New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1844-12-28


sstta Of ,hsIs numerous camp ares. They had
even cut notches in the large live oak trees which
skirted the open ground, in which to ensure a
sat, aim they had rested their rfles. DresdfDliy
atalvas tina. firs FIRE which lit up the gloom oi
The dark hammock, Ike lightning in a tight
s.onn, making the Succeeding dalkness doubly
aorrih;e.
Now. however, all was quiet and peaceful. The
deer AID its light iinbed fawa grazsd and gsm-
be'ed upon the iese scene OF battle the wild flow
ers threw Their fragrant breath upon the ait, and
inc clear waters Of the sparkling sireanet poured
fotth brightly into the lake, as If they had never
been t!Dged with the rudy hfe.tide which had
been shed upon their pebbly banks. THE sweet
singing of BIRDS echoed through the farest, where
freezing tho half-curdlsd veins of the dying, and
star;li6g the bravest of them all.
Seeing nothiog Of the enemy. we re-emba,ked
~ our boats and returned TO tic js!aud, where we
Sc: 20 work, according to "oTders from head
qncrters," ct dest;oyiDg the haifnpensd cops
Of the natives and sbu.a:rgt heir parn-t'la. csed
nuts. While The work OF destruction vas pro.
gressing-whie their corn ard fs,iis were "a ling
beneath our all.aevouring hands, and we were
tearing down Their lovely a,b5rs, ireading IN
psLfS HisSiC titc young uoA sSiiSSA
minded me Of the joyoas summer hours OF bare
;ooted childhood, thought that there was al
most an excuse for Their savage excess OF re-.
vepge. While / thought of fheir homes made
esoiate, ther crops destroyed; their fathers, sons
husbands and even tender women and children
faling befofe the sweeping scythe of persecution,
ui.b reflection at my side, / could scarce woncer
that their every wish should be,
..yeageaneei dire vengeance we,ches who had cas-:
O'ef them and all they loved. that riinous blast
felt that they were fighting for rights derived
from common Father, and when | thought of
their oppression, wondered that Just, merclful,
and ali powerful God, could look down on this
black injustice; suffering its originators, or even
its perpetrators to 90 free upon the earth, enjoy
ing blessings which they have snatched from the
hands of the poor Aborgines, glorying In the
possession of blood. bought, honor-damning, H.
fanny stained property. But all In HIS good time,
we are born to obey, and should not cavll at the
mysteries which lie beyond the incomprehanslble
grasp of our feeble minds.
In saying these things, would not have
reader think that mean to reflect aught against
the characters of my brave comrades IN arms,
who served through that perilous, ill-starred and
U-paid war. No, in doing them that injustice,
I myself would suffer. 1t was not they who
were blameable for the war, or the suftenngs OF
the abused savage ii was the black hearted, no.
souled policy OF The men who raised the war by
depressing and driving the Indians mad with
sufferines; the men who stole their property,
burned their homes, destroyed their crops, and
when the injured came to them for redress, gaze
it at the aohipping post, in irons on the stocks:
these are no false or nnfounded charges. My
heart burns with indignation as call to mind the
innnmerable outrages, some of which this paper
would blacken to hold, that knoD were psrpe-
trated upon the Indians, and which gave nse to
the war. We were ordered there by our superb
ors, and our duty was TO obey their orders.
will not attempt at present either 10 justify
or condemn the management of war which
cost our country nearly fifty millions OF dollars,
and three thousand valuable lives; but shall IN
my future numbers attempt only to exc out my
warns, with facts and truth deduced from per-
sonal observation made during four years OF hard
service ia that land of birds and aligators, mud
and flowers, deer and catamounts, wherein, &C
cording to the chronicles of Ponce de Leon,
Hernandes de Soto and others, bubbles up IN
secrecy the reviyifying "fountain OF eternal
youth"
Apropos with afountains," there is fresh
water fountain rising out OF the sea, off the en-
trance OF the Matanzas pass "a ~. aug usei0
Bay. 1t lies ebput S. by w. from the old Span
ish fort, aud is about three miles from the shore
The water is perfectly fresh, and boils up to the
hight OF e5 to 80 inches above the surrounding
ocean. This is matter for philosophers and sci
entiic men 10 copitate npon. especially as the
highest land within some hundred miles of the
spot, is only 176 feet above sea level
This is not the fountaia of youth, however,
for though we have tasted its clear waters, we
find tina: old Time has us fully under-weigb, and
is tanning us along few knots faster than we
think pleasant or even right. He has our han
by the /" torslock.'' and he pulls so hard that we
fear he'll soon stretch the color out of it. That
celebrated fount may lie among the sulphur
springs in which the rivers St. Johns and Su-
vance head. r d. Z. j.