a house full of human beings, of quite different color from the Indians, and dressed differently from them; that in particular one of them was dressed entirely in red, who must be the Mannitto They are hailed from the vessel in a language they do not understand, yet they shout or yell in return by way of answer, according to the custom of the country; many are for running off to the woods, but are pressed by others to stay, in order not to give offence to their visitor, who may find them out and destroy them. The house (some say canoe), at last stops, and a canoe of a smaller size comes on shore, with the red man and some others in it. Some stay with his canoe to guard it. The chiefs and wise men assembled in council, form themselves in a large circle towards which the man in red clothes approaches, with two others. He salutes them with a friendly countenance, and they return the salute after their manner. They are lost in admiration; the dress, the manners, the whole appearance of the unknown strangers is to them a subject of wonder; but they are particularly struck with him who wore the red coat, all glittering with gold lace, which they could in no manner account for. He, surely, must be the great Mannitto; but why should he have a white skin? Meanwhile a large Hachhack is brought by one of his servants, from which an unknown substance is poured into a small glass or cup, and handed to the supposed Mannitto. He drinks-has the glass filled again, and hands it to the chief standing next him. The chief receives it, but only smells the contents, and passes it to the next chief, who does the same. glass or cup thus passes through the circle, without being tasted by any one, and is upon the point of being returned to the red clothed Mannitto, when one of the Indians, a brave man and a great warrior, suddenly jumps up and harangues the assembly on the impropriety of returning the cup with its contents. It was handed. to them, says he, by the Mannitto that they should drink of it, as he himself had done. To follow his example would be pleasing to him; but to return what he had given them might provoke his wrath, and bring destruction upon them. And since the orator believed it to be for the good of the nation, that the contents offered them should be drunk, and as no one else would do it, he would drink it himself, let the consequence be what it might; it was better for one man to die than that the whole nation should be destroyed. He then took the glass, and bidding the assembly solemn farewell, at once drank up its contents. Every eye was fixed on the resolute chief, to see what effect the unknown liquor would produce. He soon began to stagger, and at last fell prostrate on the ground. His companions now bemoan

The

*Hachhack is properly a gourd, but since they have seen glass bottles and decanters, they call them by the same name.

his fate; he falls into a sound sleep, and they think he has expired. He wakes again, jumps up and declares that he has enjoyed the most delicious sensations, and that he never before felt so happy as after he had drunk that cup. He asks for more, his wish is granted; the whole assembly then imitate him, and all become intoxicated. After this general intoxication had ceased, for they say that while it lasted, the whites had confined themselves to their vessel, the man with the red clothes returned again, and distributed presents among them, consisting of beads, axes, hoes, and stockings such as white people wear. They soon became familiar with each other, and began to converse by signs. The Dutch made them understand that they would not stay here, that they would return home again, but would pay them another visit next year, when they would bring them more presents, and stay with them a while; but as they could not live without eating, they should want a little land of them to sow seeds, in order to raise herbs and vegetables to put into their broth. They went away as they had said, and returned in the following season, when both parties were much rejoiced to see each other; but the whites laughed at the Indians, seeing that they knew not the use of the axes, and hoes, they had given them the year before; for they had these hanging to their breasts as ornaments, and the stockings they made use of as tobacco pouches. The whites now put handles to the former for them, and cut down trees before their eyes; hoed up the ground, and put the stockings on their legs. Here, they say, a general laughter ensued among the Indians, that they had remained ignorant of the use of such valuable implements, and had borne the weight of such heavy metal hanging to their necks for such a length of time. They took every white man they saw to be an inferior Mannitto, attendant on the Supreme Deity, who shone superior in the red and laced clothes. As the whites became daily more familiar with the Indians, and at last proposed to stay with them, and asked only for so much ground for a garden spot, as they said the hide of a bullock would cover or encompass; which hide was spread before them. The Indians readily granted this apparently reasonable request; but the whites then took a knife, and beginning at one end of the hide, cut it up into a rope not thicker than a child's finger, so that by the time the whole was cut up, it made a great heap; they then took the rope at one end and drew it gently along, carefully avoiding its breaking. It was drawn out in a circular form, and being closed at its ends, encompassed a large piece of ground. The Indians were surprised at the superior wit of the whites, but did not wish to contend about a little land, as they had still enough themselves. The white and red men lived contentedly together for a long time, though the former from time to time asked for

more land, which was readily obtained, and thus they gradually proceeded higher up the Mahicanittuck, until the Indians began to believe that they would soon want all their country, which in the end proved true.

The Indians are fond of metaphorical expressions in their language the following examples are given in Mr. Heckewelder's work.

The following is a copy of an Indian Gazette taken by a French officer, from the American original, with an explanation. It relates to a body of Indians, who, soon after the settlement of this part of America, took up the hatchet in favor of the French, against a hostile tribe that adhered to the English. It was obtained by Mr. Thomas about the year 1770, and a copy of it is inserted in the 2d vol. of his "History of Printing.'

1. Each of these figures represent the number ten-They all signify that 18 times 10, or 180 American Indians took up the hatchet, or declared war, in favor of the French which is represented by the hatchet placed over the arms of France.

2. They departed from Montreal-represented by the bird just taking wing, from the top of a mountain. The moon, and the buck, show the tinie to have been in the first quarter of the buck-moon, answering to July.

111

3. They went by water-signified by the canoe.

The number of huts, such as

they raise to pass the night in, shows they were 21 days on their passage.