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'•viM.rilV.; Of JNOIANS, ;''^ Ji?h Rc^ilOTi; t»RALU MES. VOL I. I. O N I) N : -*:^tly|;Mr) BENTLEY, NEW BUIUJVGTON STRJ- ET, 1841. > y' y Xi^. (!&*„ •* ■»•''>■»•«>!! •^C #"' ■'¥^ M #- >!*', e***"'**^'!' :£ ^ "fMWi' '^^'^%, -•^.n^*-* .ow^!** ■'%s ■A 1/ t i ,1^; 3ijgf -$-r- TRAVELS IK NORTH AMERICA DURINU THE YEARS 1834, 1835, & 1836. INCLUDING A SUMMER RESIDENCE WITH THE PAWNEE TRIBE OF INDIANS, IN THE REMOTE PRAIRIES OF THE MISSOURI, AND A VISIT TO CUBA AND THE AZORE ISLANDS. BV THE HON. CHARLES AUGUSTUS MURRAY. " Le voyager me semltle un exercise profitable: I'ame y a une continuelle cx- ercitation, & remarquer lea choses incognUes et nouvelles ; et je ne s^ache pas meilleure escole ^ faponner Is vie que de luy proposer incessamment la diversity de tant d'autres fantasies et usances, et luy faire gouter une si perpetuelle varietu de formes de nostre nature." — Eitaii de Montaigne, liv, 3, chap. ix. SECOND EDITION. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, Sublbijer lit (^rlluiar^ to f^tr ^ajciit)). 1841. 1,J^ ^ t LONDON : .PKrNTED BV SAMUEL BENTLEY, Bangor HoDie, Shoe Lane. i DEDICATION TO THE QUEEN. Madam, It is with mingled feelings of anxiety and gratitude that I avail myself of Your Majesty's gracious permission to inscribe to you the follow- ing Narrative. It pretends to no other merit than that of truth ; and its most ambitious object will be obtained, if it be found to afford any useful or interesting information, and thus to beguile a leisure hour stolen from Your Majesty's more grave and weighty occupations. It has been customary to clothe a dedication in the language of panegyric : I will not presume to follow the tempting precedent. Your Majesty's qualities will be attested by an Empire, and be recorded by History. Nevertheless, I trust I may IV DEDICATION. venture, unblamed, to express, on this occasion, my earnest desire, and my heartfelt prayer, that your reign may be long and happy, and that Britain may hereafter look back with regret and with pride on a Sovereign, who blended the wis- dom and energy of Queen Elizabeth with the more winning and attractive attributes of her sex. I am. Madam, With the deepest attachment and respect. Your Majesty's dutiful Subject and Servant, Charles Augustus Murray. Stuihingliam Palace, June 1839. :\\ .•.jij-«,ai i,'ri-:^\ii:;f PREFACE. /i It is very seldom that the journal of a traveller appears before the public unaccompanied by a pre- fatory declaration that it was not his original in- tention to publish, and that he has been reluctantly induced by the importunities of his friends to inform the world of the extent and particulars of his travel. A statement of this kind usually meets with as much credit as the laboured impromptu of a wit, or the professions of diffidence made by a practised speaker: as it is a matter in which the public are so little interested, I am surprised that authors should take so much pains in attempt- ing to explain it. Most travellers keep a record of the scenes through which they pass, without having, at the time, any definite intentions as to publication, leaving their after-decision to be determined by cir- cumstances ; this is generally the case with persons vi PRRFACE. V ■ \ who travel without nny scientific object, and is, probably, applicable to the following narrative. Some readers may be disposed to inquire why I have allowed two or three years to elapse between the writing and the publishing of this journal. I can offer no other satisfaction to their curiosity than by informing them that the delay has been occasioned by circumstances of a private and do- mestic nature. The careless arrangement of mate- rials, in these pages, will furnish, I am afraid, more than abundant evidence of the fact, that the ma- nuscript has been untouched during the interval, and that the original copy has been placed in the hands of my publisher, with such few verbal corrections and additions as my present occupations have permitted me to make. As the state of the Canadas has excited, of late, so much attention, I feel it my duty (in order to prevent the disappointment of those who might expect some information regarding them in these volumes) to state that my tour did not extend through those extensive and interesting provinces : it is also incumbent upon me to add, that the plates inserted, fo,r the purpose of conveying some idea of the dress and appearance of the North V PREFACE. vii American Indians, amongst whom I travelled, are not the productions of my own pencil : they are borrowed from designs already published, although not generally known in Europe : the sketch of the war-dance is from Colonel M*Kinney's American work on the Indian Tribes, now in the press ; and I am indebted for the permission to avail myself of it to the politeness of J. M. Campbell, Esq. the London Agent for this interesting national pub- lication. I Ik. m ''^fuJi^^ ^%. CONTENTS OP OF THE FIRST VOLUME. CHAPTER I. Embark at Liverpool. — Cabin and Steerage Passengers. — Whim- sical Distress of a Military Captain. — A heavy Sea. — Portuguese Man-of-war. — A false Alarm. — May Morning at Sea. — A Leak sprung : our perilous Situation. — Reflections under Danger. — Agony of Mind in one of the Passengers. — Men at the Pumps.— Increase of Danger. — The Cargo hove overboard. — Merciful Dispen- sation of the Creatoi". — Make foi^the Azores. — Dreadful Night and gloomy Morning. — Preparation for the worst. — The Author's pro- vidential Escape. — Offices of Devotion. — Resignation of the female Passengers. — A Sail in Sight. — Departure of some of the Passen- gers in the Lady Raffles, bound for London. — Threatened Mutiny. — Resolute Conduct of a young Passenger. — Arrival off Fayal. Page 1 CHAPTER IL Approach to Fayal.— Peak of Pico.— Reception by the British Consul. — The Town — its declining State. — PoHteness of the Peo- ple — Singular Custom — Inauguration of the Emperor and Em- press of Fayal. — The Fayal Authorities — Agriculture.— Donkeys. — Volcanic Formation of the Island. — Market Days. — Cruelty to an Animal. — Delightful Climate.— Rock Pigeons. — A quaint old Hunter. — Perilous Ascent. — A good Shot. — The American Con- sul and his Daughters. — Beautiful Orange Garden. — Exquisite Scenery. — Evening Parties.— Absurd Custom. — Successful Attempt to reform it. . . . . . .21 I I CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. A Marine Excursion. — Novel Mode of landing. — Dinner with Captain L.— A Portuguese Ecclesiastic. — Latin Conversation with him. — Pico Wine. — Excursion resumed. — Disagreeable Quarters. — A Storm. — Providential Escape. — Velas. — Volcanic Craters. — A buried Church. — Unlucky Search for Game. — Female Costume. — Fuel. — Return to Fayal — The Waverley again ready for Sea. — Serious Affray — its consequences.— A Street Squabble. — Cowardly Threats. — Leave Fayal. .... Page 36 CHAPTER IV. A dead Calm. — Scant Allowance of Provisions during the Voy- age. — A Whale shot. — Anchor off Sandy Hook. — The Quarantine Station. — View in the Narrows. — Variety of Shipping. — Quaran- tine Hospitals. — New York. — Iced Punch. — Land at New York. — An American Table d'hdte. — Oppressive Heat. — Episcopalian Church. — Costume of American Ladies. — Visit to Rockaway. — American Omnibus. — Desolate Marsh. — Reception by Sir C. Vaughan. — Rockaway. — Mint Julep. — The celebrated Compounder of this Nectar. . . . . . .57 CHAPTER V. Expedition up the Hudson River. — Scene of the Death of Ha- milton. — Cooper, the American Novelist. — Scenery of West Point. — Nursery for the American Army. — The Cadets — Albany — the Patroon. — Railroad to Saratoga. — Watering Places. — Mmeral Water. — Ballston. — The Trenton Falls. — An Extra Exclusive. — The Prison at Auburn — miserable Appearance of the Prisoners. — Geneva Canandaigua. — Eminent Scottish Agriculturist. — Gene- seo. — Mr. W. — Fertile Meadows. — Falls of Niagara. . 70 CHAPTER VI. Embark on Lake Ontajrio. — Toronto. — Reception by the Governor. — Lake of The Thousand Islands. — The Cholera at Montreal and Quebec. — Journey towards Lake Champlain. — Gloomy Road. — CONTENTS. XI Burlington. — Students in the College of that Town. — An Obliging Landlord. — Road to Montpelier. — The Camel's Hump. — American Liberality. — Accommodations at the Taverns. — John Bull a bad Traveller. — Hanover. — Concord. — A Criminal Trial in this Town. — Amoskeag. — Exchange of Steeds. — Lowell — its Lucrative Trade. — Approach to Boston — Arrival in that Town. — The Tremont House. — Mr. Webster. — Tone of Conversation in Boston. Page 88 CHAPTER Vn. Return to New York. — Heavy Fog. — Exploring Party. — So- ciety in New York. — Departure for Philadelphia. — Exhibition of Wild Beasts in Bordentown. — Arrival in Philadelphia. — A lineal Descendant of William Wallace. — Arrival at Washington. — British Legation. — Tour to the West of Virginia. — Wretched Roads. — A Disaster. — A Negro Samaritan. — Friendly Landlord. — Arrival at Leesburgh. — Search for Game. — Capture of a large Gobler. — Fruit called Persimmon. — Remarkable Duel. — Romney. — Excursion in pursuit of Deer. — American Agriculturist and Hunter. — Invidious Comparison. — Hospitable Laird.— Republican Doctrine of Equality — ^ludicrous Anomalies arising from this. — Survey of various Tracts of Land. — Progress of Agriculture. — Excursion to the Glades of Alleghany — Scenery — ^the Inhabitants. — Private Entertainment. — Mr. Chisholm.— Recollections of Scotland. — Scotch Sottlers. — Field Sports in the Alleghanies. . . . .104 CHAPTER Vin. Return to Washington. — The Capitol. — The Senate. — The Ladies' Gallery. — Debate on the Relations with France Mr. Clay. — Mr. Webster. — Public Demonstration on the Death of a Citizen. — Attempt upon the Life of the President — his miraculous Escape. — Mr. Calhoun. — Mount Vernon. — Observations on Wash- ington's Tomb. — Singular Occurrence illustrative of the State of Society in Louisiana. — Melancholy Appearance of the City of Washington — its Site. — Method of assessing its Inhabitants. — Ab- sence of local Attachment in American Agriculturists contrasted with the Scottish Love of Country. . . .130 \11 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. Quit Washington for a Tour in Virginia. — Voyage down the Potomac in the Champion Steamer. — Land Journey to Frederics- burgh. — Wretched Road. — Arrival at Fredericsburgh. — The Town. — House of Judge Coalter — hospitable Reception by that Gentle- man.— Writers in the Public Press. — Journey from Fredericsburgh to Richmond — Perpetual Danger of being upset. — Arrival at Rich- mond.— The Town — its Society. — Judge Marshall — his House. — Ladies of Richmond. — Embark on the James River. — Intermar- riages of the Residents on its Shores. — Plantations cultivated by Slaves. — Treatment of the Slaves. — Necessity for corporal Punish- ment. — Expense of keeping Slaves. — The Negro Character. — Do- mestic and farm-labouring Slaves, — Overseers. — Mamage of Slaves — their Religion. — Agriculture on the Banks of James River. — Law of Primogeniture. — Embark in the Patrick- Henry Steamer. — Region visited by Sir Walter Raleigh. — Cruelty of early Settlers. — James Town. — Indifference of the American People to sepulchral Relics. — Ruins of the foiTner Governor's Palace. — College endowed by William and Mary. — New Fortification at Old Point. — Arrival at Norfolk. — Bay of the Chesapeak. — Return to Washington. Page 150 CHAPTER X. Morning Ride. — Delightful Season. — Shrubs and Flowers. — The Mocking-bird. — Visit to a Flower-garden. — Preparations for a Tour in the West. — Parting from Friends. — Leave Washington for Bal- timore. — Fearful Ravages of the Cholera. — Incident in the Museum at Baltimore. — Arrival at Philadelphia. — Start for Pittsburgh. — Lovely Prospect. — Lancaster Vale. — German Settlers. — The Sus- quehanna. — The Juniata. — Track Boats. — A Newspaper Reporter. — Inquisitive Western Traveller. — Walk to Holydaysburgh. — Nocturnal Annoyance. — Passage across the Alleghanies. — Arrival at Johnstown. — The River Conimah. — Railroad. — The Alleghany River. — Pittsburgh. — The Market. — Mr. Rapp's Settlement. 178 CONTENTS. XUl CHAPTER XI. Embark on the Ohio. — Banks of the River. — Wheeling. — Re- markable Indian Mound. — Risings of the River. — Arrival at Cin- cinnati. — The Town. — The Museum. — Manufacture. — Mrs. Trol- lope's Bazaar — her erroneous Statements. — Prosperity of Cincin- nati — Hospitality of its Inhabitants. — American Servants. — The Cholera. — Contrast between the States of Ohio and Kentucky. — Character of the Kentuckians. — Brutal Method of Fighting. Page 199 CHAPTER XII. Leave Cincinnati for Louisville. — Reminiscences. — Louisville. — Republican Incongruity. — Swearing in the Western States. — Start for Lexington. — Beautiful Scenery. — Curious Sermon. — Arrival at Lexington Meeting with Miss Martineau. — General Selby's Farm. — Situation of Lexington — its Public Institutions. — System of Education in America. — Lunatic Asylum. — Evening Parties. — Musical Soiree. — A Serenade. — Mr. Clay. — Return to Louisville. — Embark for Saint Louis. — Passage down the Ohio. — Robbers' Cave. —The " Father of Waters." . . . .216 CHAPTER XIII. Situation of St. Louis. — The Catholic new Church. — General Clarke. — Embark for Fort Leavenworth. — Requisites for a Tour on the Prairie. — The Missouri — Rapidity of its Stream. — Islands. — Fatal Case of Cholera. — Changeful Climate. — Floating Obstructions. — Settlements on the Missouri. — Scarcity of Game. — Gigantic Trees. — Fertility of the Soil. — Precarious Navigation. — Magnificent Thunderstorm. — State of Health on board the Steam-boat. — Tedi- ous Progress. — Mouth of Osage River — Indian Painting. — Town of Boonville. — Price of Provisions. — Narrow Escape. — Village of Liberty. — Outfit for the Prairie. — A small Prairie. — Swampy Wood. — Reception at Fort Leavenworth — Prospect from the Heights in its Neighbourhood. — Indian Tribes. — Commemoration of the 4th of July. — Pawnee Visiters. — Indian Chorus. — Pictur- esque Scene. — Arrangement to accompany the Pawnees to their Nation. ....... 235 II it ■n XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIV. Pawnee Chiefs with whom I started. — Leave Fort Leavenworth. — Rolling Prairie. — Halting-place. — Loss of Horses Flock of Per- roquets. — Our stray Horses. — Indian Appetite. — Accidents by the Way. — Overtake the Pawnee Deputation. — Esculent Roots. — Deer-stalking in the Prairie. — A Misfortune. — Cross the Great Nimahaw River. — Party in Search of Elk. — Rejoin the Camp. — Tired Horse. — False Alarm of chill and Fever. — The Kanzas River. — My Dog killed and eaten. — Fatiguing travelling. — Friendly Re- ception. — Effect of Whisky on the Indians. — Indian Village. — Occu- pations of the Men, Women, and Children. — The old Chief. — Buf- falo Meat. — Order of March. — Pawnee Summer Lodge. — Medicine. — First Night in the Pawnee Lodge.— Dogs. Page 259 CHAPTER XV. Lavatory in the Prairie. — Picturesque Scene. — A " Brave." — Quarrel with him. — Desolate Prairie. — Prairie Dogs. — Owls and Rattlesnakes. — First View of Buffalo. — Chase of Buffalo. — Indian Butchery. — Horses stolen by the Ricaras. — Indian Method of Horse-stealing. — Discussion as to the expediency of making Re- prisals. — Present of a Buffalo Robe. — Indian Character. — A Feast. — Indian Curiosity. ..... 289 CHAPTER XVI. Indian Women. — Children. — Nursery Discipline. — Girls. — Courtship. — Marriage. — A Missionary. — Occupation and Labours of married Women. — Degradation of the half-civilized Tribes. — Education and Life of Indian Men. — An Indian Dandy. — His elaborate Toilet. — His Effeminacy. — Game of the Javelin. — Indian Courage. ...... 307 CHAPTER XVIL Ceremonies attendant on the Buffalo Chase. — Adventures with Buffalo. — Number ctf Beasts slain. — Night Attack of the Shiennes. — The Conflict. — War Songs. — A Council. — Religion. — Great Spirits and other Deities. — Religious Ceremonies. — Notions of Futiuity. — *^V Ji ? W-J. ■ JH ' I ' J i ^.li CONTENTS. XV Months anrl Years.— Office of Soldiers.— A " Ceme," or " Sur- round."— Buffalo Hunt.— Preparation of Buffalo Skins.— Strange Fuel.— March resumed.— Otoe chief. — Deadly Feud between two Brothers. — Great Medicine Feast.— Impromptu Oration. — Indian Eloquence.— Grace before Meat Rapid Feeding. — Method of In- vitation to a Feast.— Contrasted Temperature. — Change in the Aspect of the Country. . . . Page 325 : i CHAPTER XVIII. A Stampedo. — Number of Horses in the Encampment. — Mo- cassins. — Prickly Pears — Feet wounded by them. — Indian Sur- gery. — Improvident Inactivity. — Desire to return to the civilised World. — Indian Extortion.— Medical Faculty. — Mode of Practice. — Stroll after Nightfall. — Narrow Escape. — Scarcity of Water. — Haitans. — Buffalo Hunt. — Dinner on raw Buffalo Meat. — Long Shot at an Antelope. — Advantage of the Bow over the Rifle in Buffalo Hunting. — Value of the Buffalo to the Western Tribes. — An Accident. — Extraordinary Spot. — Bird Nesting. — My Library. — Thoughts of Home. — Herd of Buffalo. . . . 850 % CHAPTER XIX. Camp moved. — Medicine Council. — Preparation for Hunting.— Martial Appearance of the Chief — his Costume. — The Author's Hunting-dress. — Conversation with the Chief. — Equipment of the Warriors. — Forced March. — Attack the Herds. — Dangerous Con- flict. — Sorry Steed. — Unhorsed Indian. — A young Bull shot. — A Hunter's Meal. — Suspicious Intruders. — Perplexing Situation. — A Friend in Need. — Return to the Camp, . . . S78 CHAPTER XX. Medicine Ceremonies. — Instance of ungovernable Temper and Cruelty in a young Indian. — Indian Horse-dealers. — Bargaining Anecdotes — Hiring a Guide. — Knavery of the Great Chief. — Hunt- ing Party of Delawares and Shawnees. — Conversation with them. — Dislike of the Pawnees to their new Guests. — Pride of the Dela- wares. — Unequal Conflict. — Skilful Retreat. — Delaware and Shaw- nee Languages. — Departure of the Visiters. . . 40 1 ) S ' XVI CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXI. Interview with the Great Chief. — Telescope regained. — Stock of Provisions for the Journey. — Indian Knavery. — Disinterested Ge- nerosity. — Exchange of Horses. — Message from the Great Chief. — A " Talk." — Invitation to the Great Chief. — Presents made to him, — Want of Cleanliness among the Pawnees. — Splendid Day- break. — Valedictory Speeches. — A vicious Horse. — Journey home- ward commenced. — Herd of Buffalo. — Successful Shot. — Evening Camp. — Mosquittoes. — Serious Accident. — Defection of our Guide. — Return to the Pawnees. — Repulsive Scene. — Indian Mourning. — Reception at the Lodge of Sii-ni-tsJl-rish . Page 418 CHAPTER XXII. Commission intrusted to the Canadian Interpreter. — Arrange- ment with two Indian Guides. — IVta^-la^'-cha'ro— Indications of his Malignity. — Leave the Pawnees. — Harangue of the Guide. — Dinner. — March resumed. — Fearful Storm. — Indian Superstition. — Morning after the Storm. — Ramble in Search of Game. — Antelope. — A narrow Escape. — An Indian Hunter — Conversation with him. — Lose my Party. — Visit to an Indian Camp. — My Reception there. ....... 442 CHAPTER XXIIL Unpleasant Predicament. — Set forth in search of my Party. — Night Wanderings. — Rejoin my Friends. — Journey resumed. — Evening Camp. — Prairie Wolves. — Scotch Servant.— The Ameri- can Lad. — Conversation with the Guide — Enoimous Rattlesnake. —Indian Manoeuvre. — Danger from Snakes An Antelope Shot. —A Bath.— Our Feast.— Meeting with Pawnee Hunters Their Conference with our Guides.— Consultation with my Companions. — Desertion of the Guides.— Difficulties of our Situation Com- mencement of my Officp as Guide. . . . 460 n\ >i^»«-~. TRAVELS IN THE UNITED STATES, etc. CHAPTER I. Embark at Liverpool. — Cabin and Steerage Passengers. — Whimsical Distress of a Military Captain. — A heavy Sea. — Portuguese Man-of-war. — A false Alarm. — May Morning at Sea.— A Leak sprung : our perilous Situation. — Reflections under Danger. — Agony of Mind in one of the Passengers. — Men at the Pumps. — Increase of Danger. — The Cargo hove overboard, — Merciful Dispensation of the Creator. — Make for the Azores. — Dreadful Night and gloomy Morning. — Prepa- ration for the worst. — The Author's providential Escape. — Offices of Devotion. — Resignation of the female Passengers. — A Sail in Sight. — Departure of some of the Passengers in the Lady Raffles, bound for London. — Threatened Mutiny. — Resolute Conduct of a young Passenger. — Arrival off Fayal . / On the 18th of April 1834, I embarked at Liver- pool, on board the American ship Waverley, bound for New York. Although not one of those regular packets which have attained so just a celebrity for their beauty, comfort, and sailing qualities, she was a fine new vessel of 530 tons ; and as I was accom- panied by an admiral in the British Navy when I VOL. I. B STEEUAGE PASSENGERS. I i secured my berth, I considered myself thereby jus- tified in my selection. We sailed at 5 a. m. with a steady light breeze from the E. S. E. The cabin passengers consisted of three ladies with nurses, maids, &c., three or four young gentlemen, who were going to settle in Canada, an architect, a captain in the army, a Ger- man wine-merchant and his son, and a dissenting minister. About a hundred and fifty emigrants of the poorest class, mostly Irish, were in the steerage, and I never saw a more ragged squalid assemblage than that which now thronged the deck of the Waverley. Poor fellows ! few of them seemed to have friends or kindred on the shore that we were leaving, and they sat huddled together round the long boat and the hen-coops, while some of the sailors and passengers were waving hands and handkerchiefs amid cheers for our safe voyage, and the thousand farewell devices invented by the ingenuity of affection. The breeze freshened from the eastward, and bore us merrily down the Channel : the ship bounded forward under a press of canvass ; while the light spray dashed from her bows, and the line of foam in her wake, joined to a motion too perceptible to be unfelt by landsmen, soon told us that we were on the open sea. On the morn- ing of the 19th, I heard a voice in the next cabin to mine, singing .with a faint attempt at cheer- y PORTUGUESE MAN OF WAR. 3 fulness ; opening my door to catch the air and words, I discovered that the vocalist was the mili- tary captain, who was endeavouring to cheat him- self into good spirits by singing " I 'm rather sick," " I feel very queer," to the tunes of " Home, sweet home," " I 'd be a Butterfly," and other prevalent airs. For a week, the wind continued favourable, and we made an average way of eight or nine knots an hour; on the 26th it freshened so much that our top-gallant-sails were taken in and the topsails reefed. A heavy sea "got up," and most of the passengers (myself included) were afflicted with that oppressive nausea which the worthy captain described in the above p^ithetic strains : the ship rolled heavily, and six water-casks, which had been faultily secured in the steerage, broke loose, were instantly staved in, and drenched the unfortunate steerage passengers, causing no little alarm and confusion among them. On this day I saw for the first time that beauti- ful little wanderer of the ocean called by the sailors " the Portuguese man-of-war ;" he spreads his light sail in all weathers, and delights to float lazily in a calm ; but it is when an angry restless sea is lit up by a fitful sunshine, that he is seen to most advantage. He dances so buoyantly on the crest of the waves ; and the transparent filmy wings with which he sails along, give back so mai^ varied i 1. 4 FALSE ALARM. colours to the sun, that few of the tiny inhabitants of air or eurth are so pretty to look upon.* On the 27th and two following days it blew very hard, and the wind having shifted to the N. W. we were obliged to lie-to for many hours. An accident occurred which was productive of tem- porary alarm. I was walking on the quarter-deckf with the captain about mid-day, when a cry arose that the " ship was on fire!" The ladies' cabin was filled with smoke accompanied by a strong smell of burning wood ; one of its fair tenants fainted away, another screamed, and all jumped from their berths and sofas in confusion and affright. Cap- tain Phillips was preparing for a descent into the lower deck to examine, and make the requisite exertions, when he suddenly recollected the em- ployment of some sailors astern ; and, hastening thither, we found a tar busily employed in burning a hole in the ear of a bucket with a red-hot mar- lingspike, the smoke and smell of which operation passed directly through the stern-windows into the * The Portuguese man-of-war is of the "Medusa" species, and its proper name in natural history is " Physalia." When taken out of the water it is very small, and covered with poisonous prickles, producing on the skin (if carelessly handled) an irritation similar to that caused by a nettle. f I deprecate the criticism of nautical readers, and beg to inform them, that I use synonymously " quarter-deck" and ** poop," in the belief that (although these may be technical errors) my meaning will be intelligible. MAY MORNING AT SEA. 5 ladies' cabin, and occasioned the alarm above men- tioned. It was of short duration, but the first impression caused hy the cry of fire, when there is a hrivy sea running, and no land within a thousand rrnles, is not by any means agreeable* and I confess that I breathed more freely when the doubt was resolved by the old sailor and his hot iron. We might feel disposed to quarrel with that rapidity of thought which thus induces man to invest smoke with the terrors of fire, were it not for the compensating power of mind which also enables him to catch glimmerings of hope where reason and experience would despair. The morning of the 1st of May was bright and cheerful, the clouds were broken into light fleecy masses, which now obscured, now revealed the rays of the sun, with that changeful alternation which gives to the "soote season" its well-deserved character for life, and youth, and mirth, on which every poet, of ancient and of modern times, has exhausted the richest treasures of his fancy : but for us, in the Waverley, there were no opening blossoms, " no carolling larks, no new-born flocks in rustic dance," to usher in the " flowery May ;" and as I looked over the ship's side, on the deep green waste of waters, busy thought carried me back to the smiling valleys of my father-land, and even Jack in the Green and Maid Marian., with the swarthy imps dancing round them in the m 6 A LEAK SPRUNG. streets of London, were, for a time, remembered with regret. The evening closed in without any indication of storm or danger. About 7 o'clock p. m. I was whiling away my time at a game of drafts with a passenger, when Mr. (who being the only person in our party who had made the voyage to New York, was a kind of self-appointed cabin-oracle as to weather, longitude, &c.) appeared in the cabin; I felt a convulsive movement of his hand as he laid it on my arm, and on looking up, I observed that his face was white and haggard with agitation; at length it found utterance in the following words : — " Sir, the ship has sprung a leak ! " I defy any writer to describe exactly, or any reader to understand, the^r*; sensations occasioned by an announcement of this nature, unless he has experienced them ; for each succeeding suggestion, as the mind glanced over it with the rapidity of lightning, only seemed to magnify the peril of our situation, and almost to shut out hope ; we were about 1200 miles from Liverpool and much more distant from New York, a high sea running, and only provided with boats which, in a calm, might contain one fourth of the number on board. The incessant creaking of the pumps, and the voice of the mate urging the men to continued exertion, showed that Mr. 's information was but too correct. In answer to my further inquiry he told me that there was much water in the hold, REFLECTIONS UNDER DANGER. 7 and that as far as he could learn it had neither diminished nor gained gr ^uhd since the pumps began to work. Here was at least some ground for hope, so I intreated him not to communicate the fact to the ladies who were all in the after cabin, but to wait until the morning, when, per- haps, some favourable change might occur : he ac- quiesced in this view; but having gone into *he ladies' cabin to speak to his wife, a shrill scream from within soon apprized me that either his face or his tongue had told all. In a few minutes I went on deck and saw Cap- tain Phillips alone on the poop. Being well aware how ill-timed and how hateful to all seamen, under such circumstances, are the inquiries of passengers respecting " danger" and such particulars, I merely said, " Captain, can I be of any use ?" The answer being, " Thank you, sir, not to-night," I went again below and retired to my own cabin. There are seasons when the mind, shut out from all intercourse with the world around, communes with itself and with the Almighty who formed it. When these meditations are aroused and quickened by the prospect of death, of a death, too, where the spirits and the frame are not excited by exertion, they embrace the past, the present, and the future, with a comprehensiveness and rapidity almost su- pernatural ; conscience wakes from the drowsy bed where it has been too long a sluggard, and me- mory, as if touched by Ithuriel's spear, starts into ) , I h '^ 8 A father's agony. gigantic power and energy. Together, they draw back the veil from scenes long past and long for- gotten, and present a picture for the soul to con- template, so wide in its range, so minute in its details, so terribly faithful in its representations, that she would turn from it in dread and despair, were not the horizon lighted up by the sunshine of mercy unspeakably bright and boundless in extent. Of the thoughts that crowded on my own mind, during the first watches of this night, it is not fitting that I should say anything. I will only record with gratitude that before midnight I fell fast asleep, and when I awoke at the usual hour on the follow- ing morning, I might have thought the scene of the preceding evening a dream, had not the con- tinued and ceaseless creaking of the pumps as- sured me of its reality. On reaching the deck, I learned that the leak was much in the same state, and that the incessant pumping throughout the night had not diminished the water in the hold. Few of the passengers appeared at breakfast, and, among those few, but little conversation passed. I could not help feel- ing for the irrepressible agony of mind evinced by H , the German wine-merchant, who had cross- ed the Atlantic to bring over his son, a fine boy of twelve years old. From my speaking to him in his native language he was more communicative with me than with the other passengers, and taking my arm in the greatest agitation he said. MEN AT THE PUMPS. 9 " Is it not too hard ? I care not for myself, but my poor boy, whom I have with such difficulty separated from his mother, must I see him drown- ed before my eyes?" I endeavoured to comfort him with hopes which I did not entertain very strongly myself. In such emergencies, exertion is both a duty and a resource ; and, hastening on deck, I found the captain busy in dividing all the able-bodied men on board into " gangs," who were to work the pumps successively, each taking an hour's labour at a time : every gang contained eight men, four of whom rested and worked alternately for an hour, when another was called to replace them ; by thus dividing the fatigue among so many, it was hoped that we might hold out until we reached land; and as the wind blew strong from the west, and the ship was found to make more water when beat- ing against the sea than when going free, the cap- tair, directing the whole of his efforts to preserve life, put her about, and made all sail for the nearest port of Europe. Meantime I threw off my coat, jumped dowr among the Paddies on deck, joined myself to a " gang," and pumped away lustily, endeavouring to keep up their spirits, and stimulate their exer- tions. The younger passengers in the cabin did so likewise, and the unanimity and good-humour with which the labour was performed contributed much to banish the recollection of our danger, and the it I 10 CARGO HOVE OVERBOARD. \ il \'i" gloomy thoughts which it would otherwise have engendered. All our eflforts, however, although continued without intermission for twenty-four hours, seem- ed likely to prove unavailing, for on the morning of the 3rd, the water in the hold was found to have gained upon us considerably, and of course the chance of our foundering was proportionably increased. Captain Phillips no longer hesitated to put in practice an expedient which he had con- scientiously deferred as long as possible, namely, to ease the ship by heaving over half her cargo. The leak had not been discovered, but he believed it to be owing to the starting of one of her tim- bers, occasioned by the unequal pressure of pig- iron, a great quantity of which was stowed away in the lower hold. Under this belief he expected much advantage from relieving the vessel of a portion of this iron, which is well known to be the most stiff, unyielding, and dangerous cargo that a ship, so circumstanced, could have on board.* Here then was opened a new field for exertion, and new food for hope ; the main-hatch was taken off, and gangs were again selected to hand the cargo from the hold, and heave it overboard : in this also I took my share, and can aver that it was most laborious work, rendered more so by the rolling of the ship, and by the slipperiness of the * At Fayal this conjecture proved to have been correct. '■^1 I I IIWI r?^^ CARGO HOVE OVERBOARD. II deck which was constantly flooded with water : as the heaviest goods (iron and caged-tin) were near the bottom of the hold, we were obliged, before we could reach them, to heave over seventy or eighty enormous crates of earthenware, and they being too ponderous to be raised over the bulwarks (without employing mechanic power of which the circumstances would not admit) they were broken up on deck, and their contents thrown pell-mell into the sea. In spite of the danger of our -situation, it was impossible to avoid laughing outright at the scene parsing upon deck. A dozen of Ireland's most wild and ragged sons were collected round the crate, its fastenings were destroyed in a moment, and the unfortunate crockery exposed to treatment most rude and merciless ; saucers, cups, plates, basins, were sent overboard without comment, but the quaint observations and strange gestures of the Paddies as they handled sauce-boats, tureens, and other utensils, which many of them had never seen before, were amusing in the highest degree. One fellow, wishing to show more strength and dexterity than his neighbours, was staggering under a great load of plates, when the ship gave a lurch, and he was washed off his legs, and rolled with the broken fragments of his crockery, in the lee-scup- pers. The labour of getting rid of the cargo, added to the pumping, was continued the whole I 12 MERCIFUL DISPENSATION. 1 ' i i day ; towards noon we got at the tin and iron, and at sunset, the mate calculated that we had heaved over twenty ton of crockery, and seventy ton of metal. Here I must pause, to dwell for a moment on the illustration, afforded by our present circum- stances, of the inscrutable wisdom and mercy of that Being whom we are constantly incensing by our disobedience, and insulting by our ignorant complaints, but who, nevertheless, bears with our infirmities, and often compels us to love and ad- miration by making the very grievances of which we complain the visible instruments of our pre- servation. This reflection was suggested by looking at the scene on deck ; for, during the first week of the voyage, we (in the cabin) had often com- plained of the smell, dirt, and other nuisances occasioned by the number of emigrants stowed in the steerage, most of whom were, as I have said, of the most wretched and ragged class that Ireland exports to the colonies ; and we had often re- marked how much more agreeable the voyage would have been had they not come on board. Had our wish been granted, our term of life had now been short indeed ! — if the ship's complement had consisted only of the crew and cabin passengers, we should have been, ere this, worn down by fatigue, and unable to keep her afloat ; for, besides the ordinary sailors' duty, the pumps required six STORMY NIGHT. 13 men at work without intermission, day and night, while the heaving over the cargo found full em- ployment for twenty more ! During the whole of the 3rd the wind blew fresh from the north, and the captain made all sail for the Azores, which islands were between two and three hundred miles to the south. In the evening it changed to the south-west ; and, gradually in- creasing in violence, before midnight became a heavy gale. It was indeed a dreadful night ; several storms of hail, the stones of which were larger than any I had ever seen in Europe, fell in rapid suc- cession ; the ship laboured and rolled so heavily that it was with great difficulty I could cling to my berth, while trunks, boxes, and everything not securely lashed, rolled about the cabin, mak- ing a din sufficient to keep even weariness from sleep. In the morning I scrambled on deck, clothed in a thick jacket ; and, partially sheltered under the weather bulwarks, held fast to the rigging. I had read of storms at sea, but my conception had never figured anything so terrible as the scene be- fore me. A lurid saffron light mingled with the dusky blackness of the clouds, which resembled the effect of some wide-spread conflagration at night, rather than the light of day ; the ship, after an ineffectual attempt at lying-to, was scudding under bare poles ; every stick had been reduced. 14 GLOOMY PROSPECT. ' " and a storm-jib, which had been set a few minutes before I came on deck, was blown into ribands ! The might of the ocean was now aroused, and the large ship was a cock-boat ; three men were lashed to the helm, watching every plunge of her bows, and careful to save her from being struck by any of the tremendous seas which were sometimes tower- ing high over her yard-arm. Captain Phillips, who had been familiar with the Atlantic for two-and-twenty years, (and who had behaved throughout this trying scene with admir- able firmness and self-possession,) assured me that never in winter or in summer had he encountered weather so severe, while the rolling of the ship rendered it almost impossible to work the pumps, fc: sometimes they would scarcely draw, and the men could not keep on their legs ; the hatches were closed, and the hold could not be sounded, but it was too certain, under these circumstances, that the leak was gaining ground. I saw the mate place an axe by the foot of the mast, a symp- tom which, together with the glances he inter- changed with the captain, convinced me that they were preparing for the worst. To complete the gloom of the prospect we were driving with head- long speed to the north-east, that is, directly con- trary to the quarter where was our only hope of finding a harbour. I seriously believed that our appointed time was at hand, when my reflections were disturbed by a I . Mi OFFICES OF DEVOTION. 15 sudden cry of warning from Captain Phillips, (who sprung up the weather mizen-shrouds with the activity of a cat,) but before I could catch his meaning, or look around, a heavy sea struck us and broke over the quarter-deck, sweeping every- thing moveable before it. I was unconscious of anything further until I found myself stuck in the lee-rigging, being thus providentially saved from being carried over-board. Drenched, bruised, and having lost my oil-skin hat, I retreated below, ensconced myself in my berth ; and, favoured by the preceding day's fatigue and a sleepless night, con- trived ere long to fall asleep. Early in the afternoon I went again on deck, and found that the gale had abated in violence; but there was still a very heavy sea, and the pumps were worked with difficulty. The dissenting mi- nister, (although not a man of powerful mind or energy,) was a serious and sincere Christian ; with the consent of the captain, he called together on deck from cabin, forecastle, and steerage, all who were disposed to join in the offices of devo- tion ; and after a prayer appropriate to the cir- cumstances in which we were placed, proceeded to read that magnificent portion of Scripture, where the Psalmist, after describing the wonderful works of the Almighty, displayed on the deep in storm and terror, completes and concludes his graphic de- scription with those merciful and consoling words, " He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves i' \ I 16 CONDUCT Ol- THE LADIES. thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet : so He bringeth them unto their desired haven."* Most of the labourers and sailors listened with serious attention ; but, alas ! there were some, es- pecially among the latter, who sneered and scoffed at the exercise in which we were engaged, and I heard one fellow say to his messmate, " I say. Jack, this d — d gale c' wind and leak has all been owing to the parson ; if I could have had my way, we'd have heaved him overboard long before this ?" Such is human nature, when degraded by igno- rance and vice, and untouched by mercy or by grace. Later in the evening, the wind fell, and the sea subsided; the pumps worked more easily; and, as soon as it was daylight on the following morning, we were able to resume the labour of heaving over the cargo. The conduct of the ladies fhroughout this trying scene was most exemplary ; and although the rela- tion of sister, child, and husband, involved in com- mon danger with them, added sharper pangs to the natural terror inspired by their situation, they were almost universally composed and resigned. On the 5th,. the wind continued still to head us off from our attempt at reaching the Azores ; at 2 p. M. we made a sail on the weather-bow ; we hoisted signals of distress ; she noticed them, and bore down towards us : the weather being now • Ps. 107, V. 23, et seq. because to their led with 3me, es- l scoflPed ., and I " I say, all been ny way, e this ?" •y igno- ! or by el], and i easily; allowing hour of s trying he rela- in com- angs to DF.FAHTURE OF PASSENGERS. IT moderate, she lowered a boat and sent a mate and half-a-dozen men on board of us. She proved to be the Lady Raffles, from Bengal, bound for Lon- don ; they said that if we were in extreme danger, they could take a dozen or two of our comple- ment, but that they were very crowded, had still one thousand two hundred miles to run, and were scant both of water and provisions. Great was the doubt and dispute and anxiety amidst our passengers, as to who should leave our unlucky ship, and return in safety to England. The German merchant, Mr. the architect and his wife, with one or two others in the cabin, who had been throughout most subdued and depressed by terror, determined at once to leave the ship : there was a fearful conflict in the mind of one of our passengers, who had been, I believe, a lawyer in the west of Scotland, and had now sailed with his family for Canada, where he intended permanently to reside. I felt much for him, as he asked my advice whether he should return or remain. I told him that I could offer him no advice as I was alone, and he had his wife and children on board, but that I myself intended certainly to remain : he decided upon the latter course. While our departing passengers were collecting their baggage, I overheard a few words which fell from one of the Irish labourers, at which I could not refrain from smiling. I was rather a favourite among these poor fellows, as I had joked with VOL. r. c 18 IRISH LAUOUREUS. '■ them, and encouraged them nt the pumps ; many of them had worked at the harvest, in the west of Scotland, and knew my family, so they call me the young Scotch lord. They gathered eagerly to- wards the quarter-deck to learn who and how many were about to leave the ship : I then over- heard one of them say, ** We '11 just see what the young Scotch lord does ; if he stays, it 's all right." Indeed, I think it probable that if I and two or three more of the cabin passengers had gone on board the Lady Raffles, these fellows would have considered themselves deserted, and believing their case to be hopeless, might have become quite un- manageable. As Mr. went over the ship's side I cau- tioned him strongly against alarming our friends and relations in England, by spreading reports of our danger on his return, and in half an hour we saw him and his companions safely placed on the deck of the Indiaman : * we returned to our pump- ing and heaving out cargo, making every exer- tion to reach the Azores. For three days these la- bours continued without intermission ; the lighten- ing of the ship had produced a sensible effect upon the leak, but it was still so nearly balanced by the power of the pumps, that the latter could not be suspended for ten minutes in three hours, without * I am sorry to add that this caution was neglected, and that on the arrival of the Lady Raffles, reports of our having been left at sea in a hopeless condition were widely circulated. I : I ! TIIURATENED MI'TINY. 19 many vest of lie tlie •ly to- 1 how I over- lat the right." two or one on Id have ig their lite un- ited, and Ir having Irculated. risk. We were at one time threatened with a mu- tiny, on the subject of ardent spirits, which the steerage-passengers insisted upon having served out, whereas it had been determined from the first day jf the leak to lock up the spirit-room, which did not contain a three days' supply for the number of claimants, who would have been more ungovern- able while it lasted, and discontented when it was finished ; so the captain firmly adhered to his reso- lution. A few of them, whose turn it was to pump, refused to work unless they got some whisky ; he told them they might be drowned, but that they should be drowned sober, not drunk. We prepared our fire-arms in the cabin to defend the spirit-room in case of necessity. Meantime the resolute courage of the captain of the gang on duty (who was a powerful young man from Anglesea) settled the question ; he called out his men by rotation, and the first recusant he knocked down with his fist, the second he treated in the same manner, when seeing that he was de- termined, and that although they could get no whisky, they might, through a few minutes more delay, be drowned, they caught hold of the pump ; I jumped in among them, and we worked away as merrily as if nothing had happened. The breeze having continued favourable for twenty-four hours, we were rejoiced on the 8th by the cry of " land a-head ;" it proved to be Graci- osa, the northernmost of the Azores. In the even- c 2 i I ''il \Uti ■< ' 20 ARRIVAL OFF FAYAL. ing we shortened sail, and on the morning of the 9th were off Fayal. I leave it for the reader to imagine the sensations of delight and gratitude which accompanied the first view of this desired haven, after the fatigue and danger to which we had for nine days been exposed. ^ III ^ V is 1 f ! M i APPROACH TO FAYAL. 21 CHAPTER II. Approach to Fayal. — Peak of Pico — Reception by the 3ritiish Consul. — The Town — its declining State. — Politeness of the People. — Singular Custom. — Inauguration of the Emperor and Empress of Fayal. — The Fayal Authorities. — Agriculture. — Donkeys. — Volcanic Formation of the Island.— Market Days. — Cruelty to an Animal. — Delightful Climate. — Rock Pigeons. — A quaint old Hunter. — Perilous Ascent. — A good Shot. — The American Consul and his Daughters. — Beautiful Orange Garden. — Exquisite Scenery. — Evening Parties. — Absurd Custom. — Successful Attempt to reform it. The opening of these western islands from the north is strikingly beautiful. At first sight the round sloping hills of Fayal recall the Isle of Man to remembrance, but the soft air, the verdure, the orange groves, tell of a gentler climate ; while the Peak of Pico, with his lofty summit towering above a wreathed mantle of clouds, looks down upon the cluster of isles beneath with the pride of a moun- tain autocrat. After passing through the strait which separates Pico from Fayal, and rounding two bold headlands in the latter island, the town gradually opens upon the view; it is of a crescent form, the streets having followed the indented mar- gin of the bay, and the hills, by which it is sur- 22 THE TOWN. rounded on three sides, are covered with orange, lemon, lime, box, geranium, and other beautiful shrubs. On landing, we went to the house of the British Consul, Mr. Walker, from whom we experienced a kind and hospitable reception ; indeed, he pressed Captain and myself with so much sincerity to take up our abode with him that we could not de- cline so agreeable an offer. — Fayal does not boast of an inn or tavern of any description ; — the other cabin passengers were billetted in different half- occupied half-furnished houses, while the steerage emigrants were all quartered in a spacious convent which had been dismantled and pillaged by some of the adherents of Don Pedro : meanwhile the poor Waverley would have sunk in the harbour had not the captain hired relays of Portuguese boatmen to pump her out continually until arrangements could be made for heaving her down, there being no dry dock in any port of the Azores. The town consists principally of one long strag- gling street, from which many smaller ones branch off at right angles. The buildings are generally whitewashed and have a cleanly appearance, but there are many and evident marks of declining trade, population, and wealth : some large houses are empty, others going to ruin, and the public build- ings (which are spacious picturesque edifices, with no pretensions to architecture) are in a miserable state of dilapidation ; one of them seems to perform SINGULAR CUSTOM. 23 orange, jautiful British ;nced a pressed erity to not de- >t boast le other It half- teerage convent some of iie poor had not tmen to ts could no dry the functions of all the rest, as it answers the various purposes of customhouse, treasury, home and fo- reign office, a barrack, and a college ! Some of the houses attest by their shattered doors and broken windows that they belonged to Miguelites during the late civil war. The Pedro party is quite tri- umphant here, their few and feeble opponents hav- ing migrated to other islands. A stranger is much struck by the extraordinary and somewhat incon- venient politeness shown to him by all classes in the street : those in the upper ranks of life take off their hats and bow ; and the peasantry and labour- ers stand still and uncovered, while making way for him to pass. On the evening after our arrival I witnessed a curious procession, the origin and description of which may be so far interesting, as throwing some light upon the habits and religious prejudices of the inhabitants. The island of Fayal is divided into eig'it parishes, of which three are in the town. In each of these are chosen, on every successive Sunday between Easter and Whitsunday, an Em- peror and an Empress ; they are elected by univer- sal suffrage of their fellow parishioners, from the middle and lower orders, their office lasting, of course, one week : they may or may not be related to each other, and have no power, authority, or privilege of any kind; on the contrary, they are obliged to furnish wax candles for the churches on the day of their inauguration, and to provide a cer- 24 INSTALLATION. tain quantity of food for the poor^ and a treat of wine and other drink to their companions. The ceremony may probably cost them twenty or thirty dollars ; and yet, such is the force of prejudice and habit, that even in the present depressed and im- poverished state of the island, this empty distinc- tion is sought with the greatest avidity by men who can scarcely find wherewithal to feed or clothe themselves and their families. I am assured, it is by no means uncommon for their imperial honours to be preceded, or followed, by a few weeks' imprison- ment for debt. On the day of their installation they go in pro- cession through the streets with flags and banners, discordant music, and still more discordant cries, to the church, where the priest places a silver-tinsel crown upon their heads and performs other trifling ceremonies. As they pass along, they receive from many houses tribute of a small donation, which is offered by them at the church, for the Holy Ghost, in honour of whom the festival is said to have been originally instituted : a collection is always made, because it appears to be the custom of the lower orders when attacked by sickness or disease, to go io bed, and, taking neither remedy nor medical advice, to vow so many farthings to the Holy Ghost on this occasion, in the event of their reco- very. The evening is closed by drinking and dancing to a jingling guitar, until fatigue and in- toxication terminate the feast. THE FAYAL AUTHORITIES. 25 Such is a brief outline of the inauguration of the Emperor and Empress of Fayal. " Take physic. Pomp ! " and see how low, even in human estimation, the imperial name may fall ! If in future ages our disembodied spirits are permitted to recall and review the scenes in which they min- gled while on earth, perhaps the glories, the trea- sures, the quarrels and jealousies of the rulers of nations will appear as trifling, as worthless and ephemeral, as the idle pageant above described.* The Fayal authorities, whether civil, military, or ecclesiastic, seem to be very unimportant per- sonages both as to their duties and appointments. The police, such as it is, appears to be under the control of f\ prefect and subordinate officers, who also attend the custom-house, the prohibitory re- gulations of which are as severe as in the frontier districts of Prussia or Austria. During my stay, the military governor's force consisted of a few recruits miserably drilled and accoutred ; the artil- lery boasted of eleven men and a lieutenant ; while the religious establishments were directed by an Ouvidor or superintendant, responsible to a supe- rior resident at Ter9eira, the latter being the * Conf. Schiller's Piccolomini, Act iii. Sc. 3. *' So mlisst es einem seligen Geiste seyn, Der aus den Wohnungen der evigen Frende. Zu seinen Kinder-spielen, und Geschiiften, Zu seinem Neigungen, und Bruderschaften, Zum ganzen armen Menscheit wiederkehrte I " VOL. I. c 5 26 AGRICULTURE. i: ill -: deputy of the Bishop of the Azores, who was at this time (1834) supposed to be with Don Pedro's army. The agriculture of the island is as remarkable for laborious industry, as for the av/kwardness and want of skill with which that industry is applied. The hills are cultivated to the very top, while many of the more fertile spots in the valleys are exhausted by overcropping, and rendered unpro- ductive by neglect. The vintage had failed for several successive years ; but the proprietors of farms, who are generally merchants in the town, could not lower the rents in consequence of their commercial losses ; the natural consequence is that the soil has been burthened and exhausted in the attempt to extract from it an unusual quantity of produce. The carts, drawn only by oxen and cows, are huge ponderous machines, with enor- mous wheels very narrow in the tire. As might be expected, they cut an unpaved road into holes and ruts in a very few days. The jolting and creaking sounds emitted by the dry axles of these primitive vehicles, prevent any conversation from trespassing in their neighbourhood. The streets are execrably paved, and altogether the most favourable I ever saw for the production of broken shins and sprained ankles. There are very few horses or ponies on the island, donkeys being used for those excursions which are too long to be performed on fo6t by the elderly merchants I : VOLCANIC FORMATION. 27 and ladies. Wc had many amusing scenes with these obstinate though sure-footed animals, while making trips of pleasure to the gardens and villas above the town ; for they knew so well the roads leading to their favourite haunts or stables, that they were very little disposed to consult the wishes of their riders as to the line of march, and a dis- pute upon this point was generally accompanied by smart blows on one side, and sundry active and absurd flourishes of the heels on the other. The volcanic formation of the island meets the eye in every quarter : the houses are built and the streets are paved with lava, and many of the rough stones lying about the hills and in the leds of the streams, look as if they were quite fresh from the furnace. There seems to be no scarcity of domestic animals. On the market days, which are Thursday and Sunday, the town wears a very busy appearance. An ordinary cow is worth four- teen or fifteen dollars, a pig two, a sheep one and a half, and fowls are sold at a shilling each English money. A few days after our arrival, an incident oc- curred, which shows the necessity for extending Mr. Martin's act beyond the shores of Great Bri- tain. A ragged fellow, employed occasionally as a sedan-chairman, bought a miserable donkey for three shillings, and putting a rope round the poor animal's neck dragged it about the town, vocife- rating its merits, and endeavouring to make some p , * J II 28 CRUELTY TO AN ANIMAL. ' ('. profit by reselling it ; presently it was so exhausted by fatigue and weakness that it dropped down in the street ; he beat it most unmercifully with a cudgel till he broke one of its legs, and dragged it for- ward on its side, while a rabble of boys and street- vagabonds drew it by the tail, threshing it with thongs and sticks. I was sitting at dinner in the English Consul's house when these wretches, with the victim of their cruelty, passed before the win- dows. I caught up a loaded gun and sallied forth to the rescue ; but the poor creature was past all hope of recovery from the blows and wounds it had already received. I lost no time, however, in terminating its sufferings by lodging the charge of my gun in its brain. Meanwhile, the chairman worked himself into a great fury, stamped, tore his hair, shook his fist, and poured forth a torrent of Portuguese Billingsgate, which produced little effect upon me, who did not understand it. He also threatened to appeal to the judge ; a threat which he was too prudent to put in execution, being well aware that his own conduct would not have met with judicial approbation. I never, in any other part of the world, enjoyed a climate so delightful. At mid-day the sun was powerful ; but the heat was always tempered by the fresh ocean-breeze, which prevented any sen- sation of lassitude. I frequently amused myself by long walks into the interior in pursuit of quails, which were abundant ; but as, at this season, they AN OLD HUNTER. 29 were chiefly in the standing crops, my sport was thereby much curtailed. Sometimes, indeed, I ventured to trespass therein, but was generally recalled to a sense of my offence by loud cries from the labourers. I must own that they were very good-humoured on these occasions, and never carried their warnings to the length of threats or incivility. I went out several times in search of rock- pigeons. These birds are not unlike the blue pigeons found in the islands on the west coast of Scotland. They are small, slate-coloured, and fly with exceeding rapidity ; they build their nests in the crevices of the black precipitous rocks which gird the S. W. shore of the island. The best time for shooting them is during the heat of the day, when they fly in countless numbers into the in- terior to slake their thirst at the fresh springs among the hills. The hunter who knows these resorts, may, by concealing himself, kill as many in two or three shots as he can wish to caiiy home. I went with an old hunter to attack them in their rocky haunts ; his appearance was pictu- resque in the extreme, and very nearly answered the description of Cooper's inimitable " Leather- stocking," for he was clad in a jerkin of leather, leggins of the same material protected his legs, on his feet were sandals of undressed ox-hide, and on his head a rough sheep-skin cap : he carried an old Spanish fowling-piece, the barrel 30 AN OLD HUNTER. I I M of which was of great length and solidity, while the ponderous lock was so slow in its movement, and the priming-pan so distant from the breech, that it seemed constructed on purpose to give warning to the object at which it was levelled, to move out of danger ; in fact, it would require no great stretch of imagination to liken the discharge of this primitive firelock to a pinch of snuff ad- ministered to an unpractised nose, where one hears the nasal ,s«j^ accompanying the admission of the powder into the nostril, and after the lapse of a second or two, the report of the consequent sneeze. Armed with this venerable weapon, the no less venerable hunter contrived to be the most cele- brated poacher on the island. He brought more quails and pigeons to market than any other man ; his sagacity v/as great, and his patience inexhaus- tible ; he never wasted powder and shot upon a single member of the feathered tribe, but crept into ravines, hid himself behind walls or hedges ; and whenever he could find a luckless family of quails at their morning meal and grouped conve- niently for his purpose, or whenever a thick flight of pigeons passed over his head, he fired into the midst of them, never showing malice against any individual of the species, but giving them all an equal chance of destruction or escape with most praiseworthy impartiality ; however, as the gun above-described was generally loaded with a full PERILOUS ASCENT. 31 charge of powder and about three ounces of shot, he rarely returned with an empty pouch. With this quaint old hunter I sallied forth one morning along the shore, in search of pigeons. After walking for a mile or two, the sloping beach abruptly terminated, and we continued our course along a narrow ledge of rocks, which was, for some distance, but little raised above the sea ; on our other hand were the high black precipices to which I have before referred, and among which hundreds of pigeons were wheeling and circling in the air, quite out of the range of shot. After a time, the old man quietly said that we must go to the top of the rocks, as we should there find better sport. I looked at the dark frowning masses above us, and thought either that he was in joke or that I had misunderstood him, as I had but small skill in the Portuguese tongue ; never- theless, he said there were " steps" or " stairs," and led the way towards them. On ariving at the indicated spot, I was indeed surprised to find that there were notches or steps in the rock, partly natural, and partly cut by hunters or smugglers, which afforded sufficient foot-hold for a practised climber. My old companion seemed quite familiar with this path, and went up it as leisurely as if he had been walking on level ground : I followed as well as I was able, but, before I was half-way, wished that I had not attempted it ; for independ- 82 A GOOD SHOT. ently of the novelty of tlie exercise, I laboured under disadvantages from which he was free ; his soft pliant sandals enabled him to cling better with his feet than I could with a pair of thick shooting shoes ; and he scrupled not to use his long barrelled gun as a prop or staff whenever he required its aid ; my short double-barrel could answer no such purpose, so it was with some risk and difficulty that I kept close to my guide ; I never looked downwards, being afraid that my head might become giddy ; and when we reached the top, I was more glad than I chose to express. If the activity of old " Leather-stocking" surprised me, I was soon able to surprise him in turn ; for, two pigeons passing over us in full flight, I fired right and left, and had the satisfaction of seeing them both drop within ten yards of his feet. I never saw astonishment so visibly painted on a human face ; for a minute he seemed unable to articulate, and when he did speak, the only words he uttered were, " O diabo o spingad ed o ca- ^ador?"* We continued our ramble until late in the afternoon, and returned laden with pigeons. The wealthiest proprietor in Fayal is Mr. D , the American Consul ; we found him extremely hos- pitable; and, as his daughters and a friend on a visit to them were the first American ladies whom I had seen, I observed their manners, appearance, and conversation, with no little interest. Abhor- * The gun is a devil, and so is the hunter. PEAK OF PICO. 98 ring an I do the custom, too prevnlcnt among travellers, of repaying the courtesies sliown to them ahroad hy violating the privacy of the society into which they have been admitted, I shall say no more here, than that the impression which I re- ceived at Fayal was most favourable, and that the hours spent in the American consul's house were most agreeable.* Adjoining it was a beautiful orange-garden, and there, when the heat of the sun invited to the enjoyment of shade, I often stretched myself under the boughs of a large orange-tree, feasting my eyes on the lovely pros- pect below, and occasionally refreshing my thirst with the delicious fruit which tempted me from above ; the narrow sea dividing Fayal from Pico, was studded with fishing and ferry boats, beyond which were stretched the black rocks and hang- ing vineyards of the opposite coast, while the dis- tant landscape was filled by the undulating hills of St. George's Island ; but the object on which my eye most loved to dwell, was that noble peak to which I have before referred. There may be many higher mountains in the world, but, (excepting the Peak of TenerifFe,) there is none that rise? abruptly from the level of the sea to so great an elevation. On one side it is almost a continuous precipice, * One of the cabin-passengers in the Waverley, a young Scotch gentleman, was so severely wounded by the bright eyes of a daughter of the Consul, that he afterwards returned from Canada, and married her. VOL. I. D 84 ABSURD CUSTOM. and its height is calculated at 9000 feet ; it is " alone in its glory," no rival summit robs it of one fleecy *' wanderer of the sky ;" * it seems as if every cloud within the sphere of its attraction came to repose upon its lofty crest ; and as they feel the influence of the winds which sweep unobstructed over the wide ocean, they are wreathed and piled into a thousand varied and fanfttstic shapes, ever changing their colour as they receive the impres- sion of the solar rays. It may be well imagined that the arrival of the Waverley had created no small sensation in Fayal, and several evening parties were given by the Por- tuguese leaders of fashion in honour of the *' dis- tinguished foreigners." We found them at first very dull and formal, from the custom which was universally observed of separating the gentlemen from their fair part- ners, and thus restricting all conversation between them to the period when they were actually en- gaged in dancing. The ball-room was generally the termination of the suite of apartments ; round it and close to the walls sat all the ladies, playing with their fans, chatting to each other in whis- pers, and looking as if all their happiness was in expectancy : in the adjoining ante-room the men lounged, or stood in small groups, while the most gallant placed themselves at the folding-doors look- ing wistfully into l!he paradise which they seemed Segler der Lufte." — Schiller. # « ITS REFORMATION. 35 ; it is s it of OS as if n came ■eel the tructed forbidden to enter. When the music began, they hastened forward, claimed their respective partners, and after the dance returned to the outer apart- ment ; or if a few lingered in the ball-room, it was only to stand opposite to the fair wall-flowers where every sentence spoken was necessarily over- heard by the persons on either side. After enduring this unnecessary penance for some time, two or three bold spirits from the Wa- verley determined to effect a radical reform of the social abuse. Accordingly, to the surprise of the islanders, we brought chairs in from the adjoining room ; and after the dance, seated ourselves by the ladies' bench, and entered into conversation with them. The unexpected audacity of this proceed- ing, precluded all possibility of resistance on the part of the maintainers of the *' an9ien regime." Not only was our triumph complete ; but before we left Fayal, we had the satisfaction of seeing the lieutenant of artillery and other native beaux fol- low our heroic example. D 2 36 MARINE EXCURSION. CHAPTER III. A Marine Excursion. — Novel Mode of landing. — Dinner with Captain L. — A Portuguese Ecclesiastic. — Latin Conversation with him. — Pico "Wine. — Excursion resumed. — Disagreeable Quarters. — A Storm. — Providential Escape. — Velas. — Vol- canic Craters. — A buried Church. — Unlucky Search for Game. — Female Costume. — Fuel. — Return to Fayal. — The Waverley again ready for Sea. — Serious Affray. — Its Consequences. — A Street Squabble. — Cowardly Threats. — Leave Fayal. After a fortnight thus agreeably spent in Fayal, I determined to see some of the other islands ; and accordingly hired a boat manned by four stout sea- men and a pilot, whose services I engaged for a week. Not being able to prevail upon any of my fellow- passengers to accompany me on this excursion, I embarked with Mr. , the son of the Dutch consul, who was kind enough to volunteer his company, which was the more agreeable and use- ful inasmuch as he spoke the language fluently, and was acquainted with many persons in the places that I was about to visit. We started with a fresh breeze, apd ran across the channel separa- ting Fayal from Pico, (which is eight or nine miles wide,) in the space of a hour. i?*= NOVEL MODE OF LANDING. 37 nner with tiversation sagreeable ;las.— Vol- i for Game. eWaverley lences. — A ^al. in Fayal, nds; and stout sea- ged for a my fellow- cursion, I he Dutch mteer his and use- e fluently, ms in the ;arted with nel separa- nine miles \.r.. As we approached the shore, I could distinguish a village composed of a few dozen scattered houses ; a few people were also to be seen, and boats, and nets, but I could nowhere discern a creek or har- bour, nor any indication of a landing-place. The coast is girt by black and frowning rocks ; and although there was not a heavy sea running, a formidable row of breakers dashed over the point for which our pilot was steering. I was utter- ly at a loss to conceive how we were to effect a landing; but, being myself only a passenger, and seeing the rest of the party apparently uncon- cerned, I had nothing to do but to remain in my seat and watch their movements in silence. As soon as the boat was within a few yards of the rocks, half-a-dozen stout fellows, armed with long poles, were prepared to assist our disem- barcation. Two of our own boat's crew stood on the bows provided with similar staves, (which re- sembled very closely the iron-shod punt-poles used by the bargemen in the Thames,) with these the boatmen and those on shore fended us off for a minute or two, until the boat being raised by a wave larger than the rest, they gave a simulta- neous shout, and allowed her to be carried high upon the rocks, those on shore breaking her fall by applying their shoulders and fenders brought down for the purpose. This mode of landing was new to me, but I presume those who are accus- tomed to it, like it as well as drawing a boat upon tm^m" 38 DINNER WITH CAPTAIN L- a sandy beach. I do not think I ever saw finer or more muscular figures than the bare-armed bare- legged fellows who attend the landing of Pico boats. Their countenances are swarthy and sun- burnt, and they seem to live half their lives in the surf, and to treat its foam and rage with the cool- est indifference. On going up to the village, I heard that Captain L had come over from Fayal early in the day, and was giving a dinner to the dignitaries of the island: I determined upon witnessing this scene of hospitality ; and, on entering the room, I found the captain doing the honours at the end of a table, round which sat a dozen persons, total strangers to me, and who must have been, half- an-hour before, equally strange to their excellent entertainer. As he could not speak a word of Portuguese, nor of any other language intelligible to his guests, the conversation, carried on by signal, and the civilities interchanged by Quips and cranks, and wanton wiles, Nods and becks, and wreathed smiles, was amusing in the highest degree. The captain having made his friends understand that I was a Scottish grandee of the first class, I was treated with the most profound respect, and the distin- guished post of croupier was forthwith assigned to me. After a few minutes passed in bowing to my right and left, and in various modes of telegraphic com- A PORTUGUESE ECCLESIASTIC. 39 tier or bare- ■ Pico 1 sun- in the e cool- Japtain in the litaries ng this room, I end of s, total 1, half- xcellent ^rord of sUigible f signal. munication, I perceived that the chair on the right of our host was occupied by a portly good-hu- moured ecclesiastic. The bright idea immediately struck me that I might here derive some advantage from my Eton education, so I addressed the priest with a '* salve, vir reverendissime," which instantly drew his attention, and that of the whole company, to my learned self; the good priest rose from his chair and answered my salutations in a torrent of complimentary eloquence, which showed me but too plainly that the pronunciation of Latin, as taught at Eton, had not fitted me for understanding or being understood in conversation with a Portu- guese. But the good priest was so delighted at the opportunity thus given him, for astonishing his companions with the learning of himself and the Scottish grandee, that he soon found means to obviate the difficulty resulting from the differ- ence of our pronunciation. Two sheets of paper were provided, on one of which he wrote me a complimentary address on my arrival, assuring me therein that the ** Scottish nation was the greatest on earth, that the island of Pico had never been so honoured before, and that my visit would be treasured in its latest annals." Having had some experience in public dinners in Britain, I flatter myself I was not a bad match for the priest at the weapons which he had chosen. I assured him " that my feelings of gratification were too overwhelming to be conveyed in words ; 40 COMPLIMENTS IN LATIN. f \ I that this was, without exception, the proudest moment of my life, and that I congratulated the island of Pico on the possession of a reverend luminary whose learning and eloquence were not inferior to that of Grotius or Erasmus ! " It was difficult to retain my gravity while the good man read this effusion, half aloud to himself, and afterwards translated it into Portuguese for the benefit of the auditors. Unequivocal expres- sions of admiration and satisfaction circulated through the company; and being desirous of se- curing an honourable retreat in order that I might continue my excursion, I thought no fairer oppor- tunity than the present could occur ; so I withdrew amid bows and compliments yet more profuse than those that accompanied my entrance, and am much disappointed if my name be not recorded in Pico as the " Admirable Crichton " of this century. I wished very much to ascend the peak, but was assured it was impracticable until the month of August, in consequence of the number of deep fissures covered by soft and melting snow. I endeavoured by the offer of money to induce se- veral of the islanders to accompany ue as guides in the ascent of the mountain ; but finding that they invariably refused, I was obliged to give up the attempt. I understand that several active pedestrians have succeeded in reaching the top, but it has always been during the autumn months that the ascent has been successfully attempted. PICO WINE. 41 •oudest ted the jverend jre not lile the himself, lese for expres- rculated IS of se- I might r oppor- vithdrew use than am much n Pico as There is little or no society in Pico, as it belongs chiefly to proprietors who reside in Fayal, and who visit their property only at those seasons when their presence is necessary. Wine is the sole pro- duce worth mentioning. The quantity made in this island, and sold in London as Madera, is much greater than is generally known, or than the Eng- lish merchants would be content to acknowledge. On the island it may be very cheaply purchased : it is always mixed with a considerable portion of brandy, and the best that I have tasted is certainly equal to Madera of second quality. The whole broad base of the peak, and indeed all that part of Pico which fell under my observation, is covered with vineyards. Few of the orange or other ver- dant plants that adorn the hills of Fayal, are here to be seen. The island wears altogether a dark and gloomy aspect, rendered yet more threatening by the black rocks which guard its shore, and by the gigantic crest of the peak which towers above it from its throne of clouds. Having re-embarked, we coasted along the shore to a small village a fsw miles to the eastward, where it was proposed that we should pass the night. The evening was beautiful, and the air so still that our men were obliged to take to the oars. I was not a little amused at the stranare objurgations with which they stimulated each other to labour: " Vamos, perga, — perga, — vamos con Deos," &c. 4Sl DISAGREEABLE QUARTERS. P ! ' • M We arrived about sunset at our resting-place; and, owing to the calmness of the water, effected our landing more easily than in the morning. We took up our quarters at a large empty house, belonging to a merchant residing in Fayal, who had permitted us to make what use we could of it, and had warned us that we should find little comfort or attendance. The room into which I was shown was spacious and entirely devoid of furniture, ex- cept a deal table, a wooden chair, and an old bedstead in the corner, over which was spread one of those abominable cotton wadded coverlets, which rarely see the laundry, and which are made to answer the purpose of counterpane, blanket, and sheet. Being somewhat tired, I was rash enough to venture my person on this uninviting couch ; but in less than half an hour, sustained an attack sufficiently disagreeable to make me repent my audacity. Fortunately I had not extinguished the rushlight ; springing out of bed I seized it, and bringing it to the scene of battle, found it positively alive with the crawling vermin from which I had eifected my escape. I took my re- venge upon ten or twelve of the ringleaders, who were still on my pillow ; and throwing myself on the floor in a corner of the room with my cloak around me, was soon fast asleep. On the following 'morning, we embarked for the island of St. George, which was about tv/enty or twenty-five miles distant. Although the sky A STORM. 48 looked somewhat threatening, our pilot (who was an experienced boatman) said that we should cross before the bad weather came ; but that if we re- mained an hour or two longer, we might be de- tained some time. On this occasion his experience seemed to have misled him : we were not yet half way across when it came on to blow very fresh, and our small open boat was tossed about like a cockle-shell on the mighty Atlantic, which began, like a lion roused, to snort and roar under the impulse of the breeze. Every minute the wind increased in violence ; black heavy clouds were piled in the western sky, and gave evidence, not to be mistaken, of an approaching storm. Two of the sailors, who seemed to be fellows of weak and cowardly character, began to cry and howl, and call on all the saints in their calendar, and we were obliged to reduce them to silence by the application of a smart blow from a cane, and threats of still rougher usage. Our only hope of safety now rested in the dex- terity of the pilot, who skilfully eased off the bows of his boat, and made her rise buoyantly over the white angry waves which threatened to break over her. All his exertions, however, could not prevent our shipping a great deal of water, which I and another were constantly employed in baling out with our hats. As we had not provided ourselves with ballast sufficient for an emergency like this, Mr. and a sailor (the two heaviest of the i ;J^J1 4 the preceding week, affray. U appears *-'' ''" f ,, Jarisen between several differences and ^"^;';'^;^^ „,,, boatmen. t,e I™\>»^°"";::'o e terminated in blows, which had more *^° »" of a vindictive dispo- The latter are g^»"''"\'"f ° y of attacking the sition; and being somewhat afa.d ^^ .^^ had cunmngly deterred t i,„ked ; and fourths of their opponents were .^^^ ^^^ just as the last dms.on were s PP 8 ^^ ^^^^^ tat to join their -"P" e ve's wi'th various fellows, who had '^^-^^J'^^ i,,ed a quarrel weapons employed m *«>' "^ ' P -^ „„„ber. „ith them, and bemg very su^per_ ^^^ ^^^^^ achieved an ^^^^ ^nd the local authorities were evening the consul and the ^^ ^^^ investigating and inqu.nng mto I I PORTUGUESE BOATMEN. 53 weW a3 wound, jg linen tedious ,trugg^es w hours ,or feUow and we ft of the vninediate ^e account nfortunate .aing week, en between e boatmen, 1 in blows, ictive dispo- ttacking the onvent, they until three- barked; and ing into the arty of these with various ked a quarrel in number, the whole Lithorities were merits of the case ; but, as usual, both parties were equally in the wrong, and it was impossible to decide by whom the first blow had been struck, or the first provocation given. In the mean time, the news of the row having reached the Waverley, a great sensation was created on board. The Paddies declared their determina- tion to come on shore and revenge their country- men ; a threat which they certainly would have executed, had not the captain given strict orders that no boat should leave the ship under any pretence whatever. In spite of this order, one fellow was so bent upon trying his shillelagh on a Portuguese head, that he actually let himself down into the sea with an intention of swimming ashore; but being discovered, was with difficulty compelled to return. On the following morning the wounded man had made some progress towards recovery, but he was still too feeble to be transported on board, and the departure of the Waverley was accordingly deferred. The blows and injuries received by the other Irish (although in some cases very severe and disfiguring) were not such as to cause any apprehension for their safety; but it was neces- sary to watch the ship closely, in order to pre- vent another collision between the hostile parties. I do not believe that these Portuguese islanders are a brave or determined race of men, but if they consider themselves aggrieved or injured, they 54 A STREET SQUABBLE. P' I a A I I are not very scrupulous about the mode of taking revenge. An incident which occurred to myself will serve to illustrate this point. I was walking down the street in company with a young lady, and when passing the door of a shop, a dog sprang from it, and barking very fiercely, was about to seize my companion. I placed myself between her and her assailant ; and, fortunately having a very strong thick stick in my hand, I met his attack with a blow which felled him to the ground. The owner came out of the shop apparently in a furious passion ; he stormed, and swore, and threatened, with so much rapidity, that he soon went beyond my small stock of Portuguese (of which language I had now acquired a slight knowledge). However, as he did not seem to wish to come within reach of the stick which had so rudely received his dog, the tongue was the only weapon of offence he employed. A number of people now collected round the shop door; and not wishing to embroil myself, much less my companion, in a street squabble, we pur- sued our way towards the American consul's. At the time I thought no more of the matter ; but two days afterwards as I was passing the same spot, a shopkeeper who lived opposite to the man whose dog I had struck, beckoned me into his house. As he spoke , a few words of English, he soon made me understand that his opposite neighbour was a man of a very malicious dispo- IDLE THREATS. 55 sition; that the dog had been either killed by the blow, or so much hurt that they had since been obliged to destroy it ; and that he had more than once expressed his determination to have my life if ever he could find me out of doors after it was dark. My informant strongly urged the propriety of my remaining at home, for he was sure that the fellow would fulfil his pro- mise. I thanked him for his warning ; but think- ing it most likely that this threatening talker was not so formidable a person as his neighbour believed him to be, I asked my new friend if he would go over with me and faithfully translate the exprep"ions I should use, promising at the same time that they should not be offensive, or such as to provoke an affray. He agreed to do so ; and crossing the street, we entered the man's shop. As soon as he saw me, he appeared very much surprised, and I desired my interpreter to inquire of him whether it was true that he had more than once said, he would have my life if he found me in the street after dark ? He seemed a little confused, but answered stoutly that " He had said it, and he meant it ;" to which I answered that it was quite fair, and that I would be equally frank with him. I then stated that I always car- ried a brace of pistols about my person, and as he had now declared his intentions, I added that if ever I fell in with him, or saw him abroad .56 LEAVE FAYAL. i after dusk, I should immediately shoot him. So I took off my hat, and making him a low bow left his shop. It is needless to add, that my idle threat answered the intended purpose ; for I never car- ried pistols or any other defensive weapon, nor heard anything more of the valiant proprietor of the dog- But to return from this digression : the doctor having now declared that Denis might be moved on board with the others, we embarked on the 13th, parting with sincere and, I believe, mutual regret, from those on whose hospitable kindness we had been so unexpectedly thrown. I had been domesticated in the house of the Bri- tish consul, and the constant aim of himself and his amiable family was to contribute every thing in their power to my comfort ; so well did they succeed, that I almost felt in leaving them that I was leaving a home. The whole party on board were silent and me- lancholy, and few words were interchanged, while the black rocks, the white- washed houses, and verdant hills of Fayal, gradually faded in the distance. A DEAD CALM. M Sol jft his threat r car- 1, nor Drietor doctor moved jn the )elieve, ipitable wn. I le Bri- elf and y thing id they sm that CHAPTER IV. A dead Calm. — Scant Allowance of Provisions during the Voy- age. — A Whale shot. — Anchor off Sandy Hook. — The Quarantine Station. — View in the Narrows. — Variety of Shipping. — Quarantine Hospitals. — New York. — Iced Puncb. — Land at New York. — An American Table d'hdte. — Op- pressive Heat. — Episcopalian Church. — Costume of American Ladies. — Visit toRockaway. — American Omnibus. — Desolate Marsh. — Reception by Sir C. Vaughan. — Rockaway. — Mint Julep. — The celebrated Compounder of this Nectr-r. I WILL not detain the reader by a detailed account of our voyage from the Azores to New York. It was tedious and unlucky to an un- usual degree. After passing Flores and Corvo, (the two westernmost of the Azores,) we never once squared the yards until we arrived within thirty miles of New York. We had a continued suc- cession of baffling head-winds and dead calms; during the latter, we lay for many days together in the midst of the Mexican Gulf stream, under a sun of burning heat, unrefreshed by a breath of air, and with no other amusement than to watch the sails idly flapping against the masts, and the gambols of the dolphins, black fish, and other ten- ants of the western main. -fv. I ■ 58 A WHALE SHOT. ■\t The average voyage from Fayal to New York being estimated at sixteen days, the captain justly considered himself sufficiently provided when he had taken in si.pplies for twenty-six ; indeed, in respect to some articles, such as fowls, sheep, &c. I believe our provisions had exhausted the whole island market. When we had been a month at sea, of course we were reduced to a somewhat scant allowance, and to other annoyances was added the failure of our stock of oranges, of which we had laid in a great many chests, and which we considered a luxury preferable to wine or any other refreshment. The only incident worthy of mention which oc- curred during this tedious voyage, was one which I should be afraid to relate, had it not been wit- nessed by a whole ship's company. On the evening of the 22nd June, several whales were playing round the ship. I was on deck with my double-barrelled rifle, and was talking near the bows of the ship with an old sailor who had served many years on board a whaler. As one of the whales came up above the water, not more than thirty or forty yards distant, he directed me to aim about three feet behind the head, and rather low in the body ; I obeyed his instructions, and lodged both the balls within a few inches of each other in the part which he had pointed out. They pierced the thick coat of blubber, and both pro- bably entered the heart ; for after a few convulsive struggles, which discoloured the water with blood QUARANTINE STATION. 69 and fat for many yards around, the unfortunate whale turned upon his back, and ere he had floated past the stern of the ship, was perfectly dead. We had no tackle on board proper for heaving him up, and the evening being too far advanced to permit the captain to lower his boats, no advantage could be derived from this accidental shot, which might otherwise have furnished us with several barrels of oil. I had, on several other oc- casions, struck the whales and black fish which played round the ship, with balls from the same rifle, but without any other apparent effect than making them lash the water with their tail and go down for a few seconds, after which they ap- peared again on the surface, pursuing their pas- time as if nothing had occurred to disturb it. On the 26th of July, having been at sea six weeks, dieted for the last ten days upon mouldy biscuit, salt junk, and a very short allowance of very foul offensive water, we hailed with no little satisfaction, the cry of " land a-head." This first point of the American continent which met our view, proved to be the high land of New Jersey ; and on the following morning, we came to anchor off* Sandy Hook. On the morning of the 26th we beat up the Narrows to the quarantine station on Staten Island, where our ship was subjected to two days' quarantine. There being no sickness on board, the cabin passengers were allowed by a medical If i i I ()() VIEW IN Tlili NAIlllOWS. certificate to go on shore ; but this permission was not extended to any of the steerage passengers or to the baggage. The view on sailing up the Narrows is very beautiful. The coast of Staten Island on one side and Long Island on the other, is undulating and well wooded. The bay stretching across from the station to New York, is extensive and admirably adapted to shipping. I was particularly struck by the cleanly and graceful rigging of the various vessels which were crossing it in all directions. Here was to be seen the majestic China-man float- ing gently down under a crowd of canvass before the light breeze. There the Baltimore clipping brig with her sharp bows, her low hull, and raking masts. Nearer to the shore might be seen " creep- ing like snail" the coasting timber-craft, and in mid- channel the gorgeous steamer with her painted bulwarks and crowded decks, passing her lazy com- petitors with insulting speed. Amidst all these, news' boats, and pilot-boats, and other light shallops, were darting about from ship to ship to " welcome the coming and speed the parting friend." All this gave life and animation to the scene, enhancing its natural beauty ; but in spite of all these advantages and of its incomparable superiority in space and magnificence as a harbour, I cannot help thinking that the descriptions given of this bay by some travellers, have been too highly colour- ed ; for there is nothing bold or striking on either NEW YORK. — iCKU PUNCH. 61 jion wfts igers or is very one side :ing and from the [Imirably y struck B various irections. lan float- ss before clipping id raking I " creep- t, and in ir painted lazy com- all these, t shallops, welcome the scene, pite of all superiority I cannot en of this hly colour- r on either shore, and the eye feels the absence of a distant outline on which it may rest, such as is formed l)y the Alpine and irregular chain of mountains which fill the back ground of the landscape, in sailing up the Firth of Clyde. The quarantine hospitals are lofty and spacious buildings, situated on a sloping bank overlooking the bay, and sheltered by a wood. They are whitewashed ; and all the windows being furnished with green Venetian blinds, give an ap- pearance of comfort and cleanliness, which is well maintained by their admirable internal arrange- ments. My first desire on landing was to procure a glass of fresh water, a luxury so long unknown. On applying for some cool draught, a glass of excellent iced punch was put into my hands. Two goblets of this delicious beverage did I quaff, when the in- tense heat of the weather, and the quarantine hos- pital immediately opposite to me, conjured up be- fore my eyes the spectre of cholera, and a call for the third died upon my lips. In forty minutes we had crossed the bay, and landed at New York, near the battery ; a sort of round wooden building, with an adjacent garden, which appears to answer the purpose of a kind of Marine Vauxhall. Here we hired a hack, (for so is a New York hackney coach denominated,) and drove to the American hotel, a distance of about three quarters of a mile. On arriving we inquired the coachman's charge, and found that -r- I 62 STllEET PLUNDEIIKRS. ,oked quite led to doubt known that before, and ost, he had tes, however, was with no seated by a neighbour, with whom I could enjoy the double gratification of talking over subjects of mutual in- terest at home, and of acquiring information and introduct't „ calculated to be useful during my residence in the United States. Rockaway consists of a few scattered boarding- houses and the marine hotel, the interior of which is more spacious and comfortable than I was led to believe from its external appearance ; the sea- beach is admirably adapted for bathing, and the place may be said to bear the same relation to New York, that Brighton bears to London, except- ing that it is, in comparison, more limited in its extent. I spent two or three days here very agreeably, being at once introduced to many members of the best society from all parts of the Union. During the morning we strolled on the shore, bathed, x ode, or drove about in light carriages, which the active horses of this country draw at a speed truly sur- prising : the evenings were passed in music or dancing; and after the ladies retired, I joined some of the younger men of the party, in smoking a cigar under the verandah, fanned by the cool night breeze from the sea, and making my first acquaint- ance with a beverage approaching more nearly to nectar than any that I had ever tasted or ima- gined. The American reader will at once know how to apply this panegyric ; but how shall I attempt to convey to English senses all thy fra- F 2 :' !i 68 MINT JULEP. ''j; 4 i; lli li H grant merits ? divine mint julep ! This delicious compound (which is sometimes in the southern and western states denominated "hail-storm") is usual- ly made with wine, (madera or claret,) mingled in a tumbler with a soupgon of French brandy, lime, or lemon, ice pulverised by attrition, and a small portion of sugar, the whole being crowned with a bunch of fresh mint, through which the liquor percolates before it reaches the drinker's lips and " laps him in Elysium." This beverage is supposed to be of southern origin, and the me- thods of preparing it vary in the different states ; some Carolinians will assert that it can only be found in perfection at Charleston ; but I believe, that, by common consent, the immortal Willard (who kept the bar of the city hotel in New York for many years) was allowed to be the first master of this art in the known world. The name of this remarkable personage is familiar to every Ameri- can, and to every foreigner who has visited the States during the last thirty years ; I have heard many calculations of the number of mint juleps that he has been known to compound in one day, and of the immense profits resulting to the hotel from -his- celebrity; but not having written them down at the moment, I will not venture on a vague statement here. His memory was yet more sur- prising than his skill at concoction; s;t the hun- dreds and thousands who went in to enjoy practical demonstration of the latter, he never forgot a face. ITS COMPOUNDElt. 69 or a name if once mentioned ; even although the individual were absent for years, he could at once address him as though he had been introduced but yesterday. But I must return from this digression to New York, whither I accompanied the minister and my other friends after this short but agreeable visit to Rockaway. EXPEDITION UP THE HUDSON. CHAPTER V. Expedition up the Hudson River. — Scene of the Death of Hamil- ton. — Cooper, the American NoveHst. — Scenery of West Point. — Nursery for the American Army. — The Cadets. — Albany — the Patrcon. — Railroad to Saratoga. — Watering Places. — Mineral Water. — liallston. — The Trenton Falls. — An Extra Exclusive. — The Prison at Auburn — miserable Appearance of the Prisoners. — Geneva. — Canandaigua. — Eminent Scottish Agriculturist. — Geneseo. — Mr, W. — Fer- tile Meadows. — Falls of Niagara. After spending a few days at New York, I started, in company with a friend belonging to the British Legation, on the expedition up the Hudson river, to which I had so long looked forward with eager expectation, and found my- self embarked in the steam-boat Albany, on Mon- day the 12th of August. The morning was thick and misty, and the rain fell ii. torrents, so that I feared it would be impossible to see either bank of this magnificent river. However, the fog gra- dually rose, and I could then discern a succession of pretty villas, lawns, and woods, not unlike, in some respects, those that crown the royal -towered Mil. COOI'Ell, THE NOVELIST. 71 Hamil- )f West idets. — Catering Falls.— liserable aigua. — v.— Fer- ^ork, I ring to up the looked id my- n Mon- is thick so that ler bank 'og gra- ccession ilike, in towered Thames. I could scarcely distinguish the spot pointed out to me as the scene of the death of the illustrious Hamilton, who fell in a duel with Colonel Burr, and whose monument is now in the cemetery of Trinity Church, New York, where his remains sleep honoured by the well-deserved praises bestowed upon him as " The patriot of in- corruptible integrity, the soldier of approved valour, and the statesman of consummate wisdom." About twelve or thirteen miles from New York, I had great pleasure in finding among the pas- sengers Mr. Cooper the American novelist, to whom I had been introduced by Mr. Rogers some years ago in London, and who was now on his way to his native place, Cooperstown. He was kind enough to point out the scenes of the un- fortunate Andre's execution, and the treacherous Arnold's escape, and to communicate several in- teresting particulars relative to that transaction, as well as to other events during the war. I was sorry that my disembarkation at West Point deprived me of the advantage of so able and agreeable a commentator on the scenery of the Hudson.* * Let not the reader imagine that I underrate the beauty of the scenery through which this noble river flows. It deserves all the praises bestowed upon it by other travellers ; but the rain and mist which enveloped it during this excursion pre- vented me from enjoying its charms ; and though I ascended this river a dozen times at a later date, I have thought it better to leave this part of my journal as it originally stood. 72 SCENERY OF WEST 1'0?NT. }< J III On landing at West Point, and climbing the hill on the summit of which stands the hotel, (which, by the by, is one of the best and most comfortable I have yet seen,) I was astonished and delighted at the varied beauty of the scenery. The promontory projects into the Hudson, whose ample stream is perpetually crowded with vessels of every description. The surrounding mountains are wooded to their very tops. The small plain is covered with the white tents of the cadets, who are in camp during this season ; and above it rise the ruins of Fort Putnam, built upon rocks six hundred feet high, and well calculated, from its commanding position, and association with the history of the war, to inspire the young soldiers with an enthusiastic love for the glorious and beautiful scene of their fathers* triumphs. It is well known that this is the nursery for the American army. The cadets are about two hundred in number ; and from them the troops are chiefly, if not altogether, officered. In the winter they live in the barracks, and pursue the theoretic branches of their professional studies ; while during the summer months, they bivouac in tents, each of which contains three cadets, and they spend all their time in various military manoeuvres. The discipline seems strict, and the regulations for. maintaining order and tem- perance very severe. They seem to have no pun- ishment but dismissal. !■! h MILITAIIY COLLFXJE. 73 ig the hotel, I most inished cenery. , whose vessels untains II plain cadets, d above )n rocks id, from with the soldiers ous and rsery for )out two le troops In the irsue the studies ; bivouac dets, and military ;rict, and and tem- e no pun- To the cursory observation of an unprofessional traveller, several branches of the system appear capable of improvement. In the first place, each cadet must remain his full term of four years (generally from sixteen to twenty), whether he be quick and industrious, or dull and idle, the only difference being that on final examina- tion the latter will be dismissed as incompetent, while the former will probably obtain the first vacant commission. It would certainly appear, that the mode adopted by the British Naval Col- lege at Portsmouth, of allowing a young man to shorten his time and distinguish his character, by industry and ability, is preferable. In the second place, it is difficult to see why four or five of the summer months should be spent alto- gether in drills and manoeuvres to the total exclusion of all the studies pursued in the winter. I spoke to two or three of the cadets, and they informed me, that during the encampment they seldom opened a book ; and from what I ob- served of the listless languid sauntering of the whole mass after drill and parade, I do not ques- tion the accuracy of their statement. Doubt- less the manual and practical exercises are very fatiguing, but it is very certain that such a quantum of bodily labour as totally incapacitates a young man's mind for moderate study, must be fatal to the professional advancement of an officer. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V. A A f/. % ^ 1.0 I.I 1.25 l^|Z8 |2.5 ■^ 1^ 112.2 :i: 1^ 12.0 1.4 — 6" 1.6 PhotDgraphic Sciences Corporation ^"^^V^ 13 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) 872-4503 74 THE CADETS. even if it be requisite for the mechanical pro- ficiency of a private, which I very much doubt. There seemed to be no running, leaping, playing at quoits, cricket, nor any other amusement ; and altogether I could not help remarking the want of that blithe, frank, joyous expression of coun- tenance that is observable in youths of the same age in England. They were generally grave and reserved ; and I certainly did not see in the whole corps one single face or figure that could be pronounced strikingly handsome; and this is the more remarkable, as their mothers and sisters are certp'nly in as high an average of beauty as any women in the world. I should add, however, that I gathered my information respecting this establishment from conversation with some of the cadets, and not from the officers or authorities, whose acquaintance I had not time nor oppor- tunity to cultivate. After leaving West Point, we pursued our way in the steam-boat up the Hudson as far as Albany, passing through beautiful scenery, leaving on our right Hyde Park, and a number of prettily wooded villas, and on our left the Catskill mountains. Al- bany, the capital of New York, is one of the oldest settlements in the United States ; I believe the first in the upper states, having been settled in 1612. It is a busy and prosperous town ; and it forms the termination both of the Erie as J al pro- doubt, playing it ; and le want f coun- le same r grave I in the it could this is i sisters eauty as lowever, ing this of the horities, oppor- ur way |Albany, on our wooded s. Al- le oldest ive the tied in and e Erie ALBANY. 75 canal, and of the Hudson and Mohawk railroad, is a place of much commercial activity. The population is estimated at twenty-eight thousand, and this city may be pronounced the greatest emporium of internal trade in the United States. Estimates taken last year (1833) and based upon accurate calculations, compute the value of goods brought into it through the Erie and Champlain canals, at two millions and a half sterling. The capitol, and several other public buildings, appeared worthy of notice, but I had not time to visit them on this occasion. The principal proprietor in the neighbourhood is General Stephen von Rensselaer, better known by the appellation of the Patroon, who is mentioned in the books of all American travellers as one of the largest landholders in the States. I had the pleasure of being introduced to this respectable and venerable old gentleman at Saratoga. After leaving Albany we proceeded by the rail- road through Schenectady to Saratoga. This line of railroad is admirably contrived to answer all the purposes of speed, safety, and economy; al- though in the first of these qualities, it is not to be compared to the Liverpool and Manchester line. The soil appears principally sand ; and, ex- cept in one or two instances, I should not con- ceive the formation of the railroad to have been attended with much difficulty. h M: .1 .^. 76 WATERING PLACES. i ; We were rather unfortunate as to the time at which we visited Saratoga — the Cheltenham of the States, as most of the parties whom we had cal- culated upon meeting there, had left it the day before we arrived, and there were few " fashion- ables" remaining. In fact, it is the fashion to make the round of all the watering-places, (Rock- away, Saratoga, Ballston, Lebanon,) in regular succession, and an unfortunate traveller who hap- pens, as we did, to be rather late in starting, may follow the gay route, and never catch its most agreeable parties. The Congress Spring at Saratoga is, I believe, one of the most medicinal natural waters in the world; and the cures that it is said to have per- formed are numerous and extraordinary. It is delightfully cool, and not unpleasant to the taste ; but if taken without due care and attention, it produces violent headach, and sometimes more serious consequences. After spending a day or two at Saratoga, I returned to Ballston, which is a very pleasant vil- lage and also a place of great resort, from the excellence of its mineral springs, which are sup- posed to possess more tonic qualities than those at Saratoga ; from thence by Schenectady to the Trenton Falls, through a cultivated and well- wooded country, and passing some of the ex- tensive property of Sir Frederic Johnston. I had heard so much of these Falls, that I own I was TRENTON FALLS. 77 much disappointed in visiting them. The scenery of this country is upon so magnificent a scale, and its rivers so vast and deep, that I expected to see torrents and waterfalls, such as I had never before beheld. The scenery is certainly very pretty ; the banks are richly clothed with wood, and the fall of water is considerable enough to arrest and please the eye ; but unless my memory very much deceives me, these Falls would gain nothing by comparison with the Falls of Fyers, Bruar, and others that I have seen in the highlands of Scotland (if the latter are visited after a rainy season). The limestone rocks over which they run are certainly bold and precipitous, but the eye (at least the eye of a Scotchman) misses sadly the brown heather, the frowning precipice with its weeping birch and scathed and gnarled fir, and, above all, the blue and distant mountain ridge that complete s and perfects the picture. After being jolted some fifteen miles over an execrable road in an " extra-exclusive," * we ar- rived at Utica, whence we proceeded to Auburn ; — a village the name of which is interesting to all Europe from its being the seat of the New York State's prison. This celebrated establish- ment is now so familiar to every European reader, that a detailed description of it is unnecessary, and I shall confine myself to such observations * A private carriage hired by an individual or a party is here so called. 78 PRISON AT AUBURN. as naturally suggested themselves to me on visit- ing it. The mass of building is solid and imposing, and altogether well suited to the gloomy cha- racter of the place; but its effect is totally de- stroyed by an absurd nondescript set of pinnacles placed on the top of the building, in the midst of which is a representation of a sentinel with a musket. Whether he is meant as a scare-crow to the prisoners or not, I cannot tell; but I am sure that he and the litter of pinnacles around him are a grievous annoyance to the eye. As far as I am able to judge, the published accounts of the discipline and arrangements are substantially correct. I walked through all the shops in which the prisoners were at labour; and I must say that so miserable, jaded, desponding a row of faces I never beheld — such sunken lack- lustre eyes I never encountered. I made careful observation on all that I saw, and cannot help praising the cleanlmess, order, and regularity of the whole arrangement; but my visit did not incline me to believe, that the moral object which this institution has in view, was attained or even approached. However, as my mind had been rarely directed to this subject, and was not fa- miliar with its details, I beg to offer the above remarks as those of a passing observer, and to disclaim all pretension to a critical opinion re- garding it. ■ ( SCOTTISH AGRICULTURIST. 79 From Auburn we took saddle-horses, and rode to Geneva, a beautifully situated town on Seneca lake; thence through a country bearing marks of improved cultivation and prosperous condition, fo Canandaigua, passing over the fine lake Cayuga on a wooden bridge, the length of which I conceive to be nearly a mile and a half, built on piles. Nothing can be more neat and comfortable-look- ing than the village of Canandaigua; it is com- posed of one long street, which is, indeed, a series of villas, each house being shaded by wal- nut, hickory, and other forest trees. Having letters of introduction to Mr. G , an eminent Scottish agriculturist, and my com- panion being acquainted with Mr. D , an- other Scottish gentleman settled here, we found ourselves soon in the enjoyment of every comfort that the most kind and considerate hospitality could offer. Mr. G was one of the earliest settlers in this part of the cbuntry, and by un- wearied perseverance, consummate ability, and unsullied integrity, has raised himself in this dis- trict to an eminence, both in fortune and cha- racter, that may be pronounced enviable. In- deed it was with mingled feelings of astonish- ment, pleasure, and national pride, that I saw this excellent man doing the honours of his table, in a house that might vie in comfort and luxury with any of the villas near London, and look- ing from its roof over a vast plain of corn, fruit- 80 FERTILE MEADOWS. / trees, and gardens, on which, when he first came to the country, the impervious forest grew, the red man and the deer wandered. We spent two or three days here most agree- ably, and I derived much useful information from conversation with Mr. G respecting the me- thod pursued in surveying, clearing, selling, and otherwise managing the tracts of land disposed of in this country. From Canandaigua, which I left with much re- luctance, we passed through a thriving and well- cultivated country to Geneseo, where I had the pleasure of being introduced to Mr. W , the owner of a magnificent estate in the Genesee flats. Fortune seemed not yet wearied of being boun- tiful, and allowed us to see this most beautiful valley with the advantage of residing in one of the most hospitable and agreeable houses that I ever entered. Mr. W 's son accompanied us through his extensive farms, which are formed to delight equally the eye of a Poussin or a Sir J. Sinclair. The broad meadows of an alluvial soil, covered with the richest grasses, and watered by the winding Genesee, are studded with trees, beautifully and negligently grouped, among which are scattered large herds of cattle of various breeds and kinds, both English and American ; these meadows are here and there interspersed with fields of Indian corn and wheat, while the hills that rise on each side are crowned with timber. GENESEO. 81 excepting spots where the encroaching hand of improvement has begun to girdle some of the tall sons of the forest, whose scathed tops and black bare arms, betokening their approaching fall, give a picturesque variety to the scene. Yet this scene, extraordinary and interesting a? it was, possessed less interest to a contemplative and musing mind, than the venerable and excellent gentleman who had almost created it ; for it was now forty-four years since Mr. W came as the first settler to this spot, with an axe on his shoulder, and slept the first night under a tree. After this, he lodged in a log-house; sul>6e- quently in a cottage ; and he is now the uni- versally esteemed and respected possessor of a demesne, which many of the proudest nobility of Europe might look upon with envy, where he exercises the rites of hospitality, in the midst of his amiable family, with a sincerity and kindness that I shall not easily forget. As I wished to see the country, and to travel more at leisure than the tyrannical crrtoms of a stage-coach permit, I bought here a ho^^e and light waggon, in which I proceeded to Lockport, a flourishing village on the canal, about sixty miles from Geneseo, and thence on the following morn- ing to the Falls of Niagara. These falls have been so frequently and so well described by numerous travellers, that any descrip- tion of them is superfluous in regard to others, VOL. I. G M 82 FALLS OF NIAGARA. and in regard to myself it seems equally unneces- sary to record upon paper that which is graven on my memory, in characters more durable than any that the hand of man can trace. Still it is impossible to give a faithful transcript of the scenes through which I have passed, or of the sensations excited by them, and to omit all men- tion of the most sublime natural spectacle on which the eye of man ever dwelt. The river Niagara flows from Lake Erie to Ontario, and receives from the former the waters of the St. Clair, the Huron, Michigan, and other upper lakes. After leaving lake Erie, the Nia- gara expands to the width of about six miles, leaving in its channel two large islands called Grand, and Navy Island ; on the former of these the Jewish city of Ararat was to have been built, according to the project of a Major Noah, of New York, in 1825. Below these islands the width of the river is about two miles, and soon after leaving them the stream begins to descend with great rapi- dity, its declination being above fifty feet in less than a mile. In the midst of the white and foaming rapids, formed by the descent, is Goat Island, on the western or Canadian side of which is the Horse- shoe Fall ; on the eastern, the American Fall ; the former of which, being the principal channel of the river, is about one-third of a mile broad, and about one hundred and fifty-eight feet high ; the latter a few feet higher, but of much smaller extent. FALLS OF NIAGARA. 88 ble than Hill it is ; of the )r of the all men- itacle on Erie to ;he waters md other the Nia- six miles, ids called r of these )een built, ih, of New e width of ter leaving great rapi- in less than d foaming Island, on the Horse- 1 Fall ; the mnel of the broad, and ; high; the iller extent. On arriving at the Great Horse-shoe Fall, de- scription must stop short ; and to those who have not^ seen it, imagination must be left to finish a picture of which words can give but a feeble outline. How can language convey impressions too tremendous and sublime even for the mind to bear ? How can it presume to embody a scene on which the eye could not gaze, to which the ear could not listen, and which the oppressed and over- whelmed power of reflection could not contem- plate without feelings of awe, wonder, and delight, so intense as to an\ount almost to pain ! Who (loth not feel, until his failing sight Faints into dimness with its own delight, His changing cheek, his sinking heart confess The might — the majesty ? Bride of Ahydos. These lines, beautiful as they are, and beautifully applied by the poet, are no less applicable to the glorious Niagara. He who admires and loves the softer features in Nature's countenance, should cross in the ferry-boat about a quarter of a mile be- low the falls : there, the eye can take them both in at once, the ear can bear the hoarse and deep voice of the waters softened by distance. The clouds of foam that rise from the boiling caldron spring up- ward in snowy wreaths of vapour, and the rocks and woods around are tinged with the ever-chang- ing rays of the rainbow. And he who admires Nature in her more stern and magnificent array, G 2 84 FALLS OF NIAOAHA. should stand upon the Tabic Rock. There " Prtp- sentiorcm conspicict Deum," — there the tremend- ous roar will stun his ear — the mingled masses of waters and of foam will bewilder his eye — his mind will be overwhelmed by contending feelings of elevation and depression — and, unless he be colder than the very rock on which he stands, the thoughts that press upon his brain, will be high, pure, and enthusiastic, and his hot brow will welcome the cool light spray that is ever falling around that holy spot. Let him whose spirit delights in the awful sub- limity of nature, who loves the war of elements, and the secret and mysterious paths of dark- ness, descend from the Table Rock, and, un- deterred by the wind and spray that will appear to oppose his entrance, — let him walk along a narrow ledge that extends about one hundred feet under the great Horse-shoe Fall, and there, with his back to the huge beetling rock, above him the canopy of rushing waters, before him and all around a tempestuous whirlwind of foam, and be- neath his feet a raging and boiling unfathomed abyss, — let him meditate on the littleness of man, and on the attributes of Him who metes out those waters in the hollow of his hand ! There is no object in nature, in which the re- flecting, the poetic, or the pious mind, will not trace the hand of its Divine Author, as well in the "wee modest crimson-tipped" daisy, or the love- FALLS OF NIAGAIIA. 8.5 torch of tlie glowworm, as in the occun, or the stur- lit sky ; but here tlie dullest spirit must be stirred, the most thoughtless and careless be arrested, the most haughty and daring humbled ; he feels like Moses, that " he should put the shoes from off his feet ;" he feels as if admitted to a secret abode and dwelling-place of the Deity, who speaks to him there in a terrible whisper. When I followed the guide into this stormy re- cess, there was a strong breeze of wind, and the spray was dashed against our faces with such un- usual violence as to render it almost impossible, upon first entering, to keep the eyes open, or to respire : I was so excited, that I feel some degree of shame in owning I neglected the usual para- phernalia of oilskin coat, trousers, &c. and throw- ing off my walking-jacket, I braved the water-mon- arch in his den with no other armour than a stout broad-brimmed hat. However, by slouching this civic helmet over ray eyes and holding my breath, I followed the guide without difficulty to the interior of the rocky chambers where the spray and whirl- wind are less violent, and where the faculties of seeing, hearing, and feeling are restored. Upon arriving here I became a»vare that two young American travellers whom I had met in ray rambles, and who, accoutred in a panoply of oilskin, had accompanied me to the entrance be- low the Falls, were missing. Upon informing the guide of the circumstance, he was alarmed for their 1 111 , 86 FALLS OF NIAGARA. safety, and returned to see what had become of them. Thus left alone, I pursued the little path or ledge to its farthest extremity, at a point called Termination Rock ; and, reseating myself, regard- less of the " pelting of the pitiless storm," I revelled in the glorious and terrible scene before me. To describe it further I will not attempt, nei- ther can I relate the thoughts that crowded upon me during the few minutes that I spent in that awful spot — they were too mingled and con- fused to be defined, or interesting to any one. The faculties of reason were absorbed, and the powers of imagination and memory held for a time divided empire. The Atlantic and the thou- sand miles that divided me from home were for- gotten, and well-known forms and beloved images were mingled in my wild waking dream with the thundering rush of waters. I know not how long the reverie continued, from which I was roused by the return of the guide, who informed me that he could not per- suade the other two travellers to enter the cavern. I went back and used every argument to induce them to prosecute the undertaking in which there was no real danger, but in vain ; in their first attempt one had lost his balance, and the other his breath, and they went away, as the old Greek tragedians say, aVpa/cTot.* Many travellers, after leaving Niagara, have said * •' Unsucfessful." vi FALLS OF NIAGARA. 87 that, although deeply impressed with its unrivalled magnificence, they felt no anxiety to revisit it. Such is not the case with me, and if ever Fate permit me again to stand upon the Table Rock, the charms of novelty and surprise may be want- ing, but I shall « Hail in each crag a friend's familiar face, And clasp the torrent in my mind's embrace." I.. ^•\^^,tk^^i^l^iiiu.ai^-i.. 88 TORONTO. CHAPTER VI. Embark on Lake Ontario. — Toronto. — Reception by the Go- vernor. — Lake of The Thousand Islands. — The Cholera at Montreal and Quebec. — Journey towards Lake Champlain. — Gloomy Road. — Burlington. — Students in the College of that Town. — An Obliging Landlord. — Road to Montpelier. — The Camel's Hump. — American Liberality. — Accommoda- tions at the Taverns. — John Bull a bad Traveller. — Hanover. — Concord. — A Criminal Trial in this Town. — Amoskeag. — Exchange of Steeds. — Lowell — its Lucrative Trade. — Ap- proach to Boston — Arrival in that Town. — The Tremont House. — Mr. Webster. — Tone of Conversation in Boston. On leaving the Falls, I drove ray waggon and horse down to Niagara town, and embarked with them in the Great Britain ; a magnificent steam- boat, which plies on Lake Ontario. We arrived in the evening at Toronto, late York, the capital of Upper Canada. This is a flourishing town, though it has been severely visited by the cho- lera, it contains about ten thousand inhabitants ; but as the steam-boat only stayed two hours, and during those it was dark, I cannot speak much either of its defects or beauties. I spent an hour in conversation with the go- vernor Sir J. C , to whom I had a letter of introduction, and from whom I met with a most I LAKE OF THE THOUSAND ISLANDS. 89 polite reception notwithstanding the unseasonable hour (9. p. M.) at which I was obliged to intrude upon his hospitality. I regretted much that I was unable to avail myself, for a longer period, of the opportunity of deriving information respecting Upper Canada from a distinguished officer so able and willing to give it. From Toronto we sailed down Lake Ontario passing Kingston before daylight, to Oswego, a thriving town on the American coast; thence to Ogdensburgh, passing the opening into the St. Lawrence, through the Lake of the Thousand Is- lands. With the scenery of the latter I was, I confess, somewhat disappointed ; perhaps my ex- pectation had been raised too high by the descrip- tions of travellers, and by the splendour of the name. The islands are indeed almost innumer- able, and covered -with wood j but there is little variety, scarcely any rising ground, even on the banks, and no distant outline whatever. The water was beautifully smooth and clear — the au- tumnal tints had begun to shed their melancholy charm over the foilage, and the scene was agree- able and pretty; but it undoubtedly wants many of the elements of beauty that delight the eye, in the wooded islets that gem the bosom of Loch Lomond. On arriving at Ogdensburgh, my fellow-traveller and I determined not to prosecute our journey to Montreal and Quebec, as the cholera was making 90 GLOOMY ROAD. serious ravages in those cities ; and independently of the risk incurred of being attacked by that ter- rible disease, the majority of the higher classes of society had retired to different parts of the neigh- bouring country : we accordingly directed the flight of Hornet (for so was my faithful steed called) to- wards Lake Champlain ; and after a drive of one hundred and fifty miles, through the most wild and uncultivated country that I have ever seen, we came to Plattsburgh. In the course of this long journey the villages were " like angel visits, few and far between ;" the roads execrable, being made upon the anti-mac- adam corduroy system. The miles of gloomy, silent forest, apparently interminable — the dull monotony of this bosky desert — its loneliness unre- lieved by the appearance of any living creature, save now and then the shrill cry of the woodpecker, and the hissing whisper of the catydid, produced a corresponding effect upon our spirits. A group of shepherds, collected round a wolf, which they had just slain as an expiatory sacrifice to appease the manes of eight sheep, devoured by him the pre- ceding night, formed the only banquet in which our appetite for interest or incident was permitted to indulge. We heard indeed of bears, deer, &c. but saw none. I do not know from what principle of our nature it proceeds, but it is undoubtedly true, that the mind feels more oppressed by the unvarying lone- BURLINGTON. 91 liness and silence of a vast American forest, than by the barren desolation of the wildest moor or plain ; nay, even more than by the waste of waters in a calm at sea.* Perhaps it may be that the spirit is more circumscribed and confined in the former instance, and feels the want of that space and extent which, however desolate it may be, it can roam over, and people with the undefined and fantastic objects of its own creation. Leaving the solution of the problem to more speculative heads, proceed we to Lake Champlain, which we crossed in a steamer, and landed at Burlington, a village on the south eastern side of the lake. Of all the places which I have yet visited, this is one of the most beautiful and agreeable. The townf rises in a gentle slope from the bay, which is a semicircular curve, the extremities of which are fringed with wood to the margin of the water. The ground about it is undulating and varied, the houses neat, and for the most part shaded by hic- cory and other trees, and the view of the lake with * Of course I allude to an individual travelling without a definite object; to an Indian following through the forest the trail of an enemy, or to a hunter following that of a bear or deer, these remarks would be totally inapplicable. t Once for all it is jecessary to mention, that in (this part at least of) the United States, the Americans use the word " tmon" to express what is called in England a parish, — and places such as in England would be called towns, are by them denominated either villages or cities, under the former of which appellations are included many places containing three, four, and five thousand inhabitants, and sometimes, I believe, more. 92 COLLEGE STUDENTS. if 1 1 1 i ! I ! i its promontories and woody islands, bounded by a distant range of blue mountains, is as lovely as the eye of a Claude or a Poussin could desire. Burlington contains about three thousand inhabit- ants ; three churches — one Episcopalian, one Pres- byterian, and one Unitarian ; and a college, situated on an eminence about a quarter of a mile from the town, attended by about a hundred students. The vacation was just over, and some repairs of the building were scarcely complete, so I had little op- portunity of talking with any of the students, but was informed that among them were three Germans come thither from Gottingen to study the English language ! Is there nothing in this to rouse the attention of Oxford, Cambridge, London, Edin- burgh, &c. that three young men, desirous of learn- ing English, should find it expedient (from reasons of economy or other facilities) to travel between four and five thousand miles to a remote town in the interior of North America ? • There are three good hotels ; that at which I stayed, kept by Mr. T , is very well conducted, and he himself is a most intelligent, active, and obliging landlord ; he is a proprietor of extensive glass-works in the lower part of the village. He drove me down in his carriage to see them, and I was surprised at the excellence and cheapness of the material. Thp work is carried on upon princi- ples differing considerably from those observed at the glass-manufactories in Britain, and is altogether TIIF. CAMEL'S HUMP. 93 nded by a fe\y as the • id inhabit- , one Pres- je, situated ,e from the mts. The lirs of the i little op- idents, but !e Germans he English rouse the ion, Edin- js of learn- om reasons el between mote town at which I conducted, active, and f extensive llage. He hem, and 1 leapness of ipon princi- )bserved at altogether well worthy of attention. The clay used in making the pots is imported from Hamburgh, none having yet been found in America capable of resisting for any length of time the intense heat of the furnaces. From Burlington (my fellow-traveller having pre- ceded me in the stage to Boston) I drove through a very pretty and picturesque country to Mont- pelier, the capital village of Vermont. The road formed by the course of the Union river (pronounc- ed there invariably Onion), passes down the valley ; the lower meadows are rich and fertile, and divided into neat and thriving farms ; the sides of the valley are clothed with varied copse and forest wood, and over the western side towers a lofty mountain, called the Camel's Hump, although (as Shakspeare says) the *' shepherds give it a grosser name" which answers very well in rhyme to the one here given, but is not quite so euphonious to ears po- lite. Its height is, I believe, about five thousand feet. At Montpelier, I found that hilly, sandy, exe- crable roads, together with the heat of the weather, made the journey rather fatiguing for my steed; and I chose him a helpmate in the shape of a little Indian pony, which I found in the possession of Mr. C , landlord of the Pavilion Hotel. Here I cannot help making a few remarks upon a subject on which I think the general opinion in Britain is erroneous. We are taught to believe that the Yankee is invariably a suspicious and ava- i ' ij ! \ I i VA ;H! 1 1s '(! I! f 94 AMERICAN LIBERALITY. ricious man in his money transactions, and incapable of those feelings and acts of liberality for which the British character is distinguished. I shall mention two instances that occurred to me in the space of four days, which showed a very different character from that of which the New Englanders are accused. The change in the route which the prevalence of the cholera at Montreal induced me to adopt, had pre- vented me from drawing any of the money which I intended to get in that city, and my finances were, therefore, so much reduced as to leave me only just sufficient to take me as far as Boston. Upon my mentioning the circumstance to Mr. T , my landlord at Burlington, as my reason for not making some trifling purchases in that town, he at once advanced me fifty dollars, by indorsing my draft on New York, and presenting the bill to the Burlington Bank. The second instance which I shall quote was in the purchase of the Indian pony. Mr. C of Montpelier, understanding that it would be incon- venient for me to pay his price out of my travelling pocket-money, offered at once to accept my draft on New York for the sum, in which manner the purchase was made. Neither of these gentlemen had ever seen or heard of me before, and neither of them asked even for a letter of introduction or other papers to satisfy them as to any particulars respecting me ; and with all due and modest allow- ance for my own gentlemanly appearance, I very TAVERN ACCOMMODATION. 95 much doubt whether I should have met with the same liberal treatment, under similar circumstances, at a country town in Yorkshire or Lancashire. Another thing I am also bound in candour to say, namely, that the descriptions hitherto given by travellers of the accommodations at the taverns in the more remote parts of the country, have been highly coloured to their disadvantage. In travel- ling for the last fortnight with my own horse and waggon, I have stopped at three or four different places in the course of each day, and have gone through a great portion of the most unsettled country in New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire : in many instances the taverns have been very small ; but I have never had reason to complain of want of cleanliness, good victuals, or civility. I have asked at the most unseasonable hours, both early and late, for breakfast, dinner, and supper ; and in the course of ten minutes have always been supplied with a beefsteak, potatoes, bread and cheese, but- ter, eggs, and tea or coffee ; the beds have been clean, and whenever I asked for two or three tow- els instead of the one placed in the room, they have been furnished without any hesitation or extra charge. All that a traveller requires is a sufficient knowledge of the world, to prevent his mistaking manners for intention ; and a sufficient fund of good temper in himself to keep him from being irritated by trifles. Upon entering or driving up to a tavern, the landlord will sometimes continue 'U )*.: \'. 96 HANOVER. smoking his pipe without noticing your entrance ; and if you ask whether you can have dinner, you may be told " dinner is over, but I guess you can have something." If you are a true John Bull, you will fret and sulk ; and silently comparing this with the bustling attention and empressement of an English waiter or boots, you walk about by your- self, chewing the bitter cud of your wrath : but if you are a traveller, or formed by nature to become one (which John Bull is not), you will take this re- ception as you find it and as the usage of the coun- try, and in a few minutes he of the pipe will be assisting to arrange your baggage, to dry your wet great coat, and a tolerable dinner will be in prepa- ration. Such is the state of things in the North, what it may be in the South and West, I have yet to learn. From Montpelier I drove through a tolerably well-cultivated country to Hanover, a pretty town, in which is situated Dartford College ; an exten- sive clumsy building. I was informed that the number of students was about one hundred and fifty, besides the medical department, which was separate, and consisted of one hundred ; but as the weather was very stormy, and it was va- cation time, I had little inclination or opportu- nity to see the lions of Hanover; accordingly I made the best of ipy way to Concord, the Capital of New Hampshire a clean airy town, contain- ing several good taverns, and an excellent hotel. CONCORD. 97 intrancc ; mcr, you you can Bull, you this with nt of an by your- th : but if become ke this ra- the coun- pe will be f your wet 5 in prepa- ;he North, 1 have yet tolerably etty town, an exten- that the adred and which was Ired ; but it was va- opportu- ordingly I he Capital contain- ent hotel. The village consists principally of one main street, the houses of which are generally painted white, and a great many of them have gardens and large trees round them, which give them a fresh and rural appearance. The state of New Hampshire, of which Concord is the capital, contains about the same population as Vermont, and both send five members to Con- gress. During my excursion, the political feeling in both states ran rather high, and seemed pretty equally divided, on the Bank question, at this time the general subject of divided opinion ; but I thought the majority of the inhabitants of both these states more favourable to the existing go- vernment than those of New York. . Before arriving at Concord, I passed a Shaker village ; but, as it was not on a Sunday, I could not see any of the peculiarities of their worship. The rain, which fell in torrents, prevented me from paying attention to other circumstances which might have been worthy of notice. At Concord I found the court of Common Pleas sitting : the case appeared, from the numbers that flocked into the town, to create much interest, and upon inquiry I found that a man was upon trial for murdering a woman under most horrible and aggravated circumstances. They were briefly as follows : — A young man of about seventeen or eighteen years of age, lived as farm-servant in a respect- VOL. I. H i ■ 1 i ( I '. I I ' .1 V'. 98 CRIMINAL TRIAL. able family near Concord, the mistress of wliich wns nn amiable, and bcautifui young woman. She asked her husband one evening to go to the gar- den and ga r some strawberries with her ; ho happened to be reading an interesting book and declined, and she went accompanied by this lad. On arriving there, he made a brutal attack upon her; and, unable to effect his purpose, murdered her by beating her brains out with a stake. The unfortunate woman appears to have made a pro- tracted resistance, as the grass around the spot was covered with blood and other marks of a struggle. These circumstances the prisoner admitted, and the defence rested upon an attempt to prove tem- porary insanity ! In the state of New Hampshire, murder and treason are the only crimes punishable by death. Two counsel are provided for the panel by the state ; the prosecution is conducted by the Attorney- general for the state, and the solicitor of the county; and the court is composed of two judges of the local, and two of the supreme court, one of which latter presides. I attended for three or four hours on the second day, all of which time was occupied in the exa- mination of medical men on the subject of insanity. I was surprised to find great weight attached in court to the writings and opinions of Combe and Spurzheim, and I certainly never heard so vague and desultory an examination as that which these CRIMINAL TRIAL. 99 witnesses underwent ; every case of insanity that had ever come under their observHtion was quoted, relevant or irreveMnt. There was no attempt to prove that the prisoner had ever shown symptoms of that malady previously to the murder, but his grandfather had been an odd man, and one of his uncles was nearly mad — when drunk! One ludicrous instance quoted of the hereditary descent of maladies, may be mentioned as an evi- dence of the latitude allowed to a prisoner's de- fence : the prisoner's father had never shown any symptoms of that strangeness of character for which his grandfather had been remarkable ; one medical witness said that the President Jefferson's grand- son inherited exactly that eminent man's nose^ although in the intermediate face of his father a different nose had appeared ! The prisoner had been confined about a year and a half, having confessed the assault and consequent murder. The stings of conscience, the tedious confinement, the expectation of death, and above all, possibly the knowledge that his life depended upon his being pronounced mad or idiotic, had given to his coun- tenance in court a sallow hue, a downcast look, a heavy lustreless eye ; and yet one medical witness commented upon his appearance in court as an evi- dence of madness ! My impression from the evidence was, that the prisoner had been clearly guilty of a brutal attempt, which he had deliberately endeavoured H 2 --•^. hi 100 AMOSKEAG. to conceal by an atrocious murder, and that he de- served hanging as richly as any wretch that ever died by the gallows. I learnt soon afterwards that he was condemned, but I did not hear or read of his execution, so it is not improbable that his punishment was commuted, as (in 1834) thirteen years had elapsed since a capital conviction had been followed by execution in the state of New Hampshire. Leaving Concord in the afternoon I drove to Amoskeag, a pretty village in the road to Boston, where there is a thriving cotton factory, standing upon a rocky promontory projecting into the river, whence the water flows through the establishment. Below it is a cascade, over which is thrown a wooden bridge. The dark pines fringing the banks of the stream, gave to the whole scene under the chastening influence of the bright moonlight in which I saw it, an agreeable and picturesque eflPect, which was the more striking from its being totally unexpected. Here my poor steed, Hornet, evinced considerable signs of having been overdriven in the hot wea- ther. As his shoulder was much pained by the collar, I determined to take him no further, and accordingly exchanged him for a short, stout, active galloway, more suited for daily drudgery, and a better match in size for my little Indian pony. From Amoskeag I proceeded to Lowell, in Mas- sachusets, one of the most extraordinary towns in LOWELL. — BOSTON. 101 this extraordinary country. It is now perhaps the first manufacturing village in the United States ; and although it cannot vie with Manchester, Leeds, or Glasgow, in wealth or population, it far exceeds them in the neatness and cleanliness of its streets and buildings. During this year (18f34) I understood that the capital embarked in cotton mills was about one million and a half sterling, em- ploying seven thousand persons, and above one hundred thousand spindles : at a rough estimate there might be forty million yards of cotton made in the year, of which one-fourth were printed. From Lowell I proceeded to Boston, where I arrived in the evening. The approach to the city, which is over a very long wooden bridge, recalled Amsterdam to my memory ; an association, doubt- less, strengthened by the busy stir, and the masts seen in so many directions as to lead you to believe that every street was a canal. On arriving, I drove (as every traveller must do, boH gr^y mal gre) to that first and most complete of hostelry monopolies, the Tremont House, which is certainly one of the largest and best-conducted establishments of the sort in the world. The build- ing is a good massy specimen of the simplest order of Greek architecture ; and although I could not perceive the extreme beauty which I had been taught to expect, the effect of the whole is both pleasing and imposing. To -this house the daily arrivals may be reckoned by scores, sometimes by i\ ; 'i 102 BOSTON. — MR. WEBSTER. hundreds ; and fortunate, indeed, is the man who, by giving a week's notice, can obtain a single room of ten feet by twelve. The ground floor is taken up by two large drawing rooms for ladies on one side of the entrance, and a reading-room, parlour, and smoking-room, for gentlemen, on the other ; behind these is the dining-room, probably ninety feet by fifty ; and the wings, which are built round a large court, contain parlours and sleeping-rooms for families. The drives and rides about Boston are very beautiful specimens of the best kind of English villa scenery. The enclosures are small, the ver- dure rich, the ground undulating, and all remind the British traveller of the neighbourhood of Rich- mond and Roehampton, while the clean white villas, with their verandahs covered with fragrant creep- ers, and surrounded by gardens and orchards, indi- cate that luxurious comfort and wealthy repose which gild the peaceful autumn of a life of commer- cial activity. In many respects Boston is a plea- sant and interesting city, the latter from its being the foundation stone of the Temple of American Liberty ; and the former, from the liberality and hospitality by which its citizens are distinguished. The day after my arrival I had the pleasure of an introduction to Mr. Webster, whose reputation for forensic eloquence is already as familiar to the eastern as it is to the western hemisphere ; and although he was unfortunately labouring under the TONE OF CONVERSATION. lOS attack of a severe cold, it required very little fancy to clothe that open brow, that large dark eye, that firm and compressed lip, and that deep voice with all their well-known attributes of reasoning, sar- casm, and invective. We parted with a sincere wish on my part to improve the acquaintance during the ensuing season at Washington. My stay in this city was so short that I will not pretend to make any comments upon its society : I only attended two or three small parties ; and although the general tone of conversation was more grave and literary than what I had hitherto found elsewhere in the United States, I am quite aware that any opinions of mine, formed during a resi- dence of a few days in a city of such magnitude and so often described, would be crude and without value. I will, therefore, pass over the subject of Boston's merits, not as undeserving of further no- tice, but from a feeling of ray own incompetence to do justice to it. 104 UETUUN TO NEW YORK. CHAPTER VII. li Return to New York. — Heavy Fog. — Exploring Party.— So- ciety in New York. — Departure for Philadelphia. — Exhibi- tion of Wild Beasts in Bordentown. — Arrival in Philadel- phia. — A lineal Descendant of William Wallace. — Arrival at Washington. — British Legation. — Tour to the West of Virginia. — Wretched Roads. — A Disaster. — A Negro Sama- ritan. — Friendly Landlord. — Arrival at Leesburgh.— Search for Game. — Capture of a large Gobler. — Fruit called Persim- mon. — Remarkable Duel. — Romney. — Excursion in pursuit of Deer. — American Agriculturist and Hunter. — Invidious Comparison. — Hospitable Laird. — Republican Doctrine of Equality — ludicrous Anomalies arising from this. — Survey of various Tracts of Land. — Progress of Agriculture. — Ex- cursion to the Glades of Alleghany — Scenery — the Inhabit- ants. — Private Entertainment. — Mr. Chisholm. — Recollec- tions of Scotland. — Scotch Settlers. — Field Sports in the AUeghar.ies. I From Boston I returned to New York by steam, embarking at Providence. On this expedition my usual sea-luck attended me, inasmuch as we were obliged to drop the anchor in mid-channel between Long Island and the main land, in consequence of a heavy easterly fog, through which the eye could not penetrate above twenty yards. After lying there all night and half the succeeding day, the captain determined to send out a boat to ex- EXPLORING PAllTy. 105 plore, in hopes of obtaining information or bearings by which he might continue his course. As I was weary of inaction, I jumped into the boat and took an oar ; there were three others besides myself and a steersman : we pushed off armed with only a com- pass, and in three minutes lost sight of the steamer. Like Satan of old " From them we went This uncouth errand sole ; and we, for all Ourselves exposed with lonely steps to tread Th' unfounded deep, and through the void immense To search with wandering quest a place." We rowed steadily on in order that the compass might not be disturbed, and the only sound that broke upon the ear through the thick pulpy haze, was the melancholy tolling of the steam-boat bell which became gradually fainter and fainter, till at length it died away altogether. • Several times we rested on our oars, and the cox- swain proposed to return, a motion which I always negatived, as I thought we should be laughed at if we went back without conveying any informa- tion, and I knew that we were in a channel which could not be more than ten or fifteen miles wide, so that we had little fear of being starved, unless we were carried out to sea. Again we rowed on, and again the faint chime of the bell was heard as the lazy breeze veered and hauled, and gradually died away ; but even this ceased to be of much avail, as one sailor thought the steamer was astern of us. I 1 1 ; 1 1 1 j I' .^i^ > 106 EXPLORING PARTY. another that she was on our larboard, another on our starboard quarter : we still pulled a-head by com- pass, and were soon rewarded by hearing a distant roar which we knew to be breakers, but owing to the state of the atmosphere the sounds were so indistinct, that we could not agree from whence they came. We pulled, perhaps, two or three miles before we made the shore, but then it was merely a low line of rocks, by which none of my companions could calcu- late whether it was island or main-land, or even as- certain on which side the channel they were ; how- ever, after pulling a mile or two along the coast, we made a light-house, which they recognized, and taking accurate bearings, we put the boat about and steered due north-west, which was the point at which we calculated the steamer's anchorage; determining, after rowing a certain distance, to cruise about till we heard the bell. The plan succeeded, and we reached her with very little deviation from our north-west course, having been absent between two and three hours. Altogether it was to me a very pleasant excursion : I obtained some hard exercise, as we had but four oars, and the boat was meant for six ; and there was something mysterious in the chaotic darkness of our course that gave the ex- citement of danger without its annoyance. On my return to New York, I quitted the gaiety and noise of the hotel for a quiet lodging, and re- solved to spend a fow weeks in the enjoyment of the pleasures of society. Of these — al:'»H)Ugh it EXHIBITION OF ANIMALS. 107 was not properly speaking the gay season — I had enough, and more than enough, to satisfy my ut- most desires, and the time passed as rapidly as it is wont to do, under the influence of hospitality, amusement, and I hope, I may add, friendship. On the 23rd of October I left New York for Philadelphia, which journey is usually performed in little more than half a day, by the combined ex- ertions of steam-boat and railroad opposed to the vis inertice of their respective antagonist elements. I preferred, however, driving at leisure through the quiet woods of New Jersey to Bordentown, where I spent the evening, and found the whole village in a state of excitement, owing to the recent arrival of a caravan of wild beasts. Of course I went to see it. The exhibition of animals was commonplace enough, with the exception of a very fine black-maned Afri- can lion, and a young female elephant, which last had been saved from the wreck of an English ves- sel, on board of which she had been so smitten by the beaua: yeux of a bull-dog, that she could not be prevailed upon to leave the wreck till her canine swain was induced to jump into the water, and she followed him : of course this tender couple have not been separated. Though the wild beasts were of an ordinary description, not so were the caravans and vehicles in which they were transported ; of these there were ten or twelve, each drawn by four or six grey horses, no other colour being admitted : they were accompanied by an excellent German band, and 'il I It! u 108 DESCENDANT OF WALLACE. w I', !;1 their puffs or show bills would put to shame the paltry efforts of Messrs. Wombwell, Charles Wright, or even those of a candidate for Westminster. On the following day I arrived in Philadelphia. As I proposed revisiting this city in the winter, I made but a short stay ; but during the few days which I did remain there, I experienced much kind- ness from the two or three families with whom I was acquainted ; and among other inducements to re- turn, I must not forget that I heard the harp played in a manner never excelled by any performer, pro- fessor, or amateur. As the fair harpiste was one whom I had the pleasure to number among my ac- quaintance, I looked forward to the winter months when I might again enjoy a musical treat, in hear- ing so exquisitely played an instrument which is linked with a?l the earliest associations of my child- hood. At Baltimore I met and conversed with an elderly gentleman of the name of Wallace. In early life he had attended the classes at Edinburgh, and studied under Dr. Black and others. He boasts of being the only remaining lineal descendant of William Wallace, and still uses the arms and motto of that hero : he mentioned to me that he was once in an engraver's shop in Edinburgh, giving the requisite instructions for cutting his seal, when the Earl of Buchan, who was accidentally present, examined the arms and motto, and said, " Sir, there is only one family remaining entitled to these, and SIR C. VAUGIIAN. 109 that family is in Virginia." This confirmation of his innocent and praiseworthy claims from the lips of a stranger, must have given him great satisfac- tion. He is a very cheerful, communicative, old gentleman, and I was really pleased to interchange a friendly grasp with a hand, the veins of which might be enriched even with a drop of the Wallace blood. On the 1st of November I arrived at Washing- ton, where I found myself domesticated in the house of my friend Sir C. Vaughan, and surrounded by every comfort that the kindest host could devise, or the most luxurious traveller desire. I should feel that I was trespassing upon the privacy of friend- ship were I to enumerate his agreeable and amiable qualities as a companion, or his high character as a diplomatist, although all who know him would bear witness to the former, and the latter is stamped by public opinion. After spending a pleasant fortnight in Washing- ton, which city I intended to revisit in the winter, I proceeded on my tour into the west of Virginia. As I continued to travel in my waggon with my two ponies, I proposed halting the first evening at Leesburgh, a village about thirty-two miles from Washington. I had been warned that the road was undergoing a radical reform, and I started in a heavy constant rain, in order that I might the better appreciate the necessity for such a measure : the first two miles convinced me that its adoption '■*'] 110 WRETCHED ROADS. 'I ' . i^ l\ I I- II i was never more loudly called for by Gatton or Old Sarum, by the old burgh corporations of Scotland, or by the late post-office regulations in America. In one place the road, or rather the passage, with a high bank on one side and a canal on the other, was strewed so thickly with rocks that it was im- possible to guide either horse or wheels between them ; the aforesaid flank barricades prevented the attainment of the usual remedial luxury in this country, of driving by the side of the road over stumps of trees or through a morass, so I had nothing for it but to leave my four-footed friends ro their own sagacity, and to trust the character of the coachmaker to the mercy of the rocks. The sequel will prove that the latter did not deserve the confidence reposed in him so well as the former ; they indeed scrambled on in a manner that amused and astonished me ; my little India.? leader (for I drove them tandem) was now perched on a stone with his tail above the wheeler's head, then de- scended into a pool where he was hardly visible. Indeed, our progress was something like that agree- able journey (would that he had never accomplished it !) which his satanic majesty, as described by Mil- ton, made from his infernal to his future terrestrial dominion. " Nigh founder'd, on he fares, O'er bog, or steep, through straits, rough, dense, or rare, With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way." At length we escaped from this confused mass of A DISASTER. Ill are, SS of rocks, (which, after all, requires nothing more than a few barrels of gunpowder and a few hundred Irish under the guidance of Macadam, to make it in^o a road,) and I fondly hoped that I had escaped the stony ordeal, with no further damage than my own half-dislocated bones ; heu, vatum ignarce mentes ! I drove on in safety for upwards of twenty-five miles, and was, indeed, within three of Leesburgh. The rain was falling in torrents, night had come on, when, descending a small hill, I felt several strange and uncouth jolts in the waggon, which were too often repeated for me to think they could be occa- sioned by stones in the road ; and just as I had re- solved to get out at the bottom of the hill to ascer- tain the cause of this strange limping gait in my waggon, I was spared the trouble of putting my in- tentions in execution, by the sudden departure of one of the forewheels, which placed me comfortably in the mud. Luckily my ponies were as quiet in difficulty as gallant in action, so they gave me no trouble. I got up to examine the damage, and found that the wheel was positively annihilated, the rim and tire gone, nowhere to be found, and the spokes broken in every direction, after having warned me by the aforementioned jolts of the un- wonted office they were performing. Now, gentle reader of these important memoirs, if you have experience in similar cases, or if you have imagination, which will do quite as well, pic- ture to yourself the agreeable predicament in which 1 1 'I rf 4'i 112 A NRCIIO SAMARITAN. I was placed ; alone in n strange road and nnknown country, not a humon being or dwelling in sight, inasmuch as it was already dark, and my waggon full of baggage, which I did not wish to leave ex- posed while I went to seek assistance, even if I had ventured to trust the stationary propensities of the ponies : here was enough to rouse the bilious in- gredients of a moderate temper. However, there are few evils without their attendant antidotes ; and in this case any little tendency that I might have to warm or hasty feeling, was wholesomely cooled and subdued by the rain, which continued to fall with unwearied perseverance and undiminish- ed vigour. Not having the means of lighting one consolatory cigar, I was obliged, in pseudo-Vcrsmn phrase, to " sit upon the carpet of expectation and smoke the pipe of patience." I took the harness off my In- dian leader, in order that I might be ready to pur- sue the first Samaritan that Providence might send to the neighbourhood, and had not waited a quarter of an hour, when a negro passed, carrying some brooms to the village ; he seemed a good-humour- ed fellow, and willing to render me all the assist- ance in his power. I liked his manner, and what I could see of his face, (which by-the-by amounted to little more than the teeth,) and determined to show a magnanimous confidence worthy of the great Alexander and his medicine cup. Accord- ingly I left him in charge of the waggon and one FRIENDLY LANDl.OHl). 113 quadruped, while I threw myself on the back of the other, which I had unharnessed, and galloped back to a house that I remembered to have passed at the distance of a mile from the scene of my cat.tstrophe.* On arriving, I entered the first room, and pre- sented my dripping and suppliant form to the land- lord of the tavern, for such it was. lie proved very deaf to my voice, not so to my entreaties ; for, after I had bellowed in his ear a detail of my accident, which elicited sundry suppressed giggles and mali- cious smiles from one or two personifications of mis- chief in petticoats who were in the adjacent room, the old gentleman told me that I was welcome to his servant, horse, and cart, to transport my lug- gage to the city, and that he should charge me nothing. I think it right to record this among the many refutations (which my experience affords) to the accusation of rudeness, so frequently and un- justly brought against the Americans. I returned to the waggon, where I found my faithful sentinel, who assisted me to place all my effects in the cart; and mounting him upon the other pony, with the baggage-waggon in the rear, I entered the village of Leesburgh, with my two sable attendants, soaked and triumphant. Dry clothes, and a cup of hot coffee, accompanied by a * The classical reader will appreciate the etymological pro- priety of this expression. VOL. I. I .^■"""fmmm n II 114 PURSUIT OF A GOBLER. f broiled fowl and some smoking cakes of Indian corn, soon banished all unpleasant recollections of " mine accident.** The discriminating reader will doubtless perceive from this little narrative, written the same evening, that my temper was soon restored to its usual equilibrium ; whether that be good, bad, or indifferent, I leave him to discover. While my waggon was undergoing the requisite repairs, I went into the woods near Leesburgh, in search of partridges, or any other game that might fall in my way. I was accompanied by a boy and his dog, a very small spaniel : the day was intensely cold, it rained and froze severely, and consequently I found my clothes as stiff as boards upon my person. This would have been disagreeable had I not entirely forgotten it in a chase which I unexpectedly under- took. I was crossing a wooded ravine, when a large gobler (so is the full-grown wild turkey-cock called here) started from the brushwood ; my gun was only loaded with very small partridge-shot, but I discharged both barrels after the flying enemy, and accidentally broke his wing ; he came to the ground, and began to run like an ostrich. The little spaniel pursued in gallant style ; but when he came up, was too small to hurt or hold his antago- nist. I threw down my rifle and joined in the pur- suit : at length I got hold of the turkey's leg ; the grass was slippery with ice, and in his desperate struggles to escape he pulled me over on the ground, then he scratched my haVids with his claws, and Vp- EXTRAORDINARY DUEL. 115 nearly blinded me by flapping his great wings over my face and eyes ; at last I contrived to seize his neck, and soon put an end to the contest. As he was too heavy a burthen for my little companion, I slung him across my back, and shouldering my rifle, returned in triumph to Leesburgh. During the walk homeward I felt no disposition to complain of the cold ; for, independent of my accoutrements, the turkey's weight proved, on my arrival, to be twenty- eight pounds. On this expedition I tasted, for the first time, the Persimmon, a fruit which is excellent when over- ripe and slightly touched by frost ; but woe to the inexperienced stranger who ventures upon it in an earlier stage of maturity ! for then its bitter power of astringency is surprising, and seems capable of suspending for a time all the faculties of the lips, and binds up the risible muscles of the sufferer to the same extent that it excites those of a spectator. While in this village, I became acquainted with a gentleman. Colonel M , who had been con- cerned in one of those extraordinary duels unheard of in any other civilized nation. He had quarrelled with General M , to whom he was related, (they were either first-cousins or brothers-in-law, I forget which,) and upon some occasion of meeting and dispute, the colonel knocked the general down. Of course, he immediately challenged Colonel M , leaving him the choice of any medium of destruction which suited his fancy. Colonel M , I 2 i u )^ H 116 EXTRAORDINARY DUEL. knowing the general to be an experienced swords- man and an unerring shot, proposed to the gentle- man who came to settle the preliminaries of this " mighty pretty quarrel," that he and the general should sit upon the same barrel of gunpowder, and, by the application of a match, both take a trip into the aerial regions. This very sociable propo- sal was declined by the general ; and the colonel, still determined to have the honour of his relation's company in the long journey " from which no tra- veller returns," suggested the propriety of their taking hands and jumping together off the top of the Capitol. This courteous (query Curtius) offer was also declined by the unaccommodating and un- reasonable general; and the third proposal of the colonel was musket and ball, at five or ten paces (I forget which). To this arrangement there could be no objection. They met — fired together by signal — the general was shot through the heart, while his ball, which was pursuing its true course to his op- ponent's breast, struck against the breech of his musket, glanced off, and did no further injury than shattering a part of one of his wrists ; he showed me the scar of this wound. I have given this story exactly as it was told me by several of the colonel's own acquaintances in the town where he lives, and have no reason to doubt its correctness. It is only necessary to add, that both these parties were men of, as high standing as any in their district, both members of the legislature. V"- EXTRAORDINARY DUEL. 117 and that this duel was fought within fifty miles of the capital of the United States. Where can we find in the annals of early Rome, or of Gothic barbarism, or anywhere else (except, perhaps, some instances of more glaring atrocity in Louisiana), a personal quarrel carried on in a spirit more vindictive and barbarous? This incident would, indeed, be scarcely worth the narration, as far as relates to the two individuals concerned, (because it might be argued that in any country two persons might be possessed by so rabid a feeling of revenge or hatred as to pro- ceed to similarly savage extremities,) but it does derive some importance, as a collateral indication of national character, from the fact that the parties were in respectable and responsible situations, and that the circumstances attending the duel were related to me in a manner rather laudatory of the courage, than deprecatory of the thirst of blood dis- played — and that too among a people claiming the admiration of Furope for the universal dissemina- tion of education, intelligence, and morality ! The weather and the roads continuing equally execrable, I went on by slow stages to Romney, a village on the northern neck of Virginia, where I purposed to remain a few weeks to arrange some business connected with land in its neighbourhood. I was not a little amused by the following inci- dent, which occurred, on the day of my arrival, at the marriage of two negroes. The hymeneal knot was tied by a member of the sable fraternity. In S I } I 118 NEGRO WEDDING. making the usual inquiry, whether any person pre- sent could object to the performance of the nuptial ceremony, he pronounced in an audible voice the following exhortation :— '* Whoever knows any just cause why these two persons should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now, hereafter — or hold your tongue for ever!" I saw two or three of the ladies attendanc upon the bride ; they were most beautifully dressed, especially one who wore a laced cap, with coiffure (I suppose) d la ProserpinS, and a crimson satin gown. In sober earnest, it was a melancholy reflection, that this " happy couple " might be to-day or to-morrow separated for life by the slightest whim of the owner of either of them ! If they remain together, the issue of the nuptial bed belongs to the owner of the bride ! As the greater part of the inhabitants were very busy in attendance upon the county court which was then sitting, I determined to spend a few days among the surrounding mountains, in pursuit of deer, bears, or whatever game fortune might throw in my way. I lodged the first night at the house of a farmer, about seven miles from the village, who joined the habits of a hunter to those of an agricul- turist, as is indeed the case with all the country people in this district ; nearly every man has a rifle, and spends part of his time in the chase. My double rifle, of London manufacture, excited much surprise among them; but the concluding remark •SSS!*WMMIW*^ "...iV-U* «i1M»] ->■ INVIDIOUS COMPARISON. 119 person pre- the nuptial voice the vs any just be joined R — or hold ree of the vere most re a Jaced 'pine, and it was a couple " or life by of them ! ptial bed 'ere very rt which few days irsuit of H throw house of ge, who agricul- country a rifle, J. My J much remark of almost every inspector was, " I guess I could beat you at a mark." My host received me with much hospitality, and introduced me to several young neighbours, who were to be our companions on the following day. The conversation was marked by that invidious comparison of the liberty and privileges respect- ively enjoyed by the inhabitants of this country and of Britain, which is but too common among Ameri- cans of the middle class : they still persist in con- sidering as slaves a body of men as happy, free, and independent as themselves. On these and many other points, a continued fire of raillery on the Bri- tish was kept up ; but I must add it was meant in good-humour, and was by me so received. In the same spirit, on the following morning, they at- tempted to walk me down, by taking me over the roughest and steepest ground (we were on foot fourteen hours) ; but when I was fortunate enough to kill a fine fat buck, I really believe that every man present was more glad of my success than if he had killed it himself. We slept, among the hills, six or seven on the floor, in the cabin of a hospitable laird, who gave us an excellent supper, and returned the following day, through the same mountains, without killing any more deer. They were pretty scarce, having been massacred in hun- dreds during a heavy snow the preceding winter. I found the tracks of several bears, but saw none. VOL.1. i4 120 REPUBLICAN EQUALITY. m u 1> )1 ' 1' :■ f ■J One of the party had a shot at Bruin, about a hun- dred yards off; but he missed him. The steepness of the mountains, covered as they are with thick brushwod, renders the walking some- what fatiguing, especially as their sides are frequent- ly composed of loose stones, which become, when slightly encrusted with snow, so slippery as to give little support or purchase for the feet ; but, although quite out of pedestrian practice, I went through the day, thanks to my habits of walking in the high- lands, without experiencing any unpleasant fatigue. There is nothing more amusing among Americans than the jealous care and assiduity with which they assert and maintain the republican doctrine of equality ; while, on the other hand, they observe dis- tinctions and interchange titles^ .vhich would appear ridiculous in England. For instance, the very first evening that I passed under the roof of my worthy host, not only he, but his farm-assistants and labour- ers, called me " Charlie ;" which Christian appella- tion would doubtless appear very familiar to an English ear in the mouth of a person whose ac- quaintance is just made : the curious observer of character, who wishes to see the per contra side' of the picture, may find in the first village to which he comes, the small tavern where he lodges k^t by a general, the broken wheel of his waggon mended by a colonel, and the day-labourers and i^iechanics speaking of one another as " this gentle- man," and " that gentleman." 1^ REPUBLICAN EQUALITY. 121 They will not, probably, continue long to wage this useless war with common sense and the common meaning of words ; but will return to the usu J ac- ceptation of terms acknowledged by other civilized nations, among whom a general is a man so named from the length or celebrity of his military service, and a gentleman is so called from being, by birth, education, or habits, enabled to follow literary, scien- tific, or liberal pursuits, which, by refining his man- ners and enlarging his mind, distinguish him from the great mass of mankind. In short, they cannot change human nature ; and in the application of these and similar absurd appellations they must at length find, as a logician might say, that instead of ennobling the subject they only degrade the predicate. Indeed, common candour compels us to confess, that even in Britain the said word " gentleman" has been, like its twin-brother "honour," sadly misapplied; and these high and noble appellations, as they would be understood by a Surrey or a Sidney in olden time, or by kindred minds to theirs in our own, belong with about as much propriety to the coxcomb, th.^ profligate, and the duellist, who assume them among us, as "general" or "gentleman" to the worthy American tavern-keeper or operative. As the business which led me to Romney obliged me to superintend and accompany the survey of various tracts of land in its neighbourhood, I be- came thereby more familiarly acquainted with the nature and qualities both of the soil and of the 122 SURVEY OF LAND. inhabitants than I should have been without some such inducement. I have before mentioned that the surrounding country is mountainous and covered with thick woods. The timber is not generally fine, the best of it having been cut for planks ; but the brushwood is so dense, and the ground so rough, that the process of surveying is extremely tedious and difficult. It occupied a week, every day of which we breakfasted before daylight, and did not cease our investigation till nightfall, when we betook ourselves to the nearest house or cabin for food and rest. We were in every instance kindly and hospi- tably received ; and though our hosts were in many instances very poor, we got generally a good supper of Indian-corn cakes, buck-wheat, and wheat bread, coffee, milk, and broiled pork or venison, and slept comfortably, sometimes on beds, and sometimes in blankets, cloaks, or buffalo-skins, on the floor. The process of agriculture (if it can be so termed) in this district has usually been, to select and clear some favourable spot of woodland; to build the house with part of the timber, and sell or burn the rest ; to work the soil, by making it bear crop after crop till it was nearly exhausted, thei; to sell it for what they could get, and either clear another piece, or, what was more common, emigrate to the West- ern States. In this manner have the soil and the inhabitants of this district been impoverished. One half of the latter who remain are daily talking of emigrating ; and, could thtey pay off the debts with ammm ■MM ttmem EXCURSION TO ALLEGHANY. 123 which they are generally encumbered, and get any one to buy their farms, they would decamp immedi- ately. During my stay at Romney I made an excursion to the glades of Alleghany, being desirous of visiting that district, and of enjoying the sport of hunting the deer and bears with which it was said to abound. I could not have chosen a more unfavourable season ; for the winter was just setting in, the wind was keen, the frost intense, and the snow had not begun to fall, without which winter hunting is attended with but little success. The roads were, as usual in that neighbourhood, execrable ; moreover, I was obliged to cross several creeks or rivers, at places called fords. Such indeed they might be to an elephant or giraffe, but such they did not always prove to my little Indian pony. On one occasion, having arrived upon a branch of the Potomac when the day was pretty far advanced, and not having much time to deliberate, or calculate the depth, " accoutred as I was I plunged in ;" and be- fore I had reached the mid-stream, was pleased to find that my Lilliputian charger was as well versed in the art of swimming as in that of trotting; although I must acknowledge that the satisfaction consequent upon this discovery was both cooled and damped by the state in which my nether man was obliged to complete the day's journey. The scenery between Romney and the glades is generally of a wild and mountainous character ; the 124 THE ALLEGHANY GLADES. i undulations of the hills are almost too regular ; and yet, such is their vast extent, and so interspersed are they with wood and water, that in summer the prospect must be delightful : indeed, I have never met with a tract of country resembling these glades. After crossing several steep hills, or knobs, as they are here called, the road opens upon a vast plain, elevated about eight hundred feet above the sea-level. Here, during the months of July and August, while other districts around are suffering from the fierce extreme of heat, the herbage is lux- uriant and extremely abundant, the foliage rich and varied, the breeze is ever cool, and the streamlets which flow through and fertilize these natural mea- dows are always cold and transparent. The num- ber of herds driven hither in the summer to pasture is almost incredible. I believe it to be the healthi- est district in the whole continent of North Ame- rica. The inhabitants are a hardy and hospitable race, and almost all hunters by profession. In the autumn they kill many deer and bears, which they send in waggons to Baltimore and Washington, where they meet a ready and profitable market, averaging about 10 cents a pound ; which price would make a saddle of venison of ordinary size, or 60 pounds, bring 600 cents, or nearly 30*. sterling. In the summer, the chief occupation of the inhabitants is connected with the pasturage before-mentioned. The popula- tion is by no means dense, and the owners and occu- "PRIVATE ENTERTAINMENT." 125 pants of land (being generally two or three miles apart) are most of tliem tavern-keepers, or, as it is there termed, they keep " private entertainment." This distinction consists chiefly in the latter being upon a smaller and less comfortable scale than the taverns ; indeed the only point in which they differ from other farmers' houses is, that the words " pri- vate accommodation," entitles them to make a charge in cases where otherwise the duties of gra- tuitous hospitality would be incumbent or incon- venient. Before I went up to these glades, I had been told that I must go and see Mr. A, Mr. B, Mr. C, excellent, fine, hospitable people ; they would be so glad to see me, and to keep me a few days with them. Upon arriving, I was amused to observe that each of these kept " private entertainment ;" and when I came away, my bill, though reasonable, was at the usual rate of tavern charges. I record these trifles, not as disparaging to the civility or hospitality of the inhabitants, but as illustrative of their habits and modes of life ; indeed, it would be ungrateful did I not remember that the farmer with whom I chiefly resided, afforded me every assistance in hunting that lay in his power, and showed me every attention that a guest could desire. The house was in very bad repair ; and though the mer- cury was in the very near neighbourhood of zero of Reaumer, I could see from my bed several pretty views of the surrounding country, not through I 1,1 c:^^--^r^T? ^ " 126 MR. CIirSIIOLM. the windows, but through the apertures between the logs of which the walls were composed ; while the roof afforded me the same agreeable facilities for star-gazing. However, despite my usual admira- tion of the beauties of nature, I was unsentimental enough to fill these rustic vistas with hay, and by the help of a tolerable fire I waged successful war against the combined forces of north-west wind and frost. We had but indifferent sport among the deer, owing to the cold dry weather and the want of snow: however, I enjoyed my favourite exercise of walking from sunrise till evening ; and was delighted, after the laziness and languor induced by the burning heat of last summer, again to feel the elasticity of sinew and freedom of step with which I have been wont to tread the moor and mountain of old Scot- land. One of my long rambles led me to the house of Mr. Chisholm, one of a large and respectable family who emigrated from the neighbourhood of Inver- ness, and are now among the most wealthy and thriving tenants of the glades. As I drew near to the farm I overtook a man whom I immediately guessed by his appearance to be the laird. He did not hear me coming along the grass, and when close behind him I called out, in Gaelic, " It is a fine day, to-day." He started with surprise at this salutation, answered it by . welcoming me to his house, and soon made me regret that my knowledge Htm UKCOLLECTIONS OF SCOTLAND. 127 of Gaelic, confined as it was to a few phrases, did not enable me to carry on the conversation in that language ; however, we " cracked " long over scenes of mutual intere.'jt and recollection — the wilds of Badenoch, the woodlands of Inverishie, the ducal mansion of Kinrara, and the neighbouring abode of Rothiemurkes. With many mingled emotions did I listen to the tongue that, in native accents, spoke of these well- known scenes. They may be of little interest to others, they may be unknown to fame; but when one who has highland blood in his veins — whose early foot has trodden the heath-covered mountain — whose young memory was impregnated with the wheeling flight of the eagle, the timid eye and free bound of the roe, the hoarse plash of the waterfall and the slumbering loch, its pebbled margin fringed with weeping birch, and its bosom reflecting the rugged and dusky forms of the cliffs and promonto- ries by which it is indented — when such a one feels his heart unmoved, his spirit unstirred by these recollections, let him doff" that tartan which has well-earned its green and crimson glory in many a field from Bannockburn to Waterloo — lee him doff" it, " and hang a calf-skin on his recreant limbs I " In no other part of the world has my national pride been more gratified than in this country ; which, abounding as it does in settlers from almost every nation in Europe, affords a fairer opportunity i i I il I ( Ir 128 SCOTCH SETTLERS. 1.1. ^ than can be found at home of comparing their re- spective characters under similar circumstances. I think I can affirm with equal truth and pleasure, that the Scotchmen who have settled in the United States, have earned for themselves a higher average character for honesty, perseverance, and enterprise, than their rival settlers from any other part of the old world. The worthy and estimable man under whose roof I here found myself, had, when a boy, herded cattle and sheep on the hill-side in the highlands. On arriving here, his sobriety and laborious industry had procured him employment ; in a short time he was enabled to buy a small tract of land, which he yearly increased and improved; and he has em- ployed the leisure hours which the management of a pasture farm allows during the winter, in repairing the defects of early education, and in storing his mind with practical knowledge and general inform- ation. A sister, who acts as housekeeper, has joined him ; several of his brothers have also settled in the neighbourhood ; and there is not in the district a family more highly or deservedly respected. It could have little interest for the reader were I to give the detail of my sporting life in the AUe- ghanies. We killed a good number of deer, and sometimes amused ourselves with shooting at a mark for small wagers ; on these latter occasions, I witnessed the skill of most of the professional hunters in the district : at a short distance (from t. i SHOOTING. 129 twenty-five to fifty yards) they shot with much pre- cision ; but, although their rifles are so long and heavy in metal, their performance at a hundred and fifty yards was very inferior to that of many sports- men whom I could name in Britain. When I went first among them, they were rather inclined to jeer at my light short rifle carrying two large balls ; but, after a few days in the woods, when they found that I could frequently hit a running deer, (a shot which they rarely attempted,) their disrespect for my weapon was much diminished, especially as they often wounded without killing their deer ; while my heavy balls, if they struck, generally gave a mortal, or at least a disabling wound. 'V r VOL. I. fii ^ H li ' . U **' sLi 1 130 RETURN TO WASHINGTON. CHAPTER VIII. \i Return to Washington. — The Capitol. — The Senate. — The Ladies' Gallery. — Debate on the Relations with France. — Mr. Clay. — Mr. Webster. — Public Demonstration on the Death of a Citizen. — Attempt upon the Life of the Presi- dent — his miraculous Escape. — Mr. Calhoun. — Mount Ver- non. — Observations on Washington's Tomb. — Singular Oc- currence illustrative of the State of Society in Louisiana. — Melancholy Appearance of the City of Washington — its Site. — Method of assessing its Inhabitants. — Absence of local Attachment in American Agriculturists contrasted with the Scottish Love of Country. From the glades I returned, vid Romney and without accident, to Washington, again to enjoy the luxuries of agreeable society and a comfortable home ; for such to me, in the fullest sense of the word, did Sir C. Vaughan render his house. My first object of curiosity and interest was na- turally the Congress, and I accordingly drove to the Capitol ; an edifice in the appearance of which a stranger, who judges from the relations of British travellers, will be agreeably surprised. It certainly cannot claim the merit of simplicity or uniformity of character, neither are, its proportions or decora- tions in strict accordance with the rules of Grecian M ' THE CAPITOL. 131 architecture ; but the effect is altogether grand and imposing ; and well will it be for America, if the moral materials composing its congressional assembly prove as well-proportioned and durable as the building in which they hold their sittings. The circular hall, or saloon, in which are four entrances, to the vestibule, the library, the Senate, and the Hall of Representatives, is spacious, and well lighted by a dome. It seems a favourite lounging-place for idlers of all classes, and contains four pictures by Colonel Trumbull, representing scenes connected with the revolutionary history. On this account they may be interesting to Americans, but to a lover of the fine arts they offer no attraction whatever. The Hall of Representatives is a spacious semicircu- • I )artment, containing galleries for reporters and -Lo public, and having its floor furnished with an elbow-chair and a table for each member. It happened, when I arrived, that the question be- fore the house was not one of much importance : and the scene, for the time, resembled rather a large club or cafe than a deliberative assembly ; for certainly three-fourths of the members were writing their pri- vate letters, reading newspapers, and chatting as comfortably as if they had been in the front room of Brooke's or White's. This hall, from its dimen- sions and decorations, possesses every requisite for the purpose to which it is appropriated, except one, and that one is the most vital: it is scarcely possi- ble to hear two words in five, uttered by a speaker K 2 1 ■• 1 1 I 132 THE SENATE. I ¥: of ordinary lungs. I have been told, that Mr. Clay, when he was in that house, and some few others, could make themselves understood ; but I think I never saw an apartment of the same magnitude in which the voice was so completely lost ; and even breathless silence will not avail much, as there is an echo which so mingles the present with the pre- ceding tones, as to render distinctness altogether impossible, except by means of the very Slowest enunciation ; a method quite incompatible with the vehement and redundant declamation, which is one of the leading features of American oratory. The Senate is of much smaller size, and in every way better adapted for argumentative debate ; it is also furnished with galleries for reporters and the public, and round the exterior curve of the semi- circle, on the floor, is one for ladies, and for those who have leave of admission from senators ; while in the base of the semicircle, behind the President's chair, is a large recess open to members of the other house and to foreign ministers. As I had obtained the favour of the entrt'e to the lower, or ladies' gallery, I entered there and found every seat occupied by a fair politician. There was, moreover, a considerable number of gentlemen standing to hear the discussion. I had not stood there more than five minutes, when one of the door-keepers was sent in with a chair for my convenience. I was, , I confess, struck by this polite attention to a stranger : whether I was in- fe MR. CLAY. 133 debted to the Vice-President or to some other sena- tor for it, I regretted much that I had not an oppor- tunity of thanking him for a civility which I have much pleasure in recording. The discussion being upon local and unimport- ant subjects, I did not remain long on this occasion, but returned a few days afterwards, to hear the de- bate upon the relations with France. The circum- stances connected with this question are well known. The President, in his message, demanded from Congress provisional authority for making reprisals upon French property, in the contingency of the (continued) non-payment by France of the indem- nity promised by her in the treaty of 1831 to the United States. In order fully to understand the management of this important question in the Senate, it must be remembered, that in that body the opposition had a majority, while in the House of Representatives they were in a minority. The debate was opened by Mr. Clay, the framer of the resolutions adopted by the committee on foreign re- lations, the last of which formed the ground- work of the present motion, " that it was inexpedient, at the present time, to grant the provisional authority requested by the President." It is well known that Mr. Clay is one of the most vehement and eloquent opponents of the Pre- sident's government ; and here certainly was a mag- nificent opportunity for displaying those peculiar powers which distinguish his oratory, inasmuch as 1? '1 \ * 134 MR. CLAY. Lt ''I 1 1 the word " reprisals" was so much calculated to wound the pride and dignity of France, and to give that nation a plea for breaking off all further nego- tiation upon the subject. All the property and in- telligence of America were naturally averse to a war with France ; the inevitable consequence of which, even if successful, must be an expense of money threefold greater than the indemnity de- manded ; and Mr. Clay had a fine occasion, and one which none could have improved better than himself, of uttering a philippic against the govern- ment for giving France so fair an excuse for trans- ferring the question from her diplomatists to her admirals : but he took a wiser and more states- man-like course ; and in a speech at once able, temperate, and eloquent, argued the expediency of deferring any legislative measure in regard to the relations with France — he deprecated all national division and dissension on this question, and ex- pressed his willingness to modify his motion, so as to secure a unanimous vote upon the occasion. The speeches of most of those who took part in the debate adopted a similar tone ; and a resolu- tion, proposed by Mr. Webster, and slightly altered by Mr. Clay's original motion, was carried unan- imously. The whole debate was highly creditable both to the temper and ability of the house, and that not so much from what was said, as from what was not said, on a question touching national vanity, and ^1 i- MR. CLAY. 135 perhaps almost national honour, and when it was so difficult to avoid expressions irritating to the feelings of the respective parties to the treaty. The original sentence in the President's message which caused the debate, has been much censured for its imprudence — whether justly or not, is a matter of doubt. In all such inquiries the object in view must be first clearly ascertained. If that object was to maintain peace with France by every means compatible with the honour of the United States, the paragraph in question was imprudent ; but the President was probably influenced by other views. No man, much less a stranger, has a right to impute motives ; but they are to any observer a fair and open field for conjecture; 'and it is pos- sible, that the President was not very averse to a little quarrel with France, seeing that his revenue was unburthened, and that such a national cause was calculated to cement that union between the States, which various conflicting accidents and in- terests had occasionally threatened to weaken, since the last war. To return to Mr. Clay: — his manner and voice are both admirably adapted for a leader in a popular assembly ; the former is earnest and ener- getic (though perhaps deficient in that grace and dignity which characterize the oratory of Earl Grey) ; the latter is full and manly ; and though its tones cannot be pronounced musical, still they are modulated to the subject-matter, and produce i n 136 Mil. WEBSTER. if' li ! upon the hearer that most powerful of all effects — a conviction that, if provoked, the lion could roar yet more terribly. As an illustration of this last- mentioned principle, the Miltonian reader may remember with what mighty force that great master has applied it, when, after describing the power, and strength, and terror, with which the Son drove upon, and overthrew the rebellious host of angels, he concludes — " Yet half his strength he put not forth, but checked His thunder in mid-volley." Mr. Webster spoke a few words upon this ques- tion, but they were delivered with that grave im- pressive manner, resulting from conscious power. In a cause where the result was dependent upon logical argument and profound knowledge of con- stitutional law, I should imagine that Mr. Webster would find few equals, and no superior, on either side of the Atlantic ; but, in directing the impulse and exciting the passions of a popular assembly, he is, probably, less successful than Mr. Clay. About this time a member of Congress died sud- denly, in consequence of which the houses adjourned for two days. The respective members wore a crape on the arm, and the greater part attended his funeral. It may not be irrelevant here to remark, that the death of a citizen in one of the Atlantic cities of the United States produces a greater sensation, and is accompanied with more demonstration of respect, than a similar event in any other country which I !li ^ g'l, I I I — WW ATTEMPT TO KILL THE PRESIDENT. 137 have seen. If a member of Congress dies, the houses adjourn, as above-mentioned ; if a wealthy and influential merchant dies, as was lately the case in Baltimore, his funeral is attended by great numbers of his fellow-citizens, independently of his relatives ; and even the flags of the shipping in harbour are hoisted half-mast high. Similar in- stances might be adduced in other walks of life. At the public funeral of the member of congress above-mentioned, an attempt was made upon the life of the President, the failure of which can only be attributed to a Providential interference, such as the sceptic may deny, or the thoughtless worldling may ridicule, but which is at the same time more consonant with religion and reason than a belief in the wonderful coincidence of fortuitous circumstances, necessary to produce the same re- sult. The wretch who attempted this murder (and who appears to labour under that dangerous kind of insanity which just trembles upon the verge of responsibility), stood only a few feet from the Pre- sident, under the portico of the Capitol. He deli- berately snapped a pistol at him, which missed fire, and before his arm could be arrested, he drew another from his pocket, snapped it, and it also missed fire, when he was knocked down and se- cured. On examination it was found, that both pistols were new, both carefully loaded with ball and good powder ; yet both the detonating caps exploded without igniting the charge. I had this III 138 MR. CALHOUN. account from several gentlemen, who were close to the President at the time ; and on the trial which followed, it was established and recorded by legal process. Let the " Doctrinaires" of chance ac- count for it as they can. The old General showed his ancient and un- doubted courage upon the occasion. When the first pistol was snapped at him, he looked straight at, and iue?it straight towards the wretch who held it ; and when the second was presented, he never swerved, but attacked his opponent with a stout stick, which he usually carries. Had not a blow from some other hand anticipated his intention, he would probably have spared the law the trouble of investigating the matter. It is singular how little noise or feeling the oc- currence seems to have excited, except in the shameless and villainous instance of one or two scribblers in the government newspapers, who wish- ed to attribute the attempt at assassination to the effect produced by the speeches of Mr. Calhoun. The character of that gentleman needs no de- fence or refutation of such calumnies. He is in- deed one of the most distinguished men in the Union. His name is familiar to Europe as the great champion of the Southern States, and the pillar of that nullification question which threat- ened at one time to dismember the confederation. His manner is lofty and commanding; his eye, searching, keen, and deeply set under a considerate • f'! MOUNT VERNON. 139 brow. He is an acute reasoner, and the analytic power of his mind is most remarkable. Some there are who consider him as a more eminent states- man than either Clay or Webster : this is a ques- tion that I do not feel able or called upon to decide. That they are all three men of whom America has just reason to be proud, is a truth to which I have much pleasure in here recording my testimony. On the 2d of February I went to visit the tomb of the illustrious Washington, at Mount Vernon, where he resided chiefly during the last few years of his life. It is situated on the banks of the Po- tomac, about sixteen miles below the Capital. The road thither, as far as Alexandria, is tolerably good ; but the last eight miles partake of the usual Virginian variety of holes, stones, and mud. In- deed, it appears as if the American pilgrims to the tomb of their great founder had determined to self-inflict the penances imposed upon the Catholic devotees going to the shrine of a patron saint ; ex- cept that the peas in the shoes of the latter, even if unboiled, are far preferable to the neck-twisting rib-breaking jolts voluntarily endured by the for- mer. However, I speak rather from what I saw than from what I felt, inasmuch as I, and several others of the party, went on horseback. The situation of Mount Vernon is on a pleasant eminence, commanding a view of the river; the grounds about the house are undulating and well wooded. Altogether it must be a very agreeable ;i K ' 140 VVASI11N(JT0N\S TOMB. summer residence. Everything is left, as nearly as possible, in the same state as when it was occu- pied by its great possessor. The books, the writing- table, the small verandah, where he used to walk ; the key of the Bastile, sent him by La Fayette— all remain unaltered and unremoved, as if he had died but yesterday ; and all contribute to interest the observer, by admitting him, in fancy, to an intimacy with the illustrious hero, while they bear collateral evidence to that unostentatious simplicity Oi -luracter justly assigned to him by history. Leaving the house, we went out towards the tomb where his ashes repose ; and I shall not soon forget the overwhelming feelings with which I viewed it. We were first shown the spot where his remains had been deposited previously to their removal to their present situation, — a melancholy mound of earth, shadowed by a few cypresses, the hollow void within scarcely protected by a scant) grating from the desecrations of ignorant childhood, idle mischief, or filthy vermin ! The spot to which his remains have within the last few years been removed, is a vault in the side of a bank, also shadowed by a few dwarf shrubs, and protected from the air by an iron door. The building, if it can be called one, is a miserable- looking brick hovel. Over the door is an inscrip- tion from the Bible — respectable and venerable on that account, but as applicable to the humblest peasant, as to the great sleeper beneath. ITS PALTRY CHARACTKR. 141 I hope I do not attach any improper importance nor any bigotted reverence to mere sepulchral deco- ration or magnificence ; still I own that I could not here repress my feelings of indignation and dis- gust ! The memory of \V ashington is dear to, and revered by, not only America, but mankind ; and mankind had a right, according to all the rules of good taste, good feeling, and good example, to expect, either that the illustrious dust should have been allowed to remain in the simple mound where it first slept, shadowed by the melancholy boughs that first waved over it, and hallowing the soil where it had first sought repose from the cartas of life ; or, if it had been removed, it should have been to a sepulchre worthy of its name and glory, and not to a wretched vault, to which it f: ro exaggeration to affirm, that a British nobJjmai^ would have been almost ashamed to consign the remains of a faithful old dependant ! It is vain here to urge the well-known and splen- did truths that have been uttered over the spots consecrated by departed greatness. To no one who ever lived is the glorious Periclean eulogy of Ilaffa yi) Ta » / ■ .4 ' ( it;: 1 1 i {'' i « ii 152 WRETCHED ROAD. constituent parts ; but if I were now culled upon to give a receipt for a mess most nearly resembling it, I would write, " Recipe — (nay, I must write the ingredients in English, for fear of taxing my Latin learning too severely) — Ordinary clay . . . 1 lb. Do. Pitch . , . lib. Bird-lime . . . . G oz. Putty . • . . 6 oz. Glue . . . 1 lb. Red Lead, or colouring matter . 6 oz. Fiat haustus — aegrot. terq. quaterq. quatiend." Whether the foregoing, with a proper admixture of hills, holes, stumps, and rocks, made a satisfac- tory draught or not, I will refer to the unfortunate team — I, alas! can answer for the effectual appli- cation of the second part of the prescription, ac- cording to the Joe Miller version of " When taken, to be well shaken !" I arrived, however, without accident or serious bodily injury, at Fredericsburgh, having been only three hours and a half in getting over the said twelve miles ; and, in justice to the driver, I must say that I very much doubt whether any crack London whip could have driven those horses over that ground in the same time : there is not a sound that can emanate from human lungs, nor an argu- ment of persuasion that can touch the feelings of a horse, that he did not employ, with a perseverance and success which commanded my admiration. Fredericsburgh is prettily situated on the banks 3*: sraiMiiii rUEDERICSnURCII. 153 of the Rapahanoc, which flows nearly round it. It does not seem a very busy or thriving place, although the discovery, which has lately been made, of gold in the neighbouring mountains, has called a mining company into existence, and may, if it realizes their expectation, increase the im- portance and wealth of the town beyond calcula- tion. As I was not able to visit the mines, and am, moreover, no mineralogist, I am unable to cal- culate the probabilities of the case ; but certainly, many of the specimens shown to me by the Secre- tary of the company indicated a great abundance of the precious metals. A wooden bridge is thrown across the river, on the opposite bank of which stands Chatham, the house of Judge Coalter. It is beautifully situated on an eminence, commanding a view of the town, and of the bold sweeping course of the Rapahanoc, whose wanderings the eye may trace up to Fal- mouth, a pretty village, where they are made to lend their aid to some extensive flour-mills, esta- blished by Mr. Gordon, a Scottish proprietor, and one of the richest (as I am informed) in Virginia. The first glance at Mr. Coalter's house impress- ed me with the idea that it was of anti-revolu- tionary date : the old brown-coloured bricks, the strait green walks in the terraced garden, and the formal grenadier row of stately poplars, all be- tokened the old dominion. The family not being at home, I asked, and obtained, permission to view f I !1 ■ , ftrfW i< I fill II. -J' ■ll n 1 1 154 JUDGE COALTKK. : ^ the river and valley from the garden, which I en- joyed with much pleasure for some time. As I was on the point of retiring the judge returned, and politely interrupted my apologies for intru- sion by an invitation to go in and take a glass of Madera. Agreeably to this hospitable arrange- ment, I entered a small entrance-hall, floored with polished pine boards ; the wainscotting of the parlour attracted my notice, when the Judge in- formed me, that the house was of the date which I supposed, and had been built by a Mr. Fitzhugh, well known at the time. Judge Coalter is a favourable, but not unfrequent specimen of the best class of American elderly gentlemen; he is plain, courteous, and hospita- ble in his manners, well-informed on agricultural subjects, and with a high reputation as a lawyer. Having begun with that melancholy cypher 0, for his fortune, he has the merit of having raised him- self by his ability, industry, and integrity, to the highest rank in his profession, and enjoys in his retirement the respect and esteem of all his neigh- bours. These estimable qualities are lodged in a form that seemed well calculated to resist the attacks of time or disease, and are portrayed in a countenance combining, with singular force, frank- ness, energy, and shrewdness. I regretted much my inability to avail myself of the extended hos- pitality which he urgently pressed upon me. In Fredericsburgh I also' received polite attentions JOURNEY TO IlICHMOND. 15/5 from the editor of a Whig newspaper, to whom I had an introduction, and was agreeably surprised by finding in him a candid and liberal tone of mind, great gentleness of character, and a regard to religion amounting to what would be called in England " evangelism." How strange that such a term should be used in a Christian country to convey reproach ! These qualities are, with a few honourable exceptions, very rare among the writers in the public press of America. On leaving Fredcricsburgh for Richmond, by the stage, I was warned of the bad state of the roads ; but, encouraged by what I had already gone through in safety, I smiled at such perils ; and confiding in the stout setting of my bones, resigned myself without fear to a vehicle, in which I formed the ninth passenger, and which promised to reach Richmond in twelve hours, the distance being about sixty or seventy miles. As we began the journey at two p. m., we hoped to conclude it about the same hour in the morning. After jolting some eight miles in two hours, I began to doubt the calculation of speed ; that of safety was placed agreeably beyond all doubt, by meeting the stage from Richmond, containing se- veral passengers with their heads bandaged with blood-stained napkins. We found on inquiry, that they had been upset only once, and had received these cuts and contusions. I congratulated myself on being in this "safety" line, as the opposition, or •..■i : ! ! ■ f 111 (I <• 156 DANGER OF BEING UPSET. I *'•' ,:i "," ! 1^: 1^: mail-stage, had upset twice that same night, there- by proving that our chance of escape with life and unbroken limbs was two to one greater than that of our mail-competitors. It is needless to dwell on the horrors of that night : it was found impossible to drag the load of passengers and luggage through the mud ; we were consequently divided into two stages ; and I heard the negro who drove the last, which con- tained my valu^ible person, say, as he mounted the box at nightfall, " I hope we shan't u^sit, as I ha'nt driv' this road this two month." Under his experimental guidance we certainly did receive such a jolting as I had never supposed a car- riage capable of enduring ; and the courage with which he led it on to charge stumps and trees, and to plunge into mud-holes, in the dark, ex- cited my admiration. It called forth, however, other feelings from one of my companions, who vented his alarm and anger in a variety of ex- pressions, which would have formed a valuable supplement to any dictionary of malediction or blasphemy. We arrived only four or five hours after the time appointed, and I felt nearly as much relieved as when my foot first touched the shore of Fayal. The description here given of this road is not overdrawn. I will defy pen, pencil, or malice to do it ; and it must be remembered, that it is the great high road (1835) from the capital of Virginia to the seat of the redenil Government. iiiT'tilir.Tl~-i — UlCHMONU. 157 Richmond is very prettily situated on the James River (or, as it used to be called, the Powhatan) ; the principal streets run parallel to its course ; and the town is built on ground that undulates gently in some places, and rises gradually as it recedes from the water, till the eye rests on the Capitol and other public buildings, which crown the summit of the centre hill. It is a busy flourishing town, containing about eighteen thousand inhabitants, of which the white and black population are in nearly equal proportions. The principal exports consist of wheat and tobacco, both of which are produced in the neighbourhood, of the very best quality ; the former is sent chiefly to the islands and to Rio Janeiro ; the latter all over the world. The pre- sent price of wheat is about a dollar a bushel.* I had read so much extravagant praise of the beauty of Richmond, that I was somewhat disap- pointed ; nevertheless the view of the city, the rapids, interspersed with thousands of Liliputian islands, and the wooded hills in the back-ground, form a very pleasing picture. The society numbers among its members some of the most distinguished men in the Union; their friendly attention and hospitality to me warrant my assertion, that their private and social qualities are by no means in- ferior to their high public reputation. The names *n I )' * Nearly the same price at which it was sold by our heavily taxed farmers in the English market at this date. 14^ ' '•f ■It 4ft 158 JUDGE MAUSIIALL. ^1p 'f ; II': \ i ' i i. '- ii 5j : §/■ ' i i! of Judge Marshall, B. W . Leigh, and Mr. Wickham, are familiar to all who have taken any interest in American law or politics. Judge Marshall, who is Chief Justice of the Su- preme Court, and, in fact. Lord Chancellor of the United States, is one of the most remarkable and distinguished men that has adorned the legislature of either shore of the Atlantic. He began life as a soldier ; and, during the American war, served in the militia, where he rose to the rank of General : after which he came to the bar, and passed through all its gradations to his present high situation, which is, in my opinion, the proudest that an Ame- rican can enjoy, not excepting tb ... of President; inasmuch as it is less subject " arbitrio popularis aurae ;" and as the court over which he presides can affirm and decide what is and what is not the constitution of the United States. The judge is a tall venerable man, about eighty years of age, his hair tied in a cue, according to olden custom, and with a countenance indicating that simplicity of mind and benignity which ijo emiiicntly distin- guish his character. As a judge he has no rival, his knowledge being profound, his judgment clear and just, and his quickness in apprehending either the fallacy or truth of an argument as surprising. I had the pleasure of several long conversa- tions with him, and was struck with admiration at the extraordinary union of modesty and power, gentleness and force, which his mind displays. HIS HOUSE. 159 What he knows he communicates without reserve ; he speaks with a clearness of expression, and in a tone of simple truth, which compel conviction ; and on all subjects on which his knowledge is not cer- tain, or which admit of doubt or argument, he delivers his opinion with a candid diffidence, and with a deference for that of others, amounting al- most to timidity : still, it is a timidity which would disarm the most violent opponent, and win respect and credence from any auditor. I remember hav- ing often observed a similar characteristic attributed to the immortal Newton. The simplicity of his character is not more singular than that of his life ; pride, ostentation, and hypocrisy are " Greek to him ;" and he really lives up to the letter and spirit of republicanism, while he maintains all the dignity due to his age and office. His house is small, and more humble in appear- ance than those of the average of successful law- yers or merchants. I called three times upon him ; there is no bell to the door : once I turned the handle of it, and walked in unannounced ; on the other two occasions he had seen me coming, and had lifted the latch and received me at the door, aithcugh he was at the time suffering from some very severe contusions received in the stage while travelling on that road from Fredericsburgh to Richmond, which I have before described. I verily believe there is not a particle of vanity in his com- position, unless it be of that venial and hospitable f.\ 1 1! 160 LADIES OF RICHMOND. i ''f ^ 4i I ! J ) 1 US 1 ,■ n \ i io nature which induces him to pride himself on giving to his friends the best glass of Madera in Virginia. In short, blending, as he does, the simplicity of a child and the plainness of a republican with the learning and ability of a lawyer, the venerable dig- nity of his appearance would not suffer in com- parison with that of the most respected and dis- tinguished-looking peer in the British House of Lords.* I spent a week very pleasantly in Richmond. At the tables of the three gentlemen before-mentioned, I met most agreeable and well-informed society, and received attentions more marked than I either expected or felt myself entitled to. Although the gay season was over, the attractions presented by several of the ladies' drawing-rooms were such as to make me regret the necessity for a speedy departure. Indeed it is easy to observe in Rich- mond the different shades of character between the belles of Virginia and those of New England ; if the latter are more polished and well-informed, the former ar3 more frank, natural, and unrestrained, and the smile which lightens from the face of the one, warms and gladdens from that of the other. This difference would be more marked than it is were it not for the wide prevalence among parents in Virginia, and both ihe Carolinas, of the custom * The honoured subject of the foregoing remarks has since paid the debt of nature ; but I have left them as they were originally entered in my journal. THE JAMES RIVER. 161 of sending their daughters to be educated in New York and Boston, where they can have better masters, and are removed from the febrile dangers of the Southern summer. On the 9th of April I left Richmond, and em- barked on the James River, the banks of which received the first settlers that Britain sent across the Atlantic, whose melancholy fate is too well known to require narration. The morning was fine, and the view of the receding city extremely beautiful. The banks of the river are generally well wooded and cultivated, and every now and then is seen a country-house more resembling those in England than any which I had hitherto ob- served. I availed myself with much pleasure of the hos- pitable offers of one or two gentlemen, whose ac- quaintance I had made in Richmond, of paying them a visit. I disembarked accordingly about sixty miles down the river, and received a kind welcome in the house of one of the oldest families in the State. Here I remained four or five days ; and if the wishos of the friendly and excellent host, or of his guest, had been alone to be consulted, I might have remained there as many weeks, so agreeable was the domestic circle in which I found myself, and so pressing were the invitations to prolong my stay. In Virginia, as in England, a country-house is a very hothouse of acquaint- ance, and ripens it much earlier than the common VOL. I. M Ml ' * R I>1 f i (in I 162 tj if! ' I Ml r r I • ; I -I INTERMARRIAGE OF RESIDENTS. garden of society ; and the hospitality of Virginia is deservedly celebrated. Proceeding down the river about fifteen miles, I paid another visit to two gentlemen, brothers, who were connections of my former host. Indeed a great many of the residents on the James River are, from intermarriage and division of old estates, mutually connected ; and the cousinship of the old families of the Birds, Carters, Randolphs, and Har- risons, are almost as widely extended as a similar relation in the highlands of Scotland. They seem upon the most friendly terms— are constantly inter- changing visits, without ceremony or invitation ; and their hospitality to strangers is not surpassed in any country that I have seen. Here, too, I saw again walls adorned with the powdered heads and laced coats of our common ancestors. I sat at dinner beneath the sweet smile of Pope's Miss Blount, from the pencil of Sir G. Kneller ; while Lord Orrery, Lord Albemarle, and the Duke of Argyle, frowned from canvass of respectable anti- quity. The illusion was carried yet further by the Anglicism of the names of their residences — such as Shirley, Brandon, Berkeley, &c. As these were the first plantations, or farms, which I had as yet seen cultivated on a large scale by slave-labour, I naturally paid much auention to the appearance of the land and its cultivators. I shall not interrupt this narrative portion of my journal by any remarks on the general question WBueww i i ii u iii TREATMENT OF SLAVES. 163 of slavery, but shall confine myself to a simple record of the facts which came under my observa- tion during this excursion, reserving to another occasion the discussion of a subject which is con- fessedly the most important, the most disagreeable, and the most difficult that can engage the atten- tion either of the politician or the moralist in the United States. From what I had already seen of the social qualities of the gentlemen at whose houses I was a visiter, I was rather gratified than surprised to witness the comparative comfort and good usage enjoyed by their slaves. The huts in which they reside are constructed of wood, and divided in the centre by a compartment, in which is fixed a chim- ney, to convey the smoke from each division : their food (consisting chiefly of fish, broth, maize cook- ed after various fashions, bacon, &c.) is wholesome and sufficient : their clothing, coarse, but suited to their necessities and to the climate : their labour compulsory and constant, but not beyond their power. During the days that I spent in the neigh- bourhood, I did not see any corporal punishment ; but each overseer was armed with a cowhide ; and one, with whom I heM a long conversation regard- ing the detail of his occupation, informed me, that he was obliged constantly to use the lash, both to the men and women : that some he whipped four or five times a week, some only twice or thrice a month : that all attempts to make them work re- m2 } II ff p I i I 1 ' { 164 EXPENSE OF SLAVES. gularly by advice or kindness were unavailing, for their general character was stubborn idleness ; and that many who were cheerful, and even appeared attached to the family, would not work without oc- casional hints from the cowhide. He owned he was extremely sorry that the race existed in Virginia, destroying as they must the market for the white man's labour; adding his conviction that his em- ployer's estate would produce more clear revenue if every negro were removed from the State, and the property divided into farms under lease. The grounds for this opinon, were the heavy original outlay in the purchase of slaves (the price of an able-bodied male being, at an average, 150/.) — the expense of their maintenance — .the perpetual losses incurred by their dying, running away, falling sick, and other casualties, the weight of which in free countries falls upon the labourer. It is doubtless true that all these causes, taken together, render slave-labour less cheap and profit- able to the proprietor than it is sometimes assumed to be ; but there is also a fact usually advanced by the slave-holders in this district which must not be passed over, and the truth of which cannot be altogether denied, namely, that the banks of the James River are extremely unhealthy during the harvest and hot months, and it is very doubtful whether white labourers (who suffer much more severely than negroes from bilious and other lo- cal fevers) could perform the work requisite during THE NEGRO CHARACTER. 165 the summer ; so that the choice must lie between slavery and free-black labour, of which last the Vir- ginians speak as an impracticable theory. That, however, remains to be proved ; and as the expe- riment has been made elsewhere upon a great scale, it is surely more philosophical to wait and observe, rather than conjecture or anticipate the result. The general experience of the past seems to warrant the assertion, that the motives of clean- liness, comfort, and independence are seldom, if ever, strong enough to prevail upon the negro to labour ; and that no inducements sufficiently strong can be found, excepting necessity and com- pulsion. It is to be feared that such will continue to be their character, until it shall have been changed by education and by gradual improvement in their mental and moral condition ; indeed, the contra- riety of slavery to the laws of nature can scarcely receive stronger confirmation than it does from the fact, that it is necessarily associated with, and dependent for its existence upon, the grossest ig- norance and degradation of mind. All civilized nations agree in the great maxims, that know- ledge is the power of man — liberty his unalienable right — improvement his object; and yet here is a condition utterly incompatible with the first dawnings of knowledge — the first principles of li- berty — the first step in the march of improve- ment ! 166 SUBMISSION OF SLAVES. I. I i The abject submission and ignorance necessart/ to tlie continuance of slavery may be easily gather- ed from the following statement : — The farms of two gentlemen whom I visited occupied the whole of a peninsula formed by the James River : ihey had each two overseers : thus (their families being young) the efFecti\ c strength of white men on their estates amounted to sia': the negroes were in number about two hundred and fifty : nor was there a village or place within many miles from which assistance could be summoned. Let the reader only imagine the scene that must have en- sued had some of these blacks, while smarting under the pain of the lash, been taught the first crude notions of natural right, or been awakoiicd to the first consciousness of their power, or been excited to one feeling of indignation or revenge strong enough to overcome the habitual terror of the cowhide ! Hence it is not difficult to under- stand how justly the slaveholders urge the neces- sity of keeping from their slaves all glimpses of knowledge or liberty upon the ground of self-pre- servation ; and thus the best apology for slavery furnishes the best evidence of its inhuman unholy nature. But to return to the plantations on James River. There is a wide difference between the respective conditions of the domestic and the farm-labouring slave ; the former has, in many instances, been i : OVERSEERS. 167 brought up under the same roof with his owner — perhaps they have been playmates in early boy- hood ; he has rarely, if ever, felt the lash ; and his respectability of demeanour and attachment to the family are characteristics which it is easy and plea- sant to observe ; his punishment when idle is gene- rally confined to a scolding, and if that fails, a threat to sell him will almost always reduce the most obstinate to obedience. But the farm-labour- ing slave is little brought into contact with his master, whose habitual feelings of humanity are, therefore, seldom excited in his favour : he is one of a gang from which, as from a team of horses, a cer- tain quantum of labour is expected ; he is entirely at the mercy of the overseer ; and the merit of that functionary in the eyes of his employer being to extract the maximum of profit from the exertions of the slaves, he is apt to spare neither threats nor blows in the discharge of his office, and an appeal against him to the master is worse than hopeless, as the negro evidence is unheeded. The complainant, therefore, is well aware that by accusing his op- pressor, he would only draw upon himself redoubled severity or cruelty. These overseers are generally men of harsh and unfeeling character, which every day spent in their disagreeable vocation must have a natural tendency to harden ; but I have never heard in the South-eastern States of their being guilty of the licentious atrocities of which they have been n IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) v.. 1.0 I.I 1.25 l^|28 |2.5 la liii •^ 140 111112.0 i.4 1.6 ^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STREIT WEDSTER.N.Y, MSSO (716)673-4503 '^."^^ 168 MARRIAGE OF SLAVES. sometimes accused in Louisiana, and which cer- tainly are but too common among them in the West India Islands. The marriage of the slave is, of course, entirely at the option of the owner, by whom it is generally encouraged. If the wife belong to a gang on an ad- joining property, the husband is usually allowed to visit her from Saturday night until Monday morn- ing, and sometimes once again in the week from sunset until the following daybreak : the children resulting from the marriage belong to the owner of the mother. The sexual morality of the negroes (being unchecked by uny notions of decency or pro- priety) would be even more lax than it is, were it not restrained by prohibitory regulations on the part of their owners, whose interest it is to prevent all irregularities which might interfere with the labour of the male, or the fecundity of the femal^ slaves : let us hope, also, that some impose these re- straints from better and higher motives. The religion of the negroes is such as might be expected from the brutal state of ignorance in which they are brought up ; the dignity, the responsibility, the immortality of man being unknown to them, their religion is a compound of superstition and ab- surdity, inculcating no virtue, duty, or self-denial, and filling their heads with drivelling fruitless fan- cies ; they always prefer their own preachers (some brother-slave, whose vanity and volubility have in- duced him to assume the office) to any white minis- ber- the AGRICULTURE. 169 ter that can be offered to them ; and the only defi- nite article of belief that I could obtain from seve- ral whom I examined, was, that if adultery, theft, and murder were very bad, a few prayers soon ex- piated the offence, and the " man might start again as good as ever ! " The soil on both banks of James River is natu- rally very fertile ; but it has been much exhausted by neglect and by over-cropping. A better system of agriculture is now introduced ; a triennial rota- tion is observed, consisting usually of wheat, Indian corn, and clover ; fine beds of marl have lately been discovered of great extent, and the use of this with shells and a free admixture of animal and vegetable manure, is already producing evident and rapid improvement in the soil and in the crops. Most of the implements of husbandry are made on the farm ; the draught cattle consist chiefly of small, lean, but hardy oxen, and stout mules, which are fed upon the coarsest refuse of the produce : thus (with the exception of the value of the slave - labour) the outlay upon these farms is not by any means heavy in proportion to their return ; and were it not for the subdivision to which, by the laws of the country, they are so frequently subject- ed, these estates would maintain a comfortable and independent gentry. I suppose my American friends would call it British prejudice ; but I confess it often made me sad in my journey through Virginia, to see good I 'I VOL. I. M 5 170 EMBARK FOR WILLIAMSBURGH. substantial manor-houses, built while the law of primogeniture was in force, either untenanted or half inhabited, because none of the heirs of the sub- divided property could afford to live in them. However, although I will not enter further into the merits of that question here, I freely admit that I consider a law of primogeniture incompatible with republican institutions. On the 19th of April I bade adieu to my kind hosts, and embarked again on James River for Williamsburgh, the former colonial seat of govern- ment. The steamer in which I found myself was the " Patrick Henry ! " The name of the extraor- dinary man after whom it was so called, is familiar to all who are in any degree conversant with the his- tory of the American revolution. How little could he imagine, when he was stirring up the Virginians to revolt, and fulminating his eloquent denuncia- tions against their governor, who had proclaimed him outlaw and traitor, that in fifty years his own country would be a mighty independent empire, and the grandson of that governor be received there as a traveller with kindness and hospitality ! The district through which I was now passing was the Wingandacoa, mentioned as the first region visited by the English on this coast ; it is de- scribed by Philip Amydas, narrator of that expedi- tion, as " a soile most plentiful, sweete, and whole- some of all other ;" in proof of which the worthy captain states, " the corne groweth three times in •4«»y^' EARLY SETTLERS. 171 five moneth; we put some of our pease in the grounde, which in ten dayes were fourteen inches high ! " I entreat the reader to take this statement upon the faith of Philip Amydas's veracity, and not of mine. It appears that in 1585, Wingandacoa received the name of Virginia, and a second expedition was sent thither under Sir Richard Grenvill, Master Heriot, Layne, and others. Their first negotiations with the Indians seem to have been carried on in that spirit of intolerance and cruelty which has marked and disgraced the conduct of English, Spa- nish, and of all the civilized nations, in their in- tercourse with ignorant and helpless savages. Mas- ter Heriot's narrative abounds with illustrations of this observation ; let one short sentence suffice : very soon after their landing, he says, " At Aquas- cogac the Indians stole a silver cup, so we burnt their towne, and spoyled their come," &c. When civilization and Christianity came to the poor In- dians, recommended by such acts of wanton atro- city as are recorded in the narratives written by the first European settlers themselves, who can wonder that they should become objects of fear and hatred, rather than of admiration and love ? The speed of the Patrick Henry exceeded that of any steamer which I had seen in England or in America. She went over seventy-six miles (with wind and tide in her favour) in four hours and twenty minutes precisely, including several a : ■ c W 172 JAMES TOWN. short stoppages to land and take in passengers. I landed at James Town, the now desolate spot, where the fathers of America first established them- selves on her shores : it is impossible to view it without interest and emotion, or to forget that from this acorn sprung the huge -spreading oak on which the American eagle has built her nest ! " Time was when, settling on thy leaf, a fly Could shake thee to the roots — and time has been When tempests could not."* Nothing now remains of that parent settlement excepting the ruins of the church, which mark the place whence the tidings of Christianity were first preached in the Western world. Here I regret to add that the condition both of the ruins and of the churchyard, attest the indifference of the American people to sepulchral relics or monuments of antiquity. Instead of showing any reverence for this classic and holy gro.und (such, at least, it ahould be to them), the church has been allow- ed to fall to pieces — the gravestones have been rudely torn from their places — the marble slabs broken, and scattered in every direction — the in- scriptions and carved ornaments defaced — the churchyard wall thrown down — nor is there the slightest remaining barrier to protect this, their earliest religious and ancestral monument, from the intrusion of pigs and cattle, or the more disgrace- ful profanation of human mischief and curiosity ! * Cowper's «' Yardley Oak." DESECRATED CIIURCIIYAllD. 173 Some may think this a light and trivial matter — I cannot agree with them : it appears to me an amiable, if not an instinctive feeling in our nature, to have a regard to all the concerns, the habits, the deeds, as well as the houses and more material relics of our forefathers ; how much more so to venerate the spot of which the dust is kindred to our own animated clay, where sleep the men to whom we owe the land and the liberty we enjoy. I will defy any one who pretends to understand or appreciate a stanza of Gray's matchless Elegy to look upon this desecrated churchyard without min- gled feelings of indignation and pain. If I were an American statesman, I would watch, and en- deavour to correct this national defect, and to in- stil into my countrymen a sentiment which the concurring testimony of civilized nations has ap- proved. Burke, who was no superficial observer of human nature, has said, " They who never look back to their ancestors, will rarely look forward to posterity." The road from James Town to Williamsburgh is through a tame ill-cultivated country, without much pretension to beauty. The seat of govern- ment during the Old Dominion is now little bet- ter than a " deserted village." The centre of the palace where the governor resided has long since fallen down, and even the traces of its ruins are no more to be seen. Two small wings, which formed part of the range of offices, are still stand- !| i a i 174 RUINS OF AN OLD PALACE. ing: they have been bought and fitted up by Mr. B , their present possessor, in a neat cot- tage style. I did not scruple to enter, and ask permission to cast my eye round the apartments and adjoining garden, which was politely granted. It may be imagined with what mingled and un- definable feelings I viewed this spot, as a stranger find a foreigner, where my grandfather had lived, surrounded by the pomp and pageantry of vice- royalty ! — then all was bustle, and gaiety, and life within those halls — when the governor welcomed the colonists to the board and to the dance, or sallied forth with British soldiery, supported by the bold ti'oodsmen of the country, to drive the red invaders from the remote portions of Virginia, which are now included in the States of Ohio and Tennessee!* What is now the contrasted scene ? — those wilder- nesses, watered by the Ohio and Mississippi, which were then the abode of the wolf, the bear, and the Indian, are filled with thriving farms and busy villages, amidst which are to be found towns of great and increasing opulence; while the ancient capital, on the site of which I was now stand- * In the time of James the First, and for many years after his reign, the colony of Virginia was held to contain all the country between latitudes 32" and 44°, «' and as far westward as might be convenient." I saw some very curious records connected with this subject in the archives, which are preserved in good order at Richmond. The present northern and south- ern limits of Virginia were assigned in 1630-1632, when the boundaries of Carolina and Maryland were drawn. 1 i OLD COLLEGE. 175 ing, has dwindled, in half a century, into a paltry village, without even a venerable ruin to rescue its decay from insignificance ! The train of reflections naturally arising from the contemplation of this scene probably prevented my paying due attention to the college situated in the neighbourhood of it, built and endowed (as is well known) by William and Mary. I did visit it, however, and found a large irregular pile of building, without any architectural pretensions. I also paid my respects to Mr. T , one of the principal professors : his deportment and conversa- tion answered the expectation which I had formed from the general high character that he enjoys throughout the state. His general views of edu- cation and colle,ge discipline appeared to me libe- ral and enlightened. .He introduced me to two other professors belonging to the establishment; and my impression from the interview was, that, under such men, the college, which had, for many years subsequently to the revolution, and the consequent diminution of its funds, been on the decline, would soon regain its former celebrity. On the 20th of April I left Williamsburgh, anu proceeded, through an uninteresting country, to Hampton. From thence I took a stroll towards the new fortification at Old Point, which has been constructed with much care and at great expense. The works are of considerable extent, and many difficulties must have presented themselves in the I 1 ^ 176 NEW FORTIFICATION. progress of the fortification, especially from the in- stability of the foundation, the whole being built upon sand. I should conceive it altogether a strong fortress, as regular approaches could only be made on one side, and that is a narrow isthmus, not easily occupied by an enemy. Its dimensions are quite out of proportion with the military force at present existing in the country. I should have conceived that the whole United States' army would not make more than a sufficient garrison for it (as it certainly would easily contain eight thousand men, which is above two thousand more than their present numerical force) ; but I am told the techni- cal calculations respecting the fortification (of which I am myself very ignorant) are, that it can be de- fended by three thousand men, and is calculated to hold out against regular approaches for forty days. The guns that I saw were all twenty-four and thirty- two pounders ; but forty -twos are to be mounted, upon a new and improved principle in the construc- tion of the carriages. I have been informed that it was meant to form a kind of dep6t, or centre, of a great line of coast fortification, extending all along the shores of the Atlantic : the intention of which was to protect the whole important line between the Hudson and the James River. Crossing from Old Point to Norfolk, in the steamer, I arrived late in the afternoon. This is a bustling, active town, -containing, probably, about eleven thousand inhabitants. The streets are nar- NUIIFOLK. 177 row, and the houses rather small ; and, though the sliops are well filled, and the streets are lined with hampers, barrels, crates, and all the usual pavement- impediments of a commercial port, still there is little to interest a stranger ; but the bay affords a noble harbour, and the merchants of Norfolk have been long and justly celebrated for their hospitality. As for the great bay of the Chesapeak, in which this seaport is situated, it is certainly one of the finest in the world, whether considered in reference to its commercial or naval importance, being, on an ave- rage, twelve or fifteen miles wide, two hundred and seventy miles long, and eight or ten fathoms deep throughout; it contains many commodious har- bours and excellent fisheries. Besides the James River, of which I have before spoken, it receives the waters of several navigable rivers, the principal of which are the Susquehanna, Potomac, Patuxent, Rappahanock, and York. During my stay I was hospitably entertained by the British Consul, and made some agreeable ac- quaintance. After a few days I returned to Wash- ington. U " J i i VOL. I. N 1 Hi I'/ 11. 178 MORNING HIDK. m Ill CHAPTER X. Morning Ridf. — Delightful Season. — Shrubs and Flowers. — The Mocking-bird. — Visit to a Flower-garden. — Preparations for a Tour in the West. — Parting from Friends. — Leave Washington for Baltimore. — Fearful Ravages of the Cholera. — Incident in the Museum at Baltimore. — Arrival at Phila- delphia. — Start for Pittsburgh. — Lovely Prospect.— Lancaster Vale. — German Settlers. — The Susquehanna. — The Juniata. —Track Boats. — A Newspaper Reporter. — Inquisitive Wes- tern Traveller. — Walk to Holydaysburgh. — Nocturnal Annoy- town. Passage across the Alleghanies. — Arrival at Johns- ance. — The River Conimah. — Railroad. — The Alleghany River. — Pittsburgh. — The Market. — Mr. Rapp's Settlement. t^ On the morning of the 5th of May I sallied forth, about seven o'clock, to ride round the heights of George-town, and the picturesque glens by which they are divided from the Washington race-course. All who have seen the various tints which clothe the American woods in autumn, (or, to use their own poetical and admirable expression, in the faii,) have agreed in celebrating their unrivalled richness and beauty. I will not institute an odious compa- rison between that time of year and the " soote season" in which I now pricked forth : both are sweet, and both have their peculiar attractions. ::*^--._,^ DELIGHTFUL SEASON. 179 After all, the last seen is always the best. Nature is like Perdita in " The Winter's Tole," — ** what she docs, still betters what is done :" but I never remember to have enjoyed a more delight- ful ride (at least, alorm) : the sun was clear, bright, and gay in his bridegroom trim — the sweet south shook the dew-drops from the budding trees ; ** The flowers sprang wanton to be prest ; The birds sang love on every spray;" and all nature wore that universal smile which the untranslatable expression of iEschylus so exquisitely paints in describing the sea.* The season, indeed, was later than usual, and on this lovely morning, the blooming May was busied in calling that '' sleeping fragrance from the ground " which her elder sister April ought to have awakened ; the '♦ Violets dim, But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes, Or Cytherea's breath," were peeping from every tangled corner in the dell ; buds and blossoms of various shrubs and trees, whose names were unknown to me, were bursting open in every direction the verdant walls of their native prison, and endeavouring, " all bash- fully, to struggle into light ;" while the graver pines and cedars seemed to mock their tender and unformed foliage. Proudly eminent among them * The dvi'ipidfiof yiKaafia. Vide Prom. 1. 90. VOL. I. N 2 4 180 THE MOCKING-BIRD. Ih ; all was the luxurious and gaudy beauty of the Cor- 71US ^orida* (called here the dog-wood); this is a large shrub, bearing delicate flowers of a paly pink hue, and such a profusion of them as to make the wild woods look like a flower-garden, and to throw into shade the beauties even of the May- thorn. Nor was animate nature less busily employed : the saucy robin was plunning himself by the stream, and regarded not my approach ; the gorge- ous blue-bird was showing to the sun his " feather- ed mail, sky-tinctured grain ;" the cat-bird and thrush were singing their matins from every bush and tree ; and, far above the rest, that prince of mimics and songsters, the mocking-bird, was swing- ing upon a small twig of the hickory-nut, which waved gently to and fro in the breeze ; while he, " as if he would the charming air repay," poured forth a strain of such rich and varied melody, as made me, for the moment, almost forget my allegiance to that feathered queen of song, who, throned in some venerable oak in Windsor's glades, has received so often the grateful homage of my ear, and charmed so many hours, by day and night, of my earlier years ! Thus lovely was the scene through which I suf- fered my steed to ramble at his own pace, un- * I believe, in autumn, it bears bright scarlet berries : its bark is a powerful tonic, and is taken as a remedy for ague. FLOWER-GARDEN. 181 willing that he should not have his share in the enjoyment diffused around him ; my own musings were tinged, however, with melancholy, as the last post from Europe had brought alarming accounts of the health of one who was and is to me as a sister — one who, when I left her, was blithe and lovely as the landscape before me. There was something, moreover, in the object with which I visited thus early these woody dells, which was cal- culated to inspire gentle thoughts ; for my course was directed to a flower-garden, where I was go- ing to select a small bouquet for a young lady, to whom I had, the preceding evening, lost a " flowery wager ;" and as her attractions rendered her well worthy of the fairest and most fragrant selection which I could make, I was, perhaps, un- consciously illustrating those lines of our " old man eloquent, ' in which one, " Forth issuing on a summer's morn, to breathe Among the pleasant villages and farms Adjoined, from each thing met conceives delight ;" but when the " fair virgin" is added to the picture, " What pleasing seem'd, for her now pleases more." I returned home, laden with sweets like a bee, only with this difference, that the bee is a thief, and I came honestly by mine. I here feel obliged to acknowledge, that, although Washington is a dis- mal and dreary skeleton of a city, possessing a cli- 182 LEAVE WASHINGTON. mate and situation equally detestable, there are some delightful ri V 186 CITY OF PHILADELPHIA. of Illinois and Missouri, I set off on Friday morn- ing for Pittsburgh. The opening of this great railroad, after passing the celebrated waterworks of Fairmount, mounts the range of hills which overlook the city to the westward by an inclined plane, the draught-power being placed in a steam-engine worked at the sum- mit. As the operation of attaching the cars was somewhat tedious, I got out, and walked to the top of the hill, when my eye was gladdened by one of the most delightful prospects imaginable. The morning was bright as a young May sun could make it; the Schuylkil wound gracefully round the base of the eminence on which I stood, his banks fringed with the oak, the poplar, and the weeping willow, and studded with many white and smiling villas, their creeper-covered arbours and neat lawns reminding me of some of those on the banks of Father Thames ; while, stretched on the seaward plain, lay the peaceful city of Brotherly Love, its bright spires glittering above the light hazy smoke which partly hid and partly revealed the humbler buildings beneath. No pen can de- scribe the beauty of the forest-foliage at this "sweet hour of prime;" so great was the variety of tree and shrub which clothed the undulating hills around, all spangled with early dew, the brilliant dog-wood shining through every casual opening, and the lap of earth beneath teeming with the i LANCASTER VALE. 187 honeysuckle, the azalia, the wild fusia, and hun- dreds of humbler, though not less lovely, flowrets. Thence the railroad carried us through one of the richest and most pleasant valleys in America, or in the world, called Lancaster Vale, from the town situated in its bosom. At this season it was one continued waving sea of rye, clover, and wheat : the farm-houses were almost all whitewashed, with a neat garden in front, and on one or each side a large orchard, the trees of which were planted with the utmost regularity, and their fragrant boughs teeming with blossom; while, here and there was a favourite cow, with her jingling neck- bell, or a pet pony, cropping the rich orchard grass, and revelling, with an almost Apician glut- tony, on the luxuriant pasture. This part of the country was chiefly settled by Germans ; indeed, many of them can speak very little English. They have German preachers, and a German printing-press ; and yet so corrupted is their dialect, that I very much doubt whether a Saxon, a Brunswicker, or a Hanoverian could un- derstand them readily. One old man with whom I spoke, was the third in descent, American born, his great grandfather having come from Frankfort ; he could speak neither language intelligibly ; his son, however, a well-educated young man, joined in the conversation, and said, " Sir, you will not easily understand this dialect, but I will speak to you in I M Bi . 18S THE SUSQUEHANNA. Luther's German ;" upon which he addressed several sentences to me in language tolerably pure, both in grammar and pronunciation. It is almost needless to say, that the above phrase derives its origin from Luther's translation of the Bible, still in universal use among the Germans. After travelling seventy-two miles on this rail- road, we arrived at Columbia, a village that seems to possess a brisk trade in lumber, judging from the vast piles collected on each side of the road. Here my eye was regaled by the first view of the sweet and now classic Susquehanna ; and well may that stream inspire the poet's pen or limner's pencil. The river, opposite Columbia, winding round the base of the hill which girds the eastern extremity of that village, is there broad and shallow, and its rippling current is broken by a thousand little islets, many of them only a few feet in diameter, but which the profuse hand of Nature has decked already with moss, grass, or shrub, although in winter they are probably submerged ; but now they formed a complete fresh-water archipelago. Here we left the railroad and took to the canal-boat, which, to my great delight, followed the course of the river, and gave us an opportunity of enjoying for many miles, the view of its picturesque and woodland banks. After passing Harrisburgh, the canal leaves the Susquehanna at Petersburgh, and courts her rival and younger sister the Juniata. I confess, with THE JUNIATA— TRACK-BOATS. 189 shame, that I had never heard of this river ; yet are her unsung banks as rich in foliage, in pleasant farms, in every variety of beauty, as hers which are consecrated by the Legend of Gertrude : the aver- age size of the channel appears to me to be much the same as that of " royal-towered Thame" at Wind- sor. The packets, or track-boats as they are here called, are tolerably comfortable ; and their rate of going is about four miles an hour ; which I preferred to greater speed, as it enabled me in the evening and morning, when the heat was not intense, to walk many miles in the enjoyment of the fresh hill breeze and the lovely everchanging scenery. The company on board these boats is very mixed, including every grade, from the operative to the highest class in Philadelphia. I was very for- tunate in meeting with an elderly gentleman well known as one of the most eminent and accurate re- porters in this country. His abilities are employ- ed in the service of the National Intelligencer ; a paper conducted by gentlemen, and remarkable in these days of political profligacy for advocating mo- derate and sound opinions, as well as for a rigid ab- stinence from that tone of virulence and personality which disgraces a great many American, apd not a few British, newspapers. I think I understood him to say that his remuneration from this paper, as a re- porter, was about 3000 dollars (between 6 and 700/.) per annum. I enjoyed much agreeable and not uninstructive • : ! 1 I fl -. ■■ ! .1 ~.^^ i i 190 INQUISITIVE TRAVELLERS. conversation with this gentleman, and I never saw the autumn of life adorned with more sober or more cheerful hues : happy in his home, honoured by his children, with a good constitution and a religious and contented spirit, and maintaining his opinions, which were strong and somewhat peculiar, with all the warmth and energy of youth, I could not help wishing, that thirty years hence, if I am destined so long to live, my mind and body might be in a simi- larly happy frame. I found an amusing contrast in the manners of some western travellers, who were cast in a rougher mould : they were not satisfied till they had found out who I was, where I came from, why I came, where I was going to, how long I meant to stay, and, in addition to these particulars, how much my umbrella cost, and what was the price of my hat. This last inquiry was followed by the party taking it up from the bench, and putting it on his head, which was not very cool, neither did it appear to have suffered much annoyance from water or from comb ; luckily the hat did not fit, and after giving it two or three stout pulls in a vain attempt to draw it over his scalp, he returned it to me. Another fel- low saw me smoking a Carbaiios cigar ; he asked me, " Stranger, have you got another of them things ? I will give you a cent, for one" (a halfpenny). I im- mediately gave him one, saying, in perfect good- humour, " I will not sell you one, but I shall be very glad if you will accept this." To my surprise WALK TO IIOLYDAYSnURGII. 191 he became irritated and angry, and tried two or three times to force the cent, upon me. I refused as stoutly ; and at length told him, that if he was determined to buy, and not to accept the cigar, I should charge him half a dollar for it. This view of the case induced him to take it gratis, but ho seemed annoyed, and by no means grateful. I record these curious traits as more or less indi- cative of the western yeoman : that these sturdy fellows are less civil or good-humoured than those of a similar class in Lancashire or Yorkshire, I neither say nor think ; but doubtless their freedom of manner and conduct would be reckoned imperti- nent in any other country. On the eve of the 25th we arrived, about four, at a place where one of the locks was undergoing some repairs, and consequently the boat could pro- ceed no further until they were completed ; an ope- ration which was expected to last some three or four hours. I was informed that it was only twelve or fourteen miles to Holydaysburgh, where the canal terminates, and the journey is resumed the follow- ing morning on a railroad across the Alleghanies. I accordingly left the boat, and with my stout stick in my hand, and Peevish gamboling at my side, I set off on foot over the hills to Holydaysburgh. The evening was beautiful, but the heat was very severe for pedestrian exercise ; however, I trudged merrily along over a wooded and somewhat rough country, and a few hours brought me to the village, where I I ' I ^^ 192 NOCTUUNAI, ANNOYANCK. I supped. Ill an evil moment, 1 determined to sleep in the tavern instead of in the close cabin of the track- boat, where our hammocks were slung in tiers three deep, and a " stout gentleman" might have found some difficulty in creeping into them. Having procured a sleeping apartment with onli/ two beds in it, I hired them both, under a pretext of a friend about to follow me, and comforted my- self with the delicious prospect of solitude and quiet. Iku, vatuin ignarct mentcs ! Scarcely had I " quenched the flaming minister" and nestled myself in the least dirty-looking of the beds, when forth rushed from tester, pillow, and post a horde of those " blastet wonners," whose name I abhor to write : — the well-remembered night spent at Pico presented its horrors to my memory ; and after be- stowing hundreds of random blows upon every part of my assaulted person, I rose and beat the whole blanketed field of battle with a large towel. 'T was all in vain : after suffering about two hours of this annoyance, my servant came in with a candle, by the assistance of which I slew five of the ringlead- ers; but after his departure, the ** rebel rout" re- turned to the charge and gained an easy victory. In addition to the draughts of pleasure which I thus took in through the sense of touch, 1 might also mention others which I enjoyed through that of hearing, such as the baying, yelping, and howling of seven or eight dogs in the yard below, whose power of voice was only equalled by its endurance. Sleep •/ CUUSS THE ALLEOHANIES. I9ii would not " light on my lids," and I arose at day- light, unrefreshed and wou'Mled as if I had slept over a wasps' nest. Upon mentioning to the landlord th<" undesired company with which I had been favoured, lie said, ** Yes, it is rather unpleasant." I agreed with him, and with much satisfaction bade adieu to him and his temple of vermin. On Monday morning I entered the railroad-car that was to convey me across the Alleghanies. We had to go up many inclined planes before we could reach the summit. Some passengers are much alarmed at that part of the journey, because all the cars are attached by one rope, which hauls them up the hill by the power of a steam-engine ; and if it were to break, the cars and all their contents would probably be dashed to pieces. I never felt this alarm : why should it break ? the rope is thick and very strong; and I cannot understand why people whose whole existence depends constantly upon strings and fibres finer than thread, should fear to trust it to the security of a cable ! Yet such are the contradictions commonly incidental to human nature. The passage over the mountain is one continued scene of rough wild woodland. The railroad is carried along the sides of ridges of considerable height, and almost precipitous ; where I should think that persons troubled with nerves might be now and then annoyed and alarmed. On our descent VOL. I. o ''.i^ 194 ARRIVAL AT JOHNSTOWN. I tr f from the summit, the horses got frightened twice : the first time, on meeting another line of cars, they turned round and got jammed between the two lines, whence there was some difficulty in extricating them ; the second time, they went down a steep bank, about twenty feet deep, and if it had occurred a little sooner or later, it must have been fatal to them, and might have been so to us. However, we arrived in safety at Johnstown, where we were transferred again to the canal which follows the course of the river Conemaugh, and we felt that the journey was drawing to a close, as the waters now ran to the west — all of them hurrying through their multitudinous channels to swell the mighty tide of the Mississippi. After travelling some dis- tance along the banks of the Conemaugh, its name, probably from some intermediate tributary stream, is changed to the Kis-kiminitas ; the pronunciation of which among a party of strangers gives rise to much merriment and laughter. On both sides of its channel are extensive salt-works, and coal and lime abound. The earth is bored to the depth of six or seven hundred feet, a copper tube is inserted, and the salt water being drawn up by a pump, the salt is extracted by boiling : the whole process being carried on by the assistance of steam. The salt finds a ready market at Pittsburgh, " the Birmingham of the West." One of the principal engineers who had been employed in constructing this railroad, happened to RAILROAD. 195 be with us, and from him I gathered some of the subjoined particulars. The length of ine canal and rail line from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, is three hundred and eighty-three miles, of which about one hundredand twelve are railroad; the cost of the whole was 1,600,000 dollars, about 350,000/. ; the height of " the summit" is two thousand three hundred feet above the sea, and fourteen hundred above the canal at the base. There are two tunnels of considerable length in the course of the whole line : the first is a railroad tunnel, through one of the spurs of the Alleghany mountain, nine hundred feet long, and the hill above it is between two and three hundred feet high ; the second is a canal tunnel of similar dimensions, and passing also under a mountain. I learned with much surprise that the former of these vast excavations had cost only 5000/. The whole line reflects the highest credit both on the engineers and on the State. The detail is certainly very foulty, as the rate of travelling is unnecessarily slow (about four miles an hour, in- cluding stoppages), and we were obliged to go back a mile once or twice, through meeting other cars at places where we could not pass ; but these are trifles which a few months will probably re- medy, and which it would be invidious and foolish to carp at, when we consider the difficulties that have been overcome, the wonderful facilities of transportation that have been acquired, and the mingled courage and perseverance with which the o 2 ■^Vii; . »i 196 PITTSBURGH. rugged chain of the Alleghanies have been obliged to " bend their stiff necks," and lend their rough backs, to carry the comforts and luxuries of life be- tween the Atlantic cities and the " Great Valley." At Freeport we joined the course of the Alle- ghany River, and mingled our muddy Kis-kimina- tian waters with its clear and transparent stream. The country now assumed a more tame and settled appearance, while the continual recurrence of coal- smoke and steam-engines reminded us of our return to civilisation. Pittsburgh stands at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela, from the union of which two rivers springs the majestic Ohio. The town is, like all other busy manufacturing towns, an emporium of smoke and dirt. The inns are in character with the town ; and, though it is situated on the delta formed by two beautiful rivers, and the neighbouring country is both rich and variegated, still I know nothing that need detain a stranger there, unless he is anxious to make an accurate investigation into the state of its manu- factures. * It is almost unnecessary to add that Pittsburgh was originally a French settlement, called Fort du Quesne. The French were remarkable for the sa- gacity which they showed in the choice of their posts, and consequently did not overlook the eli- gible situation, both in regard to military objects and to Indian trade, which was afforded by the confluence of these great rivers. It was near this m I THE MARKET. 197 spot that Braddock paid the penalty of his rash and ignorant obstinacy with his life ; and also that one of my countrymen. Colonel Grant, with nearly a thousand followers, mostly highlanders, fell on the side of a hill which still bears his name. I strolled into the market, and for several minutes really fancied myself in one of the smaller quarters of Glasgow or Birmingham, so loud was the din, so smoke-blacked were the bricks, so noisy were the dogs gathered round the shambles, and so ** proudly eminent" above all other sounds was Paddy's ver- nacular voice, male or female, whether raised in fun, bargain, or wrath ! The only item calculated to dispel the illusion was the number of broad-faced and broad-sterned, fair-haired butchers, whose na- tive land might easily be guessed, without Yankee ingenuity, and without looking at the boards over their stalls, with their various inscriptions of " Schmidt," " Reinhardt," " Hermann," &c. The price of the best beef was about eight cents (or 4^^.) per lb. The principal manufactures in this town are iron, steam-engines, cutlery, cotton and woollen, tin and copper, and glass. In all these, great faci- lity is afforded by the abundance and proximity of coal, which is worked, with small trouble and ex- pense, by horizontal shafts penetrating the sides of the adjacent mountains, where the coal strata are very thick and regular. The means of water-car- riage are already most extensive, and additional 198 MR. RAPP'S SETTLEMENT. canals, in a northerly and north-westerly direction, are in contemplation, or, perhaps, in progress. As I wished to arrive as soon as possible at St. Louis, I did not visit the singular establishment of Mr. Rapp (the German Owen) at Economy — a pret- tily situated village, about eighteen miles below Pittsburgh ; I have heard much of its neatness, and of the strange nature of its various arrangements. There are several factories, and the inhabitants, who are mostly Germans, are quiet and industrious in their habits. Mr. Rapp is the patriarch of the settlement ; his word is law ; and he acts in the ca- pacity of clergyman, judge, and director. No mar- riage is allowed ; and various other absurd regula- tions are observed, the general impracticability of which is concealed by the diminutive scale on which they are practised, by the authority of the chief, by the respectability of the settlers, and by the beauty and attraction of the situation. I have seen some tolerable silks that had been made and dyed in this establishment. EMBARK ON THE OHIO. 199 >«^ CHAPTER XI. Embark on the Ohio. — Banks of the River. — WheeUng. — Remarkable Indian Mound.— Risings of the River. — Arrival at Cincinnati. — The Town. — The Museum. — Manufacture.— Mrs. TroUope's Bazaar — her erroneous Statements. — Pros- perity of Cincinnati — Hospitality of its Inhabitants. — Ame- rican Servnnts. — The Cholera. — Contrast between the States of Ohio and Kentucky — Character of the Kentuckians. — Brutal Method of Fighting. Having spent a day at Pittsburgh, I committed myself to the bosom of " La Belle Riviere" (as the French used to call the Ohio), on the first steam- boat with a high-pressure engine that I had yet seen. The noise, the furious and vain attempt made by the confined caloric to escape, and the violent shaking of the vessel, render it more disagreeable than those impelled by low-pressure engines ; and, however the western worthies may wish to disguise the truth, they are much more dangerous. While on board, I read an account of the bursting of a boiler a few days previously, lower down the river, by which thirty or forty persons were killed or missing ! I heard a rough Kentuckian chap relating, that he had been on board the steamer at the time of yh : i V \ 200 BANKS OF THE UIVEH. the explosion ; he said he felt a sort of a " queer shake, but he did not mind it at all ;" and he con- cluded his pithy narration of the death of these thirty or forty luckless victims by saying, " It was d — d lucky, it was only a parcel of these Dutch ;" meaning thereby that the sufferers were chiefly Ger- man emigrants. The Ohio is indeed a noble and majestic stream, flowing between high and undulating banks teem- ing with a profusion of foliage, which includes every verdant hue from the willow to the cedar. Wherever clearances have been made, the trees immediately on the water's edge have been spared, in order that their huge trunks and wide-spread roots might break the force of the current, which rises after the melting of the snows to an extraordinary height. I observed many of them growing, twenty or thirty feet perpendicular, above the present ele- vation of the stream, with the soil completely washed from their base, and their sinewy fibrous roots exposed above the earth, and giving clear evi- dence of the furious attacks which they had resist- ed. This perpetual fringe of verdure, together with the equable and quiet nature of the current, gives a tone of beauty and repose to this river that I have never seen equalled ; while its numerous bends, and the islands which here and there break its uniformity, prevent the eye from being cloyed by the profuse and interminable mass of foliage. After passing Wellsbiirgh and several other vil- :3a i %: ■!»■-« WHEELING.— GRAVE CREEK. 201 lages, which bore a busy and thriving appearance, we arrived at Wheeling, situated on the extreme north-western point of Virginia. This is a town of considerable and increasing importance ; the soil is alluvial, and the greatest obstacle to its becoming a very wealthy city, appears to be thfl extreme nar- rowness of the ledge on which it is built, there being but a small area between the mountains and the river ; so that the streets, if extended, must be extended only longitudinally. The neighbourhood abounds with coal ; and the great national western road passes through this town, which contains pro- bably from seven to eight thousand inhabitants. Among other objects of interest, a spot was pointed out to me, about fifteen miles below Wheel- ing, by the side of a stream, called, if 1 remember right. Grave Creek — an enormous mound, composed of bones and skulls. It is between one hundred and fifty and two hundred yards in circumference at the base, seventy feet high, and sixty feet in diameter at the summit, which is concave ; the whole is regular and uniform in its construction. By what race and in what age these gigantic mounds were raised, has hitherto been, and probably ever will be, an unexplained mystery : it seems highly improba- ble that they were constructed by any Indian tribes, so vast are their dimensions, and so great the labour necessary to build them, as well as the population requisite to fill them. The average breadth of the Ohio between Pitts- VOL. I. 06 202 RISINGS OF THE RIVER. \ 3 • :| burgh and Cincinnati is six hundred yards, but it varies more than most rivers at the different seasons of the year ; indeed, the ** freshes," or rapid risings to which it is liable after heavy rains, are produc- tive of great inconvenience and sometimes of dan- ger to the residents near its banks. As an instance of the former, I might mention the impossibility of erecting wharfs or quays at the different com- mercial ports, where the want of such conveniences is but poorly supplied by house-boats, or floating wharfs moored close to the shore. I was told that two or three years ago the river rose sixty feet in height, and flooded all the lower parts of Cincinnati and other towns, so that the inhabitants were reduced to the gondola for their daily inter- course ; nrovisions were introduced into the houses through tne windows of the second and third story, and steam-boats plyed to and from the market- place. The only fault of the scenery in descending this noble river, is the rich endless variety of foliage which its banks present to the eye, and the want of any breaks or vistas by which a view of the adja- cent country could be here and there obtained : it is self-evident, from what has been said of the rising of the water, that such a picturesque luxury would be most destructive to the banks. On the last day of spring I arrived at Cincinnati, that preco( ious daughter of the West, that seems to have sprung, [ike the fabled goddess of war and yards, but it ferent seasons rapid risings , are produc- times of dan- is an instance impossibility Hfferent corn- conveniences s, or floating I was told /er rose sixty lower parts of he inhabitants sir daily inter- nto the houses id third story, I the market- lescending this iety of foliage nd the want of w of the adja- obtained : it is d of the rising e luxury would 1 at Cincinnati, t, that seems to 3SS of war and CINCINNATI. 203 wisdom, into existence in the full panoply of manu- facturing and commercial armour. Its situation is admirably chosen both for convenience and beauty, as it stands on a plain gently inclining towards the river ; the area of this plain is nearly four miles in diameter, bounded on the north, north-east, and north-west by an undulating well-wooded range of hills, from the top of which the view of the fertile vale, the city, and the sweeping river, with its broad bosom speckled by steamers and other boats, is one of the loveliest that the eye can desire. The streets in this city are laid out rectangularly; and thus the eye, in looking along the greater part of them, rests upon the hills before described, which gives a freshness to the prospect rarely to be found in a town. Many of the private houses are large and commodious, and some of them surrounded by pleasant and neatly cultivated gardens ; there are about thirty churches, a college, a lunatic asylum, and one for orphans, and other public buildings usually found in a wealthy city. The museum contains little worthy of notice ; moreover, its contents, mean as they are, are mi- serably deficient in order and arrangement. I was surprised and disappointed, as I had heard much of the valuable collection to be seen in this establish- ment. There are a few fossil mammoth bones of extraordinary size, and also a number of skulls found in some of the ancient mounds, differing ma- terially in form from those of the modern race of »^ 204 MANUI'ACTURKS. N.I i Indians. There are also several banks and in- surance companies, and about twenty periodical publications, three or four of which are daily papers ; I also saw one German weekly paper, Dei' Deutsche Fran/c/hi,* as well written, and better printed than most of those which I have seen in the provincial towns in Germany. The chief article of manufacture (though there are many others of inferior extent), is iron, in every form and shape, especially in the construc- tion of steam-engines. I am told that about one- third of the steamers on the Mississippi and Ohio, amounting, in all, to nearly five hundred, have been built here. The population, as near as I can form a calculation from observation and inquiry, is about forty thousand. They are chiefly composed of emigrants from New England, from Germany, from all parts of the States, and, indeed, of the world. The building which is the most absurd, ugly, and ridiculous in the town, exhibiting a want of taste and invention only equalled by the contempt which it displays for every rule of architecture, gothic or classic, is the bazaar built by Mrs. Trol- lope ; a lady who did all that lay within the power of her clever and caricaturing pen to hold up the inhabitants of Cincinnati to the ridicule of the civilised world, as regards their manners, their habits, and their taste. - This bazaar is a large non- * The German Franklin. t- t SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI. 205 IS descript edifice of brick, with a stone, or imitation of stone, face : it has pilUirs, a cupola, gothic win- dows surmounted by Grecian architraves, and scraps of every order (or disorder), from a square brick bo.v to an Ionic volute ! Neither can I compli- ment the lady's sagacity any more than her taste ; as in this thriving city her speculation is, probably, the most signal and complete failure that has oc- curred since its settlement ! After losing the greater part of the money embarked in it, she was obliged to leave it unfinished. As far as my short visit enabled me to judge, her accuracy of description is upon a par with the mo- numents which she has left here of her speculative sagacity and taste. I have been in company with ten or twelve of the resident families, and have not seen one single instance of rudeness, vulgarity, or incivility ; while the shortness of the invitations, and absence of constraint and display, render the society more agreeable, in some respects, than that of more fashionable cities. If the proposition stated is merely this ; " that the manners of Cincinnati are not so polished as those of the best circles in London, Paris, or Berlin ; that her luxuries, whether culinary or displayed in carriages, houses, or amusements, are also of a lower cast ;*' I suppose none would be so absurd as to deny it. I hope few would be weak enough gravely to inform the world of so self-evident a truth ; but I will, without fear of contradiction, assert, that the history of the world S06 PIlOSl'RIUTY. ^*Oi I i 1 I . does not produce a parallel to Cincinnati in rapid growth of wealth and population. Of all the cities that have been founded by mighty sovereigns or nations, with an express view to their becoming the capitals of empires, there is not one that, in twenty- seven years from its foundation, could show such a mass of manufacture, enterprise, population, wealth, and social comfort, as that of which I have given a short and imperfect outline in the last two or three pages ; and which owes its magnitude to no adscititious favour or encouragement, but to the judgment with which the situation was chosen, and to the admirable use which its inhabitants have made thereof. When I think of the short period that has elapsed since the red Indian, the bear, the elk, and the buf- falo roamed through these hills ; since the river (bearing on its bosom nothing but the bark canoe, or the flat-bottomed boat of the Indian trader) flowed in silence through the massive and impene- trable forest ; and turn from that fancied picture to the one now before my eyes, displaying crowded and busy streets, rattling with drays and carriages ; factories on all sides, resounding with the regular and mighty swing of the engine ; numerous taper spires pointing to heaven ; thence turn to the river, and see it alive with steaming commerce ; and, look beyond over the villages, the neat farms, the orchards, and the gardens — I am filled with astonishment and admiration at the energy and IIOSPITALITY. 207 industry of man, and with pride at the self-sugj^ost- ed reflection, that this metamorphosed wihlerncss is the work of Britain's sons ; and I do pity, from tlie bottom of my heart, the man (and, ahove all others, the Englishman) who can see nothing in such a scene but food 1 ^r unjust comparisons, sneers, rail- lery, and ridicule ! I rode out twice to take a view of the surround- ing country. My only acquaintance in the city being with a family whom I had never seen before my arri- rival, but some members of which I had known at Fayal ; and with a Scotch gentleman and his wife, whom I had met at Washington, ard who had lately arrived ; and yet, with these small means of in- troduction to society, I received invitations for the evening, several for dinner, and was obliged to de- cline two or three polite offers of a saddle-horse, from persons to whom I had been only introduced a few hours before. On both occasions when I rode out, I went in company with ladies ; and there was nothing in any of the detail of the equipage that would have caused a smile in a riding party in Windsor or Richmond Park, except that the horses are wont to rack or pace — a kind of gait that I think equally ungraceful and disagreeable, but doubtless combining easy motion with tolerable speed. The gentry in our European cities could not conceive, and could hardly be made to understand, the difficulties in which those of their class find themselves here in regard to servants. The lat- 208 AMERICAN SERVANTS. ter are indeed the most capricious of tyrants. Wealthy and respectable families, instead of their proper complement of servants, are sometimes left with one or two maids in the house, and are unable to give a dinner to their neighbours. Moreover, these said tyrants stay exactly as long as they please ; a month, a week, a day, and leave without a moment's warning, sure of finding imme- diate employment. On the second morning after my arrival, the proprietor of the tavern in which I lodged went to market, as usual, early, leaving his kitchen full of servants, about to prepare breakfast for one hundred and fifty or two hundred ; on his return, he found that the said meal was not forthcoming with its ordinary alacrity ; and, on going into his kitchen, discovered that his cook and four of his kitchen-maids had left him, none of them having thought it worth while to tell him of their intention. He said they would come or send, in a few days, for their wages, and if they were not immediately paid, would sue him ! My occupations and amusements in Cincinnati were most disagreeably interrupted by a severe at- tack of cholera. This painful disorder had lately re-appeared in several places in the neighbourhood; and, although its ravages were not so extensive as in the year 1832, they were sufficient to fill the town with alarm, and to cause similar precaution- ary ard sanatory regulations to those which had ATTACK OF CHOLERA. 209 tyrants. [ of their ametimes and are ighbours. ' as long ind leave ig imme- rival, the ged went ;chen full ; for one is return, thcoming J into his lur of his m having intention, few days, mediately Cincinnati severe at- lad lately bourhood; :tensive as to fill the recaution- vhich had been before observed. I was for three days under its baneful influence. On the morning of the second day, after I had gone through the violent depletions which affect the stomach in the first stage of the disorder, the total prostration of strength, and the sharp convulsive cramps which I experienced in my legs, gave reason to believe I should probably not recover. I now dictated and signed a short letter, and a few testa- mentary particulars, addressed to the British Lega- tion at Washington, adding a superscription, that the seal was not to be broken until the news of my death was confirmed.* After this I recollect but little of what passed for some hours. My servant said, that my " face was just the colour of lead ;" and the physician who attended me told me after- wards, that he gave me, in an hour and a half, one hundred and eighty grains of calomel, in three doses of sixty grains each. A sort of lethargy into which I had fallen, was succeeded by a more na- tural sleep ; and, on the third day, the crisis was passed, and, although exceedingly weak and re- duced, I was out of danger. It would be most ungrateful, were I to forget that I received from the family which I have before mentioned, every attention that kindness could dic- tate or my state admit. The gentleman called on me two or three times a day, sent me from his * On my return to Washington next year, I had the pleasure of burning this my Cincinnati will. VOL. 1. P ' ■» ' " ■' mm -y:.-. r- .'.'■.■i ! 'v i i I .: * \ ' i' 210 OHIO AND KENTUCKY. house a comfortable pillow, wishing to add a better mattress than the one on which I lay ; and, more- over, pressed me most earnestly to take up my in- valid abode under his roof. There are very few of the older and more luxurious cities where a stranger could expect to meet with similar kindness. It appears to me (from the limited opportunities that I have enjoyed for observing) that no two bordering states in the Union diflPer so much in the character of their population as Ohio and Ken- tucky. This difference is partially occasioned by the following causes : — First, Kentucky is a slave- state ; Ohio is not. Secondly, Ohio was chiefly settled by Germans, New Englanders, a few Bri- tish, and, in short, an industrious agricultural class ; while Kentucky was chiefly settled by the western Virginians, a wild, high-spirited, and somewhat rough tribe of hunters. Thirdly, The soil of the two states tends to the distinction between them, which I have partly attributed to their origin. Ohio contains probably a higher average of good arable land, compared with its whole extent, than any other state in the Union, so that the bear, the wolf, and even the deer, are almost banished from their woods, and agriculture forms the chief em- ployment of the people ; while Kentucky, although boasting of a fine soil, some tracts of great fertility, and a luxuriant growth of timber, has still large portions of country only trodden by the foot of the hunter, and that of the various objects of his pur- % |i. CONTRAST BETWEEN THESE STATES. 211 better more- my in- few of ;ranger :unities 10 two luch in id Ken- »ned by a slave- chiefly few Bri- al class; western )mewhat of the m them, in. of good tnt, than )ear, the hed from :hief em- although fertility, ;ill large Dot of the f his pur- I I 1 % a M n suit. These causes (probably combined with others which I have omitted) have produced a wide and marked difference of character. The Ohians are a quiet, industrious, peaceable people, carrying the " republicanism of democracy " (as their German newspapers calls it) to its highest pitch ; but too far removed from the scene of action, and not suffi- ciently congregated in manufacturing or commercial masses, to give to their political feelings the bitter- ness and personality so prevalent in the East, There is no material difference in the forms of government of the two states, except that in Ohio the govern- ment and senators are biennially chosen, whereas in Kentucky they are elected for four years ; in both, the House of Representatives is annually elected by what may be called universal suffrage, i.e. every citizen, being twenty-one years of age, and resident in the state. The character of the Kentuckians has greater merits and greater laults ; their moral features are more broadly and distinctly marked. Descend- ed, as I before said, from the western hunters, and some of them from the more wealthy planters of Virginia and North Carolina, they are brave, generous, proud, frank, and hospitable, but apt at the same time to be rough, overbearing, and quarrelsome. They are extremely vain of their State, and inclined to play the braggart, as well in her praises as their own ; the former fault, /, for one, can freely forgive them, as the want of p 2 212 COWARDLY PRACTICE. '•: j local or home attachment is one of the least agree- able features of American character. They are, moreover, pretty strongly imbued (probably through their Virginian descent) with a taste for gambling, horse-racing, &c., which is perhaps strengthened by their frequent intercoui e on their northern and western frontier with the numerous gamblers, or ** sportsmen," who come up the river in spring and summer to avoid the heat and malaria of New Orleans and the adjacent country. In addition to the above traits of character, there is one of which I cannot speak otherwise than with unqualified reprobation — I mean the cowardly and almost universal practice of carrying a dirk-knife. This instrument, which, like the Italian stiletto, is only fit for the hand of an assassin, is displayed upon every occasion. It has ordinarily a blade about six or eight inches long, sharp on both sides towards the point, and comes out of the handle by a spring, which also prevents its closing on the hand of the owner. I have seen several well- dressed Kentuckians, who would probably think themselves much injured if they were not consi- dered gentlemen of the first grade, picking their teeth with these elegant pocket-companions, in public; and I have repeatedly seen them while engaged in conversation employ their hands in opening and shutting this dirk-spring, as a London dandy on the stage raps his boots and shakes his watch-seals, or sometimes in real life, for want of BRUTAL METHOD OF FIGHTING. 213 igree- f are, rough ibling, hened n and !rs, or kg and f New , there ,n with lly and :-knife. etto, is jplayed blade h sides ndle by on the il well- \{ think t consi- ig their ons, in n while ands in London akes his want of manual employment, draws his glove on and off, or smooths down the felt of his hat. Now, I would ask any candid Kentuckian, from what " chivalrous" precedent (which epithet they are very fond of applying to themselves), or from what principle, just, noble, or Christian, is this habit derivable ? Man is sufficiently irascible, and when angry, prone enough to inflict injury on his fellow-creature, without deliberately furnishing him- self with a weapon calculated to occasion death, or permanent mutilation, upon the occasion of the slightest dispute or ebullition of temper. I believe it is Virgil who, in describing a savage popular tumult, says, " Furor arma ministrat ;" and surely experience attests its truth ; but this people deter- mine, that the voice of reason or reflection shall not have one moment to whisper a suggestion, but that their passions (naturally hot and ungovern- able) shall never want a sudden and deadly mi- nist^^.* It might be supposed, that the coarse and brutal method of fighting, still frequently adopted in this State under the name of "rough and tumble," is sufficiently savage to satisfy the parties concerned. In this, as is well known, they tear one another's hair, bite off noses and ears, gouge out eyes, and, * This subject is well illustrated by the words in which Macbeth expresses his determination to murder the wife and children of Macduff: — •* The very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand!" — Act iv. sc. 1. f 1 j ■ 1 ' 1 I I, m >:i ^ I ! i f ? 214 " ROUGH AND TUMBLE." in short, endeavour to destroy or mutilate each other ; but this is not considered sufficient, and Birmingham and Pittsburgh are obliged to com- plete by the dirk-knife the equipmefnt of the " chi- valric Kentuckian." I am fully aware that the stories current respect "gouging" are exaggerated, and mostly invented ; and I am also aware, that many gentlemen, especially among those of ad- vanced age, in Kentucky, disapprove of these prac- tices ; but the general argument remains neverthe- less untouched ; the " rough and tumble " fight is still permitted by the spectators ; and if two angry men have one another by the throat, and there is no check upon their fury, either in their own feelings and habits, or in public opinion, the result in any country would be similarly savage. They may formerly have had an excuse for con- stantly carrying a weapon, when their houses and families were hourly liable to be surprised by the war-whoop of the Indian : but against whom is the dirk-knife now sharpened? against brothers, cou- sins, and neighbours ! One feature that I have always admired in the English character, and, indeed, have looked upon with env]/, (as my own countrymen, especially the highlanders, have it not,) is their contempt for all lethal weapons, and their honest determined support of fair play in all personal rencounters. If a combatant in England were to practise any ** rough and tumble " tricks, such as kneeling on a ..■.vi.>j.:..va^W^ > .; " ROUGH AND TUMBLE." 215 man's throat or chest when on the ground, or goug- ing, or bitmg, he would receive a hearty drubbing from the spectators, and conclude the entertain- ment (in my opinion, very deservedly) in the near- est horse-pond in which he could be immersed. I trust that the progress of civilisation, and increas- ing weight of a sounder public opinion, will soon put a stop to the custom above censured, which is not confined to Kentucky, but is more or less prevalent in the whole valley of the Mississippi, especially in Louisiana. IN 216 LEAVE CINCINNATI. '' i CHAPTER XII. ii -1 fi Leave Cincinnati for Louisville. — Reminiscences. — Louisville. — Republican Incongruity. — Swearing in the Western States. — Start for Lexington. — Beautiful Scenery, — Curious Ser- mon. — Arrival at Lexington. — Meeting with Miss Marti- neau. — General Shelby's Farm. — Situation of Lexington. — Its Public Institutions. — System of Education in America. — Lunatic Asylum. — Evening Parties. — Musical Soiree. — A Serenade. — Mr. Clay. — Return to Louisville. — Embark for Saint Louis. — Passage down the Ohio. — Robbers' Cave. — The "Father of Waters.' On the 4th of June I left Cincinnati for Louis- ville, on board the Benjamin Franklin. The Ohio still preserved the dignity and majesty of its course ; and I sat on the second and cooler deck of the steamer, being partly recovered from my late at- tack, but with my mind and body both somewhat depressed by its influence. In this musing melan- choly mood did I look on the mighty stream beneath, and the undulating banks on each side, crowned with every variety of hue and form that the forest-trees, those vegetable giants, could as- sume ; and memory led me back to those joyous and never-to-be-forgotten scenes, which the annual recurrence of this day used to bring with it, when I i iii ri ■w? LOUISVILLE. 217 n\le. ates. Ser- arti- rton. rica. —A k for e. — mis- )hio rse; the at- vhat ilan- •eam side, that I as- yous nual vhen 'i celebrated by Eton's sons under old Windsor's towers. Then, indeed, " all was sunshine in each breast." The emulation of the rowers — the cheers of their respective supporters — the gallant display of banners and steerers' dresses — the military bands — made the time-honoured fortress walls echo to the national anthem, and many a young heart beat, and many a young cheek glowed, with a foretaste of the part which they were one day destined to take in Britain's glories. Alma Mater, Etona! thy sons little know how they love thee until many years after they have bidden thee farewell : then they turn back to thee with fond and grateful recollec- tions, such as now occupied my musings on Ohio's stream. In twelve hours we reached Louisville, having then run one hundred and fifty miles from Cincin- nati, through scenery resembling, both in beauty and character, that before described above the lat- ter town ; for Indiana, which lies on the north- western bank of the Ohio, at this part of its course, is vying with its neighbours in improve- ment; and nature has given it extensive tracts of fine soil, which the tide of immigration is rapidly reducing to cultivation. Louisville is a very active busy town, containing about twenty thousand inhabitants. In the spring, and early part of summer, it is crowded by fugi- tives from the neighbourhood of New Orleans, on their way to their various places of refuge from I '1 10 218 llEI'UHLICAN INCONGRUITY. u 1 heat and disease. The hotel is a spacious build- ing, and might be called handsome, had it not been finished in so slovenly a manner, that, although I saw it only a year after it was opened, the plaster was soiled, and in some places broken up ; and the house itself looked as if it had been built more years than it had seen months. In front, there is a large portico, supported by ten columns, behind which are the lounging-rooms for the guests ; and in summer, the shade of the portico renders it both a tempting and agreeable resort. The proprietors were very attentive ; and one of them, a good-look- ing gentlemanly man, about thirty years old, was so much more smartly and gaily dressed than any of the company (myself included), that I thought he must be a Frenchman from New Orleans, and thus inquired his name and occupation. No one who has visited only the Atlantic cities can believe in the social republicanism of America. I think I have before noted in this journal that it does not exist there : distinctions of wealth and family, and those, too, well defined and strongly marked, have already appeared, accompanied by a criterion apparently trifling, but, in my opinion, bearing strong evidence, namely, " coats of arms," and other heraldic anti-republican signc, which arc daily gaining ground. At present, the West presents a much -truer picture of republicanism, because the equality existing elsewhere in theory, exists here in fact; nor did I see one individual I REPUBLICAN INCONGRUITY. 219 (for instance) in Louisville having more the ap- pearance of a gentleman than the hotel-keeper before mentioned. In this respect, he doubtless has great advantages over those who follow a si- milar avocation in Britain. But mark here the incongruity of habit and pre- judice. The Louisville tavern-keeper, who is called^ and is, as much of a gentleman as any of his guests, waits upon them at the bar in mixing various be- verages, and at dinner when he carves standing, and frequently hands a plate, or performs some similar trifling service ; while the American " opera- tive " lad, will not accept any place as a personal attendant — would feel himself degraded by brush- ing a coat, or washing a tea-cup or tea-spoon, or acting in what he would term a " menial" capa- city. Cn the other hand, John Bull, in the lower class, seeks with avidity the comforts of " domestic" life, in the successive grades of stable-boy, groom, and coachman, or house-boy, footman, and butler ; while the aristocratic hotel-keeper in London, or one who wishes to move in second-rate society, does not permit the association of his name with the hotel, would as soon walk over hot iron as attend the public table or mix brandy-toddy, and is only known as a respectable gentleman driving his gig to and from his Hampstead villa, or as a smart and constant attendant at Tattersall's, or enjoying his great incog, at some frshionable water- ing-place. There are many exceptions to this lat- I f 220 SWEARING IN THE WEST. ■ ■1 i ter remark (and I think these hotels the most agreeable, either in town or country, where tlie master of the house superintends in person) ; but there are cases enough to mark the contrast of character in reference to which I made the ob- servation : for instance, how many of the ladies who have lived weeks and months at the Claren- . don Hotel in London have seen the owner ? how many know his name ? and how many are aware that he is proprietor of several other establishments, the guests in which know as much of him as them- selves ? Few could answer affirmatively. I went out to the race-course, as the spring race- meeting was going on, and saw one or two heats run in very good time. There was but a small attendance, either of beauty or fashion, and I did not stay long enough to avail myself of the op- portunity which such a scene offers, for making observations on the more rough and unpolished portion of society ; indeed, the swearing of some of the lower orders in the West, especially among the horse-traders and gamblers, would shock ears accustomed to the language of Billingsgate or a London gin-shop, so full is it of blasphemy ; and uttered in a deliberate and determinate tone, such as to induce the belief that the speaker really wishes the fulfilment of the curses which he im- precates. I have heard the vulgar oaths of many countries, as the French, the English, the Irish, and START FOR LEXINGTON. 821 Scotch (which three last have different safety-valves of wrath), the Dutch, the German, the Italian, and the Portuguese : of course, they are all vulgar, all more or less hlaspherrious and disgusting to the ear ; but I never heard them so offensive, or so slowly and deliberately uttered, as in the mouths of the west- ern and south-western Americans. It is but justice to the United States to say, that this is a vice not generally prevalent, and is held much in the same estimation there as it is in Britain. Louisville is an active and thriving town ; but, like all the others in the West, wretchedly light- ed and paved at present. — It is necessary to mark these two words, as in this most wonderful portion of this wonderful continent, observations of a con- demnatory nature are not likely to be true for more than twelve months. After remaining there a day, during which I was still labouring to throw off the yoke of my cholera oppressor, I started for Lexing- ton, in Kentucky, to see a portion of that fine State, and to pay a visit to its brightest ornament, Mr. Clay, to whose eloquence and statesman-like qua- lities I have, in a former chapter, referred. The scenery between Louisville and Lexington is undulating, rich, and varied, and I could not have seen it at a more favourable season than this, when the thick-pressed ranks of rye were waving in every direction, the yoimg corn was just sprout- ing, and the clover in full and luxurious bloom ; 222 BEAUTIFUL SCENERY. the woods, also, were adorned by a variety of trees which I had not before noticed, as the cofFee-tree* and others, too numerous to mention. One thing alone was wanting to my enjoyment of the scene, that one was health ! without which a terrestrial paradise would be a desert. I had not been able to shake off my pertinacious choleric enemy, and suffered much from his repeated attacks ; however, despite the effect thereby induced upon my spirits, when the bright moon arose, and tipt with silver the light and graceful twigs of black-walnut and locust- trees, and the faint breeze waved their tresses in relief against the dark masses of oak, and other im- penetrable shades which resisted her beams, it was impossible not to feel, admire, and even enjoy the peaceful beauty of the scene. At least, I was not pressed in regard to time ; for the stage being full, I had hired a sorry horse and gig, from which I was fain to content myself with extracting four miles an hour; and that, too, with considerable expenditure of exertion and whipcord. On the following morning, which was Sunday, I found myself rather better, but still weak, and in pain from the evils which follow in the train of cholera ; I went, however, to the Presbyterian church (Frankfurt), where I heard a curious ser- mon, contending, from the analogy of nature to numerous texts in Scripture, that there is but one • More commonly known as the Bonduc. In Botany, Gui- landina dioica. MISS MARTINEAU. 223 IB way in which man can be saved, and but one right and saving faith among the various sects of Chris- tianity. The argument was sometimes well sup- ported ; but the discourse appeared to me to fall into an error very common to such subjects, name- ly, to prove too much. ^ I arrived on Monday evening at Lexington, much improved in health. This is a neat pleasant town, containing a considerable number of locust-trees and small gardens, which give it a cheerful appearance, while they afford the occasional luxury of shade. Mr. Clay's residence is about a mile from the town, situated in a pretty woodland scene, some- what resembling an English park His son-in-law, Mr. E , lives about half a mile nearer to the town, on a pleasant farm called Woodlands. At the house of this gentleman, I was agreeably sur- prised at meeting Miss Martineau, who had been there on a visit during the last fortnight. This lady's writings are too well known to require any comment upon them here. I differ from many of her opinions, but nobody can deny her possession of great talent, or refuse her the merit of writing in a clear, concise, and elegant style : moreover, her conversation is agreeable, lively, and varied ; dis- playing a mind both strong and original, a judg- ment very decisive, though not without prejudice, and a quickness of observation and comparison, that render her an entertaining as well as an instructive talker. \ 1} 1 t ii H'.!l J 224) GENERAL SIIELBY's FARM. In company with this pleasant party I went to see a farm, about nine miles from Lexington, be- longing to General Shelby. This gentleman has the reputation of being one of the best cattle- breeding farmers in Kentucky ; and he certainly diA show us a large and most excellent stock both of cattle and mules. The former are mostly cross- ed, more or less nearly, from the Durham breed ; one lot, of three years old, was in prime order, and would have extracted a nod of approbation from a Lincolnshire grazier. They were probably worth here about 70 dollars, or 14/. a head. Mr. Shelby told me, that last year he sold a lot of fifty, averaging twelve hundred weight each ! The mules are becoming the most lucrative farm-stock in this State ; they are found to be so much more serviceable and tough, than horses, especi- ally on plantations worked by slaves, where they are apt to be ill-fed and ill-attended to, a good mule sells here for 150 dollars, which is a very high price for a horse. As an illustration, I will merely mention one instance, given to me by Mr. E . He bought a fine female ass, two years ago (in foal), for 100 dollars ; she produced a fine male, which he sold for 400 dollars ; she produced a foal again this spring, for which he has refused 300 dollars ; and he sold the dam herself lately for 600 dollars ; so, in this instance, there was a clear gain of 1200 dollars from one ass in two years ! Mr. Shelby has a great number of mules ; he sold '.LEXINGTON. 225 went to ton, be- nan has cattle- ;ertainly ck both ly cross- 1 breed ; order, fobation )robably I. Mr. a lot of ! The m-stock 5 much especi- ire they a good a very 1, I will by Mr. years 1 a fine roduced refused itely for a clear years ! he sold last year 3000 dollars' worth of them. His pastures are on a fine virgin soil, well shaded by noble forest- timber, with here and there an open glade (some- thing like an English park). It is scarcely credi- ble, but undoubtedly true, as I have it from the lips of these gentlemen in company, that this beau- tiful farm of two thousand acres, together with another in the neighbourhood (of eighteen hundred acres), were bought by Mr. S 's father for an old rifle ! — at least, for a rifles whether old or new I know not ! The property is now worth at least 60 dollars an acre (besides the houses, &c.), which, according to Cocker, would give a sum of 45,000/. sterling, as the value of an estate sold only fifty years since for a rifle ! It makes one angry to see or h of such luck happening to a fellow-worm ; an- n I looked at General S , I almost felt that I had as good a right to the farm as he had. Lexington stands in a large, elevated, and fertile plain. There is scarcely a hill to be seen in the neighbourhood ; but an endless succession of foliage, and corn of every description. On this account it is called the garden of Kentucky, and its inha- bitants make very heavy demands upon the admi- ration of the visiter. For myself, I never could enjoy or appreciate the beauty of a complete level in any part of the world, and, however diversified by gardens, villas, woods, and crops, my eye always looks for water and for hills, without which no scenery can have any charm for me. This may be VOL. I. Q ff ,J: 226 ITS INSTITUTIONS. very wrong, but I cannot help it ; neither can I participate in the raptures which some express when they get upon the top of a church, and boast of being able to see on every side a boundless plain, terminating only in the horizon. There are several excellent institutions in Lex- ington : a theological seminary, one of the pro- fessors of which is a young English clergyman (minister, also, of the episcopal church here) ; he seems a very interesting young man; his branch of instruction is chiefly in the Eastern languages ; and he assured me that he had several students familiar with the Hebrew, Syriac, and Chaldee. He says, that the capacity of the young men in this part of the world is very good, and that there aie fewer book-dunces than he remembers at schools in the old country ; but the generality of them are very badly grounded in the classics. The process of mental cultivation in America is some- what analogous to their agricultural system ; in both cases they look too exclusively to the quantity of produce immediately to be obtained, and pay too little attention to the culture and improvement of the soil. It has been often remarked, that an American course of collegiate education, extends over a field that would occupy a man of good abili- ties forty years to master ; but a student is supposed to have travelled over it in three or four years : and he may have travelled over it ; but it is with the same advantage as some of our fashionable I AMERICAN EDUCATION. 227 in London loungers travel over Switzerland and Italy, as fast as well-paid postilions and a light britchka can take them — they have seen Mont Blanc, and been over the Simplon ; they have visited St. Pe- ter's and the Coliseum ; have sat in a gondola and seen the Bridge of Sighs ; have eaten ice and maca- roni in view of the Bay of Naples ; and have yawned admiration before the Apollo, the Venus, and the Cartoons ! Then they return — travellers ! With equal advantage is a youth educated on the encyclopaedia system, so pernicious to industry or to sterling knowledge and acquirement. The young men who acquire a taste for reading is singularly small in America. They will tell a stranger who makes this observation, that they are too busy, that they are engaged in mercantile and other affairs. This, in fact (though a plausible one), is only an excuse ; they have time enough to give to the theatre, the dance, the race-course, the trotting-match, the billiard-table, the tavern-bar, &c., but to find a young man, having left college five years, who could read Pindar and Euripides, or even Horace and Juvenal, for pleasure^ would be no easy task — at least among those whom I have seen at New York and the other cities in the United States. To return from this digression to Lexington. There is a college here also, which does not seem to be in a very flourishing state ; but a professor is expected soon from New England, who is to esta- blish its reputation for literature and discipline. Q 2 !ir>~ 328 LUNATIC ASYLUM. f There is also an orphan asylum, and one for lunatics ; which latter, like all similar institutions in America, is conducted with regularity and cleanli- ness, as well as with a praiseworthy attention to all the comforts of which the unfortunate inmates are capable. In one respect it differs from any that I have visited elsewhere, that I was admitted to see the female part of the establishment. I did not stay there long, for I cannot bear to see that lovely temple in ruins. Some cases, indeed, of monomania and aberration of mind I could con- template with curiosity and interest; but woman in the lowest state of mental or moral degradation, is a spectacle not to be looked upon without painful commiseration. Among the men was a presbyterian clergyman, a native of Ireland. He was still so wedded to his professional dignity, that he would not put on a shirt unless it was marked " the reverend." His only companion was an old copy of Virgil. He said, he only read the first six books of the Mneid. I asked him to read me twenty lines ; and, under pretence of not understanding them, prevailed upon him to construe them, which he did with great fluency, without hesitation or mistake. I went to two evening parties ; and although a person disposed to quiz, might have found exercise for his childish satire, I saw nothing that would not meet a parallel in -the society of the larger provincial towns in Britain, and I do not there- f- 1 EVENING PARTIES. 229 fore feel inclined to take upon myself the invidious office. At the table of Mr. Clay I met a young gentle- man from Germany, of the name of V , on his travels, and heard with much pleasure that he proposed going to St. Louis, which was also my own destination. I went with him to a musical soiree, at the house of z. German, who had been many years in this country, and was commander- in-chief of all the musical department in Lexing- ton, from the church-organ down to the boarding- school " solfeggio." He v.as extremely polite ; and the evening passed off rather formally, but tolerably well. When the ladies retired, I also was about to leave the house, as was Mr. V ; but he pressed us to remain and take one stirrup-cup in the old Ger- man fashion, of punch made from the true Rhenish. We did so. We began to sing German songs. Each glass of punch was succeeded by some toast or chorus from the same country, and at length the slumbering national ardour of our host was aroused ; the smooth quiet manner of the American music- master was laid aside, as, with clenched hand and glowing cheek, he gave us some of the spirit- stirring lays of Schiller and of the heroic Korner. O ye temperance societies ! how many gallons of your inanimate slops might be consumed before ye could inspire the enthusiasm, or evoke the recol- lections which our Rhenish bowl awakened, as its noble juice brought the long-estranged son of Ger- ^n 230 A SERENADE. n i- many back to the Rhine, and its thousand legends of love, romance, and glory ! We separated about two in the morning, and on our way homeward, V and I (agreeably to a little pre-engaged plan of his with some of the inmates) betook ourselves to a large boarding- house, surrounded by a thick grove of trees, where- in dwelt a considerable number of young ladies, whom we had met at the preceding parties, and whom we now proposed to serenade. Independently of a good natural voice, V was an adept in the Tyrolese style of singing, or ilglingt which I was sure that the fair Kentuckians would hear with surprise and pleasure. Accordingly we placed our- selves under the windows, and commenced our sleep- murdering attack by several German, Tyrolese, and Scotch songs ; we could distinctly perceive various pairs of eyes peering through the Venetian blinds, and went away sure of having awakened them, and trusting not to have incurred their displeasure. We left Lexington early next morning ; but before our departure we heard that they were by no means wrath at our infraction of their rest ; they were much pleased with the Tyrolese iigimg, but would not believe that it was produced by the human voice unassisted by an instrument. I was very sorry to leave Mr. Clay and the in- teresting society which I met in his son-in-law's house. Mr. Clay himself is very frank and agree- able in conversation, especially in regard to politics ; IMlOSPERITy OF LOUISVILLE. 231 he is singularly mild and candid in talking over the persons and opinions of various parties in the United States, most opposed to himself; but the place to see him in his glory is certainly the Senate — there he is powerful and commanding in his eloquence: he has not cultivated those branches of polite literature for which Mr, Webster and several other senators are remarkable in pri- vate life. We returned to Louisville, and took the first steam-boat bound for St. Louis, which is about six hundred miles north-west by water : when we em- barked, there were about sixteen steam-boats, all of a large class, lying at the wharfs ; indeed, this town is scarcely inferior to Cincinnati in the won- derful rapidity of its improvements. I had a long conversation with an elderly gentleman, who owns a considerable number of houses and lots of land, which he sells off for the erection of buildings : ac- cording to his account, almost all the money which he had thus invested returned him about twenty per cent. ; the Louisville Savings' Bank gives eight per cent, on deposits ; and he assured me that any capitalist of good judgment might invest money upon excellent security at twelve or four- teen per cent. This may be perfectly true at the present date, but it by no means follows that such a state of things should be durable. The passage down the Ohio from this town to the Mississippi is, if possible, more beautiful than fm 232 ROBBERS' CAVE. J V 111 above ; the bluffs are bolder, the banks higher, and the stream is more enlarged and magnificent, ex- tending to a breadth of a mile and a half. We lay to, under a high projecting rock, to visit a cave, celebrated as having been the refuge of a desperate band of robbers who infested this part of the coun- try some years ago, led by a man named Mason, for whose head the legislature of Illinois (or one of the neighbouring states) offered a reward of 1000 dollars. He was betrayed and shot by two of his associates. The cavern is about forty feet deep, twenty-five wide, and fifteen high ; but the most extraordinary part of it is a natural aper- ture in the centre of the roof, large enough to admit one man at a time, and opening upon an- other chamber of similar dimensions to the one below. The current report of the country is, that when this den of thieves was discovered and broken up, it contained great quantities of gold, silver, silks, stuffs, and false money, with an apparatus for coining it. It was midnight when we joined the " Father of Waters," so I rose with the earliest dawn to pay him my homage. I cannot deny that my first feeling was disappointment : !:e is not much broader than the lower part of the Ohio, while his stream is extremely muddy, and his banks low and tame ; it is only when you ascend the mighty current for fifty or a hundred miles, and use th«; eye of the imagination as well as that of nature. n i ■ I THE " FATHER OF WATERS." 233 that you begin to understand all his might and majesty. You see him fertilising a boundless val- ley, bearing along in his course the trophies of his thousand victories over the shattered forest — here carrying away large masses of soil with all their growth, and there forming islands, destined, at some future period, to be the residence of man; as you approach Saint Louis, these islands become more frequent — the banks more lofty and picturesque; and while indulging in this prospect, it is then time for reflection to suggest that the current before you has flowed through two or three thousand miles, and has yet to travel one thousand three hundred more before reaching its ocean destination. A stranger, however, cannot endure the dirty and muddy appearance of the water, although he is told (and with truth) that, when placed in a barrel, or any other vessel, and allowed to settle, it purifies very rapidly and becomes excellent drink- ing-water, leaving a sediment of extreme depth and density. All travellers in this part of the world have agreed, that the Missouri has been ill used in having its name merged, after its junction with the Mississippi; whereas it is the broader, the deeper, the longer, and, in every respect, the finer river of the two : the cause of this apparent incon- gruity was explained to me, in a manner equally simple and satisfactory. When the French first I ^ 234 THE " FATHER OF WATERS." visited this great valley, they came from Canada, and descended the Mississippi ; and seeing another river fall into it at right-angles, near Saint Louis, they naturally viewed it as a tributary to tho mighty stream whose course they followed, and whose name they preserved ; forgetting that, in the natural as well as in the political world, tho tributary may often possess more power than he to whom he is supposed to owe fealty. «-;i f ■ ■ ,■ ' .'• V, ST. L(3UIS. 235 anadu, nother Louis, nighty name ral as may he is CHAPTER XIII. Situation of St. Louis. — The Catholic new Church. — General Clurke. — Embark for Fort Leavenworth. — Requisites for a Tour on tlic Prairio. — The Missouri — Rapidity of its Stream. — Islands. — Fatal Case of Cholera. — Changeful ("Climate- Floating Obstructions. — Settlements on the iViissouri.— Scarcity of (iame. — Gigantic Trees.— Fertility of tJie Soil.— Precarious Navigation. — Magnificent Thunderstorm. — State of Health on board the Steam-boat. — Tedious Progress. — Mouth of Osage River. — Indian Painting. — Town of Boone- ville. — Price of Provisions. — Narrow Escape. — Village of Liberty. — Outfit for the Prairie. — A small Prairie — Swam y Wood. — Reception at Fort Leavenworth — Prospect from ;he Heights in its Neighbourhood. — Indian Tribes. — Commemo- ration of the 4th of July. — Pawnee Visiters. — Indian Chorus. — Picturesque Scene. — Arrangement to accompany the Paw- nees to their Nation. The situation of St. Louis is admirably adapted for a great inland commercial city, as it is built upon a gradual slope rising from the river. Be- hind it are high and airy plains, wh^ * admit of its being extended advantageously in any direction. It is already the emporium of trade beyond the Mississippi, and the nucleus of ^i-i the traffic with the Indians ; and in proportion as the resources of this vast western region are developed, St. Louis 236 GENERAL CLARKE. « I Hi W\ m will probably increase in wealth and population. The streets are narrow, ill-paved, and ill-lighted ; and there are but few buildings claiming the travel- ler's attention, either by their magnitude or beauty. I was told that the Catholic new church deserved all admiration ; but I could by no means aiford it mine, as it is a very large building, with a sort of Grecian portico, surmounted by a kind of steeple, much too diminutive in its proportions, and sur- rounded by sundry ornaments, which I should have been quite unable to describe, had not my German companion called out, upon seeing them, " Gott bewahr, sie sehen gerade wie bettpfeiler aus." "By ! they look exactly like bed-posts!" I did not, on this occasion, have an opportunity of seeing the interior of the building. I wished to stay a short time at St. Louis, being desirous to see its society, and having just made the acquaintance of the veteran General Clarke, whose travels to the Rocky Mountains are well known to all general readers, and who had pro- bably gained more laurels than any man living in contests with the buffalo, the grisly bear, and the wild Indian. He was, during my visit to St. Louis, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the United States, and was held in high respect and estima- tion by the various tribes composing that hetero- geneous race.* My plans were, however, frus- * The veteran has departed this life since the above remarks were written. By most of the tribes on the Missouri he was REQUISITES FOR THE PRAIRIE. 237 trated ; for, hearing that a steamer was about to start in a few hours for the Upper Missouri, and that I might not get another similar opportunity, I thought it advisable to seize it, and accordingly em- barked on board the steam-boat Hancock, bound for Fort Leavenworth. I employed the few hours which intervened in providing myself with some of the most obvious requisites for a tour on the prairie ; such as saddles, blankets, &c., and a few trifling presents for the In- dians whom 1 might wish to propitiate. Taking with me as little luggage as possible in saddle-bags, I set forth upon a tour of which it was impossible for me to fix the locality or extent ; but having for its object the manners and habits of the extreme West, and of the tribes beyond the American set- tlements. It was with extreme regret, that I learned we must pass the confluence of the Missouri and Mis- sissippi in the night, as I wished to observe the dif- ferent colours of their respective steams, which are as remarkably distinct as those of the Rhine and its tributary Moselle. At daybreak we were already in the Missouri, which appeared almost as large, as muddy, and as rapid as the river below St. Louis. The banks are well-wooded and undulating; and in this respect I was agreeably disappointed, as I called their " Father," or " Sandy-haired Father ;" as the Presi- dent of Uie United States is, in all their talks or treaties, styled their " Great, or Grand, Fat^r." 1839. 238 THE MISSOURI. ir' * !/ had been led to believe that we were to pass mere- ly through a flat prairie country. The most re- markable feature in this mighty stream is its ra- pidity,* and the huge masses of timber thus hurried on to the ocean. Large trees are seen in every direc- tion, and in every state, from the dangerous " snag," with his head just rippling the water which hides him, to the monarch of the forest, with all his " blushing honours thick upon him." Here and there vast masses of wood are collected, bearing almost the appearance of timber seasoning in har- bour ; and in other places they are already so con- solidated with settled mud, that the elements of vegetation begin to appear ; and the prophetic ob- server sees before him an island destined one day to be, perhaps, both populous and fertile. There is nothing that conveys a better idea of the magnitude and power of this noble river, than the islands which he has formed in his descent ; one of those we passed on the first day, was eight miles long and one mile broad, covered with timber, and * It is difficult for a mere passing traveller to form an estimate of the speed of the stream on which he is sailing ; it requires patient observation and experiment. As I had neither time nor means for doing it accurately, it may be as well to repeat here, that, according to Lieutenant Clark and Major Long, the average rapidity of the Missouri is about a fathom per second (very little more than four miles per hour) ; but in running over sand-bars and other impediments, it often doubles that rapidity : its mean descent is somewhat less than five incheti to the mile, which is much the same as that of the Amazon and Ganges, according to Major Uennell. THE CHOLERA. 239 the few places cultivated giving already ample evi- dence of the richness of the alluvium. We were rendered somewhat uneasy by the state of health on board, several cases of cholera having occurred, one of which terminatt^a fatally. The sufferer was buried in a retired and beautiful forest spot, where no surviving friends or relatives will visit his tomb, which is in one of the loveliest recesses of a temple now dedicated to Silence and Solitude ! It will not be long, however, ere it echoes to the sound of the axe, and becomes, perhaps, a busy mart of traffic, or a thriving farm. The disease did not appear at first in its most virulent form, and we entertained great hopes that the destroyer would not long hover over our vessel, as we were crowded into a small cabin, and were not going at more than two or three miles an hour, owing to the immense forcs of the current. I never experienced or conceived such changeful or un- healthy weather. On the 20th the heat was most op- pressive ; we sat at half-past nine p.m. on the deck, perspiring, without hat or coat, and could scarce- ly bear a sheet on the bed. On the 22d of June the cold was severe. Most of the passengers wore their great-coats, and added two blankets and a cover- let to their bedding ; we kept, moreover, a good fire in the cabin stove ! This change occurred in about two hours ! Who can wonder at the fevers, agues, and bilious diseases prevalent in such a climate ? We were delayed by the usual accidents which Mi 240 SETTLEMENTS. kiU occur on this stream, none of an alarming nature ; but the paddle-boxes and buckets were repeat- edly broken by the timber which they necessarily and frequently encountered. The quantity of these floating obstructions was so great, that it was im- possible to keep on our course by night, and con- sequently, we did not make more than twenty or thirty miles each day ! I derived one advantage from the frequent stoppages which we made, in the opportunities thereby afforded of making excursions into the woods bordering upon the river. The settlements or clearances on the Missouri are generally very unhealthy, and will, probably, remain so for some years. The houses of the settlers are almost universally log-huts, composed of two separate cabins, divided by an open space, for the circulation of air in summer, but both covered by the same roof, which is, of course, com- posed of shingles. In this part of the country there are but few deer remaining, as the settlements are so numerous, and every settler is a hunter; besides which, the season was unpropitious for finding game, as in summer they only appear in the morning and evening, and retire to the thick brush to protect them from the heat of the mid-day sun. But the beauty of the vegetable world is unparalleled ; the trees exceed in height anything that I have before observed, and their variety is so great as utterly to confound so unpractised a botanist as myself. As regards mag- f-f n GIGANTIC TREES. 241 nitude, the cotton-wood and sycamore appear to be monarchs of the forest ; they often rear their enor- mous trunks to forty or fifty feet, with little dimi- nution of bulk. I measured one at about five feet from the ground ; it was nineteen feet in circum- ference : but I have no reason to believe that it was a remarkably large specimen.* These lofty trees are rendered picturesque and graceful by the vines which twine round their gigantic limbs, and hang in wavy festoons, making, in some places, natural arbours of impenetrable shade ; while the humbler brushwood is adorned with wild roses and other shrubs of equal and rarer beauty. A great proportion of the land on both sides of the river is occupied, and varies in price from one dollar and a half to five dollars per acre, according to its proximity to the rising villages, mills, or similar advantages. The depth and inexhaustible fertility of the soil are too well known to require comment ; whatever terms may have been used in describing them can scarcely be exaggerations. It cannot, however, be denied that this fiivourcd part of the country is liable to many objections : the navigation of the Missouri is very precarious ; when the water is high the stream is extremely strong and rapid ; besides which, it carries with it large and dangerous drifts of floating timber ; when low, it is full of snags and mud bars ; the * I believe this tree, which I call occidentalis. sycamore," is Plantanus VOL. I. R 242 THUNDERSTORM. I •:'/ i ••'1 navigation is impeded in the winter by the ice ; and the climate is variable to a degree scarcely credible in Europe. There was a magnificent thunderstorm on the night of the 24th, about one o'clock. I rose from my bed to enjoy the sight, and was amply repaid for the loss of an hour's sleep ; the whole western sky was illuminated by broad and fitful sheets of light- ning, so bright at times as to light up the mighty river, and to show distinctly the bold and varying features of its banks ; in a moment again all was black and still, night had thrown her mantle over the scene, and silence resumed her empire ; then the thunder muttered from its distant couch, and again the brilliant illumination succeeded ; the peals grew louder and louder, till at length they burst and rattled so near above us, that I could al- most believe the alarmed forest trembled beneath their wrath. A torrent of rain closed the scene. I retired to my berth deeply impressed with the might of Him whose right hand launches and checks these fiery ministers ! Gray has been much and deservedly praised for the stanza, in which he directs our attention to the ** flowrets born to blush unseen ;" but is there not as ample a theme for meditation in the parallel, though opposite picture, of the unseen wonders of the wilderness, the hurricane, the cataract, the whirlwind, whose niighty footsteps I have traced in the primitive forest, where whole acres of prostrate ■wc r- >-:^«;^y^ CHOLERA. 243 lie ice ; icaicely on the rom my )aid for em sky )f light- mighty varying all was itle over e ; then ich, and id ; the jth they ;ould al- beneath scene. I le might ;ks these aised for in to the ;here not parallel, mders of fact, the traced in prostrate timber attest the power that smote them ; some broken sheer through the middle, others still rearing their scathed and blackened tops ; some again of vast size bent and curved like willows, and others uprooted, their once lofty heads buried in the mighty stream destined at no distant period to sweep them down to ocean, or to use them as ma- terials in the formation of islands, which it is his yearly pastime to create ! How have I longed to witness, but for once, this elemental strife, whose desolating effects are so awful ! My half-waking half-sleeping meditations were somewhat disturbed by finding myself, at five o'clock, soaked in water, owing to the bad construc- tion of the deck, and I left my berth under some apprehensions of rheumatic consequences. The state of health on board continued most dis- tressing; many of the passengers were suffering under attacks of cholera in various forms; some groaned with pain, and some, I believe, were ill from mere imagination and terror : besides the man whom we had buried a day or two before, two or three were landed in a dying state ; one of whom was so near his latter end, that as some difficulty was made by the crew about carrying him from the landing-place to the tavern, two hundred yards off, he would have been left to die on the bank, as the poor wretch seamed to have neither friend nor acquaintance to assist him, had not a few of the cabin passengers carried him up and left him in the care of the R 2 11 244 PAINTED ROCKS. tavern-keeper. I was one of this sad party, and I have little doubt that in less than an hour the poor sufferer had closed his eyes among strangers, far from the affectionate attentions with which love and kindred are wont to soothe the anguish of a dying bed ! The banks of the river continued to present the same variety of bluffs and rich alluvial bottoms, and the weather the same change of cold, heat, wind, and rain ; the boat was the slowest and the most ill-arranged that I had yet seen in America. The boilers being leaky, and the machinery out of order, caused a constant succession of delays and stoppages, consequently we did not make more than thirty miles in the twenty-four hours. On the 25th we passed the mouth of Osage River, one of the great tributaries to the Missouri; its length is about one thousand miles, and I believe the lower part of its course is through a very rich and heavily-timbered valley : it falls into the great river about one hundred miles above St. Louis. We passed also some fine precipitous rocks on which are numerous specimens of Indian painting. These consist chiefly of representations of strange figures {ChimcErcEdira), buffaloes, and other animals. They w^ere originally red, but time and the weather have so worn out the colour, that they were not distinguishable from the part of the river where we passed, so that I was obliged to take the word of the passengers and other persons well acquainted with ^-i HOONEVILLE. — FRANKLIN. 245 ty, and I the poor igers, far liich love uish of a •esent the bottoms, old, heat, t and the America. 3ry out of elays and ake more . On the er, one of its length elieve the y rich and jreat river rocks on 1 painting, of strange er animals, le weather ' were not : where we vord of the linted with ^•^li^ the neighbourhood ; moreover, I believe, they are the same as those mentioned in the travels of Lewis and Clarke, by the name of the Great Manitou Rocks, having been formerly sacred to the Great Spirit among the tribes who inhabited this district.* Among the towns which we passed, the most de- serving of notice is Booneville, situated on a plain about two hundred feet above the river, of which it commands a beautiful view ; it is surrounded by fine undulating woods and fertile fields. It con- tains shops, warehouses, and a court-house, besides a tavern, dignified by the name of a hotel. Some of the houses are of brick, but the greater propor- tion are framework : it is altogether one of the prettiest and most promising settlements in Mis- souri, and the lots of land are nearly equal in value to those of St. Louis. On the opposite side of the river is Franklin : it is, I believe, an older settlement than Booneville ; but is more low, unhealthy, and in every respect worse situated, as regards its prospects either of pleasure or profit. Both salt and coal are found in this neighbourhood ; the former is manufactured in a manner resembling the salt-works near the Ohio ; the latter sleeps, I believe, undisturbed in its bed. I went into one house which had been struck by lightning the preceding night ; several parts of the interior plastering had been scattered about the rooms, but little serious damage was done. We * Seu Wordsworth's Sonnet to Duddon, No. xvi. 246 NARROW ESCAI'E. ^'!i .< 1 experienced one very severe shock in the steam- boat, which actually trembled, but received no injury. In this part of the country, beef sells at three- pence per pound, chickens at two-pence halfpenny sterling, common horses at forty or fifty dollars, and land at various prices, from one dollar and a half to five dollars per acre. On the 26th, nothing of any consequence occur- red ; but we ran aground once or twice on a bar, and had one very narrow escape, which is worth relating, as it shows the difficulties attending the navigation of this extraordinary river. The pilot, who was considered one of the most expe- rienced in his profession, steered us up a narrow channel between an island and the river bank ; and when we reached the point where it again joined the main stream, the passage was effectually blockaded by an enormous and solid raft of float- ing timber : when he came down a short time ago, this channel was perfectly free ; it would now have defied Admiral Rodney, or any other bold line-breaker. A deposit of mud was already lodged on a considerable portion of it, and a few infant willows and poplars had made it their nursery. The stream was running with great velocity — there was little room for turning the steamer, and just below us was a most formidable snag in the mid-stream. After manoeuvring for at least twenty minutes between this vegetable Scylla and Cha- LIUKIITY. 247 steara- ived no t three- ilfpenny dollars, r and a e occur- i a bar, s worth tending r. The it expe- n arrow ik; and 1 joined ectually Df float- rt time lid now er bold ' lodged w infant ry. locity — ler, and in the twenty d Cha- rybdis, the j)ilot succeeded in clearing the snag, and returning down the stream to seek a more favourable outlet. We were not aware of having been in any danger ; but the captain afterwards informed us that, if we had got across the snag, the boat would have split up and gone to pieces, and we did not miss it by more than six inches! This may seem extraordinary to those who do not know the vast size and bulk of the embedded tree forming the snag, the extreme force and rapidity of the current, and the slight materials of which these steamers are built : at all events, our captain assured us that he had rarely experienced more uneasy sensations than during those few minutes. In spite of accidents and current, we found our- selves, on the 9th day, at Liberty, the last western village in the United States. Here we were obliged to stay two or three days, to make preparation for our trip into the wilderness. The most essen- tial purchase was in the horse-market : the quan- tity of animals brought in for me to try was con- siderable, and in twenty-four hours I found myself and my companion owners of five ponies and a mule ; being two for our own riding, one for my servant, and three for packing. I shall make an extract from the account of the store where we provided ourselves with all the requisites for the prairie, as a kind of memorandum and illustration of the articles most necessary for an excursion among the western tribes. 248 OUTFIT. i V. u\ Mil Being already provided witli arms, saddles, lary- ettes or tethers, blankets, a bear-skin, pack-saddles, and horses (which last averaged about forty dollars a-piece, of a small size), a box of vermilion, to make presents to Indians withal, and a very small assortment of hunting-clothes, I provided at the outfitting store the following items: — 10 lbs. of lead, 6 lbs. of shot, 20 lbs. of coffee, 12 lbs. of salt ; an assortment of rings ; beads of all co- lours and sizes ; wampuni,* mirrors, knives, and other trifles for presents ; 24 lbs. of sugar, three pack-blankets and sacks, a bottle of pepper, some tin cups, a bucket, one copper kettle, two tin pans, a frying-pan, a jug, two canteens for water, two jugs for brandy, 10 lbs. of powder, 50 lbs. of bacon for frying, eating, &c, ; these, and a few other sun- dries, make a somewhat troublesome freight for one or two mules and ponies, especially if it be con- sidered that the most important article is not yet included, namely, bread or flour, in some shape or other, which is necessary to the extent of 70 or 80 lbs. for three persons, as it is a very long journey before the hunter can expect to find buffalo ; and then he mai/ be disappointed, as they shift their ground very much. • "Wampum." This word is a corruption of "Wampampea," Indian money ; so called by the Narragansets and other tribes found in New England by the first British settlers : it was of two kinds, white and black ; the one made of the shell of the periwinkle (Bttccinum undatum Lin.) ; the other of that of the clam ( Venus mercenaria Lin.); both belong to the class Vermes Icstacea. iU-i SMAI.I. IMiAntlK. 249 s, lury- taddles, (lollurs ion, to y small at the lbs. of lbs. of all CO- GS, and •, three r, some in pans, wo jugs con for er sun- for one be con- not yet 3 shape t of 70 ry long buffalo ; ift their pampea, her tribes it was of (11 of the lat of the s I crmcs The whole of this outfit, including five horses and one mule, was little more than 300 dollars, or CO/. On the 2nd of July we started for Fort Leaven- worth, the western military post of the United States ; but situated about twenty miles beyond the States' boundary, in a kind of neutral ground, be- longing neither to the red nor the white man, but on which both are forbidden by the law of the country to settle. About ten miles from Liberty we came to the first prairie, which I had crossed in Missouri : it was eight miles broad, consisting of beautiful undulations of pasture, adorned with bright and various flowers, and studded with nu- merous little islands of timber, so regular in their form and so tastefully disposed, as to induce the traveller to believe that Messrs. Knight, Brown, and other " picturesque" and " capability" brethren, had laid it out with the most exact care. I was quite aware that this was but a lake, compared to the ocean of prairie which I was yet to see in the far West ; but as it was bounded on all sides by a noble forest of timber, the scenery was equally new and delightful. After a pleasant ride of about thirty miles, dur- ing which we crossed with some little difficulty the river Platte (which frequently rises or falls thirty feet in a week), we came to a low swampy wood, where the mud was about a foot or a foot and a half deep (the weather being fine and dry). The A 250 MOSQUITTOES. road (if it can be so called) wanders ad libitum round clumps, fallen timber, and bushes, leaving every traveller to select the places where he is least likely to stick fast : and here let me not fail to record the high talents in strategy displayed by sundry light troops called mosquittoes, that, with true Indian cunning, lie in ambush in this dense swamp, and dart out upon the helpless wanderer in swarms, when his utmost exertions cannot urge the fleetest steed to n, pace above a struggling walk. Arming our hands with branches, like Mac- duff's soldiers of old, our souls with fortitude, and our mouths with cigars, we forced our way gallantly through opposing myriads without receiving moi^e than a thousand wounds, and arrived safe on the banks of the river, thankful for having escaped the muddy perils of the " Missouri bottom." It was too late to ferry over our horses, which we accordingly left on the northern bank. We crossed in a canoe ; and, with our saddlebags on our arms, made good our entrance about nightfall into the fort. Mo^t of the officers were absent with Colonel Dodge's exploring expedition to the Rocky Mountains, one which I had been myself so anxious to join, but from Lieutenant C , the command- ing officer, and one or two others who happened to be in the fort, we received the most polite and hos- pitable attention. Fort Leavenworth is situated on a promontory formed by a sweeping bend of the Missouri, on the I FORT LEAVENWORTH. 251 southern side of the river, of which it commands a fine view. It is considerably elevated above the bed of the stream, and the country immediately adjacent is prairie, thickly scattered with timber and brushwood. At the distance of a mile from the cantonment rises a semicircular range of heights, to the top of which I soon made my way, and was repaid by as fair a prospect as ever gladdened the eye of man. Looking towards the north, below me was the fort, with its scattered white buildings, bearing the appearance of a neat little village among the trees; beyond it were seen fifteen or twenty white tents, being the encampment of a body of Indians, mov- ing westward, under the superintendence of an Indian agent ; their dusky and blanketed forms scarcely visible, as they strode from tent to tent, while around were browsing their mules and po- nies; here and there might be seen two or three gallopping their wild little steeds from one part to another of the plain below : beyond the fort was the magnificent river, here showing the full expan- sive breadth of its course, and there to be traced only by broken glimpses caught through the sur- rounding trees ; while on its opposite bank rose the verdant and multitudinous mass of primitive forest, defying the eye to scan, or the mind to reduce to measurement, its acres and miles of extent. I had then but to turn round, and look towards the south, when the eye wandered over a vast undula- 252 KICKAPOO TRIBE. ■ I i t ting prairie, and reposed at length upon a far dis- tant range of hills, just discernible through the rich sunny haze in which they were mantled. In the description of scenes like these, the inefficiency of Language is felt, and one cannot help acknow- ledging the truth of Byron's coarse, but forcible imagery, when he says we become " dazzled and drunk with beauty."* Within twenty or thirty miles of Fort Leaven- worth are settled a great variety of Indian tribes, most of them emigrants from the country now inha- bited by the Whites, especially from the States of Illinois and Michigan. The nearest to the fort are the Kickapoos, who are settled in z village dis- tant from it about four miles. They are a weak, and daily decreasing tribe ; their natural proper- ties are much changed by constant communication with the Whites. There is a Methodist missionary resident among them. The fort is supplied with beef and other meat, chiefly by a farmer who lives in the Great Bottom, immadiately opposite to it. Among other articles for the supply of the table, one of the most abun- dant to be met with here, is the catfish. I found it somewhat coarse, but not unpalatable eating. These fish are caught of a most enormous size, and in great quantities, by the settlers, on the banks of * This idea occurs so frequently in German poetry, as to be familiar to every one wh& is conversant with the literature of that country. \- COMMEMORATION FESTIVITIES. 253 far dis- the rich In the ciency of acknow- forcible zled and Leaven- n tribes, ow inha- >tates of fort are age dis- a weak, proper- inication ssionary 3r meat. Bottom, articles t abun- I found eating, ize, and anks of as to be rature of ■ 'fi- the river ; one of whom told me that he caught four in the course of one morning weighing above fifty pounds each. On the 4th of July, the usual commemoration took place, of firing twenty-four guns ; after which ceremony we adjourned to an excellent dinner ; and madera and champagne were the order of the day. We had spent an hour or two in the festivities of the table, when news was brought in that a hundred and fifty Pawnees had arrived, under the guidance of Mr. Dogherty, one of the principal Indian agents ; and, upon an invitation from the officers, twelve or fourteen of their chief warriors came into the mess-room. I had already seen many Indians, but none so wild and unsophisti- cated as these genuine children of the wilderness. They entered the room with considerable ease and dignity, shook hands with us all, and sat down comfortably to cigars and madera. I was quite astonished at the tact and self-possession of these Indians, two-thirds of whom had never been in a settlement of white men before, nor had ever seen a fork, or table, or chair in their lives ; yet, without asking questions, or appearing to observe what was passing, they caught it with intuitive readiness, and during the whole dinner were not guilty of a single absurdity or breach of decorum. The dress of these Indians consisted of a belt of deer-skin round the middle, with a flap passing between the legs, and fastened again to the belt \\ i 254 PAWNEE INDIANS. t h behind. Their legs were covered by tight leggins of deer-skin, and their feet by mocassins ; while i,heir ,' .loulders were loosely and gracefully covered, or half covered, by a blanket or buffalo-skin. Most of them had earrings, bead-necklaces, and armlets ; and the two prmcipal chiefs wore round their necks a large medal each, on which was engraved the head of the late President of the United States. The greater part of them were lusty, and a few even fat, giving no outward evidence of the privations to which their mode of life renders them so liable. Generally speaking, they were of middle height, with fine chests, arms well-proportioned but not muscular, and remarkably fine-shaped legs. I do not think there was a countenance among them that could be pronounced handsome, though several were pleasing and good-humoured ; but the preva- lent character of their expression was haughty im- penetrable reserve, easily distinguishable through the mask of frank conciliation, which their present object rendered it expedient for them to wear. As we in our mirth sang one or two choral songs, we called upon our rer^. brethren. They rose all at once ; and I never shall forget the effect of that first Indian chorus which 1 ever heard. Each singer began, by strange and un-'outh sounds, to work his mind and lungs up to the proper pitch of excitement; and when at length their shrill and terrible cry rose to it^ full height, its effect was astounding, and sufficient to deafen a delicate ear. SAVAGES FEASTING. '255 Then again they would allow their strain to fall into a kind of monotonous cadence, to which they kept time with inflections of the head and body, and again burst forth into the full chorus of min- gled yell and howl. In an hour the party broke up ; and, as the twilight was setting in, I jumped on my horse to gallop off the effects of wine, noise, and smoke. After riding till the moon was pretty " high in heaven," I returned to the fort, and, within a few hundred yards of it, enjoyed a scene, only trans- ferable to the imagination of another by the pencil of Rembrandt or Wouvermans. In the midst of the encampment, the white tents of which showed like snow in the moonlight, were eight or ten large blazing fires, round which the savages were gathered in circles, roasting on rough sticks huge fragments of a newly-killed ox. The greater part of them were naked, except the be- fore-mentioned belt round their middle; and their dusky figures, lighted partially by die fitful glare of the crackling wood fire, seemed like a band of demons gathered round one of the fabled cal- drons of necromancy. Recognizing one of the chiefs who had joined us at the dinner-table, and Mr. Dogherty, smoking with him, in one of these grim circles, I and my young German friend leaped oflPour horses, which an Indian held for us, and ad- vanced towards, the chief. Room was immediately made, and a buffalo-skin given us to sit upon. We II ( 'i :4 ■•MMkAWMMda 256 SAVAGES FEASTING. -I !^ }U' p II shook hands, and smoked together. Soon the ribs of beef were declared " roasted," and an Indian having cut and tore them apart, laid one before Mr. Dogherty, one before the chief, and one before us. I had not much appetite so soon after a good dinner ; however, I had read and heard too much of Indian prejudices to decline, and accordingly ate two or three mouthfuls of half-raw meat, which would have been very palatable to a hunter or starved traveller. The scene around baffled all description : the savages scattered about, in every sedentary or recumbent attitude that man or mon- key can assume, tearing the meat from the bone with their strong teeth, and masticating slices, each of which would be a day's dinner to a Yorkshire ploughman, our horses standing in mute astonish- ment by, and the background of the picture occu- pied by distant groups, collected also round their fires, produced altogether an effect neither to be described nor forgotten. Having formed a hasty, but determined, resolu- tion, of accompanying these Pawnees in their return to their nation, I was anxious to derive all the benefit possible from the advice and assistance of Mr. Dogherty, who being the negotiator of all their treaties with the United States, and being tolera- bly familiar with their language, possessed great influence with the tribe. This gentleman eir'ered most obligingly -into my scheme ; he held a talk with the leaders of the party ; told them that I was ADVICE. 257 n the ribs in Indian )efore Mr. jfore us. 2r a good too much dingly ate sat, which hunter or baffled all t, in every m or mon- the bone jlices, each Yorkshire e astonish- 5ture occu- ound their ther to be led, resolu- heir return ive all the ssistance of of all their ling tolera- 3ssed great lan entered held a talk 1 that I was " a great chief among white men ; that I was a son or relative of their grandfather ; and that, if they killed me, or did me any injury, I should be re- venged," &c. He also gave me useful directions for my own conduct among them, advising me never to joke at any of their religious or " medicine " ceremonies, however absurd ; never to play or be- come too familiar with them ; to conciliate them as much as possible by presents, but not to allow them to rob me ; and, above all, if they tried to impose upon me, or to bully me out of any point where I was sure that I was in the right, to resist firmly, and give them the idea that I would main- tain my object without regard to my life. He said, that by observing these hints I might spend a summer among them, and probably return in safety, barring the accidents that might arise from quarrels, or war-parties of hostile tribes, and other casualties incidental to the wild irregular lite in the prairie. We spent two or three days very pleasantly at the fort, and completed our preparations and pack- ages, which is a much more unpleasant, or rather tiresome, business, than can be imagined by those accustomed to civilized life, where its comforts can be procured for money; while in the wilderness to which we were bound, the only resource was the rifle, and such provisions as we could take. We tried in vain to get a half-blood Indian, or any other attendant accustomed to camp-hunting, and VOL. I. 8 I M < ) i; i I 258 WILD EXPERIMENT. accordingly were obliged to trust ourselves alone with the savages, the only means of communication being through an interpreter, who spoke very bad French, very good Pawnee, and no English. This seemed a strange and wild experiment ; but having complete confidence in the agent who sanctioned our so doing, I hired a lad, the son of the garri- son mess-man, to assist in leading the pack-horses, cooking, &c., and set forth on the 7th of July. % . i.: ' 'm 1 m ' i' [' ^ ' ■' 1: 1 |i !| I' I'AWNEE CHIEFS. 259 /es alone unication very bad }h. This ut having anctioned ;he garri- ck-horses, July. CHAPTER XIV. Pawnee Chiefs with whom I started. — Leave Fort Leavenworth. — RolHng Prairie. — Halting-place. — Loss of Horses. — Flock of Perroquets. — Our stray Horses. — Indian Appetite. — Acci- dents by the Way. — Overtake the Pawnee Deputation. — Esculent Roots. — Deer-stalking in the Prairie. — A Misfortune. — Cross the Great Nimahaw River. — Party in Search of Elk. — ReJ.iin the Camp. — Tired Horse. — False Alarm of Chill and Fever. — The Kanzas River. — My Dog killed and eaten. — Fatiguing Travelling. — Friendly Reception. — Effect of Whis- ky on the Indians. — Indian Village. — Occupations of the Men, Women, and Children. — The old Chief. — Buffalo Meat. —Order of March. — Pawnee Summer Lodge. — Medicine.— First Night in the Pawnee Lodge. — Dogs. The names of the four principal Pawnee chiefs with whom I started were (nearly) as follows : — Sa-ni-ts^-rish, or " wicked-chief," grand Pawnees ; Le-pre-colo-'hoo-la-charo, or " mouth-chief," Tapage Pawnees ; Pa^-taMa^-cha'ro*, or " man-chief," grand Pawnees ; Too-la-la-cha-shu, or *' the man who runs," grand Pawnees. Having left Fort Leavenworth with the Pawnees about eleven o'clock, we travelled, rather to the north of west, twenty-five miles, through a beautiful rolling * The son of the Maha, or Pawnee Loup chief, was also with the deputation. S 2 II I P&WH» ,1' . 'l^i. 1 ' i: 'ii' f f Hi I 260 IIALTING-PLACF.. prairie, interspersed with trees, which were so regu- larly and carefully grouped as to remind me of Wind- sor and other noble English parks ; but these had the additional advantage of forming part of a woodland scene boundless in extent, and for the first ten miles the picturesque and broken heights which confine the Missouri increased the beauty of the prospect. The grass, which was extremely rich and luxuriant, was sprinkled with gay flowers, which were mostly un- known to me, although I had seen some as tenants of a British hothouse, as several varieties of the ** cactus," and others, whose names, vulgar or scientific, I am unable to record. We camped, with our good-humoured savages, at sunset, on the banks of a creek,* thinly clothed with brushwood, where the mosquittoes wore not much more numerous than the flies in a sugar cup- board. Having released our horses and mules from their saddles and packages, we proceeded to cook our supper, consisting of tea, fried hs»m, and sea- biscuit. The night was extremely foggy and cold ; and, on rising at daybreak, we made the agreeable discovery that four of our animals, including a mule, had broken away from their respective fastenings, and were nowhere to be found. I despatched the younger of our attendants and an Indian in pursuit ; meanwhile the savages pro- ceeded on their journey, leaving us in total igno- * A small river or stream is invariably so denominated in this part of the world. FLOCK OK I'EllROQUETS. 2()1 SO regu- ofWind- B had the ^roodland ten miles mfine the ect. The iant, was lostly un- ,s tenants es of the /ulgar or avages, at y clothed were not lugar cup- lules from d to cook and sea- and cold ; agreeable ng a mule, fastenings, idants and ,vages pro- total igno- linated in this m ranee of the ** locale " of our quadruped deserters. It was a dull and weary day, and gave ample scope for an attack of the blue devils. In seasons like these, when the solitude and monotony of the prai- rie is not relieved by the excitement of travelling or the chase, the ghosts of remembered social enjoy- ments are apt to intrude on the wanderer's waking dreams ! Could some of those with whom he has shared them, and who are still within their sphere, only imagine how often they are called up by fancy or memory to cheer the hours of absence, I cannot but think it would augment their happiness. By the enchantment thus lent by distance, the ordi- nary and daily occurrences of social intercourse (so apt to be ungratefully passed over) are seen in their fairest colours, and a walk, a ride, a word, a smile, recalled to mind, become food for delightful, though somewhat melancholy, rumination. I rambled about the woods near our halting-place, with my fowling-piece in my hand and Peevish by my side, but found nothing feathered upon which to exercise my skill except a small flock of green Per- roquets. (I believe, the species called Psittacus rufirostris.) I killed half a dozen, and we cooked them for supper ; they were fat, and by no means unpalatable. I retained some of the more gay and brilliant feathers as presents for the Indians. On the following day, our lad returned with the Indian and two of the stray horses, leaving us minus the largest mule and a very pretty little mare. II IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ■ 50 ■^™ IIHI^S i;£ 12.0 .. .,. Ilia 1.8 1.25 1.4 III 1.6 «4 6" ► m v] ^/ f> > % 'w '/ Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREr WEBSTER, N.Y. 14980 (716) 873-4903 o m I'll I I i' 11 I 1 l! ii 262 INDIAN APPETITE. which last I had destined to the honour of bearing me to charge the buffalo. We called a council, to decide whether we should return to the fort, recover the remaining estrays, and seek some other oppor- tunity ; or place our packages on the two remain- ing animals, and proceed at all risks. The spirit of adventure prevailed, and we determined to follow the Pawnees immediately. It should be added, more I fear to the praise of the horses' endurance than of our humanity, that the two recovered fugi- tives, one of which was my favourite riding-mare, had gone the whole way back to the fort, and thence been again ridden hard to our camping- place, making in all seventy-five miles, without rest or food, except what they could pick up by the way. This was not a good "preliminary" for a long journey of a thousand miles more or less. I had been lucky enough to kill a fawn, (the only deer seen since we left the fort,) which furnished lis a good supper, and no more ; for never did I see anything equal to the appetite of our Indian. Ribs, head, shoulders, &c. disappeared one after the other. He quietly ate everything placed before or near him, without the slightest symptom of diminished power; and I was not then aware of the incredible capa- city of Indians, or of their notion that it is impolite to decline proffered food under any circumstances whatsoever. We rode on, under a hot sun, but with a fine breeze, through a country rather less rich in timber ACCIDENTS. 263 and foliage^ and camped at night, having made ahout thirty-four miles: course, W.N.W. Not being yet accustomed to pass the night under the free star.lit vault, I did not sleep much ; but it did not matter, as my young German companion slept enough for both. The 9th of July was a continued chapter of acci- dents, commencing with a somerset performed by my little mule, that was carrying about 250lbs. with which he attempted to scramble up a slippery bank, at the bottom of which was a pond, about four feet deep. Like the immortalised cat, he *' tum- bled headlong in," his whole load falling on him, and would probably have been drowned or smo- thered, had not one of the men jumped in, and cut all the cords and thongs that bound him. For a few minutes, our provisions, consisting of sugar, flour,* and biscuit, as well as our presents for the Indians, such as powder, vermilion, tobacco, &c. remained under water, very much to our consterna- tion and annoyance ; nor do I think the strongest advocate for cleanliness and cold water that ever drew breath, could have viewed that immersion with satisfaction. The invulnerable mule was unhurt, and repacked. A few miles further, he thought fit * Before quitting the fort, I had added to our stock of pro- visions a small bag of flour carefully sewn up in repeated folds of skin and wax-cloth ; it was prepared by an experienced hun- ter, so as to be proof against wet and all other damage. I never told what it contained, being determined to keep it as a reserve, in case of extreme necessity. r Ji i' it 14* I :; I I : Si it Hi t'lf 1 (. 264 ACCIDENTS. to amuse us with feats of activity and sleight of foot, galloped off the path, and did not cease kicking and plunging till he had deposited every article of his pack on the prairie, and had totally freed himself from his harness, or, in the convenient language of patriots, the " trammels of office." This, though laughable enough, was scarcely pleasant, as we were in a hurry. It was impossible, however, to be angry with the little wretch, who had not the least vice in him, but grazed quietly near his late rejected load, and suffered its scattered parts to be replaced without any signs of alarm or discontent. We thus lost a great deal of time, especially as our attendants were extremely slow and awkward in packing; and I know not whether the French interpreter muttered more curses upon the activity of the mule or the tardiness of his drivers. The anger of Fate was not yet appeased ; and, after another ten miles, the poor little mule was again laid low in a miry creek, where he rolled and strug- gled so furiously for many minutes that I felt sure he must be seriously strained and injured. The pack was again cut off, the mule extricated and re- loaded, and no further accident occurred, except that another horse ran away with our keg of brandy, which fell off, and was dragged, at a gallop, for half a mile, over the " rolling prairie," and a consider- able quantity escaped. In spite of these delays, I don't think we travelled less than fifty miles, having been in motion from six a.m. till half-past nine^ p.m. OVERTAKE THE PAWNEES. 265 lit of foot, iking and cle of his id himself nguage of is, though it, as we iwever, to d not the r his late larts to be scontent. pecially as i awkward he French le activity ers. The and, after was again and strug- I felt sure red. The ;ed and re- ed, except of brandy, op, for half consider- delays, I les, having t nine, p.m. This was a disagreeable evening : it had rained most of the day ; ourselves, clothes, &c. were tole- rably soaked ; we could not pitch our tent ; and with some difficulty got up a fire, threw some tea into a pot of boiling water, and mixing it with our wet biscuit, found it delicious. It rained all night, and all the following morning ; however, we suc- ceeded about mid-day in overtaking our Pawnees ; the old chief, Sd-ni-tsa-rish, embraced me tenderly, and seemed much grieved at our having lost two horses. We then opened our bales, to ascertain the amount of damage done by mulish freaks and wet. We found most of our biscuit reduced to bad pap ; many of our beads blackened with wet powder ; and part of the vermilion bestowing its rosy favours among its neighbours, with an indis- criminate generosity which was by no means ad- mired. Our knives were rusted, and the whole package in poor plight. However, our powder and flour were unhurt, and that was a subject of much satisfaction. The Indians assisted us most good-naturedly in spreading and drying all our "goods;" and I do not believe we lost the smallest article, although hundreds of them were standing around. We made a great feast with our wet biscuit and a pot of coffee, and gave as much as was in our power among the Indians, who had little or no food, except such roots as they could pick up. Of these, the principal was an esculent root, something be- A I V 2G6 ESCULENT ROOTS. i'^l i tween a potato and a radish, most greedily sought hy the Indians when going to the Buffalo coun- try : they are then often reduced to a state ap- proaching to starvation ; and I have seen these roots dug out two, three, and even four miles from the regular trail. I ate them, and they appear some- what nutritious and not unpalatable, but under any other circumstances would be thought taste- less and difficult of digestion. They are eaten raw, and I have never seen any attempt to cook them among the Pawnees; but they are said to be to- lerably wholesome, as well as palatable, when boil- ed or roasted. The Canadian French call them Pomme blaiiche; their Pawnee name I forget, but in the Ojibbeway dialect they are called MetuS'kO' she-min, or grass-berries ; and their botanical ap- pellation is, I believe, Psoralea esculenta. Some of the Missouri tribes call them Nu-ga-rL No game had been seen or killed, and every hour's experience tended to convince me of the exaggerated statements with which many Western travellers have misled the civilised world in regard to the game on these prairies. I had been now five days travelling thrcugh them ; and with the exception of a few grouse and the fawn I shot, had not seen anything eatable, either bird or quadruped. 12th July. — The weather continued rainy, and the Indians went Jbut a few miles ; the country be- came less rich in wood and in vegetation of every v DEER-STALKING. 267 kind, the only timber that we found being along the creek courses ; and the prairie was no longer enlivened by the flowers to which the eye had become accustomed. I went out with a hunter in search of deer : we saw one doe (elk) about half a mile distant, and I allowed my red friend to take the lead in endeavouring to get a shot, in which office he appeared to me very much in- ferior to our highland deer-stalkers in taking ad- vantage of wind and position of ground, although he would have proved far superior to them in following a foot-track. The doe got sight of us, and made off. We ran her about two miles, with- out success, and gave up the pursuit. I found it no joke running with an Indian up and down hill in grass three feet high, now and then mingled with tangled brushwood and shrubs. His wind seemed almost as inexhaustible as his appetite, and running quite as easy to him as sitting. I kept up, how- ever, without giving him to understand that I was annoyed by the heat, and cooled myself now and then by wading and dabbling in the creek. After a walk of fifteen or sixteen miles, during which we saw no more deer, we returned to the camp. The following morning was beautiful, but was ushered in by a misfortune, which would be lightly thought of by those, and those only — " Who live at home at ease, And little apt to think upon The woes of the prairies ;" ; H- 268 CROSS THE NIMAHAW. the handle of my fryingpan was broken off by an Indian, to whom I had lent it, and our bread, parched beans, &c. must thenceforward be pro- cured at the risk of burnt fingers. I could not evince any anger ; for all the savages were most obliging, brought us wood and water, helped to pack our luggage, and during the heat of our mid- day halt, made a sort of branch-arbour to protect us from the sun.* In the evening, we pursued our route, and cross- ed the Great Nimahaw River, which was not too deep to ford, although it immersed part of the little mule's pack. However, w^e had a solid and ample supper ; as a party of hunters, who had been all day employed in the chase, had brought in two or three elk. The meat was good, but not so high flavoured as ordinary venison. The following day (the 14th) was intensely hot^ and the journey dreary and wearisome. Our eyes were not gladdened by the sight of any edible ani- mal ; the only visible creatures being larks, black- birds,-)" and now then a hawk or buzzard. After * I afterwards found that all these obliging acts of kindness were performed with expectation of proportionate reward ; the Pawnee French interpreter confessing that the Indians did nothing " sans dessein." This latter word was used by him, and I have heard it used by other uninstructed Canadian French, to signify almost every category in the moral or phy- sical world : it often signified " malice," " design," " reward," " good sense," " money," &c. t These prairie blackbirds are the tamest of the bird crea- SEARCH FOR ELK. 269 dinner, at one o'clock, I started off with a party of hunters in search of elk ; the sun was burning hot, and my Indian companions walked very fast on level ground and up the hills, while in every descent they indulged themselves with a run or long trot. The grass was up to our middle — I was clothed, and they were naked — and I had to carry my solid double-barrelled rifle, weighing at least twice as much as their light fowling-pieces.* It may easily be imagined that this amusement (with the thermometer probably about 120° in the sun) was rather warm : we went at least ten miles before we found the nearest timber, which was on the banks of the Blue River ; here we saw an elk tion that I have seen in any country, exceeding in familiar im- pudence the licensed intruder on the breakfast-table of the Eng- lish country-clergyman in winter, namely, the robin redbreast. They repeatedly perched upon the back of the buffalo, and of our horses, saddled or unsaddled. I have, more than once, seen them venture upon the shoulder of a man ; and the young Indian boys practise their early archery by shooting them at the distance of two or three yards. * Since their last treaty with the United States, the Paw- nees receive annually a certain number of guns, as part of the payment for the land ceded by them on the Kanzas river. These guns are light pieces manufactured at Birmingham, and cost about five or six dollars each. Some are tolerably good ; but the Pawnees having but lately become acquainted with the use of fire-arms, soon destroy them, by examining, firing off powder, overloading, and other follies. Some they gamble away ; and all that they do not either lose or spoil, they ex- change with the Haitans and other predatory tribes in the West and South for horses ; so that when the pay-day returns, very few efficient guns are to be found in the Pawnee village. m M 111 :1 ". 270 REJOIN THE CAMP. grazing, about half a mile off. I must not forget to make honourable mention of myself, as having been the first to discover and point him out to the Indians ; and again I had to remark their want of skill in hunting. We had crept to within three hundred yards of his feeding-place, when a clumsy fellow showed his head over a neighbour- ing hillock, and our intended victim made off, and was no more seen. We then moved along the northern bank of the river for many miles, but saw no more game ; at length we were obliged to cross. The water was breast high, but not very rapid. I thought that, being once wet, I might as well make the most of the opportunity ; so I deposited my gun and ammunition in safety, and remained splashing and swimming about for a quarter of an hour, to the surprise and amusement of the Indians. After a fruitless walk of twenty miles or more, we rejoined the camp. The 15th was again a very hot day; the soil became more barren as we advanced, and the grass much shorter. The country resembled very much some of the downs in the southern part of Eng- land. We travelled between twenty-five and thirty miles without finding water; and, owing to the extreme heat and our forced marches, one of my horses " stopped short," or " gave out," which latter is the current word in the West. The good-natured old chief (SH-ni-tsSr-rish) himself remained behind, and with difficulty led on the wearied animal, and V*! A CHILL. 271 thereby did not reach our night-cnmp till an hour after we had finished our supper : this toilsome and harassing task he undertook unasked^ and, at the time, unknown to me. In what civilised country would the courtesy and kindness of hospitality be carried to a higher extent ? I was obliged to sell my jaded steed for the loan of a horse to carry his pack, till we should reach the great body of Pawnees, where I was as- sured I should find no difficulty in obtaining a horse, or such other assistance as I might require. Another day passed without any remarkable oc- currence, when the weather changed, and we were favoured with a cold stormy rain, which lasted all night, and wetted us to our hearts' content. The following day was again intensely hot, in spite of which I felt a continual chill, which no exercise or perspiration could remove for twenty-four hours. I began to think that I was to pay the penalty of my long ramble in the sun, followed by splashing in the Blue River, and then sleeping in the same clothes, by a regular attack of the "chills and fever," alas ! so well known in the West. I had no medical advice ; but a day's patience, some hot tea, and a good constitution, brought me through, and I had no return of the attack. We continued our course, which was now west- south-west, till we struck a branch of the Kanzas River ; namely, its northern or, commonly called. Republican Fork. This is one of the principal western tributaries of the Missouri ; its course is .,ii^-' I' r *' I'' \ 1 1 ; i ]>• ''i] |j«' I* 1 ' m.i •s . "(I 272 WEARY JOURNEY. generally east-south-east, and its mouth is seven or eight miles above Independence, and twenty-five below Fort Leavenworth. As the moving Pawnee " village " was obliged also to cross this river, our party followed its banks, west-north-west, in order to find the trail, with the object of overtaking them as soon as possible ; this was the more desir- able, as they had maize with them, and we had nothing but what we could kill by the way. Our journey was monotonous ; the country dreary and barren, both of animol and vegetable life ; our horses crawled wearily along, and we looked in vain for any fresh signs of late travel or encampment. For two or three days we continued this toilsome march ; almost all the horses' backs were sore, the weather oppressively hot, and provisions very scarce. During this scarcity of provisions, it was not to be expected that my red friends should be very scrupulous as to the nature of their food, nor as to the means employed in procuring it ; ac- cordingly they contrived to entice my poor dog Peevish from my feet while I was asleep, and I am convinced, although I could obtain no proof of the fact, that they killed and ate her. When I awoke and missed her, I was sure that she had been dis- posed of in this manner, and was exceedingly vexed and angry ; but I was obliged to dissemble, and to pretend a belief that she had strayed : any demon- stration of vexation would have lowered me in the estimation of the Indians ; and anger, unsupported ■if. ** ':!' FATIGUING TllAVFILINO. 27ii iven or ity-five ^awnec er, our 1 order rtaking e desir- we had r. Our ary and r horses /ain for t. toilsome re sore, )ns very I, it was lould be >ir food, 5 it ; ac- oor dog ind I am lof of the I awoke been dis- ;ly vexed e, and to y demon- ne in the upported by punishment (which was in this case impossible) would have made me " ridiculous." My two attendants wished most heartily to return to the fort, but I determined to "go a-head ;" and, moreover, to keep the bag of flour for subsequent emergencies. We saw no game whatever, every ani- mal having been killed or driven off by the Pawnees, Kickapoos, and other nations, who had preceded us. We found the Indian regulations for travel- ling very fatiguing ; namely, starting at four a.m., with nothing to eat, and travelling till one, when we halted for breakfast and dinner at one time. Mcst of us were obliged to walk nearly all day owing to the state of the horses* backs ; and on the 20th we travelled from half-past three in the morning till half-past eight in the evening. I heard sundry complaints and wishes for return on the part of our attendants, but was conveniently deaf and obstinate. In truth, our situation was not very pleasant ; my provisions were not more than sufficient for one meal for the whole party, and there was nothing eatable to be found except the miserable roots before-mentioned. However, from the recent marks which we found in the several en- campments, we knew that the Pawnee nation could not be very far a-head, and the hope of soon over- taking them gave a zest to our exertions, which made us press the horses almost beyond the limits of humanity. A runner had been sent forward to request the VOL. I. T l^} 274 JOIN THE REAR-GUARD. chiefs to make a short halt in order to give our party time to come up. This Indian had walked at the head of the party as guide during the whole day's journey, which occupied (as above-mentioned) nearly twenty hours; when we halted, SA,-ni-ts^- rish went up to him and spoke a few words, upon which, without rest or food, he tightened the belt round his middle and set off at a run, which he must have maintained for upwards of twenty miles ; he had to traverse the same ground in coming back, and thus (reckoning our progress on a forced march at only three miles an hour) he must have gone over one hundred miles of ground without food or rest in twenty-four hours. At length he returned, bringing with him the welcome intelli- gence that we were not more than twenty miles be- hind, and the no less welcome accompaniment of a bag of maize, made into a kind of cold porridge : this was, indeed, a treat, and appeared to me as excellent a dish as ever I tasted ; under ordinary circumstances, it would not have been thought very tempting. Again we pushed forward, and in about six hours came up with the rear-guard, among whom were the great chief of the Grand Pawnees, the great chief of the Tapages Pawnees, and the great chief of the Republicans, called by the French Capot-bku.* m: \ i 1 ^JHil 1 H Hi t * In a camp-march, the principal chief generally remains on the encampment till all the rest have moved off; partly to see that nothing is left or lost, partly to take care that none of his A FRIENDLY RECEPTION. 275 A circle was made, consisting of all the chiefs, when we were formally introduced by the interpre- ter, shook hands* with them all, and were presented with the pipe of hospitality. I remarked the won- derful self-possession of these men, who are in fact the most curious and inquisitive in the world ; and yet, on the return of their party from the settle- ments, laden with all the articles which they prize most highly, not the slightest expression of surprise, pleasure, or interest was apparent ; brother met bro- ther, and father met son, with the well known short and simple universal Indian greeting, which no lan- guage can give in writing,f and no observer could have known that their absence had been of two days' duration. In return for their friendly reception, and in con- summation of the alliance, I gave them a weak glass of brandy and water all round ; they seemed quite pleased, though I could not help thinking what a wry face Jack, on board H. M. S. , would have made, if the said ten-water grog had been served out to him in a cup holding less than a party stay or loiter, and chiefly to see that the rear-guard do their duty, as it is from that quarter that their enemies gene- rally attack them. At this time the Pawnees were upon hostile terms with the Shiennes and Ricaras, and bands of both these tribes were hunting at no great distance* * It is needless to mention that they learn this from whites, and practise it only towards whites. t The nearest legible approach to this exclamation is the common English word " How," only uttered with a strong as- pirate, and in a tone resembling as much as possible a grunt. T 2 il h^ I < ,' ill! 276 INDIAN LOVE OF WHISKY. I quarter of a pint. It is so well known, that as soon as any Indian tribe becomes accustomed to whisky, their speedy and total degradation in every physical and moral quality is a sure consequence, that the United States have very properly forbidden all their troops and traders to sell them spirituous liquors under a heavy penalty ; in spite of this law, how- ever, a great quantity of whisky finds its way to those Indians who have much commerce with the whites ; the temptation is too strong for the traders, many of whom are Canadian French, and men with- out either principle or education ; they frequehtly get opportunities of selling a pint of spirits for fifty or a hundred times its value in beaver and other skins ; the craving of the savages increases in pro- portion to their acquaintance with this fatal liquor, and they will part with anything they have for a dram. I found that very few of the Pawnees had ever tasted whisky, and still fewer expressed any strong desire or liking for it ; I, therefore, felt it my duty, both towards myself and the authorities of the United States, under whose protection I was making my tour, not to be in the smallest degree instrumental in giving the Pawnees a relish for a liquor which becomes in their hands nothing less than a poison. Accordingly, whenever I gave a brandy and water draught to any of the chiefs, which I did very rarely, I took care to make it so extremely weak that the spirit could scarcely be tasted, and they ill INDIAN VILLAGE. 277 were sufficiently pleased with the honour of drink- ing the white man's liquor. It was not a little amusing to see how readily the Pawnee-French interpreter entered into my views on this subject. I once or twice lent him my small pocket flask, and allowed him to serve out the weak toddy to the chiefs ; he talked most gravely of the pernicious effects of spirits among " les sauvages" carefully mixed for them at least nine proportions of water for one of brandy, and then, with equal gravity, helped himself to a dram, in which he exactly reversed the aforesaid propor- tions. As soon as this introductory feast was concluded, we accompanied the chiefs to the village, which was about twelve miles a-head of us ; at length we came in sight of it, and a more interesting or picturesque scene I never beheld. Upon an extensive prairie gently sloping down to a creek, the winding course of which was marked by a broken line of wood here and there interspersed with a fine clump of trees, were about five thousand savages, inclusive of women and children ; some were sitting under their buffalo-skin lodges lazily smoking their pipes ; while the women were stooping over their fires busily em- ployed in preparing meat and maize for these indo- lent lords of the creation. Far as the eye could reach, were scattered herds of horses, watched (or as we should say in Scotland, " tented") by urchins, whose whole dress and equipment was the slight 'i I 278 INDIAN VILLAGE. ;• . I' ! n 4 bow and arrow, with which they exercised their in- fant archery upon the heads of the taller flowers, or upon any luckless blackbird perched near them. Here and there might be seen some gay young war- rior ambling along the heights, his painted form par- tially exposed to view as his bright scarlet blanket waved in the breeze ; while his small fretful horse was scarcely to be recognized under the variety of trappings with which the vanity of his rider had tricked him out ;— near him might be seen another naked savage, without a saddle, and his only bridle a thong round the horse's head, galloping at full speed, and waving in his extended right hand a " laryette," with which he was chasing some refrac- tory mule or runaway steed, who had escaped from his gang : while the banks of the stream were alive with the garrulous voices of women, some washing themselves, their clothes, or their infants, others car- rying water to the camp, and others bearing on their backs a load of wood, the portage of which no London coalheaver would have envied them. Our approach excited some curiosity and in- terest. The families of those who had been to the fort placed themselves in or near our path ; and as the husband, father, or brother, came near, the little kindred group would withdraw to a retired spot and indulge those feelings of curiosity an 1 affection, which nature has implanted as strongly in the bosom of the savage as of the civilized man. yi THE CHIEF AND HIS FAMILY. 279 I witnessed with much pleasure the meeting of my old chief,* S^-ni-tsS-rish, with his wives and chil- dren, which took place under a knot of fine trees, a little to the right of our path. I could read in the glistening eyes of the women, and in the glad faces of the children, that the old man was a kind hushand and father ; and, if the features of the parties had not been so totally devoid of anything like beauty, the family-picture would have been as picturesque as it was interesting. The old chief himself is one of the finest-looking men of his tribe, but his wives were extremely plain, and very slo- venly and dirty in their appearance ; while the poor little children, besides their equally distant claims to cleanliness, were su£Pering under the small- pox and hooping-cough ; nevertheless, as he stood among them, and gave to one a few beads, to another a ribbon, and exhibited to them various trifles brought from the white man's dwelling, I would not envy the heart of any man who could have looked upon the little group with any other feelings than those of pleasure and interest. I soon began to play with the children, and, though my first advances were received with the utmost * As the lodge, or tent, of the chiefs was not large enough to admit us all into one, it was agreed on the road that, during our stay at the village, I and my servant should remain with Sa-ni-tsa-rish ; while V and the other attendant should be the guests of Pe-te-re-shd, one of the chiefs of the Grand Pawnees, and the eldest son of the great chief. 280 BUFFALO MEAT. & [ i' ft 1 shyness and alarm,* they summoned courage at length to examine my buttons, my pistols, and other articles new to them, and ere long our ac- quaintance was established upon a footing ap- proaching to confidence. As soon as our arrival was known in the village we were invited to six or seven feasts in succession ; and here we tasted buffalo meat for the first time. No cows had yet been seen, and the bull-beef was as hard, tough, and stringy (besides being only quarter dressed) as ever it fell to the lot of human jaw to masticate. In vain might a set of the finest civilized teeth that were ever fostered by the care * Nature appears to have divided the white from the red man by a species of antipathy scarcely reconcilable with the benignity and sympathies which are usually found in her pro- visions. An Indian infant cannot endure the approach or sight of a white man, neither can the infant of a white look without terror upon an Indian. In walking quietly through the Pawnee camp, I have often found myself the innocent cause of the cries and screams of at least twenty of these little alarmists, though I may not have passed nearer than thirty yards from some of them. Nor is this most strongly-marked aversion confined to the human race : Indian horses cannot bear the smell of a white man. I have repeatedly seen them, when standing quietly by their owner, prick up their ears and snort at my approach, and no coaxing would induce them to let me come near or touch their bridle. Nor was I more approved of by the dogs, for whenever I or my companion walked about the village, we had a retinue of these curs bark- ing and snarling at our heels ; and if they had not fortunately been as cowardly as they were noisy, we might have experi- enced serious inconvenience from their persecution. H BUFFALO MEAT. 281 of Messrs. Dumergue and Cartwright, endeavour to separate the indissoluble fibres ; the vain attempt is soon given up in despair, and the unbroken mass is submitted to the gastric juice, which fortunately asserts and proves the inexhaustible resources of nature, by disposing, without inconvenience, of that which proved too strong an opponent for ivory ! Of course this must not be taken as a fair representation of buffalo meat in general ; because the ribs, and the back, especially the hump, are, if properly dress- ed, as sweet, tender, and delicious beef as the most delicate epicure could desire ; and both the fat and marrow are certainly finer than those of any domes- tic cattle ; but that it is a fair and unexaggerated picture of buffalo bull meat, as dressed (or rather undressed) by the Pawnees, I do most positively as- sert.* On arriving before S^-ni-tsa-rish's lodge, which was destined to be my abode for many weeks, I naturally cast my eyes around to observe its con- struction and arrangements. The result may be given in a few words, but the description will be 1 I * I beg here to remind the reader once for all, that the ani- mal called throughout this expedition the Buffalo is, properly speaking, the Bison (Bos Taurus); but I retain the incorrect appellative, because it is generally and familiarly so employed in North America. In strict language, the Buffalo is the Bos Babylus, the horns of which animal are turned backward behind its head : it is too well known in Italy and other countries to require further description. \i •■i i* If' U If Vf 282 ORDER OF MARCH. more satisfactory and more easily comprehended if it embraces the pitching of the Pawnee tent, or " lodge," as it is usually termed in the West. On reaching the camping-place, which is selected by the grand chief (or, in his absence, by the next in rank), the senior squaw chooses the spot most agreeable to her fancy, and orders the younger women and children, who lead the pack-horses and mules (generally from five to ten in number, accord- ing to the size or wealth of the family), to halt ; but in making this choice of ground, she is restricted within certain limits, and those of no great extent, as the Pawnees observe great regularity both in their line of march and encampment. I could not ascertain whether these regulations were invariable, or made at the pleasure of the chief; but I believe the latter ; and that on leaving their winter, or sta- tionary, villages, he issues the general orders on this subject, which are observed during the season or the expedition ; at any rate, they never varied during my stay among them. They move in three parallel bodies; the left wing consisting of part of the Grand Pawnees and the Tapages ; the centre of the remaining Grand Pawnees ; and the right of the Republicans. It is needless to say that these names of the different Pawnee tribes are given by the French traders ac- cording to their absurd fancies ; but the Indian ap- pellations by which the Tapages (Republiques), &c. are known, could convey no idea of distinction, and m ORDER OF MARCH. 28S *j consequently I shall adhere to those by which they are known through the Missouri country. For the information of curious philologists I will, however, add, that in the Pawnee language, the Grand Paw- nees are called TsA-we ; the Republican band, Tskit-ka-kish ; the Tapage band, Pe-towd-r^ ; and the Loups, or Pawnee-Mahas (who parted from us when we crossed the Republican Fork), are called Sk6-r6.* All these bodies move in " Indian file," though of course in the mingled mass of men, women, chil- dren, and pack-horses, it was not very regularly ob- served ; nevertheless, on arriving at the halting- place, the party to which I belonged invariably camped at the eastern extremity of the village, the great chief in the centre, and the R^publiques on the western side ; and this arrangement was kept so well, that, after I had been a few days with them, I could generally find our lodge in a new encamp- ment with very little trouble, although the village consisted of about six hundred of them, all nearly similar in appearance. Now, to return to our squaws, whom we left in the act of preparing to pitch the tent. They first unpack and unsaddle the horses, which are given to a boy to drive off to their grass and water : they * Once for all I beg the reader to remember that, in endea- vouring to convey Indian words in writing, the vowels, accents, &c. which I employ are those of the French language, as they can be made more nearly to resemble the Indian pronunciation than the English. i 1 I li i i m t i ,)-^ •iff 284 PAWNEE SUMMER LODGE. then arrange all their bales, saddles, &c. in a semi- circular form, and pile them from two to three feet high. Around the exterior of these they drive into the ground eight or ten curved willow rods, from two to three feet distant from each other, but all firmly bound by leather thongs to four large up- right poles, that form the front of the lodge, and along which run transverse willow rods, to which the extremities of the curved ones are fastened. When the frame, or skeleton, is thus finished, they stretch the cover (made of buffalo hides, sewed to- gether) tight over the whole, leaving an aperture for entrance and egress in the centre of the front ; and in fine weather, the whole front open. This is an accurate description of a Pawnee sum- mer-lodge ; but, of course, the dimensions vary ac- cording to the number and wealth of the families residing therein : in some tents I have observed the front consisting of six or eight upright poles, to which were fixed more skins, for additional shelter or shade. On the grass, in the interior, are spread mats, made by the squaws from reeds, and skins of buffalo or bear. From the foregoing it will be easily understood that the bales of cloth, maize, skins, and whatever other property they possess, form the back of the tent. Each occupant, from the chief to the lowest in rank, has his assigned place ; sleeps upon his own blanket, or buffalo robe ; has his bow and quiver suspended over his head; his saddle, bridle, and AllMOR[AL BEARINGS. '285 laryettes, &c. behind his back : and thus little con- fusion prevails, although each individual has only just room to sit or lie at full length. Before the tent a kind of shield is raised, upon three poles pyramidically placed, on which is the device of the chief, by which his tent is to be recog- nised. Let not the Heralds' College imagine that the use of "armorial bearings" is confined to the descendants of Norman barons, or of European or Moorish chivalry ! The Gael of the highlands of Scotland is as proud of his clan-sprig of heather, holly, or, juniper ; and the Pawnee of his beaver- skin, bunch of feathers, or quiver, shield-device, as the Douglas of his bleeding heart, or the Percy and Talbot of their threatening monarch of the woods. How often are we brought thus to bow before the throne of Nature! and the proudest and most polished of her children are made to ac- knowledge and feel their affinity to the most savage and unenlightened, by the wants, the desires, the failings, and vanities, which are common to them all. In the interior of the tent, and generally about the centre of its concave, is suspended the *' medi- cine," which is most carefully and religiously pre- served. If this word " medicine" (as it is used by the French and Indian traders, with all the western and southern Indians,) is only half as vague, un- satisfactory, and mysterious to any luckless wight, whose evil genius has imposed upon him the task of I : I VOL. I. T 7 Mi 1 1 t ',4 \ 1 * Jl i , • ■ i [ I 286 WEUICINK. reading these pages, as it is to me, (and I might add, to the Indians themselves,) lot him not hope to find any further elucidation of the riddle, nor at- tempt to fathom this verbal and idrnl chaos. Under the head of " medicine," the Indians comprise not only its own healing department, but everything connected with religion or superstition ; all omens, all relics, and everything extraordinary or super- natural. Thus, in one Indian language, the Deity is called the " Big-Medicine-Man; the horse (which animal was once an object of their terror and astonishment, vide " Conquest of Florida," &c.), the " medicine-quadruped ;" and in another, a gun is called a ** medicine-weapon." Among the Pawnees, the priests, and doctors, and all the medicine department, have their respective offices and tents. Part of the buffalo meat is always set apart for the medicine (theoretically, to be consecrated to the Great Spirit ; practically, to be eaten up by these charlatans, like Baal's priests of old). Then there are medicine-flags, medicine- pipes, medicine-robes, medicine-ceremonies ; and, lastly, the medicine-bag, wherein are contained arrow-heads, with which their fathers have killed a foe, scalps, and any other similarly precious an- cestral relics. In this tent I now established myself, spread my bear-skin, hung up my rifle ; and, with my saddle- bags for a pillow, prepared for the "coming on of grateful evening mild." It is not easy, in a situa- NIGHT IN A I'AWNEK LODGE. S87 tion so curious and strange, tf> court " tired na- ture's sweet restorer." Moreover, I found that among the Pawnees, Silence wns not flwo-ig the Goddesses of the Night, — iipprimis, the two clul- dren in the tent were extremely ill with the hoop- ing-cough ; besides which, they were very ill-tem- pered, and both completely spoiled ; so that some- times they were uttering the groans and cries of real suffering, at others, would scream with the utmost power of their lungs, till their mother rose, and gave them anything they might fancy. In the second place, the loquacity of the ladies knew no bounds ; and they seemed determined to indemnify themselves for the temporary silence which the labours of the day imposed upon them. My ear was just becoming accustomed to these shrill and varied vibrations of the human tongue, and I was just about to fall asleep, when I was aroused by a distant howl, as I thought, of a wolf. It came on nearer and nearer, louder and louder, till at length the wild, tumultuous, and many-mingled cry swell- ed into such a volume of sound as it is impossible to describe; and if I could describe it, I could scarely expect it to obtain credence. But first, let any doubter recall to mind some night when he may have been sleepless and feverish, — perhaps a chained watch-dog began to "bay the moon," and perhaps some canine neighbours caught up and prolonged the strain, — and he may remember the musical ef- fect produced by this serenade ! Now let me inform I f !, 1 * n n ii' i I — — j^ t L. 288 DOGS. him, that in our village there were more than six hundred tents, and that each tent owned, upon an average, seven dogs, so that there were upwards of four thousand dogs in the encampment, all of them mongrels and curs, very slightly differing from the wolf in appearance, and scarcely at all in voice. In this nightly howl they all join (at least, of all those round our tent, I could not see one excep- tion) : and, having now faithfully described the cause, it is needless to suggest, even to the most sluggish imagination, the grand effect of a dog- chorus, at midnight, in the Pawnee village ! LAVATORY IN THE PRAIRIE. 289 CHAPTER XV. Lavatory in the Prairie. — Picturesque Scene — A " Brave."— Quarrel with him. — Desolate Prairie. — Prairie Dogs. — Owla and Rattlesnakes. — First View of Buffalo. — Chase of Buffalo. — Indian Butchery. — Horses stolen by the Ricaras. — In- dian Method of Horse-stealing. — Discussion as to the expe- diency of making Reprisals. ■ — Present of a Buffalo Robe. — Indian Character. — A Feast. — Indian Curiosity. Not being yet thoroughly drilled to a prairie life, I had not learned to consider cleanliness as a useless and supererogatory luxury ; and, accord- ingly, after sleeping in my clothes, in the midst of a scene too dirty to depict, where we were as close- ly packed as the horses in a stage-coach stable, I was weak enough to imagine that it was desirable to wash my hands and face, and change my linen. Such notions being quite exploded among expe- rienced travellers, I am almost ashamed to own them ; but candour demands the sacrifice, and I trust my brother prairie-men will remember, that a prejudice once acknowledged, is more than half overcome. Accordingly, I armed myself with a towel, some soap, a tooth-brush, and a clean shirt, and sallied forth in search of the creek, the banks VOL. I. u 290 LAVATORY IN THE PRAIRIE. of which were to be my dressing-room on the occa- sion. I found it to be a muddy streamlet, from four to eight inches deep, having neither brushwood nor timber to mark its course. It was completely alive with animal industry, which seemed all exercised in endeavouring to make it more and more turbid and muddy. Women washing their children and their blankets; boys and girls splashing; dogs swimming, and horses tramping in every direc- tion. As this did not seem a favourable spot for the bath and toilet of one who can boast of having, in his day, made a respectable appearance in Bond Street, I walked above a mile up the little stream, in hopes of finding a place less pre-occupied by my biped and quadruped competitors in ablution. Finding this attempt fruitless, and seeing that the ** ladies " were not at all afraid of me, I determined not to evince less courage ; and putting my watch, my knife, my mauvaise honte, and other trifles in my pocket, I proceeded quietly to undress; and having bathed for a few minutes, proceeded with my toilet. I ought to mention that I eflPected this bath by lying down and rolling where the water was about nine inches deep. I was about half dressed before I experienced any positive interrup- tion, when two or three Indians came up, and began to examine every article of my toilet with the greatest curiosity. They could not make out PICTURESQUE SCENE. 291 [le occa- 1 four to ^ood nor tely alive exercised re turbid dren and ag; dogs ;ry direc- ot for the having, in ;e in Bond tie stream, jcupied by 1 ablution, ig that the determined my watch, jr trifles in dress; and jeeded with ffected this the water about half re interrup- ne up, and toilet with it make out the use of the tooth-brush ; and when I explained to them that it was to " sharpen the teethy* they ex- pressed their wonder by the well-known "Ugh!" They were equally at a loss to make out the use of the soap* and other things, which they took out of my pocket. At length I got so tired of their handling my clothes, that I forbid them to do so any more, and they desisted. On my return to the camp I found all the lodges struck, the horses packed, and everything ready for marching. My worthy host had desired his women to pack the greater part of my baggage ; I had obtained the loan of a horse, and thus I was enabled to give a day's rest to my jaded steeds. I watched this great moving body of savages as they left the rising ground on which we had been camped, and deployed on the plain into the three irregular straggling columns which formed their line of march. The scene was picturesque in the ex- treme, and was every minute diversified by amus- * This word reminds me of a mischievous trick played by our young American lad, who was one day washing with some strong coarse soap, when an Indian came up, complaining of very sore eyes, and asked him if the soap was good for them. He said it was very good, and showed him by signs that he should rub it well in below the lids, which the Indian accord- ingly did ; of course the pain and smarting were extreme, and he jumped about, apparently not at all pleased with the re- medy. However, it made his eyes water very much for ten minutes, and afterwards relieved the inflammation; and he returned to his friends to praise the great skill of the Salicks- ta-ka (white man). U 2 292 A " BRAVE." ing or interesting incidents. In the spaces between the columns rode the chiefs and the younger war- riors, decked out in all their gayest habiliments, with white, blue, or scarlet blankets, and making their fidgety little horses prance and curvet to show the riders' horsemanship. Near them was a dignified-looking " Brave," am- bling slowly along ; his only ornament the much- envied collar made from the claws of the formi- dable grisly bear. Here and there were scattered groups of boys, shooting at birds, or any trifling object within their reach ; and sometimes a refrac- tory mule or untamed colt would gallop out from the line, plunge and kick till he had eased him- self of his burthen, nor return to a sense of his duty till two or three mounted Indians had given him proof with their laryettes, of the superior power and address of man. I had a little quarrel with the " Brave " above- mentioned, which is worth recording, as illus- trative of Indian character. I mentioned, a few pages back, that on the journey I had sold a tired horse for the loati of a fresh one till we reached the Pawnee village. This " Brave" was the man with whom I had made the bargain, and I told the interpreter to make him distinctly under- stand that he was to have my broken-down nag, and might do as he pleased, either in leaving him to rest and recover, or endeavouring to make him travel ; but that I had nothing more to do with ft QUARREL WITH HIM. 293 it than to put a certain portion of my baggage on his fresh horse till we reached the village. This bargain having been made, he chose to force on the tired horse, and a day or two after- wards, the interpreter came and told me that it had stopped altogether, and that the '* Brave" would not let me have his any more, as he wanted it himself. This piece of impudent roguery was too glaring to be allowed, and I determined to resist it, having heard and learned that if Indians perceive any weakness or simplicity in a white man, they will take every opportunity of cheating and insulting him. Accordingly, I told the interpreter that '* he had been himself the medium through which the bargain had been struck, and that if the jaded horse stopped, or even died on the road, I was entitled to, and would keep the fresh one till we reached the village." He reconsulted the " Brave," who was sitting only a few yards ofl^ and returned to tell me that the Indian did not understand the terms of the bargain ; " he wanted the horse, and was determined to have him." This was not a pleasant predicament to be in among these wild fellows ; but I knew they would not dare to kill me openly, under the circumstances of my having been placed under the protection of their chiefs, and I determined accordingly to carry my point. The horse was among the rest, not more than twenty yards from where we sat. I 294> DESOLATE PRAIRIE. U^ iM lit I got up quietly, and said to the interpreter, " You know, and he knows, that he is in the wrong. I shall now go and bridle that horse ; if he chooses to come and try to take him from me, let him do so at his own risk." I accordingly took a lary- ette, put it over the horse's neck, and desired my servant to saddle and pack him ; during which operation I experienced neither hindrance nor in- terruption, and we proceeded peaceably on our journey. The " Brave" never attempted to re- cover his horse ; and, in justice to him, I ought to add, that he never appeared to bear me any grudge on account of this little breeze ; on the contrary, I believe we were afterwards better friends than if I had allowed him to cheat me ; and I am sure I saved myself the trouble of rebutting many simi- lar attempts at imposition. He is considered one of the most distinguished Braves of the nation, having killed two or three men and two grisly bears. I joined the chiefs in the central interval, and amused myself by observing the scene around, and by endeavouring to increase my scanty stock of Pawnee language. The prairie through which we now travelled was barren and desolate; however, we yrere cheered by finding fresh tracks of buffalo, and the ponds or mud-holes in which they had wal- lowed, partly to refresh themselves from the heat, and partly to escape from the vexatious attacks of the gadfly. U PRAIRIE DOGS. 295 In this waste there was not either bird or beast to be seen, except prairie dogs. I do not know how these little animals obtained this absurd ap- pellation, as they do not bear the smallest resem- blance to the canine species, either in formation or habits. In size they vary extremely, but in general they are not larger than a squirrel, and not unlike one in appearance, except that they want his bushy tail ; the head is also somewhat rounder. They burrow under the light soil, and throw it up round the entrance to their dwelling like the English rabbit : on this little mound they generally sit, chirping and chattering to one another, like two neighbour-gossips in a village. Their number is incredible, and their cities (for they deserve no less a name) full of activity and bustle. I do not know what their occupations are ; but I have seen them constantly running from one hole to another, al- though they do not ever pay any distant visits. They seem, on the approach of danger, always to retire to their own homes : but their great delight apparently consists in braving it with the usual in- solence of cowardice, when secure from punish- ment ; for, as you approach, they wag their little tails, elevate their heads, and chatter at you like a monkey, louder and louder the nearer you come ; but no sooner is the hand raised to any missile, whether gun, arrow, stick, or stone, than they pop into the hole with a rapidity only equalled by that sudden disappearance of Punch, with which I have 296 OWLS AND RATTLESNAKES. u i I ' I '.« been, when a child, so much delighted in the streets and squares of London. I attempted to shoot some, having been told that they were good to eat, but could only get two, although I destroyed probably five times that number; for they always contrived to creep or fall into their subterranean fortress, and make it, like true heroes, their grave. The two which I did recover were too small to cook, and I made a resolution never to molest the little v/retches again with my gun. The whole plain was also covered with owls; each hole seemed to be the residence of an owl and a prairie dog ; and this apparently discrepant couple lived togethi ^ united in the bonds (fiot of matrimony) but of friendship. I have been often told that rattlesnakes are also admitted into the same dwelling, but to the truth or untruth of this I cannot speak from personal observation. * On the 22nd my long-cherished curiosity was destined to be gratified ; loud and deafening cries of " Taraha ! taraha ! " (buffalo) ran from one end of the line to the other, and all became bustle and m r^* ;ii . i 4r * The little animal here described is called by Ord and other Western naturalists, the Louisiana Marmot, or Arctorays ; the owl mentioned is the Coquimbo owl, the same as the spe- cies found in South America, with similar habits of burrowing {Strix cunicularia), and feeds upon grasshoppers and insects. The rattlesnake, which is said sometimes to join company with this singular pair, is the Crotalus tergeminus. — See " Long's Expedition," vol. i. p. 499; vol. ii. p. 37. DUFFALO CHASE. 297 confusion. Some young men went in tlieir gayest attire, others vaulted naked on their unsaddled horses ; in all, about a thousand sallied forth in search of the enemy. Many false reports had been spread as to their distance and locality, so that we had to gallop over twelve or fifteen miles of steep and undulating ground before we came up with their rear-guard, consisting of thirty or forty bulls, bounding after their uncouth fashion along the side of a hill. The horses were now put to their speed, and I soon found that the pony which had been lent me, was neither strong nor swift enough to bear me in such a chase ; and having seen a few killed about two hundred yards ahead of me, I gave up the pursuit in despair, and determined to see how they disposed of the slain, as I had no chance of overtaking the living. I jumped off my panting pony, and went to the nearest group, where the ceremony of dissection was about to take place. Two or three Indians were round the fallen monster, whose life was scarcely extinct, whetting their knives on their mocassins ; and just as I arrived, they began to take off the skin. It is needless to detail the succeeding opera- tions at large ; but I am confident that, from the time that the first incision was made till the whole meat was cut up, packed, and strung upon a horse, fifteen minutes had not elapsed ; and, except the head, there was not enough left upon the ground to feed a dog. They were not provided with saw, I' i I ''I 298 KICAIIAS. ik axe, or cleaver, nor with any other weapon but a common pointed dinner-knife, and yet they had car- ried off the brains,* the heart, the marrow, and liver ; the greater portion of the two latter they ate raw upon the spot. I was then surprised and horrified — I soon grew wiser. When the band of hunters came in, at night-fall, it appeared that they had overtaken a large herd, as they brought in about eighty buffalo. The same evening, a runner from the out-picquetsf came round the tents to give the pithy caution, " Men have been seen ;" this is a warning that a fresh trail has been found, or a glimpse caught of some one, who disappeared so quick that they could not determine his tribe. A report had prevailed for one or two days that the Ricaras were in the neigh- bourhood. Accordingly we loaded our guns, tied * In case any knight of the cleaver should doubt my asser- tion, in regard to extracting the brains of a bull without any heavy metal or wooden instrument, I think it right to record how they take them, and why they take them. First, they break and cut oiFthe fore-leg at the knee joints, and using the shank as a handle and the hoof as a hammer, by repeated blows they break through the frontal bone. The purpose of taking the brains is to render the skin soft and pliant, when it is in the course of being prepared as a robe. 1 1 observed that on the march, and during their night-encamp- ment, the Pawnees always had out-posts on every side of the village. Besides this precaution, a great many of the young men lie in their blanke^ts, at a little distance from it, chanting their war and hunting songs ; and they prefer sleeping in that manner to the confinement of their tents. H RICARAS. 299 all the horses, and took the usual precautions. The Ricaras (or, according to the usual French muti- lation of names, the Rees les Ris) are a wild and warlike tribe, famed for their skill in horse-stealing. They roam chiefly between the prairies over which we were travelling, and the Rocky Mountains. They are a branch of the once great Pawnee nation, although now hostile to them ; but their languages are the same ; nor am I aware of any other tribe who speak a similar tongue. However, if they con- templated thieving undiscovered, one great diffi- culty was removed out of their way, namely, si- lence. I never heard such a continued confusion of sounds. The council of Pandaemonium, or the tower of Babel, could scarcely equal it. Women chattering, children crying, men singing, or rather yelling, their war-songs, dogs howling, horses neigh- ing, and asses braying! From these instruments let the imagination compose the orchestra to which I was that night indebted for music. Our crafty neighbours did not neglect the oppor- tunity thus offered. On rising in the morning, we heard that a small Ricara party had carried off twenty-six of our horses during the night, includ- ing two of mine, one of which broke away from them and returned ; but the other, a venerable grey, remained in the hands of the captors. * * Soon afler our departure from the fort, our American lad, who was a merry wag, named the different pack-horses and mules after the public men of the day, according to his opinion of their 1/ r, t i. 300 IIOIISK STEALING. If ' 1 1^ The manner in which they steal horses is as fol- lows : — Two or three men approach the encamp- ment, cautiously, soon after night-fall, and take advantage of any creek, dell, or brushwood, that may serve to conceal them from the observation of the out-picquets ; if they succeed in reaching the extremity of the village undiscovered, they stand up and walk deliberately through it, wrapped in their buffalo robe. Of course they can no longer be distinguished from the Pawnees by the faint light of the half-extinguished fires ; and as they pass the groups of horses collected before their respect- ive owners' lodges, they cut with a sharp knife the laryettes which fasten those that they purpose to carry off. As soon as they have loosened the re- quired number, each man jumps upon one, and they drive off the rest at full speed, shaking their blan- kets, and urging the alarmed animals to their ut- most exertions. Of course they obtain a consider- able start of any pursuit ; and if the night is dark, run but little risk of being overtaken. respective merits and qualities. It was impossible to avoid a smile when I overheard some of his objurgations, as he was dri- ving them up in the rear: — "Come up, General 1" "Wo, ho, Van Buren — your pack is all on one side." " Go it, Henry Clay — old Kentuck for everl" &c. I believe it was "General Jackson " that remained a Ricara prisoner. Ho\^ they ever succeeded in making him move I cannot imagine, as all our in- struments of persuasion, from a spur to a cowhide, could only extract a very small j6g-trot, and that for a short time. Never- theless, he must have been forced off at some speed, as a few Pawnees pursued for many miles, in the morning, without success. UKFillSALS. 301 The nmnncr of securing horses on the prairie against these depredators is two-fold : either to tie them hy a laryette, passed round the neck, to a peg or stake driven firmly into the ground; or to ** hobble" them, whif u is effected by tying the fore legs close together, by leather thongs passed round them, below the knee-joint. This latter is the safer plan, because a thief can sometimes cut the laryette, as he walks, without risk of observation ; but if he stoops down to untie or cut a strong leather thong between the shins of a horse, he not only runs more risk of alarming the animal, but incurs suspicion from any one who may happen to be lying awake in the neighbourhood. In cases where there is a probability of such an attempt, it is better both to tie and hobble them ; a lesson which I learned by experience. On the following day the chiefs assembled, and sat in council many hours, probably discussing the expediency of reprisals. Indeed the subject affords a wide field for debate ; as the United States, in the stipulation for paying the annuities for ceded lands, exact from the Pawnees that they shall not send out war parties to steal horses, as had been their con- stant practice ; in the mean time the more distant tribes come in to hunt in the buffalo prairies and steal the Pawnee horses, while the latter are for- bidden to make reprisals. These stipulations would be very hard, if adhered to ; but I have good reason to believe that, during my residence with the Paw- 302 PRESENT OF A BUFFALO ROBE. ii' ' * U i \h !^ \ii nees, they sent out several horse-stealing parties, one of which was supposed to have met with consi- derable success among the Kanzas, a tribe settled on the river of the same name. The Indian no- tions of reprisals are very cosmopolitan : if thirty horses are stolen from them, and they cannot dis- cover the thieves, they consider themselves per- fectly justified in stealing thirty from the first party or tribe that may offer them the opportunity. I cannot give reference to the Pawnee Blackstone ; but the *' Jus et factum" are both indisputable. We remained now two days without seeing any buffalo, and I had nothing to amuse me but to watch, observe, and record the manners and cus- toms of those around me. I received a visit from Tarawicadi-a * (or the Little Chief). He was the head chief of the Tapage tribe, and a man of con- siderable influence and ability. He made me a pre- sent of a painted buffalo robe,f such as is given by a bridegroom to his intended father-in-law. It was not quite new, but the symbols are curious and clearly distinguishable, representing the claws of a bear, and two drawings of a bird and a beast with half a dozen tails, the genus or species of which * This chief has another council name, vide supra, which is indicative of his eloquence. See p. 67. f The Indians paint various devices upon their robes, accord- ing to the ceremony or exploit which they wish to commemorate. Thus there are niarriage-robes, battle-robes, hunting-robes, medicine-robes, &c. The one to which I refer above is a marriage-robe, and is still (1839) in my possession. INDIAN CHARACTER. 303 would be problematical either to Linnaeus or BufFon. I had learnt enough of the Pawnees to know, that they never make a present without expecting a more than adequate return, and consequently I paid the Tapage chief with a parcel of beads, knives, tobacco, and vermilion. In bargaining they are complete Jews ; they esteem a man who beats them down in the price of an article, and despise one who sells them anything at a low rate. Every hour that I spent with the Indians, im- pressed upon me the conviction that I had taken the only method of becoming acquainted with their domestic habits and their undisguised character. Had I judged from what I had been able to ob- serve at Fort Leavenworth, or other frontier places, where I met them, I should have known about as much of them as the generality of scribblers and their readers, and might, like them, have deceived myself and others into a belief in their "high sense of honour" — their hospitality — their openness and love of truth, and many other quali- ties which they possess, if at all, in a very moderate degree; and yet it is no wonder if such impres- sions have gone abroad, because the Indian, among whites, or at a garrison, trading-post, or town, is as different a man from the same Indian at home as a Turkish "Mollah" is from a French barber. Among whites, he is all dignity and repose ; he is acting a part the whole time, and acts it most admirably. He manifests no surprise at the most I i i j 304 INDIAN CHARACTER. a wonderful effects of machinery — is not startled if a twenty-four-pounder is fired close to him, and does not evince the slightest curiosity regarding the thousand things that are strange and new to him; whereas at home, the same Indian chatters, jokes, and laughs among his companions — fre- quently indulges in the most licentious conversa- tion ; and his curiosity is as unbounded and irre- sistible as that of any man, woman, or monkey, on earth. Truth and honesty (making the usual excep- tions to be found in all countries) are unknown, or despised by them. A boy is taught and en- couraged to steal and lie, and the only blame or disgrace ever incurred thereby is when the offence is accompanied by detection. I never met with liars so determined, universal, or audacious. The chiefs themselves have told me repeatedly the most deliberate and gross untruths to serve a trifling purpose with the gravity of a chief-jus- tice; and I doubt whether Baron Munchausen himself would be more than a match for the great chief of the Pawnees. Let them not dis- pute the palm — each is greatest in his peculiar line — one in inventive exaggeration, the other in plain unadorned falsehood. But from all these charges I most completely exonerate my old chief, Sa-ni-tsa-rish ; Nature had made him a gentleman, and he remained so, in spite of the corrupting examples around him. ! i startled if » him, and regarding ind new to m chatters, ions — fre- 5 conversa- ;d and irre- or monkey, sual excep- e unknown, ^ht and en- only blame ( when the I never met r audacious, repeatedly ;hs to serve a chief-jus- Munchausen tch for the 3m not dis- his peculiar the other in m all these ly old chief, I gentleman, corrupting A FRAST. — CURIOSITY. 305 To give some idea of their " want of curiosity," I will merely relate the circumstances usually at- tending a feast, to which I, or any of our party of four, was invited. On entering the lodge, I found a vacant place near the owner, who made signs that 1 should occupy it : if others were invited, we waited till all arrived. A bowl, either of Indian corn or buffalo meat, was then placed in the centre ; the guests sitting cross-legged, like tailors, around it. There was a horn-spoon for each person ; and at the word, " L6," or " L6-wa," we all fell to work. This word comprises their whole vocabulary of " assent," " satisfaction," and " compliment :" it invariably begins and concludes a feast, each guest saying it as he enters and leaves the tent. As the giver of the feast never eats with his guests, his occupation generally was to scrutinize me. He would first pa?' his hand all over my coarse blue checked shirt (or jacket) ; then he would take up my knife — open and shut it twenty times — ask as many questions about it, then pass it on to another : he would next take up, or take off, my hat, and place it on his own greasy head, first cocking it on one side, then on the other — all the time admiring himself in a pocket-mirror. While he was thus employed, an- other would pounce upon my red-silk pocket-hand- kerchief, and wind it like a turban round the unwashed, uncombed, and thickly-peopled head of VOL. I. X ! !| ' li 1 » ^vt ly ' »•;*., #■ 30G CURIOSITY. some half-pleased, half-frightened child ; and a third, in the mean time, would dive to the bottom of every one of my pockets, and submit every thing therein contained — coins, copper-caps, pencil, &c. to the same diligent inspection. After being among them some little time, I determined to put a stop to this nuisance, and whenever they touch- ed my hat, knife, or anything else belonging to me, I quietly removed their hand, and told them gravely they must not do so. They soon found out I was in earnest, and they ceased from annoy- ing me. I am not sure whether they thought me a " sulky fellow" or a " great chief" in consequence of this conduct, but I rather believe the latter, as they treated me with more respect; whereas my white companions pursued a less determined (per- haps, a more good-natured) course ; and I saw my friend V 's and my servant's hat, and other articles, making the tour of heads and hands as long as we remained among them. As to their begging, I was obliged very early to put a stop to that; for there was not a single thing in my possession that they did not ask for, even till I was tired of repeating " K^-ki," No. 1 ! II INDIAN WOMEN. 307 CHAPTER XVI. Indian Women. — Children. — Nursery Discipline. — Girls. — Courtship. — Marriage. — A Missionary. — Occupation and Labours of married Women. — Degradation of the half-civi- lized Tribes. — Education and Life of Indian Men. — An Indian Dandy. — His elaborate Toilet. — His Effeminacy. — Game of the Javelin. — Indian Courage. It may seem unpardonable that I have so long deferred any mention of the appearance, manners, dress, and condition of the "ladies" in this commu- nity. The delay has been occasioned by the best of motives, namely, a hope that longer experience might enable me to find some exceptions to such a general description as truth would oblige me to give. I waited long, and found none ; and am now under the unpleasant necessity of declaring that, among the Pawnee females, I never saw one instance of beauty, either in face or figure — of neatness in dress — cleanliness in appearance, or of any one of those graceful and attractive attributes which generally characterise the softer sex.* Their life is one of perpetual degradation and slavery ; and, in spite of their slovenly appearance, I could not * I did afterwards see two or three pretty girls, but so few in number that I did not think myself justified in altering the text. X 2 ■ w it i «; 'i? \ 1 *' ■ » * 1^ 1 1 1 1 i\ i ^ • '1 |- . IL : 308 INDIAN CHILDREN. withhold my admiration at the good-humour with which they perform labours unequalled by those of any free servant or slave. In their infancy and early childhood they are completely spoilt. Some authors have pretended that Indian chil- dren never cry: this is as true as many other parts of their absurd histories ; I never was among children so given to cry and scream. I have seen them repeatedly do so (when they wanted any trifle which was refused them), with such incessant violence, that they ended by coughing most horri- bly and spitting blood ; then the alarmed mother would leave her work, and, instead of a good whip- ping, give them whatever they asked for. Among other instances of foolish maternal ii .ulgence, and its corresponding effects on a child, the following is not among the least ludicrous : — In our tent was a little girl, nearly two years old, 80 dreadfully affected by the hooping-cough, that it frequently caused me to lie awake half the night, and I hourly expected it to break a blood- vessel and die. This poor little wretch's temper was as bad, and as badly nursed, as her health ; she governed the whole tent ; and I cannot con- ceive how she survived a week, considering that her mother and aunts used all the means in their powcr to kill her, short of a " lethal weapon." I have seen her in the course of one morning (she being only two years old !) eat a good bowl of half- boiled maize — then enough green grapes and plums NURSERY DISCIPLINE. 309 lour with r those of incy and • dian chil- iny other as among have seen ,nted any incessant lost honi- ed mother rood whip- •. Among gence, and J following two years )ing-cough, ke half the ik a blood- :h's temper ler health ; cannot con- idering that ans in their weapon." I lorning (she bowl of half- is and plums to give the cholera to a bargeman — then a large hunch of buffalo meat, nearly raw ; in the midst of which last she stopped, and began to cry and scream, for what I knew not, but her mother knew better ; and the poor woman was obliged to open her blanket and suckle the young screamer, who still held the half-eaten slice of buffalo meat in her hand !* Even the hints that kindly nature gave were lost upon them ; for, after she had rejected the unripe fruit, with evident proofs of her aversion, too disagreeable for me to forget, within ten minutes I saw the child again taking another, and at least as large a dose, of the same composition. So much for infant diet ! As they grow older their tyranny decreases, and by the time they are five or six years old, they are made to carry wood and water, and enter upon the duties of their life ; before they are grown up, the more industrious and ingenious among them, add to their usual domestic accomplishments the making of various little ornaments, and the paint- ing of buffalo-skins. Suppose the young lady arrived at the age when the short usurpation of Cupid is to be succeeded by the absolute monarchy of Hymen, the ceremony to • The Pawnee women frequently keep their children un- weaned till near three years of age, and thus, of course, have sometimes two or three sucking at once. The long, pendant breast of an Indian squaw, after a certain age, is one of the most offensive and disagreeable objects upon which my eye ever rested. d aio COUUTSUIF. f t. r I •i! Iji r-i be observed is (as far as I can learn) nearly as fol- lows : — When the lover wishes to break the ice, he comes to her father's tent uninvited, and sits on the corner of the mat for a considerable time, then rises, and goes away without speaking. This is the pre- liminary step in courtship, answering perhaps to the first gentle picssure of the hand — the first blushing hesitation in address — the first mutual glance of understanding. — But I am treading on dangerous ground, and must proceed no further with these drawing-room ** preliminaries." After a few days the young man returns, wearing his buffalo-robe with the hair outwards, and again sits down silent in the corner of the tent ; this is a regular proposal ; if the father is determined to re- ject him at once, no skin is placed for him to sit on, and no meat is offered to him ; but if he approves of the match, these usual rites of hospitality are ob- served, and he tells the young man that he will give a feast to obtain the consent of all his daugh- ter's connections, and advises him also to do the same by his relations ; should both of these feasts terminate favourably, the young r^an presents him- self once more before his bride at the door of her tent, then turns round and walks slowly off towards his own ; she rises and follows him — the marriage is then complete (if she remain sitting, it is a sign that her family decline the match). As soon as he reaches home he sends her father the marriage pre- sent, or rather, the purchase money for his wife, r v..\ -.:^-.„ llini'irllli' ntta- MARRIAGE. 311 (indeed it is neither more nor less,) the amount of which is already pretty well ascertained by the father-in-law, and which consists of horses, blan- kets, or robes, according to the wealth or respect- ability of the contracting parties. The most extraordinary part of this matrimonial affair is, that, having married the elder sister, he has a right to marry all the younger ones as they successively attain the age of puberty. Nor is this at all unusual ; on the contrary, it is a common practice, as the husband thereby secures so many additional slaves, and can obtain so much more corn, dried meat, dressed skins, &c. all of which are the result of female labour. When the second sis- ter becomes marriageable, or rather, when it suits his fancy or convenience to take her, he sends her father a horse, or other proportionate present, and she comes over to his lodge ; and so on with the other sisters.* I have seen several chiefs who have, in this manner, married a whole family ; the eldest wife being the greatest drudge, and the youngest being generally the favourite sultana, and, con- sequently, doing the least work, * This custom is common among other savage tribes besides the Pawnees. See Major Long's " Account of the Omahas," vol. i. p. 230. Also, the Padre Palon's " Description of Upper California," quoted by Mr. Forbes ; " it is very common for the wife to urge her husband to marry her sisters, and even their mother ! and the common custom is, when a man marries, that he takes the whole of the sisters for wives."— JPoroes' Cali- fornia, p. 190. VOL. T. X 4 T\ ■arj >! ■ 1 f 312 A MISSIONARY. h 'I \ li ^ I cannot affirm the universal accuracy of the above account, because I could not understand the Indians sufficiently to extract much information from them. The French int^jrnreter was extremely illiterate, ignorant, and uncommunicative ; and the only other source from which I could gather any thing, was from a young man sent by the mission- aries from New England to learn the Pawnee lan- guage, with a view to his teaching their children hereafter the elements of religion, morals, grammar, &c. The history of the world affords ample evi- dence to prove that the first spreaders of the Gos- pel among savage tribes, must be active enterprising men, and enthusiasts ; any thing more directly op- posite to these qualities than the character of the young missionary resident among the Pawnees, 1 defy the whole world to produce, — he was the most quiet, indolent, phlegmatic being I ever beheld, and in taciturnity worthy to be a priest of Momus him- self. However, I did now and then extract a few sentences from him ; and such Tacts as he told me I could depend upon, as there did not appear to be a grain of fancy or invention in his composition. He had been with the Pawnees about eight months, and spoke a few words of the language ; but he had not the " bump" — I beg pardon, the " organ" — of language. His residence among them may be pro- ductive of some advantage to the estimate formed by the savages of the- character of the whites, as his life is decent and moral ; whereas their intercourse has MARllIED WOMEN. 313 been mostly confined to the French traders, who are in general grossly licentious and profligate, having wives in every tribe they deal with, and tempting the poor savages to barter the honour (if among them it can be so called) of their daugh- ters and sisters for a dram of whisky. It is difficult to understand how so many Indians can have four, five, or six wives, and that so very few are unmarried at thirty years of age, unless we suppose that three or four females among them are born to one male: it might have been accounted for formerly by the number of men that died in their wars, hunting parties, and accidents; but these means of depopulation are so much more rare than they used to be, that they can scarcely be supposed to explain the great disproportion be- tween the se.^es. Having already brought the lady through all the dangers of celibacy, her matrimonial happiness will be most easily appreciated by a faithful narration of her daily occupation when the village is moving. She rises an hour before daylight, packs up the dried meat, the corn, and other bales, strikes the tent, loads and saddles all the horses and mules and at dawn the march commences ; they generally go from twelve to fifteen miles before their mid-day halt ; the husband rides, some animals are loaded, many run loose ; she travels on foot, carrying on her back either a child or a package of considerable size, in one hand a bundle or a can of water, with the .f> ! 1 1 .*iU LAIIOHIOUS DUTIKS ! :,' I, '.«! f\ I. other leading one or two pack-horses. On arriving at tlie camping-place, she unpacks the animals, and proceeds to pitch the tent, or lodge, as before de- scribed. But in order to appreciate the extreme labour of this apparently simple operation, it must be borne in mind that she has to force eight or ten poles, sharpened at the point, into ground baked nearly as hard as brick by a vertical sun ; they require to be driven at least six inches deep by the mere strength of her arms, as she is not assisted by the use of any iron-pointed instrument or any mallet. As soon as the tent is pitched and arranged, she goes in search of wood and water ; the latter is ge- nerally within half-a-mile of the camping-place se- lected, but the former, I can positively affirm from my own observation, she frequently has to seek and carry on her back three or four miles. From mingled commiseration and curiosity, I have once or twice raised these wood-bundles thus brought in, and am afraid to hazard a conjecture at their weight, but I feel confident that any Lon- don porter would charge high for an extra load, if he was desired to carry one of them half-a-mile : she then proceeds to light the fire, cut up the meat, and pound the corn, for which latter purpose she is obliged to use a heavy club, round at the extremity, and a mortar, hollowed by herself from the trunk of a walnut. As soon as the meal is finished, she has to strike the tent, re-load the horses, and the whole foregoing tvork is to be repealed, except that OF THE WOMEN. 315 the afternoon walk is generally not more than eight miles. This is the ordinary routine of a travelling day ; but on the day of a hunt, nnd on its successor, her labour varies in kind, not much in degree, as, besides bringing wood and water, cooking, &c. she has to cut up all the meat into thin flakes or layers to be dried in the sun, to dress the skins and robes, the mode of doing which I shall have to notice presently ; to make the mocassins, leggins, and, in short, what- ever clothing is wanted by any part of the family. To perform this incredible labour there were only three women in our I dge, and I never saw any of the three either grumble, or rest a moment, al- though plagued with the additional care and cease- less crying of the two before-mentioned brats. Lest it may be supposed that in the permanent or winter lodge they enjoy more rest, it is as well to mention that, in addition to their domestic duties, the whole of the agricultural labour, in their coarse system of raising maize, falls to their share. Is it possible to contemplate this constant and se- vere fatigue, undergone with uncomplaining cheer- fulness, without pity and admiration ? And yet the women appear contented and even happy ; they laugh under their burthens, and chatter during half the night. They seem even to be proof against the pains of the primal punishment brought, by sin, upon womankind ; for they pursue their ordinary occupations until the latest period of their labour. U H! i. ■ Iri Id I f m 316 HALF-CIVILISED TRIBES. t i i I and immediately after the birth of the child resume them without interruption. It appears that no ob- stetric aid is required on these occasions : if the village is on a march, the sister or some other female remains, for an hour, in the rear, with her friend, and then they rejoin the main body, and present the "happy father" with his fine boy or girl, as the case may be ! Is it not possible that the progress of years, if it bring with it civilisation and some alleviation of their drudgery, may mar the happiness they now enjoy, by implanting wants, desires, and seeds of discontent, to which they are still strangers? It is a melancholy but undoubted fact that the half-civilised tribes are more licentious, treacherous, and debased, both in body and mind, than those who know the white man only by distant rumour, and view him as their natural and irreconcilable enemy. This, however, is to be attributed, not to civilisation abstractedly, nor to white man as a genus, but to whisky, and the profligate vicious traders, chiefly Canadian French, who first intro- duced that liquid curse among them. I must now turn to the male portion of the com- monwealth, and record a few particulars regarding them. As soon as the boys are able to run about they begin to practise the bow and arrow ; and in the barren prairies, where neither bird nor flower offers itself as a mark, their constant occupation is shoot- ing at an arrow previously sent by one of the little party. This they perform (to use a vulgar phrase) Mfai EDUCATION OF THE MALES. 317 " turn about :" — A. shoots an arrow into the ground, about ten or fifteen yards off; B. shoots at it ; then B. sends one for A. to aim at ; and so forth. Until they attain the age of ten or eleven they remain more or less under their mother's control, and are made to help her in carrying water, and in catching or leading horses ; but about that discreet time of life they begin to feel the dignity of their sex, and to perform such menial offices with repugnance ; and I have often observed with surprise and indig- nation, that if I gave a gun-case or any kind of pack- age to one of them to carry during a march, before ten minutes he would transfer it to his already over- loaded and submissive mother, and return to his bow and arrow with his companions. They delight also, while they are lads, to follow their elder bro- ther or father to the buffalo hunt, during which they keep a respectful distance in the rear ; but as soon as the game is killed, they assist at the dis- section, and the horse on which they rode is used to carry the meat to the camp. About the age of twenty they are allowed to hunt, and seek other opportunities for distinction. This epoch answers to the Oxonian's first ap- pearance in London life after taking his B. A. degree. I have seen some dandies in my life — English, Scotch, French, German, ay and Ameri- can dandies too ; but none of them can compare with the vanity or coxcombry of the Pawnee dandy. Lest any of the gentry claiming this distinction, m III I 318 AN INDIAN DANDY. ',; 1 1 1 1:^ \ t \i. f and belonging to the above-mentioned nations, should doubt or feel aggrieved at this assertion, I vv^ill faithfully narrate what passed constantly be- fore my eyes in our own tent ; namely, the manner in which Sa-ni-ts3,-rish's son passed the days on which there was no buffalo hunt. He began his toilet, about eight in the morning, by greasing and smoothing his whole person with fat, which he rubbed afterwards perfectly dry, only leaving the skin sleek and glossy ; he then painted his face vermilion, with a stripe of red also along the centre of the crown of the head ; he then pro- ceeded to his " coiffure," which received great attention, although the quantum of hair demanding such care was limited, inasmuch as his head was shaved close, except one tuft at the top, from which hung two plaited " tresses." (Why must I call them "pigtails?"*) He then filled his ears, which were bored in two or three places, with rings and wam- * The fashion of wearing the hair varies in every tribe, and in every individual of the tribe, according to the fancy of the person ; but the method here described is the most prevalent among the Pawnees. The Ricaras plait a long stream of horse- hair with their crown-tuft, which floats wildly in the breeze as they gallop, and gives them a terrible and picturesque appear- ance. I have also been informed by many of the Rocky Moun- tain traders, that some of the Crow chiefs (a nation to the north- west of the Ricara) wear hair of seven and eight feet long; and a gentleman of character and education assured me that he had measured the hair of one of them nifie feet. Like the faithful old Herodotus, I add, " these things I have not seen, but give them as they were told to me." .•>:'.„ -M HIS TOILET. 319 pum, and hung several strings of beads round his neck ; then, sometimes painting stripes of vermilion and yellow upon his breast and shoulders, and placing armlets above his elbows and rings upon his fingers, he proceeded to adorn the nether man with a pair of mocassins, some scarlet cloth leggins fastened to his waist-belt, and bound round below the knee with garters of beads four inches broad. Being so far prepared, he drew out his mirror, fitted into a small wooden frame, (which he al- ways, whether hunting or at home, carried about his person,) and commenced a course of self- examination, such as the severest disciple of Watts, Mason, or any other religious moralist, never equalled. Nay more, if I were not afraid of offtn*^ r the softer sex by venturing to bring m to comparison with them in an oc- cupation which is considered so peculiarly their own, I would assert that no female creation of the poets, from the time that Eve first saw " that smooth watery image," till the polished toilet of the lovely Belinda, ever studied her own reflected self with more perseverance or satisfaction than this Pawnee youth. I have repeatedly seen him sit, for above an hour at a time, examin- ing his face in every possible position and ex- pression ; now frowning like Homer's Jove be- fore a thunder-storm, now like the same god, described by Milton, " smiling with superior love ;" now slightly varying the streaks of paint I II ■|-'. VOL. I. X 8 ' i; f \ I 1 320 DECORATION OF HIS HORSE. upon his checks and forehead, and then push- ing or pulling ** each particular hair" of his eye- brows into its most becoming place ! Could the youth have seen anything in that mirror half so dangerous as the features which the glassy wave gave back to the gaze of the fond Narcissus, I might have feared for his life or reason ; but, fortu- nately for these, they had only to contend with a low receding forehead, a nose somewhat simious, a pair of small sharp eyes, with high cheek-bones, and a broad mouth, well furnished with a set of teeth, which had at least the merit of demolishing speedily everything, animal or vegetable, that came within their range. His toilet thus arranged to his satisfaction, one of the women or children led his buffalo-horse before the tent ; and he proceeded to deck his steed, by painting his forehead, neck, and shoulders with stripes of vermilion, and sometimes twisted a few feathers into his tail. He then put into his mouth an old-fashioned bridle, bought or stolen from the Spaniards, from the bit of which hung six or eight steel chains, about nine inches long ; while some small bells, attached to the reins, contributed to render the movements of the steed as musical as those of the lovely " Sonnante," in the incomparable tales of Comte Hamilton.* All things being now ready for the promenade, he threw a scarlet mantle over his shoulders ; thrust * See Fleur-d'Epine. t GAME OF THE JAVELIN. 321 his mirror in below his belt; took in one hand a a large fan, of wild-goose or turkey feathers, to shield his fair and delicate complexion from the sun ; while a whip hung from his wrist, having the handle studded with brass nails. Thus accoutred, he mounted his jingling palfrey, and ambled through the encampment, envied by all the youths less gay in attire, attracting the gaze of the unfortunate drudges who represent the gentler sex, and admired supremely by himself ! On these blank days, the men who were tiot dan- dies passed the time in smoking, feasting, mending and sharpening their knives and arrows, or in the javelin game, of which last amusement they are very fond. It is played by two competitors, each armed with a dart, on the smoothest plot of grass which they can find. The arena is about fifty yards long. They start from one end at full speed ; one of the players has a small hoop, of six inches diameter, which, as soon as they have reached the middle of the course, he rolls on before them ; and each then endeavours to dart his weapon through the hoop. He who succeeds, counts so many in the game ; and if neither pierces it, the nearest javelin to the mark is allowed to count, but, of course, not so many points as if he had "ringed" it. This game is exceedingly hard exercise ; they play with many on a side, and sometimes for five and six hours, in the mid-heat of an August day, without intermission. It is made subser- VOL. I. Y li .' \- ] i W i n in 322 INDIAN COURAGE. 'J r vient to their taste for gambling ; and I have seen them lose guns, blankets, and even one or two horses, in a morning. I have heard that they play at cards in their winter-quarters, but cannot vouch for the truth of the assertion. In fact, this is the only game that I ever saw among the Pawnees : but it is well known that other tribes play admirably at ball, after different fashions, one of which resembles closely the English "hockey," or Scottish "shinny,'' and is played with a hooked stick. However, we must not believe that Indian games are quite as various or scientific, as some careless authors have described them.* The courage of the Indians has been the subject of much controversy : I have had few opportunities of forming a practical opinion on the question. One thing, however, is certain, that they invariably pre- fer ambush and artifice to open attack; and the highest praise is given to the warrior who brings home a few scalps without losing a man ; but if he returns with a number of scalps, having lost a few of his own party, he obtains much less praise. No one can deny them the merit of passive courage or endurance. It would appear that their nervous sys- tem is much less irritable than that of the whites. I do not form this opinion from the numberless written narratives upon the subject; but I have * I remember, in an enumeration of them by some traveller, quoted by the author of a " Winter in the Far West," to have found the word tennis. — Query, had the said traveller ever seen a tennis-court, or did he know the meaning of the term ? ' It t \ . I INDIAN COURAGE. 323 have seen le or two ; they play inot vouch is the only ;es: but it Imirably at [1 resembles 1 «* shinny,'' owever, we re quite as ithors have the subject pportunities stion. One ariably pre- ;k; and the who brings n ; but if he g lost a few praise. No e courage or nervous sys- if the whites. J numberless but I have \j some traveller, West," to have iveller ever seen ;he term? seen and conversed with several Americans who have been engaged in Indian wars, and who have described to me tortures that they have witnessed, too horrible to relate, and borne either with un- flinching silence, or with a kind of frantic exulta- tion, that dared the torturers to make the arrow sharper and to bring a hotter firebrand. This may be, and undoubtedly is, true in regard to inflicted pain ; but it certainly is not true relatively to the sufferings of disease, or any of the natural " ills that flesh is heir to." I have more than once seen a full-grown strong-looking Indian moan and whine under the toothach or colic in a manner that, among us, would shame " a sick child." Pa*-ta*-la^-cha'r6, who was, I think, the strongest and most formidable Indian in the camp, sent for me one day, and complained most grievously of pains in his body. He lay at full length, wrapped up in his buffalo-robe, and sighed and groaned most piteously. He held out his arm to me, and made me signs to bleed him ; an operation which those Indians who have seen or heard of it among the whites, are very fond of undergoing. I felt his pulse at the wrist ; it was regular, firm, and quiet. I therefore told him that he was not very bad, and refused to bleed him. Having only performed this office once, and not being much of an adept therein, I never would attempt it, except in cases of urgency or danger. However, he continued his groans, al- though I felt convinced that the only malady under Y 2 i\ \ INDIAN COURAGE. which he laboured was the effect of having eaten three or four pounds too much buffalo meat or boiled maize. While I was still sitting in the lodge, the heralds came round to cry that buffalo were near, and that the hunters might mount. The young chief sprang up, like a lion roused, snatched his bow and leather quiver, and in five minutes was at a full gallop over the prairie ! mm' HUNTING CEREMONIES. 323 CHAPTER XVII. Ceremonies attendant on the Buffalo Chase. — Adventures with Buffalo. — Number of Beasts slain. — Night Attack of the Shiennes. — The Conflict. — War Songs. — A Council — Re- ligion. — Great Spirits and other Deities. — Religious Cere- monies. — Notions of Futurity. — Months and Years. — Office of Soldiers.— A « Cerne," or " Surround."— Buffalo Hunt.— Preparation of Buffalo Skins. — Strange Fuel. — March re- sumed. — Otoe chief. — Deadly Feud between two Brothers. — Great Medicine Feast. — Impromptu Oration. — Indian Eloquence. — Grace before Meat. — Rapid Feeding.— ^Method of Invitation to a Feast. — Contrasted Temperature. — Change in the Aspect of the Country. On the 26th we started at four in the morn- ing, in the hope of finding water before mid-day. About eight o'clock the cry of " taraha" (buffalo) again echoed through the columns, and we were all ordered to halt. I rode forward to the head of the line, where a circle was made, consisting of the chiefs and prophets. Two long poles, belonging to the ** medicine," and covered with feathers and shreds of cloth, were placed in the centre, and an hour was spent in speechifying, smoking, and medi- cine-mummery, to ensure a good day's sport. The warriors, or hunters, then went forward, and, half- 326 THE CHASE. n I a-dozen miles in advance of the main body, we found several large herds of buffalo. Each hunter selected the herd that he would attack, and we rushed in upon them from every side. It was a glorious sight to see the naked savages urging their horses to their utmost speed, with loud cries and repeated use of the cowhide ; while the affrighted and maddened bulls galloped, or rather plunged, along the hill-side, only escaping one band of tormentors to fall in with another. A great slaughter ensued. I happened to have left my rifle, on this occasion, in the rear, with my servant, and was armed only with a pistol. How- ever, I singled out tvo or three bulls and cows, and pursued them six or seven miles ; but, when I reached them, was much annoyed to find that no effort or exertion could induce my steed to venture near them; so I returned unsuccessful and out of humour to the camp. There I found that V had remained in the thick m^iee with the chiefs, and had killed, or helped to kill, three with a pistol. He had borrowed a horse fully trained for the sport, and he could ride close up to their tails ; but the animal would never press forward enough to risk an encounter with their horns. I was determined not to let the sun set upon my blood-guiltless head ; and, as it was only about two P.M., I mounted another horse, took my rifle, and again set out in quest of adventures. I soon found a bull in a neighbouring ravine, slightly wounded .,.^->,..,,«,„..,;,.,,.t.V.,...^i... :;iiM»iM i fe» .i assas ADVENTURES WITH BUFFALO. 827 by an arrow in his flank ; and, as he was near the village, a large party of women and children were answering, at a respectful distance, his roaring and bellowing by their shouts and cries. They told me to go and kill him. As the horse I had then mounted would not allow me to shoot from his back, I dismounted, and shot a bullet into the bull's shoulder : after a short interval, he tottered and fell. I thought that he was just about to die, and im- prudently walked up nearer to him. To my sur- prise, he sprung up and made at me ; I waited till he came within two or three yards, then fired my second barrel, and jumped on one side. He passed over the place I had ceded to him, and, after stag- gering on a short distance, he fell again. I re- loaded my rifle, and was obliged to fire another ball, which put him out of his pain ; and then I left him to the tender mercies of the women and chil- dren, and, mounting my horse, cantered over the hills, in search of more game. I was soon aware of a fine bull, enjoying its solitary range at the distance of a quarter of a mile. I gave chase, and after a gallop of two or three miles, I came alongside the enemy ; but my Indian nag would not allow me to shoot off his back ; the moment I presented my rifle, he would wheel and jump, so as to preclude all possibility of taking aim. The bull chased me about fifty yards, but finding he had no chance of overtaking me, stopped and stamped. I dismounted, and a pitched I 328 NUMBER OF BEASTS SLAIN. \ I \ ^:1 W-.i K i\ u •' battle now ensued-, in which Purday's double-barrel ultimately gained the day ; but I never met with an animal so tenacious of life. He did not fall till he received my fourth ball in the heart ; two having pierced him before, not more than three inches from the heart, and one having entered his eye, which I aimed at, in the expectation of thereby reaching his brain. I now returned to the camp, satisfied with my day's t.- .:t. I might have killed three times as many with half the trouble, had I chosen to re- main with the chiefs in the centre of the " cerne," and assist in the medley-massacre ; but I could see no sport or excitement in a scene resembling too closely the shambles ; besides which, it is impossible to have the undivided glory, as the greater number are pierced by three or four arrows, and you must either kill some other hunter's wounded buffalo, or let him kill what you have wounded, neither of which alternatives a sportsman would choose to adopt. I cannot say exactly the amount of the day's slaughter, but it was between five and six hundred. Soon after our return from hunting I was invited to a feast, where I tasted a most luxurious dish, being the udder of a young cow ; it was well boiled, and was extremely sweet and delicate food. In the evening, the elders, or medicine-men, went round the encampment, uttering loud cries, (which were meant to express their gratitude to NIGHT ATTACK. 329 the Great Spirit for u plentiful Supply of buffalo), and carrying a portion of the meat to the old and infirm who were not able to hunt, and who had no young man in their lodge to supply them with provision. About ten o'clock at night, after we had all betaken ourselves to our bear or buffalo-skins, and the camp was as still as a Pawnee camp can be, a sudden yell or shout was raised, which reached the inmost recess of every lodge — " Charicks wiUk- t^!" " The enemy are upon us!" In a moment .ill was confusion and bustle. The tent of my old chief was pitched at the western extremity of the "village," and not more than two hundred yards from a small wooded ravine. The hostile band had contrived to elude the vigilance of our out* posts, and to reach this place of concealment un- discovered ; consequently our predicament would have been a dangerous one, had they possessed sufficient force to profit by this advantage, or had our warriors allowed them time to improve it. But it was beautiful to see the readiness and rapidity with which our Pawnees were prepared to meet them. Each man's bow and quiver were at his head ; the laryette which secured his horse - ved . for a bridle ; and in two minutes from the time that the alarm was given, the warriors nr?d Braves were at full speed in the direction r^ the enemy. I jumped up from my bear-skin, and with a brace of pistols in my belt, a stout hunting-knife at my 330 NIGHT ATTACK. 1 I ,.1 :r ! I ' side, and a double- rifle in my hand, lost not a moment in joining my old friend, the chief, at the door of his lodge. My first care was to secure my horses, which, scared by the firing, yelling, and gal- loping around them, struggled with all the power of terror and excitement to get free from their fastenings : fortunately I had caused them all to be doubly secured and hobbled, so that none of them got away. I then inquired of the chief hew I could be useful, and he pointed to the lodge, and the women and children, giving me to understand that I must stay and protect them. Indeed, there was nothing else for me to do ; inasmuch as had I sallied out in the dark with the others, I could not distinguish friend from foe, and should have been as likely to shoot the former as the latter. Standing thus quietly on the defensive, I had leisure to enjoy the wild beauty of the scene before me. The shrill and savage war-cry raised by a thousand voices — the neighing, struggling, and trampling of the excited horses, mingled with the howling of dogs, and the irregular firing of their guns, with which the Pawnees directed and cheered their warriors to the scene of action — formed a wild and exciting combination of sounds ; while the groups of women and children gathered round the pale and expiring fires, and the tall dark figure of the old chief, standing with his arms calmly folded beside me, served admirably to fill the in- teresting and picturesque fore-ground. At first. ^1 NIGHT ATTACK. 331 lost not a ;hief, at the ) secure my ig, and gal- the power from their them all to lat none of le chief hew e lodge, and understand ndeed, there nuch as had lers, I could should have e latter, nsive, I had scene before raised by a ;led with the ring of their and cheered — formed a Is ; while the hered round 1 dark figure arms calmly o fill the in- id. At first, the shouts and yells approached — then they re- ceded — then again they came nearer and nearer, and for a few minutes, I thought we might have a skirmish before our lodge (which was, as I before said, at the very extremity of the encamp- ment). My rifle was ready with two bullets, each of an ounce weight ; and as our fire had been refreshed, so as to throw light upon an ad- vancing party, I felt pretty sure that two of them would pay the penalty of a near approach. But I was not destined either to take or lose a scalp on this occasion; the Pawnees were too strong and too active for their opponents; the yells became gradually more faint and indistinct; and at length the occasional discharge of a gun at a distance was the only audible sign of conflict or pursuit. I was anxious to find out who these fellows were who had dared to attack the Pawnees in their full encampment, and learned from the first warriors who returned that they were Shiennes, about one hundred and fifty or two hundred in number, who had made this bold attempt to seize a number of the Pawnee horses; at least, it is impossible to believe that they could from any other motive have ventured, with a handful of men, to attack a camp containing above a thousand warriors, as well or better armed than themselves. The Pawnees, in making the Shienne sign, pre- VOL. I. Y 6 i ^^ I 332 WAR-SONGS. ii: I M tend to saw the left-arm with the fore-finger of the left-hand ; thereby denoting the marks which dis- tinguish that tribe. They are a warlike marauding nation, who frequent the plains watered by the sources of the Platte and Arkansas, towards the base of the Rocky Mountains : they are generally at war with the Pawnees. As far as I could hear, they escaped without losing any of their party. As soon as their first attempt at surprise failed, they fled at full speed ; and the darkness of the night rendered pursuit ineffectual, if not impossible. I presume that the Pawnees guessed their number by their horse- tracks in the morning ; but possibly they were not very anxious to detach a body to follow them, as they did not know whether the Shiennes might not have a considerable force to retire upon in the neighbourhood. In a short time, all was again still in the camp ; nothing stirred, save here and there the dusky figure of some returning warrior, who had followed the enemy farther than his comrades ; and no sound met the ear, except the low and monotonous war- song chanted by some of the Braves as they lay enveloped in their blankets on the side of a small hill commanding the encampment. I was very sorry that I had no i itelligent interpreter from whom I could obtain a translation of these Indian lyrics, I did contrive,' with the aid of the half-Frenchman, to gather a few phrases, which may serve to illus- A COUNCIL. 333 trate the character of the whole. " I rushed upon my enemy like a buffalo ! — I shouted my war-cry aloud ! — Hi-hi-hl-hi-hi ! &c. — I took his scalp ! — His women howl for him in their lod^o ! — I am a great war-chief ! — I am called the BjaccWolf! — Hl-hi-hi-hi ! " These, and similar effusions of sa- vage simplicity, form the solitary chant of a Paw- nee warrior. On the following morning their blood was boil- ing with resentment at the affront which they had received. A council was held, but they carefully concealed their determination from me ; so that I have little doubt that reprisals of some kind were carried nem. con. But of the measures which they adopted I remained in total ignorance. Doubtless, they considered me oomewhat in the light of a spy ; for when I inquired whether they had taken any scalps, or lost any men in the skirmish of the pre- ceding night, they either pretended not to under- stand, or made the sign of " mystery" or "silence," by placing the hand before the lips, and then extending it with the palm towards me. Even from Sa-ni-tsa-rish, who was usually very commu- nicative, and gave me lessons in his language daily, I could gain no information on this subject. As they remained for a day or two drying and cutting up their meat, I employed myself in endeavouring to get some idea of their religious tenets and superstitions. These are at best vague and undefined : to those who understand their ■-'1 u 1 '' If ir << till it t |i I iH I. i I 334 RELIGION. language they cannot explain the theory of their belief, and the only method of attaining any know- ledge of the subject is, by attentive examination and careful comparison of the leading features of their. practice and ceremonial observances. As far as I can learn, their idea of a Divinity is a single presiding Being or Spirit, generally benevo- lent, but changeable, according to the supplies or offerings which he receives of buffalo, of which they dedicate considerable portions to him. (No small part of this dedicated meat is consumed by the medicine-men.) Besides this Supreme Spi- rit, they believe in others of an inferior caste, (like the secondary gods in the Greek and Egyptian, or the genii and gnomes in the Eastern, mytho- logy,) in whom they imagine resemblances to diflPe- rent kinds of animals, as buffalo, deer, bears, &c. Each man considers himself under the peculiar care of one of these inferior deities ; and in seasons of peril, grief, joy, or any other strong excitement, he will work himself up to a high pitch of enthu- siasm, and imitate his tutelary spirit, either by creeping and growling like a bear, or roaring and stamping like a buffalo, and so forth. They never eat or smoke without making a first-offering to the Great Spirit. At a feast or ordinary meal, the first spoonful of maize or mor- sel of meat is placed on the grass for his use ; and, when they smoke, the first whifF is puffed up- ward in honoiir of him ; and generally the two DIVISION OF THE YEAR. 335 succeeding, one on the right, the other on the left, to the buffalo, or some other spirit. In re- gard to futurity, they believe that, if they have been bold hunters and brave warriors, they will, after death, inhabit a country where buffalo will be plentiful, and where the chase, the feast, and the pipe, will form their only occupation. They divide their year into twelve months, of thirty days, to each of which they give a name, descriptive of its peculiar produce, or occupation, as "the corn month" — " the cold month" — " the sowing month" — "the hot month" — "the buffalo month," &c. ; but I find that, with some other Indian tribes, the year consists of six months; and the spring hunt and the winter hunt make the two years.* The 28th of July, which was a beautiful day for buffalo hunting, was entirely lost, (although the animals were close to the encampment and the * A similar method of naming the months obtains among the tribes inhabiting the regions of the Upper Mississippi, as the Ojjibeways, Menomenees (or wild rice-eaters), &c. They divide the year into a certain number of moons, some of which are called after particular berries that ripen at the season, as " Ota-ha-mene Kezus," the wild-strawberry moon — " Meno- me-ne, ka-we Kezus," the wild-rice gathering moon, &c. Other months are called in a similar manner, " Leaf-falling moon," " Deer-rutting moon," " Ice-moon," &c. Mackenzie says that the Knisteneaux, who, like the above-mentioned tribes, are a branch of the Algonkin race or nation, name most of their months after different animals, as " the moon when birds lay eggs" — "the moon when birds cast feathers" — "the moon when the moose sheds his horns," &c. — Vide " Macken- zie'd History of the Fur Trade," p. 100. 336 SOLDIERS. »ii wind favourable,) owing to the superstitious folly of the Indians, or rather, perhaps, to the intrigues of the chiefs. After going through a ceremony some- what similar to the Heathen augury, the Great Spirit was declared by the medicine-men to be un- propiiious for a hunt, and most of the day was con- sumed in electing " soldiers." This is the third class, or caste, among the Pawnees, having their rank next to the Braves ; their office is to watch the buffalo herds and the encampment, and to pre- vent any individual of their own, or another nation, from hunting without their permission ; in the dis- charge of this duty they are authorized to give a severe flogging, with whips of buffalo-hide, to any one, even a chief, who trangresses the rules. These soldiers, under the direction of the great chief and the medicine, have the management of the hunt ; and as there existed some jealousy between the Grand and the Republican Pawnees, they could not settle which party should take the lead on this oc- casion in appointing the soldiers, and the day was lost in disputing. As far as my opportunities enable me to judge, the Republicans are more dangerous and more given to thieving than any other band of Pawnees. A " cerne," or " surround," in this part of the wilderness, requires a great deal of arrangement to render it successful ; and strange to say, it appears to me that the Indians have much less sagacity in this method of hunting than white men. The out- ii^i ■•MAIBtaM^WiiWMili BUFFALO HUNT. 337 line of the plan is simple enough ; it is merely to find out accurately the position of the herd devoted to destruction, and then to send out distant parties, which are simultaneously to approach from differ- ent points, and hem them in on every side. This operation is easy on level ground ; but the country we now traversed was abrupt and hilly, full of deep, sandy, and broken ravines ; thus the approach- ing parties were often concealed from the view of each other ; some would press on too quickly, others arrive too late, and frequently hundreds of buffalo escaped, without a shot, through some steep gorge or valley, which had not been observed nor guarded. The buffalo, huge and unwieldy as he is, goes over the ground at a rate which is surprising ; he bounds along with large though clumsy strides ; and in a rough country he dashes down the steep sides of the broken ravines, making the dust, the sand, and the stones, fly around him with a furious rapidity, that defies the pursuit of a rider who has any re- gard for the neck of his horse or for himself. The female, the constant object of the hunter, from the superior quality and tenderness of her flesh, is be- yond all comparison swifter than the male ; she can run nearly three miles to his two, and gives a very fair chase to a horse of middling speed, fed only on grriss, and carrying a man of ordinary size. More- over, the Indians have neither mercy nor considera- tion for their unfortunate steeds; they ride with VOL. I. 338 BUFFALO SKINS. n ;! reckless fury, and often bring them exhausted and breathless to charge a fresh buffalo. On these occa- sions their temerity is sometimes rewarded by se- vere wounds, sometimes by death ; but the latter is not often the case, so great is their activity and fleetness of foot should their horse be killed. In the last hunt which I described, two horses were gored to death, and one Indian had his arm broken. On the 29th July, the whole village was like one workshop, the women being all employed in clean- ing and preparing the skins, which was not a mat- ter of much importance at this season, as the hair on the buffalo is, according to the usual provision of Nature, poorer and shorter in the summer than in the winter. The skins which they prepare in the former, are chiefly used in the construction of their lodges, the making of laryettes and thongs, as well as of wrappers for bales, &c. It may not be uninteresting to record their process of preparation. They first take the skin and stretch it in the sun, fixing it by small wooden pegs, driven through its border all round, into the earth : when thoroughly dry, they scrape all the hair from one side and the scurfy horny matter from the other, with a kind of crooked chisel, made sometimes of hard wood, more frequently of part of the leg-bone of the buf- falo : they then proceed to soften the skin by spread- ing over it brains or any other mucilage which they can procure. The skins thus prepared are pliant i STllANGE FUEL. 339 and convenient materials for a lodge or tent, and resist the wet tolerably well. The process of prepa- ration for the buffalo-robe in autumn and winter, is something similar as regards the inside of the skin : a good one is worth, at any of the Missouri agencies, three dollars and a half; at St. Louis, five ; and at one of the Atlantic cities, from six and a half to ten, according to the quality : the best are those made from animals killed in October, as the hair is then young, fine, and soft. On the evening of the 29th, both my laryettes (which were very strong and valuable of their kind) were stolen from my two horses, though tied not more than thirty yards from the front of our lodge. I should have been angry, had 1 not felt grate- ful that the rogues had not taken the horses also ! The wood in this region was extremely scarce, and the unfortunate squaws were rambling in all directions to collect buffalo-dung dried in the sun ; of this strange fuel they brought in a great quan- tity : when once thoroughly ignited, it burns very well, emits a strong heat, and its smell is not so offensive as might be expected ; nevertheless, I did not feel disposed to follow the example of my red friends, who squatted close round it in a circle, and threw on it thick slices of buffalo meat, which they allowed to roast there for a minute or two, in actual contact with the fuel, when they picked them out with their knives, and thus dined ! On the 30th, the Great Spirit was still unpropi- m un(l, and er height- innekcnik notionlcss we were venty-five ry-(hince, (ipromptu ected by cr of the and con- prowess banquet, d with a gave a lity little A great question, 3 not his -was he — Is not lin men ? his hand single?" )rding to what I could gather, and to such information us I could gain from the interpreter. At the con elusion of each of these questions he made a pause ; and his audience testified their assent with the customary interjection **Hou! hou!" which they continued a few moments after he had ceased, in a manner less noisy, but similar to the ** hears" which gratify a speaker in the House of Commons when he resumes his seat. Other orators, selected apparently by acclama- tion, though quietly and without confusion, follow- ed in a like strain ; and the feature most remark- able in their style of speaking was the total ab- sence of hesitation, and the apparent facility and fluency of their enunciation. There is great beauty of modulation in the tones of an Indian orator's voice, and T must confess that I have never in civilised life heard one that combined so much terrible fierceness with the soft- est and gentlest accents. The transition from one to the other is rapid, but not ungraceful, because the whole man is imbued with his subject ; and while the praise of hospitality, or a " single tongue," is delivered with a grave and gentle de- meanour, the threatenings of revenge, the recital of a bloody fray, and the declamation of angry invective, transform the orator into a fierce war- rior ; his eye becomes red and dilated — the veins on his forehead start into ridges like cordage, while 344 GRACE BEFORE MEAT. M ^I I the muscular heaving of the advanced and swollen chest, give full eifect to the rapid utterance of the lips and the terrible loudness of the voice. To return to our feast. As soon as these ora- tions were concluded, twenty-five large wooden bowls of maize were placed before the guests, two spoons being placed in each bowl, and the mess- mates being vis-d-vis, and not side by side. Before a morsel was tasted, the first chief set apart one large spoonful, and gave it to the master of the ceremonies, or the officiating medicine-man, who made with his scalping- knife two small holes in the earth ; and having divided the spoonful of maize into two unequal portions, the larger of which was dedicated to the bufTalo (subordinate spirit), the smaller to the Great Spirit, he turned to the east, and three timts bowed his body, at the same time raising and lowering his hands ; then again he turned to the guests, and went through the same ceremonial of benediction, after which the work of demolition began. In many of the feasts which I had previously attended, I had been led to admire the capacity and perseverance of hungry Indians, but I had never before been witness to a trial of speed such as the present. On ordinary occasions, the Pawnee rule of etiquette is, that when the invited guests have eaten as much as they please of the meal set before them, he among them who came in last, and occupies the place furthest from the host — li ..! d swollen ice of the hese ora- 3 wooden uests, two the mess- Before ipart one ;er of the man, who )les in the of maize of which te spirit), led to the the same hen again I the same le work of previously ? capacity ut I had peed such he Pawnee ted guests the meal me in last, he host — RAPID FEEDING. 345 s 'm usually the extreme left — takes the remainder, whether it be buffalo meat or maize, and carries it back to the women of his lodge. An omission of this usage is considered an incivility ; but on the present occasion the rule was, not only that everything must be eaten on the spot, but ohould also be devoured as soon as possible ; and those who were last in this masticatory or digestive race, were laughed at, and lightly esteemed by their competitors. The bowls held about three quarts each of boiled maize, which, from protracted simmering over the fire, had acquired a consistency between that of porridge and paste : this glutinous mass was to be swallowed without the aid of milk, salt, water, or any other assistant whatsoever; and, to crown my misfortunes, I had already been to two common feasts, and had taken my usual quantum of dinner before I received this great medicine-invitation. Of course, my first impulse was to cast an in- quiring look at the corporeal proportions of the partner whom fate (or rather, the great chief) had allotted to me in the approaching trial, in the hope that my eye might rest upon some lanky capacious man, who might have, like Cassius, " a lean and hungry look;" but, alas! it fell upon the round and good-humoured countenance of a plump little chief, who had accom[)anied us from Fort Leavenworth, and whom I knew, from the VOL. 1. z 5 1 RAPID FEEDING. ¥x circumstance of his father having saved the life of my friend. Captain C , of the United States' army, on an occasion when he had been so un- fortunate as to fall into the hands of a hostile Pawnee party. My " fat friend " gave me to un- derstand that his stomach was not in fighting order; and I cast a rueful glance at the great bowl before me, revolving in my mind the va- rious gastric feats performed by Jack the Giant- killer, Fortunio's follower, and other heroes cele- brated in nursery legends ; but there was little time for reflection — the signal was given, and the onset commenced. I have read in travel- volumes, and I nave seen instances, of the extraordinary speed with which the mixed company at crowded American hotel or steam-boat dinners can clear a well-loaded table ; but here they would have been distanced, and beaten beyond all comparison. Neither do I be- lieve that any of them, from a Y'ankee pedlar to a Kentucky boatman inclusive, could have demo- lished one-third of the mess in the allotted time. In all my intercourse with the Pawnees, I made it a rule to humour their prejudices, and to ac- commodate myself to thtjr usages, however absurd. Moreover, I endeavoured to make them believe that I could surpass them in anything which I chose to attempt. I had contrived to give cur- rency to this bfelief, by engaging some of their strongest men in the exercise of throwing, or RAPID FEEDING. 347 " putting," a heavy stone, to which they were altogether unaccustomed ; and, more than once, by shooting with them at a distant mark; where the great superiority of my rifle over their mise- rable guns enabled me to hit an object at a hun- dred and fifty yards, which they could not touch at fifty. I thought it essential to my estimation, if not to my safety among them, to keep up this belief in my superiority ; and even in the present absurd instance I did not wish that our bowl should be the last finished. However, it was in vain that I attacked it with a most determined spirit ; the solid, sticky, indigestible mass resisted my utmost efforts; and while I was labouring at the mastication of small morsels, I could see fragments of one or two square inches finding their easy way down the In- dian-rubber throats of my competitors. Any man who has seen a small short-legged spaniel running after a large rough greyhound, in heather between two and three feet high, can form an estimate of the kind of race in which I was here engaged. Fortunately for my credit, my plump comrade stopped short, and pleaded severe illness (which was, indeed, true, for, instead of stuffing himself with maize, he ought to have been using fever-me- dicine and the lancet) ; and his left-hand neigh- bour, a huge hungry warrior, who had already disposed of his allowance, was permitted to replace him. With the aid of this new ally, my bowl be- ,.:il fi i 348 MANNER OF INVITATION. ' i| ) \ ^*' I came more empty. I contrived to give him the largest spoon, and used other generous devices to bestow upon him at least two-thirds of our mess, of all which movements on my part he seemed per- fectly unconsciou ; but he went quietly on, swal- lowing his portion with imperturbable gravity; and when our bowl was emptied, he seemed as ready to begin another as before. Alas ! even with this powerful auxiliary, I was last but one in the sweep- stakes. The ordinary method of invitation to a feast is as follows : — A boy or lad, not yet classed among the hunters, is sent from the lodge of the host to that of the invited party ; on arriving, he merely mentions the name of the latter, making a slight inclination of the head, when he remains perfectly still until the guest rises to follow him to the feast- ing-lodge. These young messengers are provok- ingly persevering in the discharge of their office, and will find the victim of their politeness however desirous he may be of absenting himself. On one occasion, having eat'-n three or four dinners of buffalo meat, and dreading another invitation, I took my rifle and strolled along the banks of a creek for two or three miles, until I found a few dwarf elders, which promised the luxury of a little quiet and shade. I lay down bc-i>w them, drew a volume from my pocket, and began to read. I had been thus occupied not more than ten minutes, when I heard a gentle voice by my side e him the devices to our mess, semed per- on, swal- .vity; and as ready with this he sweep- a feast is ed among le host to le merely ig a slight 1 perfectly the feast- e provok- leir office, 5 however On one inners of itation, I inks of a md a few of a little 3m, drew ;ad. than ten ^ my side CONTRASTED TEMPERATURE. 349 call me by name, NgshA,da-t^-ka, (white-chief) ; I looked up, and saw a boy about twelve years of age, who had followed or tracked me all this dis- tance to summon me to a feast. I was obliged to replace Milton in my pocket and follow my young tormentor, under the penalty of insulting the In- dian who had sent him. August 1. — This day was, I believe, the anniver- sary of my arrival in the United States ; but how different in character and temperature ! The wind blew from the north-east, accompanied by a driz- zling rain, over an ocean of prairie, where there was neither tree nor mountain to check its sweeping course ; and the day was certainly as raw and cold as an average November in Scotland ; whereas, on the same day last year, the thermometer in the shade at New York was at 98° Fahrenheit. The character of the country was somewhat changed since we left the north branch of the Kanzas river, as it became gradually more flinty. The only vegetation was the prickly pear and the grass ; which last, though very short, is sweet and nutritious, and would, I believe, make excellent sheep-pasture, but the wolves would be the only shepherds ; for assuredly no human being could re- side permanently in this barren wilderness, ill-sup- plied as it is with water, and worse with fuel. We wasted day after day in idleness, and began to be most heartily tired of our Pawnee friends. (■ i\ 1 350 A STAMPEDO. CHAPTER XVIIl. ? V A Stampede. — Number of Horses in the Encampment. — Mo- cassins. — Prickly Pears — Feet wounded by them. — Indian Surgery. — Improvident Inactivity. — Desire to return to the civilised World. — Indian Extortion. — Medical Faculty — Mode of Practice. — Stroll after Nightfall. — Narrow Escape. — Scar- city of Water. — Haitans. — Buffalo Hunt. — Dinner on raw Buffalo Meat. — Long Shot at an Antelope. — Advantage of the Bow over the Rifle in Buffalo Hunting. — Value of the Buffalo to the Western Tribes. — An Accident. — Extraordi- nary Spot. — Bird Nesting. — My Library. — Thoughts of Home. — Herd of Buffalo. In the last six days we had travelled but few miles ; and, except in pursuing my difficult and unsatisfactory inquiries into tht. customs and lan- guage of the Pawnees, I had little to relieve the diriy monotony of our lives. One evening, how- ever, we had a magnificent specimen of a scene of which I had previously seen instances of a more partial character ; this is called by the white traders a Stampedo ; a most expressive word, which the fol- lowing sketch may serve to explain : — About an hour after the usual time at which the horses were brought in for the night, hobbled, and otherwise secured near the tents and fires of A STAMPEDO. 351 their respective owners, an indistinct sound arose, like the muttering of distant thunder. As it ap- proached it became mingled with the howling of all the dogs in the encampment, and with the shouts and yell', of the Indians. In coming nearer, it rose high above all these accompaniments, and resembled the lashing of a heavy surf upon a beach. On and on it rolled towards us, and partly from my own hearing, partly from the hurried words and actions of the tenants of our lodge, I gathered that it must be the fierce and uncontrollable gallop of thousands of panic-stricken horses. As this living torrent drew nigh, I sprang to the front of the tent, seized my favourite riding- mare, and, in addition to the hobbles which con- fined her, twisted the long laryette round her fore- legs, then led her immediately in front of the fire, hoping that the excited and maddened flood of horses would divide, and pass on each side of it. At the same time I directed my servant to secure another of my horses ; but he was so confused and astonished by the roaring tumultuous sound, that he seemed to have thought that the Shiennes were again attacking us — and, instead of following my instructions, ran about, before and in the tent, look- ing for pistols ! As the galloppi ig mass drew nigh, our horses began to snort, prick up their ears, and then to tremble ; and, when it burst upon us, they became completely ungovernable from terror. All broke loose and joined their affrighted companions. SJ» H £' 352 A STAMPEDO. except my mare, which struggled with the fury of a wild beast, and I only retained her by using all my strength, and at last throwing her on her side. On went the maddened troop, trampling, in their headlong speed, over skins, dried meat, &c. and throwing down some of the smaller tents. They were soon lost in the darkness of night and in the wilds of the prairie, and nothing more was heard of them save the distant yelping of the curs who con- tinued their ineffectual pursuit. This is a Stampedo, and is one of the most extraor- dinary scenes I have ever witnessed, as may easily be imagined by any one who reflects that this race of terror is run in darkness, only partially lighted by the fitful glare of half-extinguished fires, and that it is moreover run by several thousand steeds, driven by terror to ungovernable madness. The first origin of the panic I never could learn ; but its conse- quences were such as might be supposed, namely, that the whole of the following day was occupied in driving back, securing, and appropriating the horses to their respective masters. I do not think that many were lost to their rightful owners. For my part, I lost none ; but, by a strange inconsequence of honesty among my Pawnee friends, all my halters and laryettes, broken or unbroken, were taken away. The reader may imagine that it was impossible for me to ascertain, with any approach to accuracy, the number of horses in the Pawnee encampment ; but, lest he should be disposed to consider the above de- HORSES IN THE CAMP. 352 scription exaggerated, I will subjoin the facts upon which I founded my calculation. There were in all about six hundred lodges. Some of the poorest families had perhaps only two or three horses, wherewith to transport all their meat, skins, children, and the poles and other articles composing the lodge ; but many of the chiefs and Braves, who had been successful in war-parties, had from eight to twelve. My old chief, Sa-nl-tsa-rish, had been robbed of most of his horses the preceding year by a hostile party of Sioux, and he gave me to understand, that his eldest son was now on an excur- sion beyond the Arkansas, to trade for some with the Camanch^s, Haitans, and other Southern tribes; meanwhile he had only five or six, and those of the meanest description. But I examined more than once the stud of the great chief, and of his son Pa^- ta^'-la*-cha'r6 ; the latter had three or four mules and fifteen or twenty horses ; the former at least thirty, among which were some wild, some Spanish, and three of American breed. After this little incident, we resumed our usual routine of feasts of buffalo meat, and sometimes half-boiled maize, bruised or whole, eight or ten times a day. As hunting was strictly forbidden, the only change from these continual and uninviting meals, was to lie in the close and dirty lodge, where the perpetual squalling of children rendered reading almost impossible. The squaws in our lodge con- tinued to be very kind to me, and often was I roused VOL. I. 2 a S54 MOCASSINS. / ■" iV I 1,11 from a reverie or a short sleep by feeling them tickle my feet, in endeavouring to fit upon them a pair of mocassins which they had made for me. It is well known that the mocassins of almost all the tribes differ from each other in fashion and or- nament ; and if an experienced prairie hunter fintla one in the wilderness, he can form a shrewd guess at the tribe of him who di opped it. Among them all I think the most ugly and shapeless are those of my friends the Pawnees ; however, as the squaws gave them to me, I felt bound to wear them : and my gallantry cost me dear, for the plain where we were camped was full of prickly pears,* and those too the coarsest and largest which I had yet seen ; some of the thorns on the leaves were four or five inches long, with a kind of bulb or barb at the point, sup- posed to be slightly charged with poison. How the Indians avoid them in the dark I cannot learn ; cer- tain it is, hov/ever, that in going about camp after dusk I wounded my feet repeatedly, though I could not see many Indians lamed by them. But at last I received so severe a lesson that I was obliged to give up my mocassins, and take again to my thick shoes, until we should leave this sandy region. I was going out to feast at the lodge of a Tapage Brave, who lived at some distance, and the evening had closed in before I reached it. My path lay through a bed of these odious plants. I put * The botanical name is Cactus ferox. INDIAN SUIKJERY. 355 my left foot upon one, and receiving a smart punc- ture, leaped forward, and came with my right foot, and with all my weight, full upon another ; a strong thorn ran an inch or two into my foot below the in- step, and as I stumbled, broke off nearly even with the skin. I limped forward as well as I was able, and finding my host sitting behind his fire, accosted him with the usual salutation, ** L6w-a,," and, ac- cording to Indian custom, took my seat by him in silence, without mentioning my hurt, although my foot felt as if on fire. He happened to be a good- natured fellow, and while the squaws were separat- ing, and laying before each of the guests a buffalo- rib, he pointed to my foot, and said, *' The Chalick's ta-ka is hurt." I told him, with as much indifference as I could affect, that a thorn had gone through my mocassin, and was now deep in my foot. He said one of his young men should take it out ; and gave directions to a youth of about twenty to come for- ward. When the stocking and mocassin were re- moved, and my white foot and ankle were uncovered, with a small blue circle of inflammation round the heel of the thorn, a look passed among the dusky figures who were around me, which I interpreted into a kind of insulting pity for the tender skin of the pale-face. My indignation made me forget the pain. The young man succeeded, after sundry efforts, in getting hold of the end of the thorn ; and he began to pull it gently, but strongly, from its bed. 2a 2 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) Z 1.0 I.I |4£ lU 1 2.8 2.5 12.2 20 1-25 1.4 11.6 ^ 6" ► Photogr^hic Sciences Corporation 23 WBT MAIN STRUT WiBSTIR.N.Y. 14SS0 (71«)«72-4S03 4^ >\ '^ 356 IMPROVIDENT INACTIVITY. ill Fortunately, it was very large and tough, and did not break, but, as the barb met with much resistance as he drew it through the inflamed parts, I thought I had never felt a more acute pain for a moment or two; but the iron visages and glaring eyes around me effectually steeled my pride, and, except a heightened flush on my face, I believe I went through the sharp, though trifling operation, with as much stoic indifierence as would have been displayed by one of themselves. I believe that an involuntary exclamation, or shrinking of the body, would have lowtred me much in their estimation ; as it was, the young man showed the thorn, with the blood upon it, to the Brave, who said " Ugh !" and the feast proceeded. I walked home, like a culprit of old, among hot ploughshares, and put away my mocassins in my saddle-bags. The folly of the Indians in wasting so much valuable time was to me almost incomprehensible, when it is considered that their whole winter supply of provisions depends upon the summer hunt. They would be obliged to return to their village in three or four weeks, or they would lose their crop of maize ; but their thoughtless improvi- dence is proverbial. Several causes of anxiety an- noyed me. I had lost by fatigue, and the incursions of hostile tribes, four of my original stock of horses ; neither was the remainder in a very effective condi- tion. My German companion, as well as both my ^ i DESIRE TO RETURN. 357 attendants, were most anxious to return to the civi- lized world ; and I confess we had few induce- ments to remain. I therefore examined the con- tents of my packs, in order to see whether I had still enough to purchase two or three horses. There appeared more than sufficient to buy them at their usual price, namely, one pair of Macki- naw blankets, a piece of scarlet cloth, a few ounces of rouge, half a pound of tobacco, some beads or trinkets, and half a dozen knives, such as are commonly used by butchers. The half-Pawnee interpreter gave me no assist- ance ; but he seemed to be upon an understanding with the savages, that, as we were obliged to pur- chase horses at any rate, it was as well to make us- pay handsomely for them ; indeed, no Yorkshire dealer, nor Channel pilot, nor Yankee pedlar, ever outdid the iniquitous enormity of their deman'is. Nor were the young men whom we spoke to, in reference to acting as our guides homeward, much less unreasonable than the horse-dealers. I agreed, however, with one (a younger brother of Sa-nl-ts^-rish), and an active lad related to him. The bargain, which was the best that I was able to make, was, that I agreed to give them, on arriving at Fort Leavenworth, the value of three or four horses. Nevertheless, I was not so angry at this extortion as at the other, because the guides must experience much fatigue and difficulty in (I '9 ill i 1 1 ' 338 INDIAN EXTORTION. taking us over so extensive a wilderness ; besides which, they ran no little risk of falling in with stray war or hunting-parties of Shiennes, Sioux, Ricaras, or other hostile Indians, who would cer- tainly scalp them, and probably us also, for being in their company. The avarice and extortion here complained of form a strange contrast with the open and constant hos- pitality of Indians in regard to food and clothing ; but, of all the rogues in the tribe, those most pre- eminent in cheating and hypocrisy are the " me- dical faculty." These fellows are of a kindred character with the Augurs, or great medicine men, and are, in fact, a lower branch of the same de- partment. Any ignorant idler who takes it into his head to become a doctor, gives notice of it to the Pawnee world by assuming a solemn deport- ment, wearing his robe with the hair outwards, and learning to make a noise in his throat, which is distinctive of his profession, and which resembles the sound made by a person who is gargling for a relaxed uvula. Here his medical studies and accomplishments end; and his reputation depends entirely upon the result of his first attempts, which must evidently be altogether fortuitous. In great cases, such as a broken leg or mortal disease of a chief, the medicine-men are called in to assist with their mummery ; but the treatment of ordinary diseases by these practitioners will be MEDICAL FACULTY. 359 understood by my noting down accurately what took place at the daily and nightly visit of the doctor who attended our chiefs lodge. The pa- tient was one of the children, gradually and cer- tainly dying, from shameful maltreatment, under the hooping-cough. It should, however, be re- membered, in exculpation of the Galen, that the parents fed the child three or four times a-day with enormous meals of half-boiled maize or buffalo meat, each of which acting as an emetic, enabled the wretched little sufferer to swallow its successor. The learned doctor stalked into the lodge with all the dignified importance of the most practised pulse-feeler, rarely deigning to salute the parents or other inhabitants. He then stooped down over the child ; took a little earth in his hand, which he moistened with saliva, and, with the pre- cious mixture thus formed, he anointed the shoul- ders, the foreheed, and other parts of the child, especially the pit of the stomach ; then approach- ing his mouth to this last, and covering with his robe his own head and the person of his patient, he commenced the gargling operation to which I have before alluded. This I have known him frequently to continue for three or four hours at a time, when he left the unfortunate sufferer as he found it, without having used friction or embrocation, or administered medicine of any kind whatever. It only remains to add, respecting the disciples 360 MEDICAL FACULTY. of iEsculapius, that if the patient recovers, their fame is blazed abroad, and they receive in horses, meat, blankets, &c. a fee much higher in propor- tion to the wealth of any of the parties, than was ever given to Sir Astley Cooper or Sir Henry Hal- ford. If the patient dies, the doctor is considered " bad medicine," and generally leaves the profes- sion for a year or two, during which time, he pursues the ordinary avocations of stealing, hunting, or fight- ing, until his ill name is forgotten, or some fortunate incident has obtained for him a white-washed repu- tation. Such is a sketch of the Pawnee faculty. As I alluded lately to the hospitality of this, as of other tribes, I should qualify those expressions by mentioning, that although I considered my life, and my property, even to the merest trifles, safe, while under the shelter of my old chief's lodge, I am not justifiable in making the same assertion respecting all the other Indians of the tribe ; that is, I was his guest, not their guest ; and the old man himself warned me and my companion re- peatedly, that there were " many bad men about," and that we should not, on any account, stray from the encampment after dusk. Of course, we did not neglect this caution ; but, on one afternoon we ran some risk of paying a severe penalty for having forgotten it. We had been to a feast, given by a chief whose lodge was near the boundary of the camp; and, after taking our leave, were tempted, by the ex- STROLL AFTER NIGHTFALL. 361 treme beauty of the evening, to take a short ramble and enjoy the cool freshness of the twilight. We wandered on, and became so much interested in talking over home (as we then styled Fort Leaven- worth), and our plan for reaching it, that we were unconscious of the distance we had walked, until a pause in the conversation, and the deepen- ing shades, warned us of our imprudence. I turned round and saw an Indian following us, with his bow in his hand and a quiver full of arrows at his back. I looked at my own belt and that of my companion, and became convinced of the unplea- sant truth, that we were both entirely unarmed. I asked him if he had not even a pocket-pistol or knife. Knives we had, but gun or pistol none. . It was the first time that I had laid aside my firearms, and the first time that either of us had disregarded the old chief's warning. There was something most galling, and I might al- most add, fearful, in the idea of the possibility of our being shot down there, like two deer, without the chance of a struggle for our lives, and where none but the savage, at whose mercy we were, could ever learn the manner or place of our death. Such thoughts pass through the mind with a ra- pidity unknown to the pen. But we had no time to deliberate : hesitation, when dealing with In^ dians, is certain destruction : indeed, among white men it is often little better. We agreed to turn instantly, and walk quickly S62 SURLY INDIAN. r< ' up to him, with the further arrangement, that if we saw him draw out an arrow to jfit it to his bow, we would both run upon him at once, and, as he could shoot but one, the other might use his knife as he best might. We put this plan in execution, and he was evidently taken by surprise. He was an Indian whose face I did not remember to have seen before ; and a more malignant scowl- ing visage I never beheld. In an instant we were at his side; and I gave him the saluation of the evening with as little dis- trust and as much confidence in his intentions as I could assume. I got nothing but a short growl for an answer. He appeared desirous that we should prosecute our walk, and let him remain again behind : but I told V to keep him now that we had got him, and not to let him leave us on any pretence, as, at these close quarters, where his bow was unserviceable, either of us was a match for him in strength. I could get no words from him ; his eye was troubled, and his whole look villain- ous. I told him carelessly, that " it was late, and it was good to go back to our chiefs ;" and, half lock- ing my arm in his, we returned towards the camp. When we had reached a point whence we could see the fires, and from which the noise of a struggle would reach the outposts, we felt comparatively se- cure. Immediately before us were some very small mounds, or hillocks ; and, as we approached them. NAIIROW ESCAPE. 363 our Indian broke from us, and, running forward, spoke in a hurried accent to two or three of his red brethren, who lay concealed, and when on the ground, were scarcely distinguishable. His com- munication to them was doubtless to the effect that the plan had failed ; for, on receiving it, they stole off in various directions. It was now pretty evident that this party of rogues had watched us when we began our walk, and had despatched one of their number to fol- low us stealthily. When we had wandered suf- ficiently far to prevent any chance of discovery from the noise of a struggle reaching the caipp, he would have returned, brought them with him, and have shot us, in order to get possession of our clothes, knives, and such weapons as they might suppose us to have. I may do them wrong ; but this is my firm conviction as regards their inten- tions towards us. If we had there lost our lives through our folly in neglecting warnings, and going moreover unarmed, it must be confessed we should have deserved our fate. I was glad to sit down again in old Sa-ni-tsa-rish's lodge, and of cou • •=? said nothing to him of the incident. We had nc proof whereon to ground an accusation, and 1 always avoided even the slightest appearance of distrust. On the 2d of August we broke up our encamp- ment at daylight, and moved on about twelve miles south ; halted, and pitched our tents by the side of I 'i f 364 SCARCITV OF WATER. » I, a small muddy streamlet, which we were glad to find not quite dry. Indeed, if one wished for an illustration of the delusive nature of many of our fondest hopes and expectations in life, I scarcely know where to find one more apt and appropriate than the constant disappointment to which the tra- veller is liable in this western wilderness. He pur- sues his weary way under a burning sun, until, half exhausted by heat and fatigue, he sees in the dis- tance a curved green line of poplar or small cotton- wood trees, by which the course of a stream or creek is always indicated. Cheered and refreshed by the view, he spurs on his jaded horse, and arrives, at length, at the wished-for point, where he sees, to his dismay, the hot sunbeams reflected from white stones and dry sand — which form, indeed, in spring or winter, the bed of a river ; but where he might now search in vain for a drop of water to cool his parched tongue ! That drop is a luxury which he must again search for, and which may cost him another hour or two of weary travel ; and fortunate is he if it does not cost him half a day. To proceed. At mid-day we went to hunt buf- falo. There were marks and indications of large herds; but the beasts had been frightened away by a war-party of Haitans, who had been here only the night before. These Indians were not at war with the village in which I was living, but with the Pawnee Loups, who stole some horses from them last year, and the principal IIAI'^\NS. 365 band of whom were now hunting to the northward of us. The Haitans seem to be a small wandering tribe, who generally roam between the countries inhabited on the north by the Pawnees, and on the south by the Camanches ; and their principal em- ployment seems to consist in stealing horses from the Mexican and other traders, and selling them to their more powerful neighbours. I learned distinctly from the Pawnees, that many of their horses had come from the Haitans ; and as certainly that a great proportion of the guns and other articles annually distributed (as before stated) among the Pawnees, find their way to this rambling tribe, in payment for their horses. At this time S&-nf-tsS-rish's eldest son was upon a trading expe- dition with them, as J have before mentioned, and his return with a few horses was daily expected. The old chief seemed to await his arrival with the greatest anxiety. I could not start so early in the chase this day as some of my red brother hunters ; so the cows and the advanced guard of the herd were many miles a head before I came on the field of action. I was now so sensible of the vital importance of sparing my horses as much as possible, that I con- tented myself with witnessing and assisting in the slaughter of a few scattered fugitives. I was, more- over, ravenously hungry and almost faint for want of food, for it was now about four o'clock in the afternoon ; I had eaten nothing since noon of n 366 A BUFFALO SHOT. ''li ' I the preceding day, and had been since dawn in the saddle, under a most oppressive sun. I came to a spot where a young bull had been slightly wounded by two or three arrows, the owners of which were now walking round and round him, at a respect- ful distance, as he had turned to bay, and con- fronted his nearest antagonists with a most deter- mined air. An Indian does not often shoot at a buffalo whose head is towards him, knowing the impenetrable nature of his forehead, and of the shaggy mantle of hair which protects the fore part of his body : besides which, these men and their horses were wearied by the long gallop which the pursuit had given us. As I approached, they asked if " the white chief would kill the buffalo with his great gun ?" I gave my assent, and, going up within sixty yards, wounded him with my first, and killed him with my second ball. I reloaded my rifle, while the Indians cut him up with a speed which appeared to me, even among them, unexampled ; indeed, they were nearly fa- mished ; and as they squatted on their hams round the huge animal, and devoured large slices which they cut off yet warm, a civilized man might have doubted whether they were wolves or human beings. But / was no longer a civilized man — hunger had triumphed over the last traces of civilization — I received with thankfulness, and ate with eagerness, a good piece of the warm liver, untouched by fire, water, or salt, and I found it as agreeable to the A LON(i SHOT. S67 pnlato, and as tender as any morsel I ever tasted. It must sound horrible to others, as it did to me a few weeks ago, but let none condemn me till he has been in a similar situation. Here a little incident occurred, which was pro- bably of great use to me in raising to a height altogether undeserved, the Indians' opinions of my powers, as a marksman; and I feel assured, that none of the party who witnessed it, nor any of those to whom they may have related it, would ever ap- proach me openly with hostile intent. While we were enjoying our Sybarite meal of raw meat, an Indian next to me uttered the usual Ugh, (by which they express the presentation of any new ob- ject to their eyes,) and pointed to an antelope which which was galloping along the side of a small rising ground opposite to us, at a distance much beyond the ordinary rifle-range for so small an object ; the other Indians also looked at it, and I caught up my rifle which lay at my side; they all shook their heads and said, it was " no use ; it was too far for the white chief's gun." I know not what strange presentiment inspired me with confidence, but I told them quietly it was " quite easy — I would shoot." I stepped out, and put up the highest sight of my rifle, so as to give my ball sufficient elevation, and taking an aim rather hasty than careful, I pulled the trigger. Much more to my own astonishment than to theirs, my ball went through both the hind-quarters of I A 368 THE BOW AND ARROW. -4 the antelope. Shouts of admiration and surprise were raised by the savages, who ran to secure the little prize ; but I pretended that it was a mere matter of course, said nothing, laid down my rifle, and continued my meal. This is one of the most extraordinary chance shots that I ever made, (as I do not pretend to any great skill with the rifle ;) I measured the distance by stepping it soon after- wards, and made it two hundred and ten yards ; which is certainly a long shot, when it is considered that the animal is not much larger than a grey- hound, and was running at speed. I was much amused for the next hour, by seeing the sly glances which the Indians stole from time to time at me and my short rifle ; then they would look at each other with an expression which seemed to say, " we had better keep clear of that man and his gun !" While we were discussing this uncouth meal, some of the hunters, who had obtained the best start, and who were well-mounted, came. up with the large herd, and killed about two hundred. And here I may remark, that the bow and arrow is be- yond all question the most effective weapon for kill- ing buffiilo ; it would be so even in the hands of an indifferent archer, because it is only necessary to have a well-trained horse, who is sufficiently fleet to over- take the game, but who will not pass them, so as to incur the danger of their formidable horns ; the hun- ter may then gallop up behind them, keeping al- ways on their right flank, so as to have the free use THE BOW AND ARROW. 369 of his bow, and when within five or six yards, shoot one or two arrows into the loins in the oblique di- rection, which the relative position of the parties renders easy and almost unavoidable. Even if, as I before said, the archer be but an indifferent one, and the arrows only enter four or five inches into the fiank, every motion that the poor animal makes brings some new portion of his wounded interior in contact with the sharp arrow-head, and he soon seeks relief in standing still, when he is either left to a slow and lingering death, or becomes an easier mark for a deliberate aim. But with the Pawnees, at least among the Braves and warriors, it is very rare that only a few inches of the arrow enter ; on the contrary, unless it strike full upon a rib-bone, it generally penetrates two-thirds of its length, and is often buried up to the feathers ; indeed, I have seen the greater part of the feathers buried also, and have been assured by many, both Indians and white traders, that they have frequently known an arrow to be sent clean through a buffalo, and to stick into the ground ; this last I never saw, but I can believe it. In shooting these animals with ball the risk is much greater, for when wounded they feel less pain in motion than in remaining still ; and, therefore, they gallop either away from, or in pursuit of, the hunter, until they receive the mortal shot. I cannot convey any just impression of the total dependence of the remote western tribes on buffalo, for their very existence, without giving a sketch of VOL. I. 2 B 370 VALUE OF THE BUFFALO : it 1 ''^ |l; m .|:. ., m m i Ifi t^HnJ \\ the various purposes for which that animal is, by their ingenuity, rendered available. First, Its flesh is their principal, sometimes their only, food ; eaten fresh on the prairies during their hunt, and dried, in their winter villages. Secondly, The skin is put to various uses ; it forms the material of their lodges, of their bales for packing the meat, of their bed by night, and their clothing by day ; the coarser parts they make into saddles, or cut into laryettes or halters; and more than all, it is now their chief article of trade with the whites, and thus is the source whence they must derive blankets, knives, beads, and every other produce of civilisation. Thirdly, They use the sinews as strings to their bows, and the smaller fibres instead of twine or thread; the brains serve to soften and dress the skins, while (as is elsewhere noted in this journal) the hoof, at the end of the shank-bone, is made to answer the purpose of a mallet. Fourthly, The bones are not less useful ; some of them being ser- viceable as scrapers, or coarse chisels,* others are pointed, and used with the finer fibres as needle and * The classical reader will be interested in being reminded of the singular resemblance which the details of Indian customs bear to those of the Scythians, as described by Herodotus, who notices the " scraping the flesh from the skin of the ox with an instrument formed from his rib " and also the method of '* scalp- ing their enemies, and wearing the scalp-locks attached to their dress or horses' bits, he that possessed the most being esteemed the bravest warrior ;" every word of which description is strictly applicable to the Missouri Indians. See « Herod. Melpomene," cap. 61 — 64. TO THE WESTERN TRIBES. 371 mal is, by t, Its flesh ,od; eaten id dried, in n is put to leir lodges, leir bed by >arser parts aryettes or their chief thus is the :ets, knives, civilisation. igs to their of twine or d dress the this journal) , is made to •urthly. The Im being ser- l* others are ,s needle and thread ; and the ribs, strengthened by some of the stronger fibres, are made to furnish the bow with which other buffalo are to be destroyed : this last is the triumph of Indian ingenuity. The first bow that I saw constructed in this manner caused so much surprise and admiration, that I offered nearly the value of a horse for it, but was refused.* When I add to the forgoing particulars, that on the barren prairies the Indians frequently depend upon the buffalo for their fuel, and on its bladder for the means of carrying water, it will not be denied that the animal is essential to their existence ; and where the buffalo is exterminated, the Indian of the prairies must perish. ' - ; On this same afternoon, a trifling accident went very near to mar my sports for the future, besides abridging my means of personal defence. I was riding at full speed, down a steep hill, after a fat young bull, that was only one hundred yards a-head, and as my horse was both awkward and weary, I had slung my rifle by a leathern belt across my * I am not aware that ancient history affords any instance of the construction of a bow from the ribs of an animal, but the horns were sometimes applied to that purpose. The classical reader is referred to Virg. Eclog. x. v. ; jiEneid. xi. v. 773 ; Ovid's Met. V. 383 ; Hom. Iliad, 8. v. 105 ; and Lycoph. Cas- sandra, V. 564. The habit of strengthening wooden bows with the fibres of animals has been observed among the Esquimaux. See « Ellis's Voyage to Hudson's Bay," p. 138. At a later period of my stay in the western country I procured a bow similar to the one described in the text, which is still in my possession. 2 B 2 372 AN ACCIDENT. i f m i 'I ' 'i ,. :i ^1 ! J3' - • 1 , I L^ W'l shoulders, in order to have both my hands at liberty to guide and support him. In spite of these precautions, he put one of his fore-feet into a hole and fell head over heels. I rolled some yards further than the horse, and was not sorry on get- ting up to find that, with the exception of a few slight bruises, my limbs were all entire ; but my rifle had disappeared, and I was almost afraid to look for it, knowing the extreme probability of my find- ing it broken in half, or otherwise irreparably damaged. However, I found it lying on the ground not far from me ; the only injury it had sustain- ed was the loss of the screws and rivets which had held the sling-belt, and which had been broken off by the shock of my fall. Altogether I came off much better than I expected, and returned at a sober pace to the encampment, neither I nor my steed being in good plight for any more hunting on that evening. After supping heartily on bufialo meat {roasted, not raw), I trimmed my pencil, and wrote the fore- going half-dozen pages of journal, putting to myself the query, " When I get back to Fort Leavenworth (if I ever do get back there), will they be legible, after the rubbing, wetting, and other annoyances, to which they are constantly liable ?" On the 3rd of August I strolled o^t with my rifle to examine one of the most extraordinary objects of curiosity which I had seen in the western prairies, and which was only two miles from our camp. U: i EXTRAORDINARY SPOT. 373 I regret on this, as on many other occasions, that my ignorance of geology and mineralogy renders me unable to give a satisfactory description of this spot. From the centre of the plain there rises an abrupt and precipitous range of what appears at first sight to be rock, but which, on nearer examination, proves to be a soft crumbling argillaceous substance, in- tersected by strata of lime and shells. Along the base of these heights are scattered a vast profusion of stones, much darker in colour than the hill from which they have evidently fallen. They are of all forms and sizes, some as large as a thirty-two pound shot, and others no larger than a child's marble; they are generally round or oval, but I observed many irregular shapes among them. They seemed to me as if the principal ingredient in their composition was iron, and their surface is entirely covered by small, pointed, and regular projections, like the crystallisations in Derby and other spar specimens. I determined to carry home (if per- mitted to carry anything home) a few of the more moderate sized, and to submit them to the exami- nation of some geologist.* The heights themselves bear every eviden^*e of having projected much further than they now do into the plain ; and the soft friable substance of * Some of them are round and smooth as grape-shot, and the speci6c gravity of all indicates the quantity of iron which they contain. The fatigues and accidents of my return-journey pre- vented my carrying any of these specimens back to the United States. ! 'f 'I '!>. .' i 374 BIRD-NESTING. which they are composed renders them liable to be acted upon by the elements, especially water or melting snow. Indeed they wear away so fast, that the Indians assured me they vary in form, and in fact recede in some places several feet in the course of every four or five years ; consequently there re- main, standing in front of them, huge masses of the same formation as the cliffs themselves, which look like the gigantic columns of some mighty though ruined portico. They are of various dimensions in diameter, but generally sixty or seventy feet in height ; the Indians told me that a few years ago they were much higher, and were crowned with buffalo horns, dedicated to the Great Spirit.* Among these huge broken pillars, and in the crevices of the main cliff, the " temple-loving martlet" " Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle/' and plays around them, amid a swarm of twitter- ing and wheeling companions, as numerous as those which I have seen on a summer evening on the banks of the Thames. But even here the winged emigrant is beset by dangers, almost as fatal as those which threaten him in those crowded haunts where the mischievous schoolboy practises on him his maiden fowling-piece ; for I found a regiment of Indian boys climbing like monkeys among the re- * Similar offerings to the Great Spirit, or to the Medicine, are occasionally met with in various parts of the region between the United States' frontier and the Rocky Mountains. MY LIBRARY. 375 cesses of the precipice for nests and eggs; while others let fly their bird-holt at any unfortunate martin who ventured to alight or rest near his assaulted home. This picturesque and jagged out- line of hills only requires the background of a dark lurid cloud ; and, if viewed from a distance, it will need but little stretch of the imagination to conceive it to be a magnificent castle, fit for the residence of the proudest monarch on earth. When I returned to camp, and found all the squaws busy in cutting up and spreading the meat to dry, I sat down in the lodge, and whiled away an hour in reading. This occupation, whenever I found time to indulge in it, was evidently considered by the Indians my ** great medicine ;" for they saw how completely it absorbed my attention for the time. Frequently my brother, the son of Sd-ni-tsS,- rish, would come and look over my shoulder, and glance his eyes from my face to the book, with a mingled expression of curiosity and surprise. I tried to explain to him that it " talked to me, and told me of many things past, and many far away." Then he would take it up, and turn it round and round, looking steadfastly at the page ; but he said he could hear nothing and see nothing. I explained to him that my pocket Bible was indeed my " great medicine," for it was the " talk of the Great Spirit." To this he would listen with much gravity; but, alas ! I could not pursue the subject, for whenever I attempted to get beyond objects presented to the 376 THOUGHTS OF HOME. senses, my stock both of language and signs was exhausted. My library, on this excursion, was very rich : it consisted of four volumes, all of pocket size — the Bible, Sophocles, the first half of the Odyssey, and Milton. August 4th. — While the men were employed in mending, new-heading, and feathering their arrows, and others had been sent out to observe the motions of the buffalo, the women continued their labours in preparing the skins and meat for packing. I again strolled out with my rifle, alone, to the abrupt banks above-mentioned, in order that I might indulge freely in the sweet thoughts of home which this day suggested — this day which gave birth to one of the most exemplary parents that ever lived, and which also consummated a union, the whole course of which has been marked by peace, mutual confi- dence, and inviolate affection. Wrapped in these musings, I rambled a mile or two beyond the cliffs, and found myself in the strangest formation of ground which I had yet seen : it was a continuation of waves, like the Atlantic when angry. These ravines are from thirty to fifty feet deep, and the same in width, and they display the same kind of gritty friable sub- stratum as the cliffs. They are evidently water- tourses after heavy rains or the melting of snow, and probably change yearly their breadth, depth, and relative position. Riding, or even walking fast, over this portion of country, would be impossible. ■•'JaUca HERD OF BUFFALO. 377 While examining this remarkable scene, I ob- served a small herd of eight or ten buffalo, who had retired from the chase of yesterday to conceal themselves in this natural fastness. Seeing through my telescope that there was no cow among them, I did not want to kill ; but was curious to see how they could get out of the dilemma in which they had placed themselves. Accordingly, I crept to- wards them, and, appearing suddenly and not far oif, gave a shout, and pretended to run on them. They started at full speed ; and, reckless of the broken ravines and ridges, they tumbled, rolled, and scrambled along, with an activity of which I did not believe them capable, snorting and raising clouds of dust that marked to a great distance their headlong course. After watching them till they were out of sight, I returned to the encampment, which I reached early in the afternoon. t \\ •i 378 CAMP MOVED. CHAPTER XIX. Camp moved. — Medicine Council. — Preparation for Hunt- ing. — Martial Appearance of the Chief — his Costume. — The Author's Hunting-Dress. — Conversation with the Chief. —Equipment of the Warriors. — Forced March. — Attack the Herds. — Dangerous Conflict. — Sorry Steed. — Unhorsed Indian. — A young Bull shot. — A Hunter's Meal. — Sus- picious Intruders. — Perplexing Situation. — A Friend in Need. — Return to the Camp. i V August 5. — Moved our camp before four in the morning, and without breakfast; an arrangement peculiarly unpleasant to me, inasmuch as I had gone dinnerless and supperless to bed on the pre- ceding evening. We rode eight or nine miles, and then received intelligence from the scouts that there were several large herds in the neighbourhood. The chiefs accordingly ordered a halt of the tents, women, children, and baggage ; and having held a great medicine council, at which I attended, and at which it was formally announced that the Great Spirit was favourable, it was determined that there was to be a grand chasse. Accordingly, the chiefs, warriors, and Braves sallied forth, accompanied by what we should call, in the highlands, gillies ; that PREPARATION FOR HUNTING. 879 is, younger and inferior Indians, who lead a spare horse, and either give it to their lord when his own is tired, or cut up and carry home the victims of his bow and arrow. This was the most magnificent preparation for hunting that I had yet seen. We marched in three parallel lines ; the chief of the Grand Pawnees occupying the front of the centre, from whence he issued, from time to time, the requisite orders. He was surrounded by a select body of the prin- cipal warriors and medicine-men. With the latter he pretended to consult frequently ; and the whole line was halted until their consultation was ended, when it was immediately communicated from front to rear by running criers, who shouted in the true loud nasal tone of a village bellman. Not a man was allowed to leave the ranks ; and the discipline seemed as strict as among regular troops on a march. Soon the group surrounding the great chief advanced a little in front of the main body, and I attached myself to it for two reasons ; first, I wished to see, and, if possible, to understand, the arrangements made for the chase ; and, secondly, I was anxious to ride by the great chief, and to endeavour, by making him such civil speeches as my limited knowledge of his language, assisted by signs, would permit, to do away the grudge which this malicious, treacherous, and vindictive man seemed to bear me. When I approached, he separated himself from \ ' ; n SHO MARTIAL Al'I'EAUANCE his retinue, whom he did not wish to have within earshot of our conversation, and rode slowly to- wards me. I could not help being struck by his grotesque, yet martial appearance, which I will endeavour to describe. He was mounted on a light dun or cream-coloured steed, whose long mane and frontlock, wild fiery eye, and light active form, showed it to be a child of the Western wilder- ness. Seated in a Mexican peak-saddle, covered with a wolf-skin, he seemed a part of the animal which he bestrode ; so naturally and firmly were the muscular thighs, which his singular dress al- lowed to be visible, attached to the horse's side. On his head he wore a kind of turban, made from a red-silk shawl, from beneath which his small, sly, restless eyes peered with a keen ma- licious expression ; but the most remarkable fea- ture in his unprepossessing countenance was the mouth which, without being large or underjawed,was strongly indicative of many of the most prevalent and dangerous vices of the Indian character. No man of ordinary penetration could look at him without seeing sensuality, falsehood, and the more dark and revengeful passions, stamped legibly on his counte- nance.* On his legs he wore the usual deer-skin * This chief's character, which I here drew, partly from slight observation, partly from the information of others, proved atlerwards to answer exactly to my description. His son, Pa^- ta*-la^-cha'r6, with whom my companion V lodged, was an exact counterpart and copy of him, except that, in personal proportions and strength, he had greatly the advantage over » hii> father. ' OP THE CHIEF. 581 leggins, and on h\s feet braided mocassins, over which were buckled a pmr of huge old-fashioned Spanish gilt spurs. In one huidd he carried a light single-barrelled fowling-pieci?. His girdle, which was another red-silk shttwl, supported a long hunt- ing-knife. In his left-hand he held the reins of a heavy and highly-ornamented Spanish bridle, with a curved bit, long enough to break the jaw of any horse that should venture to pull against it, and which, from the gilt stars, chains, and buckles which adorned it, seemed to have belonged to the same cavallero of the seventeenth century as the spurs which I before mentioned. All this portion of the chief's costume was pic- turesque and in character, but that upon which he chiefly prided himself threw an air of ridicule over the whole (alas ! such a failing is to be found among white as well as red men) — I mean, a com- mon, ill-made, cloth coat, with brass buttons, which had been brought out from Fort Leavenworth by the deputation with whom I had travelled. A lad beside him carried his bow and arrows, in the use of which his dexterity is almost unequalled, and on which he relied for victory, whether over biped or quadruped foes; the gun which he carried being used, like his coat, for show, not use, and both cast away when the chase-signal or the war- cry was given. Such was the chief to whom I now doffed my hat with the usual salutation. We must have been I 382 MY HUNTING DRESS. an excellent pair, if he could only give to the pub- lic as faithful a description of me as I have of him. I will endeavour to do it myself, as impartially as I can. I was mounted on my favourite sorrel;* and she, at least, could bear comparison with the chief's steed in swiftness, strength, and endurance, and was very superior in docility and gentleness : on my head was a broad-brimmed low-crowned hat, which, from having often performed the double office of pillow and nightcap by night, and of umbrella by day, was almost indescribable in respect to form; a blue shirt, and a black-velveteen shooting-jacket with enormous pockets, stuffed full of a strange miscellany of requisites, covered my upper man ; I wore neither neckcloth, braces, nor waistcoat ; round my waist was a strong leather belt, in which were stuck my hunting-knife and a brace of pistols in front, and at the side, a short heavy iron-handled cut-and-thrust sword, such as is sometimes used in Germany in a boar-hunt, and nearly resembling the eld Roman sword ; my nether extremities were protected by a pair of stout corderoy breeches and buckskin leggins, all fitting close to the leg ; and in my right hand was my faithful double-barrelled rifle. I ought to add, that my visage was tanned nearly of an Indian colour, and was ornamented or disfigured by a pair of long mustachios. Such were the two persons who now met to hold conference between the Pawnee lines. I saw at * In England, called roan. CONVERSATION WITH THE CHIEF. 383 once that the chief was vexed and displeased ; so, after two or three brief remarks respecting the fineness of the day, and the abundant marks of buffalo in the prairie, I held my peace, and waited for him to break the ice after his own fashion. It was not long before he did so, by abruptly remark- ing, " It is not good that the NgshadS-ta-ka (the white chief) does not visit the lodge of the grand chief." I told him, as well as I could, that I had travelled with Sa-ni-ts^-rish from the white men's country — that he was good to me — that he was my father, and that it would not be good for me to leave his lodge. He returned to the charge more warmly, saying, " that I was a great white chief, and a friend of his grandfather, (meaning the President of the United States.) That I came to smoke the pipe and to hunt with the Pawnees, and that he was the great chief, and that it was an in- sult to him not to live in his lodge." I repeated again that " I had travelled many days with Sd-ni- tsS-rish before I had seen him — that my companion V had come with his son, Pa^-taMa^-cha'r6, and therefore remained with him ; and that, after eat- ing and sleeping so long in the lodges of our hosts, it would not be right to leave them." Unfortunately, I here touched upon another cord which jarred upon the chief's feelings, by alluding to his son, with whom, as I afterwards learnt, he was by no means upon a friendly footing. My explanation only extracted an " ugh ;" and he N - ...« 384 EQUIPMENT OF WARRIORS. \ W '': soon left me, with a countenance at least as dark and ill-humoured as when he joined me. When he galloped again to the head of his retinue, I could not help admiring the picturesque and warlike appearance of the warriors around him. Some of these were dressed in buffalo-robes, gorgeously painted ; two or three of the principal warriors (who had belonged to the deputation sent to Fort Leavenworth) had been presented with common English round hats ; these they had stuck on their heads, still enveloped in the brown-paper and string in which they had been wrapt up in the store, and which they considered " great medicine :" it was scarcely possible to restrain a smile on seeing a dignified Indian thus accoutred. Others wore blan- kets, blue or white, which hung in negligent folds, or floated gracefully in the wind, according to the speed at which the rider moved ; others again, of the younger chiefs, were attired in the extreme of Pawnee dandyism, in scarlet cloth, with beads on their arms and necks, and all their bridles glitter- ing and jingling with ornaments ; while others re- mained entirely naked, displaying as they rode the faultless proportion of their limbs, and, to the eye of taste, were more gloriously equipped, as they thus came from the hand of the Creator, than their motley and fantastic brethren, whom I have before described. These naked hunters had all a belt round the waist, from which hung a small cloth, or kerchief. ,s. least as dark le. When he itinue, I could and warlike ,im. Some of s, gorgeously cipal warriors >n sent to Fort with common stuck on their iper and string the store, and cine :" it was e on seeing a lers wore blan- legligent folds, wording to the hers again, of he extreme of ith beads on ridles glitter- Ihile others re- they rode the d, to the eye ped, as they or, than their I have before lelt round the 1, or kerchief. ORDERS TO ADVANCE. 385 and in the folds of the belt were concealed their knife, tobacco, tinder, and flint, and the other trifles which an Indian always has with him. On their back was the quiver, every arrow in which was carefully examined and newly-pointed ; * in their right hand the bow, and in their left hand the simple thong or laryette, which was used instead of a bridle ; some had saddles, but the greater part of them only interposed a strip of buffalo's hide be- tween the person and the horse. We rode many miles in this manner, making occasional halts, when the great chief received the reports of the scouts ; and, according to their tenour, sent his proclamations along the line. At length, orders were given to advance at a gallop, but to keep our ranks, none being allowed to go in front of the chiefs, or beyond a certain distance on the flanks, under pain of a severe flogging ; a penalty which the soldiers are by no means remiss in in- flicting.f The buffalo were still at a distance, and we had as yet seen none ; but we continued * It is well known to all travellers who have visited the Indians of the West, that they have two kinds of arrows, one for hunting, the other for war. The former has a head formed like the point of an ordinary lance, or sometimes an isosceles triangle, with a very narrow base ; the latter is barbed like the point of a fishhook, obviously that a wounded enemy may not be able to extract it. t On one occasion a younger son of S4-ni-tsa-rish received a severe whipping for hunting, and bringing us some buffalo meat, contrary to the orders for the day. VOL, I. 2 C ! J 386 FORCED MARCH. .' > 'i; our rapid march for above an hour : and here I could not but admire the activity and endurance of these savage hunters : the day was intolerably hot, and there was scarcely a breath of air to temper the rays of a burning sun. It was now two or three o'clock ; we had been in the saddle, without rest or food, since four in the morning, and were making a forced march, which kept the horses at a short canter, or round trot, of eight miles an hour; yet did numbers of these Pawnees vault off their horses, and run by the side of them, in order that they might be fresh and ready as soon as the bu£Palo should be in sight. My good steed showed some signs of weariness and exhaustion from the extreme heat ; and as I was determined to keep her in order for what might befall me on my return, I dismounted very reluc- tantly, and mounted a small half-broke Indian horse, which my old chief sometimes lent to me. This carefulness of my roan nearly cost me my life, as will soon appear. At length a momentary halt was given, and a hurried proclamation issued, that the " men must be ready." We were drawn up on the side of a hill, below which was a valley, of no great depth, and on the other side another hill, intersected by many ravines, down each of which a black living torrent was pouring into the valley. In fact, a large body of Indians had been sent round to head them; a manoeuvre which they had successfully ex- ATTACK THE HERDS. 387 ecuted, and they were already plying their fatal arrows among the rear herds. A dreadful shout, or yell, was now raised, and we rushed down to meet them, every man striving to be the first to reach the devoted band. As soon as they became aware of these new foes in their front, they seemed to forget all their usual habits of following a parti- cular track or leader, and gallopped in any direc- tion to which chance or terror drove them. It was, indeed, one of the most picturesque sights I ever beheld, to see these hairy monsters rushing with headlong speed down the declivities, snorting, bel- lowing, and regardless of shouts or arrows; some rolling over lifeless under the shafts of their mer- ciless persecutors; some standing still, with erect tail, blood-shot eye, and nostrils frothed with blood, waiting in vain for the crafty enemy to approach within reach of their dying rush ; and others break- ing through all opposition, and studding the most distant part of the landscape with black specks, which gradually diminished, and were at length lost to view. Alas ! I had more leisure for examining this prospect than was altogether agreeable to me as a hunter ; for I was soon aware that the animal on which I was now mounted had neither speed nor strength to carry me among the foremost ranks. The cows are, as I have before remarked, so much more tender at this season, and so much more fleet than the bulls, that they were the chief 2c2 m i'ii i s 11 ? tl i i H n ■ l ri i i f ^■K HIW> Bii 1 ' ■ I f * HB^ii \' ' 388 A MAGNIFICENT BULL. object of pursuit, and were soon driven, by the best- mounted Indians, far beyond my reach. Still I kept gallopping on, in the hope that some fortunate accident might throw me in the way of one which had been overlooked. At length I saw a cow, at the distance of some hundred yards. She was running pretty fast, and apparently unhurt ; but, on coming up to her, I observed an arrow sticking in her flank. The wound did not seem serious ; but, if I had killed her, I should have been obliged to give her meat and skin up to the fellow who shot that arrow ; so I left her to her fate, and deter- mined to wage war with some of the lords of the buffalo race. Accordingly, I rode towards the first whom Fate threw in my way ; and he seemed by no means inclined to hurry his pace, or to change the direction in which he was lazily cantering along. He was indeed a magnificent bull, of the very largest size, and had the thickest fell of hair that I had seen in the prairie. When I came within fifty yards on his right flank, I rode on in a parallel line, not choosing to trust my small and uncertain horse too near to my dangerous neigh- bour ; but whenever I raised my rifle to shoot, the fractious animal jumped and sprang aside, so that it was impossible to take a sure aim. After mak- ing several fruitless endeavours to fire from his back, I dismounted, and throwing the bridle over my left arm, took a deliberate aim at the bull as he cantered past me, at about the same distance of DANGEROUS CONFLICT. 38d fifty yards. The ball struck a few inches behind the heart, but did not touch it ; one moment he paused, as I thought, about to fall, but it was only to glare his eye fiercely upon me, lash his tail, and then to charge me at full speed. It may be be- lieved that I was not long in jumping on my horse and burying the spurs in his flanks ; but so wearied or slow was he, that before he got into a gallop, the bull was within a few yards of me. And now began a race which was run with as hearty good will of the contending parties (at least, I can answer for one of them), as any trial of speed on earth, since poor Hector fled round the walls of Troy. It would have been madness to expend my last bullet in a random shot, so I reserved it for a mortal struggle, in case my horse and I should be overthrown ; and, in the mean time, urged him with hand, leg, and spur to his utmost exertions. In- deed, he required little pressing; for terror lent him wings. Whether any feelings of a similar na- ture occupied his rider, I do not fed called upon to state, as I am not at confession; but, for a dis- tance between seventy and a hundred yards, I knew not how the race would terminate. I looked over my right shoulder, and his thundering hoofs, glaring eyes, and nostrils throwing out bloody froth, were close at my horse's flank. However, I could soon perceive that, from his unwieldy size, and the severe wound I had given him, he was failing in strength ; and accordingly pressed my little horse 890 DANGEROUS CONFLICT. ' '' J V J to place me yet further out of his reach. As soon as he saw that his efforts at revenge had failed, he stopped short, stamped, blew, bellowed, and made all the most furious gestures of rage and pain. When I was again about fifty yards from him, I pulled up, and determined to wait two or three minutes, very prudently reflecting, that, in the mean time, my horse was recovering breath, while my enemy was bleeding, and exhausting him- self by empty demonstrations of fury. As soon as I thought my horse ready for a new race, if neces- sary, I again dismounted, and fired with better aim and effect. The bull staggered a few paces, and rolled in the dust. I was not sorry to see him fall ; for I felt no con- fluence in my horse, and was not by any means sure that the next race, if I had been obliged to run another, would have terminated so fortunately. Indeed, I had been guilty of gross imprudence in dismounting so near to him, while his tail had that peculiar curve and elevation which the Indians call " the mad tail." I had received warning on the subject, but do not remember whether I have before noted it down, that the buffalo, when gallopping in flight, carries his tail like that of ordinary cattle ; when wounded, and at bay, he often lashes it, or carries it over his back ; but when 7nad, or in that mood which induces him to attack anything within his reach, he carries it nearly horizontal, with a slight curve in the middle, like some of the lions in n UNHORSED INDIAN. 391 coats-of-arms. Such had been the case with my late opponent ; and, with so sorry a steed, I ought to have kept at a more respectful distance. Having given him the coup de grace with my hunting-knife, I fortunately saw two Indians, of inferior rank, with a horse, and, calling to them, told them to cut up and carry the meat to the tent of SA-ni-ts3,-rish, and to keep what they chose for themselves. This latter portion of my instructions they obeyed more faithfully than the former ; for they kept it r///, and took none to my old chief. In truth, I was not very anxious about it, as the flesh of this veteran was, probably, as coarse and tough as that of a rhinoceros. My nag being now refreshed by half an hour's rest and grazing, I set off in quest of new ad- ventures, and had not proceeded far before I per- ceived a dismounted Indian, whose horse was ripped up by a buffalo. I hastened forward, and killed the savage animal, which was still goring and stamping on its unhappy victim. On approaching the unhorsed cavalier, I recognised my friend letan, the chief of the Otoes. He knew three words of Eng- lish, and said, " Very good ; very good ; thankie." He then pointed to his thigh, the whole length of which the buffalo's horn had grazed, without enter- ing, and said in Pawnee, " Not good ; not good."* I saw that he was a good deal bruised, and offered * Ka-ko6-ra-he, a word compounded of ka-ki, " not," and to6-ra-he, " good." VOL. I. 2 c 4 I I ; lii 392 A YOUNG BULL SHOT. him my horse; but he hiughed, and declined it, beginning, at the same time, to cut up the quarry. One of his Otoe men coming up, I left them to- gether, and proceeded on my way, congratulating myself upon having escaped better than the chief, who lost his horse, and had to walk back to camp. As I trotted over the plain, I began to feel the cravings of hunger almost to a painful degree, which is not to be wondered at, as I had been twelve hours in hard exercise, without rest, and had eaten nothing on the preceding day. After riding a few miles further, I saw a sraaJ' herd : upon giving chase, a young bull fell belihid the rest, being so fat that he could not keep up with them. After running them a considerable distance, we came to a very narrow steep ravine ; and, as I saw the leaders cross directly up the opposite side, I knew that the i'li gentleman would follow them as well as he was able. Accord- ingly, I dismounted, examined my caps, and pre- pared for a comfortable shot. When all the rest had disappeared over the opposite brow, he toiled lazily up the ascent. As soon as he was exactly in the place where I wished him to be, and not more than forty yards off, I fired. He turned instantly, gave me a fierce look, and began to run straight to- wards me : but the ball had been too true ; he re- quired no second, and rolled dead into the ravine below. A hunter's meal. 393 I now hobbled my horse, took off my jacket, tucked up my sleeves, drew my knife, and prepared to make my coup d'essai as a butcher. Previously to eating my savage and solitary meal, I looked around. There was not a human being in sight to assist me in turning over the body, which is hard work for two ordinary men, but impossible for one : so I was obliged to content myself with skinning only one side. My knife was not very sharp, and those only who have seen and proved the skin of this hairy monster can judge of the labour of the task. After an hour's unremitting work, I suc- ceeded, and then went on to open the body. With- out much difficulty I got at the liver, and began to eat, certainly more like a wolf, or Indian, than a Christian man. After devouring several large morsels, I saw a hunter coming towards me at full speed. He had been unsuccessful, and was hungry. I was nearly choked with thirst, and, as soon as he arrived, made him signs, that if he would fetch me water, I would give him as much to eat as he chose. He nodded assent. We then took out the bladder of the buffalo ; I told him to wash it well, and bring it back full of clear water. He went off at a gallop, and, in about a quarter of an Ixpur, came back, having executed his commission. I cannot say that the water was quite crystal ; but I never enjoyed a more delicious meal than this raw liver, and the water, such as it was. The Indian, also, showed me two or three other morsels, which I 394 SUSPICIOUS INTRUDERS. M n (I I found excellent; and I strongly recommend to any gentleman who may ever find himself simi- larly situated, to break a bone, and suck the marrow.* When he had satisfied his hunger, my new ally made me signs that he was on an errand for one of the chiefs, and must hasten away. Having told him he might go, and seen him depart, I turned again to my dissecting operations; but, ere long, was once more interrupted by the arrival on the spot of two young men, mounted. I did not know either of them ; neither did I much like their appearance. I strongly suspect they belonged to the lUpublique Band, who are always the most mischievous and dangerous Indians in the nation. As we were so far remote from all observation, I thought it better to place my rifle (in which there was one ball), in a position where I could readily snatch it up ; and, with a loaded pistol in my belt, I stooped over the buffalo, as if intent upon it, but actually watching them. When they came up, and had given the usual salutation, they examined the meat, said it was very good, and offered to help me in cutting it up, if I would make them a * I hope the indulgent reader will remember that I had eaten nothing for forty-eight hours, and that the cravings of hunger had rendered me almost mad. I have since shuddered at the wolfish sensations which I remember to have experienced that day. PKriPLEXINO SITUATION. 395 present. This seasonable assistance was not to bo refused ; so I told them, if they would do so, and assist me to place it on my horse, I would give one of them a knife, and the other, one or two papers of rouge. They seemed satisfied, and proceeded to cut away industriously for a few minutes ; and I must confess with skill so superior to mine, that they did more in that time than I could do in half an hour. However, they soon stopped ; and one said he must have my knife, the other that he wanted a trifle that was hanging by a silk chain round my neck. I told them no, — they should have what I origin- ally promised. They seemed very angry at this, and said they would cut no more. I told them, *' it was very good, they might ride on." One then approached, and was proceeding to place on his horse the meat that he and his companion had cut, while the latter sneaked Aund the buffalo, and be- gan to paw and handle the butt-end of the rifle. I did not like the proceedings of these two ill-looking rascals, nor the glances which they exchanged with each other, and not wishing to trust them too far, took up my rifle, and told them gravely that the meat was mine, and they should not take it away, but if they were willing to cut it up, that I would make them the presents I had promised. They said very angrily they would cut no more. I then sat down quietly by the buffiilo, examined the cap of V n f /' II '"I i i 396 PERPLEXING SITUATION. my pistol, and told them that they had better go to the camp ; they muttered a few words together, which I did not understand, and rode off. I then collected all the meat which I and they had cut, and stripping the hide into thongs, strung the masses of flesh, amounting to about a hun- dred weight, upon them in the usual Indian fashion, including the tongue, heart, fat, and what remaimd of the liver. I had not my compass with me, and after the circles and deviations which I had made in the course of the chase, it was by no means easy to find either the distance or direction of the camp, especially as the great chief had sent back messen- gers after the hunt began, ordering them to move their encampment to the banks of some streamlet indicated to them, but totally unknown to me. How- ever, I knew it must be somewhere between north and east ; I had watched the Indians who had left me ; and putting these two sources of informa- tion together, I made up my mind as to the course I would steer, and having un-hobbled my horse, proceeded to sling the meat over his back. He stood perfectly quiet till I had put on all but the last and heaviest sling of flesh, this required both my hands, and just as I threw it over his back, the restive animal reared up, struck me on the head, knocked me down, and gallopped off. Not being hurt, I jumped up, and saw him kicking, leaping, and flinging, till he had scattered all my hard-earned meat over the prairie, then he cantered PERPLEXING SITUATION. 397 leisurely down the valley after the Indians who had left me. Though he was not an Eclipse, I could not hope to overtake him on foot ; so I walked about, and collected together all the disjecta membra which had already cost me so much trouble, and forming them into a heap, sat down to ruminate. My case seemed this. The camp was moved I knew not whither, but certainly was at some d'i- tance. I was alone, and out of hail of all assist- ance ; nay, I could see the two scoundrels who had left me, driving my horse far away, instead of en- deavouring to catch him for me, and I made an internal resolution to reward them as they de- served, if ever they gave me an opportunity; I had also before me the prospect of a long walk in oppressively hot weather, added to the uncertainty of finding the camp, whither I was obliged to de- vise some means of carrying my rifle, my pistols, my large thick shooting-jacket, and my hundred weight of meat. From this prospect I turned to my actual state, sitting, as I was, on the ground, with my hands, arms, and face saturated and glued with blood ; it was, indeed, too much, and I burst into an uncon- trollable fit of laughter. I then began to think of the strange and varied notions of pleasure enter- tained by different men, and could not help ques- tioning whether my Pawnee trip, voluntarily incur- red, with its accompaniments, did not render the sanity of my mind a matter of some doubt. lii P'H ' ■■ 398 A FRIEND IN NEED. ' I if m My musings were interrupted by seeing an Indian appear on the opposite heights, and ride along them towards the camp. I made signals, and shouted to him to come towards me ; he did so ; and, on his near approach, I saw that his horse was laden with meat, and that he was a fellow of a fine, open, bold expression of coimtenance. I told him my tale in brief; and when I described to him how the two young men had frightened away instead of catching and restoring my horse, he frowned and said, they were "bad men ;" and without another word, threw all the meat from his horse, and gallopped off in pursuit. I wondered how he had so readily under- stood my broken Pawnee; but I suppose that in this, as in every other case, distress and earnestness produced eloquence ! In half an hour he returned, bringing with him my truant steed. I thanked him by gestures, (for in their language there is no word for *' thank you") but he seemed to understand me, for he smiled and appeared in very good humour. I assisted him to load his horse, and he performed the same office for me ; as both steeds were weary, I only added the weight of my jacket to the meat, threw the bridle on my arm, shouldered my rifle, and walked by the side of my good-natured companion ; here I amused myself by prosecuting my studies in his language. After we had walked four or five miles, we over- took an Indian crawling along by the side of his horse, at a pace which showed one or both to be RETURN TO THE CAMP. 399 nearly disabled. On coming close to them we found that they had been both overthrown by a bull ; the man had escaped with a few severe bruises, but the poor animal had two deep gashes in his hams into which I could have thrust my hands. I endeavoured to persuade him to let me put it out of pain ; but he insisted upon dragging it on towards the camp, which, however, it never reached. As my companion had not asked for any reward for his trouble or assistance, I was the more anxious to give him one, and, having nothing about me, I desired him as soon as we should reach the camp to come to my lodge, and I would give some tobacco, rouge, &c. He said, it was " very good, but he could not come to night, as his tent was far, but he would come in the morning." After three hours' brisk walking we came in sight of the fires, shook haiids and parted, as his lodge was to the east, and I knew mine must be to the west of the encamp- ment. When I arrived before S4-nl-tsa-rish's lodge with my nag thus laden, the chief's wives and daughters came out to look after the horse and meat; and while they were unloading, I walked in and sat down with the dignified gravity of a mandarin. This was easier to assume than it was to maintain, for the squaws interchanged most comic glances in silence while they unpacked the meat, and saw the uncouth and strange nature of the white chief's butchery ; for, as I had been unable to cut up the whole ani- 400 RETURN TO THE CAMP. mal, I had merely picked out the largest masses of solid meat and fat, the forms and shapes of which were of the most fantastic and irregular description. I hope they thought it was done according to the white man's medicine ; at all events, it would tend to raise me in their estimation, to see that I could bring home, as well as kill, buffalo meat. >^M Mkdicine ceremonies. 401 CHAPTER XX. Medicine Ceremonies. — Instance of ungovernable Temper and Cruelty in a young Indian. — Indian Horse-dealers. — Bar- gaining Anecdotes. — Hiring a Guide. — Knavery of the Great Chief. — Hunting Party of Delawares and Shawnees. — Con- versation with them. — Dislike of the Pawnees to their new Guests. — Pride of the Delawares. — Unequal Conflict. — Skil- ful Retreat. — Delaware and Shawnee Languages. — Depart- ure of the Visiters. I\\ f,i IIJ I LEARNED that in the hunt already described a good many Indians had been bruised or wounded, and several horses killed. Among those who were hurt, was a chief of some distinction ; he had a few ribs and one of his arms broken. The setting of this last, together with the completion of his wound- dressing, was to be accompanied with much cere- mony, so I determined to be a spectator. I went accordingly to his lodge, where a great crowd was already assembled, and with some difficulty made my way through to the inner circle. Not being quite sure that I was permitted to see these myste- ries, and being fully aware of the danger of breaking, even unintentionally, any of their medicine-rules, VOL. I. . 2d 402 MEDICINE CEREMONIES. f i. \ 1 i fj '\ 'f !! ' i , m I kept myself as quiet and unobserved as possible. Before the lodge, and in the centre of the semi- circle, sat, or rather reclined, the wounded man, supported by one or two packs of skins, and on each side of him a row of his kindred ; the elder warriors occupied the front, the younger the se- cond places, and behind them, close to the lodge, were the boys, squaws, &c. A profound silence was observed ; and when all the medicine-men and relatives had arrived and taken their seats, a great medicine-pipe was brought and passed round, with the usual ceremonial ob- servances of a certain number of whiffs to the Earth, the Buffalo Spirit, and the Great Spirit ; the pipe was not hande'^ to the wounded man, probably because he was supposed to be for the time under the influence of a bad spirit, and therefore not entitled to the privileges of the medicine. When this smoking ceremony was concluded, three or four of the doctors or conjurors, and a few of the great medicine-men, assembled round him ; the former proceeded to feel his side and apply some remedy to it ; while one of them set the arm, and bound it very strongly round with leather and thongs. During this operation, the medicine-men stooped over him, and went through sundry mum- meries which I could not accurately distinguish. As soon as the bandages and dressings were com- pleted, they began a medicine-dance around him. At first the movement was slow, and accompanied MEDICINE CEREMONIES. 403 by the low ordinary chaunt; but gradually both acquired violence and rapidity, till at length they reached the height of fury and frenzy. They swung their tomahawks round the head of the wounded man, rushed upon him with the most dreadful yells, shook the weapons violently in his face, jumped repeatedly over him, pretending each time to give him the fatal blow, then checking it as it descended ; and, while once or twice I saw them push and kick his limbs, one of the most excited struck him several very severe blows on the breast. On inquiry, I learned that all these gesticulations were intended to threaten and banish the Evil Spirit, which was supposed to have possessed him. While this was going on, a complete silence reigned throughout the crowd, none being permitted to dance or yell except those actually engaged in the medicine ceremonies. On th*? morning of the 6th we moved our camp a few miles southward, and could now see, at a great distance, the verdant fringe of timber which marked the course of the upper waters of the Arkansas. Here I had an opportunity of remark- ing the strange materials of which an Indian's temper is composed, and which it is necessary for a white man resident among them, who has any regard for his life, to watch and study carefully. The lodges were all packed, the curved poles trailing behind the mules, and the busy squaws adjusting, with their usual chattering, scolding, and active 2d2 ii' M i i U ' U.I P i :l r ^ f 404 CRUELTY. bustle, the loads of the different animals, when one of the younger lads brought to the son of Sa-ni-tsS- rish his favourite buffalo horse, which he was going to ride (contrary to custom) on the march. I have before described this young man as a great Pawnee dandy; we had hunted antelope and elk several times together, and I always considered him very quiet and good-tempered ; he used to call me his brother ; and while we were going to or re- turning from a hunt, would teach me Pawnee words and phrases. He was now holding in his hand a kind of Mexican bridle, which he wished to put over the head of his horse ; but the latter, a fine half- broke animal, backed, and would not let him ap- proach. With the foolish violence common among Indians on such occasions, he stood directly before it, hauling hard upon the laryette (or halter) : of course, this made the animal pull against him, and back still further ; when, with a sudden movement of rage, he drew his scalp-knife, sprang at the horse like a tiger, and buried the knife in its eye ! The old chief was standing by, looking on with the imperturbable nerves of an Indian : he neither spoke a word nor moved a muscle, because the young man was grown up, and was among the warriors of the tribe ; but I could not resist saying to the former, " That was not good." He answered, gravely, *' No." I then turned to observe the son. As soon as he became sensible of what he had done in a moment of passion, he was vexed and ashamed, I INDIAN HORSE-DEALERS. 405 but too haughty to show it ; and, walking to a spot about twenty yards' distant, and throwing his scarlet blanket over his shoulder, he drew himself up to his full height, and there stood a motionless statue. The camp moved on, and long after the last straggler had left the place, I saw him standing in the same attitude and on the same spot. The poor horse was led off by one of the boys ; and, as I saw the heavy drops of blood " coursing each other down his innocent nose," during all the march of that day, while the hanging head, the flapping ears, and the trailing limbs, showed the acuteness of his sufferings, I wished to terminate them by putting a musket-ball through his head ; but it would not have been pru- dent to ask permission so to do — and I went on my way, sickened with disgust at the ungoverned pas- sions and cruelty of the young chief. He felt, how- ever, though he would not display them, both sorrow and shame ; for he kept aloof from the band all day, and never afterwards alluded to the circumstance. I now began to bargain in earnest for horses wherewith to return to the fort ; for we required three or four, and our remaining articles of ex- change were scarcely sufficient to procure them. Certainly I never, even among horse-dealers, met with such impudent cheats and extortioners as my Pawnee friends. They knew that I must buy horses, and determined to have their own price. After looking at and rejecting two or three scare- crow animals which were brought for me to examine, i.: 406 DAUOAINING ANECDOTES. ^ » ms; i n\i one of which was lame, another blind and broken- winded, and another twenty-five years old, I deter- mined to adopt the advice of my old chief, which was to spread out my stores before his lodge, setting apart the exact quantity which I meant to offer for one horse; and then to send the heralds through the village to cry aloud that the white chief wanted horses, and was willing to trade. I also sent for the half-French interpreter, in case of any explanation being required ; although perfectly aware that in driving bargains he would take part with the Paw- nees, and not with me.* Accordingly, a good many were brought for me to inspect. Some I rejected at once, others I jumped upon and rode for one or two hundred yards ; at length, I found one which was neither lame, blind, nor very old, and bought it, after much disputing on both sides, for three blan- kets, and the usual accompaniments of knives, pow- der, lead, beads, &c. About this time the great chief came to pay me a visit. I gave him some coffee, of which a little of my original stock remained (and of which * I have before mentioned that this interpreter was an Indian in tastes, habits, language; and appearance, though he called himself a French Canadian. He had two squaws and a number of children. I know not how many years he had resided among the Pawnees ; but, whenever he tried to explain anything re- specting them to me in French, he always called them " Les Sauvages." He was known among them by the name of I-sha- pa, which was, I believe, a corruption of La Chapelle. He lived with the Republican Band ; and I rarely saw him, except when I sent for him on some such occasion as the present. '^ BARGAINING ANECDOTES. 407 the Indian agent had also sent him some as a present, he being the only Pawnee who ever had such a luxury in his lodge) ; and having then filled a pipe of Kinnekineck and presented it to him, I waited in silence till he should think fit to ex- plain the object of his visit. At last he abruptly said, " A-th6s ka-hi-te-na S-liisha ! "— " My father, you want a horse?" To this polite address from a man forty years my senior I answered by a sign of assent; but added, partly in words and partly in signs, that I had not articles sufficient, either in number or quality, to make him an equivalent present for a horse. This I said, because I knew that the old rogue had more blankets, paint, beads, &c. already than ten horses could carry. However, he replied that, if I would give him the " medicine- tubt " hanging round my neck, he would give me a horse for it. This was my favourite pocket-telescope, which I had used in deer-hunting in Scotland and on the Alleghanies, and with which I was unwilling to part, as it was very useful in these extensive prai- ries for descrying men or buffalo at a distance. But poverty and necessity are stern advisers ; be- sides which, I knew that it was against all rules among Indians to refuse an article which they have directly asked for; so, with as willing and good a grace as I could assume, I imdid the belt, and telling him that he was my father and a great chief, and that I felt sure he would give me a horse \: r ^i 408 nAIlOAINING ANKCDOTES. r fit to overtake men or buffiilo, I hunj? the tele- scope round his neck, and endeavoured to teach him how to lengthen and shorten it in order to get the right focus, and also how to wipe the glasses when they might get dirty. At the same time, I told him not to open it much, for it was " not good so to do." He looked for some time at the telescope, and then at a pistol which was stuck in my belt, and seemed to hesitate which he liked best. He said that they were both "good," and that he would give me a horse for either of them. Had the weapon been my own, and had I been provided with one or two spare pistols, I would certainly have prefer- red giving him that to giving my telescope ; but it belonged to an officer at Fort Leavenworth, who had very obligingly lent it to me ; and, besides it, I had only a pair of little pistols, sometimes called, in London slang, " bull-dogs." I endeavoured to explain to him that it belonged to another white chief, and that I could not give it away ; but that my telescope was "greater medicine" (more valu- able), and that he was welcome to it. He said, ** It is good ;" and rising up, he left me, with as complacent and satisfied an expression on his coun- tenance as its habitual grim cunning would ad- mit. Soon after he was gone, one of the warriors came and told me he would give me a horse, if I would give him my *' long blanket." This was, IJAllGAININO ANECDOTES. 400 indeed, a severe trial of my affection for my higldand plaid, for the price offered was certainly (considering my present necessities) beyond the value of the article ; but then, it was my own family tartan — had been my companion and pro- tector in many a rough day, and was a constant and consoling reminiscence of home, so I deter- mined to part with anything and everything rather than that. I told him it was my " medicine- blanket," and I could not give it away. He left me, not well pleased ; and as he walked off, my old chief shook his head, and, in answer to my inquiry, said briefly, " He is a bad man, and has no horse :" meaning in other words, that he was a rogue, who would have found some means of absconding with my plaid, and who had no horse to give me. Soon after this, while I was still sitting near my packs of goods, like an Israelite in Monmouth- street, an elderly chief approached, and signified his wish to trade. Our squaws placed some meat before him, after which I gave him the pipe ; and in the mean time, had desired my servant to search my saddle-bags, and to add to the heap of sale- able articles everything of every kind beyond what was absolutely necessary for my covering on my return. A spare shirt, a handkerchief, and a waist- coat, were thus drafted ; and, among other things, was a kind of elastic flannel waistcoat, made for wearing next to the skin, and to be drawn over the VOL. I. 2 D 5 ' It ll 410 BARGAINING ANECDOTES. hi . head, as it was without buttons or any opening in front. It was too small for me, and altogether so tight and uncomfortable, although elastic, that I determined to part with it. To this last article my new customer took a great fancy ; and he made me describe to him the method of putting it on, and the warmth and com- fort of it when on. Be it remembered that he was a very large corpulent man, probably weighing sixteen stone; I knew him to be very good-na- tured, as I had hunted once with his son ; and, on returning to his lodge, the father had feasted me, chatted with me by signs, and taught me some of that most extraordinary Indian method of communication. He said he should like to try on the jacket ; and as he threw the buffalo robe off his huge shoulders, I could scarcely keep my gra- vity, when I compared their dimensions with the garment into which we were about to attempt their introduction. At last, by dint of great in- dustry and care, we contrived to get him into it. In the body it was a foot too short, and fitted him so close that every thread was stretched to the uttermost; the sleeves reached a very little way below his elbows. However, he looked upon his arms and person with great complacency, and elicited many smiles from the squaws at the drol- lery of his attire ; but, as the weather was very hot, he soon began to find himself too warm and con- BARGAINING ANECDOTES. 411 ny opening m altogether so elastic, that I stomer took a ibe to him the rmth and corn- ed that he was )ably weighing very good-na- s son ; and, on lad feasted me, LUght me some [an method of uld like to try buffalo robe off y keep my gra- insions with the lut to attempt nt of great in- ;et him into it. ort, and fitted as stretched to id a very little |he looked upon ►mplacency, and ,ws at the drol- ,er was very hot, warm and con- fined, and he wished to take it off again. He moved his arms — he pulled the sleeves — he twisted and turned himself in every direction, but in vain. The woollen jacket was an admirable illustration of the Inferno of Dante and Virgil, and of matri- mony, as described by many poets — it was easy enough to get into it, sed revocare gradiim was a difficult matter indeed. The old man exerted him- self till the drops of perspiration fell from his fore- head ; but, had I not been there, he must either have made some person cut it up, or have sat in it until this minute. For some time I enjoyed this scene with mali- cious and demure gravity, and then I showed him that he must try and pull it off over his head. A lad who stood by then drew it, till it enveloped his nose, eyes, mouth, and ears ; his arms were raised above his head, and for some minutes he re- mained in that melancholy plight, blinded, choked, and smothered, with his hands rendered useless for the time. He rolled about, sneezing, sputtering, and struggling, until all around were convulsed with laughter; and our squaws shrieked in their ungovernable mirth in a manner that I had never before witnessed. At length I slit a piece of the edge, and released the old fellow from his straight- waistcoat confinement ; he turned it round often in his hands, and made a kind of comic-grave address to it, of which I could only gather a few words. '•U' ' 412 HIRING A GUIDE. I believe the import of them was, that it would be a " good creature in the ice-month at the village." I was so pleased with his good humour, that I gave it to him, and told him to warm his squaw in the ice-month. We afterwards continued our bargain, and I bought a horse of him at a tolerably fair price ; but I was obliged to sell even my own blankets, which I wished to sleep in on my return, and had but a very small stock of powder, knives, or trinkets remain- ing. I now proceeded to hire a guide ; and as our old chief gave me to understand that his younger bro- ther (the same man who had acted as guide on our coming out) would conduct me to the fort, I sent for the interpreter, and, accompanied by him, went to this man's lodge. I found that he was very poor, having but one wife and only two or three horses ; and though I do not believe that he much relished the office, I made an agreement with him, according to which, on arriving at the fort, I was to give him a horse and many blanke'ts, — in short, a full complement of all the articles neces- sary to an Indian's comfort. He was to take another young man with him, who was to assist us to hunt, to catch and pack our horses, and per- form the other services requisite on a march. After waiting half the day, and hearing nothing from the great chief about a horse, I sent the Ca- nadian to his lodge to ask for it ; when he returned • KNAVERY OF THE GREAT CHIEF. 413 for answer, that he must have both the telescope and pistol before he would let me have a horse. I was highly incensed at the impudent knavery of this chief; but I thought it imprudent to quarrel with him, as we were so far removed from the protection of any white men, and were in the greatest want of horses, which were necessary to our convenience, and might be so to our lives, in our passage across an immense wilderness, where we were not unlikely to fall in with a war-party of Sioux, Shiennes, Aricaras, or other wild tribes hostile to our Pawnee escort. Accordingly, I dissembled my anger, and sent him word that when his young man brought the horse I would give him the pistol also. About this time I observed a great stir in the £. ap, and our old chief was summoned suddenly to a secret council ; what passed there I know not, but there was a hurried and violent debate ; the decision, however, to which they came was, as I afterwards learned, pacific. Very soon the cause of this excitement became generally known, and the laconic communication " men are seen," passed from mouth to mouth. These few words have a stirring and interesting effect in those remote and barren regions ; and the conjectures rapidly succeed each other, " who, and what are the comers ? are they friends or enemies ? white or red men ? " On this occasion the doubt was soon solved, for the strangers, who now approached over the prairie, and who had long ago been discovered and announced by the .'■«.., 414 HUNTING-PARTY. Pawnee scouts, came straight to the lodge of the great chief, and the signs of peace having been be- fore exchanged and confirmed, they sat down in silence, and awaited the meat and the pipe about to be offered to them. They proved to be a hunting-party of Delawares and Shawnees, on their way to the Rocky Mountains ; they were all armed with knives and guns, and their dresses were as fantastic as is usual among the half-civilised tribes. All of them wore leggins and mocassins ; but in the clothing of the upper part of the person, each seemed to have followed his own wayward humour ; one wore a hat, another a fur cap, a third a hand- kerchief wound like a turban ; and a deer-skin hunt- ing shirt seemed to be the favourite covering for their bodies ; one or two of them could speak a few words of English, and seemed to be known to lotan, the Otoe chief; and, by the assistance of signs, I could make out that they had come straight from Fort Leavenworth, (which is, as I before noticed,) only thirty miles from their villages. They had seen many herds of buffalo ; but had hunted only enough to supply themselves with food, as they were in haste to get to the mountains. I asked them if there were any late Indian trails, they said a few ; but the Dah-cotah (making the significant Sioux sign*) were going north. I was not sorry to hear this intelligence, for a war-party of Sioux was by no means desirable to meet, while I was accompa- * Drawing the hand across the throat, as if to cut it. CONVERSATION. 415 nied by a feeble Pawnee escort. I asked how many days it had taken them to ride from the fort ; they said " tweniy-five." Having my compass in my pocket, and being anxious to see how far my idea of the direction of the fort was correct, I asked a young Delaware to point his finger to it ; he did so, and I found that he agreed exactly with the other Indians whom I had consulted, and I took my bear- ings accordingly. The dislike of the Pawnees for their new guests was but ill concealed, and that of the great chief was so bitter and so evident, that I could not help thinking it might break out into action. The Pawnees consider these corn-growing settled tribes as half-white men, and deny their right to hunt in the buffalo plains and mountains ; and the party now present had passed through the very range which the Pawnees were about to travel, and had probably driven off* many of the buffalo. I am confident that they had saved their lives by their boldness in coming straight to the camp by day with signs of peace. They wished to pass the Paw- nees without being discovered by them ; but finding that they had been observed by the distant scouts, they at once adopted the safest, though apparently the rashest, course, by presenting themselves peace- fully and fearlessly to the whole nation : had they avoided the camp, and pursued their course, a Paw- nee war-party would have probably gone out to cut them off. i' •r^l ' >i 416 PRIDE OF THE DELAWARES. The Delawares, degraded in spirit and diminished in numbers as they are, have yet some, lingering pride, some remains of that haughty assumption which led their ancestors to call themselves the " Lenni LenapCf^* and to consider all other Indians as mere grafts from their parent stock. One of those now present was a very good-looking young man, and son of a celebrated Delaware warrior, who inflicted, about ten years ago, a terrible disgrace upon the Pawnees. He was returning with his packs of skins from the Rocky Mountains, with only six or eight in his company, when they fell in with a Pawnee war- party, consisting of sixty or seventy. As the latter advanced to the charge, the Delawares hastily piled their packs before them, and being armed with guns, presented them, and awaited the attack of their enemies, who were armed only with their bows and arrows and war-clubs ; the latter did not relish too near an approach to the shining barrels, and kept riding round and round at speed, discharging their arrows and shouting and yelling. But the fate of one or two who approached within reach of a Delaware bullet, kept the rest at a respectful dis- tance. After skirmishing till dusk, they withdrew for a time, determined to fall upon them during their march ; but so admirably did the Delaware make his dispositions, that after killing several Pawnees, he brought his little band into the settlements with- out the loss of a man. * Anglice, " Fathers of men." ■ I INDIAN LANGUAGES. 417 I amused myself for two or three hours with making glossaries of the Delaware and Shawnee languages, (which I afterwards compared with in- formation of others of the same tribes,) the former of them is very soft and musical, the latter harsh and guttural. After trading in some few articles with the Pawnees, they left us, and pursued their course towards the Rocky Mountains. H\ VOL. I. a E \i 418 INTERVIFAV WITH CHAPTER XXI. Interview with the Great Chief. — Telescope regained. — Stock of Provisions for the Journey. — Indian Knavery. — Disinter- ested Generosity. — Exchange of Horses. — Message from the Great Chief.— A •' Talk."— Invitation to the Great Chief- Presents made to him. — iWant of Cleanliness among the Pawnees. — Splendid Daybreak. — Valedictory Speeches.— A vicious Horse.— Journey homeward commenced. — Herd of Buffalo. — Successful Shot. — Evening Camp. — Mosquittoes. Serious Accident. — Defection of our Guide. — Return to the Pawnees. — Repulsive Scene. — Indian Mourning. — Re- ception at the Lodge of S^-ni-tsa-rish. A' n S f The evening of the 6th passed away, and I heard no tidings of my horse from the great chief; ac- cordingly, early on the following morning (7'th), I despatched a young man from our lodge to inquire whether he meant to send me one ; and, if he dis- liked the bargain, desired that he would send back the telescope. The lad returned, shook his head, and made a sign that the great chief said nothing. Being very indignant at this insolent knavery, I went straight to his lodge, and, on the way, cooled down my temper as well as I was able, being aware that a little imprudence might cost the lives of my- self and all my party ; but, at the same time, that (. t THE GREAT CHIEF. 419 cgained. — Stock very. — Disinter- lessage from the J Great Chief.— aess among the jry Speeches. — lenced.— Herd of ip. — Mosquittoes. ide. — Return to Mourning. — Re- y, and I heard eat chief; ac- |rning (7th), I idge to inquire and, if he dis- luld send back look his head, said nothing, ent knavery, I le way, cooled e, being aware he lives of my- ime time, that if I allowed myself to be thus cheated and imposed upon, I should be stripped of everything before I left the camp. I found the chief sitting in the custom- ary manner, near the centre of his lodge, sharpen- ing his arrows. Three or four of his young men were idling about, and two of his squaws, assisted by a captive slav«,* were cutting up and spreading their buffalo meat to dry. He received me, as I ex- pected, with extreme coldness, which I pretended not to regard, but sat quietly down in the place to which he silently motioned me with his hand. Perceiving, after a few minutes, that he would not break the silence, I told him, that I had come to ask for the horse which he had promised for the telescope. He gave me no answer. I then pro- ceeded to say, that " he was a great chief, and had a single tongue, and that I knew he would not lie to his white brother." Still the same sulky look, and no answer : in the mean time, I cast my eyes carefully round the interior of his lodge, and, at length, espied my telescope, hanging at the back of it, near his medicine-bag, &c. Having ascertained its locality, I said, I wished to return to the white man's fort, and asked him distinctly, whether he would give me the horse or not? This time he answered briefly and distinctly enough, kd-ki, '* no." I then rose, and, going straight to my telescope, took it quietly down, and, hanging it round my own * A captive taken in some war- party ; but I could not learn to what tribe she belonged. 2 E 2 i '■J H\^ i < 420 TELESCOPE REGAINED. if I i\ f iV it neck, told him it was all right, or very good, and walked deliberately away. I confess I felt rather un- easy at this juncture. The chief neither moved nor spoke, and yet the muscles of his face were working with ill-concealed passion; and I thought it just possible that he would not be able to restrain his hand from seizing bow or tomahawk. However, I reached SA-ni-tsa-rish's lodge without interruption, and the old man asked me if I had got the horse. I told him 1 had not ; but I showed him the tele- scope. He evinced momentary surprise, and asked me if the chief had given it me. I answered him by a sign, showing how I had taken it. He shook his head, and remained silent. I now began to lay in my stock of provisions for the journey, and, in exchange for a few beads, knives, and looking-glasses, obtained from the squaws two packs of well-dried meat, weighing about twenty-five pounds each, and a bag of Indian corn. I had also a few dried beans, which I had brought from the fort. Having communicated to my companion V my failure in obtaining the horse from the great chief, and finding that he had as little prospect of getting one from his ill-tempered and avaricious host, Pa*.taMa^-cha'ro (although he had twenty or twenty-five*), we determined upon putting together * The name of this chief is classic throighout the whole western world, as being the first who dared to set at defiance the prejudices of his nation, and, when only twenty years of age, GENKIIOSITY. 421 all our remaining stock of spare powder, lead, and baubles, in order to purcbase one more pack-borse, or mule. We did so, and spread tbe beap before my old chief's lodge. He looked at it, sbook bis bead, and said, tbat '* no one would give us a horse for it, for there was no cloth." lie then desired bis oldest wife to bring out from one of his bales a large piece of scarlet cloth, and to add it to my heap ; and he said, " Now call the men ; you will get a horse." An Indian soon arrived, leading a sorry-looking animal, but tolerably sound and strong. After to rescue a female captive from the cruel death to which she was destined. The story is familiar to all wlio have paid any attention to the recent history of the Indian tribes ; but it is admirably related by Major Long. I never saw Major Long's work until some time after my return from the Pawnees, and I feel very uncertain whether the Pa^'-ta^la^-cha'ro described by him is, or is not, the chief of the same name in whose lodge my companion V resided. The latter appeared to me about thirty-eight years of age ; and, as Major Long saw the young chief in 1819, and supposed him then to be about twenty-three, my calculation would be near the truth. In figure, strength, and influence, he would fully answer the Major's description ; while the sixteen years that had passed over his head might easily have changed the daring high- spirited youth to the crafty ambitious chief. At the same time, there is so much uncertainty about Indian names, that I must confess my inability to decide this question, especially as I was given to understand by Sa-ni-tsii-rish that several chiefs had borne the name of Pa^-ta<^'-la<^'-cha'ro. I have described merely what I saw, and must leave the evolution of this mystery to the Pawnee heralds and biographers. VOL. I. 2 E 3 L i ■'\, E< Ml W^ I'll m ■!• ! ! m. m :i 422 OKNEROSITY. examining the articles, he said they were good, and made the sign that he would trade. I directed my servant to roll tliem up for him, and a young man to tie the horse, when the Indian spirit of knavery again broke forth, and the fellow said that there was not enough ; he must have another knife. I had already given all that I could afford, as we had retained only one a piece for the journey ; and I sat a moment in silent vexation : for I knew that to dispute was useless, even if I could have commanded words ; and to give, I had nothing. Sa-ni-tsa-rish here slowly arose, and, taking from his belt his own large ornamented knife, threw it upon the heap of goods, and, with a haughty and indignant air, said, "Take it, ami go!" then quietly resumed his seat. During all my residence with the Indians, I had not witnessed an action so disinterested and generous performed with such majestic grace and dignity. While the abashed dealer sneaked off with his bundle, I took the old chief by the hand, and said, " My father, you are a good man ;" and, clenching my hand, pressed it against my breast, in token of my affection. He remained silent, and his features now resumed their usual quiet and grave character. Meantime, I formed a resolu- tion that, if I again reached the fort, I would send him such a present, that he should never repent the day when he had been so friendly and generous to his white guest. FXCIlANCiE OF IlOKSKS. 42ii I was now provided with horses and provisions suf- ficient to give us a reasonable chance of reaching the fort without privation or difficulty. The only thing that annoyed me was, that my companion, V , had, without (or rather, contrary to) my advice, ex- changed a quiet and safe grey pony, which I had bought for him in Missouri, for a wild animal, be- longing to an Indian. The former had travelled many hundred miles without a fault or false step; but he fancied it was not stron;^ enough, an'^ changed it for a Pawnee animal, »iJiich I remem- bered to have noticed on some of our marches as it was of a remarkable colour, and was pi ways rearing, kicking, and breaking loose. As V was not » very good horseman, I endeavoured to dissuai e him from this bargain; but he determin.d o ad- here to it. Early in the afternoon I received a message from the great chief, desiring that I would come to his lodge to have a talk. As I did not know 'hat ex- planations might be requisite, I sent for the Cana- dian, and requested him to accompany me. On arriving, I found that the chiefs of the Tapage and Republican bands had also been summoned. Seve- ral of the Braves were present, i:\:''. the countenance of the great chief had gained nothing in good- humour since the morning. As soon as the pipe hn\ ueen circulated, he made a speech of some length, the purport of which was, that I proposed to " go back to white men through 424 A " TALK.' ir . I tlie prairie, but that I ought to go with them to their winter village, and return thence by the great trail." I told him that " we must return straight ; that our fathers and brothers were far ; that they looked for us; and that, if we stayed, our corn would be spoiled." The Republican chief made a speech, and said, that " it was bad for me to go with so few young men ; that there were bad men, and no friends, hunting in the prairies;" and concluded by say- ing, that I had better go with the Pawnees to their winter village. I answered him, through the in- terpreter, that " I knew he had a single tongue, and spoke truth ; that my ears were open ; but that I could go through the prairie without fear with my young men : that my rifle (on which I was leaning) would kill bad men far off; and that, if they killed me, my grandfather (the President) would punish them." The Tapage sat silent, but the great chief rose again, and exclaimed (at least, so it was trans- lated to me by the Canadian, for he spoke in so excited and hurried a tone that I could catch few, if any, of the words) : " My father, you have not ears : if you go in that direction" (pointing east by north) " you will drive the cows from our path ; you will spoil our winter food. It is not good ; you must stay, and not go. I have said." By my desire, the Canadian answered the great chief : — " You and your brothers have been good to me. r if A "TALK." 425 3d, our corn We have eaten, slept, hunted, and smoked the pipe together. My ears are open. I will not drive one cow from your path. Point with your finger to the Pawnee path, and I will go home a day's jour- ney to the right or the left of it. But I will not stay. You are a great chief, and go where you please. I am also a white chief; I am not a squaw nor a captive. I go to-morrow straight back to our grandfather ; and I wish to tell him, and your father (Major Dogherty), how good to me his Pawnee children are. I have spoken." The chiefs looked at each other for a moment in silence ; and I thought that more angry discussion should be avoided ; so I rose and walked slowly back to my lodge. I tried to explain to S^-ni-tsS- rish what had passed. He shook his head, and made no remarks. It is remarkable, that neither V nor our white attendants were summoned to this " talk" nor to the " great medicine" feast already described. Wishing, if possible, to avoid the inconveni- ence and risk of parting from the great chief in open hostility, I sent to invite him to a feast. To my. surprise he came ; and, after the meat and pipe, I made him a present of some wampum, and a gay-looking cotton handkerchief; besides which, I gave him eight new spare horse-shoes, which I had brought with me in case of accidents. They were useless, and very troublesome to carry : had they been good for anything, I would have given them ill '•All f. jl'. M ; I i VOL. I. 2 £ 5 426 PRESENTS TO THE GREAT CHIEF. i 'f! \i i'l ■|'-,t /^ ■'Hi' to my old host ; but to the chief I only gave them to get rid of them. I thought that the cunning savage appreciated more correctly than I could wish the value of this present ; but he received it with becoming gravity. Soon afterwards he asked me for some coffee and sugar. I had a very small quantity of these in my bag, and I did not know to what straits I might be reduced, and I declined to give him any, saying, in the usual Indian way, " I have got none ! " He soon rose and went away ; and our parting was not affectionate on either side. I was glad that he had feasted with me, and taken my presents after our talk ; because he could not, according to their customs, after so doing, order me to be interrupted or waylaid in my route. On the night of the 7th I scarcely slept at all, so excited was I at the prospect of our prairie jour- ney, and, I may add, so delighted at exchanging, even for greater hardships, the confinement, the vermin and the dirt of the Pawnee lodges. It is not a pleasant thing to comment upon nasti- ness of any kind ; but a few trifles, of daily occur- rence, may be necessary to rescue my companion and myself from the charge of caprice. Imprimis : every article within the lodge, including my own skins, jacket, and shirt, was covered with vermin. These insects are, as is well known, of two species ; the one frequenting the hair, the other the body. The former of these are considered by the Pawnee naturalists " Pediculus esculentus ;" for whenever r gave them he cunning lan I could received it ds he asked a very small not know to declined to iian way, ** I went away ; ft either side. C and taken le could not, doing, order ' route, lept at all, so prairie jour- t exchanging, finement, the WANT OF CLEANLINESS. 427 the squaws are unemployed in severer labour, they enjoy a feast of this kind, gathered either from the hair of their children or of *;ach other. For many successive weeks I have observed them pass from half an hour to an hour of every day in this man- ner, and they really seem to eat this filthy vermin with no small satisfaction ; but I have been told by traders, that they will not eat them from the heads of the whites ! Another circumstance that used to annoy me very much, was, that the water, which was frequently bad enough as brought by the squaws from the stream or pond, was placed generally near the opening of the lodge, where it was a perpetual plaything for all the children ; one would dabble his hands in it, another dip his or her dirty face into the vessel to drink, while the hair was floating over its sur- face ; and now and ihen a cur, more sly or bold than the rest, would sneak round and get a drink, until the indignant squaw, who had carried it perhaps two or three hundred yards, might become aware of his lapping, when the first weapon within reach, whether bone, stick, stone, or tomahawk, was launched at the intruder's head, with a shriek- ing exclamation, which can only be written as fol- lows, it being remembered in pronunciation that the 7T must be burred as strongly as possible : " t's — t'st — iirr-r-r-r-r-r ^-s^-ki" (which last is the Pawnee word for dog). All the preceding particu- lars regarding the water are well enough, until it is II' i! *rl .•#^ 428 DAYBREAK. m 1 ■U ■Pif If I'u" 'i /St » ■ (:■ .: mentioned that I was destined to drink it. Indeed I may say, I found that all the accidental and occasional hardships of Indian life in the country, such as scarcity of food or water, long marches in oppressive heat, sleeping in cold or wet places — all these I found more tolerable than the filth that was hourly before my eyes, and in which I was obliged to live. The only persons in the camp whom I could view with any feelings of regard were my old chief and his good-humoured, though unattractive wives and daughters, among whom I distributed before I left them all the trifles and trinkets which my horse-dealing enabled me io spare. As a good omen for our journey, the morn of the 8th dawned with a magnificence more glorious than ever I had seen on the great Atlantic ; the undulating outline of the eastern hills was robed in a gor- geous mass of saffron, surmounted by a wide extent of amber, resembling the tints sometimes seen on the cheek of a peach ; and above that again night was slowly receding behind a curtain of the softest rosy hue, from the centre of which the lingering planet of morning looked out like an eye. Soon after daybreak we had packed our skins and provisions on two horses. One was led by the guide ; and all was ready for our departure. Our old chief made me a speech, in which he seemed much affected. He said : " My father, you have VALEDICTORY SPEECHES. 429 h p. 1 ill been too short time with us ; but your squaws and your white brothers want you. Go, my father. Your tongue is single ; your ears are open. You are a chief; go, and tell our grandfather that S4- ni-tsa-rish is a brother to his children." To this speech I made a suitable reply, through the Canadian, telling him that •*' he was indeed a good man, and that when I reached the white- man's dwelling I would speak truth of him to his father and his grandfather ; and when his young men returned, their hands should not be empty, but all the Pawnees should know that the white chief loved S4-ni-tsa-rish."* I then embraced him, shook hands with the squaws, as well as with his children, to whom I had given presents according to their ages, and prepared to mount, as the at- tendants were already on horseback. A scene now commenced, the termination of which was serious and unpleasant. My companion V ^"s Pawnee horse was brought up to him by an Indian, leading it with a strong laryette ; but, as soon as he approached, the animal snorted, reared, kicked, and showed every sign of spite and anger. If he came near it in front, it would run at him with its teeth, and if behind, lashed the air with a pair of very active heels. Not being a * I need scarcely inform the reader, that I fulfilled this promise as soon as I reached the settlements. I sent the old chief, through the Indian agent, a supply of knives, tobacco, cloth, beads, and blankets. I* < ' 480 A VICIOUS HORSE. rf' " i H practised horseman, V could not creep behind the animal and spring on it, or perform any similar equestrian manoeuvre; and I, having already mount- ed my roan, could see that the Indians were be- ginning to make signs to each other, and to laugh at our predicament. Knowing how dangerous it is among this people to allow yourself to be a subject of ridicule, I told V to ride my horse, and I would see what I could make of his wild beast. Accord- ingly, I took my cudgel in my hand and walked towards him in front, telling the Indian by signs to hold on to the laryette. As I approached, he snuff- ed and snorted as he had done to V ; and when he thought I was near enough, jumped forward to seize me with his teeth ; but I saluted him with a heavy blow on the head with my cudgel, and finding that it checked him, I repeated the appli- cation. He appeared stunned and stupified for a moment, so I jumped on him, and, telling the Indian to let go, gave the word to march. For the first few minutes I continued to belabour my unruly steed with the cudgel, accompanying every blow with a loud rough ejaculation, in order that he might learn to know my voice. Before I had long treated his ribs to the same wholesome disci- pline which his head had undergone, he appeared to be quite humbled and docile, so I rode quietly on with the party ; and whenever he showed symp- toms of resuming his pranks, I only had to call to :f ■t!; I JOURNEY HOMEWARD. 431 f him in the same tone as before, and he returned to a sense of duty. With what light hearts did we now take our way across the prairie with our faces to the east, consi- dering as our resting-place and home that Fort Leavenworth which, six months before, I should have deemed, and which many now deem, the " ultima Thule" of the habitable world ! Thus are all the objects in life coloured by the circumstances which form the medium through which they are viewed ; and thus, in an analogous instance, the dry brown loaf and pitcher of buttermilk, which the poorest British labourer dines upon at mid-day under a hedge, or the rations of any culprit in gaol, would often (during the last few weeks) have been to us a most delicious banquet. Inspired by these thoughts, I marched by the side of our guide, and endeavoured to improve my scanty stock of the Pawnee language. I observed that he took a course nearly parallel, but bearing rather northward, of that of the " village," and he gave me to understand that he did so by the orders of the great chief. I made no objection, knowing that a score of miles, more or less, in such a journey as we had before us, could be of little importance. After travelling between twenty and thirty miles (east-north-east, by compass), we halted for an hour or two, to bait our horses, on the brink of a small stream, which flowed gently down a sheltered ravine, opened our provision packs, and were proceeding to i\ m 432 HERD OF BUFFALOES. n 1 i;| k Ht B*"- M^ ^''\ T V 1 i mI '■■^ eat our mid-day meal, when we saw a small herd of buffalo gallopping furiously along, at a distance, having been evidently startled by some outskirters among the Pawnee hunters, who were some miles to the south of us. Observing them closely, we soon became aware that they did not see us ; and I de- termined to try and give our two Indians a high idea of my skill in woodcraft, — so I caught up my rifle, made signs to all the party to remain perfectly still, and crept rapidly along the bottom of the ra- vine, to meet them at the point where I thought they would cross it. I was on foot, and of course there was some danger in the experiment ; but I could not afford to tire my faithful roan, by gallopping her while on a long march; Raising my head cautiously and at intervals, I could see the small herd of buffalo bounding along after their ungainly fashion, and evidently making for a kind of gap or break in the ravine, a few hundred yards ahead. Increasing my speed, r was enabled to lie down, about seventy or eighty yards from their crossing-place, just as the leader plunged into the defile. Allowing two or three scraggy ill-looking animals to pass unnoticed, I at last saw a fine fat young cow enter the pass. I let her descend, and reserved my fire till she should begin to mount the opposite "brae." When she was about mid- way up, I fired with delibekate aim, and heard that welcome crack, w^hich tells to a sportsman's ear that his bullet has found its mark. m EVENING CAMP. 433 11 herd of distance, utskirters e miles to , we soon and I cle- ans a high rhi up my n perfectly of the ra- I thought was some not afford ter while on lusly and at of buffalo ashion, and )reak in the creasing my seventy or just as the ing two or |s unnoticed, the pass. I il she should When she ibeiate aim, tells to a id its mark. However, I remained still, and she continued her course. At length, I observed that the rest gallopped on, and she lagged behind. I then gave chase : before I came up she had staggered and fallen ; and on reaching the spot, I found that the ball had pierced her heart. I now returned to my companions, and, shouting to them to bring the two pack-horses, in a few minutes we had more fat meat slung across them than I could permit them to be loaded withal on the journey. I was proud of this shot, and I could see that the Indians exchanged looks of sur- prise and admiration when they saw the fearful rent which my ounce-ball had made in the buffalo's heart. We made a short and merry feast, and slung enough meat to last for one or two days. We then pursued our course till dusk. The wild horse re- quired a little discipline of the cudgel by the way ; but I now found that merely shaking it near his head, and calling to him at the same time, was suf- ficient to quiet him. We camped for the evening on the brink of a streamlet, having made about thirty miles, east-north-east. Here we were both Surprised and annoyed at finding a number of mos- quittoes and horse-flies, a nuisance from which we had been so long free ; and on applying to the Indian, he told me that the " a-shats" (mosquitto) never came within reach of their village or camp. Whether this be owing to the number of fires, or peculiar smell exhaled by the skins and grease which they VOL. I. 2 F m 434 SERIOUS ACCIDENT. 4 Kf^l ['1 '.' I' r\ In I'i k I ,f use, I know not; but I had the means afterwards of ascertaining the fact. 9th. — This day was the most unfortunate which we had hitherto experienced. Having, as I thought, sufficiently subdued the vicious horse, I had given it back to V , and was again mounted on my own. While riding in front with the guide, I heard a noise behind me, and turning round saw him on the ground, and the brute plunging about him and upon him. Gallopping back at full speed, I shouted as I rode up to this wild beast, and he went off loose over the prairie. Hastily directing the second Indian to watch, follow, and catch him, I stooped down over V , whom I found speechless, and almost without sense or motion. Fortunately there was a stream and a tree not far off: we carried him thither, and placing him under the latter, began to use all the means in our power to restore suspended animation. At length, to my anxious inquiries as to where he felt the severe pain or hurt, he answered by indicating his breast and ribs. All our stock of medicine was included in one bottle of brandy, which I had carefully reserved in case of violent dysentery or accidents. I now opened it ; we began to chafe his body, and soon had the satisfac- tion of seeing him fully restored to the powers of consciousness and respiration ; but he suffered much pain, his breast was bruised severely, he thought that two or three ribs were broken, and his left f. SKUIOUS ACCIDKNT. 435 terwards ,te which thought, ad given d on my e, 1 heard ,w him on t him and I shouted ; went off the second I stooped -hless, and ,ately there carried him r, hegan to ! suspended inquiries as le answered »ur stock of of brandy, of violent led it; we the satisfac- e powers of iffered much he thought land his left arm was so severely hurt that he could not move or raise it. I do not know that ever I spent so anxious an hour ; for the thought occurred to me that if lie had received contusions affecting either the lungs or the intestines, he might die for want of surgical assistance. I looked at my roan, and for some minutes thought of leaving him with the rest of the party, and taking a little dried buffalo meat, of riding alone, as fast as she could carry me, to the fort, to ask for a surgeon and two or three soldiers to assist in transporting him. Then I remembered the length of the journey, the probability that I might fail in returning to the exact spot, and the time that must necessarily elapse before I could return, which rendered it probable that before then he must be either dead or convalescent ; so I deter- mined to remain with him, and endeavour to play the part of surgeon as well as our slender means would permit. Accordingly, I ordered some buffalo broth to be made, and in the mean time continued the brandy embrocation both to the arm and the body ; we made him as soft a bed as we could with our skins, and left much to the care of dame Na- ture ; a nurse who, when unthwarted by folly and quackery, is one of the most efficient of the restorers of health. Meantime the Indian lad re- turned, leading the author of all this evil ; and as I looked at his malignant eye and his flapping sulky 2f 2 \l. 1 l|''.! (! 436 DEFECTION OF OUR GUIDE. ears, I internally resolved to take him under my own particular care, to load him and cudj^el him to his heart's content, as soon as we might be able to resume a journey which had been interrupted by his savage vice. Upon inquiring into the origin of the accident, I learned that he had begun to jump a little ; V had tried to soothe and coax him : as soon as he discovered this change in the system of government, he reared and plunged more violently and threw his rider — who was, as I before remarked, not a very practised horseman. All this I could have forgiven him ; but the jumping about V , and kicking at him while on the ground, I determined to requite upon the first opportunity. At present I only hob- bled and tied him fast, in which operation a few hints both from my voice and cudgel were neces- sary. At mid-day, I found, with great satisfaction, that a few hours' rest, together with the brandy embro- cation, had very much allayed the pain and infla- mation of V 's hurts. Neither the arm nor ribs proved to be broken; but the former was so contused as to be without use or motion. At this time, the Indian coming up to me, said that " the Great Spirit was against our going — that this sign, or omen, was not good — that it was against his medicine to guide us ; and he must strike to the south, to the Pawnee trail, and rejoin them." It is never any use to argue a question with an ] RETUUN TO THE I'AWNEES. 437 under my Igel him to I be able to jrruptcd by . accident, i tt\e ; V 3 soon as be government, ly and threw :ed,notavery have forgiven and kicking at ned to requite 3nt 1 only hob- iperation a few •el were neces- ttisfaction, that brandy embro- Lain and infla- ;r the arm nov , former was so ■iotion. At this I, said that " the _that this sign, was against his lust strike to the pin them." [question with an Indian : this man, though an excellent guide and runner, was neither a hunter nor a warrior ; and he probably did not much like crossing with so small a company a wide extent of wilderness, where we were so liable to fall in with war-parties from other tribes. I consulted my companions, and we all agreed that it would be foolish rashness to endeavour to find our way to the settlements without a guide, and with one of our small party completely crip- pled and inefficient. Indeed, I thought that V might require the assistance and rough nursing of the Indians before he would be able to undergo the fatigue of so long a journey ; we, therefore, agreed to go back to the Pawnees, although, I be- lieve, we were all so heartily tired of them that we would have done anything consistent with com- mon sense to avoid being again with them. How- ever, there was no remedy ; and we struck off at an easy and gentle rate, south-south-east. I took charge of the wild horse, for he would not permit either of my attendants to come near him ; and I placed upon him the heaviest pair of saddle-bags which we possessed, besides my own person, while V rode my gentle roan. We camped in the evening without accident, and V seemed to recover from his bodily bruises; but the arm remained powerless. His steed gave us here another specimen of his amiable nature. I had tied him by the laryette to a stump to keep him quiet, while we unpacked I I I M i 438 REPULSIVE SCENE. j ^i ^--n h wi ,1^ the other animals ; and in arranging the baggage, my servant walked unguardedly, with a pair of sad- dle-bags over his arm, too near the place where he was apparently feeding ; but he was only watching an opportunity for mischief; for he backed sud- denly, and kicked with both heels and all his force at poor John, who had a narrow escape ; for the saddle-bags were sent some yards from him, and he himself nearly knocked over, whether by surprise and alarm, or by the horse's hoofs, I know not. However, there could be no satisfaction in travel- ling in company with such a sly brute, and I deter- mined to exchange him for anything I could get when we overtook the village. About ten o'clock on the following day we found the great Pawnee trail, and, following it, came at mid-day to the place where they had camped the night before, and a most hideous spectacle did it present ; the grass was all trodden into mud — hundreds ox circular heaps of charred wood attest- ed the number of fires that had been used ; and the whole plain was strewed with split heads, bare skeletons, and scattered entrails of buffalo ; while some hundreds of the half-starved Pawnee dogs, who had lingered behind the village, were endea- vouring to dispute some morsels of the carcasses with the gaunt snarling wolves, who were stripping the scanty relics of skin and sinew which are left by Indian butchery attached to the bone. So in- tent were these last upon their filthy meal, that r INDIAN MOURNING. 439 they allowed me to ride close up to them with- out leaving it ; and I could have shot half a dozen of them with a pocket-pistol. The desolation of the scene was rather increased than diminished by two small circular lodges, the apertures to which were closed, and from which proceeded the low wailing chant of Indian mourning. This I observed to be a common custom among the Pawnees. After the rest of the village had been for several hours on the march, a mourning family would remain behind and sing this melan- choly kind of dirge. I should think that it must be a very dangerous mode of lamentation while in these remote excursions ; because, if any hostile war-party was hovering on the Pawnee trail, they would inevitably fall victims to the pursuers. But this risk may be the very reason for its being es- teemed so great a tribute to the dead ; or, possibly, they may trust to the distant out-posts of well- mounted warriors, with which the Pawnees always secure their rear and flanks. The duration of mourning among this tribe seems very unfixed : the widow always mourns a year for her husband ; but I have sometimes seen squaws moaning and chanting in the evening at a little distance from camp ; and, on inquiry, have learnt that they were mourning for a relative, who had been some years dead. About ten miles beyond this spot, we found the Pawnees encamped, and made our way straight ill i' y I I! ' I 440 RECEPTION AT THE >:;■'■> 'I' iV. to the lodge of Sa-ni-tsS-rish ; for V did not wish to trust himself again in that of Pa^-taMa^-cha'ro, so importunate in his demands, and so insolent in pressing them, had that young chief become of late. Indeed, just before our former departure, he had refused to sell us a horse, although he had thirty, and we offered him the full complement of articles usually given in exchange ; his temper was by no means improved by his having lost his two best horses in gambling at the game of the hoop and dart before described. So it was agreed that we would only stay till V was able to travel, and until we could procure fresh -^uides and another horse, in the place of the '* wild beast." The old chief received us in his usual kind man- ner ; and, agreeably to Indian custom, testified not the least surprise at our return, nor curiosity to know what had so suddenly caused it, until we were seated, and chose to explain to him, by signs, that V had been, and still was, much hurt by a bad horse, and that our guide, his brother, had thought it " bad medicine " io proceed. Sa-ni-tsa-rish said he was sorry my white brother was hurt, and that one of his young men should try and find a horse in exchange for the wicked one. When he found that V would not re- turn to the lodge of Pa^-taMa^-cha'r6, he shook his head, and looked somewhat grave and disconcerted. I knew that he had not room nor provisions for all our party, and that we ought not to put the old ■t chief's lodge. 441 not wish a^-clia'ro, isolent in le of late. 5, he had ad thirty, of articles r was by is two best hoop and }d that we travel, and nd another kind man- testified not curiosity to it, until we |m, by signs, much hurt |his brother, feed. rhite brother men should the wicked ,uld not re- le shook his iisconcerted. isions for all put the old man to much inconvenience, especially in drawing upon him the ill-will of the haughty young chief; I, therefore, told him that, if he would procure us the horse and two fresh guides, that we wished to go immediately ; for V said he was well enough to sit upon a horse, though not to make long marches at first. I do not think that Sa-ni-tsa-rish was well pleased with the conduct of his brother (who was, indeed, a timid foolish Indian), nor do I think that the latter was very well satisfied with his own performances ; for as soon as we reached the camp, he had gone off to his lodge, and, during our stay, he neither came to us nor to his brother. I'. \n '' ( 'li. 442 A COMMISSION. 1.1 IS ^'il CHAPTER XXII. Commission intrusted to the Canadian Interpreter. — Arrange- ment with two Indian Guides. — Pa^-taMa'^'-cha'ro — Indica- tions of his Malignity. — Leave the Pawnees. — Harangue of the Guide. — Dinner. — March resumed. — Fearful Storm. — Indian Superstition. — Morning after the Storm. — Ramble in Search of Game. — Antelope. — A narrow Escape. — An Indian Hunter — Conversation with him. — Lose my Party. — Visit to an Indian Camp. — My Reception there. I NOW sent up to the Republican Band for the Canadian interpreter, and requested him to assist in changing the horse, and in hiring two guides for the fort, and asked him to secure, if possible, two bold active fellows, who would not turn back for a trifle. The first part of this commission he executed by giving me an animal of his own, which looked tolerably well at first, but a few days' ex- perience showed him to be lame from a concealed disease in the foot. How he executed the second, the sequel will show. He brought me two young men ; the elder was called a himter and a warrior (having been out with a war-party) ; and they both said that they were willing to guide the white chief to his home, and to see his white brothers. I GUIDES HIRED. 443 jr. — Arrange- jha'ro — Indica- [arangue of the 5torm.— Indian mble in Search An Indian 'arty.— Visit to 5and for the him to assist vo guides for possible, two irn back for mmission he s own, which ■ew days' ex- a concealed the second, two young ,nd a warrior ,nd they both e white chief Ibrothers. I v.a« inclined favourably towards the elder of these young men, because he was a relative of our old chief. I then repeated carefully with the inter- preter what I would give them when we reached the fort; so' many blankets, knives, papers of paint, strings of wampum, pieces of cloth, a horse, &c. ; — all this I wrote with my pencil, and read to them. They said, " Their white father was good ; his hand was open ; they would go to his home." Having arranged this matter, we all slept under, or near, the lodge of S^-ni-tsa-rish. I found the interior of the lodge so close and offensive during some of these mild nights that I frequently spread my bearskin before it, where my brother, the chiefs son, slept near me, and sung me to sleep with his low monotonous war-song. Indeed, a great many of the young Pawnee warriors prefer sleeping on the damp ground, wrapped in their buffalo-skin or blanket, to the interior of a lodge, which last they consider effeminate. In the morning I was re- joiced to find that V was so much better as tn declare himseli' able and anxious to escape, a second time, from the vermin nest, to which we had so unv,illingly returned. We then collected our packs of skins, and what- ever few other ai tides we possessed ; having also contrived to purchase a small additional supply of dried maize and buffalo meat, and began to load our horses before our old chief's lodge. V/hile this 1 1*: jit' HI m t I'll I'll ' «.: i-. UmH m in |i fi m 444 INDIAN CHIEF. ceremony was being performed, Pa^-taMa^-cha*r6, with whom V had before resided, came up and squatted down by our goods, with his eyes fixed upon them, and, without deigning to notice V , who had been so long his guest, and from whom he had received as many presents as our means had enabled him to offer. He sat for some time per- fectly still, and gave me full leisure to admire (as I could not help doing) the magnificent mould of his Herculean limbs, uniting the smooth roundness and pliant grace peculiar to the Indians, with a de- velopement of muscle and sinew rarely seen among them. He had shaved off the ponderous mass of black and bushy hair,* which covered his head when I had first known him ; all but the scalp- lock, which, intertwined with an eagle's feather, and tinged with vermilion, now rose high above his scalp, as if daring any mortal to try to win it. I know not what had obtained for us the dis- pleasure and hatred of this dangerous chief; but, though we had so often eaten, hunted, and smoked * It is well known that the Indians' hair is almost universally black and strait ; that of this chief was certainly an exception to the latter, for when allowed to grow long, it was extremely thick, and had a very perceptible waive. I have also both read and heard of many exceptions to the black colour in the remote tribes in the mountains, such as the Arrapahoes, Kas- kaias, &c., and more especially the Mandans 'fi the Upper Missouri, among whom there are many instances of hair of a greyish blue ashy colour; but it prevails more among the females than among the men. HIS MALIGNITY. 445 la'*-cha'r6, ae up and syes fixed ce V -» fom whom means had tune per- admire (as t mould of roundness with a de- ieen among srous mass d his head the scalp- feather, and ahove his win it. us the dis- chief; but, and smoked ost universally r an exception was extremely ave also both k colour in the rapahoes, Kas- •a the Upper js of hair of a re among the together — though our attendants had rendered him a number of services in trifling matters which his own people did not understand, he now looked up in my face as if he had never known me, and, with a countenance strongly indicative of dislike and malignity. In returning his look, I threw into my manner as much unconcern and contempt as I could ; but, nevertheless, thought it not unlikely that he would do us some mischief before we reach- ed the fort. Old S4-ni-tsS,-rish gave me a warm embrace at parting, as before ; but he was grave and thought- ful, and said, there were bad men in the prairie ; adding a significant sign that we should look out while we slept.* This last caution I determined not to forget ; but I did not communicate it to the rest of the party, thinking that without it there was already in the journey before us sufficient cause for anxiety and uneasiness. On the morning of the 11th we again bade adieu to the Pawnees, and most anxiously did we all wish that it might be for ever. While we shook hands with all the other Indians around, and while * This sign is made by suffering the head to rest for a moment on the palm of the right hand, in a reclining position (to imitate sleep), and then passing the forefinger of tho same hand from the eye in an oblique direction, which indicates that you are to look, secretly or warily; whereas, if you are desired to look straight before you, or openly, the forefinger would he directed towards the supposed object in front. I I '1 ; i I i ( 446 MARCH COMMENCED. I embraced my old chief, and my brother,* Pa^-ta^- la^-cha'ro retained the same sulky and unmoved expression, and we began our march without his having bestowed one mark of recognition, either on his late guest or on myself. Soon after we had left the village I rode forward, in order to make my observations on the disposi- tion of the guide, to watch how he selected the ground for our route, and also to amuse myself by improving myself in Pawnee grammar. The young man seemed very lively and communicative, and was extremely fond of conversing by signs, an art in which he was thoroughly versed ; and I soon became so familiar with his method of expression that I could understand almost everything he wished to explain to me. It may not prove uninteresting to record a long speech he thus made me, and of which I could understand the whole without his once speak' ing : — " My father, you are a chief; you are going home to your lodge ; it is very far ; twenty days we must travel fast. I am your brother. I will find the path ; I will find water. At night I will watch to see if bad men are coming ; Sioux and * The son of Sa-ni-tsa-rish, whom I have more than once mentioned, and who was, in the main, a good-natured young man, had frequently, while we were hunting together, called me by this name, which is Eh-rah-re, putting at the same time two fingers of the right hand together on his lower lip, and then pressing his clenched hand over bis heart; the first of these signs denoting brotherhood ; the second, affection. I i THE guide's harangue. 447 Pa*-ta'- unmovecl :hout his either on s forward, e disposi- ected the myself by :he young ative, and ns, an art nd I soon expression rything he record a of which I once speak- 1 are going wenty days er. I will night I will Sioux and ore than once latured young gether, called the same time lower Up, and t; the first of ection. Shiennes, and others, are bad men. Your white brother (V ) is not strong ; he is wounded in the arm and body; he must sleep; I will look. You will come to your village (Fort Leavenworth); I shall see your people ; they will give me plenty to eat. I will see your pretty white squaws ; you will give me blankets, beads, a horse ; you will load him for me with knives, and cloth, and a coat, and a hat. I will go back to the Pawnees ; I will be a man ; I will take a squaw — a very pretty young squaw. Men will see my blankets, and oth'r goods, and will say, * The white chief is your father ; he has an open hand.' " During this harangue he frequently stopped, and asked me by signs if I understood. If I answered by an affirmative sign, he immediately went on, if by a negative, he repeated his gestures more care- fully until I comprehended them. After travelling in this manner about twenty miles, we reached a creek of considerable size ; it was very welcome to our eyes, for we were very thirsty ; moreover, we thought it would lead us to one of the upper forks of the Kanzas,* and when we should have crossed that river, we should be among friendly Indians, and consider ourselves safe. Here we camped and prepared our dinner, which was by no means to be despised ; for be it remem- bered, that we had kept, besides a pound or two of * It would have led us, as we afterwards discovered, to one of the tributaries of the Arkansas. ( , m i 1 ■t 1. VII 448 DINNER. It ^r^^ : i<^; ! (r J tea, coffee, and sugar, a small sack of flour, two or three quarts of beans, and a large piece of fat bacon, or rather, bacon fat ; besides these civilized luxuries, we had some maize and dried buffalo meat. Our kitchen utensils consisted of a large iron pot, a smaller tin one, for boiling our tea, coffee, &c. and a frying-pan ^vithout a handle. Our dinner and tea service were not upon so magnificent a scale', having each of us a butcher's knife, a tin cup, a wooden bowl, and a spoon, made of buffalo-horn. We now de- termined to indemnify ourselves for our dirty half- dressed fare among the Pawnees, not by the quan- tity, but by the quality and delicacy of our cookery. I appointed young Hardy, the American lad, cook. As soon as his face was turned homeward, he im- proved very much in spirits;, readiness, and activity, and in all the detail of daily work completely beat my other servant, although the latter was a full grown and a stronger man. We put into the pot, with three or four quarts of water, a large lump of meat, with some maize and a few beaiis. When these were thoroughly boiled, they made a very palatable and nutritious soup ; but in our second course we indulged in a luxury to which we had long been strangers ; for we made some small flour cakes, by frying them in bacon fat, and finished this repast with a cup of coffee. After which we lit our pipes with Kinnekennik, leaned back against some of the bales with our feet to the fire, and felt as complete a contempt for want and care MAllCIl llESUMED. 449 ir, two or fat bacon, \ luxuries, eat. Our :on pot, a , &c. and a er and tea ale, having 3oden bowl, fe now de- r dirty balf- ,y the quan- 3ur cookery, n lad, cook. Arard, be inl- and activity, tpletely beat was a full [our quarts of I maize and a y boiled, they soup; but in Lury to which made some ,acon fat, and After which leaned back |et to the fire, rant and care as ever I remember to have experienced. In feed- ing our guides, I had allowed them a larger allow- ance of meat and maize than we took ourselves ; but no cakes, as our stock of flour was so small ; and as to bacon, no Pawnee will touch it.* The coffee they did not like ; and it is no wonder ; for thinking it was throwing pearls before swine, I took care to dilute their portions liberally with water ; but I found that, whether strong or weak, they dis- liked it, and only drank it because they thought it was " great medicine" among the whites. In the afternoon we marched for two or three hours, observing generally the course of the same stream. We passed vast herds of buffalo; our guides wished m.s to shoot one or two, but I would not, for more reasons than one ; first, I thought we had still as much meat as our horses ought to be made to carry, so that it would be but wanton cruelty to kill what we could not use ; and secondly, 1 could not tell how near to us might be lurking parties of Pawnees, perhaps watching these very herds, and who might, if I began to hunt and shoot them, be deprived of their meat supply, and become hostile in their views towards us ; so I would not permit the animals to be disturbed, and we passed quietly on about twelve miles : course by compass east by north. * The horror of many tribes of Indians for bacon may be noticed as one of the curious coincidences which have been brought forward for the purpose of tracing their origin up to the Israelites. VOL. I. 3 G ( • '■ / 458 INDIAN CAMP. ( malicious-looking chap, and resolved various plans for finding my own porty. I hoped, however, that the Indians at the small camp to which he belonged might, perchance, throw some light upon the sub- ject ; for I was sure that they would be camped by a stream, and if our party had crossed it, their trail would not have been unobserved. At all events, it appeared more prudent to go and secure a supper, than to ramble all night about this waste, without food, water, fire, or jacket. We walked on rapidly for two hours, when we came to a soft bank of grass, and my companion proposed that we should sit down and rest, to which I acceded. After a short time, we resumed our course ; and, ere long, arrived in sight of the small encampment, by the side of a large stream. Here I left my companion, and determined to seek the principal lodge in the party, which my Pawnee ex- perience enabled me at once to recognise by the shield and badge raised on the three poles before it. The children an i dogs assailed me, as usual ; but I passed on, an 1 stopped opposite to the entrance of the lodge, wl" ere I gave the usual salutation, and remained only a moment standing, when the Indian made me a sign to come and sit down by him, which I obeyed in silence. I was very hungry, and saw with pleasure that my host was tolerably fat, and that neither of his squaws was very meagre in appearance. All this augured well for their kitchen discipline ; but, in conformity with their habits, I RECEPTION THERE. 459 s plans er, that elonged he sub- camped it, their At all i secure is waste, when we impanion to which imed our the small 1. Here seek the iwnee ex- le by the before it. 3ual; but entrance ition, and le Indian by him, ngry, and jrably fat, aeagre in ir kitchen habits, I made no sign of wanting food. The man gave me a pipe, and, in a few minutes, a fine fat rib, hot from the fire, was placed before me. On this occa- sion my appetite must have done itself justice, for I picked the bone as clean as it could have been made by a prairie wolf. I think these people had been with me in the great camp, but, not belonging to the band or quarter where I had lodged, they had only seen me at a distance ; although they knew that I had been with old S4-ni-tsS,-rish, for I heard them say so. The squaws were very good-humoured and curious: they seemed much puzzled at my dress, for it was now late in the evening, and rather cold. I had only my blue cotton shirt : they felt it, then touched the skin of my throat, uttering a kind of " ugh" of astonishment at its being so white and thin, in comparison to their own dark and coarse cuticle. They asked me if I had not a horse, a blanket, or a buffalo-robe ? I said I had all of them, but they were waiting for me in the prairie. Finding the Indians in this lodge very good-natured and communicative, I began to prose- cute my investigations respecting my party; but they knew nothing of them, neither had their trail been seen. n n i ^! 4()0 UNPLEASANT rilEDICAMENT. I b CHAPTER XXIII. Unpleasant Predicament. — Set forth in Search of my Party. — Night Wanderings. — Rejoin my Friends.— Journey resumed. — Evening Camp. — Prairie Wolves. — Scotch Servant. — The American Lad. — Conversation with the Guide. — Enormous Rattlesnake. — Indian Manoeuvre. — Danger from Snakes.— An Antelope shot. — A Bath. — Our Feast. — Meeting with Pawnee Hunters. — Their Conference with our Guides.— Consultation with my Companions. — Desertion of the Guides. — Difficulties of our Situation. — Commencement of my Office as Guide. I NOW found myself in a very unpleasant predica- ment. My life, indeed, was not in much danger, because I might, probably, have been permitted to accompany these Indians to the Pawnee villages on the Platte, where I might have waited until some trading party should go down the Missouri; but my condition would not, in this case, be very en- viable. With neither horse, clothes, nor blanket, and with a very small stock of ammunition, I was cetainly not well equipped for a long journey and residence with the Pawnees; neither did I think that my own party could get on very well without me, as V was crippled, and none of them were hunters. So I determined to sally forth, and seek them at all risks. SEARCH FOR MY PARTY. 461 r Party. — ' resumed, ant.— The Enormous Snakes. — eting with Guides.— :he Guides. P my Office L predica- i danger, mitted to illages on ntil some 3uri; but very en- blanket, on, I was irney and I think 1 without lem were and seek Fortunately, the clouds cleared away and the stars shone brightly ; I easily found the polar-star, and compared it with the fronting of the lodge, which I found correct as usual, due east. I then examined the course of the stream, and, in short, took all my bearings, both on earth and in the sky, as deliberately and as carefully as I could. The Indian thought I was making " great medi- cine;" and when I pointed to the polar-star, he seemed evidently to know it, and said that the " buffalo were now going that way ;" but he could not make out what I had to do with it. As soon as I gave him to understand that I was going to set off on a night journey, he said, " Ugh ! — it is not good ! " and made me signs to wrap myself in one of his robes and sleep. He asked " if I was tired." I told him, " No ; I am strong." He inquired " where I was going." I answered by signs that, " before morning, I should rejoin my party and get my horses." Indeed, I affected more confidence in this matter than I felt. I had made up my mind to walk all night, and all the following morning, in search of my party ; and if I could not find them, to come back to this camping-place, and follow the trail of these Indians, in order to reach them, as I might other- wise run a risk of perishing with cold and hunger. I made signs that it was very far, and asked if they would give me some meat to take with me, which they immediately did. Of this I slung two or three i u 1 i 462 NIGHT WANDERINGS. slices to my waist-belt, and started on my night expedition, after thanking, with the warmest ex- pressions and gestures, the inmates of the lodge, who were, indeed, the most simple good-natured Indians whom I had met with. I wished I had something better than thanks to give them; but not being able to spare my shirt, I was obliged to forego that satisfaction. As I started, I took the precaution to examine carefully the locks of my rifle, at which manoeuvre the old Indian gave another significant " Ugh ! " and we parted. The night being fresh, it was some- what annoying that I was obliged (from the direc- tion in which I calculated my party to be) to cross the stream near which the Indians were encamped ; however, it did not wet me much above the knees, and I knew that I should not be likely to want exercise very soon. I walked as fast as I could, and examined all the country near the main creek without success. I then tried the higher ridges, and followed one, where the nature of the ground made it probable that another creek met the one which I had left. I lay down repeatedly, and put my ear to the ground, in hopes of hearing some sound which might guide me, but none met my ear, except the shrill, barking howl of the prairie wolves ; and I found that, in that position I cer- tainly could hear the noise of the little Indian camp further than I could when I stood up. I should think, however, that the assistance deriv- REJOIN MY FRIENDS. 463 J night est ex- lodge, natured I had im; but liged to examine anoeuvre ' Ugh ! " as some- le direc- to cross camped ; ^e knees, to want I could, tin creek ^es, and ind made ne which put my me sound my ear, prairie jn I cer- Indian d up. I ce deriv- able from it must be greater on a level plain, than a hilly district, such as I was now crossing. This latter cast was more fortunate ; I had not long begun to descend the second ridge, when I perceived at a distance a glimmer of light and some smoke. As I drew near, I went carefully and stealthily forward, for fear it might be a party of strange Indians, and that I might be discovered by some of their scouts : but I soon found, to my great joy, that it was the camp of my own friends. They had begun to feel much alarmed at my long absence, but had very wisely remained by the plaqe first agreed upon, trusting to my being thus enabled more easily to find them. I told them of my having fallen in, and supped with, a small Paw- nee party ; but I did not tell them how completely I had been lost, and with what anxious fears of not rejoining them I had been rambling over the prairie : because I was ashamed of having acted with so little carefulness and prudence. On the 13th, we started early, and travelled about ten miles, in a wet, thick fog, accompanied by a raw drizzling rain and wind from the north-east. In short, it was such weather as we often experience in Britain about the end of February — course, east-south-east. At noon, the weather improved, and we camped by a small creek, which we be- lieved to be one of the tributaries of the Kanzas. Here, again, we enjoyed an excellent meal of buf- falo meat, seasoned with a few flour cakes fried I ii ii 464 JOURNEY RESUMED. K in bacon. In the afternoon, we proceeded as usual, till dusk ; camped by the same creek ; secured our horses — lighted our fire — boiled some coffee, and smoked a pipe. At this place, mosquittoes were very plentiful, but we had become somewhat in- different to them. We were lulled to rest by a pack of prairie wolves, howling on a small hill on the other side of the creek. These animals seemed so bold and hungry, that, by the advice of the guide, we fastened our horses at no great distance from the fire ; and a loaded rifle was kept constantly ready to protect them, in case of any alarm during the night. 14th. — Endeavoured to start at daybreak; but my Scotch servant could not learn to balance or fasten a pack on a horse ; and his slow awkward- ness cost us repeated and vexatious delays, as we were so frequently obliged to stop and repack the the animal of which he had charge. This man was a willing and well-conducted servant in civilized life, but Nature had not formed him for a prairie hunter. Our American lad improved every day in activity and readiness, and his good-humour and spirits gave me much satisfaction. As for poor V , he could sit on his horse and eat his din- ner; but he still suffered a good deal from his bruises, and could not yet walk : his arm was in a sling. I found that one of our horses was lame — several were rather sore in the back — and I re- IS usual, ired our Fee, and es were vhat in- st by a nail hill animals e advice 10 great vas kept e of any eak; but ilance or iwkward- ys, as we ipack the man was civilized a prairie sry day in nour and for poor t his din- from his m was in s lame — and I re- ENORMOUS RATTLE-SNAKE. 465 commended both the attendants to walk at least half the day's journey, as we could not tell what urgent necessity for a fresh horse half an hour might create. I went this morning, on foot, about fourteen miles with the guide, chatting with him broken Pawnee, filled up with signs. I ob- served upon referring to my compass, that he was g'jing north-east ; and, upon asking him the reason, ho pointed to the east, and said that there was no water there for us to camp by. The country we were now crossing was a suc- cession of barren sandy ridges. Before us, at the distance of half a mile, I remarked a creek ; and, on asking the guide its name, was told that it was called Snake River.* He informed us, by signs, that we must be cautious, for it was full of rattle-snakes. While I was walking beside him, talking in this way, he gave a sudden yell, so shrill and piercing, that, as if by instinct, I knew it was a warning, and leaped on one side as far as I could spring. On looking for the cause of this sudden cry, I saw, in the very spot where my next step * In the Pawnee, as in other Indian languages, the substan- tive is frequently varied in preference to using an adjective ; thus, water in a bowl, or pot, for drinking, in a pond, running or river water, and rain water, are all distinct and separate words. The same is observable in many nouns, as a female child — a girl from seven to eleven — a young girl (come to years of puberty) — a young married woman, and an old mar- ried woman, are also different words in some languages; as are, also, generally, elder and younger brother. VOL. I. 2 H :,£ 466 INDIAN MANOEUVRE. would have placed my leg, an enormous rattle- snake ; his head reared, and his folds coiled below him, ready for a spring. He was giving me, too, all the warning in his power; for he was rattling so clearly and loudly, that it was wonderful to me I had not heard him. I was just about to kill him, but the guide stopped my aim — pointed gravely to the sky and to himself, and indicated to me that it was against his "medicine."* Accordingly, I desisted ; reflecting that, in all probability, neither I, nor any other white man, would ever hear his rattle again ; and that killing one, in a place which was crowded by thousands, could be of little use. After we had walked on a few hundred yards, we were about to descend a small narrow ravine, full of broken heaps of sandstone, overgrown with coarse herbs and grasses. The Indian told me to go straight on in that direction, as he wished to remain behind for a moment. I thought that in such a rough narrow place, where Indian file was necessarily to be observed, the leader of the party had a better chance of being bitten by a snake than any of those who followed; and I moreover thought that the same idea had struck my friend the guide ; but I took no notice of it further than to tell him that, being in no hurry, I would wait for him. Th^ quiet sly ex- * This same prejudice exists in several bands of the Osages and Delawares, as well as among other tribes in the more re- mote regions. ANTELOPE SHOT. 467 rattle- l below ne, too, rattling il to me :ill him, gravely me that ingly, 1 , neither hear his a place I of little rards, we le, full of h coarse ) straight n behind a rough ssarily to a better jr of those the same I took no being in et sly ex- the Osages e more re- pression of his face did not alter ; but I cannot help thinking he was aware that I saw through his ma- noeuvre. Accordingly, he began to pick his way carefully down the ravine. My servant, in the rear, had about this time a very narrow escape from an- other snake. I thought it better to mount my horse, and recommended the others to do the same, al- though the place was very rough and unpleasant for riding, owing to the quantity of loose sandstone and high coarse grass. I never should have believed it possible that so many rattlesnakes could have assembled together as I saw in that ravine. I think there must have been nearly enough to fatten a drove of Missouri hogs.* A^s soon as we emerged from this ravine, I dis- mounted and rejoined the guide, from whom, ere long, I heard the well-known " Ugh ! " which ac- companies the sudden presentation of any new object to the eye of an Indian ; and, following the direction of his finger, saw two or three antelopes browsing on a hill side to windward of us. As they had not yet seen our party, I halted it, and told them to lie down, while I would try and stalk one. After creeping for some distance, I came within about * It is well known that, in the Western States, where rattle- snakes are still plentiful, the hogs kill and eat them ; nor is their bite formidable to their swinish enemy, on whom its venomous fangs seem to produce no effect. It is owing to this well-known fact, that families resident in those districts conceive that hogs'- lard must be a kind of antidote to their poison, and frequently use it (I believe successfully) as a remedy. 468 A BATH. a hundred and twenty yards of one, but could get no nearer from the nature of the ground. However, I took a steady aim, and was fortunate enough to hit ; but the antelope went off on three legs, and, after a tiresome pursuit, I found that they were still fleeter than my two. So I thought I would try another fashion* and, selecting a commanding si- tuation on a high knoll, sat down to watch him from a distance. This plan succeeded ; for as soon as he saw that he was unpursued, he slackened his pace, and, after going about half a mile, lay down. I could distinctly observe all his movements with my telescope. Having carefully noted the ground near him, to assist me in creeping up, and allowed time for the wound to become stiff, I again went after him ; and, having succeeded in getting un- observed within fifty or sixty yards, another shot terminated the chase. The rest of the party now came up, and the dis- section of the little deer did not occupy much time. We carried him off to the banks of the creek ; and while the feast was preparing, I determined to enjoy the luxury of a bath and a change of clothes, the latter having been a very jare metamorphosis of late, and the suit which I wore being full of the filthy Pawnee body-guard, which still clung to all our clothes and buifalo robes. I was surprised to find the water of this stream so extremely salt ; notwithstanding which our horses drank it with such avidity that we were afraid of PAWNEE HUNTERS. 469 lid get >wever, ugh to ;8, and, ;y were )uld try iing 81- ;ch him as soon jned his y down, [its with ground allowed Eiin went ting un- her shot the dis- ich time, jek; and to enjoy thes, the phosis of ill of the ng to all is stream )ur horses afraid of their injuring themselves, and with the greatest difficulty drove them from it. The sun was now intensely hot ; there was no shelter from its rays during the process of the bath or toilet ; but alto- gether I felt it to be a great comfort and luxury, and as soon as it was over went in high spirits to our camping-place, where the antelope was already dressed, and we commenced our feast. Ere this was half despatched, a number of buffalo came rolling and bounding over the small hills before our camping- place, in such confusion and at such speed that we were immediately aware of their being closely pursued ; and in a few minutes two or three hunters appeared. As soon as they saw our party they halted to examine it : our two Indians talked together, and instantly recognised the new-comers as Pawnees. I was much vexed at the reappearance of these fellows, for it seemed as if we should never get rid of them : the propinquity of these strag- gling parties, unchecked by any responsible chief, is sometimes dangerous, and never desirable. They made signs to our guides to go and speak with them : a request with which they immediately complied. I did not like the circumstance of these hunters keeping so studiously aloof from us ; neither did I much approve of the conference of suspicious dura- tion which they held with our guides. When the latter returned, they were silent and sulky ; their countrymen gallopped off, and were soon lost in the distance. I could easily perceive that some 470 CONSULTATION. very sudden as well as strong impression had been produced by this talk ; and by observing and listen- ing to them as they whispered together, while I pretended to speak to V , I became convinced that they intended to desert us. The short but significant answers which I received to one or two careless questions which I put, convinced me of the truth of my suspicions. I therefore summoned a council of war, and communicated these unpleasant occurrences to V , and to the two attendants. I told them, that in these circumstances, where our lives might depend upon the decision we should adopt, I considered we were all equal in rank, and each had as influential a voice as his neighbour ; that they must be prepared very soon to decide whether we should return to the Pawnee village with these rascally guides, or endeavour to reach Fort Leavenworth without them; and I professed my own willingness to adopt either alternative which the majority might prefer. After a short consultation, they were unanimous in their decision against returning to the Pawnees. The recollection of the filth, the vermin, and other nuisances, to which they must return, besides the very doubtful nature of the reception we might meet with, now that we had expended all our trading articles, and the terms of open dislike on which we had parted from the two most powerful chiefs — all these were conclusive arguments against the expediency of revisiting the Pawnees ; while the other alternative presented, it DESERTION OF GUIDES. 471 d been listen- irhile I kvinced >rt but or two } of the oned a tleasant ndants. lere our I should ,nk, and ^hbour ; I decide \ village ;o reach >rofessed ernative a short decision oUection to which il nature r that we ;he terms from the onclusive iiting the sented, it is true, great risks and difficulties, but of a vague and unascertained nature. As soon as this question was decided, I told them that one of our party must take upon himself the office and the whole responsibilities of a guide, be- cause, if every one's opinion was taken as to routes, directions, and bearings, we should never reach the settlements ; and I asked if any of them wished to undertake the task. They all said they wished me to take it upon myself. I agreed to do so, upon the repeated condition that I was to conduct them as I pleased and whither I pleased ; to choose the length and the line of march ; and that there was to be neither dispute nor contradiction as long as I retained the office. Having settled these preliminaries, in order to be prepared for what I expected, I desired the Indian, as usual, to catch one of the horses, as it was time to pursue our march. He answered shortly, sulkily, and quite distinctly, that he would not ; and upon my making the sign that I wished him to explain himself, he said he would not go any further — that he and his companion would go back to their people — that it was bad to pro- ceed, and they would not do it. I confess I felt very much tempted to tie these two rascals up, and give them a good flogging (for our party was strong enough to do it) ; but I thought it more prudent to let them alone ; for as soon as they could get away and collect a band of Pawnees, 473 DESERTION OF GUIDES. they would certainly have followed our trail to take revenge. I never could thoroughly understand the motives which actuated them on this occasion : that their resolution was occasioned by their talk with the other Indians was quite evident ; but I know not whether they had been told that the great chief was angry with them for guiding us, and would punish them if they went on ; or that hostile war- parties were out in the country which we were about to traverse ; or that, by refusing to proceed, they would place us in so awkward and helpless a predicament that we should double their pro- mised reward, and agree to any terms which they might propose. Whichever of these reasons influ- enced their conduct, they certainly were not a little surprised at the cool indifference with which V and I received the announcement of their inten- tions. We desired our white attendants to catch and pack the horses. I then turned to the two Indians ; and, with the most contemptuous expres- sion of countenance and gesture that I could com- mand, told them " that they were bad men, liars, and squaws, and they must immediately get up and leave my camp." As they were so unprepared for this turn of affairs, they hesitated a moment, and I repeated to them more loudly the order to *'go and tell S^-ni-tsS-rish that they were liars and squaws." They muttered something to each other, inaudible to me, and slunk off, leaving us seated with great dignity and apparent ease. DIFFICULT SITUATION. 47S As soon as they were out of sight, I confess that the perils and difficulties of our situation pressed themselves rtlost forcibly on my mind, and the responsibility that I had incurred seemed heavy and serious indeed. I remembered that I held undertaken to guide our little party through six or seven hundred miles of barren unknown wilder- ness, where I knew not whether we might find water for ourselves and horses — where we were liable, at any hour of the day or night, to be fallen upon by some roving band of strange Indians, and where, if we lost any time by deviating from our right course, our provisions might fail, and we might find nothing wherewith the rifle could sup- ply their place. All these reflections suggested themselves in rapid succession to my mind, but I felt how vitally necessary were energy and decision of action. The very feeling of the responsibility of my charge gave me excitement, and I felt a strong and buoyant confidence that, unless some unfortu- nate accident occurred, I could conduct the party without any great deviation to the fort : so, with my telescope, compass, and rifle ready for use, I rode on a hundred yards ahead, and began my career as guide. END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. LONDON : rUlNTED HY SAMUEL BENTT.KY, Bailor HoHSi', Slioe I..iuv.