With willing feet, sparkling eyes and happy hearts, Austin and his two
brothers again set off for the cottage near the wood. On an ordinary
occasion, they might have found time for a little pleasant loitering;
but the Indian anecdotes they expected to hear excited their curiosity
too much to allow a single minute to be lost. A pin might have been
heard falling on the ground, when, seated in the cottage, they
listened to the following anecdotes of the hunter.
_Hunter._ It has pleased God to endue Indians with quick perceptions.
They are amazingly quick in tracing an enemy, both in the woods and
the prairie. A broken twig or leaf, or the faintest impression on the
grass, is sufficient to attract their attention. The anecdotes I am
about to relate are believed to be true, but I cannot myself vouch for
their correctness, having only read them, or heard them related by
others.
An Indian, upon his return home to his hut one day, discovered that
his venison, which had been hung up to dry, had been stolen. After
going some distance, he met some persons, of whom he inquired if they
had seen a _little, old, white man_, with a short gun, and accompanied
by a small dog with a bob-tail. They replied in the affirmative; and,
upon the Indian's assuring them that the man thus described had stolen
his venison, they desired to be informed how he was able to give such
a minute description of a person whom he had not seen. The Indian
answered thus:--
"The thief I know is a _little_ man, by his having made a pile of
stones in order to reach the venison, from the height I hung it
standing on the ground; that he is an _old_ man, I know by his short
steps, which I have traced over the dead leaves in the woods; that he
is a _white_ man, I know by his turning out his toes when he walks,
which an Indian never does; his gun I know to be short, by the mark
which the muzzle made by rubbing the bark of the tree on which it
leaned; that the dog is small, I know by his tracks; and that he has a
bob-tail, I discovered by the mark of it in the dust where he was
sitting at the time his master was taking down the meat."
_Brian._ Well done, Indian! Why, nothing could escape a man like
that.
_Austin._ An Englishman would hardly have been able to describe the
thief without seeing him.
_Hunter._ You shall have another instance of the quick perceptions of
the red men. A most atrocious and shocking murder was once committed,
by a party of Indians, on fourteen white settlers, within five miles
of Shamokin. The surviving whites, in their rage, determined to take
their revenge by murdering a Delaware Indian, who happened to be in
those parts, and who was far from thinking himself in any danger. He
was a great friend to the whites, was loved and esteemed by them, and,
in testimony of their regard, had received from them the name of Duke
Holland, by which he was generally known.
This Indian, satisfied that his nation were incapable of committing
such a foul murder in a time of profound peace, told the enraged
settlers that he was sure the Delawares were not in any manner
concerned in it, and that it was the act of some wicked Mingoes or
Iroquois, whose custom it was to involve other nations in wars with
each other, by secretly committing murders, so that they might appear
to be the work of others. But all his representations were vain; he
could not convince exasperated men, whose minds were fully bent on
revenge.
At last, he offered that, if they would give him a party to accompany
him, he would go with them in quest of the murderers, and was sure
that he could discover them by the prints of their feet, and other
marks well known to him, by which he would convince them that the
real perpetrators of the crime belonged to the Six Nations.
His proposal was accepted. He marched at the head of a party of whites
and led them into the tracks. They soon found themselves in the most
rocky part of a mountain, where not one of those who accompanied him
could discover a single track, nor would they believe that men had
ever trodden on this ground, as they had to jump from rock to rock, or
to crawl over them. They began to believe that the Indian had led them
across these rugged mountains in order to give the enemy time to
escape. They threatened him with instant death the moment they should
be convinced of the fraud.
The Indian, true to his promise, took pains to make them perceive that
an enemy had passed along the places through which he was leading
them. Here, he showed them that the moss on the road had been trodden
down by the weight of a human foot; there, that it had been torn and
dragged forward from its place. Again, he would point out to them,
that pebbles, or small stones on the rocks, had been removed from
their beds by the foot hitting against them; that dry sticks, by being
trodden upon, were broken; and, in one particular place, that an
Indian's blanket had been dragged over the rocks, and had removed or
loosened the leaves lying there, so that they did not lie flat, as in
other places. All these marks the Indian could perceive as he walked
along, without even stopping.
At last, arriving at the foot of the mountain, on soft ground, where
the tracks were deep, he found that the enemy were eight in number;
and, from the freshness of the foot-prints, he concluded that they
must be encamped at no great distance.
This proved to be the exact truth; for, after gaining the eminence on
the other side of the valley, the Indians were seen encamped: some
having already laid down to sleep, while others were drawing off their
leggings, or Indian stockings, for the same purpose, and the scalps
they had taken were hanging up to dry.
"See," said Duke Holland to his astonished companions, "there is the
enemy; not people of my nation, but Mingoes, as I truly told you. They
are in our power. In less than half an hour they will be all fast
asleep. We need not fire a gun, but go up and tomahawk them. We are
nearly two to one, and need apprehend no danger. Come on, and you will
now have your full revenge."
But the whites, overcome with fear, did not choose to follow the
Indian's advice, but desired him to take them back by the nearest and
best way. This he did; and when they arrived at home, they reported
the enemy to have been so great that they durst not venture to attack
them.
_Austin._ This instance is quite as wonderful as the other.
_Brian._ I would not have an Indian after me if I had done wrong; for
he would be sure to find me out.
_Hunter._ Red men often act very conscientiously. One day, an Indian
solicited a little tobacco of a white man, to fill his pipe. Having
some loose in his pocket, the white man gave him a handful. The next
day the Indian returned in search of the man who had given him the
tobacco.
"I wish to see him," said the Indian.
"Why so?" inquired some one.
"Why, I find money with the tobacco."
"Well! what of that? Keep it; it was given to you."
"Ah!" said the Indian, shaking his head, "I got good man and bad man
here," pointing to his breast. "Good man say, 'Money not yours; you
must return it:' bad man say, '_'Tis_ yours; it was given to you.'
Good man say, 'That not right: _tobacco_ yours, _money_ not yours.'
Bad man say, 'Never mind, nobody know it; go buy rum.' Good man say,
'Oh no; no such thing.' So poor Indian know not what to do. Me lie
down to sleep, but no sleep; good man and bad man talk all night, and
trouble me. So now, me bring money back: now, me feel good."
_Basil._ I like that Indian very much.
_Brian._ No one could have acted more honestly.
_Hunter._ Whatever the Indians may be, when oppressed, wronged and
deceived by the whites; and however they may act towards their
enemies; they are usually honest towards their own tribe. While I was
residing on the Big Beaver, says one who lived much among them, I
passed by the door of an Indian who was a trader, and had,
consequently, a quantity of goods in his house. He was going with his
wife to Pittsburg, and they were shutting up the house; as no person
remained in it during their absence. This shutting up was nothing else
than putting a large block, with a few sticks of wood, outside against
the door, so as to keep it closed. As I was looking at this man with
attention, while he was so employed, he addressed me in these words:--
"See, my friend, this is an Indian lock that I am putting to my door."
I answered, "Well enough; but I see you leave much property in the
house: are you not afraid that those articles will be stolen while you
are gone?"
"Stolen! by whom?"
"Why, by Indians, to be sure."
"No, no," replied he, "no Indian would do such a thing. Unless a white
man, or white people, should happen to come this way, I shall find all
safe on my return."
_Basil._ If we were to leave our doors in that way, our houses would
be sure to be robbed.
_Hunter._ No doubt they would; but Indians have good and bad
qualities. The notion entertained by the Iroquois Indians, respecting
the creation of mankind, will show how ignorant they are with respect
to the Creator of all things; but, indeed, if the blessed book of
truth were not in our hands, we should be equally ignorant ourselves.
Before man existed, say they, there were three great and good spirits;
of whom one was superior to the other two, and is emphatically called
the Great Spirit and the Good Spirit. At a certain time, this exalted
being said to one of the others, "Make a man." He obeyed; and, taking
chalk, formed a paste of it, and moulding it into the human form,
infused into it the animating principle, and brought it to the Great
Spirit. He, after surveying it, said, "This is too white."
He then directed the other to make a trial of his skill. Accordingly,
taking charcoal, he pursued the same process, and brought the result
to the Great Spirit; who, after surveying it, said, "It is too black."
Then said the Great Spirit, "I will now try myself;" and taking red
earth, he formed an Indian. On surveying it, he said, "This is a
proper or perfect man."
After relating the strange opinion of the Iroquois Indians, the hunter
advised the young people, on their return home, to look over the
account of the creation of the world and mankind, in the first chapter
of Genesis; telling them that they could not be too thankful for the
opportunity of reading God's word, which was not only sufficient to
keep them from error in such things, but was able also to make them
"wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." He told
them, that though the Indians were ignorant of holy things, they did
not want shrewdness and sagacity. "When General Lincoln," said he,
"went to make peace with the Creek Indians, one of the chiefs asked
him to sit down on a log; he was then desired to move, and, in a few
minutes, to move still farther. The request was repeated, until the
general got to the end of the log. The Indian still said, 'Move
farther;' to which the general replied, 'I can move no farther.'
'Just so it is with us,' said the chief. 'You have moved us back to
the water, and then ask us to move farther!'"
In the account of his expedition to the foot of the Rocky Mountains,
in 1821, Major Long relates the following anecdote of a Pawnee brave,
son of Red Knife, who, in the succeeding winter, visited the city of
Washington, during the session of Congress.
This brave, of fine size, figure and countenance, is now about
twenty-five years old. At the age of twenty-one, his heroic deeds had
acquired for him in his nation the rank of the bravest of the braves.
The savage practice of torturing and burning to death their prisoners
existed in this nation. An unfortunate female, of the Paduca nation,
taken in war, was destined to this horrid death.
The fatal hour had arrived. The trembling victim, far from her home
and her friends, was fastened to the stake. The whole tribe were
assembled on the surrounding plains to witness the awful scene.
Just as the funeral pile was to be kindled, and the whole multitude of
spectators were on the tiptoe of expectation, this young warrior,
having, unnoticed, prepared two fleet horses, with the necessary
provisions, sprang from his seat, rushed through the crowd, liberated
the victim, seized her in his arms, placed her on one of the horses,
mounted the other himself, and made the utmost speed towards the
nation and friends of the captive.
The multitude, dumb and nerveless with amazement at the daring deed,
made no effort to rescue their victim from her deliverer. They viewed
it as the immediate act of the Great Spirit, submitted to it without a
murmur, and quietly retired to their village.
The released captive was accompanied three days through the
wilderness, towards her home. Her deliverer then gave her the horse on
which she rode, and the necessary provisions for the remainder of the
journey, and they parted.
On his return to the village, such was his popularity, that no inquiry
was made into his conduct, and no censure was passed upon it. Since
this transaction no human sacrifice has been offered in this or any
other of the Pawnee tribes; the practice is abandoned. How influential
is one bold act in a good cause! This deed illustrates a grand
principle, boys. It is by such men that great reformations are made in
the world, and yet there is no mastery in it. Every one is capable of
doing that which he knows to be right, regardless of the opinions of
wicked men, or the habits of the weak and foolish, who follow customs
which have no apology but that others have done so before.
The publication of this anecdote at Washington led some young ladies,
in a manner highly creditable to their good sense and good feeling, to
present this brave and humane Indian with a handsome silver medal,
with appropriate inscriptions, as a token of their sincere
commendation of the noble act of rescuing one of their sex, an
innocent victim, from a cruel death. Their address, delivered on this
occasion, is sensible and appropriate, closing as follows:
"Brother--Accept this token of our esteem; always wear it for our
sakes; and when again you have the power to save a poor woman from
death and torture, think of this, and of us, and fly to her relief and
rescue."
To this the Pawnee made the following reply:--
"Brothers and sisters--This medal will give me ease more than I ever
had; and I will listen more than I ever did to white men.
"I am glad that my brothers and sisters have heard of the good deed
that I have done. My brothers and sisters think that I have done it in
ignorance, but I now know what I have done.
"I did do it in ignorance, and I did not know that I did good; but by
your giving me this medal I know it."
The cruelty of torturing and burning a captive, the great danger of
the female Indian, and the noble daring of the Pawnee brave, formed
the subject of conversation for some time among the young people; and
Austin was unbounded in his approbation of the Pawnee. Willingly would
he have contributed towards another silver medal for him, and Brian
and Basil would not have been backward in doing their part; but the
affair appeared hardly practicable, inasmuch as a reasonable doubt
existed whether the Pawnee brave was still alive; and, even if he
were, there seemed to be no direct way of communicating with him.
[Illustration: Indian Horsemanship.--Page 160.]