opinion, "it was best that every one should paddle his canoe his own way." Here is a volume of instruction in a short answer of a savage!

Justice.-A white trader sold a quantity of powder to an Indian, and im posed upon him by making him believe it was a grain which grew like wheat, by sowing it upon the ground. He was greatly elated by the prospect, not only of raising his own powder, but of being able to supply others, and thereby becoming immensely rich. Having prepared his ground with great care, he sowed his powder with the utmost exactness in the spring. Month after month passed away, but his powder did not even sprout, and winter came before he was satisfied that he had been deceived. He said nothing; but some time after, when the trader had forgotten the trick, the same Indian succeeded in getting credit of him to a large amount. The time set for payment having expired, he sought out the Indian at his residence, and demanded payment for his goods. The Indian heard his demand with great complaisance; then, looking him shrewdly in the eye, said, "Me pay you when my powder grow." This was enough. The guilty white man quickly retraced his steps, satisfied, we apprehend, to balance his account with the chagrin he had re

ceived.

Hunting. The Indians had methods to catch game which served them extremely well. The same month in which the Mayflower brought over the forefathers, November, 1620, to the shores of Plimouth, several of them ranged about the woods near by to learn what the country contained. Having wandered farther than they were apprized, in their endeavor to return, they say, "We were shrewdly puzzled, and lost our way. As we wandered, we came to a tree, where a young sprit was bowed down over a bow, and some acorns strewed underneath. Stephen Hopkins said, it had been to catch some deer. So, as we were looking at it, William Bradford being in the rear, when he came looking also upon it, and as he went about, it gave a sudden jerk up, and he was immediately caught up by the legs. It was (they continue) a very pretty device, made with a rope of their own making, [of bark or some kind of roots probably,] and having a noose as artificially made as any roper in England can make, and as like ours as can be; which we brought away with us."*

Preaching against Practice.-JOHN SIMON was a Sogkonate, who, about the year 1700, was a settled minister to that tribe. He was a man of strong mind, generally temperate, but sometimes remiss in the latter particular. The following anecdote is told as characteristic of his notions of justice. Simon, on account of his deportment, was created justice of the peace, and when dif ficulties occurred involving any of his people, he sat with the English justice to aid in making up judgment. It happened that Simon's squaw, with some others, had committed some offence. Justice Almy and Simon, in making up their minds, estimated the amount of the offence differently; Almy thought each should receive eight or ten stripes, but Simon said, "No, four or five are enough-Poor Indians are ignorant, and it is not Christian-like to punish so hardly those who are ignorant, as those who have knowledge." Simon's judg ment prevailed. When Mr. Almy asked John how many his wife should receive, he said, “Double, because she had knowledge to have done better;” but Colonel Almy, out of regard to John's feelings, wholly remitted his wife's punishment. John looked very serious, and made no reply while in presence of the court, but, on the first fit opportunity, remonstrated very severely against his judgment, and said to him, "To what purvose do we preach a religion of justice, if we do unrighteousness in judgment?

Sam Hide.-There are few, we imagine, who have not heard of this personage; but, notwithstanding his great notoriety, we might not be though serious in the rest of our work, were we to enter seriously into his biography for the reason, that from his day to this, his name has been a by-word in all New England, and means as much as to say the greatest of liars. It is on account of the following anecdote that he is noticed.

*Mourt's Relation.

38

INDIAN ANECDOTES AND NARRATIVES.

[Book 1.

Sam Hide was a notorious cider-drinker as well as liar, and used to travel the country to and fro begging it from door to door. At one time he happened in a region of country where cider was very hard to be procured, either from its scarcity, or from Sam's frequent visits. However, cider he was determined Lo have, if lying, in any shape or color, would gain it. Being not far from the house of an acquaintance, who he knew had cider, but he knew, or was well satisfied, that, in the ordinary way of begging, he could not get it, he set his wits at work to lay a plan to insure it. This did not occupy him long. On arriving at the house of the gentleman, instead of asking for cider, he inquired for the man of the house, whom, on appearing, Sam requested to go aside with him, as he had something of importance to communicate to him. When they were by themselves, Sam told him he had that morning shot a fine deer, and that, if he would give him a crown, he would tell him where it was. The gentleman did not incline to do this, but offered half a crown. Finally, Sam said, as he had walked a great distance that morning, and was very dry, for a half a crown and a mug of cider he would tell him. This was agreed upon, and the price paid. Now Sam was required to point out the spot where the deer was to be found, which he did in this manner. He said to his friend, You know of such a meadow, describing it-Yes-You know a big ash tree, with a big top by the little brook-Yes-Well, under that tree lies the deer. This was satisfactory, and Sam departed. It is unnecessary to mention that the meadow was found, and the tree by the brook, but no deer. The duped man could hardly contain himself on considering what he had been doing. To look after Sam for satisfaction would be worse than looking after the deer, so the farmer concluded to go home contented. Some years after, he happened to fall in with the Indian; and he immediately began to rally him for deceiving him so, and demanded back his money and pay for his cider and trouble. Why, said Sam, would you find fault if Indian told truth half the time?-No -Well, says Sam, you find him meadow?—Yes-You find him tree?—YesWhat for then you find fault Sam Hide, when he told you two truth to one lie? The affair ended here. Sam heard no more from the farmer.

This is but one of the numerous anecdotes of Sam Hide, which, could they be collected, would fill many pages. He died in Dedham, 5 January, 1732, at the great age of 105 years. He was a great jester, and passed for an uncommon wit. In all the wars against the Indians during his lifetime, he served the English faithfully, and had the name of a brave soldier. He had himself killed 19 of the enemy, and tried hard to make up the 20th, but was unable.

Characters contrasted.-" An Indian of the Kennebeck tribe, remarkable for his good conduct, received a grant of land from the state, and fixed himself in a new township where a number of families were settled. Though not ill treated, yet the common prejudice against Indians prevented any sympathy with him. This was shown at the death of his only child, when none of the people came near him. Shortly afterwards he went to some of the inhabitants and said to them, When white man's child die, Indian man he sorry —he help bury him.—When my child die, no one speak to me--I make his grave alone. I can no live here. He gave up his farm, dug up the body of his child, and carried it with him 200 miles through the forests, to join the Canada Indians!"*

A ludicrous Error.-There was published in London, in 1762, "THE AMERICAN GAZETTEER," &c. in which is the following account of BRISTOL, R. I. "A county and town in N. England. The capital is remarkable for the King of Spain's having a palace in it, and being killed there; and also for Crown the poet's begging it of Charles II." The blunder did not rest here, but is found in "THE N. AMERICAN and the West Indian GAZETTEER," ‡ &c. Thus Philip of Spain seems to have had the misfortune of being mistaken for Philip of the Wampanoags, alias Pometacom of Pokanoket.

*Tudor's Letters on the Eastern States, 294.

† 3 vols. 12mo. without name.

‡ 2d edition, 12mo, London, 1788, also anonymous.

Origin or Meaning of the Name Canada.-It is said, that Canada was discovered by the Spaniards, before the time of Cartier, and that the Bay of Chaleurs was discovered by them, and is the same as the Baye des Espagnoles; and that the Spaniards, not meeting with any appearances of mines of the precious metals, said to one another, aca nada, which in their language signified, nothing here, and forthwith departed from the country. The Indians, having heard these words, retained them in their memories, and, when the French came among them, made use of them, probably by way of salutation, not understanding their import; and they were supposed by the voyagers to be the name of the country. It was only necessary to drop the first letter, and use the two words as two syllables, and the word Canada was complete.* But as long ago as when Father Charlevoix wrote his admirable HISTORY Or New France, he added a note upon the derivation of the name Canada, in which he said some derived it from an Iroquois word meaning an assemblage of nouses. Doctor J. R. Forster has a learned note upon it also, in his valuable account of Voyages and Discoveries in the North. He objects to the Aca Nada origin, because, in Spanish, the word for here is not aca, but aqui, and that to form Canada from Aquinada would be forced and unnatural. Yet says, "In ancient maps we often find Ca: da Nada," that is, Cape Nothing. "But from a Canadian [Indian] vocabulary, annexed to the original edition of the second voyage of Jaques Cartier, Paris, 1545, it appears, that an assemblage of houses, or habitations, i. e. a town, was by the natives called Canada. Cartier says, Ilz appellent une Ville-Canada." Mr. Heckewelder is of much the same opinion as Charlevoix and Forster. He says, that in a prayer-book in the Mohawk language, he read "Ne KANADA-gongh Konwayatsk Nazareth," which was a translation of "in a CITY called Nazareth."

he

Origin of the Name Yankee.-ANBURY, an author who did not respect the Americans, any more than many others who have been led captive by them, has the following paragraph upon this word -"The lower class of these Yankees-apropos, it may not be amiss here just to observe to you the etymology of this term: it is derived from a Cherokee word, eankke, which signifies coward and slave. This epithet of yankee was bestowed upon the inhabitants of N. England by the Virginians, for not assisting them in a war with the Cherokees, and they have always been held in derision by it. But the name has been more prevalent since [1775] the commencement of hostilities; the soldiery at Boston used it as a term of reproach; but after the affair at Bunker's Hill, the Americans gloried in it. Yankee-doodle is now their pœan, a favorite of favorites, played in their army, esteemed as warlike as the grenadier's march-it is the lover's spell, the nurse's lullaby. After our rapid successes, we held the yankees in great contempt; but it was not a little mortifying to hear them play this tune, when their army marched down to our surrender." §

But Mr. Heckewelder thinks that the Indians, in endeavoring to pronounce the name English, could get that sound no nearer than these letters give it, yengees. This was perhaps the true origin of Yankee.

A singular Stratagem to escape Torture.-"Some years ago the Shawano Indians, being obliged to remove from their habitations, in their way took a Muskohge warrior, known by the name of old Scrany, prisoner; they bastinadoed him severely, and condemned him to the fiery torture. He under

The authors who have adopted this opinion, are Doctor Mather, [Magnalia, B. viii. 71 ;] Harris, [Voyages, ii. 349;] Moll, [Geog, ii. 194;] J. Long, [Voyages and Travels, 2 ;] Bozman, [Maryland, 35;] Moulton, [N. York, i. 131;] Martin, [Louisiana, i. 7.]

Josselyn and Jeffrys seem to be without company as well as authorities for their derivations. The former [N. England Rarities, 5] says, Canada was "so called from Monsieur Cane." The latter [Hist. America, 1] says, "Canada, in the Indian language, signifies the Mouth of the Country, from can, mouth, and ada, the country."

+ Quelques-unes dérivent ce nom du mot Iroquois Kannata, qui se prononce canada, et signifie un amas de cabannes. Hist. Nouv. France, i. 9.

Travels through the Interior Parts of North America, 1776, &c. vol. ii. 46, 47. Anbury was an officer in General Burgoyne's army, and was among the captives surrendered at Saratoga.

This derivation is almost as ludicrous as that given by Irving in his Knickerbocker.

40

ANECDOTES, &c., ILLUSTRATIVE

[BOOK L went a great deal without showing any concern; his countenance and behavior were as if he suffered not the least pain. He told his persecutors with a bold voice, that he was a warrior; that he had gained most of his martial reputation at the expense of their nation, and was desirous of showing them, in the act of dying, that he was still as much their superior, as when he headed his gallant countrymen: that although he had fallen into their hands, and forfeited the protection of the divine power by some impurity or other, when carrying the holy ark of war against his devoted enemies, yet he had so much remaining virtue as would enable him to punish himself more exquisitely than all their despicable, ignorant crowd possibly could; and that he would do so, if they gave him liberty by untying him, and handing him one of the red-hot gun-barrels out of the fire. The proposal, and his method of address, appeared so exceedingly bold and uncommon, that his request was granted. Then suddenly seizing one end of the red-hot barrel, and brandishing it from side to side, leaped down a prodigious steep and high bank into a branch of the river, dived through it, ran over a small island, and passed the other branch, amidst a shower of bullets; and though numbers of his enemies were in close pursuit of him, he got into a bramble-swamp, through which, though naked and in a mangled condition, he reached his own country."

An unparalleled Case of Suffering.-"The Shawano Indians captured a warrior of the Anantoocah nation, and put him to the stake, according to their usual cruel solemnities: having unconcernedly suffered much torture, he told them, with scorn, they did not know how to punish a noted enemy; therefore he was willing to teach them, and would confirm the truth of his assertion if they allowed him the opportunity. Accordingly he requested of them a pipe and some tobacco, which was given him; as soon as he had lighted it, he sat down, naked as he was, on the women's burning torches, that were within bis circle, and continued smoking his pipe without the least discomposure: On this a head warrior leaped up, and said, they saw plain enough that he was a warrior, and not afraid of dying, nor should he have died, only that he was both spoiled by the fire, and devoted to it by their laws; however, though he was a very dangerous enemy, and his nation a treacherous people, it should be seen that they paid a regard to bravery, even in one who was marked with war streaks at the cost of many of the lives of their beloved kindred; and then by way of favor, he with his friendly tomahawk instantly put an end to all his pains."

*

Ignorance the Offspring of absurd Opinions. The resolution and courage of the Indians, says Colonel Rogers, "under sickness and pain, is truly surprising. A young woman will be in labor a whole day without uttering one groan or cry; should she betray such a weakness, they would immediately say, that she was unworthy to be a mother, and that her offspring could not fail of being cowards."

A Northern Custom.-When Mr. Hearne was on the Coppermine River, in 1771, some of the Copper Indians in his company killed a number of Esquimaux, by which act they considered themselves unclean; and all concerned in the murder were not allowed to cook any provisions, either for themselves or others. They were, however, allowed to eat of others' cooking, but not until they had painted, with a kind of red earth, all the space between their nose and chin, as well as a greater part of their cheeks, almost to their ears. Neither would they use any other dish or pipe, than their own. ‡

Another Pocahontas.-While Lewis and Clarke were on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, in 1805, one of their men went one evening into a village of the Killamuk Indians, alone, a small distance from his party, and on the opposite side of a creek from that of the encampment. A strange Indian happened to be there also, who expressed great respect and love for the white

The two preceding relations are from Long's Voyages and Travels, 72 and 73, a book of small pretensions, but one of the best on Indian history. Its author lived among the Indians of the North-West, as an Indian trader, about 19 years.

+ Concise Account of N. America, 212.

Journey to the Northern Ocean, 205.

man; but in reality he meant to murder him for the articles he had about him This happened to come to the knowledge of a Chinnook woman, and she determined at once to save his life: therefore, when the white man was about to return to his companions, the Indian was going to accompany him, and kill him in the way. As they were about to set out, the woman caught the white man by the clothes, to prevent his going with the Indian. He, not understanding her intention, pulled away from her; but as a last resort, she ran out and shrieked, which raised the men in every direction; and the Indian became alarmed for his own safety, and made his escape before the white man knew he had been in danger.

Self-command in Time of Danger.-There was in Carolina a noted chief of the Yamoisees, who, in the year 1702, with about 600 of his countrymen, went with Colonel Daniel and Colonel Moore against the Spaniards in Florida. His name was Arratommakaw. When the English were obliged to abandon their undertaking, and as they were retreating to their boats, they became alarmed, supposing the Spaniards were upon them. Arratommakaw, having arrived at the boats, was reposing himself upon his oars, and was fast asleep. The soldiers rallied him for being so slow in his retreat, and ordered him to make more haste: "But he replied, 'NO-THOUGH YOUR GOVERNOR LEAVES YOU, I WILL NOT STIR TILL I HAVE SEEN ALL MY MEN BEFORE ME." "

Indifference.—Archihau was a sachem of Maryland, whose residence was upon the Potomack, when that country was settled by the English in 1633-4. The place of his residence was named, like the river, Potomack. As usual with the Indians, he received the English under Governor Calvert with great attention. It should be noted, that Archihau was not head sachem of the Potomacks, but governed instead of his nephew, who was a child, and who, like the head men of Virginia, was called werowance. From this place the colonists sailed 20 leagues farther up the river, to a place called Piscattaway. Here a werowance went on board the governor's pinnace, to treat with him. On being asked whether he was willing the English should settle in his country, in case they found a place convenient for them, he made answer, "I will not bid you go, neither will I bid you stay, but you may use your own discretion."

Their Notions of the Learning of the Whites.-At the congress at Lancaster, in 1744, between the government of Virginia and the Five Nations, the Indians were told that, if they would send some of their young men to Virginia, the English would give them an education at their college. An orator replied to this offer as follows:-"We know that you highly esteem the kind of learning taught in those colleges, and that the maintenance of our young men, while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are convinced, therefore, that you mean to do us good by your proposal, and we thank you heartily. But you who are wise must know, that different nations have different conceptions of things; and you will therefore not take it amiss, if our ideas of this kind of education happen not to be the same with yours. We have had some experience of it: several of our young people were formerly brought up at the colleges of the northern provinces; they were instructed in all your sciences; but when they came back to us, they were bad runners; ignorant of every means of living in the woods; unable to bear either cold or hunger; knew neither how to build a cabin, take a deer, or kill an enemy; spoke our language imperfectly; were therefore neither fit for hunters, warriors, or Counsellors; they were totally good for nothing. We are, however, not the less obliged by your kind offer, though we decline accepting it: and to show our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia will send us a dozen of their sons, we will take great care of their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them."†

Success of a Missionary.-Those who have attempted to Christianize the Indians complain that they are too silent, and that their taciturnity was the greatest difficulty with which they have to contend. Their notions of pro

* Oldmixon, [Hist. Maryland.]

+ Franklin's Essays.