"They fought, like brave men, long and well,
They piled that ground with Moslem slain,
They conquered--but Bozzaris fell,
Bleeding at every vein.
His few surviving comrades saw
His smile when rang their proud hurrah,
And the red field was won;
Then saw in death his eyelids close
Calmly, as to a night's repose,
Like flowers at set of sun."
HALLECK.
The sun found the Lenape, on the succeeding day, a nation of mourners.
The sounds of the battle were over, and they had fed fat their ancient
grudge, and had avenged their recent quarrel with the Mengwe, by the
destruction of a whole community. The black and murky atmosphere that
floated around the spot where the Hurons had encamped, sufficiently
announced, of itself, the fate of that wandering tribe; while hundreds
of ravens, that struggled above the bleak summits of the mountains, or
swept, in noisy flocks, across the wide ranges of the woods, furnished a
frightful direction to the scene of the combat. In short, any eye, at
all practised in the signs of a frontier warfare, might easily have
traced all those unerring evidences of the ruthless results which attend
an Indian vengeance.
Still, the sun rose on the Lenape a nation of mourners. No shouts of
success, no songs of triumph, were heard, in rejoicings for their
victory. The latest straggler had returned from his fell employment,
only to strip himself of the terrific emblems of his bloody calling, and
to join in the lamentations of his countrymen, as a stricken people.
Pride and exultation were supplanted by humility, and the fiercest of
human passions was already succeeded by the most profound and
unequivocal demonstrations of grief.
The lodges were deserted; but a broad belt of earnest faces encircled a
spot in their vicinity, whither everything possessing life had repaired,
and where all were now collected, in deep and awful silence. Though
beings of every rank and age, of both sexes, and of all pursuits, had
united to form this breathing wall of bodies, they were influenced by a
single emotion. Each eye was riveted on the centre of that ring, which
contained the objects of so much, and of so common, an interest.
Six Delaware girls, with their long, dark, flowing tresses falling
loosely across their bosoms, stood apart, and only gave proofs of their
existence as they occasionally strewed sweet-scented herbs and forest
flowers on a litter of fragrant plants, that, under a pall of Indian
robes, supported all that now remained of the ardent, high-souled, and
generous Cora. Her form was concealed in many wrappers of the same
simple manufacture, and her face was shut forever from the gaze of men.
At her feet was seated the desolate Munro. His aged head was bowed
nearly to the earth, in compelled submission to the stroke of
Providence; but a hidden anguish struggled about his furrowed brow, that
was only partially concealed by the careless locks of gray that had
fallen, neglected, on his temples. Gamut stood at his side, his meek
head bared to the rays of the sun, while his eyes, wandering and
concerned, seemed to be equally divided between that little volume,
which contained so many quaint but holy maxims, and the being in whose
behalf his soul yearned to administer consolation. Heyward was also
nigh, supporting himself against a tree, and endeavoring to keep down
those sudden risings of sorrow that it required his utmost manhood to
subdue.
But sad and melancholy as this group may easily be imagined, it was far
less touching than another, that occupied the opposite space of the same
area. Seated, as in life, with his form and limbs arranged in grave and
decent composure, Uncas appeared, arrayed in the most gorgeous ornaments
that the wealth of the tribe could furnish. Rich plumes nodded above his
head; wampum, gorgets, bracelets, and medals, adorned his person in
profusion; though his dull eye and vacant lineaments too strongly
contradicted the idle tale of pride they would convey.
Directly in front of the corpse Chingachgook was placed, without arms,
paint, or adornment of any sort, except the bright blue blazonry of his
race, that was indelibly impressed on his naked bosom. During the long
period that the tribe had been thus collected, the Mohican warrior had
kept a steady, anxious look on the cold and senseless countenance of his
son. So riveted and intense had been that gaze, and so changeless his
attitude, that a stranger might not have told the living from the dead,
but for the occasional gleamings of a troubled spirit that shot athwart
the dark visage of one, and the death-like calm that had forever settled
on the lineaments of the other.
The scout was hard by, leaning in a pensive posture on his own fatal and
avenging weapon; while Tamenund, supported by the elders of his nation,
occupied a high place at hand, whence he might look down on the mute and
sorrowful assemblage of his people.
Just within the inner edge of the circle stood a soldier, in the
military attire of a strange nation; and without it was his war-horse,
in the centre of a collection of mounted domestics, seemingly in
readiness to undertake some distant journey. The vestments of the
stranger announced him to be one who held a responsible situation near
the person of the captain of the Canadas; and who, as it would now seem,
finding his errand of peace frustrated by the fierce impetuosity of his
allies, was content to become a silent and sad spectator of the fruits
of a contest that he had arrived too late to anticipate.
The day was drawing to the close of its first quarter, and yet had the
multitude maintained its breathing stillness since its dawn. No sound
louder than a stifled sob had been heard among them, nor had even a limb
been moved throughout that long and painful period, except to perform
the simple and touching offerings that were made, from time to time, in
commemoration of the dead. The patience and forbearance of Indian
fortitude could alone support such an appearance of abstraction, as
seemed now to have turned each dark and motionless figure into stone.
At length, the sage of the Delawares stretched forth an arm, and leaning
on the shoulders of his attendants, he arose with an air as feeble as if
another age had already intervened between the man who had met his
nation the preceding day, and him who now tottered on his elevated
stand.
"Men of the Lenape!" he said, in hollow tones that sounded like a voice
charged with some prophetic mission; "the face of the Manitou is behind
a cloud! His eye is turned from you; His ears are shut; His tongue gives
no answer. You see Him not; yet His judgments are before you. Let your
hearts be open and your spirits tell no lie. Men of the Lenape! the face
of the Manitou is behind a cloud."
As this simple and yet terrible annunciation stole on the ears of the
multitude, a stillness as deep and awful succeeded as if the venerated
spirit they worshipped had uttered the words without the aid of human
organs; and even the inanimate Uncas appeared a being of life, compared
with the humbled and submissive throng by whom he was surrounded. As the
immediate effect, however, gradually passed away, a low murmur of voices
commenced a sort of chant in honor of the dead. The sounds were those of
females, and were thrillingly soft and wailing. The words were connected
by no regular continuation, but as one ceased another took up the
eulogy, or lamentation, whichever it might be called, and gave vent to
her emotions in such language as was suggested by her feelings and the
occasion. At intervals the speaker was interrupted by general and loud
bursts of sorrow, during which the girls around the bier of Cora plucked
the plants and flowers blindly from her body, as if bewildered with
grief. But, in the milder moments of their plaint, these emblems of
purity and sweetness were cast back to their places, with every sign of
tenderness and regret. Though rendered less connected by many and
general interruptions and outbreakings, a translation of their language
would have contained a regular descant, which, in substance, might have
proved to possess a train of consecutive ideas.
A girl, selected for the task by her rank and qualifications, commenced
by modest allusions to the qualities of the deceased warrior,
embellishing her expressions with those oriental images that the Indians
have probably brought with them from the extremes of the other
continent, and which form of themselves a link to connect the ancient
histories of the two worlds. She called him the "panther of his tribe";
and described him as one whose moccasin left no trail on the dews; whose
bound was like the leap of the young fawn; whose eye was brighter than a
star in the dark night; and whose voice, in battle, was loud as the
thunder of the Manitou. She reminded him of the mother who bore him, and
dwelt forcibly on the happiness she must feel in possessing such a son.
She bade him tell her, when they met in the world of spirits, that the
Delaware girls had shed tears above the grave of her child, and had
called her blessed.
Then, they who succeeded, changing their tones to a milder and still
more tender strain, alluded, with the delicacy and sensitiveness of
woman, to the stranger maiden, who had left the upper earth at a time so
near his own departure, as to render the will of the Great Spirit too
manifest to be disregarded. They admonished him to be kind to her, and
to have consideration for her ignorance of those arts which were so
necessary to the comfort of a warrior like himself. They dwelt upon her
matchless beauty, and on her noble resolution, without the taint of
envy, and as angels may be thought to delight in a superior excellence;
adding, that these endowments should prove more than equivalent for any
little imperfections in her education.
After which, others again, in due succession, spoke to the maiden
herself, in the low, soft language of tenderness and love. They exhorted
her to be of cheerful mind, and to fear nothing for future welfare. A
hunter would be her companion, who knew how to provide for her smallest
wants; and a warrior was at her side who was able to protect her against
every danger. They promised that her path should be pleasant, and her
burden light. They cautioned her against unavailing regrets for the
friends of her youth, and the scenes where her fathers had dwelt;
assuring her that the "blessed hunting-grounds of the Lenape" contained
vales as pleasant, streams as pure, and flowers as sweet, as the "heaven
of the pale-faces." They advised her to be attentive to the wants of her
companion, and never to forget the distinction which the Manitou had so
wisely established between them. Then, in a wild burst of their chant,
they sang with united voices the temper of the Mohican's mind. They
pronounced him noble, manly and generous; all that became a warrior, and
all that a maid might love. Clothing their ideas in the most remote and
subtle images, they betrayed, that, in the short period of their
intercourse, they had discovered, with the intuitive perception of their
sex, the truant disposition of his inclinations. The Delaware girls had
found no favor in his eyes! He was of a race that had once been lords on
the shores of the salt lake, and his wishes had led him back to a people
who dwelt about the graves of his fathers. Why should not such a
predilection be encouraged! That she was of a blood purer and richer
than the rest of her nation, any eye might have seen; that she was equal
to the dangers and daring of a life in the woods, her conduct had
proved; and now, they added, the "wise one of the earth" had
transplanted her to a place where she would find congenial spirits, and
might be forever happy.
Then, with another transition in voice and subject, allusions were made
to the virgin who wept in the adjacent lodge. They compared her to
flakes of snow; as pure, as white, as brilliant, and as liable to melt
in the fierce heats of summer, or congeal in the frosts of winter. They
doubted not that she was lovely in the eyes of the young chief, whose
skin and whose sorrow seemed so like her own; but, though far from
expressing such a preference, it was evident they deemed her less
excellent than the maid they mourned. Still they denied her no meed her
rare charms might properly claim. Her ringlets were compared to the
exuberant tendrils of the vine, her eye to the blue vault of the
heavens, and the most spotless cloud, with its glowing flush of the sun,
was admitted to be less attractive than her bloom.
During these and similar songs nothing was audible but the murmurs of
the music; relieved, as it was, or rather rendered terrible, by those
occasional bursts of grief which might be called its choruses. The
Delawares themselves listened like charmed men; and it was very
apparent, by the variations of their speaking countenances, how deep and
true was their sympathy. Even David was not reluctant to lend his ears
to tones of voices so sweet; and long ere the chant was ended, his gaze
announced that his soul was enthralled.
The scout, to whom alone, of all the white men, the words were
intelligible, suffered himself to be a little aroused from his
meditative posture, and bent his face aside, to catch their meaning, as
the girls proceeded. But when they spoke of the future prospects of Cora
and Uncas, he shook his head, like one who knew the error of their
simple creed, and resuming his reclining attitude, he maintained it
until the ceremony--if that might be called a ceremony, in which feeling
was so deeply imbued--was finished. Happily for the self-command of both
Heyward and Munro, they knew not the meaning of the wild sounds they
heard.
Chingachgook was a solitary exception to the interest manifested by the
native part of the audience. His look never changed throughout the whole
of the scene, nor did a muscle move in his rigid countenance, even at
the wildest or the most pathetic parts of the lamentation. The cold and
senseless remains of his son was all to him, and every other sense but
that of sight seemed frozen, in order that his eyes might take their
final gaze at those lineaments he had so long loved, and which were now
about to be closed forever from his view.
In this stage of the funeral obsequies, a warrior much renowned for
deeds in arms, and more especially for services in the recent combat, a
man of stern and grave demeanor, advanced slowly from the crowd, and
placed himself nigh the person of the dead.
"Why hast thou left us, pride of the Wapanachki?" he said, addressing
himself to the dull ears of Uncas, as if the empty clay retained the
faculties of the animated man; "thy time has been like that of the sun
when in the trees; thy glory brighter than his light at noonday. Thou
art gone, youthful warrior, but a hundred Wyandots are clearing the
briers from thy path to the world of spirits. Who that saw thee in
battle would believe that thou couldst die? Who before thee has ever
shown Uttawa the way into the fight? Thy feet were like the wings of
eagles; thine arm heavier than falling branches from the pine; and thy
voice like the Manitou when he speaks in the clouds. The tongue of
Uttawa is weak," he added, looking about him with a melancholy gaze,
"and his heart exceeding heavy. Pride of the Wapanachki, why hast thou
left us?"
He was succeeded by others, in due order, until most of the high and
gifted men of the nation had sung or spoken their tribute of praise over
the _manes_ of the deceased chief. When each had ended, another deep and
breathing silence reigned in all the place.
Then a low, deep sound was heard, like the suppressed accompaniment of
distant music, rising just high enough on the air to be audible, and yet
so indistinctly, as to leave its character, and the place whence it
proceeded, alike matters of conjecture. It was, however, succeeded by
another and another strain, each in a higher key, until they grew on the
ear, first in long drawn and often repeated interjections, and finally
in words. The lips of Chingachgook had so far parted, as to announce
that it was the monody of the father. Though not an eye was turned
towards him, nor the smallest sign of impatience exhibited, it was
apparent, by the manner in which the multitude elevated their heads to
listen, that they drank in the sounds with an intenseness of attention,
that none but Tamenund himself had ever before commanded. But they
listened in vain. The strains rose just so loud as to become
intelligible, and then grew fainter and more trembling, until they
finally sank on the ear, as if borne away by a passing breath of wind.
The lips of the Sagamore closed, and he remained silent in his seat,
looking, with his riveted eye and motionless form, like some creature
that had been turned from the Almighty hand with the form but without
the spirit of a man. The Delawares, who knew by these symptoms that the
mind of their friend was not prepared for so mighty an effort of
fortitude, relaxed in their attention; and, with an innate delicacy,
seemed to bestow all their thoughts on the obsequies of the stranger
maiden.
A signal was given, by one of the elder chiefs, to the women who crowded
that part of the circle near which the body of Cora lay. Obedient to the
sign, the girls raised the bier to the elevation of their heads, and
advanced with slow and regulated steps, chanting, as they proceeded,
another wailing song in praise of the deceased. Gamut, who had been a
close observer of rites he deemed so heathenish, now bent his head over
the shoulder of the unconscious father, whispering,--
"They move with the remains of thy child; shall we not follow, and see
them interred with Christian burial?"
Munro started, as if the last trumpet had sounded in his ear, and
bestowing one anxious and hurried glance around him, he arose and
followed in the simple train, with the mien of a soldier, but bearing
the full burden of a parent's suffering. His friends pressed around him
with a sorrow that was too strong to be termed sympathy--even the young
Frenchman joining in the procession, with the air of a man who was
sensibly touched at the early and melancholy fate of one so lovely. But
when the last and humblest female of the tribe had joined in the wild,
and yet ordered array, the men of the Lenape contracted their circle,
and formed again around the person of Uncas, as silent, as grave, and as
motionless as before.
The place which had been chosen for the grave of Cora was a little
knoll, where a cluster of young and healthful pines had taken root,
forming of themselves a melancholy and appropriate shade over the spot.
On reaching it the girls deposited their burden, and continued for many
minutes waiting, with characteristic patience, and native timidity, for
some evidence that they whose feelings were most concerned were content
with the arrangement. At length the scout, who alone understood their
habits, said, in their own language,--
"My daughters have done well; the white men thank them."
Satisfied with this testimony in their favor, the girls proceeded to
deposit the body in a shell, ingeniously, and not inelegantly,
fabricated of the bark of the birch; after which they lowered it into
its dark and final abode. The ceremony of covering the remains, and
concealing the marks of the fresh earth, by leaves and other natural
and customary objects, was conducted with the same simple and silent
forms. But when the labors of the kind beings who had performed these
sad and friendly offices were so far completed, they hesitated, in a way
to show that they knew not how much further they might proceed. It was
in this stage of the rites that the scout again addressed them:--
"My young women have done enough," he said; "the spirit of a pale-face
has no need of food or raiment, their gifts being according to the
heaven of their color. I see," he added, glancing an eye at David, who
was preparing his book in a manner that indicated an intention to lead
the way in sacred song, "that one who better knows the Christian
fashions is about to speak."
The females stood modestly aside, and, from having been the principal
actors in the scene, they now became the meek and attentive observers of
that which followed. During the time David was occupied in pouring out
the pious feelings of his spirit in this manner, not a sign of surprise,
nor a look of impatience, escaped them. They listened like those who
knew the meaning of the strange words, and appeared as if they felt the
mingled emotions of sorrow, hope, and resignation, they were intended to
convey.
Excited by the scene he had just witnessed, and perhaps influenced by
his own secret emotions, the master of song exceeded his usual efforts.
His full, rich voice was not found to suffer by a comparison with the
soft tones of the girls; and his more modulated strains possessed, at
least for the ears of those to whom they were peculiarly addressed, the
additional power of intelligence. He ended the anthem, as he had
commenced it, in the midst of a grave and solemn stillness.
When, however, the closing cadence had fallen on the ears of his
auditors, the secret, timorous glances of the eyes, and the general, and
yet subdued movement of the assemblage, betrayed that something was
expected from the father of the deceased. Munro seemed sensible that the
time was come for him to exert what is, perhaps, the greatest effort of
which human nature is capable. He bared his gray locks, and looked
around the timid and quiet throng by which he was encircled with a firm
and collected countenance. Then motioning with his hand for the scout to
listen, he said,--
"Say to these kind and gentle females, that a heartbroken and failing
man returns them his thanks. Tell them, that the Being we all worship,
under different names, will be mindful of their charity; and that the
time shall not be distant when we may assemble around his throne without
distinction of sex, or rank, or color."
The scout listened to the tremulous voice in which the veteran delivered
these words, and shook his head slowly when they were ended, as one who
doubted their efficacy.
"To tell them this," he said, "would be to tell them that the snows come
not in the winter, or that the sun shines fiercest when the trees are
stripped of their leaves."
Then turning to the women, he made such a communication of the other's
gratitude as he deemed most suited to the capacities of his listeners.
The head of Munro had already sunk upon his chest, and he was again fast
relapsing into melancholy, when the young Frenchman before named
ventured to touch him lightly on the elbow. As soon as he had gained the
attention of the mourning old man, he pointed towards a group of young
Indians, who approached with a light but closely covered litter, and
then pointed upward towards the sun.
"I understand you, sir," returned Munro, with a voice of forced
firmness; "I understand you. It is the will of Heaven, and I submit.
Cora, my child! if the prayers of a heartbroken father could avail thee
now, how blessed shouldst thou be! Come, gentlemen," he added, looking
about him with an air of lofty composure, though the anguish that
quivered in his faded countenance was far too powerful to be concealed,
"our duty here is ended; let us depart."
Heyward gladly obeyed a summons that took them from a spot where, each
instant, he felt his self-control was about to desert him. While his
companions were mounting, however, he found time to press the hand of
the scout, and to repeat the terms of an engagement they had made, to
meet again within the posts of the British army. Then gladly throwing
himself into the saddle, he spurred his charger to the side of the
litter, whence low and stifled sobs alone announced the presence of
Alice. In this manner, the head of Munro again dropping on his bosom,
with Heyward and David following in sorrowing silence, and attended by
the aide of Montcalm with his guard, all the white men, with the
exception of Hawkeye, passed from before the eyes of the Delawares, and
were soon buried in the vast forests of that region.
But the tie which, through their common calamity, had united the
feelings of these simple dwellers in the woods with the strangers who
had thus transiently visited them, was not so easily broken. Years
passed away before the traditionary tale of the white maiden, and of the
young warrior of the Mohicans, ceased to beguile the long nights and
tedious marches, or to animate their youthful and brave with a desire
for vengeance. Neither were the secondary actors in these momentous
incidents forgotten. Through the medium of the scout, who served for
years afterwards as a link between them and civilized life, they
learned, in answer to their inquiries, that the "Gray Head" was speedily
gathered to his fathers--borne down, as was erroneously believed, by his
military misfortunes; and that the "Open Hand" had conveyed his
surviving daughter far into the settlements of the "pale-faces," where
her tears had at last ceased to flow, and had been succeeded by the
bright smiles which were better suited to her joyous nature.
But these were events of a time later than that which concerns our tale.
Deserted by all of his color, Hawkeye returned to the spot where his own
sympathies led him, with a force that no ideal bond of union could
bestow. He was just in time to catch a parting look of the features of
Uncas, whom the Delawares were already inclosing in his last vestments
of skins. They paused to permit the longing and lingering gaze of the
sturdy woodsman, and when it was ended, the body was enveloped, never to
be unclosed again. Then came a procession like the other, and the whole
nation was collected about the temporary grave of the chief--temporary,
because it was proper that, at some future day, his bones should rest
among those of his own people.
The movement, like the feeling, had been simultaneous and general. The
same grave expression of grief, the same rigid silence, and the same
deference to the principal mourner, were observed around the place of
interment as have been already described. The body was deposited in an
attitude of repose, facing the rising sun, with the implements of war
and of the chase at hand, in readiness for the final journey. An opening
was left in the shell, by which it was protected from the soil, for the
spirit to communicate with its earthly tenement, when necessary; and the
whole was concealed from the instinct, and protected from the ravages of
the beasts of prey, with an ingenuity peculiar to the natives. The
manual rites then ceased, and all present reverted to the more spiritual
part of the ceremonies.
Chingachgook became once more the object of the common attention. He
had not yet spoken, and something consolatory and instructive was
expected from so renowned a chief on an occasion of such interest.
Conscious of the wishes of the people, the stern and self-restrained
warrior raised his face, which had latterly been buried in his robe, and
looked about him with a steady eye. His firmly compressed and expressive
lips then severed, and for the first time during the long ceremonies his
voice was distinctly audible.
"Why do my brothers mourn!" he said, regarding the dark race of dejected
warriors by whom he was environed; "why do my daughters weep! that a
young man has gone to the happy hunting-grounds; that a chief has filled
his time with honor! He was good; he was dutiful; he was brave. Who can
deny it? The Manitou had need of such a warrior, and He has called him
away. As for me, the son and the father of Uncas, I am a blazed pine, in
a clearing of the pale-faces. My race has gone from the shores of the
salt lake, and the hills of the Delawares. But who can say that the
Serpent of his tribe has forgotten his wisdom? I am alone--"
"No, no," cried Hawkeye, who had been gazing with a yearning look at the
rigid features of his friend, with something like his own self-command,
but whose philosophy could endure no longer; "no, Sagamore, not alone.
The gifts of our colors may be different, but God has so placed us as to
journey in the same path. I have no kin, and I may also say, like you,
no people. He was your son, and a redskin by nature; and it may be that
your blood was nearer--but if ever I forget the lad who has so often
fou't at my side in war, and slept at my side in peace, may He who made
us all, whatever may be our color or our gifts, forget me! The boy has
left us for a time; but, Sagamore, you are not alone."
Chingachgook grasped the hand that, in the warmth of feeling, the scout
had stretched across the fresh earth, and in that attitude of friendship
these two sturdy and intrepid woodsmen bowed their heads together, while
scalding tears fell to their feet, watering the grave of Uncas like
drops of falling rain.
In the midst of the awful stillness with which such a burst of feeling,
coming, as it did, from the two most renowned warriors of that region,
was received, Tamenund lifted his voice to disperse the multitude.
"It is enough," he said. "Go, children of the Lenape, the anger of the
Manitou is not done. Why should Tamenund stay? The pale-faces are
masters of the earth, and the time of the redmen has not yet come again.
My day has been too long. In the morning I saw the sons of Unamis happy
and strong; and yet, before the night has come, have I lived to see the
last warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] As each nation of the Indians had either its language or its
dialect, they usually gave different names to the same places, though
nearly all of their appellations were descriptive of the object. Thus, a
literal translation of the name of this beautiful sheet of water, used
by the tribe that dwelt on its banks would be "The Tail of the Lake."
Lake George, as it is vulgarly, and now indeed legally called, forms a
sort of tail to Lake Champlain, when viewed on the map. Hence the name.
[2] Washington: who, after uselessly admonishing the European general of
the danger into which he was heedlessly running, saved the remnants of
the British army, on this occasion, by his decision and courage. The
reputation earned by Washington in this battle was the principal cause
of his being selected to command the American armies at a later day. It
is a circumstance worthy of observation, that, while all America rang
with his well-merited reputation, his name does not occur in any
European account of the battle; at least, the author has searched for it
without success. In this manner does the mother country absorb even the
fame, under that system of rule.
[3] There existed for a long time a confederation among the Indian
tribes which occupied the northwestern part of the colony of New York,
which was at first known as the "Five Nations." At a later day it
admitted another tribe, when the appellation was changed to that of the
"Six Nations." The original confederation consisted of the Mohawks, the
Oneidas, the Senecas, the Cayugas, and the Onondagas. The sixth tribe
was the Tuscaroras. There are remnants of all these people still living
on lands secured to them by the State; but they are daily disappearing,
either by deaths or by removals to scenes more congenial to their
habits. In a short time there will be no remains of these extraordinary
people, in those regions in which they dwelt for centuries, but their
names. The State of New York has counties named after all of them but
the Mohawks and the Tuscaroras. The second river of that State is called
the Mohawk.
[4] In the State of Rhode Island there is a bay called Narragansett, so
named after a powerful tribe of Indians, which formerly dwelt on its
banks. Accident, or one of those unaccountable freaks which nature
sometimes plays in the animal world, gave rise to a breed of horses
which were once well known in America by the name of the Narragansetts.
They were small, commonly of the color called sorrel in America, and
distinguished by their habit of pacing. Horses of this race were, and
are still, in much request as saddle-horses, on account of their
hardiness and the ease of their movements. As they were also sure of
foot, the Narragansetts were greatly sought for by females who were
obliged to travel over the roots and holes in the "new countries."
[5] The North American warrior caused the hair to be plucked from his
whole body; a small tuft, only, was left on the crown of his head in
order that his enemy might avail himself of it, in wrenching off the
scalp in the event of his fall. The scalp was the only admissible trophy
of victory. Thus, it was deemed more important to obtain the scalp than
to kill the man. Some tribes lay great stress on the honor of striking a
dead body. These practices have nearly disappeared among the Indians of
the Atlantic States.
[6] The hunting-shirt is a picturesque smock frock, being shorter, and
ornamented with fringes and tassels. The colors are intended to imitate
the hues of the wood with a view to concealment. Many corps of American
riflemen have been thus attired; and the dress is one of the most
striking of modern times. The hunting-shirt is frequently white.
[7] The rifle of the army is short; that of the hunter is always long.
[8] The Mississippi. The scout alludes to a tradition which is very
popular among the tribes of the Atlantic States. Evidence of their
Asiatic origin is deduced from the circumstances, though great
uncertainty hangs over the whole history of the Indians.
[9] The scene of this tale was in the 42d degree of latitude, where the
twilight is never of long continuance.
[10] The reader will remember that New York was originally a colony of
the Dutch.
[11] The principal villages of the Indians are still called "castles" by
the whites of New York. "Oneida castle" is no more than a scattered
hamlet; but the name is in general use.
[12] In vulgar parlance the condiments of a repast are called by the
American "a relish," substituting the thing for its effect. These
provincial terms are frequently put in the mouths of the speakers,
according to their several conditions in life. Most of them are of local
use, and others quite peculiar to the particular class of men to which
the character belongs. In the present instance, the scout uses the word
with immediate reference to the salt, with which his own party was so
fortunate as to be provided.
[13] Glenn's Falls are on the Hudson, some forty or fifty miles above
the head of tide, or the place where that river becomes navigable for
sloops. The description of this picturesque and remarkable little
cataract, as given by the scout, is sufficiently correct, though the
application of the water to the uses of civilized life has materially
injured its beauties. The rocky island and the two caverns are well
known to every traveller, since the former sustains a pier of a bridge,
which is now thrown across the river, immediately above the fall. In
explanation of the taste of Hawkeye, it should be remembered that men
always prize that most which is least enjoyed. Thus, in a new country,
the woods and other objects, which in an old country would be maintained
at great cost, are got rid of, simply with a view of "improving," as it
is called.
[14] The meaning of Indian words is much governed by the emphasis and
tones.
[15] Mingo was the Delaware term for the Five Nations. Maquas was the
name given them by the Dutch. The French, from their first intercourse
with them, called them Iroquois.
[16] It has long been a practice with the whites to conciliate the
important men of the Indians, by presenting medals, which are worn in
the place of their own rude ornaments. Those given by the English
generally bear the impression of the reigning king, and those given by
the Americans that of the president.
[17] Many of the animals of the American forests resort to those spots
where salt springs are found. These are called "licks" or "salt licks,"
in the language of the country, from the circumstance that the quadruped
is often obliged to lick the earth, in order to obtain the saline
particles. These licks are great places of resort with the hunters, who
waylay their game near the paths that lead to them.
[18] The scene of the foregoing incidents is on the spot where the
village of Ballston now stands; one of the two principal watering-places
of America.
[19] Some years since, the writer was shooting in the vicinity of the
ruins of Fort Oswego, which stands on the shores of Lake Ontario. His
game was deer, and his chase a forest that stretched with little
interruption, fifty miles inland. Unexpectedly he came upon six or eight
ladders lying in the woods within a short distance of each other. They
were rudely made, and much decayed. Wondering what could have assembled
so many of these instruments in such a place, he sought an old man who
resided near for the explanation.
During the war of 1776 Fort Oswego was held by the British. An
expedition had been sent two hundred miles through the wilderness to
surprise the fort. It appears that the Americans, on reaching the spot
named, which was within a mile or two of the fort, first learned that
they were expected, and in great danger of being cut off. They threw
away their scaling-ladders, and made a rapid retreat. These ladders had
lain unmolested thirty years, in the spot where they had thus been cast.
[20] Baron Dieskau, a German, in the service of France. A few years
previous to the period of the tale, this officer was defeated by Sir
William Johnson of Johnstown, New York, on the shores of Lake George.
See Appendix, Note H.
[21] Evidently the late De Witt Clinton, who died governor of New York
in 1828.
[22] The powers of the American mocking-bird are generally known. But
the true mocking-bird is not found so far north as the State of New
York, where it has, however, two substitutes of inferior excellence; the
catbird, so often named by the scout, and the bird vulgarly called
ground-thresher. Either of these two last birds is superior to the
nightingale, or the lark, though, in general, the American birds are
less musical than those of Europe.
[23] The beauties of Lake George are well known to every American
tourist. In the height of the mountains which surround it, and in
artificial accessories, it is inferior to the finest of the Swiss and
Italian lakes, while in outline and purity of water it is fully their
equal; and in the number and disposition of its isles and islets much
superior to them all together. There are said to be some hundreds of
islands in a sheet of water less than thirty miles long. The narrows
which connect what may be called, in truth, two lakes, are crowded with
islands to such a degree as to leave passages between them frequently of
only a few feet in width. The lake itself varies in breadth from one to
three miles.
The State of New York is remarkable for the number and beauty of its
lakes. One of its frontiers lies on the vast sheet of Ontario, while
Champlain stretches nearly a hundred miles along another. Oneida,
Cayuga, Canandaigua, Seneca, and George, are all lakes of thirty miles
in length, while those of a size smaller are without number. On most of
these lakes there are now beautiful villages, and on many of them
steamboats.
[24] These harangues of the beasts are frequent among the Indians. They
often address their victims in this way, reproaching them for cowardice,
or commending their resolution, as they may happen to exhibit fortitude,
or the reverse in suffering.
[25] A dish composed of cracked corn and beans. It is much used also by
the whites. By corn is meant maize.
[26] William Penn was termed Minquon by the Delawares, and, as he never
used violence or injustice in his dealings with them, his reputation for
probity passed into a proverb. The American is justly proud of the
origin of his nation, which is perhaps unequalled in the history of the
world; but the Pennsylvanian and Jerseyman have more reason to value
themselves in their ancestors than the natives of any other State, since
no wrong was done the original owners of the soil.
[27] Turtle.
[28] A tree which has been partially or entirely stripped of its bark is
said, in the language of the country, to be "blazed." The term is
strictly English; for a horse is said to be blazed when it has a white
mark.
[29] The American forest admits of the passage of horse, there being
little underbush, and few tangled brakes. The plan of Hawkeye is the one
which has always proved the most successful in the battles between the
whites and the Indians. Wayne, in his celebrated campaign on the Miami,
received the fire of his enemies in line; and then causing his dragoons
to wheel round his flanks, the Indians were driven from their covers
before they had time to load. One of the most conspicuous of the chiefs
who fought in the battle of Miami assured the writer, that the redmen
could not fight the warriors with "long knives and leather-stockings";
meaning the dragoons with their sabres and boots.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper