arranging ornaments for a bridal dress. Music._
NIMA. Let us make haste, my companions, to finish the dress of the bride;
to-day the prince Miami returns with our hunters from the chase; to-morrow
he will bear away our princess to his own nation.
_Enter POCAHONTAS from the wood, with bow and arrow, and a flamingo
(red bird). Music as she enters._
PRINCESS. See, Nima, a flamingo.
_INDIAN GIRLS crowd around, and admire the bird._
PRINCESS. O Nima! I will use my bow no longer; I go out to the wood, and
my heart is light; but while my arrow flies, I sorrow; and when the bird
drops through the branches, tears come into mine eyes. I will no longer
use my bow.
_Distant hunting-horn. Music. They place themselves in attitudes of
listening. Hunting-horn nearer._
NIMA. 'Tis Miami and our hunters. Princess, why are your looks sad?
PRINCESS. O Nima! the prince comes to bear me far from my father and my
brother. I must quit for ever the companions and the woods that are dear
to me. Nima, the Susquehannocks are a powerful nation, and my father would
have them for his friends. He gives his daughter to their prince, but his
daughter trembles to look upon the fierce Miami.
_Music. HUNTERS seen winding down the hills; they are met by the women
of the village; MIAMI approaches POCAHONTAS, and his attendants lay
skins at her feet._
MIAMI. Princess, behold the spoils I bring thee. Our hunters are laden
with the deer and the soft furred beaver. But Miami scorned such prey: I
watched for the mighty buffalo and the shaggy bear; my club felled them to
the ground, and I tore their skins from their backs. The fierce carcajou
had wound himself around the tree, ready to dart upon the hunter; but the
hunter's eyes were not closed, and the carcajou quivered on the point of
my spear. I heard the wolf howl as he looked at the moon, and the beams
that feel upon his upturned face shewed my tomahawk the spot it was to
enter. I marked where the panther had crouched, and, before he could
spring, my arrow went into his heart. Behold the spoil the Susquehannock
brings thee!
PRINCESS. Susquehannock, thou'rt a mighty hunter. Powhatan shall praise
thee for his daughter. But why returns not my brother with thee?
MIAMI. Nantaquas still finds pleasure in the hunt, but the soul of Miami
grew weary of being away from Werocomoco, for there dwelt the daughter of
Powhatan.
PRINCESS. Let us go to my father.
_Music. Exeunt PRINCESS and MIAMI into palace, followed by NIMA and
train; the others into their several cabins._