MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) - FREDERICK MARRYAT (books to read this summer txt) 📗

Luggage, Were Conducted to The Spot

Where Their Captors Had Halted, And A Council Was Formed immediately.

The Prince, Addressing The Chief, Reproached him Bitterly With His

Treachery; Little Did He Know Of The Crows, Who Are Certainly The

Greatest Rascals Among The Mountains. The Traders And All The Indian

Tribes Represent Them As "Thieves Never Known To Keep A Promise Or To

Do An Honourable Act."

 

 

 

None But A Stranger Will Ever Trust Them. They Are As Cowardly As Cruel.

Murder And Robbery Are The Whole Occupation Of Their Existence, And Woe

To The Traders Or Trappers Whom They May Meet With During Their

Excursions, If They Are Not At Least One-Tenth Of Their Own Number. A

Proof Of Their Cowardice Is That Once Roche, Myself, And A Young

Parisian Named gabriel, Having By Chance Fallen Upon A Camp Of Thirteen

Crows And Three Arrapahoes, They Left Us Their Tents, Furs, And Dried

Meats; The Arrapahoes Alone Showing Some Fight, In which One Of Them Was

Killed; But To Return To Our Subject. The Chief Heard The Prince

Seravalle With A Contemptuous Air, Clearly Showing That He Knew Who The

Prince Was, And That He Entertained no Good-Will Towards Him. His

Duplicity, However, And Greediness, Getting The Better Of His Hatred, He

Asked the Prisoners What They Would Give To Obtain Their Freedom. Upon

Their Answer That They Would Give Two Rifles, Two Horses, With One

Hundred dollars, He Said That All Which The Prisoners Possessed when

Taken, Being already His Own, He Expected much More Than That. He

Demanded that One Of The Canadians Should Go To Fort Hall, With Five

Crows, With An Order From The Prince To The Amount Of Sixty Blankets,

Twenty Rifles, And Ten Kegs Of Powder. In the Meantime The Prisoners

Were To Be Carried into The Country Of The Crows, Where The Goods Were

To Follow Them As Soon As Obtained; Upon The Reception Of Which, The

White Men Should Be Set At Liberty. Understanding Now The Intention Of

Their Enemies, And Being Certain That, Once In the Strongholds Of The

Crows, They Would Never Be Allowed to Return, The Prince Rejected the

Offer; Wishing, However, To Gain Time, He Made Several Others, Which, Of

Course, Were Not Agreed upon. When The Chief Saw That He Was Not Likely

To Obtain Anything More Than That Which He Had Already Become Master Of,

He Threw Away His Mask Of Hypocrisy, And Resuming at Once His Real

Character, Began To Abuse His Victims.

 

 

 

"The Pale-Faces," He Said, "Were Base Dogs, And Too Great Cowards To

Fight Against The Crows. They Were Less Than Women, Concealing

Themselves In the Lodges Of The Shoshones, And Lending Them Their

Rifles, So That Having Now Plenty Of Arms And Ammunition, That Tribe Had

Become Strong, And Feared by All. But Now They Would Kill The

Pale-Faces, And They Would See What Colour Was The Blood Of Cowards.

When Dead, They Could Not Give Any More Rifles, Or Powder, To The

Shoshones, Who Would Then Bury Themselves Like Prairie Dogs In their

Burrows, And Never Again Dare To Cross The Path Of A Crow."

 

 

 

The Prince Replied to The Chief With Scorn. "The Crows," He Said, "Ought

Not To Speak So Loud, Lest They Should Be Heard By The Shoshone Braves,

And Lies Should Never Be Uttered in open Air. What Were The Crows Before

The Coming Of The White Men, On The Shores Of The Buona Ventura? They

Had No Country Of Their Own, For One Part Of It Had Been Taken By The

Black-Feet, And The Other By The Arrapahoes And The Shoshones. Then The

Crows Were Like Doves Hunted by The Hawks Of The Mountains. They Would

Lie Concealed in deep Fissures Of The Earth, And Never Stir But During

Night, So Afraid Were They Of Encountering a Shoshone. But The White Men

Assembled the Shoshones Around Their Settlements, And Taught Them To

Remain At Peace With Their Neighbours. They Had Been So For Four Years;

The Crows Had Had Time To Build Other Wigwams. Why Did They Act Like

Wolves, Biting Their Benefactors, Instead Of Showing To Them Their

Gratitude?"

 

 

 

The Prince, Though An Old Man, Had Much Mettle In him, Especially When

His Blood Was Up. He Had Become A Shoshone In all Except Ferocity; He

Heartily Despised the Rascally Crows. As To The Chief, He Firmly Grasped

The Handle Of His Tomahawk, So Much Did He Feel The Bitter Taunts Of His

Captive. Suddenly, A Rustling Was Heard, Then The Sharp Report Of A

Rifle, And One Of The Crows, Leaping High In the Air, Fell Down

A Corpse.

 

 

 

"The Chief Hath Spoken Too Loud," Said The Prince; "I Hear The Step Of A

Shoshone; The Crows Had Better Run Away To The Mountains, Or Their Flesh

Will Fatten The Dogs Of Our Village."

 

 

 

An Expression Of Rage And Deep Hatred shot Across The Features Of The

Chief, But He Stood Motionless, As Did All His Men, Trying To Catch The

Sounds, To Ascertain In which Direction They Should Fly From The Danger.

 

 

 

"Fear Has Turned the Crows Into Stones," Resumed the Prince, "What Has

Become Of Their Light Feet? I See The Shoshones."

 

 

 

"The Dog Of A Pale-Face Will See Them No More," Replied the Savage, As

He Buried his Tomahawk In the Skull Of The Unfortunate Nobleman, Who

Was Thus Doomed to Meet With An Inglorious Death In a Distant Land.

 

 

 

The Other Prisoners, Who Were Bound, Could Of Course Offer No

Resistance. The French Savant And Two Of His Guides Were Butchered in an

Instant, But Before The Remainder Of The Party Could Be Sacrificed, A

Well-Directed volley Was Poured upon The Compact Body Of The Crows, Who

Rushed immediately To The Woods For Cover, Leaving Behind Them Twenty

Dead And Wounded besides Their Cruel Chief. Then From The Thickets

Behind Appeared thirty Shoshones, Who Immediately Gave Chase, Leaving

Only One Of Their Men To Free The Three Remaining Trappers, And Watch

Over The Body Of Their Murdered friend And Legislator.

 

 

 

A Sharp Tiralleur Fire From Their Respective Covers Was Carried on

Between The Shoshones And Crows For Half An Hour, In which The Crows

Lost Ten More Scalps, And Having at Length Reached a Rugged hill Full Of

Briars And Bushes, They Took Fairly To Their Heels, Without Even

Attempting To Answer The Volleys Poured after Them. The Victims Were

Carried to The Settlement, And The Very Day They Were Consigned to Their

Grave, The Shoshones Started for The Land Of The Crows. The Results Of

The Expedition I Have Mentioned already.

 

 

 

With My Father I Found The Three Trappers; Two Of Whom Were Preparing To

Start For California, But The Third, A Young Parisian, Who Went By The

Name Of Gabriel, Preferred remaining With Us, And Never Left Me Until A

Long Time Afterwards, When We Parted upon The Borders Of The

Mississippi, When I Was Forcing My Way Towards The Atlantic Ocean. He

And Roche, When I Parted with Them, Had Directed their Steps Back To The

Shoshones; They Delighted too Much In a Life Of Wild And Perilous

Adventure To Leave It So Soon, And The Irishman Vowed that If He Ever

Returned within The Pale Of Civilization, It Would Be To Monterey, The

Only Place Where, In his Long Wanderings, He Had Found A People

Congenial To His Own Ideas.

 

 

 

When, In the Meeting Of A Great Council, I Apprised the Tribe Of The

Attack Made Upon The Boat-House By The Umbiquas, And Of Its Results,

There Was A Loud Burst Of Satisfaction. I Was Made A War-Chief On The

Spot; And It Was Determined that A Party Should Immediately Proceed to

Chastise The Umbiquas. My Father Did Not Allow Me To Join It, As There

Was Much To Be Done In settling The Affairs Of The Prince, And Paying

The Debts He Had Contracted at Fort Hall; Consequently, I Led a Clerk'S

Life For Two Months, Writing accounts, &C.--Rather A Dull Occupation,

For Which I Had Not The Smallest Relish. During This Time, The

Expedition Against The Umbiquas Had Been Still More Successful Than That

Against The Crows, And, In fact, That Year Was A Glorious One For The

Shoshones, Who Will Remember It A Long While, As A Period In which

Leggings And Moccasins Were Literally Sewn With Human Hair, And In which

The Blanched and Unburied bones Of Their Enemies, Scattered on The

Prairie, Scared even The Wolves From Crossing The Buena Ventura. Indeed,

That Year Was So Full Of Events, That My Narration Would Be Too Much

Swelled if I Were To Enumerate Them All.

 

 

 

I Had Not Forgotten The Cachette At Our Landing-Place. Every Thing Was

Transferred to The Boat-House, And The Hot Days Of Summer Having already

Begun To Render The Settlement Unpleasant, We Removed to The Sea-Shore,

While The Major Part Of The Tribe Went To Hunt In the Rolling Prairies

Of The South.

 

 

 

The Presents Of The Good People Of Monterey Proved to Be A Great

Acquisition To My Father. There Were Many Books, Which He Appropriated

To Himself; Being Now Too Aged and Infirm To Bear The Fatigues Of Indian

Life, He Had Become Fond Of Retirement And Reading. As To Gabriel And

Roche, We Became Inseparable, And Though In some Points We Were Not On

An Equality, Yet The Habit Of Being Constantly Together And Sharing The

Same Tent United us Like Brothers.

 

 

 

As My Readers Will Eventually Discover, Many Daring Deeds Did We Perform

Together, And Many Pleasant Days Did We Pass, Both In the Northern

Cities Of Mexico And Western Prairies Of Texas, Hunting With The

Comanches, And Occasionally Unmasking Some Rascally Texans, Who, Under

The Paint Of An Indian, Would Commit Their Murders And Depredations Upon

The Remote Settlements Of Their Own Countrymen.

Chapter IX

In The Remarks Which I Am About To Make Relative To The Shoshones, I May

As Well Observe That The Same Observations Will Equally Apply To The

Comanches, Apaches, And Arrapahoes, As They Are But Subdivisions And

Offsets From The Original Stock--The Shoshones. The Wakoes, Who Have Not

Yet Been Mentioned, Or Even Seen, By Any Other Travellers, I Shall

Hereafter Describe.

 

 

 

I May As Well Here Observe, That Although The Shoshones Are Always At

Peace With The Comanches And Apaches, They Had For A Long While Been At

War With Their Descendants, The Arrapahoes, As Well As The Whole Of The

Dacotah And Algonquin Tribes, As The Crows And Rickarees, Black-Feet,

Nez-Perces, And Others.

 

 

 

First, As To Their Religion--A Question Highly Interesting, And Perhaps

Throwing More Light Upon Their Origin Than Can Be Collected from

Tradition, Manners, And Customs. From My Knowledge Of The Indians, I

Believe Them, If Not More Religious, Most Certainly To Be More

Conscientious, Than Most Christians. They All Believe In one

God--Manitou, The Author Of Good, And Worship Him As Such; But Believing

That Human Nature Is Too Gross To Communicate With The Arbitrator Of All

Things, They Pray Generally Through The Intervention Of The Elements Or

Even Of Certain Animals, In the Same Manner That The Catholics Address

Themselves To Their Saints.

 

 

 

The Great Manitou Is Universal Among This Family, And Indeed among All

The Savage Tribes Of North America. The Interceding Spirit Alone Varies,

Not With The Tribe And Nation, But According To Individual Selection.

Children Are Taught To Know "Kishe Manito" (The Almighty), But No More.

When The Boy Is Verging Upon Manhood, He Selects His Own Personal Deity,

Or Household God, Which Is Made Known To Him In his Dreams. When He

States His Intention Of Seeking The Spirit, The Parents Of The Young Man

Order Him To Fast For Three Days; Then They Take Away His Bow And

Arrows, And Send Him Far Into The Woods, The Mountains, Or The Prairies,

To Wait For The Visitation.

 

 

 

An Empty Stomach And Inaction In the Lone Wilderness Are Certain To

Produce Reveries And Waking Dreams. If The Young Man Is Thirsty, He

Thinks Of Water; Of Fire Or Sunshine, If He Feels Cold; Of Buffalo Or

Fish, If He Is Hungry. Sometimes He Meets With Some Reptile, And Upon

Any One Of These Or Other Natural Causes Or Productions, His Imagination

Will Work, Until It Becomes Wholly Engrossed by It.

 

 

 

Thus