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

Soon Be Prepared.]

 

 

 

Thus Ended the Hopes Of Making agriculturists Of The Wild People Among

Whom We Lived; Nor Did I Wonder; Such As They Were, They Felt Happy.

What Could They Want Besides Their Neat Conical Skin Lodges, Their

Dresses, Which Were Good, Comfortable, And Elegant, And Their Women, Who

Were Virtuous, Faithful, And Pretty? Had They Not The Unlimited range Of

The Prairies? Were They Not Lords Over Millions Of Elks And

Buffaloes?--They Wanted nothing, Except Tobacco. And Yet It Was A Pity

We Could Not Succeed in giving Them A Taste For Civilization. They Were

Gentlemen By Nature; As Indeed almost All The Indians Are, When Not

Given To Drinking. They Are Extremely Well Bred, And Stamped with The

Indubitable Seal Of Nobility On Their Brow.

 

 

 

The Council Was Broken Up, As Both Christianity And His Own Peculiar

Sentiments Would Not Permit The Prince Seravalle To Entertain The

Thought Of Extending Slavery. He Bowed meekly To The Will Of Providence,

And Endeavoured by Other Means To Effect His Object Of Enlightening The

Minds Of This Pure And Noble, Yet Savage Race Of Men.

Chapter III

This Breaking Up, For The Time, Of Our Agricultural Settlement Took

Place In the Year 1838. Till Then, Or A Few Months Before, I Had Passed

My Time Between My Civilized and Uncivilized instructors. But Although

Educated, I Was An Indian, Not Only In my Dress But In my Heart.

 

 

 

I Mentioned that In the Council Called by The Prince I Was Present,

Having Been Admitted as A Chief, Being Then About Seventeen Years Old.

My Admission Was Procured in the Following Manner: When We Received

Intelligence Of The Murder, Or Disappearance Of Our Seven White Men,

Whom The Prince Had Sent To Monterey To Procure Cattle, A Party Was Sent

Out On Their Track To Ascertain What Had Really Taken Place, And At My

Request The Command Of That Party Was Confided to Me.

 

 

 

We Passed the Buona Ventura, And Followed the Track Of Our White Men For

Upwards Of 200 Miles, When We Not Only Could Trace It No Further, But

Found Our Small Party Of Fifteen Surrounded by About Eighty Of Our

Implacable Enemies, The Crows.

 

 

 

By Stratagem, We Not Only Broke Through Them, But Succeeded in

Surprising Seven Of Their Party. My Companions Would Have Put Them To

Death, But I Would Not Permit It. We Secured them On Their Own Horses,

And Made All The Haste We Could, But The Crows Had Discovered us And

Gave Chase.

 

 

 

It Was Fifteen Days' Travelling To Our Own Country, And We Were Pursued

By An Enemy Seven Or Eight Times Superior To Us In numbers. By Various

Stratagems, Which I Shall Not Dwell Upon, Aided by The Good Condition Of

Our Horses, We Contrived to Escape Them, And To Bring Our Prisoners Safe

Into The Settlement. Now, Although We Had No Fighting, Yet Address Is

Considered a Great Qualification. On My Return I Was Therefore Admitted

As A Chief, With The Indian Name Owato Wanisha, Or "Spirit Of The

Beaver," As Appropriate To My Cunning and Address. To Obtain The Rank

Of A Warrior Chief, It Was Absolutely Requisite That I Had Distinguished

Myself On The Field Of Battle.

 

 

 

Before I Continue My Narration, I Must Say A Little More Relative To The

Missionaries, Who Were My Instructors. One Of Them, The Youngest,

Polidori, Was Lost In the Esmeralda, When She Sailed for Monterey To

Procure Cattle. The Two Others Were Padre Marini And Padre Antonio. They

Were Both Highly Accomplished and Learned. Their Knowledge In asiatic

Lore Was Unbounded, And It Was My Delight To Follow Them In their

Researches And Various Theories Concerning The Early Indian Emigration

Across The Waters Of The Pacific.

 

 

 

They Were Both Italians By Birth. They Had Passed many Years Of Their

Lives Among The Nations West Of The Ganges, And In their Advanced years

Had Returned to Sunny Italy, To Die Near The Spot Where They Had Played

As Little Children. But They Had Met With Prince Seravalle, And When

They Heard From Him Of The Wild Tribes With Whom He Had Dwelt, And Who

Knew Not God, They Considered that It Was Their Duty To Go And

Instruct Them.

 

 

 

Thus Did These Sincere Men, Old And Broken, With One Foot Resting On

Their Tombs, Again Encounter Difficulties And Danger, To Propagate Among

The Indians That Religion Of Love And Mercy Which They Were Appointed to

Make Known.

 

 

 

Their Efforts, However, To Convert The Shoshones Were Fruitless. Indian

Nature Would Seem To Be A Nature Apart And Distinct. The Red men, Unless

In Suffering Or Oppression, Will Not Listen To What They Call "The

Smooth Honey Words Of The Pale-Faced sages;" And Even When They Do So,

They Argue Upon Every Dogma And Point Of Faith, And Remain Unconvinced.

The Missionaries, Therefore, After A Time, Contented themselves With

Practising Deeds Of Charity, With Alleviating Their Sufferings When

Able, From Their Knowledge Of Medicine And Surgery, And By Moral

Precepts, Softening Down As Much As They Could The Fierce And

Occasionally Cruel Tempers Of This Wild Untutored race.

 

 

 

Among Other Advantages Which The Shoshones Derived from Our

Missionaries, Was The Introduction Of Vaccination. At First It Was

Received with Great Distrust, And Indeed violently Opposed, But The Good

Sense Of The Indians Ultimately Prevailed: And I Do Not Believe That

There Is One Of The Soshones Born Since The Settlement Was Formed who

Has Not Been Vaccinated: The Process Was Explained by The Padres Marini

And Polidori To The Native Medical Men, And Is Now Invariably

Practised by Them.

 

 

 

I May As Well Here Finish The Histories Of The Good Missionaries. When I

Was Sent Upon An Expedition To Monterey, Which I Shall Soon Have To

Detail, Padre Marini Acccompanied me. Having Failed with The Shoshones,

He Considered that He Might Prove Useful By Locating Himself In the

Spanish Settlements Of California. We Parted soon After We Arrived at

Monterey, And I Have Never Seen Or Heard Of Him Since. I Shall, However,

Have To Speak Of Him Again During Our Journey And Sojourn At That Town.

 

 

 

The Other, Padre Antonio, Died at The Settlement Previous To My Journey

To Monterey, And The Indians Still Preserve His Robes, Missal, And

Crucifix, As The Relics Of A Good Man. Poor Padre Antonio! I Would Have

Wished to Have Known The History Of His Former Life. A Deep Melancholy

Was Stamped upon His Features, From Some Cause Of Heart-Breaking Grief,

Which Even Religion Could But Occasionally Assuage, But Not Remove.

 

 

 

After His Death, I Looked at His Missal. The Blank Pages At The

Beginning and The End Were Filled up With Pious Reflections, Besides

Some Few Words, Which Spoke Volumes As To One Period Of His Existence.

The First Words Inscribed were; "Julia, Obiit A.D. 1799. Virgo

Purissima, Maris Stella. Ora Pro Me." On The Following Leaf Was Written:

"Antonio De Campestrina, Convient. Dominicum. In roma, A.D. 1800."

 

 

 

Then He Had Embraced a Monastic Life Upon The Death Of One Dear To

Him--Perhaps His First And Only Love. Poor Man! Many A Time Have I Seen

The Big Burning Tears Rolling Fast Down His Withered cheeks. But He Is

Gone, And His Sorrows Are At Rest On The Last Page Of The Missal Were

Also Two Lines, Written In a Tremulous Hand, Probably A Short Time

Previous To His Death: "I, Nunc Anima Anceps; Sitque Tibi Deus

Misericors."

 

 

 

The Prince Seravalle Did Not, However, Abandon His Plans; Having Failed

In Persuading The Shoshones, At The Suggestion Of My Father, It Was

Resolved that An Attempt Should Be Made To Procure A Few Mexicans And

Canadians To Carry On The Agricultural Labours; For I May Here As Well

Observe, That Both The Prince And My Father Had Long Made Up Their Minds

To Live And Die Among The Indians.

 

 

 

This Expedition Was To Be Undertaken By Me. My Trip Was To Be A Long

One. In case I Should Not Succeed in monterey In enlisting The Parties

Required, I Was To Proceed on To Santa Fe, Either With A Party Of

Apaches Indians, Who Were Always At Peace With The Shoshones, Or Else

With One Of The Mexican Caravans.

 

 

 

In Santa Fe There Were Always A Great Number Of French And Canadians,

Who Came Every Year From St. Louis, Hired by The Fur Companies; So That

We Had Some Chance Of Procuring Them. If, However, My Endeavours Should

Prove Fruitless, As I Should Already Have Proceeded too Far To Return

Alone, I Was To Continue On From Santa Fe With The Fur Traders,

Returning To St. Louis, On The Mississippi, Where I Was To Dispose Of

Some Valuable Jewels, Hire Men To Form A Strong Caravan, And Return To

The Settlement By The Astoria Trail.

 

 

 

As My Adventures May Be Said But To Commence At My Departure Upon This

Commission, I Will, Before I Enter Upon My Narrative, Give The Reader

Some Insight Into The History And Records Of The Shoshones, Or Snake

Indians, With Whom I Was Domiciled, And Over Whom, Although So Young, I

Held Authority And Command.

Chapter IV

The Shoshones, Or Snake Indians, Are A Brave And Numerous People,

Occupying a Large And Beautiful Tract Of Country, 540 Miles From East To

West, And Nearly 300 Miles From North To South. It Lies Betwixt 38 Deg. And

43 Deg. North Latitude, And From Longitude 116 Deg. West Of Greenwich To The

Shores Of The Pacific Ocean, Which There Extend Themselves To Nearly The

Parallel Of 125 Deg. West Longitude. The Land Is Rich And Fertile,

Especially By The Sides Of Numerous Streams, Where The Soil Is Sometimes

Of A Deep Red colour, And At Others Entirely Black. The Aspect Of This

Region Is Well Diversified, And Though The Greatest Part Of It Must Be

Classified under The Denomination Of Rolling Prairies, Yet Woods Are

Very Abundant, Principally Near The Rivers And In the Low Flat Bottoms:

While The General Landscape Is Agreeably Relieved from The Monotony Of

Too Great Uniformity By Numerous Mountains Of Fantastical Shapes And

Appearance, Entirely Unconnected with Each Other, And All Varying In the

Primitive Matter Of Their Conformation.

 

 

 

Masses Of Native Copper Are Found At Almost Every Step, And Betwixt Two

Mountains Which Spread From East To West In the Parallel Of The Rivers

Buona Ventura And Calumet, There Are Rich Beds Of Galena, Even At Two Or

Three Feet Under Ground; Sulphur And Magnesia Appear Plentiful In the

Northern Districts; While In the Sand, Of The Creeks To The South Gold

Dust Is Occasionally Collected by The Indians. The Land Is Admirably

Watered by Three Noble Streams--The Buona Ventura, The Calumet, And The

Nu Eleje Sha Wako, Or River Of The Strangers, While Twenty Rivers Of

Inferior Size Rush With Noise And Impetuosity From The Mountains, Until

They Enter The Prairies, Where They Glide Smoothly In long Serpentine

Courses Between Banks Covered with Flowers And Shaded by The Thick

Foliage Of The Western Magnolia. The Plains, As I Have Said, Are Gently

Undulating, And Are Covered with Excellent Natural Pastures Of

Moskito-Grass, Blue Grass, And Clover, In which Innumerable Herds Of

Buffaloes, And Mustangs, Or Wild Horses, Graze, Except During The

Hunting Season, In undisturbed security.

 

 

 

The Shoshones[6] Are Indubitably A Very Ancient People. It Would Be

Impossible To Say How Long They May Have Been Settled on This Portion Of

The Continent. Their Cast Of Features Proves Them To Be Of Asiatic

Origin, And Their Phraseology,