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speech, continuing his discourse al though the company might bed racing, or ho vever inattentive. Old men at that time were many. When he was young he was careless and inattentive, a id therefore knows less of traditions than he might have known. / Origin of the Cherokees.—I inquired of him whence the Cherokees came to lh : s place. Ho could trace their origin no further than the head waters of the ITolston* Formation of the Earth.— Before the formation of the earth all around was water. By order of God inferioi powers undertook to form the earth. Various attempts failed, till at length a great angle-worm was directed .to dive into the water, which he did, and came up exceedingly large, having swallowed an immense quantity of earth, which he deposited on the sur face of thq water, and formed this world. It was at first an extended plain, hut afterwards, by what means he knows not,acquired its present diversi ty of hills & vallies. Whence came the water, or any thing prior to the forma tio . of the earth he never heard. - Creation of.Man.—Man was at first formed of earth. Two men were ori ginally made bv the Creator, an In dian and white man. Each .of these, after a season, became exceedingly lonesome, on which account the Cre ator formed a.woman, also ol earth, and gave to him. flngin of Literature among the Whites.— Soon after the Creation, while the Indian & the white man were together, God visited them, and pre sented to the Indian a written paper. He was at first unable to read it, but. after studying a while, was beginning to make nut a few words, when the white man very unceremoniously snatched the paper from his hand, read it without hesitation, and pu it in . his pocket. Hence the white men came to have learning, while the Indians were unable to put lan guage on paper. Fall of Man.—At first men were innocent and immortal. But after they had begun to multiply great |y. they became the envy of beings who dwelt above, who said, “At this rate they will soon overflow the earth!"— 'A motion was therefore made in grand council in heaven, that man should bo subject to death. The motion prevailed, and the wicked one, o j Aih- r», the chief of the authors of evil, un dertook to bring about the object.— God had foi bidden man on pain of death to eat the fruit of a certain tree. Of this prohibition the wicked one took advantage. Influenced by him thfpfirst man* plucked the fruit of the fomidden tree; he looked **n it—it was fair$ he smelt it—it was fragrant; he tasted—and was ruined Divismi of Nations and Languages. After the fall the Creator distributed mankind among several towns, or dis tricts, and gave to the inhabitants of each a peculiar language. The Deluge. After the events al ready mentioned, men having become wicked, God caused a deluge to de stroy them. A certain man had a dog, which miraculously spoke to him, informing him that, after twelve days a rain would commence, which should drown the world; and directed him what to do. He told him to build a raft, and'make a very long rope. 1 he man accordingly commenced labor. He was ridiculed by his neighbors but persevered, completed his raft, and a very long rope by which he fastened it. At the end of twelve days the rain commenced. He plac ed himself on the raft. The rain con- tinuedtill the whole earth was over flowed. Huge alligators destroyed every living creature which swam on the water, but this one man and his dog floated securely on the raft. The flood continued lor a long time. When the waters began to abate, the dog petitioned to be thrown out. The man at first refused, but at length, af ter a whole day,s # entreaty, yielded. The dog was immediately devoured by the alligators. At last the raft landed. The solitary man left it, and went in search of the town where he had lived. He found the spot at so,me distance, but it was desolate. Having a little provision left, he built a camp, and remained until the seventh day, when he suddenly heard • I inquired whether the Indian or the white man. He replied the Indian. It is ob vious to remark the confusion which arises from blending the original tradition, which was probably that of the creation of on® tn*o only, with the ideaofthe original crea tion of two, which doubtless sprung up after t hey had a knowledge of white men. a whoop, in which a multitude of voices united. He ran towards the sound, till he came in sight of a hill, from which were issuing forth a mul- titudo of people, who proved to be his companions who had been destroyed by (he flood, revived again. ' Unity of God.—The Cherokees, my informant said, have never aft- k 10 vledged but one God, o>^iwo-jt, the Creator. He was altogether ben* evolent and good. t Inferior filings.—They believed in the existence of evil beings, 0 5 b^iJHxr», the authors of all mischief, who, as well as the Creator, dwelt above. These were the beings dwelling a- bove, s-aw.i n/t^, who decided in grand council that man should be sub ject to death. He does not recollect whether he ever heard sf-any good beings dwelling above, except God. He may have been told of such, but if so he was so iuatteuti ve as not to recollect. Whether these evil be ings were spiritual or corporeal, he does not remember to have heard, and never formed any definite idea. He only understood them to be evil, and the authors of evil. Religious Worship.—The only re ligious worship of which he had any knowledge was connected with what is termed conjuring, and, as he is no conjurer, he has had little knowledge of this. Addresses are, however, and always were made by the conjurers to the Supreme Being. Green com Donee —This .was an annual festival, of which he does no* knoiv the origin or design. He sup poses the conjurers know. The day was appointed by the old people. The conjurers prepared a sort of medi- cince, and seven families were ap pointed to furnish corn for the feast. Every one must take a portion of the medicine, and a portion was offered by throwing corn into the fire, before any one could eat. Before this feast it was unlawful to cat of the new corn of the season, and no person was ever known to transgress. After it all might eat freely. City of Refuge —The Cherokees had a city of refuge for the manslay- er. This was Echota.f tkj, their honored town, of which my informant was once an inhabitant. Whoever had killed a person, whether intention ally or by accident, bad (lie privilege of fleeing to this town,. when he was safe from the avenger. The condi tion of his residence was, that he should go out to battle in the next war that might occur; in which if he kill ed or took prisoner an enemy, he was free. If after that he was killed, the avenger was demanded bv the chiefs of Echota, and put to death. If he was unsuccessful in the first w'ar, he must renew the*attempt in each suc ceeding war, till he was succeesful, or till lie died; never being free from the city of refuge on any other condi tion. Future stale.—• The old man knew no tradition respecting a future state, and thought nothing of any life beyond the present. He had a fear of offend ing God, and an apprehension of pun ishment, but death was the greatest and last evil which he feared. Polygamy.—I had heard it said that polygamy was unknown among the ^herokees, till it was introduced by resident whites. I therefore in quired of the old man, who replied that such a custom formerly existed, but was unfrequent. These are some accounts of the traditions and former cus tom of the Cherokees, as I derived them, by the aid of an inter- preter, from a single individual, who did not profess great knowledge re- spe'*ting them. O'her aged persons would doubtless differ from him in some particulars, and probably more information might *be obtained from some aged conjurer. W. t The place where Echota was situated is no longer in the possession of the Ch *ro- kees, having been ceded in the year 1819. It was, I am informed, on the Little Ten nessee river, a few miles from Telli-o block-house The place is said to be now in the possession of Col. Matthew W. M’Gee. », • WYANDOT INDIANS. Extract of a letter from the Rev. William Dickey, to the Editor of the Western Luminary, dated Bloomingburg, Ohio, Jan. 2Sih, 1829. “Let me give you an incident in my late missionary tour. Finding myself in the neighbourhood of the Missiona ry station at upper Sandusky, I turned in to ^ee them. The superintendent. Rev. Mr. Thompson, received me kindly. Here is a great farm—a good barn—a neat stone church— mills oh the rtver—a mission house— a school house—a house for the black smith, and a house for the superin tendent, with other convenient build ings. The old military block-house, with its 56 port holes, portending tem poral death; and the missionary house, within less than oue hundred yards, promising eternal life; form a pleasing Contrast—especially as the latter is' new and in good fepair, and the' for mer old, and going fast to decay.— 1.went into the school, and saw 54 red boys and girls in different grades of learning—some spelling Ba-ker, soma reading the easy lessons, some writing, others learning the power of figures—in the common rules—the rule of three—and some in practice. Six fine boys read me a lesson in the English Reader; they read with ease —12 girls read in the Testament.— The superintendent encouraged me that t’.ie greater part of them would understand‘me in a plain religious ad dress, if I would aim at simplicity.— 1 took the portion just read by the girls. It was Luke 11, 1 —13, which furnished me a fine occasion for shew ing these dear children of the wilder ness. the nature of prayer—the neces sity of importunity in that duty, and the encouragement we have to engage m it. Their open countenances and interesting eyes, gave me the pleas ure of knowing that they understood and approved what they heard. “>I passed the evening agreeably with the superintendent and his eco nomical wife till nine o’clock; when I was surprised by a sudden and loud blast of the trumpet. I learned that it was the signal for family worship, and that I must conduct the exercise. I had found in the course of the even ing that they had some of Dr. Watt’s hymns translated into Wyandot. As we walked to the school room, I signi fied my wish to hear them sing in In dian. It was but a few minutes from the blast of the trumpet till we were all in our places. The roll was call ed, and Nancy Gray-eyes. Philip Mud eater, &e. &c. answered to theii names. Then a Chapter was read, and Mr. Thompson said, “we will sing the hymn. “When I can read myTtl* clear.’*' Sing in Indian—now, ehikiren, all sing.” They stood up, ami a young Christian Indian, called Clark, set the tune. They generally sung.— It' was wild and romantic, and loud as mill hoys. But I occupied the room of the unlearned. Then, after com mending ourselves to God in prayer, we retired for the night. Next morn ing’, the trumpet blew at 6 o’clock, and, after worship, I left them, say ing to myself, what hath God wrought! Yours respectfully, WM. DICKEY. A Discovery.—The Georgians, having come into possession of the Creek Indian lands lying within the State, and finding a little more difficul ty.in securing the Cherokee lands — it has been all at once discovered a large t r act of said lands was once the properly of the Creeks, nnd “now. of right' belongs to Georgia!!” The tr^ct in question, “embraces the best part of the Cherokee lands in the Stale;” and is sufficient “to make ^three or four respectable Counties.” The evidence, to be sure, is wholly \exrparte\ but no matter, the testimony of an Indian is good for nothing; and indeed it is a positive injnuction of the statute, that “no Indian, and no descendant of an Indian, not under standing the English language [which very few of them do,] shall be deem ed a competent witness in any Court of Just ice created by the Constitu tion and laws of the State.” , . Journal of Commerce. \ | Indian Outrage —On Thursday morning last, Mr. William Wells, pro prietor of the public house in Fort Perry on the old federal road, was Wintered by three or four Indians of the Creek Nation. We are informed that the Indians became intoxicated at his house, perceiving which, Mr. Wells refused to gratify their wishes by selling them more spirits. At this thoy became aggravated, and some difficulty ensued between them. To • protect himself, Mr. W. immediate ly despatched his son after a gun, up on whose return one of the Indians snatched the gun from his hands, and discharged the contents into the body of Mr. Wells; who shortly after ex pired. The son escaped after being ! severely beaten. Columbia Enquirer, ’ jyE W K QUOTA: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 1839. ‘ Owing to the indisposition of the Editor, we are unable to present our readers with any editorial remarks in the present num ber, r • . From the New York Advertiser. ‘Tire*English papers are greatly oc- cup.ed with the’ allairs of Ireland. As ttie time approaches for the meet ing of Parliament,• the feelings of Catholics naturally become more ex cited; and it is apparent that the Catholic (Question is intended to be pressed with great zeal and vigi ur up on the consideration of the govern ment. Nothing of much importance has occurred between the Russians and Turks. Accounts through Hamburgh represent the former as making prep arations for a very active campaign: 900 pieces of cannon, and 150,000 ir regular Cossacks and other troops be ing on the way to the Danube. The Emperor, it is said, will set out in March to cammand the army in per son. Gen. Diebitech remains at the head of the Staff, and Count Witts- genstein will command the van of the Emperor’s army. Generals Roth, , Geismer, and Rudiger, will have sep arate corps to act on the flanks of the main army, and the Duke of W urtein- burg will command the reserve. The Russians had completed the fortification of Varna, on the 23. Dec. and it is said to be much stronger than white in the hands of the Turks, l’lie story of a battle there was entirely unfounded. The accounts received at Odessa, Dee. 20, liom the line of cantonments was favorable. Bazard- zik, Pravadi, and other fortresses, are said to be in a condition to withstand a siege. The Polish army is to be increased by 10,000 men, and to keep garrison at Petersburgh during the next cam paign. There are various reports about diplomatic notes sent and to he sent to the Porte, and of an ultimatioii from the English Ambassadors—all this is discountenanced by one of the papers before us. It is asserted that the Divan is inclined to make conces sions to Russia; but the Sultan re mains as resolute as ever, and that there is no probability of peace. The Prussian Envoy Extraordinary and another ambassador made a vain effort, in conjunction with the minis ters of the Allied Powers, to induce the Reis Effendi to send a Commission er to Poros to treat concerning the pacficat ion of peace. He merely re ferred to his previous answers. This is stated under a Constantinople date of December 18; in which it te men tioned, that although the plenipoten tiaries receive more regard than ever before, marks of favor and demon strations of friendship are especially lavished on Mr. Offley, the North A- merican Consul, who is to conclude the treaty of Commerce with the Porte, from which it expects great ad vantages. It is thought in Peru that England may conceive some jealousy on this subject. There was the greatest bustle at Arsonal of Constantinople; four ves sels of war had been fitted out, and they \Vere expected to depart forth with to the Dardanelles to raise the blockade. A part of the second fleet flora Egypt with provisions had arriv ed. Dangerous passage.—The steam boat Connecticut, left Newport a- bout 5 o’clock on Friday morning last, with a light breeze from the eastward; the water was remarkably smooth and the day very pleasant until about noon, when a heavy snow storm commenced, and the weather became so thick, that it was impossible to see twice the boats’ length ahead—The storm increased, and the wind blew a per fect gale from the N. E. till 12 at night, when it shifted to the N. Cap tain Tomlinson (without knowing ex actly the place where he was) having found a good holding ground, about four o'clock in the afternoon, let go three anchors which took fast, and with managment, he soon brought them to an equal bearing; but would not have been able to hold her, had she not constantly been aided by the en gine. The wind continued to blow almost a hurricane until daylight, when the captain discovered that he was off Crane Neck—but with daylight there was no abatement of the violence of the gale, aad if the Connecticut bad * not been a remarkably strong feuift vessel, she must certainly have found ered or gone to pieces. Every fourtlj or fifth' sea heaved over her'head hogsheads of water, a great portion or Which, owing to the intense cold, be came a mass of ice on the fore pari : of the vessel. The passengers, (about 60 in number) felt all the dreadful sensatibns such a situ&tionis likely inspire, &. but for the ftrtahess evince^ by the captain, ihany would have com pletely desponded. Of the few ‘wh^ ventured to remain any time on deck; several were washed off t^eir tegs> and one tremendious sea carried away* the star-boa|d quarter boat. * Lmtil sun down on Saturday the tvind-did not in the least abate, and such watf the depth to which the anchors had been driven, that it look the whol© crew more than six hours to raised them. Sufficient praise cannot bw given to the captain, pilot, and the whole of the crew, for their indefati- gable exertions, during the whole timer the engineers never left their post, steam’ being kept up alt the whiles and the pilot had one of his hand# badly frost bitten. Opposite the re sidence of Mr. James D’Welf, jr. the boat eucountcred a body of ice, which* they were two hours in passing. - The Connecticut arrived at New- York about six o’clock, on Sunda^' evening with only six sticks of wood left.—JV”. Y. Jldv. ’ ’ ' 4 w The following . extraordinary cir- cuinstances, were communicated Ifr the Editors of the Christian Advocate and Journal, in a letter from Louis*' villo Ky., by Mr. Win. Gunn.,,. / On Monday evening, Nov. 3, 1828f,- I was standing in the west room of the house ot the Rev. W. Adams, iif. Shelby county, Ky., immediately he-* fore the fire, pointing with my right hand towards the south east corner of* the room, when, suddenly, we were visited with a violent shock of light ning. It first struck the top of the chimney, and divided into several streams. It wrecked the chimneys and the whole gable end of the house. One stream descended on one qf the studs near the chimney, which- was* literally torn into splinters. Another* descended the flue, and burst.through the inside wall nearly opposite my*, head. One of these streams struck' the upper point of my right hip, and run down to ray foot. The skirt of* my coat, on the right side, was tornr. off at the waist, and rent into many' 1 pieces. My pantaloons and drawers- were rent from top to bottom, the sock and boot torn in pieces, and my* flesh burned from one hip round near-' ly to the other, and all the way downr to my foot. Fart of the same stream struck my right elbow, run along th© inside of my arm, which was badly burned, and passed off at the end of" my fingers. My coat sleeve, from the elbow, was torn in pieces, and thrown into the, corner of the room? where I was pointing. Another streaat struck my left thigh about half way down, run down the outside terdon* winding round the calf of my leg; down the inside ankle, where it enter-* ed the flesh, nnd burst out in the hot-* tom of my heel, and blew a hole, through the heel of the boot as if* made by an ounce ball. This boot* was also severely rent, and the full- impression of the heel was left in the « floor as an evidence of the violence o£ the shock. I immediately fell to tli© floor, fully sensible of what had bet- fallen me. My wife and others of the family run in immediately, and found me enveloped in smoke and sulphur. • They were much alarmed, and knew not what to do. I told them to send immediately for two physicians, which they did. I then directed them to. pour cold water on me, and to let blood. This, waf pot done. Know ing that the circulation was stopped in: my arm and lower extremities, I next directed my wife to- rub them with ’ camphor. This was done, which v soon restored the circulation, and gave me much relief. I also direct ed an application of spirits of tur- : pentine to the burns, nnich soon took out the fire. Brother. W. M’Rey-J nolds was with me iu the room. He. was stunned by the shock, but sus tained no material injury..„ My pock et knife was so highly charged with electric fluid that it will lift a largo *' steel thimble. This was-accidental** ly discovered the next day. Brother- 1 M’Reynolds’ knife was also slightly*' charged.—The steel works of my- watch, also, possess the power of at traction. When! first iell y I appre hended 1 was mortally wounded, but