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!