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children ; for it is the custom of the Indians, that when a divorce takes place between husband and wife, the children remain with their mother, until they are of a proper age to choose for themselves. One hope, however, still remained. The sugarmaking season was at hand, and they were shortly to remove to their sugar camp, where he flattered himself his wife would not be followed by the disturber of his peace, whose residence was about ten miles from theuce. But this hope was of short duration. They had hardly been a fortnight in their new habitation, when, as he returned one day from a morning's hunt, he found the unwelcome visiter at his home, in close conversation with his faithless wife. This last stroke was more than he could bear; without saying a single word, he took off a large cake of his sugar, and with it came to my house, which was at the distance of eight miles from his temporary residence. It was on a Sunday, at about ten o'clock in the forenoon, that he entered my door, with sorrow strongly depicted on his manly counte

As he came in he presented me with his cake of sugar, saying, “ My friend! you have many a time served me with a good pipe of tobacco, and I have not yet done any thing to please you. Take this as a reward for your goodness, and as an acknowledgement from me as your friend” He said no more, but giving me with both his hands, a warm farewell squeeze, he departed and returned to the camp. At about two o'clock in the afternoon a runner from thence passing through the town to notify his death at the village two miles farther, informed us of the shocking event. He had immediately on his return, remained a short time in his house, indulging in the last caresses to his dear innocent children; then retiring to some distance, had eaten the fatal root, and before relief could be administered by some persons who had observed him staggering from the other side of the river, he was on the point of expiring, and all succours were vain.

nance.

The last whom I have to mention, was also a married man, bat had no children. He had lived liappy with his wise, until one day that she fell into a passion and made use to him of such abusive language as he could not endure. Too high-minded to quarrel with a woman, he resolved to punish her by putting an end to his existence. Fortunately he was seen in the first stage of his fits, and was brought into a house, where a strong emetic diluted in lukewarm water, was forcibly poured down his throat. He recovered after some time, but never was again the strong healthy man he had been before ; his wife however, took warning from this desperate act, and behaved better ever after.-HECKEWELDER.

DRUNKENNESS.

An Indian who had been born and brought up at Minisink, near the Delaware Water Gap, and to whom the German inhabitants of that neighbourhood had given the name of Cornelius Rosenbaum, told me near fifty years ago, that he had once, when under the influence of strong liquor, killed the best Indian friend he had, fancying him to be his worst avowed enemy. He said that the deception was complete, and that while intoxicated, the face of his friend presented to his eyes all the features of the man with whom he was in a state of hostility. It is impossible to express the horror with which he was struck when he awoke from that delusion; he was so shocked, that he from that moment resolved never more to taste of the maddening poison, of which he was convinced that the devil was the inventor; for it could only be the evil spirit who made him see his enemy when his friend was before him, and produced so strong a delusion on his bewildered senses, that he actually killed him. From that time

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until his death, which happened thirty years afterwards, he never drank a drop of ardent spirits, which he always called “the Devil's blood," and was firmly persuaded that the Devil, or some of his inferior spirits, had a hand in preparing it.

Once in my travels, I fell in with an Indian and his son; the former, though not addicted to drinking, had this time drunk some liquor with one of his acquaintances, of which he now felt the effects. As he was walking before me, along the path, he at once flew back and aside, calling out “O! what a monstrous snake!” On my asking him where the snake lay, he pointed to something and said, “Why, there, across the path !” “ A snake!” said I, “it is nothing but a black-burnt sapling, which has fallen on the ground.”. He, however, would not be persuaded ; he insisted that it was a spake, and could be nothing else; therefore, to avoid it, he went round the path, and entered it again at some distance farther. After we had travelled together for about two hours, during which time he spoke but little, we encamped for the night. Awaking about midnight, I saw him sitting up smoking his pipe, and appearing to be in deep thought. I asked him why he did not lay down and sleep? To which he replied, “O my friend ! many things have crowded on my mind; I am quite lost in thought !"

Heckew." And what are you thinking about ?"

Indian,"Did you say it was not a snake of which I was afraid, and which lay across the path ?”

Heckew.--"I did say so; and, indeed, it was nothing else but a sapling burnt black by the firing of the woods."

Indian, -"Are you sure it was that?"
Heckew.--";

“ Yes; and I called to you at the time to look, how I was standing on it; and if you have yet a doubt, ask your son, and the two Indians with me, and they will tell you the same." Indian, -- "O strange! and I took it for an uncommonly large snake, moving as if it intended to bite melo-1 cannot get over my surprise, that the liquor 1 drank, and, indeed, that was not much, should have so deceived me! but I think I have now discovered how it happens that Indians so often kill one another when drunk, almost without knowing what they are doing; and when afterwards they are told what they bave done, they ascribe it to the liquor which was in them at the time, and say the liquor did it. I have thought that as I saw this time a living snake in a dead piece of wood, so I might, at another time, take a human being, perhaps one of my own farnily, for a bear or some other terocious beast and kill him. Can you, my friend, tell me what is in the beson* that confuses one so, and transforms things in that manner? ls it an invisible spirit? It must be something alive; or have the white people sorcerers among them, who put something in the liquor to deceive those who drink it? Do the white people drink of the same liquor that they give to the Indians ? Do they also, when drunk, kill people, and bite neses off, as the Indians do? Who taught the white people to make so pernicious a beson ?"

I answered all these questions, and several others that he put to me, in the best manner that I could, to which he replied, and our conversation continued as follows:

Intian,----Fell, if, as you say, the bad spirit cannot be the inventor of this liquor; if, in some cases it is moderately used among you as a medicine, and if your dociors can prepare from it, or with the help of a little of it, some salutary besons, still, I must believe that when it operates as you have seen, the bad spirit must have some hand in it, either by putting some bad thing into it, unknown to those who prepare it, or you bave conjurers who understand how to bewitch it.Perhaps they only do so to that which is

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* This word means liquor, and is also used in the sense of a medicinal draught, or other compound potion.

for the Indians; for the devil is not the Indians'friend, because they will not worship him, as they do the good Spirit, and therefore I believe he puts something into the beson, for the purpose of destroying them.”

Heckew.-"What the devil may do with the liquor I cannot tell; but I believe that he has a hand in every thing that is bad.

When the Indians kill one another, bite off each other's noses, or commit such wicked acts, he is undoubtedly well satisfied; for, as God himself has said, he is a destroyer and a murderer."

Indian,---"Well, now, we think alike, and henceforth he shall never again deceive me, or entice me to drink his beson."

In the year 1769, an Indian from Susquehannah having come to Bethlehem with his sons to dispose of his peltry, was accosted by a trader from a neighbouring town, who addressed him thus: “ Well! Thomas, I really believe you have turned Moravian.' “Moravian !" answered the Indian, “what makes you think so ?"_“Because," replied the other," you used to come to us to sell your skins and peltry, and now you trade them away to the Moravians.”? « So!" rejoined the Indian," now I understand you well, and I know what you mean to say. Now hear me.See, my friend! when I come to this place with my skins and peltry to trade, the people are kind, they give me plenty of good victuals to eat, and pay me in money or whatever I want, and no one says a word to me about drinking rum-neither do I ask for it! When I come to your place with my peltry, all call to me : Come, Thomas! here's rum, drink heartily, drink! it will not hurt you.' All this is done for the purpose of cheating me. When you have obtained from me all you want, you call me a drunken dog, and kick me out of the room.-See! this is the manner in which you cheat the Indians when they come to trade with you.

So now you know when you see me coming to your town again, you may say 10

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