Part 35 (1/2)

Verrizani, is said to have entered the bay of New York, 1524.

Cartier discovered the St. Lawrence, 1534.

Jamestown, in Virginia, is founded, 1608.

Acknowledged date of the settlement of Canada, 1608.

Hudson discovers the river bearing his name, 1609.

The Dutch build a fort near Albany, 1614.

The Pilgrims land at Plymouth Dec. 22, 1620.

New Amsterdam taken from the Dutch by the Duke of York and Albany and named New York 1664.

La Salle discovers the Illinois in upper Louisiana 1678.

discovers Lower Louisiana, and is killed 1685.

THE ERA OF THE ARRIVAL OF THE FRENCH IN THE UPPER LAKES.

KE-WA-KONS, a chief of the straits of St. Mary's, told me, during an interview, in 1827, that but seven generations of red men had pa.s.sed away, since the French first appeared on those straits. If we take the date of Cartier's first visit to the St. Lawrence, as the era of their acquaintance with this nation, A. D. 1534, we should have 56 years as the period of an Indian generation. Should we take, instead of this, the time of La Salle's first arrival on the upper lakes, 1778, there would, on the contrary, be but a fraction over 22 years for a generation. But neither of these periods, can be truly said to coincide with the probable era of the chief's historical reminiscences. The first is too early, the last too late. An average of the two, which is required to apply the observation properly, gives 38 years as the Indian generation.

This nearly a.s.similates it to the results among Europeans, leaving 8 years excess. Further data would probably reduce this; but it is a department in which we have so little material, that we must leave it till these be acc.u.mulated. It may be supposed that the period of Indian longevity, before the introduction of ardent spirits, was equal, perhaps, a little superior, to that of the European; but it did not exceed it, we think, by 8 years.

Ke-wa-kons, whom I knew very well, was a man of shrewd sense, and respectable powers of observation. He stated, at the same interview, that his tribe, who were of the Odjibwa type of the Algonquins, laid aside their Akeeks, or clay cooking-vessels, at _that time_, and adopted in lieu of them, the light bra.s.s kettle, which was more portable and permanent. And from that time, their skill in pottery declined, until, in our day, it is entirely lost. It is curious to reflect, that within the brief period of 150 years, a living branch of coa.r.s.e manufacture among them, has thus been transferred into an object of antiquarian research. This fact, should make historians cautious in a.s.signing very remote periods of antiquity to the monumental evidences of by-gone generations.

It is by such considerations that we get a glimpse of some of the general principles which attended the early periods of discovery and settlement, in all parts of the continent. Adventurers came to find gold, or furs, to ama.s.s wealth, get power, or to perform mere exploits.

n.o.body cared much for the native race, beyond the fact of their being the medium to lead to these specified objects. There were none, to record accurately, their arts, and other peculiarities, which now excite intense interest. They died away very fast, whole tribes becoming extinct within a generation or two. The European fabrics, then introduced, were so much superior to their own, that they, at once, discontinued such rude arts as they practised, at least in our northern lat.i.tudes. New adventurers followed in the track of Columbus, Amerigo, Cabot, and their compeers and followers, who, in the lapse of time, picked up, from the soil, pieces of coa.r.s.e pottery, pestles and such like things, and holding them up, said,--”See these!--here are evidences of very great skill, and very high antiquity.”

It is not the intention by any means, to a.s.sert, that there were not antiquities of a far higher era, and n.o.bler caste, but merely to impress upon inquirers, the necessity of discriminating the different eras in the chronology of our antiquities. All Indian pottery, north of the capes of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, is of, or preceding the era of the discovery; but there is found in graves, a species of pottery, and vitrified ware, which was introduced, in the early stages of traffic, by Europeans. Of this transition era between the dying away of the Indian arts, and the introduction of the European, are the rude pastes, enamel and gla.s.s beads, and short clay pipes of coa.r.s.e texture, found in Indian cemeteries, but not in the tumuli. In place of these, our ancient Indians used wrought and unwrought sea sh.e.l.ls of various species, and pipes carved out of seat.i.tes and other soft materials.

Mr. Anderson remarks in his biography of Catharine Brown, that ”the Cherokees are said to possess a language, which is more precise and powerful than any into which learning has poured richness of thought, or genius breathed the enchantments of fancy and eloquence.”

David Brown, in one of his letters, in the same volume, terms his people the Tsallakee, of which we must therefore take ”Cherokee,” to be a corruption. It is seen by the Cherokee alphabet, that the sound of _r_ does not occur in that language.

FAITH.

When Chusco was converted to Christianity at the mission of Michilinackinac, he had planted a field of potatoes on one of the neighbouring islands in lake Huron. In the fall he went over in his canoe, with his aged wife, to dig them--a labour which the old woman set unceremoniously about, as soon as they got into the field. ”Stop!” cried the little old man, who had a small tenor voice and was bent nearly double by age,--”dare you begin to dig, till we have thanked the Lord for their growth.” They then both knelt down in the field, while he lifted up his voice, in his native language, in thanks.

s.h.i.+NGABA-WOSSINS, OR IMAGE STONES.