Literary cadet, and Saturday evening bulletin. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1826-1827, 1826-04-22
" the rays of the moon grew dim, the waters az

10 with INN edia' >uight bird uttered Q
dismal nete, aud a.. ITSe, the ravenou. pam
Their and the rapacidis vol, awakened from their
slumbers, stood trembling and aghast, a. il aware Of
the threatened dis solution Of creation. The earth
opened and spouted forth dirty waters, and from the
summits Of the hills came ~tumbling down huge rocks,
destroying in their course all that appeared to i'm
pede their progress. Death, ruin and destruction,
was ON every side, and whittier to Gee for safety !
knew not, for whereverI turned my eyes, I behcld
the pale Messenger to receive me. For a moment,
nature ceased from her commissions, and on recover
Ing from my CONSERVATION, | found myselfncar the
shore ola little Island, IN the bank Of which stood a
tall figure beckoning me to approach him and
exclaining, fly hither. fly quickly for safety. Will
linsly accepted the invitation of the stranger, and
as ! reached the spot on which he was standing, !
discovered he was a native North American Indian.
His tall masculine figure, exaggerated by the pur-
turbation ofmy mind, gave to him the apparent size
ola giant, and ! involuntarily revolted at his pre-
sence. Fear not, white man, he exclaimed, fear me
not, but for your life, fly quickly to the shore and
find safety and protection.
There was something in the aspect of the stern
looking inhabitant Of the forest, which at first incli-
ned me to distrust his friendship, and to suspect him
of hostile intentions. lie was an aged man, border.
ing perhaps on eighty winters, but his erect and un.
bending figure, added TO the ferccness Of his flashing
eye, would lead one TO compute his years at some
thing like fifty. Over his shoulders was careles.ly
thrown a blanket, and from beneath his leather Cir
die, emerged the helve of a tomahaw k and the blade
of a slitterins scalping knife. His nose and ears
were decorated with silver medallions of curiously
wrought workmanship, and the quoif and regalia of
his tribe, which Enthusiastically waved over his brow,
marked him us one of high distinction among the
savages Of his nation.
Discovering my alarm. he approached with ex-
tended hand, and cxclaiming "fear me not white
man." bade me be seated with him on a hillock. ill
the war Of elements had subsidized. Convulsed ma.
ture, once more restored TO tranquility, the Indian
warrior invited me to his tent, some hundred ward,
distant, secluded from the gaze of the passenger, BY
The thick foliage OF the forest, and there invited me
to partake freely of whatever his habitation offered.
Fatigued with the adventures Of the night, I gladly
embraced hi, offer, and satiated my appetite with
his venison and luscious beverage. Whilst | sat, re-
fecting intently on the dangers | had escaped, the |
old man reclining upon a bear skin. was wrapped 10
neoitation, seemed forgetful ofthe presence of his
guest whose life he had rescued from the troubled
pillows. Whilst thus musing, wrapped in sober
sadness, | saw Il tear steal from his eye, and water
his sun brown cheek. There was something mex
pressibly interesting in his appearance, il told me
that all wa. not well within, that a soul surcharged
with grief wrestled within his bosom, and sought for
deliverance.
My kind protector, said I, you appear unhappy,
and may | nos enquire into the oerS ii your sad |
ness. The so,rewins Indian, rousing from his s~everie, |
cast on me a stern look, and hastily replied, to your
people am | indebted for all my sorrows, but | for
give you all, and may the Great Spirit, asfreely par
don you asI have done. "See there" said he point
ing 10 a little mound that reared its grassy banks
some inches above the earth, I" there reposes all that
bound me to the world, or rendered me ambitious
of the prosperity Of my people. But she is no more
to me alas poor Ecshokee slumbers beneath the |
cold earth she has fed to the Great Spirit, and am
miserable. Think not white man, that l betray a
weakness u~nbecoming the character of my tribe
but listen to my story.
| am an Indian of the Delaware tribe, and in my
youthful days dwelt far off from here, toward where
the sun rises, on the banks Of the Schuylkill. The
son of the chief of our people, l was early entrusted
With the command flour fighting men, and soon dis
tinguished myself among the bravest of our warriors.
At the age Of twenty summers, | took the fairest
woman of our tribe to my bosom she loved me,
she was faithful and true to me, and in a few years
we were surrounded by a progeny Of children the
ARREST, and bravest in the nation. They were my
life and joy, and without them to me the world was
but a barren waste-a dreary wilderness. taught
them the art Of war known to our tribe, and made
them the swiftest runners and the surest marksmen
Of all the Blest with having them all
around me, ! was happy, until the white men came
| among US, and cut off all our hopes, and extermina-
ted more than one half our people. Some forty
years ago, when the sun had sunk far behind yon
| western mountains, a band of white men-y on CALI
them christians-rushed upon our hamlet, fire Il
our dwellings, N ordered our women and childre o.,
| and drove us far from our homes to unexplored rye
gions. that was blessed when the sun hid himself
from the world, woke with his rising to behold INV
ruin, the corses Of my murdered offspring, and the