Part 22 (2/2)

”I had not been long in America before the colonel, who was perfectly acquainted with the language and manners of the savage tribes that border upon the British colonies, was sent on an emba.s.sy to one of their nations, for the purpose of soliciting their alliance with Britain. It may not, perhaps, be uninteresting to you, gentlemen, and to this my honourable little master, to hear some account of a people whose manners and customs are so much the reverse of what you see at home. As my worthy officer, therefore, contented with my a.s.siduity and improvement in military knowledge, permitted me to have the honour of attending him, I will describe some of the most curious facts which I was witness to.

”You have, doubtless, heard many accounts of the surprising increase of the English colonies in America; and when we reflect that it is scarcely a hundred years since some of them were established, it must be confessed that they have made rapid improvements in clearing the ground of woods and bringing it to cultivation. Yet, much as they have already done, the country is yet an immense forest, except immediately on the coasts. The forests extend on every side to a distance that no human sagacity or observation has been able to determine; they abound in every species of tree which you see in England, to which may be added a great variety more which are unknown with us. Under their shade is generally found a rich luxurious herbage, which serves for pasture to a thousand herds of animals. Here are seen elks (a kind of deer of the largest size), and buffaloes (a species of wild ox), by thousands, and even horses, which, having been originally brought over by the Spaniards, have escaped from their settlements and multiplied in the woods.”

”Dear!” said Tommy, ”that must be a fine country, indeed, where horses run wild; why, a man might have one for nothing.” ”And yet,” said Mr Merton, ”it would be but of little use for a person to have a wild horse, who is not able to manage a tame one.”

Tommy made no answer to his father; and the man proceeded. ”But the greatest curiosity of all this country is, in my opinion, the various tribes or nations which inhabit it. Bred up from their infancy to a life of equal hardiness with the wild animals, they are almost as robust in their const.i.tutions. These various tribes inhabit little villages, which generally are seated upon the banks of rivers; and, though they cultivate small portions of land around their towns, they seek the greater part of their subsistence from the chase. In their persons they are rather tall and slender, but admirably well-proportioned and active, and their colour is a pale red, exactly resembling copper. Thus accustomed to roam about the woods, and brave the inclemencies of the weather, as well as continually exposed to the attacks of their enemies they acquire a degree of courage and fort.i.tude which can scarcely be conceived. It is nothing to them to pa.s.s whole days without food; to be whole nights upon the bare damp ground, and to swim the widest rivers in the depth of winter. Money, indeed, and the greatest part of what we call the conveniences of life, they are unacquainted with; nor can they conceive that one man should serve another merely because he has a few pieces of s.h.i.+ning metal; they imagine that the only distinctions arise from superior courage and bodily perfections, and therefore these alone are able to engage their esteem. A celebrated traveller relates that, on one occasion, while he was engaged in finis.h.i.+ng a drawing, he was suddenly interrupted by three of these curious-looking persons entering the room in which he was. At first he feared that they intended to attack him; but he soon found that he was mistaken, for, upon their seeing the representation of themselves upon a sheet which he had taken the day before, and which one of them took up, they immediately burst into a loud fit of laughter, while one of them offered to purchase it by giving some fruit in exchange.

”But if their manners are gentle in peace, they are more dreadful, when provoked, than all the wildest animals of the forest. Bred up from infancy to suffer no restraint, and to give an unbounded loose to the indulgence of their pa.s.sions, they know not what it is to forgive those who have injured them. They love their tribe with a degree of affection that is totally unknown in every other country; for they are ready to suffer every hards.h.i.+p and danger in its defence. They scruple not in the least to experience wounds, and pain, and even death itself, as often as the interest of the country to which they are so much attached is concerned; but the same attachment renders them implacable and unforgiving to all their enemies. In short, they seem to have all the virtues and the vices of the ancient Spartans.

”To one of these tribes, called the Ottigamies, was Colonel Simmons sent amba.s.sador, accompanied by a few more officers, and some private men, among whom I had the honour to be included. We pursued our march for several days, through forests which seemed to be of equal duration with the world itself. Sometimes we were shrouded in such obscurity, from the thickness of the covert, that we could scarcely see the light of heaven; sometimes we emerged into s.p.a.cious meadows, bare of trees, and covered with the most luxuriant herbage, on which were feeding immense herds of buffaloes. These, as soon as they snuffed the approach of men, which they are capable of doing even at a considerable distance, ran with precipitation into the surrounding woods; many, however, fell beneath our attack, and served us for food during our journey. At length we came to a wide and rapid river, upon whose banks we found a party of friendly savages, with some of whom we embarked upon canoes made of the bark of trees, to proceed to the country of the Ottigamies.

”After three days' incessant rowing we entered a s.p.a.cious lake, upon whose banks were encamped a considerable portion of the nation we sought. As we approached the sh.o.r.e they saluted us with a volley of b.a.l.l.s from their muskets, which whistled just above our heads, without producing mischief. I and several of the soldiers instantly seized our arms, imagining it to be a hostile attack; but our leader quieted our apprehensions by informing us that this was only a friendly salute with which a nation of warriors received and welcomed their allies. We landed, and were instantly conducted to the a.s.sembly of the chiefs, who were sitting upon the ground, without external pomp or ceremony, with their arms beside them; but there was in their countenances and eyes an expression of ferocious grandeur which would have daunted the boldest European. Yes, gentlemen, I have seen the greatest and most powerful men in my own country; I have seen them adorned with every external circ.u.mstance of dress, of pomp, and equipage, to inspire respect, but never did I see anything which so completely awed the soul as the angry scowl and fiery glance of a savage American.

”As soon as our leader entered the circle, he produced the calumet, or pipe of peace. This is the universal mark of friends.h.i.+p and alliance among all the barbarous nations of America, and he that bears it is considered with so much respect that his person is always safe. This calumet is nothing but a long and slender pipe, ornamented with the most lively and beautiful feathers, which are ingeniously fixed along the tube; the bowl is composed of a peculiar kind of reddish marble, and filled with scented herbs and tobacco.

”Colonel Simmons lighted his pipe with great solemnity, and turning the bowl first towards the heavens, then to the earth, then in a circle round him, he began to smoke. In the mean time the whole a.s.sembly sat with mute attention, waiting to hear his proposals; for, though we call them savages, yet in some respects they well deserve to be imitated by more refined nations; in all their meetings and a.s.semblies the greatest order and regularity prevail; whoever rises to speak is sure of being patiently heard to the end without the least interruption.

”Our leader then began to harangue them in their own language, with which he was well acquainted. I did not understand what pa.s.sed, but it was afterwards explained to me that he set before their eyes the injuries they had mutually received from the French and the tribes in their alliance. He told them that their great father (for so these people call the King of Britain) had taken up the hatchet of war, and was sending an innumerable band of warriors to punish the insults of his enemies. He told them that he had ordered him to visit the Ottigamies, his dutiful children, and smoke with them the pipe of peace. He invited their young men to join the warriors that came from beyond the ocean, and who were marching to bury the bones of their brethren, who had been killed by their mutual foes. When he had concluded, he flung upon the ground a curious string of sh.e.l.ls, which is called the belt of _Wampum_. This is a necessary circ.u.mstance in all the treaties made with these tribes. Whoever comes as an amba.s.sador brings one with him to present to the people whose friends.h.i.+p is solicited, and, if the belt is accepted the proposed alliance is considered as entered into.

”As soon as our leader had finished, a chief of a stature superior to the common race of men, and of a most determined look, jumped into the middle of the a.s.sembly, and, taking up the belt, cried out in their language, 'Let us march, my brethren, with the young men of our great father! Let us dig up the hatchet of war and revenge the bones of our countrymen; they lie unburied, and cry to us for vengeance! We will not be deaf to their cries; we will shake off all delays; we will approve ourselves worthy of our ancestors; we will drink the blood of our enemies, and spread a feast of carnage for the fowls of the air and the wild beasts of the forest!' This resolution was universally approved by the whole nation, who consented to the war with a ferocious joy. The a.s.sembly was then dissolved, and the chiefs prepared for their intended march according to the manners of their country.

”All the savage tribes that inhabit America are accustomed to very little clothing. Inured to the inclemencies of the weather, and being in the constant exercise of all their limbs, they cannot bear the restraint and confinement of a European dress. The greater part of their bodies, therefore, is naked; and this they paint in various fas.h.i.+ons, to give additional terror to their looks.

”When the chiefs were thus prepared they came from their tents; and the last solemnity I was witness to, was dancing the dance of war and singing the song of death. But what words can convey an adequate idea of the furious movements and expressions which animated them through the whole of this performance! Every man was armed with a kind of hatchet, which is their usual weapon in battle, and called a _tomahawk_. This he held in his hand, and brandished through the whole of the dreadful spectacle. As they went on, their faces kindled into an expression of anger that would daunt the boldest spectator; their gestures seemed to be inspired by frantic rage and animosity; they moved their bodies with the most violent agitations, and it was easy to see they represented all the circ.u.mstances of a real combat. They seemed to be engaged in close or distant battle, and brandished their weapons with so much fury, that you would have imagined they were going every instant to hew each other to pieces. Nor would it have been possible, even for the performers themselves of this terrific dance, to have avoided mutual wounds and slaughter, had they not been endued with that extraordinary activity which is peculiar to savage nations. By intervals they increased the horrid solemnity of the exhibition by uttering yells that would have pierced a European ear with horror. I have seen rage and fury under various forms and in different parts of the globe, but I must confess that everything I have seen elsewhere is feeble and contemptible, when compared with this day's spectacle. When the whole was finished, they entertained us at a public festival in their cabins, and, when we departed, dismissed us with these expressive wishes; they prayed that the Great Spirit would favour us with a prosperous voyage; that he would give us an unclouded sky and smooth waters by day, and that we might lie down at night on a beaver blanket, enjoying uninterrupted sleep and pleasant dreams; and that we might find continual protection under the great pipe of peace. I have been thus particular (said the Highlander) in describing the circ.u.mstances of this emba.s.sy, because you have not disdained to hear the story of my adventures; and I thought that this description of a people so totally unlike all you have been accustomed to in Europe might not prove entirely uninteresting.”

”We are much obliged to you,” said Mr Barlow, ”for all these curious particulars, which are perfectly conformable to all I have heard and read upon the subject. Nor can I consider, without a certain degree of admiration, the savage grandeur of man in his most simple state. The pa.s.sion for revenge, which marks the character of all uncivilised nations, is certainly to be condemned. But it is one of the constant prejudices of their education; and many of those that call themselves refined, have more to blush at in that respect than they are aware of.

Few, I am afraid, even in the most refined state of society, have arrived at that sublime generosity which is able to forgive the injuries of his fellow-creatures, when it has the power to repay them, and I see many around me that are disgraced by the vices of uncivilised Americans, without a claim to their virtues.”

”I will not fatigue your ears,” continued the Highlander, ”with the recital of all the events I was engaged in during the progress of the war. The description of blood and carnage is always disagreeable to a humane mind; and, though the perversity of mankind may sometimes render war a necessary evil, the remembrance of its mischiefs is always painful. I will only mention one event, continually lamented in the annals of this country, because it is connected with the untimely fate of my n.o.ble friend and gallant leader.

”It was determined by those who governed that we should march through the woods upon a distant expedition against the French. The conduct of this enterprise was given to a brave but rash commander, totally unacquainted with the people he had to oppose, and unskilled in the nature of a savage war. We therefore began our march through the same trackless wilds I have described, and proceeded for several days without any other difficulties than the nature of the country itself produced, and without seeing the face of an enemy. It was in vain that officers of the greatest experience, and particularly my worthy colonel, suggested to our commander the necessity of using every precaution against a dangerous and insidious foe.

”War is not managed, amid the forests of America, in the same manner as it is conducted upon the plains of Europe. The temper of the people there conspires with the nature of the country to render it a continual scene of stratagems and surprise. Unenc.u.mbered with tents or baggage, or numerous trains of artillery, the hostile warriors set out in small and chosen parties, with nothing but their arms, and are continually upon the watch to deceive their enemies. Long experience has taught them a degree of sagacity in traversing the woods which to us is inconceivable. Neither the widest rivers nor the most extensive forests can r.e.t.a.r.d them for an instant. A march of a thousand miles is scarcely to them a greater difficulty than the pa.s.sage of a European army between two neighbouring towns. The woods themselves afford them a continual supply of provisions in the various animals which they kill by the chase. When they are near their enemies they frequently lurk all day in thickets, for fear of a discovery, and pursue their march by night.

Hundreds of them sometimes pursue their course in the same line, treading only in each other's steps, and the last of the party carefully covers over the impressions which his fellows have made. When they are thus upon the point of accomplis.h.i.+ng their purpose the very necessities of nature are unheeded; they cease to fire upon the beasts of the forest, lest it should alarm the foe; they feed upon the roots or the bark of trees, or pa.s.s successive days in a perfect abstinence from food. All this our colonel represented to the general, and conjured him, with the strongest entreaties, not to hazard the safety of our army by an incautious progress. He advised him to send out numerous detachments to beat the bushes and examine the woods; and offered himself to secure the march of the army. But presumption is always blind; our general was unacquainted with any other than European warfare, and could not conceive that naked savages would dare to attack an army of two thousand disciplined troops.

”One morning, the way before us appeared more intricate and obscure than common; the forests did not, as usual, consist of lofty trees, which afford a tolerably clear prospect between their trunks, but were composed of creeping bushes and impervious thickets. The army marched as usual, with the vain ostentation of military discipline, but totally unprepared for the dreadful scene which followed. At length we entered a gloomy valley, surrounded on every side by the thickest shade, and rendered swampy by the overflowings of a little rivulet. In this situation it was impossible to continue our march without disordering our ranks; and part of the army extended itself beyond the rest, while another part of the line involuntarily fell behind.

”In the moment while the officers were employed in rectifying the disorder of their men, a sudden noise of musketry was heard in front, which stretched about twenty of our men upon the field. The soldiers instinctively fired towards the part whence they were attacked, and instantly fell back in disorder. But it was equally vain to retreat or go forward, for it now appeared that we were completely hemmed in. On every side resounded the fatal peals of scattering fire, that thinned our ranks and extended our bravest comrades on the earth. Figure to yourself a shoal of fishes, enclosed within the net, that circle in vain the fatal labyrinth in which they are involved; or rather, conceive what I have myself been witness to--a herd of deer, surrounded on every side by a band of active and unpitying hunters, who press and gall them on every side, and exterminate them at leisure in their flight; just such was the situation of our unfortunate countrymen. After a few unavailing discharges, which never annoyed a secret enemy that scattered death unseen, the ranks were broken and all subordination lost. The ground was covered with gasping wretches, and stained with blood; the woods resounded with cries and groans, and fruitless attempts of our gallant officers to rally their men, and check the progress of the enemy. By intervals was heard, more shrill, more dreadful than all the rest, the dismal yell of the victorious savages, who now, emboldened by their success, began to leave the covert and hew down those who fled, with unrelenting cruelty. As to myself, the description which our colonel had given me of their method of attack, and the precautions to be used against it, rendered me perhaps less disturbed than I should otherwise have been. I remarked that those who stood and those who fled were exposed to equal danger; those who kept their ranks and endeavoured to repel the enemy, exposed their persons to their fire, and were successively shot down, as happened to most of our unfortunate officers, while those who fled frequently rushed headlong upon the very death they sought to avoid.

”Pierced to the heart at the sight of such a carnage of my gallant comrades, I grew indifferent to life, and abandoned myself to despair; but it was a despair that neither impaired my exertions nor robbed me of the faculties of my mind. 'Imitate me,' I cried, 'my gallant countrymen, and we shall yet be safe.' I then directly ran to the nearest tree, and sheltered myself behind its stem--convinced that this precaution alone could secure me from the incessant volleys which darted on every side. A small number of Highlanders followed my example; and, thus secured, we began to fire with more success at the enemy, who now exposed themselves with less reserve. This check seemed to astonish and confound them; and had not the panic been so general, it is possible that this successful effort might have changed the fortune of the fight; for, in another quarter, the provincial troops that accompanied us behaved with the greatest bravery, and, though deserted by the European forces, effected their own retreat.

”But it was now too late to hope for victory or even safety; the ranks were broken on every side, the greater part of our officers slain or wounded, and our unfortunate general himself had expiated with his life his fatal rashness. I cast my eyes around, and saw nothing but images of death, and horror, and frantic rage. Yet even then the safety of my n.o.ble colonel was dearer to me than my own. I sought him for some time in vain, amid the various scenes of carnage which surrounded me. At length I discovered him at a distance, almost deserted by his men, yet still attempting to renew the fight, and heedless of the wounds which covered him. Transported with grief and pa.s.sion, I immediately darted forward to offer him my feeble support; but, in the very instant of my arrival, he received a straggling ball in his bosom, and, tottering to a tree, supported his fainting limbs against the trunk. Just in that moment three of our savage enemies observed his situation, and marked him for their prey; they raised their hideous yell, and darted upon him with the speed and fierceness of wolves. Fury then took possession of my soul; had I possessed a thousand lives, I should have held them cheap in the balance. I fired with so unerring an aim that I stretched the foremost on the earth; the second received the point of my bayonet in his breast, and fell in the pangs of death; the third, daunted with the fate of his companions, turned his steps another way.

”Just then a horse, that had lost his rider, was galloping along the wood; I bounded across the path, and, seizing him by the bridle, instantly led him to my leader, and conjured him to preserve his glorious life. He thanked me in the most affectionate manner for my friends.h.i.+p, but bade me preserve my own life. 'As to myself,' said he, 'I do not wish to survive my country's dishonour; and even had I such a wish, the wounds I have received would render all escape impossible.'

'If that is your resolution,' said I, 'we will die together; for I swear by the eternal majesty of my Creator that I will not leave you.' When he saw me thus resolved, he consented to use my a.s.sistance, and with infinite difficulty I seated him upon the horse, which, holding by the reins, as I was then light and active, I guided along the wood with no inconsiderable speed.

”Fortunately for me, we were not observed by any of our savage enemies, so that, flying through the thickest part of the forest, we left the danger behind, and were soon removed beyond the sight or hearing of the battle. 'Courage,' said I, 'my n.o.ble leader! you are now almost in safety; and I trust you will yet preserve a life so necessary to your friends and country.' He answered me with the kindest expressions, but with a feeble voice, 'Campbell, I have consented to fly, more for the sake of preserving your life than from any hopes of my own; but since we are at a distance from yonder dreadful scene, permit me to alight; I have consumed my small remaining forces in the way, and now I am faint from loss of blood.' He sunk down at this, and would have fallen, but I received him in my arms; I bore him to the next thicket, and, strewing gra.s.s and leaves upon the ground, endeavoured to prepare him a bed. He thanked me again with grat.i.tude and tenderness, and grasped my hand as he lay in the very agonies of death, for such it was, although I believed he had only fainted, and long tried every ineffectual method to restore departed life. Thus was I deprived of the n.o.blest officer and kindest friend that ever deserved the attachment of a soldier. Twenty years have now rolled over me since that inauspicious day, yet it lives for ever in my remembrance, and never shall be blotted from my soul.

(The Highlander then turned away to hide a tear, which did not misbecome his manly countenance; the company seemed all to share his griefs, but Miss Simmons above the rest. However, as the natural gentleness of her temper was sufficiently known, no one suspected that she had any particular interest in the relation.)

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