sensible and appropriate, closing as follows: + +"Brother--Accept this token of our esteem; always wear it for our +sakes; and when again you have the power to save a poor woman from +death and torture, think of this, and of us, and fly to her relief and +rescue." + +To this the Pawnee made the following reply:-- + +"Brothers and sisters--This medal will give me ease more than I ever +had; and I will listen more than I ever did to white men. + +"I am glad that my brothers and sisters have heard of the good deed +that I have done. My brothers and sisters think that I have done it in +ignorance, but I now know what I have done. + +"I did do it in ignorance, and I did not know that I did good; but by +your giving me this medal I know it." + +The cruelty of torturing and burning a captive, the great danger of +the female Indian, and the noble daring of the Pawnee brave, formed +the subject of conversation for some time among the young people; and +Austin was unbounded in his approbation of the Pawnee. Willingly would +he have contributed towards another silver medal for him, and Brian +and Basil would not have been backward in doing their part; but the +affair appeared hardly practicable, inasmuch as a reasonable doubt +existed whether the Pawnee brave was still alive; and, even if he +were, there seemed to be no direct way of communicating with him. + + + + + [Illustration: Indian Horsemanship.--Page 160.] + + CHAPTER X. + + +"Remember," said Austin, as he urged his brothers to quicken their +pace on their way to the cottage, "we have hardly heard any thing yet +about buffaloes and grizzly bears, and other animals which are found +in the woods and the prairie. Let us make haste, that we may have a +long visit." + +Brian and Basil, being almost as anxious as their brother to hear all +about bears and buffaloes, quickened their pace as he desired them, so +that no long period had passed, before the hunter, at the request of +his youthful visitors, was engaged in giving them the desired account. + +"The different animals and birds," said he, "that inhabit different +countries, for the most part, roam backwards and forwards, according +to the season. Creatures that love the cold move northerly in summer, +and such as delight in a warmer clime move southerly in winter. It is, +however, principally to obtain food that they remove from one place to +another. I must here explain to you, that though I have, in common +with most others who use these terms, spoken of buffaloes, the animal +which abounds in the prairie is not properly the buffalo, but the +bison." + +_Austin._ But if they are bisons, why are they called buffaloes? + +_Hunter._ That is a question that I hardly know how to answer. From +whatever cause it may have arisen, certain it is, that the name of +buffalo has become common; and, that being the case, it is used in +conversation, and oftentimes in books, as being more easily +understood. + +_Brian._ What is the difference between a buffalo and a bison? + +_Hunter._ A buffalo is an animal that abounds in Africa, resembling an +ugly cow, with a body long, but rather low; and very long horns. But +the bison stands very high in front, has a hump on the back part of +the neck covered with long hair, short horns, and a profusion of long +shaggy hair hanging from its head, neck and fore-legs. + +_Austin._ Then a bison must look much fiercer than a buffalo. + +_Hunter._ He does; and from the circumstance of his fore-parts +standing high, while he carries his head low, he always appears as if +he were about to run at you. Bisons abound throughout the whole of +our country, west of the Mississippi; but the reckless way in which +they are slaughtered, and the spread of civilization, are likely, in a +few years, greatly to decrease their numbers. Indians suffer much from +hunger, but they are very reckless when buffaloes are plentiful. On +one occasion, when among the Minatarees, I witnessed a grand capture +of buffaloes. It was effected by different parties taking different +directions, and then gradually approaching each other. The herd was +thus hemmed in on all sides, and the slaughter was terrible. The +unerring rifle, the sharp spear and the winged arrow, had full employ; +and so many buffaloes were slain, that, after taking their tongues and +other choice parts of them for food, hundreds of carcasses were left +for the prairie-wolves to devour. Thus it is that man, whether savage +or civilized, too often becomes prodigal of the abundance he enjoys, +and knows not the value of what he possesses, till taught by that want +into which his thoughtless waste has plunged him. + +_Austin._ Ay, they will soon kill all the buffaloes, if they go on in +that manner. + +_Hunter._ At present, they are to be seen on the prairie in droves of +many thousands; the woods, also, abound with them; and often, in the +heat of summer, an incalculable number of heads and horns are visible +in the rivers, the bodies of the bisons being under the water. + +_Brian._ What, because they are so hot? + +_Hunter._ Yes: the bison suffers very much from heat. It is no +uncommon thing to see a bison bull lay himself down in a puddle of +water, and turn himself round and round in it, till he has half +covered his body with mud. The puddle hole which he thus makes is +called a bison or buffalo wallow. The puddle cools him while he is in +it, and when he quits it, the mud plastered on his sides defends him +from the burning heat of the sun. + +_Basil._ What a figure a bison bull must cut, with his shaggy hair and +his sides plastered all over with mud! + +_Hunter._ Bears are often most formidable foes to the hunter; but +there is this striking difference between the common bear and the +grizzly bear, that while the former eats mostly vegetables, and will +do his best to get out of your way, the latter eats nothing but flesh, +and is almost sure to attack you. Hunters and Indians make it a rule +never to fire at a grizzly bear, unless in self-defence: except in +cases when they have a strong party, or can fire from a tree; for, +when he is wounded, his fury knows no bounds. + +_Austin._ How can you escape from a grizzly bear, if he is so very +terrible? + +_Hunter._ The common bear can climb a tree, as I have already told +you; but the grizzly bear is no climber. If you have time to get up +into a tree, you are safe: if not, you must reserve your shot till the +animal is near you, that you may take a steady aim. You must then +fight it out in the best way you can. Grizzly bears are sometimes of a +very large size, measuring from nine to ten feet in length. It was on +the Upper Missouri that I was once chased by one of these terrible +fellows, and a narrow escape I had. + +_Austin._ How was it? Tell us all about it. + +_Hunter._ I had just fired off my rifle at a bird which I took for an +eagle, little thinking how soon my wasted bullet (for I did not strike +the bird) would be wanted in defence of my life. The crack of my piece +reverberated from the green-topped bluffs that rose from the prairie; +and I suppose it was this that brought Sir Bruin upon me. He came on +with huge strides, and I had nothing but a hunting-knife to use in my +defence, my discharged rifle being of no use. There was no tree near, +so throwing down my piece, I drew my knife as a forlorn hope in my +extremity. + +_Austin._ A hunting-knife against a grizzly bear! + +_Hunter._ When the huge monster was within a few yards of me, to my +amazement, I heard the report of two rifles, and in the same instant +my tremendous foe fell, with two bullets in his head. This timely +assistance was rendered me by two of our party, who, having followed +my track, were near me when I thought myself alone. + +_Austin._ Never was any one in greater danger. + +_Hunter._ I will tell you an anecdote that I have read of a common +bear. A boy, about eight years old, was sent by his mother into the +woods, to bring home the old cow. At the distance of somewhat more +than half a mile, he found her, attended by some young cattle. He +began to drive them home; but had not proceeded far, when a bear came +out of the bushes, and seemed disposed to make his acquaintance. + +The boy did not like his company; so he jumped upon the old cow's +back, and held on by her horns. She set out at full speed, and the +bear after her. The young cattle, lifting their tails in the air, +brought up the rear. Thus they proceeded, the young ones behind +frequently coming up to the bear, and giving him a thrust with their +horns. + +This compelled him to turn round, and thus the old cow, with her brave +rider, got somewhat in advance. The bear then galloped on, and, +approaching the boy, attempted to seize him; but the old cow cantered +along, and finally brought the boy to his mother's house in safety. +The bear, thinking he should not be welcome there, after approaching +the house, turned about and scampered back to the forest. Sir Bruin +knew when he was well off; a whole skin is the best covering a bear +can have; but, if he ventures among mankind, he is likely enough to +have it stripped over his ears. + +_Austin._ That was a capital old cow, for she saved the boy's life. + +_Basil._ But the young cattle helped her, for they pushed the bear +with their horns. + +_Brian._ Please to tell us about wild horses. + +_Hunter._ The hordes or bands of wild horses that abound in some of +the prairies, are supposed to be the offspring of Spanish horses, +brought to Mexico by Europeans. They are extremely shy, keen in their +sight and swift of foot, so that to come up with them, except by +surprise, is no easy thing. I have seen them in great numbers from +the brow of a bluff, or have peeped at them cautiously from a ravine. + +_Austin._ What kind of horses are they; and of what colour? + +_Hunter._ Some of them are fine animals, but in general they are +otherwise. Stunted and coarse in appearance, they are of various +colours--bay, chestnut, cream, gray, piebald, white and black, with +long tails, fetlocks, top-knots and manes. + +_Brian._ How do they catch them? + +_Hunter._ In different ways. Sometimes a well-mounted Indian, armed +with his rifle, follows a horde of horses, until he can get a fair +shot at the best among them. He aims at the top of the neck, and if he +succeeds in striking the high gristle there, it stuns the animal for +the moment, when he falls to the ground without being injured. This is +called _creasing_ a horse: but a bad marksman would kill, and not +crease, the noble animal he seeks to subdue. + +_Austin._ What other way is there of catching wild horses? for that +seems to be a very bad one. + +_Basil._ It is a very bad way. They ought not to shoot them. + +_Hunter._ They are much more commonly taken with the _lasso_; which is +a thong at least a dozen yards long, ending in a noose. This the +Indians throw, at full gallop, over the head of the flying steed they +wish to secure. Rarely do they miss their aim. When a horse is thus +caught, the hunter leaps from his steed, and lets out the lasso +gradually, choking his captive till he is obliged to stop: he then +contrives to hopple or tie his fore-legs; to fasten the lasso round +his lower jaw; to breathe in his nostrils, and to lead him home. + +_Austin._ Breathe in his nostrils! Why, what does he do that for? + +_Hunter._ Because experience has taught him, that it does much towards +rendering his captive more manageable. It is said, that if an Indian +breathes freely into the nostrils of a wild young buffalo on the +prairie, the creature will follow him with all the gentleness and +docility of a lamb. + +_Brian._ Well! that does appear strange! + +_Hunter._ There is one animal, which the Indians, the hunters and +trappers sometimes meet with, that I have not mentioned. It is the +cougar, or panther, or American lion; for it goes by all these names. +Now and then it is to be seen in the thick forests of the west; but, +being a sad coward, it is not so much dreaded as it otherwise would +be. + +_Brian._ I should not much like to meet a cougar. + +_Hunter._ The common wolf of America is as big as a Newfoundland dog, +and a sulky, savage-looking animal he is. So long as he can feed in +solitary places he prefers to do so, but, when hunger-pressed, he +attacks the fold; after which, Mr. Grizzly-skin loses no time in +getting to a place of shelter, for he knows that should he outrun the +stanch hounds that will soon be on his track, yet will a rifle ball +outrun him. + +_Brian._ Yes, yes; Mr. Grizzly-back is very cunning. + +_Hunter._ The prairie-wolf is smaller than the common wolf. +Prairie-wolves hunt after deer which they generally overtake; or keep +close to a buffalo herd, feeding on such as die, or on those that are +badly wounded in fighting with one another. The white, black, and +clouded wolves are in the northern parts. There are many kinds of +deer. I told you, that sometimes a deer-hunt took place on a large +scale, by enclosing a circle, and driving the deer into it. In +shooting antelopes, the hunter has only to stick up his ramrod in the +ground in their neighbourhood, and throw over it his handkerchief; +while he, with his rifle ready loaded, lies on the grass near at hand. +The antelopes will soon approach the handkerchief to see what it is, +when the hunter may make them an easy prey. The largest deer is the +moose deer, which is often seven feet high. He is an awkward, +overgrown-looking creature, with broad horns; but, awkward as he is, I +question if any of you could outrun him. Mountain and valley, lake and +river, seem alike to him, for he crosses them all. In the snow, to be +sure, the unwearied and persevering hound will overtake him; but let +him beware of his horns, or he will be flying head over heels in the +air in a twinkling. The moose deer, however, cannot successfully +strive with the hunter's rifle. + +_Austin._ Nothing can stand against man. + +_Hunter._ And yet what is man opposed to his Maker? His strength is +perfect weakness! In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, he "changes +his countenance, and sends him away." + +_Basil._ What other kinds of deer do Indians catch? + + [Illustration: The Wapiti Deer.] + +_Hunter._ The elk, with his large branching horns, who would despise a +palace as a dwelling-place. Nothing less than the broad sky above his +head, and the ground of the boundless forest beneath his feet, will +satisfy him. After the elk, come the Virginia, or common deer, the +wapiti deer, the black-tailed deer, and the cariboo. All these are the +prey of the hunter. Their savoury flesh supplies him with food, and +their soft skins are articles of merchandise. The mountain sheep may +often be seen skipping from one ledge to another of the rugged rocks, +and precipitous clayey cliffs of the western wilds, giving life to +the solitary place, and interest to the picturesque beauty of lonely +spots. + +_Austin._ You have mentioned all the animals now, I think, that the +hunter chases; for you spoke before about beavers, badgers, foxes, +raccoons, squirrels and some others. + +_Basil._ You have never told us, though, how they catch the musk-rat. +I should like to know that. + +_Hunter._ Well, then, I will tell you how they take the musk-rat, but +must first speak about the prairie dog. Prairie dogs are a sort of +marmot, but their bark is somewhat like that of a small dog. Rising +from the level prairie, you may sometimes see, for miles together, +small hillocks of a conical form, thrown up by the prairie dogs, which +burrow some eight or ten feet in the ground. On a fine day, myriads of +these dogs, not much unlike so many rats, run about, or sit barking on +the tops of their hillocks. The moment any one approaches them, they +disappear, taking shelter in their burrows. + +_Basil._ Oh, the cunning little rogues. + +_Hunter._ The musk-rat builds his burrow (which looks like a +hay-stack) of wild rice stalks; so that, while he has a dry lodging, a +hole at the bottom enables him, when he pleases, to pass into the +shallow water beneath his burrow or lodge. In taking a musk-rat, a +person strikes the top of the burrow, and out scampers the tenant +within; but no sooner does he run through his hole into the shallow +water, than he is instantly caught with a spear. Myriads of these +little animals are taken in this manner for their fur. + +_Brian._ They must be a good deal like prairie dogs, though one has +his house on the land, and the other in the water. + +_Hunter._ These wide prairies, on which roam bisons and horses and +deer innumerable; and these shallow waters, where musk-rats abound, +will probably, in succeeding years, assume another character. White +men will possess them; civilized manners and customs will prevail, and +Christianity spread from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains; for +the kingdoms of the world, you know, are to become the kingdoms of our +Lord and of his Christ. + +_Austin._ You have told us a great deal indeed, to-day, about the +prairies. + +_Hunter._ I have already spoken of the prairie fires; I mean the +burning grass set on fire by accident, or purposely, for the double +advantage of obtaining a clearer path and an abundant crop of fresh +grass; but I must relate an adventure of my own, of a kind not likely +to be forgotten. So long as a prairie fire is confined to the high +grounds, there is very little danger from it; for, in such situations, +the grass being short, the fire never becomes large, though the line +of flame is a long one. Birds and beasts retire before it in a very +leisurely manner; but in plains where the grass is long, it is very +different. + +_Austin._ I should like to see one of those great, high, round bluffs +on fire. There must be a fine bonfire then. + +_Hunter._ There you are mistaken, for as I have already told you, the +grass is short on the bluffs. To be sure, the sight of a bluff on +fire, on a dark night, is very singular; for as you can only see the +curved line of flame, the bluff being hidden by the darkness, so it +seems as though the curved lines of flame were up in the air, or in +the sky. + +_Basil._ They must look very beautifully. + +_Hunter._ They do: but when a fire takes place in a low bottom of long +grass, sedge and tangled dry plants, more than six feet high; and when +a rushing wind urges on the fiery ruin, flashing like the lightning +and roaring like the thunder; the appearance is not beautiful, but +terrible. I have heard the shrill war-whoop, and the clash of +contending tomahawks in the fight, when no quarter has been given. I +have witnessed the wild burst where Niagara, a river of waters, flings +itself headlong down the Horseshoe Fall; and I have been exposed to +the fury of the hurricane. But none of these are half so terrible as +the flaming ocean of a long-grass prairie-fire. + +_Austin._ Oh! it must be terrible. + +_Hunter._ The trapper is bold, or he is not fit for his calling; the +hunter is brave, or he could never wage war as he does with danger; +and the Indian from his childhood is familiar with peril: yet the +Indian, the hunter and the trapper tremble, as well they may, at a +prairie-meadow fire. But I must relate my adventure. + +_Basil._ I am almost afraid to hear it. + +_Austin._ Poh! nonsense! It will never hurt you. + +_Hunter._ A party of five of us, well mounted, and having with us our +rifles and lances, were making the best of our way across one of the +low prairie bottoms, where the thick coarse grass and shrubs, even as +we sat on our horses, were often as high as our heads; when we +noticed, every now and then, a flight of prairie hens, or grouse, +rapidly winging their way by us. Two of our party were of the +Blackfoot tribe; their names were Ponokah (elk) and Moeese (wigwam.) +These Indians had struck into a buffalo trail, and we had proceeded +for a couple of hours as fast as the matted grass and wild pea-vines +would allow, when suddenly the wind that was blowing furiously from +the east became northerly, and in a moment, Moeese, snuffing the air, +uttered the words, "Pah kapa," (bad;) and Ponokah, glancing his eyes +northward, added, "Eehcooa pah kaps," (very bad.) + +_Austin._ I guess what was the matter. + +_Brian._ And so do I. + +_Hunter._ In another instant a rush was heard, and Ponokah, who was a +little ahead, cried out, "Eneuh!" (buffalo!) when three bisons came +dashing furiously along another trail towards us. No sooner did they +set eyes on us, than they abruptly turned southward. By this time, we +all understood that, to the north, the prairie was on fire; for the +air smelt strong. Deer, and bisons, and other animals, sprang forward +in different directions from the prairie, and a smoke, not very +distant, like a cloud, was visible. + +_Austin._ I hope you set off at full gallop. + +_Hunter._ We were quite disposed to urge our horses onward; but the +trail took a turn towards the burning prairie, and we were obliged to +force our way into another, in doing which my horse got his feet +entangled, and he fell, pitching me over his head some yards before +him. I was not hurt by the fall, for the thick herbage protected me; +but the worst of it was, that my rifle, which had been carelessly +slung, fell from my shoulder among the long grass, and being somewhat +confused by my fall, I could not find it. + +_Brian._ You ought not to have stopped a moment. + +_Hunter._ Perhaps not; but, to a hunter, a rifle is no trifling loss, +and I could not make up my mind to lose mine. Time was precious, for +the smoke rapidly increased; and both Ponokah and Moeese, who knew +more about burning prairies than I did, and were therefore more alive +to our danger, became very impatient. By the time my rifle was found, +and we were ready to proceed, the fire had gained upon us in a +crescent form, so that before and behind we were hemmed in. The only +point clear of the smoke was to the south; but no trail ran that way, +and we feared that, in forcing a road, another accident might occur +like that which had befallen us. + +_Austin._ I cannot think what you could do in such a situation. + +_Hunter._ Our disaster had come upon us so unexpectedly, and the high +wind had so hurried on the flaming storm, that there seemed to be no +time for a moment's thought. Driven by necessity, we plunged into the +thick grass to the south; but our progress was not equal to that of +the fire, which was now fast approaching, blackening the air with +smoke, and roaring every moment louder and louder. Our destruction +seemed almost certain; when Ponokah, judging, I suppose, by the +comparative thinness of the smoke eastward, that we were not far from +the boundary of the prairie bottom, dashed boldly along a trail in +that direction, in the face of the fire, crying out to us to follow. +With the daring of men in extremity, we put our horses to their speed, +broke through the smoke, fire, grass, and flame, and found ourselves +almost instantly on a patch of ground over which the fire had passed; +but, as the grass had evidently been scanty, we were free from danger. +From a neighbouring bluff, which the smoke had before hidden from our +view, we saw the progress of the flame--a spectacle that filled me +with amazement. The danger we had escaped seemed increased by the +sight of the fearful conflagration, and I know not whether terror, +amazement, or thankfulness most occupied my mind. + +_Austin._ That was, indeed, a narrow escape. + +_Hunter._ As we stood on the bluff, dismounted, to gaze on the flying +flames--which appeared in the distance like a huge fiery snake of some +miles in length, writhing in torture--my wonder increased. The +spectacle was fearful and sublime, and the conflagration nearest to us +resembled the breakers of the deep that dash on a rocky shore, only +formed of fire, roaring and destroying, preceded by thick clouds of +smoke. Before then, I had been accustomed to sights and scenes of +peril, and had witnessed the burning of short grass to some extent; +but this was the first time I had been in such fearful danger--the +first time I felt the awfulness of such a situation--the first time +that I had really seen the prairie on fire! + +_Brian._ There can be nothing in the world like a burning prairie, +unless it be a burning mountain. + +_Hunter._ A burning prairie, when we are near it, is a vast and +overwhelming spectacle; but every rising and setting sun exhibits +Almighty wisdom, power and goodness, on a scale infinitely beyond that +of a hundred burning prairies. It is a good thing to accustom +ourselves to regard the works of creation around us with that +attention and wonder they are calculated to inspire, and especially to +ponder on the manifestation of God's grace set forth in his holy word. +When burning prairies and burning mountains shall be all extinguished; +when rising and setting suns and all earthly glory shall be unknown; +then shall the followers of the Redeemer gaze on the brighter glories +of heaven, and dwell for ever with their Leader and their Lord. + + [Illustration] + + + + + [Illustration: Buffalo Dance.] + + CHAPTER XI. + + +Buffaloes, bears, wild horses, wolves, deer, prairie-dogs and +musk-rats, were a fruitful source of conversation to the young people +in their leisure hours, until such time as they could again visit +their interesting friend at the cottage. Various plans were formed to +attack grizzly bears, to catch wild horses, and to scare away +half-famished wolves; in all of which, Jowler, notwithstanding his bad +behaviour at the buffalo hunt, was expected to act a distinguished +part. Black Tom was scarcely considered worth thinking about, he being +too wild by half for a wild horse, and too faint-hearted for a grizzly +bear. At one time, it was so far determined for him to play the part +of a prairie-dog, that Austin set about digging a hole for him: +before it was finished, however, the plan was abandoned; Brian and +Basil both feeling positive that, let Austin dig a hole as deep as he +would, Black Tom would never be persuaded to run into it. + +After much deliberation, catching wild horses being given up--on the +score that Black Tom would run away too fast, and Jowler would not run +a way at all--a bear hunt was resolved on, having, as Brian observed, +two especial advantages: the first, that all of them could enjoy the +sport at once; and the second, that Jowler would be sure to attack +them all, just like a grizzly bear. + +No time was lost in preparing their long spears, and in dressing +themselves as much like renowned chiefs as their knowledge and +resources would allow. And, in order that Jowler might the more +closely resemble a grizzly bear, a white apron was spread over his +broad back, and tied round his neck. The lawn was, as before, the +scene of their exploits, the prairie on which the fearful monster was +to be overcome; and, to the credit of their courage be it spoken, +neither Austin, Brian nor Basil, manifested the slightest token of +fear. + +Jowler was led by them among the bushes of the shrubbery, that he +might burst out upon them all at once; and this part of the +arrangement answered excellently well, only that Jowler arrived on the +prairie first instead of last; add to which, the bushes having so far +despoiled him of his grizzly hide, the white apron, as to have pulled +it off his back, he set to work mouthing and tearing at it, to get it +from his neck. At last, in spite of a few untoward and unbearlike +actions on the part of Jowler, the attack took place. With undaunted +resolution, Austin sustained Jowler's most furious charges; Brian +scarcely manifested less bravery; and little Basil, though he had +broken his lance, and twice fallen to the earth, made a desperate and +successful attack on his fearful antagonist, and caught him fast by +the tail. It was on the whole a capital adventure; for though they +could not with truth say that they had killed the bear, neither could +the bear say that he had killed them. + +The bear hunt being at an end, they set off for the cottage; for the +hunter had promised to describe to them some of the games of the +Indian tribes, and he was soon engaged in giving them an account of +the ball-play of the Choctaws. "At the Choctaw ball-play thousands of +spectators attend, and sometimes a thousand young men are engaged in +the game." + +_Hunter._ It is played in the open prairie, and the players have no +clothes on but their trowsers, a beautiful belt formed of beads, a +mane of dyed horse-hair of different colours, and a tail sticking out +from behind like the tail of a horse; this last is either formed of +white horse-hair or of quills. + +_Brian._ And how do they play? + +_Hunter._ Every man has two sticks, with a kind of hoop at the end, +webbed across, and with these they catch and strike the ball. The goal +on each side, consisting of two upright posts and a pole across the +top, is set up twenty-five feet high; these goals are from forty to +fifty rods apart. Every time either party can strike the ball through +their goal, one is reckoned, and a hundred is the game. + +_Basil._ What a scuffle there must be among so many of them! + +_Hunter._ When every thing is ready for the game to begin, a gun is +fired; and some old men, who are to be the judges, fling up the ball +in the middle, half-way between the two goals. + +_Brian._ Now for the struggle. + +_Hunter._ One party being painted white, every man knows his opponent. +No sooner is the ball in the air, than a rush takes place. Every one +with his webbed stick raised above his head; no one is allowed to +strike or to touch the ball with his hands. They cry out aloud at the +very top of their voices, rush on, leap up to strike the ball, and do +all they can to help their own side and hinder their opponents. They +leap over each other, dart between their rivals' legs, trip them up, +throw them down, grapple with two or three at a time, and often fall +to fisticuffs in right earnest. There they are, in the midst of clouds +of dust, running, striking and struggling with all their might; so +that, what with the rattle of the sticks, the cries, the wrestling, +the bloody noses, the bruised shins, the dust, uproar and confusion, +such a scene of excitement is hardly to be equalled by any other game +in the world. + +_Brian._ How long does the game last? + +_Hunter._ It begins about eight or nine o'clock in the morning, and +sometimes is scarcely finished by sunset. A minute's rest is allowed +every time the ball is urged beyond the goal, and then the game goes +on again till it is finished. There is another ball-play somewhat +resembling this, which is played by the women of the Prairie du Chien, +while the men watch the progress of the game, or lounge on the ground, +laughing at them. + +_Austin._ Do they ever run races? + +_Hunter._ Yes, and very expert they are. Many of the tribes are +extravagantly fond of horses. You see an Indian, with his shield and +quiver, his ornamented shirt, leggins, and mocassins; his long hair +flowing behind him, or his head-dress of the war-eagle tailing +gracefully nearly to his heels; his lance in his hand; and his dress +ornamented with ermine, shells, porcupine quills and a profusion of +scalp-locks; but you see him out of character. He should spring on a +horse wild as the winds; and then, as he brandished his lance, with +his pendent plumes, and hair and scalp-locks waving in the breeze, you +see him in his proper element. Horse-racing among the Indians is an +exciting scene. The cruel custom, of urging useful and noble animals +beyond their strength, is much the same in savage as in civilized +life; but the scene is oftentimes more wild, strange, and picturesque +than you can imagine. + +_Austin._ Ay, I remember that the Camanchees are capital riders. I was +a Camanchee in our buffalo hunt. Brian, you have not forgotten that? + +_Brian._ But you had no horse to ride. I was a Sioux; and the Sioux +are capital riders too. + +_Basil._ And so are the Pawnees, I was a Pawnee in the buffalo hunt. + +_Hunter._ It was told me that the Camanchees--and, indeed, some of +the Pawnees also--were able, while riding a horse at full gallop, to +lie along on one side of him, with an arm in a sling from the horse's +neck, and one heel over the horse's back; and that, while the body was +thus screened from an enemy, they could use their lances with effect, +and throw their arrows with deadly aim. The Camanchees are so much on +their horses, that they never seem at their ease except when they are +flying across the prairie on horseback. + +_Austin._ It would be worth going to the prairies, if it were only to +see the Camanchees ride. + +_Hunter._ Besides horse-races, the Indians have foot-races and +canoe-races and wrestling. The Indians are also very fond of archery, +in which, using their bows and also arrows so much as they do, it is +no wonder they are very skilful. The game of the arrow is a very +favourite amusement with them. It is played on the open prairie. There +is no target set up to shoot at, as there is generally; but every +archer sends his first arrow as high as he can into the air. + +_Austin._ Ay, I see! He who shoots the highest in the air is the +winner. + +_Hunter._ Not exactly so. It is not he who shoots highest that is the +victor; but he who can get the greatest number of arrows into the air +at the same time. Picture to yourselves a hundred well-made, active +young men, on the open prairie, each carrying a bow, with eight or ten +arrows, in his left hand. He sends an arrow into the air with all his +strength, and then, instantly, with a rapidity that is truly +surprising, shoots arrow after arrow upwards, so that, before the +first arrow has reached the ground, half a dozen others have mounted +into the air. Often have I seen seven or eight shafts from the same +bow in the air at once. + +_Austin._ Brian, we will try what we can do to-morrow; but we shall +never have so many as seven or eight up at once. + +_Hunter._ The Indians are famous swimmers, and, indeed, if they were +not, it would often go hard with them. They are taught when very young +to make their way through the water, and though they do it usually in +a manner different from that of white men, I hardly think many white +men would equal them, either as to their speed, or the length of time +they will continue in the water. + +_Austin._ But how do they swim, if their way is different from ours? I +can swim a little, and I should like to learn their way, if it is the +best. + +_Hunter._ I am not quite prepared to say that; for, though red men are +more expert swimmers than white men, that may be owing to their being +more frequently in the water. They fish a great deal in the lakes; and +they have often to cross brooks and rivers in too much haste to allow +them to get into a canoe. A squaw thinks but very little of plunging +into a rolling river with a child on her back; for the women swim +nearly or quite as well as the men. + +_Austin._ But you did not tell us wherein their way of swimming is +different from ours. + +_Hunter._ Whites swim by striking out their legs and both arms at the +same time, keeping their breasts straight against the water; but the +Indian strikes out with one arm only, turning himself on his side +every stroke, first on one side and then on the other, so that, +instead of his broad chest breasting the water in front, he cuts +through it sideways, finding less resistance in that way than the +other. Much may be said in favour of both these modes. The Indian mode +requires more activity and skill, while the other depends more on the +strength of the arms, a point in which they far surpass the Indian, +who has had little exercise of the arms, and consequently but +comparatively little strength in those limbs. I always considered +myself to be a good swimmer, but I was no match for the Indians. I +shall not soon forget a prank that was once played me on the Knife +River, by some of the Minatarees; it convinced me of their adroitness +in the water. + +_Basil._ What was it? Did they dip your head under the water? + +_Hunter._ No; you shall hear. I was crossing the river in a bull-boat, +which is nothing more than a tub, made of buffalo's skin, stretched on +a framework of willow boughs. The tub was just large enough to hold me +and the few things which I had with me; when suddenly a group of young +swimmers, most of them mere children, surrounded me, and began +playfully to turn my tub round and round in the stream. Not being +prepared to swim, on account of my dress, I began to manifest some +fear lest my poor tub should be overturned; but the more fearful I +was, the better pleased were my mirthful tormentors. + +_Austin._ Ah! I can see it spinning round like a peg-top, in the +middle of the river. + +_Brian._ And did they upset the tub? + +_Hunter._ No. After amusing themselves for some time at my expense, +now and then diving under the tub, and then pulling down the edge of +it level with the water, on receiving a few beads, or other trifles +which I happened to have with me, they drew me and my bull-boat to the +shore in safety. They were beautiful swimmers, and, as I told you, I +shall not soon forget them. + +The dances among the Indians are very numerous; some of them are +lively enough, while others are very grave; and, then, most of the +tribes are fond of relating adventures. + +There are the buffalo dance, the bear dance, the dog dance and the +eagle dance. And then there are the ball-play dance, the green corn +dance, the beggars' dance, the slave dance, the snow-shoe dance, and +the straw dance; and, besides these, there are the discovery dance, +the brave dance, the war dance, the scalp dance, the pipe-of-peace +dance, and many others that I do not at this moment remember. + +_Brian._ You must please to tell us about them all. + +_Austin._ But not all at once, or else we shall have too short an +account. Suppose you tell us of two or three of them now. + +_Hunter._ To describe every dance at length would be tiresome, as +many of them have the same character. It will be better to confine +ourselves to a few of the principal dances. I have known a buffalo +dance continue for a fortnight or longer, day and night, without +intermission. When I was among the Mandans, every Indian had a buffalo +mask ready to put on whenever he required it. It was composed of the +skin of a buffalo's head, with the horns on it; a long, thin strip of +the buffalo's hide, with the tail at the end of it, hanging down from +the back of the mask. + +_Austin._ What figures they would look with their masks on! Did you +say that they kept up the dance day and night? + +_Hunter._ Yes. The Mandans were strong in their village, but +comparatively weak whenever they left it, for then they were soon in +the neighbourhood of their powerful enemies. This being the case, when +the buffaloes of the prairie wandered far away from them, they were at +times half starved. The buffalo dance was to make buffaloes come back +again to the prairies near them. + +_Brian._ But how could they bring them back again? + +_Hunter._ The buffalo dance was a kind of homage paid to the Great +Spirit, that he might take pity on them, and send them supplies. The +dancers assembled in the middle of the village, each wearing his mask, +with its horns and long tail, and carrying in his hand a lance, or a +bow and arrows. The dance began, by about a dozen of them thus +attired, starting, hopping, jumping and creeping in all manner of +strange, uncouth forms; singing, yelping, and making odd sounds of +every description, while others were shaking rattles and beating drums +with all their might; the drums, the rattles, the yelling, the +frightful din, with the uncouth antics of the dancers, altogether +presented such a scene, that, were you once to be present at a buffalo +dance, you would talk of it long after, and would not forget it all +the days of your lives. + +_Basil._ And do they keep that up for a fortnight? + +_Hunter._ Sometimes much longer, for they never give over dancing till +the buffaloes come. Every dancer, when he is tired, (and this he makes +known by crouching down quite low,) is shot with blunt arrows, and +dragged away, when his place is supplied by another. While the dance +is going on, scouts are sent out to look for buffaloes, and as soon as +they are found, a shout of thanksgiving is raised to the Great Spirit, +to the medicine man, and to the dancers, and preparation is made for a +buffalo hunt. After this, a great feast takes place; all their +sufferings from scarcity are forgotten, and they are as prodigal, and +indeed wasteful, of their buffalo meat, as if they had never known the +want of it. + +_Austin._ Well, I should like to see the buffalo dance. Could not we +manage one on the lawn, Brian? + +_Brian._ But where are we to get the buffalo masks from? The buffalo +hunt did very well, but I hardly think we could manage the dance +Please to tell us of the bear dance. + +_Hunter._ I think it will be better to tell you about that, and other +dances, the next time you visit me; for I want to read to you a short +account, which I have here, of a poor Indian woman of the Dog-ribbed +tribe. I have not said much of Indian women, and I want you to feel +kindly towards them. It was Hearne, who went with a party from +Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean, many years ago, who fell in with +the poor woman. + +_Basil._ Oh, yes; let us hear all about her; and you can tell us of +the dances when we come again. + +_Hunter._ Now, then, I will begin. One day in January, when they were +hunting, they saw the track of a strange snow-shoe, which they +followed, and at a considerable distance came to a little hut, where +they discovered a young woman sitting alone. On examination, she +proved to be one of the Dog-ribbed Indians, who had been taken +prisoner by another tribe, in the summer of 1770; and, in the +following summer, when the Indians that took her prisoner were near +this place, she had escaped from them, intending to return to her own +country. But the distance being so great, and having, after she was +taken prisoner, been carried in a canoe the whole way, the turnings +and windings of the rivers and lakes were so numerous that she forgot +the track; so she built the hut in which she was found, to protect her +from the weather during the winter, and here she had resided from the +first setting-in of the fall. + +_Brian._ What, all by herself! How lonely she must have been! + +_Hunter._ From her account of the moons passed since her escape, it +appeared that she had been nearly seven months without seeing a human +face; during all which time she had supplied herself very well, by +snaring partridges, rabbits and squirrels: she had also killed two or +three beavers, and some porcupines. She did not seem to have been in +want, and had a small stock of provisions by her when she was +discovered. She was in good health and condition, and one of the +finest of Indian women. + +_Austin._ I should have been afraid that other Indians would have come +and killed her. + +_Hunter._ The methods practised by this poor creature to procure a +livelihood were truly admirable, and furnish proof that necessity is +indeed the mother of invention. When the few deer sinews, that she had +an opportunity of taking with her, were expended, in making snares and +sewing her clothing, she had nothing to supply their place but the +sinews of the rabbits' legs and feet. These she twisted together for +that purpose with great dexterity and success. The animals which she +caught in those snares, not only furnished her with a comfortable +subsistence, but of the skins she made a suit of neat and warm +clothing for the winter. It is scarcely possible to conceive that a +person in her forlorn situation could be so composed as to be capable +of contriving and executing any thing that was not absolutely +necessary to her existence; but there was sufficient proof that she +had extended her care much farther, as all her clothing, besides being +calculated for real service, showed great taste, and exhibited no +little variety of ornament. The materials, though rude, were very +curiously wrought, and so judiciously placed, as to make the whole of +her garb have a very pleasant, though rather romantic appearance. + +_Brian._ Poor woman! I should like to have seen her in the hut of her +own building, and the clothes of her own making. + +_Hunter._ Her leisure hours from hunting had been employed in twisting +the inner rind or bark of willows into small lines, like net-twine, of +which she had some hundred fathoms by her. With these she intended to +make a fishing-net, as soon as the spring advanced. It is of the inner +bark of the willows, twisted in this manner, that the Dog-ribbed +Indians make their fishing-nets; and they are much preferable to those +made by the Northern Indians. + +Five or six inches of an iron hoop, made into a knife, and the shank +of an arrow-head of iron, which served her as an awl, were all the +metals this poor woman had with her when she escaped; and with these +implements she had made herself complete snow-shoes, and several other +useful articles. + +_Austin._ Capital! Why, she seems able to do every thing. + +_Hunter._ Her method of making a fire was equally singular and +curious, having no other materials for that purpose than two hard +stones. These, by long friction and hard knocking, produced a few +sparks, which at length communicated to some touch-wood. But as this +method was attended with great trouble, and not always successful, she +did not suffer her fire to go out all the winter. + + [Illustration: Indian Canoes.] + + + + + [Illustration: _c_, drum. _d, d_, rattles. _e_, drum. _f_, mystery + whistle. _g_, deer-skin flute.] + + CHAPTER XII. + + +Never, sure, did young people make a more grotesque appearance, than +did Austin, Brian, and Basil Edwards, in their attempt to get up a +buffalo dance. Each had a mat over his shoulders, and a brown paper +mask over his face; two wooden pegs on a string made a very +respectable pair of horns; bows and arrows were in abundance; a toy +rattle and drum, with the addition of an iron spoon and a wooden +trencher, supplied them with music; and neither Mandan, Pawnee, Crow, +Sioux, Blackfoot, nor Camanchee, could have reasonably complained of +the want of either noise or confusion. + +Then, again, they were very successful in bringing buffaloes, without +which the dance, excellent as it was, would have been but an +unsatisfactory affair. Black Tom had been prudently shut up in the +tool-house, and Jowler tied up to a tree hard by, so that, when it +became expedient for buffaloes to appear, the house of Black Tom was +opened, and Jowler was set at liberty. All things considered, the +affair went off remarkably well. + +"We are come to hear of the bear dance, and the dog dance, and the +beggars' dance, and the green corn dance," said Austin to the hunter, +on the following day, when a visit was paid to the cottage. The +hunter, with his accustomed kindness to the young people, lost no time +in entering on his narrative. "You must not forget," said he, "that +many of the dances of the Indians partake of a religious character, +for in them reverence and adoration are freely offered. The Indians' +worship of the Great Spirit, as I have already told you, is mingled +with much of ignorance and superstition, whether in dances or in other +observances; yet do they, at times, leave upon the mind of a spectator +a deep impression of their sincerity, though this does not excuse +their error. I have not as yet described their music, and therefore +will do it now." + +_Austin._ Yes. Now for the music of the Indians, if you please, sir. + +_Hunter._ If you ever go among them, and mingle in their dances, you +must not expect to have a band of music such as you have in our +cities. Whistles, flutes, rattles and drums are almost all their +musical instruments. You would be surprised at the music that some of +the young Indians produce with the mystery whistle. + +_Austin._ Why is it called the mystery whistle? + +_Hunter._ I have already told you that the red man calls every thing +mystery, or medicine, that is surprising; and as the notes of this +whistle are particularly sweet, it may be called a mystery whistle on +this account. There is another whistle that is very much in request +among the Indians, and that is the war whistle. The onset and the +retreat in battle are sounded on this instrument by the leading chief, +who never goes on an expedition without it. It is made of bone, and +sometimes it is formed of the leg bone of a large bird. The shrill, +scream-like note, which is the signal for rushing on an enemy, would +make you start. + +_Brian._ What sort of a drum do they use? Is it a kettle-drum? + +_Hunter._ No. It is merely a piece of raw hide, stretched as tight as +it can be pulled over a hoop. Some of their drums have but one end, or +surface, to beat upon, while others have two. What they would do in +their dances without their drums I do not know, for you hear them +continually. Their rattles are of different kinds, some much larger +than others; but the principle on which they are formed is the same, +that is, of enclosing stones of different sizes in hard, dry, raw +hide. + +_Austin._ Have they no trumpets and cymbals, and clarionets and +violins? + +_Hunter._ No, nothing of the kind. They have a deer-skin flute, on +which very tolerable music is sometimes made; but, after all, it must +be admitted that Indians are much better buffalo hunters than +musicians. + +_Austin._ Ay; they are quite at home in hunting buffaloes. + +_Hunter._ Yes; and they are at home, too, in dancing, being extremely +nimble of foot. Some of their dances are so hideous that you would be +disgusted with them, while others would keep you laughing in spite of +yourselves. + +_Brian._ You must please to tell us about these dances. + +_Hunter._ Dancing is a very favourite amusement of the Indians; though +it is, for the most part, of a character so different from that of +dancing in civilized life, that few people, ignorant of its meaning +and allusions, would like it. The body is so continually in a stooping +attitude, and the gestures and grimaces appear to be so unmeaning, +that at first it leaves an impression that they are ridiculing the art +of dancing, rather than entering into it in right earnest. There is +such creeping and jumping and starting, that a spectator can make but +little of it. + +_Austin._ I can fancy that I see a party joining in the buffalo dance +now, with their masks over their faces. Please to tell us of the bear +dance. + +_Hunter._ By and by. I will describe a few other dances first. The +beggars' dance is undertaken to prevail on such of the spectators as +abound in comforts to give alms to those who are more scantily +provided with them. It is danced by the young men who stand high in +the tribe. These shake their rattles, hold up their pipes and brandish +their lances, while they dance; chanting in an odd strain, at the top +of their voices, in praise of the Great Spirit, and imploring him to +dispose the lookers on to give freely. The dancers are all naked, with +the exception of a sort of kilt formed of quills and feathers; and a +medicine man keeps on all the time beating furiously on a drum with a +rattle, and hallooing out as loud as he can raise his voice. + +_Austin._ That ought to be called the begging dance, and not the +beggars' dance; for the dancers do not beg for themselves, but for +others. + +_Hunter._ You see that the object of the dance is a good one; for many +a skin, or pouch, or pipe, or other necessary article, is given by the +spectators to those of their tribe who need them. It is not common +among the Indians for their aged men and mystery men to mingle in the +dance, and yet I have seen, on especial occasions, a score of them +jumping and capering in a way very creditable to their agility. The +Sioux have a dance that ought to be called the doctors' dance, or the +dance of the chiefs. + +_Brian._ Why, do the doctors dance in it? + +_Hunter._ Yes; while a medicine man beats his drum, and a party of +young women sing, the chiefs of the tribe and the doctors make their +appearance, splendidly attired in their costliest head-dresses, +carrying a spear in one hand and a rattle in the other. Every movement +is strictly regulated by the beat of the drum, and the dance by +degrees becomes more and more spirited, until you would suppose the +party must be exhausted: but men so much in the open air, and whose +limbs are so little restrained by bandages and tight clothing, can +bear a great deal of fatigue. The pipe dance is one of the most +animated amusements. + +_Basil._ Oh! do tell us about the pipe dance. + +_Hunter._ In the ground in the centre of the village a fire is +lighted, and a party assemble round it; every one smoking his pipe, as +he sits on his buffalo skin, as though nothing was farther from his +thoughts than dancing. While these are whiffing away at a distance +from the fire, a mystery man, who sits nearer to the flame, smokes a +longer pipe, grunting at the same time a kind of tune. Suddenly is +heard the rub-a-dub of a drum, or the beat of some other instrument of +the same kind; when instantly starts to his feet one of the smokers, +hopping like a parched pea, spinning round like a top, and starting +and jumping, at every beat of the drum, in a very violent manner. In +this way he goes round the smokers, seemingly threatening them all, +and at last pounces upon one of them, whom he compels to dance in the +same manner as himself. The new dancer acts his part like the former +one, capering and jumping round the smokers, and compelling another to +join them. Thus the dance continues, till all of them are occupied, +when the hopping, the jumping, the frightful postures into which they +throw themselves, together with the grunting, growling, singing, +hooting and hallooing, are beyond all belief. There are few dances of +the Indians more full of wild gestures and unrestrained turbulence +than the pipe dance. + +_Basil._ I hope you have a good many more dances to tell us of. + +_Hunter._ The green corn dance of the Minatarees must be described to +you. Among Indian tribes, green corn is a great luxury, and the time +when it ripens is a time of rejoicing. Dances and songs of +thanksgiving are abundant; and the people give way not only to +feasting, but also to gluttony; so that often, by abusing the +abundance in their possession, they bring upon themselves the miseries +of want. The Indians have very little fore-thought. To enjoy the +present, and to trust the future to the Great Spirit, is their +constant practice. + +_Austin._ How long does the green corn dance last? + +_Hunter._ For eight or ten days, during which time there is the most +unbounded prodigality. Among many of the tribes, the black drink, a +very powerful medicine, is taken two or three days before the feast, +that the green corn may be eaten with a sharp appetite and an empty +stomach. + +_Brian._ In what way does the green corn dance begin? + +_Hunter._ As soon as the corn is in a proper state--and this is +decided by the mystery men--runners are despatched through the +village, that all may assemble on the following day to the dance and +the feast. Sufficient corn for the required purpose is gathered by the +women, who have the fields under their care, and a fire is made, over +which a kettle, with green corn in it, is kept boiling; while medicine +men, whose bodies are strangely painted, or bedaubed with clay of a +white colour, dance round it in very uncouth attitudes, with +corn-stalks in their hands. + +_Austin._ I dare say, while the pot is boiling, they are all longing +to begin the feast. + +_Hunter._ The first kettle-full is not for themselves, it is an +offering to the Great Spirit. There are many customs among the Indians +which cannot but bring the Jews to our remembrance; and this offering +of the first green corn does so very forcibly. The medicine men round +the fire shake their rattles, hold up their corn-stalks, and sing +loudly a song of thanksgiving, till the corn is sufficiently boiled; +it is then put upon the fire and consumed to a cinder. Before this +offering is made, none of the Indians would dare to taste of the +luxurious fare; but, afterwards, their appetite is unrestrained. + +_Austin._ Then they begin to boil more corn, I suppose. + +_Hunter._ A fresh fire is made, a fresh kettle of corn is prepared, +and the dance goes on; the medicine men keeping close to the fire, and +the others capering and shouting in a larger circle, their energy +increasing as the feast approaches nearer and nearer. The chiefs and +medicine men then sit down to the feast, followed by the whole tribe, +keeping up their festivity day after day, till the corn-field has +little more grain remaining in it than what is necessary for seed. You +have heard the saying, "Wilful waste brings woful want." The truth of +this saying is often set forth, as well in civilized life as among the +Indians. + +_Basil._ I wonder what dance will come next. + +_Hunter._ I need not describe many others. If I run rapidly through +two or three, and dwell a little on the bear dance and the war dance, +you will then have heard quite enough about dances. The scalp dance is +in use among the Sioux or Dahcotas. It is rather a fearful exhibition; +for women, in the centre of a circle, hold up and wave about the +scalps which have been torn from the slaughtered foes of the tribe, +while the warriors draw around them in the most furious attitudes, +brandishing their war-clubs, uttering the most hideous howls and +screams. The Indians have many good qualities, but cruelty seems to +mingle with their very nature. Every thing is done among them that can +be done, to keep alive the desire to shed blood. The noblest act a red +man can perform, and that which he thinks the most useful to his tribe +and the most acceptable to the Great Spirit, is to destroy an enemy, +and to bear away his scalp as a trophy of his valour. If it were only +for this one trait in the Indian character, even this would be +sufficient to convince every humane person, and especially every +Christian, of the duty and great advantage of spreading among them the +merciful principles of Christianity. A holy influence is necessary to +teach the untutored red man to forgive his enemies, to subdue his +anger, to abate his pride, and to stay his hand in shedding human +blood. The new commandment must be put in his heart: "That ye love one +another." The Mandan boys used to join in a sham scalp dance, in which +they conducted themselves just like warriors returning from a +victorious enterprise against their enemies. + +_Basil._ They are all sadly fond of fighting. + +_Hunter._ In the brave dance, of the Ojibbeways, there is plenty of +swaggering: the dancers seem as if they knew not how to be proud +enough of their warlike exploits. The eagle dance, among the Choctaws, +is an elegant amusement; and the snow-shoe dance, of the Ojibbeways, +is a very amusing one. + +_Brian._ Please to tell us about them both. + +_Hunter._ I must not stay to describe them particularly: it will be +enough to say, that, in the one, the dancers are painted white, and +that they move about waving in their hands the tail of the eagle; in +the other--which is performed on the first fall of snow, in honour of +the Great Spirit--the dancers wear snow-shoes, which, projecting far +before and behind their feet, give them in the dance a most strange +and laughable appearance. + +_Brian._ I should very much like to see that dance; there is nothing +cruel in it at all. + +_Basil._ And I should like to see the eagle dance, for there is no +cruelty in that either. + +_Hunter._ The straw dance is a Sioux dance of a very curious +description. Loose straws are tied to the bodies of naked children; +these straws are then set on fire, and the children are required to +dance, without uttering any expression of pain. This practice is +intended to make them hardy, that they may become the better warriors. + +_Basil._ That is one of the strangest dances of all. + +_Hunter._ I will now say a little about the bear dance, and the war +dance. The bear dance is performed by the Sioux before they set off on +a bear-hunt. If the bear dance were left unperformed, they would +hardly hope for success. The Bear spirit, if this honour were not paid +to him, would be offended, and would give them no success in the +chase. + +_Austin._ What! do the Sioux think there is a Bear spirit? + + [Illustration: Bear Dance.] + +_Hunter._ Yes. The number of spirits of one kind or another, believed +in by the Indians, is very great. In the bear dance, the principal +performer has a bear-skin over him, the head of it hanging over his +head, and the paws over his hands. Others have masks of bears' faces; +and all of them, throughout the dance, imitate the actions of a bear. +They stoop down, they dangle their hands, and make frightful noises, +beside singing to the Bear spirit. If you can imagine twenty bears +dancing to the music of the rattle, whistle, and drum, making odd +gambols, and yelling out the most frightful noises, you will have some +notion of the bear dance. + +_Brian._ Now for the war dance: that is come at last. + +_Hunter._ It is hardly possible to conceive a more exciting spectacle +than that of the war dance among the Sioux. It exhibits Indian manners +on the approach of war. As, among civilized people, soldiers are +raised either by recruiting or other means; so, among the Indians, +something like recruiting prevails. The red pipe is sent through the +tribe, and every one who draws a whiff up the stem thereby declares he +is willing to join the war party. The warriors then assemble together, +painted with vermilion and other colours, and dressed in their war +clothes, with their weapons and their war-eagle head-dresses. + +_Austin._ What a sight that must be! + +_Hunter._ When the mystery man has stuck up a red post in the ground, +and begun to beat his drum, the warriors advance, one after another, +brandishing their war-clubs, and striking the red post a violent blow, +while the mystery man sings their death-song. When the warriors have +struck the post, they blacken their faces, and all set to dancing +around it. The shrill war-whoop is screamed aloud, and frantic +gestures and frightful yells show, but too plainly, that there will be +very little mercy extended to the enemy that falls into their hands. + +_Brian._ That war dance would make me tremble. + +_Hunter._ The Mandan boys used to assemble at the back of their +village, every morning, as soon as the sun was in the skies, to +practise sham fighting. Under the guidance and direction of their +ablest and most courageous braves and warriors, they were instructed +in all the mysteries of war. The preparations, the ambush, the +surprise, the combat and the retreat, were made familiar to them. Thus +were they bred up from their youth to delight in warfare, and to long +for opportunities of using their tomahawks and scalping-knives against +their foes. + +When you next come to see me, I will give you an account of the cruel +customs of the mystery lodge of the Mandans; with the hope that it +will increase your abhorrence of cruelty and bloodshed, render you +more than ever thankful for the blessings of peace, and more anxious +to extend them all over the earth. The hardest of all lessons now, to +a red man, is, as I have before intimated, to forgive his enemies; but +when, through Divine mercy, his knowledge is extended, and his heart +opened to receive the truths of the gospel, he will be enabled to +understand, to love, and to practise the injunction of the Saviour, +"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that +hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute +you." + + + + + [Illustration: Interior of a Mystery Lodge.] + + CHAPTER XIII. + + +It was well for Austin Edwards and his brothers, that their +acquaintance with their friend the hunter commenced during one of +their holidays, so that they were enabled to pay him a visit more +frequently than they otherwise could have done. The life led by the +hunter would have been far too solitary for most people; but his long +wanderings in the extended prairies, and his long sojournings in +places remote from society, had rendered the quiet tranquillity of +country scenes pleasant to him: yet, still, as variety has its charms, +it afforded him a pleasant change, whenever the three brothers visited +him. + +In his younger days, he had entered on the life of a hunter and +trapper with much ardour. To pursue the buffalo (or, more properly +speaking, the bison) of the prairie, the deer, and other animals, and +to mingle with the different tribes of Indians, was his delight. With +wild animals and wild men he became familiar, and even the very +dangers that beset his path gave an interest to his pursuits: but his +youth was gone, his manhood was declining, and the world that he once +looked upon as an abiding dwelling-place, he now regarded as the +pathway to a better home. + +Time was, when to urge the arrow or the spear into the heart of the +flying prey for mere diversion, and to join in the wild war-whoop of +contending tribes, was congenial to his spirit; but his mind had been +sobered, so that now to practise forbearance and kindness was far more +pleasant than to indulge in cruelty and revenge. He looked on mankind +as one great family, which ought to dwell in brotherly love; and he +regarded the animal creation as given by a heavenly Hand, for the use, +and not the abuse, of man. + +In relating the scenes in which he had mingled in earlier years, he +was aware that he could not avoid calling up, in some measure, in the +youthful hearts of his auditors, the natural desire to see what was +new and strange and wonderful, without reflecting a moment on the good +or the evil of the thing set before them: but he endeavoured to blend +with his descriptions such remarks as would lead them to love what was +right and to hate what was wrong. Regarding the Indian tribes as an +injured people, he sought to set before his young friends the wrongs +and oppressions practised on the red man; that they might sympathize +with his trials, and feel interested for his welfare. + +The few words that had dropped from his lips, about the ordeal through +which the Indians pass before they are allowed to join war-parties, +had awakened Austin's curiosity. Nor was it long before, seated with +his brothers in the cottage, he was listening to the whole account. +"Please to begin at the very beginning," said he, "and I shall not +lose a single word." + +_Hunter._ The Sioux, the Crows, the Sacs, the Ojibbeways, the +Camanchees, and the Chippewas, all exhibit astonishing proofs of +patience and endurance under pain; but in none of the tribes has ever +such torture been inflicted, or such courage witnessed, in enduring +torment, as among the Mandans. + +_Brian._ Now we shall hear. + +_Hunter._ The Mandans, who, as I have already told you, lived, when I +was a hunter, on the Upper Missouri, held a mystery lodge every year; +and this was indeed a very solemn gathering of the tribe. I was never +present in the lodge on this occasion, but will give you the +description of an eye-witness. + +_Basil._ Why did they get together? What did they do? + +_Hunter._ You shall hear. The mystery lodge, or it may be called the +religious meeting, was held, first, to appease the wrath and secure +the protection of the good and the evil spirits; secondly, to +celebrate the great flood, which they believed took place a long time +ago; thirdly, to perform the buffalo dance, to bring buffaloes; and, +fourthly, to try the strength, courage and endurance of their young +men, that they might know who were the most worthy among them, and the +most to be relied on in war-parties. + +_Austin._ How came the Mandans to know any thing about the flood, if +they have no Bibles? + +_Hunter._ That I cannot tell. Certain it is, that they had a large, +high tub, called the Great Canoe, in the centre of their village, set +up in commemoration of the flood; and that they held the mystery lodge +when the willow leaves were in their prime under the river bank, +because, they said, a bird had brought a willow bough in full leaf to +the Great Canoe in the flood. + +_Austin._ Why, it is just as if they had read the Bible. + +_Hunter._ The fact of the deluge (however they came by it) had +undoubtedly been handed down among them by tradition for many +generations: but I must go on with my account of the Mandan gathering. +The mystery lodge was opened by a strange-looking man, whom no one +seemed to know, and who came from the prairie. This odd man called for +some edge-tool at every wigwam in the village; and all these tools, at +the end of the ceremonies, were cast into the river from a high bank; +as an offering, I suppose, to the Water spirit. After opening the +mystery lodge, and appointing a medicine man to preside, he once more +disappeared on the prairie. + +_Brian._ What an odd thing! + +_Hunter._ Twenty or thirty young men were in the lodge, candidates for +reputation among the tribe, who had presented themselves to undergo +the prescribed tortures. As they reclined in the lodge, every one had +hung up over his head, his shield, his bow and quiver, and his +medicine bag. The young men were painted different colours. The old +mystery man appointed to superintend the ceremonies sat by a fire in +the middle of the lodge, smoking leisurely with his medicine pipe, in +honour of the Great Spirit; and there he sat for four days, and as +many nights, during which the young men neither tasted food nor drink, +nor were they allowed to close their eyes. + +_Basil._ It was enough to kill them all. + +_Hunter._ On the floor of the lodge were buffalo and human skulls, and +sacks filled with water, shaped like tortoises, with sticks by them. +During each of the four days, the buffalo dance was performed over and +over again, by Indians, painted, and wearing over them whole buffalo +skins, with tails and hoofs and horns; while in their hands they +carried rattles, and long, thin, white wands, and bore on their backs +bundles of green boughs of the willow. Some of the dancers were +painted red, to represent the day; and others black, with stars, to +resemble the night. During these dances, which took place round the +Great Canoe, the tops of the wigwams were crowded with people. + +_Austin._ I want to hear about the young Indians in the lodge, and +that old fellow, the mystery man. + +_Hunter._ The superstitious and cruel practices of the mystery lodge +are too fearful to dwell upon. I shall only just glance at them, that +you may know, in some degree, the kind of trials the young Indians +have to endure. While the dances were going on, mystery men, inside +the lodge, were beating on the water sacks with sticks, and animating +the young men to act courageously, telling them that the Great Spirit +was sure to support them. Splints, or wooden skewers, were then run +through the flesh on the back and breasts of the young warriors, and +they were hoisted up, with cords fastened to the splints, towards the +top of the lodge. Not a muscle of their features expressed fear or +pain. + +_Basil._ Shocking! shocking! + +_Brian._ That must be horrible! + +_Hunter._ After this, other splints were run through their arms, +thighs and legs; and on these were hung their shields, arms and +medicine bags. In this situation they were taunted, and turned round +with poles till they fainted; and when, on being let down again, they +recovered, those who had superior hardihood would crawl to the buffalo +skull in the centre of the lodge, and lay upon it the little finger of +their left hand to be chopped off; and even the loss of a second or +third finger is counted evidence of superior boldness and devotion. +After this, they were hurried along between strong and fleet runners: +this was called "the last race," round and round the Great Canoe, till +the weight of their arms having pulled the splints from their bodies, +they once more fainted, and in this state, apparently dead, they were +left to themselves, to live or die, as the Great Spirit might +determine. + +_Austin._ I should think that hardly any of them would ever come to +life again. + +_Hunter._ Nor would they, under common circumstances; but, when we +consider that these young men had fasted for four days, and lost much +blood in their tortures, there was not much danger of inflammation +from their wounds, and their naturally strong constitutions enabled +them to recover. All these tortures were willingly undertaken; nor +would any one of those who endured them, on any account whatever, have +evaded them. To propitiate the Great Spirit, and to stand well in the +estimation of his own tribe, are the two highest objects in the mind +of an Indian. + + * * * * * + +The day after that on which Austin and his brothers heard from the +hunter the account of the mystery lodge, and the sufferings of the +young Mandans before they were thought equal to engage in a war-party, +two or three little accidents occurred. In the first place, Austin, in +making a new bow, cut a deep gash in his finger: and, in the next, +Brian and Basil, in scrambling among the hedges in quest of straight +twigs for arrows, met with their mishaps; for Brian got a thorn in his +thumb, while Basil had a roll down the bank into a dry ditch. + +It is always a good sign in young people, when they put into practice +any real or supposed good quality of which they hear or read. The +patience and endurance of the young Mandans had called forth high +commendations from Austin, and it was evident, in the affair of the +cut finger, that he made a struggle, and a successful one too, in +controlling his feelings. With an air of resolution, he wrapped the +end of his pocket handkerchief tightly round the wound, and passed off +the occurrence as a matter of no moment. Not a word escaped little +Basil when he rolled into the ditch; nor did Brian utter a single +"oh!" when the thorn was extracted from his thumb. + + [Illustration: A War-Party.] + +"You may depend upon it," said Austin, after some conversation with +Brian and Basil, on the subject of the young Mandans, "that the next +time we see the hunter, we shall hear something about the way in which +red men go to war. The sham fight, and the preparation of the young +warriors, will be followed by some account of their battles." In this +supposition he was quite correct; for, when they next visited the +cottage, the hunter proposed to speak a little about councils and +encampments and alarms and surprises and attacks. The conversation was +carried on in the following manner. + +_Austin._ How do the Indians poison their arrows? + +_Hunter._ By dipping the point of the arrow-head into the poison +prepared. The head of the arrow, as I told you, is put on very +slightly, so that it remains in the wound when the arrow is withdrawn. + +_Brian._ Where do they get their poison? What is it made of? + +_Hunter._ No doubt there is some difference in the manner of preparing +poison among the different tribes. But, usually, it is, I believe, +composed of deadly vegetable substances, slowly boiled together, +sometimes mingled with the mortal poison of snakes and ants. This is +prepared with great care. Its strength is usually tried on a lizard, +or some other cold-blooded, slow-dying animal. It is rapid in its +effects; for, if a fowl be wounded with a poisoned weapon, it dies in +a few minutes; a cat dies in five minutes; a bison, in five or six; +and a horse, in ten. Jaguars and deer live but a short time after they +are thus wounded. If, then, horses and bisons are so soon destroyed by +the poison, no wonder that men should be unable to endure its fatal +effects. + +Before war is determined on among the Indians, a council is held with +great solemnity. The chiefs, and braves, and medicine men are +assembled. Then the enlisting takes place, which I have already +described; the war dance is engaged in, and weapons are examined and +repaired. The chief, arrayed in full dress, leads on his band. They +march with silence and rapidity, and encamp with great caution, +appointing sentinels in every necessary direction. Thus, lurking, +skulking and marching, they reach the place of their destination. +Another war council is held, to decide on the mode of attack; and +then, with rifles, war-clubs, scalping-knives and bows and poisoned +arrows, they fall upon their unsuspecting foes. + +_Brian._ It is very sad to fight with such weapons as poisoned arrows. + +_Hunter._ It is sad to fight with any kind of weapons; but, when once +anger enters the heart, and the desire to shed blood is called forth, +no mode is thought too cruel that will assist in obtaining a victory. +The continual warfare that is carried on between Indian tribes must be +afflictive to every humane and Christian spirit. None but the God of +peace can destroy the love of war in the hearts of either red or white +men. + +Indians fight in a way very different from civilized people; for they +depend more on cunning, stratagem and surprise, than on skill and +courage. Almost all their attacks are made under cover of night, or +when least expected. A war-party will frequently go a great distance, +to fall upon a village or an encampment on a quarter most accessible. +To effect their object, they will hide for any length of time in the +forest, sleep in the long grass, lurk in the ravine, and skulk at +nightfall around the place to be attacked. + +_Austin._ Did you ever go out with the Indians to fight? + +_Hunter._ Yes. For some time I was treated very hospitably among the +Crows, near the Rocky Mountains; and as they had determined to go on +one of their war-parties, which I could not prevent, I resolved to go +along with them, to watch their way of proceeding. + +_Austin._ Do tell us all about it. + +_Hunter._ It was a thoughtless and foolish affair, when I was young +and rash; but I wished to be a spectator of all their customs. It was, +as I said, one of those foolish undertakings into which the ardour of +my disposition led me, and for which I was very near paying the price +of my life. A council was held, wherein it was decided to send a +strong war-party on foot to surprise a Blackfoot village. Every +stratagem had been used to lull the enemy into security. + +_Brian._ Ay; that is just like the Indians. + +_Hunter._ The red pipe was sent through the tribe, for the warriors to +smoke with it, much after the manner of the Sioux; the red post was +struck, and the braves and attendants painted their faces. When the +plan of attack was agreed on, every warrior looked to his weapons; +neither bow nor arrow, war-club nor scalping-knife, was left +unexamined. There was an earnestness in their preparation, as though +they were all animated with one spirit. + +It was some time after sundown, that we left the village at a quick +pace. Runners were sent out in all directions, to give notice of an +enemy. We hastened along a deep valley, rounded the base of a bluff, +and entered the skirt of a forest, following each other in files +beneath the shadowy branches. We then passed through some deep grass, +and stole silently along several defiles and ravines. The nearer we +drew to the Blackfoot village, the more silently and stealthily we +proceeded. Like the panther, creeping with noiseless feet on his prey, +we stole along the intricate pathways of the prairie bottoms, the +forest, the skirt of the river and the hills and bluffs. At last we +made a halt, just as the moon emerged from behind a cloud. + +_Austin._ Then there was terrible work, I dare say. + +_Hunter._ It was past midnight, and the Blackfoot village was wrapped +in slumber. The Crow warriors dispersed themselves to attack the +village at the same instant from different quarters. The leader had on +his full dress, his medicine bag, and his head-dress of war-eagle +plumes. All was hushed in silence, nearly equal to that of the grave; +when suddenly the shrill war-whistle of the Crow chief rung through +the Blackfoot lodges, and the wild war-whoop burst at once from a +hundred throats. The chief was in the thickest of the fight. There was +no pity for youth or age; the war-club spared not, and the tomahawk +was merciless. Yelling like fiends, the Crow warriors fled from hut to +hut, from victim to victim. Neither women nor children were spared. + +_Brian._ Dreadful! dreadful! + +_Hunter._ Though taken thus by surprise, the Blackfoot braves, in a +little time, began to collect together, clutching their weapons +firmly, and rushing on their enemies, determined to avenge their +slaughtered friends. The panic into which they had been thrown +subsided, and, like men accustomed to danger, they stood not only in +self-defence, but attacked their foes with fury. + +_Austin._ I wonder that every one in the Blackfoot village was not +killed! + +_Hunter._ In civilized life, this would very likely have been the +case; but in a savage state, men from their childhood are trained up +to peril. They may lie down to slumber on their couches of skins, but +their weapons are near at hand; and though it be the midnight hour +when an attack is made on them, and though, awakened by the confusion, +they hear nothing but the war-cry of their enemy, they spring to their +feet, seize their arms, and rush on to meet their foes. It was thus +with the Blackfoot braves. Hand to hand, and foot to foot, they met +their assailants; brave was opposed to brave; and the horrid clash of +the war-club and the murderous death-grapple succeeded each other. +Even if I could describe the horrors of such a scene, it would not be +right to do so. As I was gazing on the conflict, I suddenly received a +blow that struck me bleeding to the ground. You may see the scar on my +temple still. The confusion was at its height, or else my scalp would +have been taken. + +_Brian._ How did you get away? + +_Hunter._ Stunned as I was, I recovered my senses before a retreat +took place, and was just able to effect my escape. The Crows +slaughtered many of their enemies; but the Blackfoot warriors and +braves were at last too strong for them. Then was heard the shrill +whistle that sounded a retreat. With a dozen scalps in their +possession, the Crows sought the shelter of the forest, and afterwards +regained their own village. + +_Austin._ Are the Crow tribe or the Blackfoot tribe the strongest? + +_Hunter._ The Crow Indians, as I told you, are taller and more elegant +men than the Blackfeet; but the latter have broader chests and +shoulders. The Blackfeet, some think, take their name from the +circumstance of their wearing black, or very dark brown leggings and +mocassins. Whether, as a people, the Crows or the Blackfeet are the +strongest, there is a diversity of opinion. The Blackfeet are almost +always at war with the Crows. + +_Austin._ What battling there must be among them! + +_Hunter._ Their war-parties are very numerous, and their encampments +are very large: and, whether seen in the day, in the midst of their +lodges; or at night, wrapped in their robes, with their arms in their +hands, ready to leap up if attacked by an enemy; they form a striking +spectacle. Sometimes, in a night encampment, a false alarm takes +place. A prowling bear, or a stray horse, is taken for a foe; and +sometimes a real alarm is occasioned by spies crawling on their hands +and knees up to their very encampment to ascertain their strength. On +these occasions the shrill whistle is heard, every man springs up +armed and rushes forth, ready to resist his assailing enemy. I have +seen war-parties among the Crows and Blackfeet, the Mandans and Sioux, +the Shawanees, Poncas, Pawnees and Seminoles. But a Camanchee +war-party, mounted on wild horses, with their shields, bows and +lances, which I once witnessed, was the most imposing spectacle of the +kind I ever saw. The chief was mounted on a beautiful war-horse, wild +as the winds, and yet he appeared to manage him with ease. He was in +full dress, and seemed to have as much fire in his disposition as the +chafed animal on which he rode. In his bridle-hand, he clutched his +bow and several arrows; with his other hand, he wielded his long +lance; while his quiver and shield were slung at his back, and his +rifle across his thigh. + +_Austin._ I think I can see him. But what colour was his war-horse? + +_Hunter._ Black as a raven; but the white foam lay in thick flakes on +his neck and breast, for his rider at every few paces stuck the sharp +rowels of his Spanish spurs into his sides. He had a long flowing mane +and tail, and his full and fiery eyes seemed ready to start out of his +head. The whole Camanchee band was ready to rush into any danger. At +one time, they were flying over the prairie in single file; and at +another, drawn up all abreast of each other. The Camanchees and the +Osages used to have cruel battles one with another. The Mandans and +the Riccarees, too, were relentless enemies. + +_Brian._ And the Sacs and Foxes were great fighters, for Black Hawk +was a famous fellow. + +_Hunter._ Yes, he was. But I have never told you, I believe, how the +medicine man, or mystery man, conducts himself when called unto a +wounded warrior. + +_Austin._ Not a word of it. Please to tell us every particular. + +_Hunter._ In some cases cures are certainly performed; in others, the +wounded get well of themselves: but, in most instances, the mystery +man is a mere juggler. + +_Basil._ Now we shall hear of the mystery man. + +_Hunter._ The Crow war-party that I had joined brought away two of +their wounded warriors when they retreated from the Blackfoot village, +but there seemed to be no hope of saving their lives. However, a +mystery man was called on to use his skill. + +_Austin._ Ay; I want to know how the mystery man cures his patients. + +_Hunter._ If ever you should require a doctor, I hope you will have +one more skilful than the mystery man that I am going to describe. The +wounded warriors were in extremity, and I thought that one of them was +dying before the mystery man made his appearance; but you shall hear. +The wounded men lay groaning on the ground, with Indians around them, +who kept moaning even louder than they did; when, all at once, a +scuffle of feet and a noise like that of a low rattle were heard. + +_Austin._ The mystery man was coming, I suppose. + +_Hunter._ He was; and a death-like silence was instantly preserved by +all the attendant Indians. In came the mystery man, covered over with +the shaggy hide of a yellow bear, so that, had it not been that his +mocassins, leggings and hands were visible, you might have supposed a +real bear was walking upright, with a spear in one paw, and a rattle, +formed like a tambourine, in the other. + +_Basil._ He could never cure the dying man with his tambourine. + +_Hunter._ From the yellow bear-skin hung a profusion of smaller skins, +such as those of different kinds of snakes, toads, frogs and bats; +with hoofs of animals, beaks and tails of birds, and scraps and +fragments of other things; a complete bundle of odds and ends. The +medicine man came into the circle, bending his knees, crouching, +sliding one foot after the other along the ground, and now and then +leaping and grunting. You could not see his face, for the yellow +bear-head skin covered it, and the paws dangled before him. He +shuffled round and round the wounded men, shaking his rattle and +making all kinds of odd noises; he then stopped to turn them over. + +_Austin._ He had need of all his medicine. + +_Hunter._ Hardly had he been present a minute, before one of the men +died; and, in ten minutes more, his companion breathed his last. The +medicine man turned them over, shook his rattle over them, howled, +groaned and grunted; but it would not do; the men were dead, and all +his mummery would not bring them back to life again; so, after a few +antics of various kinds, he shuffled off with himself, shaking his +rattle, and howling and groaning louder than ever. You may remember, +that I told you of the death of Oseola, the Seminole chief: he who +struck his dagger through the treaty that was to sign away the +hunting-grounds of his tribe, in exchange for distant lands. + +_Austin._ Yes. You said that he dashed his dagger not only through the +contract, but also through the table on which it lay. + +_Brian._ And you told us that he was taken prisoner by treachery and +died in captivity. + +_Hunter._ Now I will tell you the particulars of his death; for I only +said before, that he died pillowed on the faithful bosom of his wife. +He had his two wives with him when he died, but one was his favourite. + +_Austin._ Please to let us know every thing about him. It was at Fort +Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina. + +_Hunter._ Finding himself at the point of death, he made signs that +the chiefs and officers might be assembled, and his wishes were +immediately complied with. The next thing he desired was, that his +war-dress, that dress in which he had so often led his tribe to +victory, might be brought to him. His wife waited obediently upon him, +and his war-dress was placed before him. + +_Basil._ What could he want of his war-dress when he was going to die? + +_Austin._ Wait a little, Basil, and you will hear all about it, I dare +say. + +_Hunter._ It was an affecting sight, to see him get up from his bed on +the floor, once more to dress himself as a chief of his tribe, just as +if he was about to head an expedition against the whites. Well, he put +on his rich mocassins, his leggings adorned with scalp-locks, his +shirt and his ornamental belt of war. Nor did he forget the pouch that +carried his bullets, the horn that held his powder; nor the knife with +which he had taken so many scalps. + +_Brian._ How very strange for a dying man to dress himself in that +way! + +_Hunter._ In all this, he was as calm and as steady as though about to +hunt in the woods with his tribe. He then made signs, while sitting up +in his bed, that his red paint should be given him, and his +looking-glass held up, that he might paint his face. + +_Austin._ And did he paint his face himself? + +_Hunter._ Only one half of it; after which his throat, neck, wrists +and the backs of his hands were made as red as vermilion would make +them. The very handle of his knife was coloured over in the same way. + +_Basil._ What did he paint his hands and his knife-handle for? + +_Hunter._ Because it was the custom of his tribe, and of his fathers +before him, to paint themselves and their weapons red, whenever they +took an oath of destruction to their enemies. Oseola did it, no doubt, +that he might die like a chief of his tribe; that he might show those +around him, that, even in death, he did not forget that he was a +Seminole warrior. In that awful hour, he put on his splendid turban +with its three ostrich feathers, and then, being wearied with the +effort he had made, he lay down to recover his strength. + +_Austin._ How weak he must have been! + +_Hunter._ In a short time he rose again, sitting in his full dress +like the leader of a warlike tribe, and calmly and smilingly extended +his hand to the chiefs and officers, to his wives and his children. +But this, his last effort, exhausted his remaining strength. He was +lowered down on the bed, calmly drew his scalping-knife from its +sheath under his war-belt, where it had been placed, and grasped it +with firmness and dignity. With his hands crossed on his manly breast, +and with a smile on his face, he breathed his last. Thus passed away +the spirit of Oseola. + +_Austin._ Poor Oseola! He died like a chief, at last. + +_Hunter._ He did, but not like a Christian, and, very likely, when he +grasped his scalping-knife, before his last breath forsook him, some +glowing vision of successful combat was before him. In the pride of +his heart, perhaps, he was leading on his braves to mingle in the +clash of battle and the death-grapple with his enemies. But is this a +fit state of mind for a man to die in? Much as we may admire the +steady firmness and unsubdued courage of an Indian warrior in death, +emotions of pride and high-mindedness, and thoughts of bloodshed and +victory, are as far removed as possible from the principles of +Christianity, and most unsuitable to a dying hour. Humility, +forgiveness, repentance, hope, faith, peace and joy, are needed at +such a season; and the time will come, we trust, when Indians, taught +better by the gospel, will think and feel so. + + [Illustration] + + + + + [Illustration: Mounted Chief.] + + CHAPTER XIV. + + +The holidays of the three brothers were drawing to a close; and this +circumstance rendered them the more anxious to secure one or two more +visits to the cottage, before they settled down in right earnest to +their books. Brian and Basil talked much about the poisoned arrows, +and the mystery man; but Austin's mind was too much occupied with the +Camanchee chief on his black war-horse, and the death of the Seminole +chief Oseola, to think much of any thing else. He thought there was +something very noble in the valour of a chief leading on his tribe to +conquest; and something almost sublime in a warrior dressing himself +up in his war-robes to die. Like many other young people of ardent +dispositions, he seemed to forget, that when a victory is enjoyed, a +defeat must be endured; and that before any one can rejoice in taking +a scalp, some one must be rendered miserable or lifeless by losing it. +The remarks of the hunter, respecting the inconsistency of such +customs with the peaceful principles of religion, especially the +solemnities of a dying hour, had not been made altogether in vain; yet +still he dwelt on the image of Oseola grasping his scalping-knife, +crossing his hands over his breast, and dying with a smile on his +countenance. + +On their next walk to the cottage, the way was beguiled by +endeavouring to call to mind all that had been told them on their last +visit; and, to do him justice, he acquitted himself uncommonly well. +It is true, that now and then his brothers refreshed his memory on +some points which had escaped him; but, on the whole, his account was +full, connected, and clear. + +"And what must I tell you now?" said the hunter, as soon as he and the +young people had exchanged salutations. "Do you not know enough about +the Indians?" + +To this inquiry, Brian replied that what they had heard had only +increased their curiosity to hear more. + +"Well; let me consider," said the hunter. "I have told you about the +different tribes of Indians, their religion, languages, manners and +customs; their villages, wigwams, food, dress, arms and musical +instruments. I have described to you the fur trade; and dwelt on the +scenery of the country, the mountains, rivers, lakes, prairies and +many remarkable places. I have related the adventures of Black Hawk +and Nikkanochee. And, besides these things, you have had a tolerably +full account of buffaloes, bears, wild horses, wolves, deer and other +animals, with the manner of hunting them; as well as a relation of +Indian amusements, dances, sham fights, war-parties, encampments, +alarms, attacks, scalping and retreats. Let me now, then, dwell a +little on the Indian way of concluding a treaty of peace, and on a few +other matters; after which, I will conclude with the best account I +can give you of what the missionaries have done among the different +tribes." + +_Austin._ I shall be very sorry when you have told us all. + +_Brian._ And so shall I: for it is so pleasing to come here, and +listen to what you tell us. + +_Hunter._ When it is agreed between hostile tribes that a treaty of +peace shall be made, the chiefs and medicine men of the adverse tribes +meet together, and the calumet, or peace-pipe, ornamented with eagle +quills, being produced, every one smokes a few whiffs through it. It +is then understood by them that the tomahawk is to be buried. The +pipe-of-peace dance is then performed by the warriors, to the beat of +the Indian drum and rattle, every warrior holding his pipe in his +hand. + +_Brian._ That pipe-of-peace dance is a capital dance, for then +bloodshed is at an end. + +_Hunter._ Unfortunately, war is apt soon to break out again, and then +the buried tomahawk becomes as busy as ever. + +_Austin._ Well, I do like the Indians, in spite of all their faults, +and I think they have been used cruelly by the whites. + +_Hunter._ As a general remark, those Indians who have had least to do +with civilized life are the most worthy of regard. Such as live near +white men, or such as are frequently visited by them, seem to learn +quickly the vices of others, without giving up their own. To observe +the real character of red men, it is necessary to trace the turnings +and windings of the Yellow Stone River, or the yet more remote +sinuosities of the Upper Missouri. The nearer the United States, the +more servile is the Indian character; and the nearer the Rocky +Mountains, the more independent and open-hearted. + +_Austin._ If I ever go among the red men, the Yellow Stone River, or +the Upper Missouri, will be the place for me. + +_Hunter._ Many of the chiefs of the tribes near the Rocky Mountains +may be said to live in a state of splendour. They have the pure air of +heaven around them and rivers abounding in fish. The prairie yields +them buffaloes in plenty; and, as for their lodges and dress, some of +them may be called sumptuous. Sometimes, twenty or thirty buffalo +skins, beautifully dressed, are joined together to form a covering for +a lodge; and their robes and different articles of apparel are so +rich with ermine, the nails and claws of birds and animals, war-eagle +plumes, and embroidery of highly coloured porcupine quills, that a +monarch in his coronation robes is scarcely a spectacle more imposing. + +_Austin._ Ay, I remember the dress of Mah-to-toh-pa, "the four bears," +his buffalo robe, his porcupine-quilled leggings, his embroidered +buckskin mocassins, his otter necklace, his buffalo horns, and his +splendid head-dress of war-eagle plumes. + +_Hunter._ In a state of war, it is the delight of a chief to leap on +the back of his fiery steed, decorated as the leader of his tribe, and +armed with his glittering lance and unerring bow, to lead on his band +to victory. In the chase, he is as ardent as in the battle; smiling at +danger, he plunges, on his flying steed, among a thousand buffaloes, +launching his fatal shafts with deadly effect. Thus has the Indian of +the far-west lived, and thus is he living still. But the trader and +the rum-bottle, and the rifle and the white man are on his track; and, +like his red brethren who once dwelt east of the Mississippi, he must +fall back yet farther, and gradually decline before the approach of +civilization. + +_Austin._ It is a very strange thing that white men will not let red +men alone. What right have they to cheat them of their hunting-grounds? + +_Hunter._ I will relate to you an account, that appeared some time ago +in most of the newspapers (though I cannot vouch for the truth of it,) +of a chief who, though he was respected by his tribe before he went +among the whites, had very little respect paid to him afterwards. + +_Brian._ I hope it is a long account. + +_Hunter._ Not very long: but you shall hear. "In order to assist the +officers of the Indian department, in their arduous duty of persuading +remote tribes to quit their lands, it has been found advisable to +incur the expense of inviting one or two of their chiefs some two or +three thousand miles to Washington, in order that they should see with +their own eyes, and report to their tribes, the irresistible power of +the nation with which they are arguing. This speculation has, it is +said, in all instances, more or less effected its object. For the +reasons and for the objects we have stated, it was deemed advisable +that a certain chief should be invited from his remote country to +Washington; and accordingly, in due time, he appeared there." + +_Austin._ Two or three thousand miles! What a distance for him to go! + +_Hunter._ "After the troops had been made to manoeuvre before him; +after thundering volleys of artillery had almost deafened him; and +after every department had displayed to him all that was likely to add +to the terror and astonishment he had already experienced, the +President, in lieu of the Indian's clothes, presented him with a +colonel's uniform; in which, and with many other presents, the +bewildered chief took his departure." + +_Brian._ He would hardly know how to walk in a colonel's uniform. + +_Hunter._ "In a pair of white kid gloves; tight blue coat, with gilt +buttons, gold epaulettes, and red sash; cloth trowsers with straps; +high-heeled boots; cocked hat, and scarlet feather; with a cigar in +his mouth, a green umbrella in one hand, and a yellow fan in the +other; and with the neck of a whiskey bottle protruding out of each of +the two tail-pockets of his regimental coat; this 'monkey that had +seen the world' suddenly appeared before the chiefs and warriors of +his tribe; and as he stood before them, straight as a ramrod, in a +high state of perspiration, caused by the tightness of his finery, +while the cool fresh air of heaven blew over the naked, unrestrained +limbs of the spectators, it might, perhaps not unjustly, be said of +the costumes, 'Which is the savage?' In return for the presents he had +received, and with a desire to impart as much real information as +possible to his tribe, the poor jaded traveller undertook to deliver +to them a course of lectures, in which he graphically described all +that he had witnessed." + +_Austin._ An Indian in white kid gloves, blue coat, high-heeled boots, +and cocked hat and feather! Why his tribe would all laugh at him, in +spite of his lectures. + +_Hunter._ "For a while he was listened to with attention; but as soon +as the minds of his audience had received as much as they could hold, +they began to disbelieve him. Nothing daunted, however, the traveller +still proceeded." + +_Austin._ I thought they would laugh at him. + +_Hunter._ "He told them about wigwams, in which a thousand people +could at one time pray to the Great Spirit; of other wigwams, five +stories high, built in lines, facing each other, and extending over +an enormous space: he told them of war canoes that would hold twelve +hundred warriors." + +_Austin._ They would be sure never to believe him. + +_Hunter._ "Such tales, to the Indian mind, seemed an insult to common +sense. For some time he was treated merely with ridicule and contempt; +but, when, resolutely continuing to recount his adventures, he told +them about a balloon, and that he had seen white people, who, by +attaching a great ball to a canoe, as he described it, could rise in +it up to the clouds, and travel through the heavens, the medicine, or +mystery men of his tribe pronounced him to be an impostor; and the +multitude vociferously declaring that he was too great a liar to live, +a young warrior, in a paroxysm of anger, levelled a rifle and shot him +dead!" + +_Austin._ Well, I am very sorry! It was very silly to be dressed up in +that way; but they ought not to have killed him, for he told them the +truth, after all. + +_Brian._ I could never have thought that an Indian chief would have +dressed himself in a blue coat and gilt buttons. + +_Basil._ And, then, the fan and green umbrella! + +_Austin._ Ay, and the whiskey bottles sticking out of his +tail-pockets. He would look a little different from Mah-to-toh-pa. + +_Hunter._ I have frequently spoken of the splendid head-dress of the +chiefs of some tribes. Among the Mandans, (and you know Mah-to-toh-pa +was a Mandan,) they would not part with one of their head-dresses of +war-eagle plumes at a less price than two horses. The Konzas, Osages, +Pawnees, Sacs, Foxes and Iowas shave their heads; but all the rest, or +at least as far as I know of the Indian tribes, wear long hair. + +_Brian._ Yes; we remember the Crows, with their hair sweeping the +ground. + +_Hunter._ Did I tell you, that some of the tribes glue other hair to +their own to make it long, as it is considered so ornamental? + +_Basil._ I do not remember that you told us that. + +_Hunter._ There are a few other things respecting the Indians that I +wish to mention, before I tell you what the missionaries have done +among them. In civilized countries, people turn out their toes in +walking; but this is not the case among the Indians. When the toes are +turned out, either in walking or running, the whole weight of the body +falls too much on the great toe of the foot that is behind, and it is +mainly owing to this circumstance, that so many have a deformity at +the joint of the great toe. When the foot is turned in, the weight of +the body is thrown equally on all the toes, and the deformity of the +great toe joint is avoided. + +_Austin._ What! do the Indians know better how to walk than we do? If +theirs is the best way to walk, why do not we all walk so? + +_Hunter._ I suppose, because it is not so elegant in appearance to +walk so. But many things are done by civilized people on account of +fashion. Hundreds and hundreds of females shorten their lives by the +tight clothing and lacings with which they compress their bodies; but +the Indians do not commit such folly. + +_Brian._ There is something to be learned from the Indians, after all. + +_Hunter._ There is a custom among the Sacs and Foxes that I do not +think I spoke of. The Sacs are better provided with horses than the +Foxes: and so, when the latter go to war and want horses, they go to +the Sacs and beg them. After a time, they sit round in a circle, and +take up their pipes to smoke, seemingly quite at their ease; and, +while they are whiffing away, the young men of the Sacs ride round and +round the circle, every now and then cutting at the shoulders of the +Foxes with their whips, making the blood start forth. After keeping up +this strange custom for some time, the young Sacs dismount, and +present their horses to those they have been flogging. + +_Austin._ What a curious custom! I should not much like to be flogged +in that manner. + +_Hunter._ There is a certain rock which the Camanchees always visit +when they go to war. Putting their horses at full speed, they shoot +their best arrows at this rock, which they consider great medicine. If +they did not go through this long-established custom, there would be +no confidence among them; but, when they have thus sacrificed their +best arrows to the rock, their hope and confidence are strong. + +_Austin._ I should have thought they would have wanted their best +arrows to fight with. + +_Hunter._ There is no accounting for the superstitions of people. +There is nothing too absurd to gain belief even among civilized +nations, when they give up the truth of God's word, and follow the +traditions or commandments of men. The Sioux have a strange notion +about thunder; they say that the thunder is hatched by a small bird, +not much bigger than the humming-bird. There is, in the Couteau des +Prairies, a place called "the nest of the thunder;" and, in the small +bushes there, they will have it that this little bird sits upon its +eggs till the long claps of thunder come forth. Strange as this +tradition is, there would be no use in denying it; for the +superstition of the Indian is too strong to be easily done away with. +The same people, before they go on a buffalo hunt, usually pay a visit +to a spot where the form of a buffalo is cut out on a prairie. This +figure is great medicine; and the hunt is sure to be more prosperous, +in their opinion, after it has been visited. + +_Austin._ I do hope that we shall forget none of these curious things. + + [Illustration] + + + + + [Illustration: Eliot Preaching to the Indians.] + + CHAPTER XV. + + +For the last time but one, during their holidays, Austin and his +brothers set off, with a long afternoon before them, to listen to the +hunter's account of the proceedings of the missionaries among the +Indians. On this occasion, they paid another visit to the Red +Sand-stone Rock by the river, the place where they first met with +their friend, the hunter. Here they recalled to mind all the +circumstances which had taken place at that spot, and agreed that the +hunter, in saving their lives by his timely warning, and afterwards +adding so much as he had done to their information and pleasure, had +been to them one of the best friends they had ever known. With very +friendly and grateful feelings towards him, they hastened to the +cottage, when the Indians, as usual, became the subject of their +conversation. "And now," said Austin, "we are quite ready to hear +about the missionaries." + +_Hunter._ Let me speak a word or two about the Indians, before I begin +my account. You remember that I told you of the Mandans. + +_Austin._ Yes. Mah-to-toh-pa was a Mandan, with his fine robes and +war-eagle head-dress. The rain-makers were Mandans; also the young +warriors, who went through so many tortures in the mystery lodge. + +_Hunter._ Well, I must now tell you a sad truth. After I left the +Mandans, great changes came upon them; and, at the present time, +hardly a single Mandan is alive. + +_Austin._ Dreadful! But how was it? What brought it all about? + +_Brian._ You should have told us this before. + +_Hunter._ No. I preferred to tell you first of the people as they were +when I was with them. You may remember my observation, in one of your +early visits, that great changes had taken place among them; that the +tomahawks of the stronger tribes had thinned the others; that many had +sold their lands to the whites, and retired to the west of the +Mississippi; and that thousands had fallen a prey to the small-pox. It +was in the year 1838 that this dreadful disease was introduced among +the Mandans, and other tribes of the fur-traders. Of the Blackfeet, +Crows and two or three other tribes, twenty-five thousand perished; +but of the poor Mandans, the whole tribe was destroyed. + +_Brian._ Why did they not get a doctor; or go out of their village to +the wide prairie, that one might not catch the disease from another? + +_Hunter._ Doctors were too far off; and the ravages of the disease +were so swift that it swept them all away in a few months. Their +mystery men could not help them; and their enemies, the Sioux, had +war-parties round their village, so that they could not go out to the +wide prairie. There they were, dying fast in their village; and little +else was heard, during day or night, but wailing, howling and crying +to the Great Spirit to relieve them. + +_Austin._ And did Mah-to-toh-pa, "the four bears," die too? + +_Hunter._ Yes. For, though he recovered from the disease, he could not +bear up against the loss of his wives and his children. They all died +before his eyes, and he piled them together in his lodge, and covered +them with robes. His braves and his warriors died, and life had no +charms for him; for who was to share with him his joy or his grief? He +retired from his wigwam, and fasted six days, lamenting the +destruction of his tribe. He then crawled back to his own lodge, laid +himself by his dead family, covered himself with a robe, and died like +an Indian chief. This is a melancholy picture; and when I first heard +of the terrible event, I could have wept. + +_Austin._ It was indeed a terrible affair. Have they no good doctors +among the Indians now? Why do they not send for doctors who know how +to cure the small-pox, instead of those juggling mystery men? + +_Hunter._ Many attempts have been made to introduce vaccination among +the tribes; but their jealousy and want of confidence in white men, +who have so much wronged them, and their attachment to their own +customs and superstitions, have prevented those attempts from being +very successful. + +_Austin._ Who was the first missionary who went among the Indians? + +_Hunter._ I believe the first Indian missionary was John Eliot. More +than two hundred years ago, a body of pious Englishmen left their +native land, because they were not allowed peaceably to serve God +according to their consciences. They landed in America, having +obtained a grant of land there. They are sometimes called "Puritans," +and sometimes "the Pilgrim Fathers." It is certain, that, whatever +were their peculiarities, and by whatever names they were known, the +fear of God and the love of mankind animated their hearts. + +These men did not seize the possessions of the Indians, because they +had arms and skill to use them. But they entered into a treaty with +them for the purchase of their lands, and paid them what they were +satisfied to receive. It is true, that what the white man gave in +exchange was of little value to him. But the Indians prized trinkets +more than they would gold and silver, and they only wanted hunting +and fishing grounds for their own use. These early colonists, seeing +that the Indians were living in idleness, cruelty and superstition, +were desirous to instruct them in useful arts, and still more in the +fear of the Lord; and John Eliot, who had left England to join his +religious friends in America, was the first Protestant missionary +among the Indians. + +_Austin._ I wonder he was not afraid of going among them. + +_Hunter._ He that truly fears God has no need to fear danger in the +path of duty. John Eliot had three good motives that girded his loins +and strengthened his heart: the first, was the glory of God, in the +conversion of the poor Indians; the second, was his love of mankind, +and pity for such as were ignorant of true religion; and the third, +was his desire that the promise of his friends to spread the gospel +among the Indians should be fulfilled. It was no light task that he +had undertaken, as I will prove to you. I dare say, that you have not +quite forgotten all the long names that I gave you. + +_Austin._ I remember your telling us of them; and I suppose they are +the longest words in the world. + +_Hunter._ I will now give you two words in one of the languages that +John Eliot had to learn, and then, perhaps, you will alter your +opinion. The first of them is _noorromantammoonkanunonnash_, which +means, "our loves;" and the second, or "our questions," is +_kummogokdonattoottammoctiteaongannunnonash_. + +_Austin._ Why that last word would reach all across one of our +copy-books. + +_Basil._ You had better learn those two words, Austin, to begin with. + +_Brian._ Ay, do, Austin; if you have many such when you go among the +red men, you must sit up at night to learn what you have to speak in +the day-time. + +_Austin._ No, no; I have settled all that. I mean to have an +interpreter with me; one who knows every thing. Please to tell us a +little more about Eliot. + +_Hunter._ I will. An author says, speaking of missionaries, "As I hold +the highest title on earth to be that of a servant of God, and the +most important employment that of making known to sinners the +salvation that God has wrought for them, through his Son Jesus Christ; +so I cannot but estimate very highly the character of an humble, +zealous, conscientious missionary. Men undertake, endure and achieve +much when riches and honours and reputation are to be attained; but +where is the worldly reputation of him who goes, with his life in his +hand, to make known to barbarous lands the glad tidings of salvation? +Where are the honours and the money bags of the missionary? In many +cases, toil and anxiety, hunger and thirst, reviling and violence, +danger and death await him; but where is his earthly reward?" Eliot's +labours were incessant; translating not only the commandments, the +Lord's prayer and many parts of Scripture into the Indian languages, +but also the whole Bible. For days together he travelled from place +to place, wet to the skin, wringing the wet from his stockings at +night. Sometimes he was treated cruelly by the sachems, (principal +chiefs,) sagamores, (lesser chiefs,) and powaws, (conjurers, or +mystery men;) but though they thrust him out, and threatened his life, +he held on his course, telling them that he was in the service of the +Great God, and feared them not. So highly did they think of his +services in England, that a book was printed, called "The +Day-breaking, if not the Sun-rising of the Gospel with the Indians in +New-England;" and another, entitled "The Clear Sunshine of the Gospel +breaking forth upon the Indians;" and dedicated to the parliament; in +order that assistance and encouragement might be given him. At the +close of a grammar, published by him, he wrote the words, "Prayers and +pains, through faith in Christ Jesus, will do any thing." + +_Brian._ I should think that he was one of the best of men. + +_Hunter._ He instituted schools, and devoted himself to the Christian +course he had undertaken with an humble and ardent spirit, until old +age and increasing infirmities rendered him too feeble to do as he had +done before. Even then, he catechised the negro slaves in the +neighbourhood around him; and took a poor blind boy home to his own +house, that he might teach him to commit to memory some of the +chapters in the Bible. Among the last expressions that dropped from +his lips were the words, "Welcome joy! Pray! pray! pray!" This was in +the eighty-sixth year of his age. No wonder he should even now be +remembered by us as "the apostle of the Indians." + +_Basil._ I am very glad that you told us about him. What a good old +man he must have been when he died! + +_Hunter._ You will find an interesting history of Eliot in your +Sunday-school Library, and the Life of Brainerd[5] also, of whom I +will tell you a few things. But I advise you to read both books, for +such short remarks as I make cannot be distinctly remembered; and the +characters of these eminent men you will only understand by reading +the history of their lives. + + [Footnote 5: Both these works are published by the American + Sunday-school Union.] + +_Austin._ We will remember this. + +_Hunter._ There were many good men, after his death, who trod as +closely as they could in his steps: but I must not stop to dwell upon +them. David Brainerd, however, must not be passed by: he was a truly +humble and zealous servant of the Most High. You may judge, in some +degree, of his interest in the Indians by the following extract from +his diary: + +_June 26._ "In the morning, my desire seemed to rise, and ascend up +freely to God. Was busy most of the day in translating prayers into +the language of the Delaware Indians; met with great difficulty, +because my interpreter was altogether unacquainted with the business. +But though I was much discouraged with the extreme difficulty of that +work, yet God supported me; and, especially in the evening, gave me +sweet refreshment. In prayer my soul was enlarged, and my faith drawn +into sensible exercise; was enabled to cry to God for my poor Indians; +and though the work of their conversion appeared _impossible with +man_, yet _with God_ I saw _all things were possible_. My faith was +much strengthened, by observing the wonderful assistance God afforded +his servants Nehemiah and Ezra, in reforming his people and +re-establishing his ancient church. I was much assisted in prayer for +my dear Christian friends, and for others whom I apprehended to be +Christ-less; but was more especially concerned for the poor heathen, +and those of my own charge; was enabled to be instant in prayer for +them; and hoped that God would bow the heavens and come down for their +salvation. It seemed to me, that there could be no impediment +sufficient to obstruct that glorious work, seeing the living God, as I +strongly hoped, was engaged for it. I continued in a solemn frame, +lifting up my heart to God for assistance and grace, that I might be +more mortified to this present world, that my whole soul might be +taken up continually in concern for the advancement of Christ's +kingdom. Earnestly desired that God would purge me more, that I might +be a chosen vessel to bear his name among the heathens. Continued in +this frame till I fell asleep." + +_Brian._ Why, he was much such a man as Eliot. + +_Hunter._ Both Eliot and Brainerd did a great deal of good among the +Indians. The language of Brainerd was, "Here am I, Lord, send me; +send me to the ends of the earth; send me to the rough, the savage +pagans of the wilderness; send me from all that is called comfort on +earth; send me even to death itself, if it be but in thy service, and +to extend thy kingdom." + +_Brian._ I hardly know whether Eliot was the best man, or Brainerd. + +_Hunter._ They were very unlike in one thing; for Eliot lived till he +was eighty-six years old; whereas Brainerd died in the thirtieth year +of his age. But though so young, it is said of him, by a learned and +good man, "The Life and Diary of David Brainerd exhibits a perfect +pattern of the qualities which should distinguish the instructor of +rude and barbarous tribes; the most invincible patience and +self-denial, the profoundest humility, exquisite prudence, +indefatigable industry, and such a devotedness to God, or rather such +an absorption of the whole soul in zeal for the Divine glory and the +salvation of men, as is scarcely to be paralleled since the age of the +apostles." + +_Brian._ Then, he was as good a man as Eliot. + +_Hunter._ You will read his life surely, after all you have heard +about the Indians, and will be surprised at his great success among +them. I will read you an extract from a letter written in those days +by some Oneida chiefs, by which you will see that the labours of these +good men were not in vain. + +"The holy word of Jesus has got place amongst us, and advances. Many +have lately forsaken their sins, to appearance, and turned to God. +There are some among us who are very stubborn and strong; but Jesus is +almighty, and has all strength, and his holy word is very strong, too: +therefore we hope it will conquer and succeed more and more. We say no +more; only we ask our fathers to pray for us, though they are at a +great distance. Perhaps, by-and-by, through the strength and mercy of +Jesus, we shall meet in his kingdom above. Farewell. + + TAGAWAROW, _chief of the Bear tribe_. + SUGHNAGEAROT, _chief of the Wolf tribe_. + OJEKHETA, _chief of the Turtle tribe_." + +_Austin._ Why, they were all three of them chiefs! + +_Hunter._ The speech made by the chief, Little Turtle, at Baltimore, +on his way to see the President of the United States, will interest +you. Some Quakers, who saw him, told him that the habit among his +tribe of drinking rum prevented them from doing them good. + +"Brothers and friends--When your forefathers first met on this island, +your red brethren were very numerous; but, since the introduction +amongst us of what you call spirituous liquors, and what we think may +justly be called poison, our numbers are greatly diminished. It has +destroyed a great part of your red brethren. + +"My friends and brothers--We plainly perceive that you see the very +evil which destroys your red brethren. It is not an evil of our own +making. We have not placed it amongst ourselves; it is an evil placed +amongst us by the white people; we look to them to remove it out of +the country. We tell them, 'Brethren, fetch us useful things: bring +us goods that will clothe us, our women, and our children; and not +this evil liquor, that destroys our health, that destroys our reason, +that destroys our lives.' But all that we can say on this subject is +of no service, nor gives relief to your red brethren. + +"My friends and brothers--I rejoice to find that you agree in opinion +with us, and express an anxiety to be, if possible, of service to us, +in removing this great evil out of our country; an evil which has had +so much room in it, and has destroyed so many of our lives, that it +causes our young men to say, 'We had better be at war with the white +people. This liquor, which they introduced into our country, is more +to be feared than the gun or tomahawk.' There are more of us dead +since the treaty of Greeneville, than we lost by the six years' war +before. It is all owing to the introduction of this liquor among us. + +"Brothers--When our young men have been out hunting, and are returning +home loaded with skins and furs, on their way, if it happens that they +come where this whiskey is deposited, the white man who sells it tells +them to take a little drink. Some of them will say, 'No; I do not want +it.' They go on till they come to another house, where they find more +of the same kind of drink. It is there offered again; they refuse; and +again the third time: but, finally, the fourth or fifth time, one +accepts of it, and takes a drink, and getting one he wants another, +and then a third, and fourth, till his senses have left him. After +his reason comes back to him, when he gets up and finds where he is, +he asks for his peltry. The answer is, 'You have drunk them.' 'Where +is my gun?' 'It is gone.' 'Where is my blanket?' 'It is gone.' 'Where +is my shirt?' 'You have sold it for whiskey!' Now, brothers, figure to +yourselves what condition this man must be in. He has a family at +home; a wife and children who stand in need of the profits of his +hunting. What must be their wants, when even he himself is without a +shirt?" + +_Austin._ There is a great deal of good sense in what Little Turtle +said. + +_Hunter._ The war between England and America made sad confusion among +the Indians, and the missionaries too; for it was reported that the +missionaries were joining the French against the English, so that they +and the Indian converts were dreadfully persecuted. + +Colonel de Peyster, who was then the English governor at Fort Detroit, +suspected the Christian Indians of being partisans of the Americans, +and the missionaries of being spies; and he wished the Indians +favourable to him to carry them all off. Captain Pipe, a Delaware +chief, persuaded the half king of the Hurons to force them away. +Persecution went on, till the missionaries, seeing that no other +course remained, they being plundered without mercy, and their lives +threatened, consented to emigrate. They were thus compelled to quit +their pleasant settlement, escorted by a troop of savages headed by an +English officer. The half king of the Hurons went with them. But I +will read you an account of what took place after they reached +Sandusky Creek. "Having arrived at Sandusky Creek, after a journey of +upwards of four weeks, the half king of the Hurons and his warriors +left them, and marched into their own country, without giving them any +particular orders how to proceed. Thus they were abandoned in a +wilderness where there was neither game nor provisions of any kind; +such was the place to which the barbarians had led them, +notwithstanding they had represented it as a perfect paradise. After +wandering to and fro for some time, they resolved to spend the winter +in Upper Sandusky; and, having pitched on the most convenient spot +they could find in this dreary region, they erected small huts of logs +and bark, to shelter themselves from the rain and cold. They were now, +however, so poor, that they had neither beds nor blankets; for, on the +journey, the savages had stolen every thing from them, except only +their utensils for manufacturing maple sugar. But nothing distressed +them so much as the want of provisions. Some had long spent their all, +and now depended on the charity of their neighbours for a morsel to +eat. Even the missionaries, who hitherto had uniformly gained a +livelihood by the labour of their hands, were now reduced to the +necessity of receiving support from the congregation. As their wants +were so urgent, Shebosh the missionary, and several of the Christian +Indians, returned, as soon as possible, to their settlements on the +Muskingum, to fetch the Indian corn which they had left growing in the +fields. + +"Scarcely had the congregation begun to settle in Sandusky, when the +missionaries were ordered to go and appear before the governor of Fort +Detroit. Four of them, accompanied by several of the Indian +assistants, accordingly set off without delay, while the other two +remained with their little flock. On taking their departure, they +experienced the most agonizing sensations: partly, as they knew not +what might be the issue of the journey; and partly, as they were +obliged to leave their families in want of the common necessaries of +life. As they travelled chiefly by land, along the banks of Lake Erie, +they had to pass through numerous swamps, over large inundated plains, +and through thick forests. But the most painful circumstance was, +their hearing that some of the Indians, who had gone to Muskingum to +fetch corn, had been murdered by the white people; and that a large +body of these miscreants were marching to Sandusky, to surprise the +new settlement. This report, indeed, was not correct. Shebosh, the +missionary, and five of the Christian Indians were, it is true, taken +prisoners at Shoenbrunn and carried to Pittsburg. The others returned +safe to Sandusky, with about four hundred bushels of Indian corn, +which they had gathered in the fields. But as the travellers did not +hear a correct statement of these circumstances until afterwards, they +suffered meanwhile the greatest anxiety and distress. + +"Having arrived at Detroit, they appeared before the governor, in +order to answer the accusations brought against them, of holding a +correspondence with the Americans, to the prejudice of the English +interest. The investigation, however, was deferred till Captain Pipe, +their principal accuser, should arrive. A circumstance which could not +but give them much uneasiness, as he had hitherto shown himself their +bitter and determined enemy. They had no friend on earth to interpose +in their behalf; but they had a Friend in heaven, in whom they put +their trust: nor was their confidence in Him in vain. On the day of +trial, Captain Pipe, after some ceremonies had passed between him and +Colonel de Peyster, respecting the scalps and prisoners which he had +brought from the United States, rose and addressed the governor as +follows:--'Father--You commanded us to bring the believing Indians and +their teachers from the Muskingum. This has been done. When we had +brought them to Sandusky, you ordered us to bring their teachers and +some of their chiefs unto you. Here you see them before you. Now you +may speak with them yourself, as you have desired. But I hope you will +speak good words unto them: yea, I tell you, speak good words unto +them; for they are my friends, and I should be sorry to see them ill +used.' These last words he repeated two or three times. In reply to +this speech, the governor enumerated the various complaints he had +made against the brethren, and called upon him to prove that they had +actually corresponded with the Americans, to the prejudice of the +English. To this the chief replied, that such a thing might have +happened; but they would do it no more, for they were now at Detroit. +The governor, justly dissatisfied with this answer, peremptorily +demanded that he should give a direct reply to his question. Pipe was +now greatly embarrassed; and, bending to his counsellors, asked them +what he should say. But they all hung their heads in silence. On a +sudden, however, he rose, and thus addressed the governor:--'I said +before that such a thing might have happened; now I will tell you the +truth. The missionaries are innocent. They have done nothing of +themselves; what they did, they were compelled to do.' Then, smiting +his breast, he added: 'I am to blame, and the chiefs who were with me. +We forced them to do it when they refused;' alluding to the +correspondence between the Delaware chiefs and the Americans, of which +the missionaries were the innocent medium. Thus the brethren found an +advocate and a friend in their accuser and enemy. + +"After making some further inquiries, the governor declared, before +the whole camp, that the brethren were innocent of all the charges +alleged against them; that he felt great satisfaction in their +endeavours to civilize and Christianize the Indians; and that he would +permit them to return to their congregation without delay. He even +offered them the use of his own house, in the most friendly manner; +and as they had been plundered, contrary to his express command, he +ordered them to be supplied with clothes, and various other articles +of which they stood in need. He even bought the four watches which the +savages had taken from them and sold to a trader. After experiencing +various other acts of kindness from him they returned to Sandusky, and +were received with inexpressible joy by their families and the whole +congregation." + +_Austin._ Well, I am glad it has all ended so happily. Captain Pipe +and Colonel de Peyster acted an unworthy part, to suspect the +missionaries. + +_Brian._ They did; but the colonel declared before the whole camp that +they were innocent. That was making some amends for his suspicions. + +_Basil._ Captain Pipe ought to have been ashamed of himself. + +_Hunter._ The missionaries went through various trials, and nearly a +hundred Christian Indians--men, women and children--were cruelly +slaughtered; but afterwards the missions began to wear a more +prosperous appearance. I have now kept you longer than usual. The next +time you come here, I will finish my missionary account. Though among +the tribes near the whites great changes have taken place, yet, among +the Indians of the far-west, their customs are but little altered. +They join in the buffalo hunt, assemble in the war-party, engage in +their accustomed games, and smoke the pipe of peace, the same as +ever. + + + + + [Illustration: Missionary and Indians.] + + CHAPTER XVI. + + +In the former part of the hunter's relation, Austin Edwards and his +brothers thought of little else than of bluffs and prairies, +buffaloes, bears and beavers, warlike Indian chiefs and the +spirit-stirring adventures of savage life; but the last visit paid to +the cottage had considerably sobered their views. The hunter had +gradually won his way into their affections, by contributing largely +to their amusement; and he had, also, secured their respect and high +opinion, by his serious remarks. They had no doubt of his being a true +friend to Indians, and they had, on that account, listened the more +attentively to what he had advanced on the subject of missionaries. +The knowledge that they were about to hear the end of the hunter's +relation, though it hung a little heavy on their spirits, disposed +them to seriousness and attention. + +"And now," said the hunter, as soon as Austin, Brian, and Basil had +seated themselves in his cottage, and requested him to continue his +missionary account, "I will give you the best statement I can, in a +few words, of the number of people who are employed among the Indians +in the missionary cause." + +_Austin._ Yes; we shall like to hear that very well. + +_Hunter._ The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions +sustain missionary stations among the Cherokees, Choctaws, Pawnees, +Oregon tribes, Sioux, Ojibbewas, Stockbridge tribe, New York tribes +and the Abenaquis. There are twenty-five stations and twenty-three +missionaries, three medical missionaries, three native preachers, two +physicians, ten male and forty-five female assistants. + +The Board of Missions connected with the Presbyterian church sustain +missions among the Creeks, the Iowas and Sacs, and the Chippeways and +Ottawas; three missionaries and their wives and several teachers are +employed. + +The missionary society of the Methodist Episcopal church have +established missions among the Shawnees, Delawares, Wyandotts, +Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Cherokees, Senecas, +Creeks, Oneidas, Winnebagoes and some smaller tribes. From an old +report of this laborious society, 1844, I have copied a passage which +I will read you: + +"It is now generally conceded, by those best acquainted with the +peculiarities of the Indian character, that however powerful the +gospel may be, in itself, to melt and subdue the savage heart, it is +indispensable, if we would secure the fruits of our missionary +labours, to connect the blessings of civilization with all our +Christian efforts. And we rejoice to learn, that among many of the +Indian tribes the civilizing process is going on, and keeping pace +with their spiritual advancement. They are turning their attention +more and more to agriculture, and the various arts of civilized life. +They have also established a number of schools and academies, some of +which they have liberally endowed from the annuities they receive from +the United States government. Some of these schools are already in +successful operation, and many of the Indian youth are making rapid +advancement in literary pursuits." + +The Baptist Board of Missions have seven missions, embracing nineteen +stations and out-stations, thirty-two missionaries and assistants, ten +native preachers and assistants, fifteen organized churches and +sixteen hundred professing Christians. These missionary labours are +among the Ojibbewas, Ottowas, Tonewandas, Tuscaroras, Shawnees, +Cherokees, Creeks and Choctaws. + +The United Brethren or Moravians, and the Board of Missions of the +Protestant Episcopal church, also maintain missions among the +Indians. + +_Austin._ How do the missionaries preach to the Indians? Do they +understand their strange language? + +_Hunter._ Your question calls to my mind one of the most interesting +and remarkable events of Indian history. I will endeavour to give you +a brief account of it. I refer to the invention of an alphabet by a +native Cherokee named George Guess or Guyst, who knew not how to speak +English and was never taught to read English books. It was in 1824-5 +that this invention began to attract considerable attention. Having +become acquainted with the principle of the alphabet; viz. that marks +can be made the symbols of sound; this uninstructed man conceived the +notion that he could express all the syllables in the Cherokee +language by separate marks, or characters. On collecting all the +syllables which, after long study and trial, he could recall to his +memory, he found the number to be _eighty-two_. In order to express +these, he took the letters of our alphabet for a part of them, and +various modifications of our letters, with some characters of his own +invention, for the rest. With these symbols he set about writing +letters; and very soon a correspondence was actually maintained +between the Cherokees in Wills Valley, and their countrymen beyond the +Mississippi, 500 miles apart. This was done by individuals who could +not speak English, and who had never learned any alphabet, except this +syllabic one, which Guess had invented, taught to others, and +introduced into practice. The interest in this matter increased till, +at length, young Cherokees travelled a great distance to be instructed +in this easy method of writing and reading. In three days they were +able to commence letter-writing, and return home to their native +villages prepared to teach others. Either Guess himself, or some other +person afterwards, discovered _four_ other syllables; making all the +known syllables of the Cherokee language _eighty-six_. This is a very +curious fact; especially when it is considered that the language is +very copious on some subjects, a single verb undergoing some thousands +of inflections. All syllables in the Cherokee language end with +vowels. The same is true of the language of the islanders of the +Pacific ocean. But in the Choctaw language, syllables often end with +consonants. + +"Some months since," says a report of the Cherokee mission in 1825, +"Mr. David Brown commenced the translation of the New Testament into +Cherokee, with the occasional assistance of two or three of his +countrymen, who are more thoroughly acquainted, than he is, with that +language. Already the four Gospels are translated, and fairly copied; +and if types and a press were ready, they could be immediately revised +and printed and read. Extracts are now transcribed and perused by a +few. + +"It is manifest that such a translation must be very imperfect; but it +is equally manifest that much divine truth maybe communicated by it, +and probably with more accuracy than is commonly done by preaching, +either with an interpreter, or without one." + +Another account is a little more full: + +"It is well worthy of notice, that Mr. Guyst, the inventor, is a man +past the middle age. He had seen books, and, I have been told, had an +English spelling-book in his house; but he could not read a word in +any language, nor speak the English language at all. His alphabet +consists of eighty-six characters, each of which represents a +syllable, with the exception of one, which has the sound of the +English _s_, and is prefixed to other characters when required. These +eighty-six characters are sufficient to write the language, at least +intelligibly. The alphabet is thought by some of the Cherokees to need +improvement; but, as it is, it is read by a very large portion of the +people, though I suppose there has been no such thing as a school in +which it has been taught, and it is not more than two or three years +since it was invented. A few hours of instruction are sufficient for a +Cherokee to learn to read his own language intelligibly. He will not, +indeed, so soon be able to read _fluently_: but when he has learned to +read and understand, fluency will be acquired by practice. The extent +of my information will not enable me to form a probable estimate of +the number in the nation who can thus read, but I am assured, by those +who had the best opportunity of knowing, that there is no part of the +nation where the new alphabet is not understood. That it will prevail +over every other method of writing the language, there is no doubt." + +_Austin._ Did they find the language could be easily written and +printed? + +_Hunter._ In 1828 one of the missionaries of the American Board +devoted himself to the acquisition of the language, with a view to +translating the Scriptures, and preparing school-books and tracts for +the general instruction of the people. As he proceeded in the study of +the language, he found it more and more wonderful in its structure, +and the difficulties which must have attended the labour of reducing +it to a system became more and more apparent. + +Before this, however, the enthusiasm of the people was kindled: great +numbers had learned to read; they were circulating hymns and portions +of Scripture, and writing letters every day, and even procured a medal +to present to the inventor, as a token of their gratitude for this +wonderful method of writing their own language. They began to talk +much of printing in the new and famous characters; appropriated money +to procure a press and types, and anticipated with joy the printing of +the Scriptures in a language they could read and understand. + +At the same time the missionaries to the Choctaws were reducing their +language to a system. One of them collected more than 3000 words, +arranged according to the subjects to which they refer, which he +translated into English. Ten hymns were also translated into Choctaw, +and a spelling-book prepared in the same language. + +_Austin._ But let us hear what became of the Guyst's Cherokee +alphabet. As that was an invention of his own, it seems very +wonderful. + +_Hunter._ I will tell you. In the summer or fall of 1827, there was an +examination of one of the Cherokee mission schools, on which occasion +one of the chiefs made an address in the Cherokee language, of which +the following is a translation. + +"Dear children:--I often speak to you, and encourage you to continue +in the pursuit of useful knowledge; such knowledge as will be for your +own good, and that of your own country. You are engaged in a good +thing. I am always pleased to see the progress you are making in +learning. I feel that much depends on you. On you depends the future +welfare of your country. + +"When I was young there were no schools among us. No one to teach us +such learning as you are now obtaining. My lot was quite different +from yours. You have here many advantages. Improve them. Pursue the +paths of virtue and knowledge. Some of your fathers, who first agreed +for the teachers to come among us, are now no more. They are gone. + +"It is now some years since a school was established in Creekpath, +your native place. I myself aided to build the first school-house. At +first the children did not learn very fast. But now, since the +establishment of a school at this place, they are doing much better. I +have reason to believe you are learning as fast as might be expected. +Some of you have been in school five years, and some not so long. You +have now acquired considerable knowledge. By-and-by you will have +more. This gives me great satisfaction. Remember that the whites are +near us. With them we have constant intercourse; and you must be +sensible that, unless you can speak their language, read and write as +they do, they will be able to cheat you and trample upon your rights. +Be diligent, therefore, in your studies, and let nothing hinder you +from them. Do not quarrel with each other. Aid one another in your +useful employ; obey your teachers, and walk in the way they tell you." + +In November, after this speech was delivered, a fount of types in the +new Cherokee alphabet was shipped from Boston to the Cherokee nation: +and from an account published at the time, I take a few sentences. + +"The press will be employed in printing the New Testament and other +portions of the Bible, and school-books in the Cherokee language, and +such other books in Cherokee or English as will tend to diffuse +knowledge through the nation. A prospectus has also been issued for a +newspaper, entitled the _Cherokee Phoenix_, to be printed partly in +Cherokee, and partly in English; the first number of which is expected +to appear early in January. All this has been done by order of the +Cherokee government, and at their expense. They have also hired a +printer to superintend the printing office, to whom they give $400 a +year, and another printer to whom they give $300. Mr. Elias Boudinot, +who was educated, in part, at the Foreign Mission School, then +established in Cornwall, (Conn.,) was appointed editor, with a yearly +salary of $300. + +"Among the Cherokees, then, we are to see the first printing-press +ever owned and employed by any nation of the aborigines of this +continent; the first effort at writing and printing in characters of +their own; the first newspaper, and the first book printed among +themselves; the first editor; and the first well organized system for +securing a general diffusion of knowledge among the people. Among the +Cherokees, also, we see established the first regularly elective +government, with the legislative, judicial, and executive branches +distinct; with the safeguards of a written constitution and trial by +jury. Here, also, we see first the Christian religion recognised and +protected by the government; regular and exemplary Christian churches; +and flourishing schools extensively established, and, in many +instances, taught by native Cherokees." + +_Brian._ I suppose, by this time, they have a great many books +printed, and more than one newspaper. + +_Hunter._ Alas, poor fellows! they have had something very different +to think about since the times I have been speaking of. I cannot make +you understand all the particulars. But the government of the state +within whose bounds the Indian country lay, wished to have the Indians +under their control; while the Indians considered themselves, and had +always been treated by the United States government as independent +nations or communities. Treaties were made with them just as with +foreign nations. There were difficulties on every side. A proposition +was made to them, to sell their lands to the United States, and remove +to a country beyond the Mississippi. Some of the tribes were in favour +of this, and some were opposed to it. The state government became more +and more urgent for their removal, and at last effectual measures were +adopted for this purpose, and the Cherokees and other tribes were +driven from their homes, which were now becoming the abodes of +civilization and comfort and Christian love, and were compelled to +find a new residence in the far, far distant West. It is a melancholy +and reproachful chapter in our history as a nation; and we have reason +to fear that a day of retribution is at hand, if, indeed, it is not +now upon us. There is a just God, who plucks up and destroys even the +mighty nations of the earth; and, in every period of the world, his +power to visit their iniquities has been exhibited. + +_Austin._ And have all efforts for their improvement been given up? + +_Hunter._ O, no. As I told you just now, several interesting and +prosperous missions are established among them in their new abode; and +so lately as the years 1843-4, the sum of $300 was appropriated by the +American Bible Society, towards printing portions of the New Testament +in the Dakota tongue, for the use of the Sioux. And the same blessed +volume is now in the course of publication at the Bible Society's +house in New York, in the language of the Ojibbewas. This is a large +tribe, and their tongue is understood by several of the neighbouring +tribes. It is hoped that the possession of the gospel of peace by the +Sioux and Ojibbewas, in their respective tongues, will produce a more +pacific spirit between these two hostile tribes. To this end +Christians should pray that the Scriptures of truth may be accompanied +by the Spirit of truth; that they may bring forth the fruits of +holiness; and that the remnant of the tribes may all be brought to the +knowledge of the Saviour. + +There are many obstacles to this most desirable event. The wars that +break out unexpectedly among the tribes, the reverence entertained for +superstitious customs, their removals from one place to another, the +natural indolence of Indians, and their love of spirituous liquors, +given by white men in order to deceive them; these and other causes +are always at work, operating against the efforts of the missionary. I +might, it is true, give you more instances than I have done of an +encouraging kind, respecting the Indians generally.[6] + + [Footnote 6: The reader is referred to a memoir of CATHARINE + BROWN, a converted Cherokee girl, (written by the Rev. Dr. + ANDERSON, and published by the _American Sunday-school + Union_,) for one of the most interesting exhibitions of the + influence of the Gospel upon the human heart, as well as for + a very correct and gratifying account of missionary labour + and success among untutored Indians.] + +But, perhaps, it will be better now to sum up the account by saying, +the missionary is at work among them with some degree of success; and +though, from the remoteness of many of the tribes, their strong +attachment to the superstitions of their forefathers, and other causes +already alluded to, the progress of Christianity is necessarily slow, +there is no doubt that it will ultimately prevail; the promise has +gone forth, and will be fulfilled; the heathen will be the inheritance +of the Redeemer, and the uttermost parts of the earth will be his +possession. He who has clothed the arm of the red man with strength, +shod his feet with swiftness, and filled his heart with courage, will, +in due time, subdue his cruelty and revenge; open his eyes to discern +the wondrous things of God's holy law; dispose his mind to acknowledge +the Lord of life and glory, and make him willing to receive the gospel +of the Redeemer. + + THE END. + + + PUBLICATIONS OF THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH. + + +THE ART OF PRINTING. Edited by Thomas O. Summers, D.D. 18mo., pp. 185. +Price 30 cts. + +This volume traces the art preservative of all arts from its rude +beginnings to its present approximation to perfection. It has +engravings representing presses, etc. + + +A TREATISE ON SECRET AND SOCIAL PRAYER. By Richard Treffry. 18mo., pp. +215. 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