History, Manners, and Customs of the North American Indians Part 9

_Brian._ He must have made terrible work with his tomahawk!

_Hunter._ No doubt he did, for he was bold, and had never been taught to control his pa.s.sions. The command of the Saviour had never reached his ears: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." The red man of the forest and the prairie has had much to embitter his spirit against his enemies; but I will proceed. It was in the year 1835, that between two and three hundred red warriors a.s.sembled at Camp King, to hold a "talk," or council. They were met by a battalion of white soldiers, who had two generals with them. At this council, it was proposed by the whites that a contract should be made between the two parties, wherein the Seminoles should give up their lands in Florida in exchange for other lands at a great distance from the place. Some of the red warriors were induced to make a cross on the contract as their signature, showing that they agreed therewith; but Oseola saw that such a course was bartering away his country, and sealing the ruin of his nation.

_Austin._ I hope he did not put his sign to it.

_Brian._ So do I, and I hope he persuaded all the rest of the red warriors not to sign it.

_Hunter._ When they asked him in his turn to sign the contract, his lip began to curl with contempt, and his eye to flash with fiery indignation. "Yes!" said he, drawing a poniard from his bosom, with a haughty frown on his brow. "Yes!" said he, advancing and dashing his dagger while he spoke, not only through the contract, but also through the table on which it lay; "there is my mark!"

_Austin._ Well done, brave Oseola!

_Brian._ That is just the way that he ought to have acted.

_Basil._ He was a very bold fellow. But what did the generals say to him?

_Hunter._ His enemies, the whites, (for they were enemies,) directly seized him, and bound him to a tree. This was done in a cruel manner, for the cords cut deep into his flesh. After this, he was manacled and kept as a prisoner in solitary confinement. When it was thought that his spirit was sufficiently tamed, and that what he had suffered would operate as a warning to his people, he was set at liberty.

_Austin._ The whites acted a cruel part, and they ought to have been ashamed of themselves.

_Brian._ Yes, indeed. But what did Oseola do when he was free?

_Hunter._ Revenge is dear to every one whose heart G.o.d has not changed. No wonder that it should burn in the bosom of an untaught Indian. He had never heard the words of Holy Scripture, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord," Rom. xii. 19; but rather looked on revenge as a virtue. Hasting to his companions, he made the forest echo with the wild war-whoop that he raised in defiance of his enemies.

_Brian._ I thought he would! That is the very thing that I expected he would do.

_Hunter._ Many of the princ.i.p.al whites fell by the rifles of the Indians; and Oseola sent a proud message to General Clinch, telling him that the Seminoles had a hundred and fifty barrels of gunpowder, every grain of which should be consumed before they would submit to the whites. He told him, too, that the pale faces should be led a dance for five years for the indignities they had put upon him. Oseola and the Seminoles maintained the war until the whites had lost eighteen hundred men, and expended vast sums of money. At last, the brave chieftain was made prisoner by treachery.

_Austin._ How was it? How did they take him prisoner?

_Hunter._ The whites invited Oseola to meet them, that a treaty might be made, and the war brought to an end. Oseola went with his warriors; but no sooner had he and eight of his warriors placed their rifles against a tree, protected as they thought by the flag of truce, than they were surrounded by a large body of soldiers, and made prisoners.

_Brian._ That was an unjust and treacherous act. Oseola ought to have kept away from them.

_Basil._ And what did they do to Oseola? Did they kill him?

_Hunter._ They at first confined him in the fort at St. Augustine, and afterwards in a dungeon at Sullivan's Island, near Charleston. It was in the latter place that he died, his head pillowed on the faithful bosom of his wife, who never forsook him, and never ceased to regard him with homage and affection. He was buried at Fort Moultrie, where he has a monument, inscribed "Oseola." His companions, had they been present at his grave, would not have wept. They would have been glad that he had escaped from his enemies.

_Austin._ Poor Oseola!

_Hunter._ This is only one instance among thousands, in which the red man has fallen a victim to the treachery and injustice of the whites.

It is a solemn thought, that when the grave shall give up its dead, and the trumpet shall call together, face to face, the inhabitants of all nations to judgment; the deceitful, the unjust and the cruel will have to meet those whom their deceit, their injustice and cruelty have destroyed. Well may the oppressor tremble. "The Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?"

_Basil._ But you have not yet told us of Nikkanochee. Please to let us hear all about him.

_Brian._ Ay; we have forgotten Nikkanochee.

_Hunter._ I will now tell you all that I know of him; but I thought you would like to hear of his uncle, he being so famous a warrior.

Nikkanochee is called Oseola Nikkanochee, prince of Econchatti, in order that he may bear in mind Oseola, his warlike uncle, and also Econchatti-mico, king of the Red Hills, his father. It is thought that Nikkanochee was born on the banks of the river Chattahoochee. He can just remember the death of his mother, when he was left alone with her in a wigwam; but what I have to tell you about Nikkanochee took place during the lifetime of his father, and his uncle Oseola. The white men being at war with the Seminoles, the war-men of the latter were obliged to band themselves together to fight, leaving their squaws and children to travel as well as they could to a place of safety. Nikkanochee, child as he was, travelled with the women through the pine forests night and day; but a party of horse-soldiers overtook them, and drove them as captives towards the settlements of the whites.

_Brian._ Ay! now Nikkanochee is a prisoner! What is to become of him now?

_Hunter._ The mothers were almost frantic. The wigwams they saw on the road had been destroyed by fire, and the whole country had been devastated. At nightfall they came to a village; and here, when it grew dark, Nikkanochee, a little girl and two Indian women made their escape. For some days they fled, living on water-melons and Indian corn, till they fell in with a party of their own war-men, and among them was Nikkanochee's father.

_Austin._ I hope they were safe then.

_Hunter._ Not being numerous, they were obliged to retreat. Pursued by their enemies, they fled, sometimes on horseback, and sometimes on foot; a part of the way through the swamps, thickets and pine forests.

At night, while the party were sitting round a fire, in the act of preparing for refreshment some dried meat, and a wild root of the woods reduced into flour, an alarm was given. In a moment they were obliged once more to fly, for their enemies were upon their track.

_Brian._ Dreadful! dreadful!

_Hunter._ The fire was put out by the Indians, their blankets hastily rolled up, and the squaws and children sent to hide themselves in the tangled reeds and brushwood of a swamp, while the war-men turned against the enemy. The Indians beat them off, but Econchatti-mico was wounded in the wrist, a musket ball having pa.s.sed through it.

_Brian._ Did Econchatti die of his wound?

_Hunter._ No; but he and the war-men, expecting that their enemies would return in greater numbers, were again forced to fly. The dreary pine forest, the weedy marsh, and the muddy swamp were once more pa.s.sed through. Brooks and rapid rivers were crossed by Econchatti, wounded as he was, with his son on his back. He swam with one hand, for the other was of little use to him.

_Austin._ Econchatti seems to be as brave a man as Oseola. Did they escape from their enemies?

_Hunter._ While they were sitting down to partake of some wild turkey and deer, with which their bows and arrows had furnished them during their flight, their enemies again fell upon them. The Seminoles had, perhaps, altogether two thousand warriors, with Oseola at their head; but then the whites had at least ten thousand, to say nothing of their being much better armed. No wonder that the Seminoles were compelled to fly, and only to fight when they found a favourable opportunity.

But I must not dwell longer than necessary on my account; suffice it to say, that, after all the bravery of the warriors, and all the exertions of Econchatti, Nikkanochee once more fell into the hands of the enemy.

_Basil._ Oh, that was terrible! I hoped he would get away safe.

_Brian._ So did I. I thought the white men would be tired of following them into those dreary forests and muddy swamps.

_Austin._ How was it that Nikkanochee was taken?

_Hunter._ He was captured on the 25th of August, 1836, by some soldiers who were scouring the country, and brought by them the next day to Colonel Warren. Poor little fellow, he was so worn, emaciated and cast down, that he could not be looked upon without pity. For several weeks he hardly spoke a word. No tear, no sob, nor sigh escaped him; but he appeared to be continually on the watch to make his escape. The soldiers who had taken him prisoner declared that they had followed his track full forty miles before they came up to him.

From the rising to the setting of the sun they hurried on, and still he was before them. Nikkanochee must then have been only about five or six years old.

_Basil._ Why, I could not walk so far as forty miles to save my life.

How did he manage it?

_Hunter._ You have not been brought up like an Indian. Fatigue and hardship and danger are endured by red men from their earliest infancy. The back to the burden, Basil. You have heard the saying, "G.o.d tempers the wind to the shorn lamb." When the soldiers came up to Nikkanochee, he darted into the bushes and long gra.s.s, where they found him. At first, he uttered a scream; but, soon after, he offered the soldiers a peach which he had in his hand, that they might let him go. Placed on horseback behind one of the troopers, he was brought to the military station.

_Brian._ They have him now, then, fast enough. I wonder what became of Econchatti-mico, his father.

_Hunter._ That is not known. I should have told you that, in the Seminole language, "Econ," means hill or hills; "Chatti," is red; and the signification of "mico," is king: so that Econchatti-mico is, all together, King of the Red Hills. The soldiers who captured Nikkanochee disputed among themselves whether he ought not to be killed. Most of them were for destroying every Indian man, woman, or child they met; but one of them, named James Shields, was determined to save the boy's life, and it was owing to his humanity that Nikkanochee was not put to death.

_Brian._ That man deserves to be rewarded. I shall not forget James Shields.

_Hunter._ When Nikkanochee had afterwards become a little more reconciled to his situation, he gave some account of the way in which he was taken. He said, that as he was travelling with his father and the Indians, the white men came upon them. According to Indian custom, when a party is surprised, the women and children immediately fly in different directions, to hide in the bushes and long gra.s.s, till the war-men return to them after the fight or alarm is over. Poor little Nikkanochee, in trying to cross a rivulet, fell back again into it. Besides this misfortune, he met with others, so that he could not keep up with the party. He still kept on, for he saw an old coffee-pot placed on a log; and Indians, in their flight, place things in their track, and also break off twigs from the bushes, that others of their tribe may know how to follow them. Nikkanochee came to a settlement of whites, but he struck out of the road to avoid it. He afterwards entered a peach orchard, belonging to a deserted house, and here he satisfied his hunger. It was then getting dark, but the soldiers saw him, and set off after him at full gallop. In vain he hid himself in the gra.s.s, and lay as still as a partridge, for they discovered him and took him away.

_Austin._ I wonder that Econchatti-mico, his father, or the brave Oseola, his uncle, did not rescue him.

_Hunter._ It is thought that they did return upon the back trail, for the place they had been in was shortly after surrounded by Indians, with Oseola at their head; but just then a reinforcement of soldiers arrived, and the Indians were obliged to retire. Had not the soldiers come up just in time, the whole garrison might have fallen by the rifles and scalping-knives of enraged Seminoles. Nikkanochee pa.s.sed a year with the family of Colonel Warren, and was beloved by them all There was, no doubt, much sympathy felt for him, as the nephew of a well-known warrior, and the son of the king of a warlike people.

Nikkanochee was afterwards taken under the protection of a gentleman, who became much attached to him. He was educated with other children, and taught to bend the knee in prayer, and to offer praise to the King of kings and Lord of lords. Thus, in the providence of G.o.d, was Nikkanochee brought from being a heathen to be a worshipper of the true G.o.d and Jesus Christ.

_Brian._ How much longer did he remain abroad?