University of Virginia Library

The following speech of Logan, a Mingo Chief, was given by the late General John S. Eustace to an intimate friend. He confirmed its authenticity by the information that it was presented him personally by Lord Dunmore, to whom it was uttered by the unfortunate chief, while he held the station of Governor of Virginia.

“My cabin, since first I had one of my own, has ever been open to any white man who wanted shelter. My spoils of hunting, since first I began to range these woods, have I ever freely imparted to appease his hunger, to clothe his nakedness. But what have I seen? What! but that at my return at night, laden with spoil, my numerous family lie bleeding on the ground, by the hand of those who had found my little hut a certain refuge from the inclement storm, who had eaten my food, who had covered themselves with my skins! What have I seen? What! but that those dear little mouths, for which I had toiled the live-long day, when I returned at eve to fill them, had not one word to thank me for all that toil!

What could I resolve upon? My blood boiled within me! My heart leaped to my mouth! Nevertheless, I bid my tomahawk be quiet, and lie at rest for that war, because I thought the great men of your country sent them not to do it. Not long afterward, some of your men invited our tribe to cross the river, and bring their venison with them. They, unsuspicious of evil design, came as they had been invited. The white men then made them drunk, murdered them, and turned their knives even against the women.

Was not my own sister among them? Was she not scalped by the hands of that very man, whom she had taught to escape his enemies, when they were scenting out his track! What could I resolve upon? My blood now boiled thrice hotter than before! Thrice again my heart leaped to my mouth. I bade no longer my tomahawk be quiet, and lie at rest for that war. I no longer thought that the great men of your country sent them not to do it. I sprang from my cabin to avenge their blood, and fully have I done it in this war, by shedding yours from your coldest to your hottest sun. Thus revenged, I am now for peace. To peace have I advised most of my countrymen. Nay! what is more, I have offered, I still offer myself as a victim, being ready to die if their good require it. Think not that I fear death! I have no relations left to mourn for me. Logan's blood runs in no veins but these. I would nor turn on my heel to escape death. And why should I? for I have neither wife, nor child, nor sister, to howl for me when I am gone.”

The following version of an “Indian Lament,” which recently appeared in the public prints, unaccompanied with the author's name, expresses with simplicity and pathos, some of the feelings which characterize the speech of Logan.

The celebrated Scottish novels, which have excited such uncommon degrees, both of admiration and curiosity, seem now to be almost generally referred to the pen of Sir Walter Scott. The strong resemblance between the poetical works acknowledged to be his, and the productions “by the Author of Waverly,” points the inquirer, by a kind of internal evidence, to the wand of “that great Enchanter of the North.” Yet to the public it seems an inexplicable modesty, which should incite an author to withhold so long his name from works so vivid in description as to annihilate the barriers of distance, and dispel the mists of time; so patriotic, that strangers from all nations are led in pilgrimage to Scotland, to do homage to her lakes, and mountains, and ruined castles, and caverns, as if some tutelary divinity resided there; so brilliant in fancy, that the lover of romance prefers them to all that had before captivated him, yet so faithful to history, that Truth offers them as a guide to the student; so replete with the knowledge of human nature, that Shakespeare seems to have revived, and reinstituted his claim to the admiration of remote posterity.

The potatoe is styled by Mr. Donaldson, “the bread-root of Great-Britain and Ireland.” Writers affirm that it was introduced into the latter island by Sir Walter Raleigh, about the year 1623; and that a vessel laden with it, and wrecked upon the coast of Lancashire, was the means of dispensing its benefits to England, as the ship of Carthage, driven upon the strand of Italy, gave a fleet to Rome.

But Sir Joseph Banks, in his communication to the Horticultural Society of London, states that the potatoe was brought to England from Virginia, by some colonists sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh, who returned as early as 1586. From thence it was soon after conveyed to Ireland, where it was cultivated, and extensively used among the common people, before the inhabitants of England were fully sensible of its value.

America has the honour both of presenting Europe with the Solanum Tuberosum, which has so sensibly diminished the ravages of famine within her bounds, and likewise of furnishing the native soil for a grain remarkable for its productiveness, and second only to wheat, in the degree of nutriment it affords to the human frame. According to Marabelli's analysis of the Zea Mays, it “contains a saccharine matter of different degrees of purity, from which alcohol, the oxalic and acetous acids, may be obtained; a vegetable amylaceous substance, a glutinous substance; muriat and nitrat of magnesia; carbonats of potash, lime, and magnesia; and iron.”

The Diospyros Virginiana rises to the height of from fourteen to sixteen feet, with a wood extremely hard and brittle. It produces a plumb of about the size of a date, and its bark is useful in intermittent fevers. The bark of its root has been considered also a tonic, favourable to the treatment of dropsies.

The bark of the Laurus Sassafras is a remedy in intermittents. “Its oil, also,” says the late Professor Barton, “has been found efficacious when externally applied in cases of wens.” Another plant of the same genus, the Laurus Benzoin, commonly called Spice-Wood, enters extensively into the materia medica of the natives. A decoction of its twigs is an agreeable aperient, and in our revolutionary war, when the patriotism of the people incited them to adopt the productions of their own country in the place of those foreign luxuries to which they had been accustomed, the dried and pulverized berries of the Laurus Benzoin were adopted as a substitute for allspice, as the saccharine juice of the cornstalk had been found to supply the place of molasses, and an infusion of the leaves of the sage, to superced the beas of China.

The flowers of the Cornus Florida, or as it is usually called, Dogwood, appear in the spring, and exhibit a beautiful appearance. Their large and white involucre form a fine contrast to the forest green, and their hue becomes gradually more delicate, as if emulous of the purity of snow. Our natives use an infusion of these flowers in intermittents; and some of the tribes gave a name to the season of Spring, in allusion to the bloom of this plant. Its blossoms are succeeded by oblong drupes of a rich crimson tint, which are sometimes used as a tonic in the form of a spirituous impregnation, and likewise furnish a favourite food for various species of birds. Its wood, under the name of New-England box, is held in high estimation for its durability, and enters into the construction of many articles both for utility and ornament. But what constitutes its principal value is the discovery that its inner or cortical bark, promises to be equally valuable with the Peruvian. Indeed, it may be considered superiour, as being less nauseous to the taste and the stomach, always to be obtained in abundance, and not liable to the danger of adulteration. The merits of this substance as a medicine, have been clearly and forcibly displayed by Dr. Walker of Virginia, in an inaugural dissertation on the comparative virtues of the Cornus florida, Cornus sericea, and Cinchona officinalis of Linnæus. After detailing a number of chemical experiments, he remarks: “A summary recapitulation of these experiments shews, that the Cornus florida, sericea, and Peruvian bark, possess the same ingredients; that is, gum, mucilage, and extracts; which last contain the tannin and gallic acid, though in different proportions. The Florida has most of the gum mucilage and extracts; the Sericea the next, which appears to be an intermediate between the Florida and Cinchona; while the latter possesses most of the resin. Their virtues appear similar, and equal, in their residence. The extract and resin possess all their active powers. The extract appears to possess all their tonic powers. The resin, when perfectly separated from the extract, appears to be purely stimulant; and probably the tonic powers of the extract are increased when combined with a portion of the resin, as in the spirituous tincture.” Dr. Gregg, of Bristol in Pennsylvania, in a testimony to the merits of the Cornus florida, asserts, that during a period of 23 years, experience of its virtues had convinced him, “that it was not inferior to the Peruvian bark in curing intermittents; nor inferior as a corroborant in all cases of debility.”

The bark of the Liriodendron Tulipifera is considered by some as scarcely inferior to the Cinchona in the cure of fevers. It has also been classed among remedies in cases of gout and rheumatism. This fine tree produces flowers resembling the tulip, beautifully variegated with light green, yellow and orange, and standing solitary at the extremities of the branches. The leaves of this tree have a peculiarly obtuse form, and its young bark is aromatic.

The Cornus sericea, or American Red-root cornel, is sometimes called from the colour of the epidermial covering of its young shoots, the Red-Willow. It is found in a moist soil, usually by the banks of rivers, and seldom exceeds the height of ten or twelve feet. Its white flowers appear in clusters, and are succeeded by a succulent drupe of a blue colour. The North-Carolinian Indians scrape the inner bark as a substitute for tobacco, or sometimes use it as an adjunct to that plant. It is considered in medicine equal to the pale Peruvian bark. “When we consider,” says Dr. Walker, “the causes of the various forms of disease which are the endemics of our country, we cannot but receive additional inducements to regard the Corni as the most valuable vegetable which Nature, in the prolificness of her bounty, has scattered through the wide forests of North America. For so long as the mouldering ruins of our swamps, and the uncultivated conditions of our marshes, shall afford materials for the peccant operations of an autumnal sun, we shall view with peculiar delight the virtues of these two vegetables, which inherit the two essential characters of the most valuable division of the materia medica, I mean bitterness and astringency; to the happy union of which the Corni have a claim as respectable as that which has procured for the Peruvian bark a celebrity as extensive as the bounds of rational medicine. Indeed, so striking is the similitude, so exact the result from comparative trials, that in this attempt to recommend the Cornus florida and sericea, to the attention of practising physicians, I cannot even review the forms of disease, in the particular states of which the Corni are indicated, without encroaching upon the reputation of the cinchona; for in truth it may be said, that in whatever form of disease the cinchona has been decidedly serviceable, the Corni will be found equally so. And if we make allowances for the chances and inducements to adulteration in the former, for our relationship to the latter, for its wide extent through the very soil in which are engendered the seeds of those maladies which their virtues are fitted to remove, we must acknowledge their superiority. Experiments of a diversified nature warrant this conclusion. They are like the cinchona, bitter and astringent in the mouth, tonic and febrifuge in the stomach; and their chemical analysis affords results perfectly analogous.”

This magnificent tree throws out its large white fragrant blossoms in July. Its medicinal virtues were familiar to our natives, while they were accustomed proudly to point it out as the glory of the forest. “The bark of its root,” says the late Professor Barton, “is used in Florida, in combination with the Snake-Root, as a substitute for the Peruvian bark, in the treatment of intermittent fevers.”

The Liquidambar Styraciflua is found near the banks of rivulets, tall, and elegantly formed, with leaves of a beautiful lustre. From wounds made in the trunk of this tree, a fragrant gum exudes, which operates as a powerful tonic. The Southern natives were in the habit of drying its leaves to mingle with their tobacco for smoking.

“Under the head of general stimulants may be classed the resin of the Populus balsamifers, called Balsam, or Tacamahaca-tree. This is a native of North-America and Siberia. The resin is procured from the leafbuds. This balsam is so very penetrating, that it communicates its peculiar smell and taste to the flesh of the birds which feed upon its buds.”—Collection towards a Materia Medica of the United States. By Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton.

The botanical genus Xanthoxylum, received its name on account of the yellow colour of its wood. The species Clava Herculis, which was used by our Indians in the cure of the Tooth-Ache, is sometimes called the great prickly Yellow wood. The trunk often grows to the height of 30 or 40 feet, armed with very powerful prickles, which are thick at the base, and angular and sharp at the point. The leaves are pinnate, and a foot in length, the foot stalks armed with strait thorns of a third of an inch. This is frequently denominated the Tooth-Ache Tree, and its bark and seed vessels have the property of a powerful stimulant, when taken internally, and have been found useful in cases of Rheumatism. The medicinal virtues of another species of this plant, the “franaxifolium,’ were also known to the natives. Lawson remarks, that they extracted from its berries the salivating power of mercury, and made use of decoctions of the plant, as strong perspiratives.

The Indians of Demarara use the leaves of the Dracontium pertusum in the treatment of obstinate dropsies. “The body of the patient is covered with them, and a universal perspiration, or rather vesication induced, after which the subject often recovers.” The leaves of this plant are remarkable for numerous elliptical perforations.

The Rhododendron Chrysanthemum, or golden flowered Rhododendron, is a beautiful shrub, and of high reputation in the treatment of Chronic Rheumatism. An infusion of its leaves is both stimulant and narcotic. It has been celebrated in Russia for the cure of the same disease, and is procured in Siberia, Kamschatka, and Bherring's Island.

“The inflorescence of the Rhododendron maximum is almost umbellate; the blossoms delicately coloured, having the red and white tints of an apple blossom, while the green and yellow dots on their upper segment are strikingly conspicuous.” Of close affinity to the Rhododendron is the genus Kalmia, of which many species are poisonous. The Kalmia latifolia was formerly used by those miserable natives who had determined on suicide. But modern enterprize has successfully enlisted it in the service of medicine, and it is applied, in a pulverized form, internally, in fevers, or topically, for the relief of cutaneous affections.

The genus Lobelia is connected by several of its species with the materia medica. Our natives were well acquainted with this fact, particularly with the virtues of the blue Lobelia, and the Lobelia inflata, both of which are lactescent. A decoction of the root of the beautiful Lobelia Cardinalis, is extensively used by the Cherokees as an anthelmintic.

“In ancient Egypt, the insane were conducted to those temples, in which were collected whatever seemed calculated to please the eye, and rivet the attention. There, as they wandered from one magnificent object to another, the world and its vexations were forgotten, and amid the deep interest of the scene, the gloomy images which haunted them were banished from their minds. In Greece, on the other hand, the followers of Hippocrates relied exclusively on the specific powers of Hellebore and its adjuvants; medicines which, at this day, are rarely employed.”—

The Podophyllum peltatum, generally called the May-Apple, is a common plant throughout the United States. Its fruit is about the size of a common plumb, of green colour, and esculent. The leaves are poisonous, and the root, which is a very active medicine, resembles that of the black Hellehore.

The Asclepias decumbens, with flowers of a bright orange-colour, is a beautiful and frequent ornament of our fields. It has sometimes been called Pleurisy-Root, from its salutary influence in that disease; and also Butterfly-weed, from the attraction which it appears to possess for this species of insect. Its root is used in a pulverized form; and the high opinion entertained of it, by the native tribes, seems to be confirmed by the testimony of some of our scientific medical practitioners.

Among the extensive genus Convolvolus, the panduratus is distinguished for its medicinal powers. It produces large white flowers, whose bases are deeply tinged with a fine purple. Its root is used either in powder, or decoction; and from it the southern Indians gain their “Mechameck” or wild Rhubarb. From another species of Convolvolus an extract, resembling Scammomy, is obtained.

The Cassia Marilandica is referred to in this passage, which was numbered by our aborigines among their cathartics. Several of the other species of this plant hold a far more conspicuous place in the pharmacopeia of modern science than the marilandica. Such, for instance, are the Senna, an Asiatic and African plant; the Emarginata, which in Jamaica, its native soil, is used as a substitute for the Senna; the Occidentalis, which in the same island is considered a powerful ingredient in fomentations and baths for inflamed limbs; the Fistula, which forms the basis of a mild and salubrious electuary; the Italica, a native of North-Africa and the Levant; and the Alata, found both in the East and West Indies, the juice of whose leaves and buds is a remedy in cutaneous affections. To these, it may not perhaps be improper to add the Cassia Chamæcrista, which is cultivated in parts of Maryland and Virginia, to recover exhausted lands, or enrich those which are barren by nature.

The Polygala Senega, the celebrated Snake-Root of our natives, though now discredited as an antidote to the bite of the Rattle-Snake, is exhibited with success by some of our physicians, in the treatment of several diseases. Pursh mentions two varieties of this species, “one with white flowers in a dense spike, the other with rose coloured flowers in a loose clustre, and with narrower leaves.”

The Friosteum Perfoliatum is found in rich rocky grounds through a great part of the United States. It is however a rare plant, and distinguished by the deep purple tinge of its flowers and drupes. The cortex of the root is a carthartic, and partakes also of the properties of Ipecacuanha. So extensive was the acquaintance of our natives with medicines of the latter description, that the late Dr. Benjamin S. Barton mentions, that “the Six nations make use of at least twelve or fourteen different emetics, all of which, except the sulphate of iron, are vegetables.”

The Panax Quinquefolium is found in the mountainous woods of North-America, and Chinese Tartary. It is an umbelliferous plant, and its simple white flower is succeeded by a heart-shaped scarlet drupe. It is gently stimulant, and our Indians frequently prepare a tea from its leaves. Adair mentions that some of them are accustomed to use a strong decoction of this plant in their ceremonies upon religious occasions. The Asiatic Ginseng is considered superior to the American. The Chinese and Tartars entertain so high an opinion of its virtues, as to denominate it “the plant that giveth immortality.”

The Iris Versicolor and Iris Verna are used by the Southern Indians as cathartics. The Florentina also, a native of Italy, has an acrid root, which in its fresh state is a powerful cathartic, and when dry operates as an expectorant. The root of the Palustris, or Palustria Lutea, is both an errhine and sialagogue. When fresh it is a strong cathartic, but after being dried ranks among astringents. It has been recommended as a remedy in the tooth-ache; and beside its subserviency to the materia-medica, furnishes a deep black dye, and is used in Scotland for making ink. This extensively variegated genus is a well known to have received its name of Iris, from the ancient Greeks, on account of the concentric hues of the flower, exhibiting a faint resemblance to the rainbow.

The Dirca Palustris is found, as its name indicates, in a wet soil. It rises to the height of five or six feet, and flowers in April, before the expansion of its leaves. Its bark partakes of the properties of cantharides, and some of our aborigines use as a cathartic, a decoction of the cortex of its root. Its common appellation of Leather Wood is justified by the character of its bark, which is so tough and pliant, as to be wrought into ropes and baskets for domestic accommodation.

The Ilex Vomitoria, or Evergreen Cassine, is a native of West Florida. An infusion of it is the standard medicine of the Southern Indians. It has been supposed that this is the same plant which is found in Paraguay, the sale of whose leaves is to the Jesuits such an important branch of revenue. It is found also in Carolina, and among some of our tribes was held in such high esteem, that the decoction of its toasted leaves called “black drink,” their women were not permitted to taste. Lawson, in recording a tradition of this plant, says “The savages of Carolina of Carolina have it in veneration above all the plants they are acquainted withel, and tell you the discovery thereof was by an infirm Indian, who laboured under the burden of many rugged distempers, and could not be cured by all their Doctors; so, one day he fell asleep, and dreamt that if he took a decoction of the tree that grew at his head, he would certainly be cured: upon which he awoke, and saw the Yaupon, or Cassine-tree, which was not there when he fell a sleep. He followed the direction of his dream, and became perfectly well in a short time. Now I suppose, no man has so little sense as to believe this fable; yet it lets us see what they intend thereby, and that it has doubtless worked feats enough, to gain it such an esteem among these savages, who are too well versed in vegetables, to be brought to a continual use of any one of them, upon a mere conceit or fancy, without some apparent benefit they found thereby; especially when we are sensible, that they drink the juices of plants, to free nature of her burthens, and not out of foppery and fashion, as other nations are oftentimes found to do.”

In closing these botanical notes, which probably comprize but a small number of the medicinal plants known to our natives, the words of the late Professor Barton, whose attention to this subject marked at once his perseverance and benevolence, are particularly appropriate. “Judging from the discoveries which have been made in the term of three hundred years, it may be safely conjectured, that there are no countries of the globe from which there is reason to expect greater or more valuable accessions to the Materia-Medica, than those of America. In conducting our inquiries into the properties of the medicinal vegetables of our country, much useful information may, I am persuaded, be obtained through the medium of our intercourse with the Indians. Some of the rudest tribes of our continent are acquainted with the general medical properties of many of their vegetables. We shall find that the Materia Medica of these people contains but few substances as inert as many of those which have a place in our books on this science. What treasures of medicine may not be expected from a people, who, although destitute of the lights of science, have discovered the properties of some of the most inestimable medicines with which we are acquainted? Without mentioning the productions of South-America, let it be recollected, that it is to the rude tribes of the United States that we are indebted for our knowledge of Polygala Senega, Aristolochia Serpentaria, and Spigelia Marilandica.”

Shenandoah, a venerable chief of the Oneidas, who died at the advanced age of 113, thus expressed before his departure, the deep feeling of his loneliness. “I am an aged hemlock. The winds of a hundred years have swept over its branches. It is dead at the top. Those who began life with me, have run away from me. Why I am suffered thus to remain God only knows.” Not inferior in pathos, was the request of Scanando, an aged chieftain of the same tribe, who had embraced christianity. “Lay me in death by the side of my minister, and my friend, that I may go up with him at the great resurrection.”

This speech was addressed to Gen. Washington in 1790, by Cornplanter, a celebrated Seneca chief.

Our natives were habituated to address their prayers to the Great Spirit. This was noticed by many of the first colonists, and Roger Williams, one of the early settlers of New England, and governor of Rhode Island, remarks, “I have heard a poor Indian lamenting the loss of his child, call up at the break of day, his wife and family, to lamentation, and with abundance of tears cry out, ‘Oh God! Thou hast taken away my child. Thou art angry with me. Oh turn thine anger from me, and spare thou the rest of my children.’” “The Indian when he worships his Creator,” says the Rev. Mr. Heckewelder, “does not forget to pray that he may be endowed with courage to fight, and conquer his enemies, among whom he includes savage beasts. When he has performed some heroic act, he will not forget to acknowledge it as a mark of divine favour, by making a sacrifice or publickly announcing that his success was entirely owing to the courage given him by the All-Powerful Spirit. This habitual devotion to the Great First Cause, and a strong feeling of gratitude for the favours that he confers, is one of the prominent traits that characterize the mind of the untutor'd Indian. An old Indian told me, about fifty years ago, that when he was young he still followed the custom of his fathers and ancestors, of climbing upon a high mountain to thank the Great Spirit, for his benefits bestowed, and to entreat a continuance of his favour; and that they were sure that their prayers were heard, and acceptable to the Great Spirit, though he did not himself appear to them.” These declarations of their faith in the inefficacy of prayer, may be concluded by a specimen of their devotion, at once pathetic and sublime. “O Eternal! have mercy upon me, because I am passing away,—O Infinite! because I am but a speck,—O Most Mighty! because I am weak,—O Source of Life! because I draw nigh to the grave,—O Omniscient! because I am in darkness,—O All Bounteous! because I am poor,—O All Sufficient! because I am nothing.”

These Chieftains view'd the city of New York, from the balcony of Congress-Hall, where a dinner was given them in 1789, when they came to treat on national affairs.

A bold, nervous, and figurative style characterizes the speeches, and even the more common communications of our aborigines. More liberally than other savage nations, they seem to have been endowed with the gift of Nature's eloquence. Most of their effusions have literally been poured upon the regardless winds; though the existence of a few have been preserved, principally in miscellaneous collections. The Rev. Mr. Heckewelder, has recorded a speech, which was delivered in Detroit, Dec. 9, 1801, by a Chief of the Delaware tribe, and addressed to the commanding officer of that post, then in the hands of the British. At the beginning of the revolutionary war, the Lenni Lenape having in vain endeavoured to remain neutral, generally joined the Americans; but this Chief with his party had become allies of the English. It seems that they had repented when it was too late to retract, and were compelled to continue in hostility to the Americans. At their return from an expedition, the following report was made to the British commandant in the Council-house at Detroit, before a large concourse. “Several missionaries were present,” says Mr. Heckewelder, “among whom I was. The Chief was seated in front of his Indians, facing the Commandant. In his left hand he held a scalp, tied to a short stick. After a pause of some minutes he arose, and thus addressed the Governor.

“Father! (at the utterance of this word, the orator stopped, and turning round to the audience, with a face full of meaning, and a sarcastic look which I should in vain attempt to describe, went on conversing with them,) I have said Father, although, I do not know why I am to call him so, having never known any other Father than the French, and considering the English only as brothers.” It may perhaps be well to mention here, that the Delawares had been steadfast friends of the French, in the war of 1756, but after the peace in 1763, having vainly hoped that their Father, the King of France, would send an army, to retake Canada, they submitted with reluctance to the British government. “But as this name,” said the orator, “has been imposed upon us, I shall make use of it, and say (fixing his eyes upon the Commandant,) Father! sometime ago, you put a war-hatchet into my hand, saying, ‘Take this weapon, and try it on the heads of my enemies, the Long-knives, and bring me word if it is sharp and good.’ Father! at the time when you gave me this weapon I had neither cause nor inclination to go to war with a people who had done me no injury. Yet in obedience to you, who say, that you are my Father, and call me your child, I received the hatchet: well knowing that if I did not obey, you would withhold from necessaries of life, without which I could not subsist; and where else should I procure them, but at the house of a parent.

“Father! You perhaps think me a fool, for risking my life at your bidding; in a cause too, where I have no prospect of gain. It is your cause, and not mine. It is your concern to fight the Long-knives; you have raised a quarrel among yourselves, and you ought yourselves to fight it out. If the Indians be your children, you should not compel them to expose themselves to danger for your sakes. Father! Many lives have been already lost on your account. Nations-have suffered, and been weakened. Children have lost parents. Wives have lost husbands. Who can know how many more may perish, before your war will be at an end? Father! I have said that you may perhaps think me a fool, for thus thoughtlessly rushing on your enemy. Do not believe this, Father! Think not that I want sense to convince me that although you now pretend to keep up a perpetual enmity to the Long-Knives, you may before long conclude a peace with them.

“Father! You say you love your children, the Indians. This you have often told them: indeed it is your interest to say so, that you may have them at your service. But Father! Who of us can believe that it is possible for you to love a people of different colour from your own, better than those who have a white skin like yourselves? Father! Attend to what I am going to say. While you, Father, are setting me on your enemy, much in the same manner as a hunter sets his dog on the game, while I am in the act of rushing on that enemy of yours, with the bloody destructive weapon you gave me, I may perhaps happen to look back, to the place from whence you started me, and what shall I see? Perhaps I may see my Father shaking hands with the Long-Knives; yes, with those very people he at this moment calls his foes. Then I may see him laugh at my folly, for having obeyed his orders; and yet, I am now risking my life at his command. Father! Keep what I have said in remembrance.

“Now Father! Here is what has been done with the hatchet you gave me (presenting the scalp). I have done with this hatchet what you ordered me to do. I have found it sharp. Nevertheless, I did not do all that might have done. No! I did not. My heart failed within me. I felt compassion for your enemy. Innocence had no part in your quarrels. Therefore I distinguished, I spared. I took some live flesh, which while I was bringing to you, I espied one of your large canoes, and put it there for you. In a few days you will receive this flesh, and find that the skin is the same colour with your own.

“Father! I hope you will not destroy what I have spared. You, Father, have the means of preserving what with me would perish for want. The warrior is poor, his cabin is empty: but your house, Father, is ever full.”

“Here,” says Mr. Heckewelder, “we see boldness, frankness, dignity and humanity, happily blended, and eloquently displayed. The component parts of this discourse are put together, much according to the rules of oratory of the schools, and which were certainly unknown to the speaker. The peroration is short, truly pathetic, even sublime: and I wish I could convey to the mind of the reader a small part of the impression which this speech made on me, and on all who heard it delivered.”

The following effusion is of a wholly different character. It was uttered a few years since, by a Maha Chieftain, named Big-Elk, over the grave of the Chief of the Teton tribe, who died at Portage des Sioux, on his return from our seat of government. He was interred with all the honours of war, and this speech was taken literally by the Secretary of the American Commissioners.

“Do not grieve. Misfortunes will happen to the wisest and best of men. Death will come, and always comes out of season. It is the command of the Great Spirit: all nations and people must obey. What is past, and cannot be prevented, should not be grieved for. Be not discouraged or displeased then, that in visiting your Father you have lost your Chief. A misfortune of this kind may never again befall you: perhaps it would have overtaken you at your own village. Five times have I visited this land, yet never returned without sorrow and pain. Woes do not flourish particularly in our path. They grow every where. What a misfortune that I could not have died this day, instead of the Chief who lies before us. The trifling loss my nation would have sustained by my death, would have been doubly paid for by the honours of my burial. They would have wiped off every thing like regret. Instead of being covered with a cloud of sorrow, my warriors would have felt the sunshine of joy in their hearts. To me it would have been a most glorious occurrence. Hereafter, when I die at home, instead of this noble grave, and grand procession, the rolling music, and thundering cannon, with a banner waving over my head, I shall be wrapped in a robe, and raised on a slender scaffold to the whistling winds, soon to be blown to the earth, my flesh to be devoured by the wolves, and my bones scattered on the plain by wild beasts.”

On the subject of the eloquence of our aborigines, Sansom, in his travels in Canada, remarks, “when Father Charlevoix, a learned Jesuit, first assisted at an Indian council, he could not believe that the Jesuit, who acted as interpreter, was not imposing upon the audience the effusions of his own brilliant imagination. Yet Charlevoix had been accustomed to the Orations of Massillon, and Bourdaloue; when those eminent orators displayed all the powers of pulpit eloquence, at the funerals of princes, upon the fertile subject of the vanity of life; but he confesses that he had never heard any thing so interesting, as the extempore discourses of an Indian chief. Even those who have had the enviable privilege of listening in the British house of Commons, to

This incident is borrowed from Schoolcraft's Journal. The heroine was a native of the Sioux tribe, who inhabit the banks of the Mississippi and Missouri. They are warlike and powerful, and feared by the neighbouring nations. This tribe admits of several subdivisions, among which the clan of Minowa Kantong has obtained pre-eminence. One of its principal bands resides near the head of Lake Pepin, and to this belonged the father of Oolaita. The Minowa Kantongs are by far the most civilized of the Sioux tribe. They are skilfull in the construction of canoes, and in the use of fire-arms, with which they are well provided. They are the only ones among their nation, who erect log-huts, and attend to the cultivation of vegetables. The Sioux are considered as the most warlike and independent tribe of Indians within the territory of the United States. With them, every passion is held in subservience to the enthusiasm of the warrior, and to be “invincible in arms,” is the summit of ambition. Such is the excellence of their leaders, and the dauntless spirit of the people, that they have hitherto bid defiance to every hostile attack. From their pronunciation, habits and personal appearance, the opinion has been entertained that they derive their origin from the Tartars. The following description of Lake Pepin, where a part of this tribe have their territory, is from the pen of Schoolcraft. “This beautiful sheet of water is an expansion of the Mississippi river, six miles below the Sioux village of Talangamane, and one hundred below the Falls of St. Anthony. It is twenty-four miles in length, with a width of from two to four miles, and is indented with several bays, and prominent points, which serve to enhance the beauty of the prospect. On the east shore is a lofty range of lime-stone bluffs, which are much broken and crumbled, sometimes run into pyramidal peaks, and often present a character of the utmost sublimity. On the west is a high level prairie, covered with the most luxuriant growth of grass, yet nearly destitute of forest trees. This lake is beautifully circumscribed by a broad beach of clean washed gravel, which often extends from the foot of the surrounding highlands, three or four hundred yards into the lake, forming gravelly points, upon which there is a delightful walk, and scalloping out the margin of the lake, with the most pleasing irregularity. In walking along these, the eye is attracted by the various colours of mineral gems, which are promiscuously scattered among the water-worn debris of granitic, and other rocks; and the agate, carnelian, and chalcedony are met with at every step. The size of these gems is often as large as the egg of the partridge, and their transparency and beauty of color is only excelled by the choicest oriental specimens.”

“A whole town of christian Indians, consisting of 90 men, women and children, were butchered in cold blood at Muskingum, in 1783, notwithstanding they had been our tried friends, throughout the whole of the revolutionary war.”—

“In the autumn of 1813, a detachment of soldiers, under Gen. Coffee, laid waste the Tallushatches towns where the Creeks had assembled. Women and children were among the wounded and slain, and not one warrior escaped to bear tidings to the remainder of the tribe.”

In the summer of 1788, a party of Kentucky militia set out on an expedition against the Pickewatown. They were discovered by some young hunters, pursuing the chase, who returned and gave information to their aged chieftain, Malaanthee. He refused to believe that any injury was intended them by the whites, on account of a treaty which had been executed the preceding spring. He therefore unsuspiciously advanced to meet them, holding in one hand this treaty signed by the American Commissioners, and in the other the flag of the United States, which he had received at the same time. “I, and my people,” said he, “are friends of the thirteen fires. Faithfully have we observed the treaty made with their Chiefs; and on this flag, which they gave me as a mark of friendship, I place my own and my people's protection.” A fatal blow was their answer to the hoary Chief. The white flag, stained with blood, was torn from his lifeless hand, and displayed as a trophy on the Court-house at Lexington.

This unprincipled deed is strongly contrasted with an instance of magnanimity, and inviolable friendship, recorded in Mr. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia. Col. Byrd was once sent to transact some business with the Cherokee nation; and it happened that some of our disorderly people had just murdered one or two of theirs. It was proposed in the council of the Cherokees, that Col. Byrd should be put to death, in revenge for the loss of their countrymen. Among them, was a chief named Silouéé, who on some former occasion had contracted a friendly acquaintance with Col. Byrd. Every night he came to him in his tent, telling him not to be afraid, for they should not take away his life. After many days deliberation, they however determined, contrary to Silouéé's expectation, that Col. Byrd should be put to death, and some warriors despatched as executioners. Silouéé attended them, and when they entered the tent, threw himself between them and their victim, exclaiming “this man is my friend! Before you get at him, you must kill me.” On this, the warriors returned, and the Council respected the principle so much, as to recede from their decision.

“I was astonished,” says the Rev. Mr. Heckewelder, “to hear in April 1787, a great Delaware Chief, after recapitulating some of the wrongs sustained through the whites, conclude in these words. ‘I admit that there are good white men: but they bear no proportion to the bad. The bad must be strongest; for the bad rule. They do what they please. They enslave those who are not of their colour, though created by the same Great Spirit. They would make slaves of us, if they could, but as they have not fully done it, they kill us. There is no faith in their words. They are not like us Indians, enemies only in war: in peace friends. They will say to an Indian, My friend! My brother! They will take him by the hand, and at the same moment destroy him. And so you, (addressing himself to the Christian Indians,) so you will also be treated by them before long. Remember this day have I warned you to beware of such friends as these. I know the Long-Knives: they are not to be trusted.’ Eleven months after this speech was delivered by the prophetic Chief, 96 of the same Christian Indians, about 60 of them women and children, were murdered in the very place where these words had been spoken, by the men he had alluded to, and in the manner he had described.”

The destruction of the Chehaw villages, was in the spring of 1818, by Gen. Jackson, when for the space of three days the country was ravaged, the houses burned, the provisions destroyed, the men slaughtered, and the women made captives.