The weekly American banner. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1855-18??, 1856-06-27
VOL. 2--NO. 6.

his explanation, for, among our own legends and
traditions" we have similar phenomena in the
shoes Of sacifncss," which were possessed by Jack
the Giant Killer, who when discalceated, was not
more fleet than ordinary men. The magic mocca-
sons were even transcended by the "seven league
boots" which constituted part of the wearing ap-
parel of another of the Jack family; for the poet
sings Of the moccasons "When he bound them
round his ancles, When upon his feet he tied them,
At each stride mile he measured; while the
boots, viii be perceived by simple arithmetieal
computation, gave a stride of t,oenty-ome miles
These boots passed into the possession Of Peter
Schlemel, the withouta shadow, and at the last
accounts, were doing good service in transporting
him from his adaptive residence about the Sphinx
and Pyramids of Egypt to elephantine cemetary
in some remote region of Africa, whittier he occa-
sonay itanerated to obtain ivory by the vendition
of which he honestly subsisted. But the "shoes of
s1iftness, probably from the effects of time have
lost their accelerating properties yet they are still
preserved with great yeneration, by Jacks deseen-
dants, the Jacksons of Kilkenny
"Mitehe Manito the mighty
He the dreadful Spirit of Evil
As serpent was depicted" Up. 1907.
The Spirit of Evil disguised himself in serpent
form, when he went masqueradng into Paradise, to
the detriment of mother Eve and her progeny.
9Th internal Serpent he it was whose guile,
Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived
The mother of mankind" Par. Lost B. I.
Hence, Hiawatha, who seems to have been the
Indian Athotes did well, in nyenting hieroglphics,
to select the serpent emblem of the evil spirit
.'To his bow he whispered, "Fail notl"
To his arrow whispers, "Swerve not!"
Why ono who oo,ld rnp faotor fJ,oy o,r,,v
should shoot an arrow at at deer it is not our pro-
vince to consider. We would only remark here,
that Hiawatha, in going a-woing, deemed it neces-
sary to carry with him his offensive weapons Our
astrological researches present with another ex-
ample of lover going on like expedition, armed
and equipded, though in less aboriginal style.
The legend runs thus:
"Thus it is our daughters leave u.s." (p. 1887.
4 If this monologue of :" the Ancient Arrow maker"
were mere enunciaton of fact it is not to be repre-
hended, though its utility is problematcal since no
one was near to profit by the observation. 1t is
more probable that it querulous soliloquy,
an ebulition of i'll temper, superinduced by the ma
trimonial alliance of his daughter Minnehaha, tho
he had unhesitatingly assented, and though Ha-
watha belonged to one of the first families of the
royal of the moon The old carker should have re-
fected that in his youth, another's daughter had
abandoned her paternal roof to follow where he led
and that he could only be made with the world
/, by the like deprivation of his daughter
!, "a frog went a cou1ting he did ride,
With sword and pistol by his side.'
The most careful investigation has not enabled us
to ascertain with reasonable certude, what ancient
n individual it was who issued the mandate,
o "Saddle up a cat, and bride up a rat,
q And hand me down my Leghorn hat
we therefore conclude that it must have been this
same frog (whom our poet would more euphoniousy
designate as Dahinda), inasmuch as it is expressly
declared that che did ride" But why, it may be
J. demanded, why did he desire the saddle ami
man. and the bride on the other The solution is
quite simple. Designing to bring back his bride,
he had the cat sadded a steed for himself, while
the rat was led palfrey for Madam Dahinda that
was to be.
Gall the bowls were made Of bass wood
All the spoons of horn of bison" Up. 143).
I Hence the classic saying, snake spoon, or
: spoil horn.'
q "And the wedding guests assembled (pI43)
'e Splendid with their paint and pumage."
re The use of feathers to adorn the person, and
ne cosmetics to beautfy the face, is of great anti
guilty, as this passage will show. Yet there are
some who object to these tme-honoured Gus.
toms, especially the latter. Thus one has re.
marked:
,r sWit's a feather" Pope has said,
- "And ladies' seldom doubt it;
., Those who have least within the head,
70. Disnlay the most without it,
sst This stanza having been regarded as per.
er- sonal alluson to some plumage-bearing ladies
OF the poet received thrashing; therefore we maj
ID be permitted to protest that, in quoting thes
ma ines, we intend nothing personal.
1T. ssThen his face with black he painted. (p2oo
nd 1t seems that black was worn by the Ojib
olt why's as badge of mourning; but they hn
'h' quite original way Of employing this funerea
'o' 'o' color,-smearing it over their faces. Thus di
Hiawatha Chibiabos, 1.-THE sweetest OF all sins
'pe ers." When first the Indians belleld Ethiopian
~ they must have regarded them as race Of pei
~ ennial mourners.
~ "Flrst he danced solemn measure,
vas Very slow in step aud gesture,
ing Then more swiftly and still swifter
ave Whirling spinning round in circles. lpl4'
Hisl Here, beneath the outrageous foliage of u
hes, aboriginal forest, we have the minuet and wal
rity danced with astonishing elegance, by Pan-Pu
,nly Keews, probably the dancing master Of the v
er age, or as is now more classically said, the pr
fsssor Of the Tepsichorean art. He was howey