CHAPTER XXXIII
"They fought, like brave men, long and well, They piled that ground with Moslem slain, They conquered--but Bozzaris fell, Bleeding at every vein. His few surviving comrades saw His smile when rang their proud hurrah, And the red field was won; Then saw in death his eyelids close Calmly, as to a night's repose, Like flowers at set of sun."
HALLECK.
The sun found the Lenape, on the succeeding day, a nation of mourners.The sounds of the battle were over, and they had fed fat their ancientgrudge, and had avenged their recent quarrel with the Mengwe, by thedestruction of a whole community. The black and murky atmosphere thatfloated around the spot where the Hurons had encamped, sufficientlyannounced, of itself, the fate of that wandering tribe; while hundredsof ravens, that struggled above the bleak summits of the mountains, orswept, in noisy flocks, across the wide ranges of the woods, furnished afrightful direction to the scene of the combat. In short, any eye, atall practised in the signs of a frontier warfare, might easily havetraced all those unerring evidences of the ruthless results which attendan Indian vengeance.
Still, the sun rose on the Lenape a nation of mourners. No shouts ofsuccess, no songs of triumph, were heard, in rejoicings for theirvictory. The latest straggler had returned from his fell employment,only to strip himself of the terrific emblems of his bloody calling, andto join in the lamentations of his countrymen, as a stricken people.Pride and exultation were supplanted by humility, and the fiercest ofhuman passions was already succeeded by the most profound andunequivocal demonstrations of grief.
The lodges were deserted; but a broad belt of earnest faces encircled aspot in their vicinity, whither everything possessing life had repaired,and where all were now collected, in deep and awful silence. Thoughbeings of every rank and age, of both sexes, and of all pursuits, hadunited to form this breathing wall of bodies, they were influenced by asingle emotion. Each eye was riveted on the centre of that ring, whichcontained the objects of so much, and of so common, an interest.
Six Delaware girls, with their long, dark, flowing tresses fallingloosely across their bosoms, stood apart, and only gave proofs of theirexistence as they occasionally strewed sweet-scented herbs and forestflowers on a litter of fragrant plants, that, under a pall of Indianrobes, supported all that now remained of the ardent, high-souled, andgenerous Cora. Her form was concealed in many wrappers of the samesimple manufacture, and her face was shut forever from the gaze of men.At her feet was seated the desolate Munro. His aged head was bowednearly to the earth, in compelled submission to the stroke ofProvidence; but a hidden anguish struggled about his furrowed brow, thatwas only partially concealed by the careless locks of gray that hadfallen, neglected, on his temples. Gamut stood at his side, his meekhead bared to the rays of the sun, while his eyes, wandering andconcerned, seemed to be equally divided between that little volume,which contained so many quaint but holy maxims, and the being in whosebehalf his soul yearned to administer consolation. Heyward was alsonigh, supporting himself against a tree, and endeavoring to keep downthose sudden risings of sorrow that it required his utmost manhood tosubdue.
But sad and melancholy as this group may easily be imagined, it was farless touching than another, that occupied the opposite space of the samearea. Seated, as in life, with his form and limbs arranged in grave anddecent composure, Uncas appeared, arrayed in the most gorgeous ornamentsthat the wealth of the tribe could furnish. Rich plumes nodded above hishead; wampum, gorgets, bracelets, and medals, adorned his person inprofusion; though his dull eye and vacant lineaments too stronglycontradicted the idle tale of pride they would convey.
Directly in front of the corpse Chingachgook was placed, without arms,paint, or adornment of any sort, except the bright blue blazonry of hisrace, that was indelibly impressed on his naked bosom. During the longperiod that the tribe had been thus collected, the Mohican warrior hadkept a steady, anxious look on the cold and senseless countenance of hisson. So riveted and intense had been that gaze, and so changeless hisattitude, that a stranger might not have told the living from the dead,but for the occasional gleamings of a troubled spirit that shot athwartthe dark visage of one, and the death-like calm that had forever settledon the lineaments of the other.
The scout was hard by, leaning in a pensive posture on his own fatal andavenging weapon; while Tamenund, supported by the elders of his nation,occupied a high place at hand, whence he might look down on the mute andsorrowful assemblage of his people.
Just within the inner edge of the circle stood a soldier, in themilitary attire of a strange nation; and without it was his war-horse,in the centre of a collection of mounted domestics, seemingly inreadiness to undertake some distant journey. The vestments of thestranger announced him to be one who held a responsible situation nearthe person of the captain of the Canadas; and who, as it would now seem,finding his errand of peace frustrated by the fierce impetuosity of hisallies, was content to become a silent and sad spectator of the fruitsof a contest that he had arrived too late to anticipate.
The day was drawing to the close of its first quarter, and yet had themultitude maintained its breathing stillness since its dawn. No soundlouder than a stifled sob had been heard among them, nor had even a limbbeen moved throughout that long and painful period, except to performthe simple and touching offerings that were made, from time to time, incommemoration of the dead. The patience and forbearance of Indianfortitude could alone support such an appearance of abstraction, asseemed now to have turned each dark and motionless figure into stone.
At length, the sage of the Delawares stretched forth an arm, and leaningon the shoulders of his attendants, he arose with an air as feeble as ifanother age had already intervened between the man who had met hisnation the preceding day, and him who now tottered on his elevatedstand.
"Men of the Lenape!" he said, in hollow tones that sounded like a voicecharged with some prophetic mission; "the face of the Manitou is behinda cloud! His eye is turned from you; His ears are shut; His tongue givesno answer. You see Him not; yet His judgments are before you. Let yourhearts be open and your spirits tell no lie. Men of the Lenape! the faceof the Manitou is behind a cloud."
As this simple and yet terrible annunciation stole on the ears of themultitude, a stillness as deep and awful succeeded as if the veneratedspirit they worshipped had uttered the words without the aid of humanorgans; and even the inanimate Uncas appeared a being of life, comparedwith the humbled and submissive throng by whom he was surrounded. As theimmediate effect, however, gradually passed away, a low murmur of voicescommenced a sort of chant in honor of the dead. The sounds were those offemales, and were thrillingly soft and wailing. The words were connectedby no regular continuation, but as one ceased another took up theeulogy, or lamentation, whichever it might be called, and gave vent toher emotions in such language as was suggested by her feelings and theoccasion. At intervals the speaker was interrupted by general and loudbursts of sorrow, during which the girls around the bier of Cora pluckedthe plants and flowers blindly from her body, as if bewildered withgrief. But, in the milder moments of their plaint, these emblems ofpurity and sweetness were cast back to their places, with every sign oftenderness and regret. Though rendered less connected by many andgeneral interruptions and outbreakings, a translation of their languagewould have contained a regular descant, which, in substance, might haveproved to possess a train of consecutive ideas.
A girl, selected for the task by her rank and qualifications, commencedby modest allusions to the qualities of the deceased warrior,embellishing her expressions with those oriental images that the Indianshave probably brought with them from the extremes of the othercontinent, and which form of themselves a link to connect the ancienthistories of the two worlds. She called him the "panther of his tribe";and described him as one whose moccasin left no trail on the dews; whosebound was like the leap of the young fawn; whose eye was brighter than astar in the dark night; and whose voice, in battle, was loud as thethunder of the Mani
tou. She reminded him of the mother who bore him, anddwelt forcibly on the happiness she must feel in possessing such a son.She bade him tell her, when they met in the world of spirits, that theDelaware girls had shed tears above the grave of her child, and hadcalled her blessed.
Then, they who succeeded, changing their tones to a milder and stillmore tender strain, alluded, with the delicacy and sensitiveness ofwoman, to the stranger maiden, who had left the upper earth at a time sonear his own departure, as to render the will of the Great Spirit toomanifest to be disregarded. They admonished him to be kind to her, andto have consideration for her ignorance of those arts which were sonecessary to the comfort of a warrior like himself. They dwelt upon hermatchless beauty, and on her noble resolution, without the taint ofenvy, and as angels may be thought to delight in a superior excellence;adding, that these endowments should prove more than equivalent for anylittle imperfections in her education.
After which, others again, in due succession, spoke to the maidenherself, in the low, soft language of tenderness and love. They exhortedher to be of cheerful mind, and to fear nothing for future welfare. Ahunter would be her companion, who knew how to provide for her smallestwants; and a warrior was at her side who was able to protect her againstevery danger. They promised that her path should be pleasant, and herburden light. They cautioned her against unavailing regrets for thefriends of her youth, and the scenes where her fathers had dwelt;assuring her that the "blessed hunting-grounds of the Lenape" containedvales as pleasant, streams as pure, and flowers as sweet, as the "heavenof the pale-faces." They advised her to be attentive to the wants of hercompanion, and never to forget the distinction which the Manitou had sowisely established between them. Then, in a wild burst of their chant,they sang with united voices the temper of the Mohican's mind. Theypronounced him noble, manly and generous; all that became a warrior, andall that a maid might love. Clothing their ideas in the most remote andsubtle images, they betrayed, that, in the short period of theirintercourse, they had discovered, with the intuitive perception of theirsex, the truant disposition of his inclinations. The Delaware girls hadfound no favor in his eyes! He was of a race that had once been lords onthe shores of the salt lake, and his wishes had led him back to a peoplewho dwelt about the graves of his fathers. Why should not such apredilection be encouraged! That she was of a blood purer and richerthan the rest of her nation, any eye might have seen; that she was equalto the dangers and daring of a life in the woods, her conduct hadproved; and now, they added, the "wise one of the earth" hadtransplanted her to a place where she would find congenial spirits, andmight be forever happy.
Then, with another transition in voice and subject, allusions were madeto the virgin who wept in the adjacent lodge. They compared her toflakes of snow; as pure, as white, as brilliant, and as liable to meltin the fierce heats of summer, or congeal in the frosts of winter. Theydoubted not that she was lovely in the eyes of the young chief, whoseskin and whose sorrow seemed so like her own; but, though far fromexpressing such a preference, it was evident they deemed her lessexcellent than the maid they mourned. Still they denied her no meed herrare charms might properly claim. Her ringlets were compared to theexuberant tendrils of the vine, her eye to the blue vault of theheavens, and the most spotless cloud, with its glowing flush of the sun,was admitted to be less attractive than her bloom.
During these and similar songs nothing was audible but the murmurs ofthe music; relieved, as it was, or rather rendered terrible, by thoseoccasional bursts of grief which might be called its choruses. TheDelawares themselves listened like charmed men; and it was veryapparent, by the variations of their speaking countenances, how deep andtrue was their sympathy. Even David was not reluctant to lend his earsto tones of voices so sweet; and long ere the chant was ended, his gazeannounced that his soul was enthralled.
The scout, to whom alone, of all the white men, the words wereintelligible, suffered himself to be a little aroused from hismeditative posture, and bent his face aside, to catch their meaning, asthe girls proceeded. But when they spoke of the future prospects of Coraand Uncas, he shook his head, like one who knew the error of theirsimple creed, and resuming his reclining attitude, he maintained ituntil the ceremony--if that might be called a ceremony, in which feelingwas so deeply imbued--was finished. Happily for the self-command of bothHeyward and Munro, they knew not the meaning of the wild sounds theyheard.
Chingachgook was a solitary exception to the interest manifested by thenative part of the audience. His look never changed throughout the wholeof the scene, nor did a muscle move in his rigid countenance, even atthe wildest or the most pathetic parts of the lamentation. The cold andsenseless remains of his son was all to him, and every other sense butthat of sight seemed frozen, in order that his eyes might take theirfinal gaze at those lineaments he had so long loved, and which were nowabout to be closed forever from his view.
In this stage of the funeral obsequies, a warrior much renowned fordeeds in arms, and more especially for services in the recent combat, aman of stern and grave demeanor, advanced slowly from the crowd, andplaced himself nigh the person of the dead.
"Why hast thou left us, pride of the Wapanachki?" he said, addressinghimself to the dull ears of Uncas, as if the empty clay retained thefaculties of the animated man; "thy time has been like that of the sunwhen in the trees; thy glory brighter than his light at noonday. Thouart gone, youthful warrior, but a hundred Wyandots are clearing thebriers from thy path to the world of spirits. Who that saw thee inbattle would believe that thou couldst die? Who before thee has evershown Uttawa the way into the fight? Thy feet were like the wings ofeagles; thine arm heavier than falling branches from the pine; and thyvoice like the Manitou when he speaks in the clouds. The tongue ofUttawa is weak," he added, looking about him with a melancholy gaze,"and his heart exceeding heavy. Pride of the Wapanachki, why hast thouleft us?"
He was succeeded by others, in due order, until most of the high andgifted men of the nation had sung or spoken their tribute of praise overthe _manes_ of the deceased chief. When each had ended, another deep andbreathing silence reigned in all the place.
Then a low, deep sound was heard, like the suppressed accompaniment ofdistant music, rising just high enough on the air to be audible, and yetso indistinctly, as to leave its character, and the place whence itproceeded, alike matters of conjecture. It was, however, succeeded byanother and another strain, each in a higher key, until they grew on theear, first in long drawn and often repeated interjections, and finallyin words. The lips of Chingachgook had so far parted, as to announcethat it was the monody of the father. Though not an eye was turnedtowards him, nor the smallest sign of impatience exhibited, it wasapparent, by the manner in which the multitude elevated their heads tolisten, that they drank in the sounds with an intenseness of attention,that none but Tamenund himself had ever before commanded. But theylistened in vain. The strains rose just so loud as to becomeintelligible, and then grew fainter and more trembling, until theyfinally sank on the ear, as if borne away by a passing breath of wind.The lips of the Sagamore closed, and he remained silent in his seat,looking, with his riveted eye and motionless form, like some creaturethat had been turned from the Almighty hand with the form but withoutthe spirit of a man. The Delawares, who knew by these symptoms that themind of their friend was not prepared for so mighty an effort offortitude, relaxed in their attention; and, with an innate delicacy,seemed to bestow all their thoughts on the obsequies of the strangermaiden.
A signal was given, by one of the elder chiefs, to the women who crowdedthat part of the circle near which the body of Cora lay. Obedient to thesign, the girls raised the bier to the elevation of their heads, andadvanced with slow and regulated steps, chanting, as they proceeded,another wailing song in praise of the deceased. Gamut, who had been aclose observer of rites he deemed so heathenish, now bent his head overthe shoulder of the unconscious father, whispering,--
"They move with the remains of thy child; shall we not follow, and seethem
interred with Christian burial?"
Munro started, as if the last trumpet had sounded in his ear, andbestowing one anxious and hurried glance around him, he arose andfollowed in the simple train, with the mien of a soldier, but bearingthe full burden of a parent's suffering. His friends pressed around himwith a sorrow that was too strong to be termed sympathy--even the youngFrenchman joining in the procession, with the air of a man who wassensibly touched at the early and melancholy fate of one so lovely. Butwhen the last and humblest female of the tribe had joined in the wild,and yet ordered array, the men of the Lenape contracted their circle,and formed again around the person of Uncas, as silent, as grave, and asmotionless as before.
The place which had been chosen for the grave of Cora was a littleknoll, where a cluster of young and healthful pines had taken root,forming of themselves a melancholy and appropriate shade over the spot.On reaching it the girls deposited their burden, and continued for manyminutes waiting, with characteristic patience, and native timidity, forsome evidence that they whose feelings were most concerned were contentwith the arrangement. At length the scout, who alone understood theirhabits, said, in their own language,--
"My daughters have done well; the white men thank them."
Satisfied with this testimony in their favor, the girls proceeded todeposit the body in a shell, ingeniously, and not inelegantly,fabricated of the bark of the birch; after which they lowered it intoits dark and final abode. The ceremony of covering the remains, andconcealing the marks of the fresh earth, by leaves and other naturaland customary objects, was conducted with the same simple and silentforms. But when the labors of the kind beings who had performed thesesad and friendly offices were so far completed, they hesitated, in a wayto show that they knew not how much further they might proceed. It wasin this stage of the rites that the scout again addressed them:--
"My young women have done enough," he said; "the spirit of a pale-facehas no need of food or raiment, their gifts being according to theheaven of their color. I see," he added, glancing an eye at David, whowas preparing his book in a manner that indicated an intention to leadthe way in sacred song, "that one who better knows the Christianfashions is about to speak."
The females stood modestly aside, and, from having been the principalactors in the scene, they now became the meek and attentive observers ofthat which followed. During the time David was occupied in pouring outthe pious feelings of his spirit in this manner, not a sign of surprise,nor a look of impatience, escaped them. They listened like those whoknew the meaning of the strange words, and appeared as if they felt themingled emotions of sorrow, hope, and resignation, they were intended toconvey.
Excited by the scene he had just witnessed, and perhaps influenced byhis own secret emotions, the master of song exceeded his usual efforts.His full, rich voice was not found to suffer by a comparison with thesoft tones of the girls; and his more modulated strains possessed, atleast for the ears of those to whom they were peculiarly addressed, theadditional power of intelligence. He ended the anthem, as he hadcommenced it, in the midst of a grave and solemn stillness.
When, however, the closing cadence had fallen on the ears of hisauditors, the secret, timorous glances of the eyes, and the general, andyet subdued movement of the assemblage, betrayed that something wasexpected from the father of the deceased. Munro seemed sensible that thetime was come for him to exert what is, perhaps, the greatest effort ofwhich human nature is capable. He bared his gray locks, and lookedaround the timid and quiet throng by which he was encircled with a firmand collected countenance. Then motioning with his hand for the scout tolisten, he said,--
"Say to these kind and gentle females, that a heartbroken and failingman returns them his thanks. Tell them, that the Being we all worship,under different names, will be mindful of their charity; and that thetime shall not be distant when we may assemble around his throne withoutdistinction of sex, or rank, or color."
The scout listened to the tremulous voice in which the veteran deliveredthese words, and shook his head slowly when they were ended, as one whodoubted their efficacy.
"To tell them this," he said, "would be to tell them that the snows comenot in the winter, or that the sun shines fiercest when the trees arestripped of their leaves."
Then turning to the women, he made such a communication of the other'sgratitude as he deemed most suited to the capacities of his listeners.The head of Munro had already sunk upon his chest, and he was again fastrelapsing into melancholy, when the young Frenchman before namedventured to touch him lightly on the elbow. As soon as he had gained theattention of the mourning old man, he pointed towards a group of youngIndians, who approached with a light but closely covered litter, andthen pointed upward towards the sun.
"I understand you, sir," returned Munro, with a voice of forcedfirmness; "I understand you. It is the will of Heaven, and I submit.Cora, my child! if the prayers of a heartbroken father could avail theenow, how blessed shouldst thou be! Come, gentlemen," he added, lookingabout him with an air of lofty composure, though the anguish thatquivered in his faded countenance was far too powerful to be concealed,"our duty here is ended; let us depart."
Heyward gladly obeyed a summons that took them from a spot where, eachinstant, he felt his self-control was about to desert him. While hiscompanions were mounting, however, he found time to press the hand ofthe scout, and to repeat the terms of an engagement they had made, tomeet again within the posts of the British army. Then gladly throwinghimself into the saddle, he spurred his charger to the side of thelitter, whence low and stifled sobs alone announced the presence ofAlice. In this manner, the head of Munro again dropping on his bosom,with Heyward and David following in sorrowing silence, and attended bythe aide of Montcalm with his guard, all the white men, with theexception of Hawkeye, passed from before the eyes of the Delawares, andwere soon buried in the vast forests of that region.
But the tie which, through their common calamity, had united thefeelings of these simple dwellers in the woods with the strangers whohad thus transiently visited them, was not so easily broken. Yearspassed away before the traditionary tale of the white maiden, and of theyoung warrior of the Mohicans, ceased to beguile the long nights andtedious marches, or to animate their youthful and brave with a desirefor vengeance. Neither were the secondary actors in these momentousincidents forgotten. Through the medium of the scout, who served foryears afterwards as a link between them and civilized life, theylearned, in answer to their inquiries, that the "Gray Head" was speedilygathered to his fathers--borne down, as was erroneously believed, by hismilitary misfortunes; and that the "Open Hand" had conveyed hissurviving daughter far into the settlements of the "pale-faces," whereher tears had at last ceased to flow, and had been succeeded by thebright smiles which were better suited to her joyous nature.
But these were events of a time later than that which concerns our tale.Deserted by all of his color, Hawkeye returned to the spot where his ownsympathies led him, with a force that no ideal bond of union couldbestow. He was just in time to catch a parting look of the features ofUncas, whom the Delawares were already inclosing in his last vestmentsof skins. They paused to permit the longing and lingering gaze of thesturdy woodsman, and when it was ended, the body was enveloped, never tobe unclosed again. Then came a procession like the other, and the wholenation was collected about the temporary grave of the chief--temporary,because it was proper that, at some future day, his bones should restamong those of his own people.
The movement, like the feeling, had been simultaneous and general. Thesame grave expression of grief, the same rigid silence, and the samedeference to the principal mourner, were observed around the place ofinterment as have been already described. The body was deposited in anattitude of repose, facing the rising sun, with the implements of warand of the chase at hand, in readiness for the final journey. An openingwas left in the shell, by which it was protected from the soil, for thespirit to communicate with its earthly tenement, when necessary; and thewhole was concea
led from the instinct, and protected from the ravages ofthe beasts of prey, with an ingenuity peculiar to the natives. Themanual rites then ceased, and all present reverted to the more spiritualpart of the ceremonies.
Chingachgook became once more the object of the common attention. Hehad not yet spoken, and something consolatory and instructive wasexpected from so renowned a chief on an occasion of such interest.Conscious of the wishes of the people, the stern and self-restrainedwarrior raised his face, which had latterly been buried in his robe, andlooked about him with a steady eye. His firmly compressed and expressivelips then severed, and for the first time during the long ceremonies hisvoice was distinctly audible.
"Why do my brothers mourn!" he said, regarding the dark race of dejectedwarriors by whom he was environed; "why do my daughters weep! that ayoung man has gone to the happy hunting-grounds; that a chief has filledhis time with honor! He was good; he was dutiful; he was brave. Who candeny it? The Manitou had need of such a warrior, and He has called himaway. As for me, the son and the father of Uncas, I am a blazed pine, ina clearing of the pale-faces. My race has gone from the shores of thesalt lake, and the hills of the Delawares. But who can say that theSerpent of his tribe has forgotten his wisdom? I am alone--"
"No, no," cried Hawkeye, who had been gazing with a yearning look at therigid features of his friend, with something like his own self-command,but whose philosophy could endure no longer; "no, Sagamore, not alone.The gifts of our colors may be different, but God has so placed us as tojourney in the same path. I have no kin, and I may also say, like you,no people. He was your son, and a redskin by nature; and it may be thatyour blood was nearer--but if ever I forget the lad who has so oftenfou't at my side in war, and slept at my side in peace, may He who madeus all, whatever may be our color or our gifts, forget me! The boy hasleft us for a time; but, Sagamore, you are not alone."
Chingachgook grasped the hand that, in the warmth of feeling, the scouthad stretched across the fresh earth, and in that attitude of friendshipthese two sturdy and intrepid woodsmen bowed their heads together, whilescalding tears fell to their feet, watering the grave of Uncas likedrops of falling rain.
In the midst of the awful stillness with which such a burst of feeling,coming, as it did, from the two most renowned warriors of that region,was received, Tamenund lifted his voice to disperse the multitude.
"It is enough," he said. "Go, children of the Lenape, the anger of theManitou is not done. Why should Tamenund stay? The pale-faces aremasters of the earth, and the time of the redmen has not yet come again.My day has been too long. In the morning I saw the sons of Unamis happyand strong; and yet, before the night has come, have I lived to see thelast warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] As each nation of the Indians had either its language or itsdialect, they usually gave different names to the same places, thoughnearly all of their appellations were descriptive of the object. Thus, aliteral translation of the name of this beautiful sheet of water, usedby the tribe that dwelt on its banks would be "The Tail of the Lake."Lake George, as it is vulgarly, and now indeed legally called, forms asort of tail to Lake Champlain, when viewed on the map. Hence the name.
[2] Washington: who, after uselessly admonishing the European general ofthe danger into which he was heedlessly running, saved the remnants ofthe British army, on this occasion, by his decision and courage. Thereputation earned by Washington in this battle was the principal causeof his being selected to command the American armies at a later day. Itis a circumstance worthy of observation, that, while all America rangwith his well-merited reputation, his name does not occur in anyEuropean account of the battle; at least, the author has searched for itwithout success. In this manner does the mother country absorb even thefame, under that system of rule.
[3] There existed for a long time a confederation among the Indiantribes which occupied the northwestern part of the colony of New York,which was at first known as the "Five Nations." At a later day itadmitted another tribe, when the appellation was changed to that of the"Six Nations." The original confederation consisted of the Mohawks, theOneidas, the Senecas, the Cayugas, and the Onondagas. The sixth tribewas the Tuscaroras. There are remnants of all these people still livingon lands secured to them by the State; but they are daily disappearing,either by deaths or by removals to scenes more congenial to theirhabits. In a short time there will be no remains of these extraordinarypeople, in those regions in which they dwelt for centuries, but theirnames. The State of New York has counties named after all of them butthe Mohawks and the Tuscaroras. The second river of that State is calledthe Mohawk.
[4] In the State of Rhode Island there is a bay called Narragansett, sonamed after a powerful tribe of Indians, which formerly dwelt on itsbanks. Accident, or one of those unaccountable freaks which naturesometimes plays in the animal world, gave rise to a breed of horseswhich were once well known in America by the name of the Narragansetts.They were small, commonly of the color called sorrel in America, anddistinguished by their habit of pacing. Horses of this race were, andare still, in much request as saddle-horses, on account of theirhardiness and the ease of their movements. As they were also sure offoot, the Narragansetts were greatly sought for by females who wereobliged to travel over the roots and holes in the "new countries."
[5] The North American warrior caused the hair to be plucked from hiswhole body; a small tuft, only, was left on the crown of his head inorder that his enemy might avail himself of it, in wrenching off thescalp in the event of his fall. The scalp was the only admissible trophyof victory. Thus, it was deemed more important to obtain the scalp thanto kill the man. Some tribes lay great stress on the honor of striking adead body. These practices have nearly disappeared among the Indians ofthe Atlantic States.
[6] The hunting-shirt is a picturesque smock frock, being shorter, andornamented with fringes and tassels. The colors are intended to imitatethe hues of the wood with a view to concealment. Many corps of Americanriflemen have been thus attired; and the dress is one of the moststriking of modern times. The hunting-shirt is frequently white.
[7] The rifle of the army is short; that of the hunter is always long.
[8] The Mississippi. The scout alludes to a tradition which is verypopular among the tribes of the Atlantic States. Evidence of theirAsiatic origin is deduced from the circumstances, though greatuncertainty hangs over the whole history of the Indians.
[9] The scene of this tale was in the 42d degree of latitude, where thetwilight is never of long continuance.
[10] The reader will remember that New York was originally a colony ofthe Dutch.
[11] The principal villages of the Indians are still called "castles" bythe whites of New York. "Oneida castle" is no more than a scatteredhamlet; but the name is in general use.
[12] In vulgar parlance the condiments of a repast are called by theAmerican "a relish," substituting the thing for its effect. Theseprovincial terms are frequently put in the mouths of the speakers,according to their several conditions in life. Most of them are of localuse, and others quite peculiar to the particular class of men to whichthe character belongs. In the present instance, the scout uses the wordwith immediate reference to the salt, with which his own party was sofortunate as to be provided.
[13] Glenn's Falls are on the Hudson, some forty or fifty miles abovethe head of tide, or the place where that river becomes navigable forsloops. The description of this picturesque and remarkable littlecataract, as given by the scout, is sufficiently correct, though theapplication of the water to the uses of civilized life has materiallyinjured its beauties. The rocky island and the two caverns are wellknown to every traveller, since the former sustains a pier of a bridge,which is now thrown across the river, immediately above the fall. Inexplanation of the taste of Hawkeye, it should be remembered that menalways prize that most which is least enjoyed. Thus, in a new country,the woods and other objects, which in an old country would be maintainedat great cost, are got rid of, simply
with a view of "improving," as itis called.
[14] The meaning of Indian words is much governed by the emphasis andtones.
[15] Mingo was the Delaware term for the Five Nations. Maquas was thename given them by the Dutch. The French, from their first intercoursewith them, called them Iroquois.
[16] It has long been a practice with the whites to conciliate theimportant men of the Indians, by presenting medals, which are worn inthe place of their own rude ornaments. Those given by the Englishgenerally bear the impression of the reigning king, and those given bythe Americans that of the president.
[17] Many of the animals of the American forests resort to those spotswhere salt springs are found. These are called "licks" or "salt licks,"in the language of the country, from the circumstance that the quadrupedis often obliged to lick the earth, in order to obtain the salineparticles. These licks are great places of resort with the hunters, whowaylay their game near the paths that lead to them.
[18] The scene of the foregoing incidents is on the spot where thevillage of Ballston now stands; one of the two principal watering-placesof America.
[19] Some years since, the writer was shooting in the vicinity of theruins of Fort Oswego, which stands on the shores of Lake Ontario. Hisgame was deer, and his chase a forest that stretched with littleinterruption, fifty miles inland. Unexpectedly he came upon six or eightladders lying in the woods within a short distance of each other. Theywere rudely made, and much decayed. Wondering what could have assembledso many of these instruments in such a place, he sought an old man whoresided near for the explanation.
During the war of 1776 Fort Oswego was held by the British. Anexpedition had been sent two hundred miles through the wilderness tosurprise the fort. It appears that the Americans, on reaching the spotnamed, which was within a mile or two of the fort, first learned thatthey were expected, and in great danger of being cut off. They threwaway their scaling-ladders, and made a rapid retreat. These ladders hadlain unmolested thirty years, in the spot where they had thus been cast.
[20] Baron Dieskau, a German, in the service of France. A few yearsprevious to the period of the tale, this officer was defeated by SirWilliam Johnson of Johnstown, New York, on the shores of Lake George.See Appendix, Note H.
[21] Evidently the late De Witt Clinton, who died governor of New Yorkin 1828.
[22] The powers of the American mocking-bird are generally known. Butthe true mocking-bird is not found so far north as the State of NewYork, where it has, however, two substitutes of inferior excellence; thecatbird, so often named by the scout, and the bird vulgarly calledground-thresher. Either of these two last birds is superior to thenightingale, or the lark, though, in general, the American birds areless musical than those of Europe.
[23] The beauties of Lake George are well known to every Americantourist. In the height of the mountains which surround it, and inartificial accessories, it is inferior to the finest of the Swiss andItalian lakes, while in outline and purity of water it is fully theirequal; and in the number and disposition of its isles and islets muchsuperior to them all together. There are said to be some hundreds ofislands in a sheet of water less than thirty miles long. The narrowswhich connect what may be called, in truth, two lakes, are crowded withislands to such a degree as to leave passages between them frequently ofonly a few feet in width. The lake itself varies in breadth from one tothree miles.
The State of New York is remarkable for the number and beauty of itslakes. One of its frontiers lies on the vast sheet of Ontario, whileChamplain stretches nearly a hundred miles along another. Oneida,Cayuga, Canandaigua, Seneca, and George, are all lakes of thirty milesin length, while those of a size smaller are without number. On most ofthese lakes there are now beautiful villages, and on many of themsteamboats.
[24] These harangues of the beasts are frequent among the Indians. Theyoften address their victims in this way, reproaching them for cowardice,or commending their resolution, as they may happen to exhibit fortitude,or the reverse in suffering.
[25] A dish composed of cracked corn and beans. It is much used also bythe whites. By corn is meant maize.
[26] William Penn was termed Minquon by the Delawares, and, as he neverused violence or injustice in his dealings with them, his reputation forprobity passed into a proverb. The American is justly proud of theorigin of his nation, which is perhaps unequalled in the history of theworld; but the Pennsylvanian and Jerseyman have more reason to valuethemselves in their ancestors than the natives of any other State, sinceno wrong was done the original owners of the soil.
[27] Turtle.
[28] A tree which has been partially or entirely stripped of its bark issaid, in the language of the country, to be "blazed." The term isstrictly English; for a horse is said to be blazed when it has a whitemark.
[29] The American forest admits of the passage of horse, there beinglittle underbush, and few tangled brakes. The plan of Hawkeye is the onewhich has always proved the most successful in the battles between thewhites and the Indians. Wayne, in his celebrated campaign on the Miami,received the fire of his enemies in line; and then causing his dragoonsto wheel round his flanks, the Indians were driven from their coversbefore they had time to load. One of the most conspicuous of the chiefswho fought in the battle of Miami assured the writer, that the redmencould not fight the warriors with "long knives and leather-stockings";meaning the dragoons with their sabres and boots.
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