Litchfield enquirer., 1850-02-14
MlSCRILAMY.
THE PAWN OF PASCaUCOLA; OR THE CHUMPA GIRL OF MO, sss q 2 BILE. ed

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 IThe foIlc wing romantic story is from a Journal of the Ladies Fair, st Mobile, called "The Bow of cuptd."l
 Shall I tell you story of real life, as romantic and affecting as any you will ind in fiction? Well--listen Every citizen of Mobile Is familiar with the sight of the Indian girls who are seen in our streets in the winter. With their lit. tie bundles of light word Spen their backs they mark the advent of cold weather as regularly as the 'mocking bird and the cardinal chronicle the approach of spliag. They peddle their small parcels of pine from door to door, and are familiar with. the soft. quick, petitionary voice in which they exclain .chunepa as they offsr their cheap burdens for sale.
 no These Indian girls, it is well known, belong to certain Choctaw families who refused to emigrate with their tribe be- yond the Mississippi, and yet finger up- on their aboriginal hunting grounds, on the waters of the Pearl and the Pasca- gould. Though they thus exhibit an un- conquerable attachment to their native soil, they have yet refused to adopt the habits, language or pursuits of the whites, by whom they are surrounded, and are perversely indifferent to all the induce ments of civilization. They persist in leading a species of savage, gipsy life-- t:e men sustaining themselves by hunt. ing, and the women by vending whottle- berries and other wild fruits in, the sum- mer, and bundles of pine in the winter. With these simple productions they visit Mobile semi annually, and for the time reside in the vicinity, in small huts or camps, constructed of bark, boards and with the limbs of trees. This has been their usage from time immsmorial, and continues. Haofe 9hi af asa 2fe9
 These indians are generally misera- ble and ignorant race, but with all their degradation. they possess some of the virtues in singular degree. The wo- wep4 are proverbially chaste and modest, and of all the young girls that annually visit our city, none have been known to depart from the paths of rectitude. A strong interest, therefore, surronnds these daughters of the woods, who. resist all the Embellishments of their station, and pass unharmed through the streets of our city. Many of them are quite hand some, and possess, b. neath their rustic l garbs--the calico. gown and the red blanket--considerable graces of manner and appearance. As they invariably re- fuse to talk English, very little conversa l lion can be had with them, and that onl, in reference to the small bargains whicl they desire to make. Chumpa and pic aynne are. almost the only words whicl they employ in their intercourse with oul inhabitants. Still they are not reserved in their movements, where they wish te make bargain, and enter the differen. houses of, the city, stores, dwellings and offices, without hesitation, ceremony ol announcement. Who has nos been star. tied many morning, by the low voice :at the chamber door, exclaiming. 0um. pa l.s 4ol ig 2l'~ sa
 The social demcanor of these Choctaw maidens has often led to the impression that they are destitute of the natural sensihiiihss and sentiments of their sex They have bright fa.hing eyes, well de- yeloped, symmetrical and flexible forms beautiful, small hands and feet, and show, in tbeir love for brilliant articles of dress, rings, beads and other peryonal orna- ments, the taste, and vanity of. their civ. |ilized sisters--is. t. possible that they arc destitute of those delicate sympathies and tender affections which have marked woman in all other classes and conditions of lie 2. This question has no doubt sug. gcsted itself toimany, as an interesting problem of character. In one instance at least, an attempt-=perhaps heartless one--was made to solve It, and. it. is to that, the story which hhave to- teil' re. fers. It came to my knowledge, in all its de:ai!s, but I will attempt to parrale it in such a manner as net. b detain the reader with particulars, which he can imagine for hiaasslf.
 Among the Choctaw gipsics who wis. Iited Mobile, in the winter of l646, was one of unusual beauty and attractive. ness. Although scarcely developed into womanhood- more than seventeen 'suns' having kissed the rich bronze oi her cheek--she was yet tall, round limb ed, straight and graceful--a very model of feminine form. Her features, more prominent and.regplar than is usual with her tribe. were delicately sculptn' ed. and the erect attitude of her head, with he, large. fawn.l,ke eyes, and abundant coa black hair always neatly plaiied in mas sive folds, gave to her appearance an an of superiority such as she youthful Pc cahontas is said to have possessed. Hel dress was extremely neat. though " a large number of silver and wsmE -- ornaments. and her small feet, wkich s..l of the fair promenadeTs on DauPhir might have envied, were invariably dFes' -.X .- -.~.~m~sma ~m~a enaneAd in lhA asana