preter entered the room, accompanied by one of the shabbiest and dirtiest of the Tuscaroras that I had yet seen. Kusick and I were introduced to each other, while the poor looking fellow seated himself at the back of the door, and placing his hands on his knees hung his head in silence. Mr. Crane informed me that he was one of the few topers who were still to be found in the tribe, and that the occasion of his present visit was to ask pardon for a piece of rudeness, of which he had been guilty when last intoxicated. He had gone to Lewiston on a sabbath morning, and continued drinking during the whole of the day. Staggering home next forenoon, he met Mr. and Mrs. Crane in a one horse waggon, and, whether in kindness or mischief they could not tell, Thomas, for so he was called, caught hold of the bridle, and turned the horse so suddenly round that the waggon was upset. Happily both the inmates escaped without injury. Thomas went home, too much intoxicated to recollect what he had done; but some of the chiefs heard of it, and when he was sober told him that it was necessary he should go to Mr. and Mrs. Crane and ask pardon for his misconduct.

Kusick was again the medium of communication. Thomas in very humble terms expressed much regret for what he had done; he said he was not his own master when he did it, for he loved Mr. and Mrs. Crane sincerely, and would not on any account intentionally injure them. He concluded by beg

ging to be forgiven, and promised that he would never so offend again.

Mr. Crane assured Thomas, that neither Mrs. Crane nor he felt the slightest degree of resentment for his upsetting the waggon, as they were convinced that he had no intention of doing so; but said that he could not but be displeased with him for indulging in spirituous liquors, after having been so frequently warned of their pernicious effects. He reminded him that the hair on his head was gray, and that in a few short years, at most, he must appear before the Great Spirit, who had said that drunkards should not enter into the kingdom of heaven. He counselled him to abstain for the future from wicked associates, and to listen to the instruction which the word of God contained.

Thomas received the admonition with silent attention, and promised to abstain henceforth from rum and bad company. Mr. Crane assured him of his forgiveness, and poor Thomas was received again into favour,

Kusick the interpreter I found to be a shrewd and intelligent man. He had fought in the revolutionary war, with a lieutenant's commission from the United States; and a lame knee, the consequence of ague and excessive fatigue, bore testimony to the hardships which he had undergone. He showed me a copy of the gospel by John in the Mohawk language, translated by Captain Brandt, a chief whom Campbell has consigned to no honourable

fame in his Gertrude of Wyoming. While his evil deeds are so lastingly recorded, let not his more deserving ones be passed over in silence. Kusick was also possessed of a copy of the gospel by Luke, translated into the same language by Captain Norton, an Indian chief who is living in upper Canada. The Mohawk language he told me though different from the Tuscarora, was so far allied to it that they could without much difficulty make use of these translations, which were indeed all that they possessed.

Evening was now advancing, and I was under the necessity of taking leave. Mr. and Mrs. Crane strongly urged me to remain with them till the following day, but this I could not with propriety dc. I shook hands with my kind entertainers, with William and Nancy, Kusick and the other Indians, including poor Thomas, and with feelings of a very peculiar kind, I left Mr. Crane's house to see this interesting group no more. Many kind invitations were showered upon me, by white and red, to repeat my visit, but in all probability we shall never meet again in this world. My acquaintance with them has been that of a day, but years will not efface its traces from my memory; and often as I remember the Tuscarora Indians, it will be with warmest wishes for their happiness, and that of all who take an interest in them.

"I am, after all, not certain whether this translation is the work of the elder Brandt, who is now dead, or of his son who is still living.

TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS BY EUROPEANS. 83

What I have seen and heard among the Tuscarora Indians, confirms to the utmost what I have long believed; that it is folly and worse than folly, to talk of the impossibility of civilizing the North American aborigines. It is a matter of shame to intelligent men, that such assertions should ever have been made. That it may be difficult to carry it into full effect I readily grant, but the principal obstacles which exist, have arisen from the unprincipled conduct of the white traders; many of whom, if morality were the standard of our determination, are much better entitled to the appellation of savages than the poor despised Indians.

Since the period when Europeans first set foot in the western continent, their conduct towards the Indians has been with few exceptions, for there have been a few, a combination of deceit, rapacity, and cruelty, too atrocious to be characterized by any ordinary epithet of aggravation. They found a few thousands of naked men in peaceful possession of

8 Penn's conduct towards the Indians was as remarkable for kindness, honour, and good faith, as that of others had been the reverse; Brother Miquon, as they translated Penn, and his friendly quækels, were long spoken of by the remains of the Delawares, in terms of enthusiastic regard. When war between the Indians and whites was raging in Pennsylvania, the quaker habit was a protection in every Indian camp, and the unarmed wearer experienced a friendly welcome in every wigwam. The history of this settlement, and some others, completely proves that the Indians were not insensible to kindness on the part of the whites; but on the contrary, that whenever they were honourably treated they made as honourable a

return.

immense tracts of fertile ground, watered by vast lakes and navigable rivers; they cast their covetous eyes upon the immense continent, and at last, by fraud and intrigue, succeeded in acquiring possession of nearly the whole, and in almost entirely extirpating the race by which it had been peopled.

It would be a long and a heart rending tale, to recount the various circumstances under which this has been accomplished; but features of general resemblance pervade them all. The white men were strong-the red men were weak; the white men were crafty and designing—the red men open and unsuspicious; the white men wanted the land—the red men were obliged to let them have it. Rum, powder, and the bayonet, were the efficient agents in completing the change. The Indians were instigated to mutual havoc and massacre, and the whites completed what they began, The dispirited remnants of the scattered tribes became the slaves of drunkenness and sloth; and the land which was yet left them, they were easily persuaded to exchange for intoxicating liquors, or whatever else their spoilers chose to give. "Finally," said the Indian chief, "they drove us back from time to time into the wilderness, far from the water, and the fish, and the oysters. They have destroyed the game; our people have wasted away; and now we live miserable and wretched, while they are enjoying our fine and beautiful country."