Part 6 (1/2)
They were cruel and remorseless in their revenge, and they never forgot a wrong. Full of cunning, they took pride in ingenious tricks. They would wear snowshoes with the toes turned backwards, that the enemy might think they had gone the other way! In their homes they were filthy, lazy, and improvident. They were pa.s.sionately fond of gambling, after they had learned it of the whites!
On the other hand, they were patient of hunger, cold, and fatigue, and were wonderfully brave. They were hospitable to an acquaintance in need, even sharing the last of their food with him. They were grateful for benefits, and never forgot a kindness. Their promise was almost sacred, and the pledge of their chief was rarely broken.
When the early settlers in this country treated the Indians kindly, they usually received kindness in return, as we shall see later in reading William Penn's dealings with the Indians in Pennsylvania. But now and then some rude white man was cruel or dishonest in dealing with them, and then he learned that the red man knew what revenge means.
If any serious offense was given to the Indians they brooded over it, and then, eager to inflict more harm than they had suffered, instead of punis.h.i.+ng the offender alone, they spent their revenge upon all they could reach of the white race. So they sprang suddenly upon peaceful villages and cruelly killed innocent men, women, and children.
=77. Anecdote of Tec.u.mseh.=--The true Indian warrior had a certain proud dignity that challenged respect. At a great council of the government with the Indians, the famous Indian chief, Tec.u.mseh, after he had made a speech, turned to take a seat, when it was found that by accident no chair had been placed for him. General Harrison instantly called for one. It was brought by the interpreter, who said, ”The Great Father wishes you to take a chair.” ”My father!” he said with dignity, as he wrapped his blanket about him to seat himself in Indian style upon the ground; ”the Sun is my father, the Earth is my mother, and on her bosom will I repose.”
=78. Care and Training of the Indian Children.=--The care and training of Indian children were peculiar. When the little papoose was very young, it was not fondled nor much attended to. Quite early it was placed in a small trough of bark and strapped in with a mat or skin in front, the little bed being padded with soft moss. This bit of a cradle was handy to carry around, to lean against a log, or to hang up in a tree.
[Ill.u.s.tration: INDIAN PAPOOSE.]
As they grew up, they were as happy as other children. Their parents made toys for them, and their older mates taught them songs and games.
As soon as they were large enough, each had his share of work to do. The girls had to help their mothers to dress skins for clothing, to bring wood and water, and to work in the rude garden.
=79. The Indian Boy's Early Training.=--The Indian boy was early trained for hunting and war. His first lessons were to manage his bow and arrows, and then he was taken into the woods to shoot. He was taught to set traps for small game, and his father often slyly put some animal in the snare to encourage the young hunter.
So the boy was taught, not arithmetic and grammar, but all about birds--their colors, their different whistles and cries, and what each note means; their food and habits, where they nest, how they fly, and the best way to shoot them. His lessons included the study of rabbits and squirrels, of beavers and foxes, and of all such game.
[Ill.u.s.tration: BOY WARNING SETTLERS OF AN INDIAN ATTACK.]
By the time the Indian boy had seen twelve or fourteen _snows_, as the Indian would say, he could make his own bows and arrows and could help make canoes. He had received many lessons about shaping tomahawks and war clubs, and how to use them. Playing ball was a favorite game with Indian youth. Catlin, the celebrated authority on Indian life, tells us that he used to ride thirty miles to see a ball game, and would sit on his horse all day to see a match played by six to eight hundred or even a thousand young Indians.
=80. How the Indians buried their Dead.=--For the most part the Indians buried their dead in mounds or in shallow graves, sometimes prostrate, but often in a sitting posture facing the east. But some tribes placed the body on a high scaffold raised on long poles out of the reach of wild beasts. Beside the body were carefully placed the weapons of the dead, paints, any favorite trinkets he used to wear, and food to sustain him on his journey to the far-off Happy Hunting Grounds.
CHAPTER VII.
THE DUTCH IN NEW YORK; THE QUAKERS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
=81. The Search for a Shorter Route to India.=--We must not forget that during all these years the European nations in their desire for riches were often searching for a shorter route to China and the East Indies.
They hoped to succeed in this either by sailing to the north of Europe or America, or by finding some opening across the newly discovered continent. For more than a hundred years after the time of Columbus many a daring navigator came forward to undertake this business.
=82. Sir Henry Hudson, the Bold and Skillful Mariner.=--Several years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, a bold and skillful mariner named Henry Hudson, a friend of Captain John Smith, was hired by some London merchants to search for the imaginary northern pa.s.sage. For this purpose he made two perilous voyages. Once he sailed along the eastern coast of Greenland until the ice stopped him. After three months he returned to England. The next year he tried it again, and sailed farther north, but as before was turned back by the ice.
Hudson tells us that on one of these voyages two of his sailors saw a mermaid swimming close to the s.h.i.+p's side. The upper parts of her body were those of a woman, but below she was a fish, and as big as a halibut! Probably the creature was a seal, an animal with which English sailors were not at that time familiar.
=83. Hudson enters the Dutch Service.=--At last, in 1609, Hudson, who had now become famous, entered the service of the Dutch East India Company and sailed from Amsterdam to find the long-sought route. Living near the ocean, the Dutch at this time were great sailors and traders. They owned more s.h.i.+ps than all Europe besides. Their sails whitened every ocean.
They were glad to hire ”the bold Englishman, the expert pilot, and the famous navigator,” as they called Hudson, to brave the perils of the Arctic seas.
Again this intrepid sailor, ”the Nansen of the year 1608,” went too far north, and again he found himself caught in the ice of the desolate Arctic regions. He now made up his mind to go farther west. He coasted along Greenland, pa.s.sed southward to Newfoundland, sighted Cape Cod, and then sailed as far south as Virginia. Finding the English settlers there ahead of him, he turned about and steered north again, keeping close to the wild and unknown coast.
=84. Hudson sails up the Hudson River in the Little ”Half Moon.”=--In September, 1609, Sir Henry found himself not far from the mouth of a broad river, and dropped anchor near what is now Sandy Hook. The Indians here were kind to their strange visitors, and came on board the vessel to trade. They brought grapes, furs, and pumpkins, and traded them for beads, knives, and hatchets.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ”HALF MOON” ON THE HUDSON.]
After a few days the anchor of the little ”Half Moon” was raised, the sails were spread, and Hudson was slowly wafted past the Palisades and far up the n.o.ble river which still bears his name. Because for many miles the water at high tide was salt, he thought that he had surely found the long-wished-for pa.s.sage to India.
No white man had ever before sailed up this, perhaps the most beautiful of American streams. With what wonder and hope must the captain and his men have gazed on the lovely scenery, rich in the gorgeous hues of autumnal foliage! In fact Hudson, in the story of his voyage, says that the lands on both sides were ”pleasant with gra.s.s and flowers and goodly trees,--as beautiful a land as one can tread upon.”