NOTE X. Then, to herself "he soon shall prove What 'tis to slight a mer-queen's love!" Page 26. "Heaven has no wrath, like love to hatred turned, NOTE XI. 'Twas now the hour unholy spell Has deadliest power-as poets tell: Page 28. "Tis now the very witching time of night."—Shakespeare. NOTES TO CANTO SECOND. Unless excited by some powerful and urgent occasion, like those enumerated in the text, the American savage is among the most indolent and listless of human beings; dull, phlegmatic, silent and inert; passing whole days in sleep, or at least in torpid inactivity. But when aroused by necessity or prompted by passion, their perseverance and activity are wonderful, and their capacity for endurance, unparalleled. In support and illustration of this very prominent trait in their character, it would be easy to adduce numerous authorities; but one which is very brief, may suffice. In the New Encyclopedia, article America, it is said of them that-"They follow their prey through the woods with astonishing perseverance; and laying aside the indolence and stupidity of their nature, become active, skilful, and acute," NOTE II. Patient and wary, day by day, Like idle weeds that round him grew; Or faded leaves, which antumn's breath Had scattered o'er the dark brown heath. Page 33. "They paint their bodies of the same color with the leaves and brushwood; lie close to the ground all day, and travel only during the night.-Encyc. Art. America. NOTE III. Heaven-when for Adam's fault it shed Mingled a blessing with the curse, Which rifled it of half its force. Page 35. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground.-Genesis, 3c. 19v. NOTE IV. His taunt no ne answered: but the spell Of every chief who there reclined- Page 38. The belief in the prophetic nature of dreams, forms one of the most singular, wild and interesting traits in the history of the human mind. Enlightened men, even in this enlightened age, are, frequently, not entirely free from this weakness. But in the savage and semi-civilized state of man, this belief has, in all ages, been universal; and not unfrequently has produced the most marked and decisive effects, not only upon the conduct and fate of individuals, but of families, communities and nations. The classical reader needs not to be reminded of instances in point, in the histories of Greece and Rome; and its influence has been no less universal or decisive among the barbarians of the north and the savages of America. In conformity with these facts, I have conceived myself perfectly justifiable in narrating the dream of one of my principal personages, and in making it darkly typical of his subsequent conduct and fate. NOTE V. Seemed, as those bounding coursers won Each rider and his steed were one, And fable a reality. Page 41. The Centaurs, a race whose existence was, in ancient times, as well vouched, as generally credited, and as true as that of the Amazons of the middle ages; were reputed to combine the forms of a horse and a man. NOTE VI. Great Warredondo-chief and boast Of the Algonquin's war-like host. Page 43. The Algonquins, or Alogonquins, were formerly the most numerous, powerful and war like of all the tribes of the North-American Indians. They were finally conquered, dispersed and, as a separate nation, exterminated by a confederacy formed by the Iroquois. NOTE VII. Not greater had their terror been, Offended Areskou had hurled His voice in thunder o'er the world. Page 44. ARESKOU, or Areskoui, was the principal 'god, or Great Spirit, of several of the American tribes. Those who are curious on the subject of the religion of the American Indians, may consult Trumbull's Indian Wars, Charlevoix, Doctor Jarvis' ingenious Discourse, and the very excellent epitome of all that has been collected on the subject, contained in the New Edinburgh Encyclopædia. Unless however, the investigator should be more fortunate or more easy to satisfy than I have been, the information he acquires will be but a poor compensation for the labor of his researches. The fact seems to be that, with the exception of the Mexicans and Peruvians, no one of the American tribes had, previous to their intercourse with Europeans, any very fixed or definite religious notions; and from the extreme unwillingness to communicate their tenets to the whites, added to the varying opinions of different, though perhaps contiguous tribes, and the carelessness or unfaithfulness of those from whom information has been derived; what has been gleaned upon the subject is either entitled to small confidence or conveys but little satisfactory information. NOTES TO CANTO THIRD. NOTE I. -so strong Were the indignant thoughts that fired Revenge for Escalala's wrong. Page 53. "The first principle which is instilled into the breast of an Amer ican savage is revenge. This principle acquires additional strength as he advances in life; the few objects which his education presents to his eye have all a tendency to cherish it; both the counsels of the old men, and the example of the warriors of his tribe, conspire in teaching him, that it is dishonorable to relent, and infamous to forgive. To tear off the scalp of an enemy, to eat his flesh, is the highest gratification which an Indian can receive. Against the enemies of his tribe, his vengeance has no limits. It sparkles in every eye, and gives activity to every limb. The Indian fights, not to conquer his enemies, but to satiate his revenge; and that destructive passion is not gratified till he has glutted himself with the blood of the hostile tribe, and rejoiced in the extinction of its name." Encyclopædia. NOTE II, But readily as hound can trace The trail of game, in greenwood chase; So readily, &c. Page 54. The facility and accuracy with which Indians mark and follow the traces of human footsteps-traces so slight that none but the eye of a savage could detect them, even by the nicest examination-is one of the most striking, curious and singular traits in their singularly original and interesting character. "They pursue," says the Encyclopædia, "their enemies through the forest with the same caution and spirit which they exhibit in following the beasts of prey, and mark their footsteps with the same accuracy." I NOTE III. Attempts, as vain as the commands The ground on which his feet were set. Page 55. The anecdote of king Canute, here alluded to, is too well known to require repetition. NOTE IV. In Odin's hall, with the brave and the free, Feast and repose, to eternity! Page 61. It was a favorite point in the creed of the Scandinavians, that the souls of those heroes who were slain in battle were immediately transported to the vast and magnificent Hall of Odin, where they mutually recounted their martial exploits, and banqueted and regaled themselves on the choicest dainties forever. NOTES TO CANTO FOURTH. NOTE I. Now speed thee, speed, Tustunnuggee! The wolf has howled, shall lap his blood- Page 65. In some of the native, North American dialects, "Tustunnuggee,' as I am informed, signifies indifferently, speaker, orator, or leader. Among them, as in most savage nations, the two qualities most prized in an individual are eloquence and valor; and it is in reference to the one or the other, that they usually select their leaders or chiefs. Their speeches are so wild, bold and figurative, that to have imitated them fully in the little samples I have ventured to give would have subjected me to the imputation of burlesque and extravagance. At the same time they are, not unfrequently, remarkably pithy and sententious. "We speak to you now in the name of all the Six Nations, and we come to you howling. The reason why we howl is, because the French have intruded on our lands, and built upon them." Such was the speech of one of their orators, to a governor of the then province of New-York, complaining of French encroachments on their territories. See Smith's History of New-York. NOTE II. And gave him, free, his native woods to roam, The heavens his covering, and the earth his home. Page. 65, "While myriads of human beings follow in the train of an Asiatic prince, the slaves of his will, and the sport of his caprice; while they tremble before him, or fall down at his presence, knowing that he can dispose of their lives with a nod; the rude inhabitant of Amer ica wanders where his choice directs him, and breathes the air of his native plains, unrestrained by the voice or the look of a superior." Encyclopædia. NOTE III. Taught them each recess where the red deer strays, To tame the mammoth, and to rear the maize- Page 65. That the mammoth was once an inhabitant, or at least a visitant of the American continent, is well known. The race is now supposed to be extinct. Naturalists and philosophers do not seem to be well agreed as to its species, character or habits. Some contend that it was a carniverous and some that it was a grameniverous animal; while a third class have chosen a middle course, and seem disposed to allow it both these characteristics. Nor have they better agreed in determining whether it is to be considered a distinct species, or only a variety of the elephant. Of an animal whose properties are involved in so much doubt, I would fain hope it may not be o'erstepping the legitimate bounds of poetic license, to suppose that the aborigines may have tamed and subjected it to their cominand. In a note to the last canto, I shall trouble the reader with a few additional observations on the poetical use I have ventured to make of this remarkable animal. In the mean time, I may perhaps without the imputation of arrogance, hint my belief that the mammoth, like the seal or the seacow, was in reality an amphibious animal, and in all probability yet exists in the unexplored depths of ocean. The facts, that its bones have been discovered only in situations confessedly alluvial; that the entire carcase of one was, towards the close of the last century, discovered imbedded in the ice of the White Sea, and that its unwieldy bulk would hardly have permitted it to find, either as a carniverous or graniverous animal, an adequate subsistence on terra firma; furnish some of the reasons which have induced me to form this opinion-an opinion which perhaps contains no novelty, but which I do not remember to have seen or heard as having been advanced by any other person. NOTE IV. Between his sinewy hands he crushed The calumet, or pipe of peace, is an important symbol among a the tribes of North American Indians. It is always presented as a token of amity; and at their treaties it is handed round to every individual of the contracting parties, each of whom smokes a few whiffs, as a solemn evidence of his assent to the terms of the agreement and a pledge of his good faith. NOTE V. the deve Of peace is like the bird that roves In sultry India's spicy groves Her native sphere's above. Page 68. The beautiful bird of Paradise, which at certain seasons of the year visits the Spice Islands to feed on the seeds of the cinnamon, |