In March, 1823, a Choctaw savage, calling himself Doctor Sibley,
belonging to a wandering tribe of his nation, in the Arkansas
Territory,—while in a state of intoxication, stabbed to the heart another
Indian; who instantly expired. This act called for revenge, founded on
the _lex taliones_—that invariable custom of the aborigines. A brother
of the deceased called upon Sibley, and told him, that he was come to
take his life, in atonement for the death of his brother. With the
composure of a philosopher, and the courage of a Roman, Sibley—readily,
and without a murmur—yielded assent; only desiring the execution might be
postponed until the following morning. This was granted;—the execution
was postponed—and Sibley _left at large, under no restraint whatever_!
When the morning came, Sibley went out with the rest of the party, and,
with perfect apathy, aided in digging a grave for the murdered Indian.
The work being finished, he calmly observed to the by-standers, that, he
thought it large enough to contain two bodies;—signifying, at the same
time, a wish to be buried in the same grave. This, too, was granted: and
the murderer deliberately took a standing position over the grave, with
outstretched arms; and, giving a signal to fire, the brother drove a
rifle ball through his heart—and he dropt into the hole he had assisted
to make!