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.







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.







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.





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.

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