The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1890-08-15
ORAMAIKA'S LOVE.
LEGEND OF THE PASCAGOULA.
Marie L. Points, IN N. o. Picayune.

Marie l.. Points. IN N. o. Picayune.
The old Indian town OF Pasca,
g0ula teens with historic and leg
endary lore, but there is one par,
ticular spot which possesses a pc
culiar charm for The tourist ant
romancer. Just at the junction o.
the PaScagoula river and the bay
in wild. picturesque spot, mvs
ferrous melody floats above the wa
tiers. Sometimes when The atlnos
phere is particularly calm and
scarcely a breeze ruffles the sur
face of the lake beyond, the sound,
resemble the exquisite blending o.
hundreds of ALLAN harps in con
cert agaln, when the waves rise
high and the storm Is abroad, the
notes resemble the confused mnr
muir Of many voices, hollow and
guiteral as The discOrdant echo OI
an Indian war dance.
For ages past this phenomenon
has attracted the attention of
scientific investigators, and in the
early history Of The country dele
gatinns Of experts were frequent
ly sent ont to discover It's possible
causes. In the early part Of our
own century, within the memory
Of an old lady whose home has
stood for nearly eighty years near
this identical spot, company Of
gentlemen from New Orleans came
and encamped for many weeks in
its vicinity. They brought with
them experienced divers and all
The implements necessary for
thorough scientific investigation.
Thew studied the probable effects
of the tides, the motion of the
wind and waves, atmospheric
pressure, ETC.; the divers went
down into the bed of The river
where The sounds were l0udest and
widest ; but like preceding expe-
ditiOns, no satisfactory conclusion
could be arrived al, and The sub
ject was finally dismissed as one
of those curious natural phenome-
ma which must ever battle the ad-
vance of science.
Many have thought that the mu-
sic issues from cavernnus grOttOes
in the bed Uf the river; sometimes
it ascends from the water under
the very keel of the boat which
contains the inquisitive traveller;
il seems 10 float like
he echo of fairy shells upon the
surface of the wal er ilselt again
i seems TO be in the air above and |
around; and often when its notes
are loudesi and most confused it
seems to proceed from the direc-
ion of Snake bayou, a sluggish !
stream that empties into Pascagou-
"a river near the mouth.
Many quaint and mysterious leg
ends are, OF course, connected with
, melody so unnatural, but per-
laps one Of the most romantic is
hat of the Indian maiden, Ora
naika, aud her lover.
Oramaika was the beautiful |
lark-eyed daughter of the chief
If the PascagOnla nation. She had |
ong worshiped IN secret Sulla-
xah, the pride Of the Mcclellan !
braves. His prowess. his daring,
he number OF scalps which hung
II his belt, all proclaimed him a
Earrior of the gIandesi type, and
iis manly graces and beauty made
MS name synonomous farand near
xilh all that was pleasing and
grateful 10 the Great Spirit
Onen had he stopped at the
Pascagnula settlement 10 smoke
he calumet of pence in fnendly
lhIance with-that tribe, or TO pre-
pare 10 lead their warriors on 10
victory against common foe.
Oflen had Oramaika seen him thus
1t the war council of her tribe,
fling his t0mahawk into The arr
ana leap 10 hIs feet as It struck
straight into The warrior post
erected in the center Of the group.
and with burning eloquenee re-
n 4 1