Newspaper Page Text
No. 20. Vol. IV.
FROM THE BOSTON RECORDER.
Account of the North-West Coast.
Read before the “ Society of Inquiry respect
ing Missions” in the Theological Semina
ry, Andover, July 23, 1822— 8i/S. Adams.
[Continued from the Missionary of Sept. 2.]
11. We come now to the second general
division of onr subject, under which we
proposed to treat of the number, the lan
guages, the character and customs , and the
■reliion of the Indians who inhabit Western
America.
() Onr first inquiry respects their proba
ble number. To ascertain the precise
population of this or any portion of Indian
territory, is a difficult, if not an impractica
ble undertaking. When a company travels
through their country, or a vessel arrives
at their shores, they flock around the
strangers from every part of the vicinity,
and give the appearance of a population
much more densq, than is actually the case.
Those who have made their estimate from
such false appearances as these, have often
overrated the true number. The most re
cent and accurate investigations however
have led to the conclusion that they are
nearly twice as numerous as other estim
ates, supposed till lately to be pretty cor
rect, have made them. The whole Indian
population in the United States and her ter
ritories, is at present estimated at 450,000
souls. Os these, it is supposed that 120,000
live in the Missouri territory, west of the
Rocky Mountains. Heretofore they have
been estimated at about 80.000. Harmon,
who spent more than 8 years west of the
mountains, gives it as his opinion that the
tract now under consideration contains
150,000 souls.
There is a very small seltlement of white
Americans at the mouth of the Columbia,
called Astnnia. The English I believe call
it Fort George. The American Flag is
still hoisted there, though the British North-
West company several years since, pur
chased the privileges of trade with the set
dement. The same company have twelve
or fifteen posts or forts in different parts of
this territory for the purpose of trading
with the natives. The principal one is on
Stuart’s lake near ‘he river Nafestain
The greater part of the remainder are on
and near the banks of the Columbia.
At the several posts of the company, the
number of children whose fathers are Eng
lish, is annually increasing. They have
not yet become numerous, west of the
mountains, a° it is onlv about fifteen years,
since they first pushed their adventurous
traffic It so fir to the west. It is the usual
custom of the partners in this company to
take native females, or those of mixed
blood to reside at the posts or forts, and
when they’themselves return (o a civiliz
ed land, they leave these women and chil
dren in the wilderness.
(6) American Languages, —Bo fir as the
aborignui languages of the American conti
nent are known, a general character is
found to pervade them all. The dialects
among the different tribes are numerous
Even those tribes which are contiguous
frequently appropriate different names to
their most common utensils and implements
of war. \et distant tribes find no difficulty
in carrying on mutual intercourse. A lan
guage of signs assists them to explain what
cannot be fully commiiulcated by oral lan
guage. In this way also they communicate
with each other , on occasions when speaking
is not prudent or proper; as for example,
when they are about to meet an enemy,
and by speaking would run the risk of being
discovered. They have also certain hie
roglyphics, by which they describe facts in
so plain a rri'-nner, that those who are con
versant vi these marks, can understand
them as casity as we can a piece of writing.
The grammatical construction of all their
spoken languages appears to he essentially
same—and ihe only difference between
on - language or dialect and another, con
sists in the use ot different words, and not
of different idioms. I can do no more than
give a succinct account of the Indian lan
guages generally; for which I must ac
knowledge my obligation chiefly to the in
teresting 1 correspondence, between Mr
Hcckewvlder and Mr. Dupouceau, and to
the elegant report of the latter, to the His
torical and Literary Committee of the
American Philosophical Society.
It has oltc.n been said, that “ savages hav
ing few ideas, can want hut few words, and
therefore that their languages mu°t neces
sarily be poor.” But the first conclusion
Iq twhich Mr. Duponceau’s persevering in
quiries have led him is, “ that the American
languages in general are rich in words and
in grammatical forms, and that intbeircom
plicated construction, the greatest order,
method and regularity prevail.” “ Wheth
er savage o ,” he remarks, “have or have
not manly ideas, is not my province to de
termine ; all 1 can say is, that if it is true
that their ideas are few, it is not less cer
tain that they have many words to express
them. I might even sav, that they have
an innumerable quantity of words,for as Col
den very justly observes, ‘they have the
powerand ihe means of compounding them
without end.’ Thus they can comprise a
very great number of ideas in a very small
Cumber ol words. “ Phis is done pi mo
rally in two ways. I. By a mode of com
THE MISSIONARY.
pounding locations, which is not confined
to joining two words together, in Greek, or
varying the inflection or termination of a
radical word, as in most European langua
ges);'!* |>y interweaving together the most
significant sounds on syllables of each sim
ple word, so as to form a compound that
will awaken in the mind at once all the
ideas singly expressed by the words from
which they are taken. 2. By an analagous
combination of the various parts of speech,
particularly by means of the verb, so that
its various forms and inflections, will express
not only the principal action, but the great
est possible number of moral ideas and phy
sical objects connected with it, and will
combine itsplf to the greatest extent with
those conceptions, which are (he subject of
other parts of spppeh, and in other lan
guages require to be expressed by separate
and distinct words. Such 1 take to be the
general character of the Indian languages.”
When we remember that the aborigines
of have no books, no grammars,
no written language, not even an alpha
bet, it is matter of wonder, that their
spoken languages are more methodical,
more copious, and more philosophical, than
any other known language in Ihe world.
Mr. Heckewelder, after declaring his set
tled conviction of the authenticity of the
celebrated speech of Logan, says that it
possessed a force and expression in the In
dian language which it is impossible to
transmit into our own. “For my part,”
says Mr. Dupouceau, “ I confess I am lost in
astonishment, at the copiousness, and admi
rable structure of their languages, for which
I can only account, by looking up to the
GREAT FIRST CAUSE.”
Some of the specimens of the American
languages, from which these conclusions
are drawn, were furnished Mr. Dupouceau,
by Capt. S , who inform o me that this
account exactly describes the languages on
our western shores
(c) Character and Customs. —Some distin
guishing traits of character are common to
all the Indians of North America ; traits,
| that appear to originate not so much from
! a natural difference between these and oth
er men, as Irom their peculiar habits and
manner of life, and modes of government.
I have not been able to discover any im
portant difference between tbe natives gen
erally in North-West America, and others
whose history is more familiar to ns.
Their minds are inflexible. To this fea
ture in their minds, may be traced the
strength ol their friendships, where once
tbey are formed, and the inveteracy of
their animosities. They are naturally
kind, generous and noble. They are al
ways calm, resolute, full of self-possession,
and manly presence in time of danger.
When white men first went among them,
they were ready for every office of hospi
tality and friendship. They would not hes
itate to divide with a stranger the last scan
ty meal of their precarious food, and go
and seek for more without a murmur, and
almost wittiout the consciousness of having
conferred a favour. Such is the character
ofsome of the interiour tribes at the pre
sent time. But the long intercourse which
the Indians on our western shores have had
with foreigners, too many of whom nave
been unprincipled and abandoned men, has
produced a sad deterioration in I heir charac
ter. M’Kinzie, who crossed the continent
in 1793, uniformly received the most friend
ly treatment from the natives of the interi
onr between the Stoney Mountains and the
Pacifick Ocean. But as he approached tbe
shore, ami came among those who were
familiar with Europeans and European vi
ces, he met with different reception. He
found them less disposed to acts of hospital
ity, more jealous, and sometimes apparent
!!y hostile. When we consider the treat
ment they have often received from for
eigners, it is not at all wonderful that this
should be the case*. One anecdote respect
ing tbe conduct of the Russian settlers will
illustrate what I mean. It should first he
remarked that the Russians have several
settlements along the coast, and around the
great bay north of the tract I am consider
ing. The most southerly is in lat. 57 deg.
Langsdorff arid Krusenstern, Russian navi
gators, “hall give their character. “Al
most all the subordinate officers employed
by the company are men nearly devoid of
any feelings of honour or principle.”
Again, “ The greater pari, of the hunters
and inferiour officers are Siberian criminals,
malefactors, and adventurers of various
kinds.” “ The Russian subject here enjoys
no protection for his property, lives in no
security.” “ I have seen,” says one of
the°e men, “the Russian Fur collectors dis
pose of ihp lives of tho natives according to
their own arbitrary wills, and put these de
fenceless creatures to death in the most hor
rible manner ” The Russians therefore
with their wires and children are every
where hated by the natives, and murdered
whenever a favourable opportunity pre
sents.” Such is the testimony of Russian
’ navigators, respecting their own country
! men.
In 1799, Von Baranoff, a Russian, made a
I settlement at a place now called Sitcha, or
New-Archangel. Sometime between ibis
and 1802. seven Americans left an Ameri
lean jphip, then >n the coast, and took up ;
j residence at this settlement. In the year]
MOUNT ZION, (HANCOCK COUNTY, GEORGIA,) MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1822.
GO YE INTO Al.r. THE WORLD AND PREACH ‘HE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE,
1802, the Indians in a neighbouring vil
lage, invited these Americans, from whom
they had received good treatment, to come
and make them a visit at their village.
They went. The Indians recounted to
them the oppressions, and wrongs, arid
murders of the Russians, and communicat
ed to their visiters their fixed intention of
cutting off the Russian settlement, and in
vited their guests to join them. They ve
ry properly declined. Then stay, say the
Indians, in our village, while we go and
make the attempt; for if you return you
must perish with the Russians. If we fail
then you may go to them again. If we
succeed, you are still safe with us. The
natives proceeded against the fort and cut
off every man. In 1804, a larger colony
was established at the same place. They
required of the Indians to relinquish the
territory entirely. The Indians, who at
this place are brave ard warlike, swore to
defend it with their lives. They made a
bloody resistance to th< landing of the colo
ny. When at last they were compelled by
superiour strength to ‘emove and mingl
the remnant that survived with a distant
tribe, they put to death all who were too
old or too young to perform a long and ra
pid march, rather than leave them to the
cruel disposal of their invaders, and depart
ed under the cover and silence of night.
In the morning, the Russians saw that all
was still. Suspecting an ambush, they
landed and went with watchful step to the
deserted fort and found nothing within, but
the lifeless dead bodies of the innocent babe
and the hoary grandfather lying side by
side. Here was exhibited at once, their
attachment to their own soil, the strength
of their friendship towards those who had
treated them well, and the power of their
hatred against those who had provoked
their resentment.
It is well known that there are many
honourable exceptions among foreigners,
who visit the North-West Coast, to such
conduct has just bepn related.
But a few instances of this kind are suffi
cient to show that there is valid reason for
jealousy on the part of the Indians, when
untried strangers come among them.
When they are thus wronged, and have
no means of legal redress, it is no surpris
ing thing, that what is improperly called an
insatiable appetite for revenge should carry
them into an excess of cruelly. I feel per
fectly satisfied that this spirit of revenge is
not peculiarly inherent in the nature of an
Indian, but that it grow* purely out of the
unhappy circumstances n which he is plac
ed, deprived of ail the means of obtaining
redress by civil law. Let me cast myself
for protection on an Indian who has been
once convinced of my friendship towards
him, and if he had power to protect me, I
should feel as safe with him, as 1 should
with a thousand life-guards.
The Indians are divided into numerous
tribes, containing from two hundred to five
thousand. They usually have a summer
residence in one place, and another for the
winter. They are. governed by no written
laws, but have many long established cus
toms, which are equivalent to law. In ma
ny respects they are subject to the will of a
chief or head man, whose authority was
originally acquired in most cases by deeds
of valour and prowess. Power first
acquired in this way, often goes down
through many ages in an hereditary line.
The chief and his tribe sometimes meet in
council to debate important questions. Ha
rangues are here delivered; but the influ
ence of the chief is so great, that he nicy
properly be said to have absolute power.
Chiefs are often distinguished by descrip
tive names, much after the manner of the
Hebrews. They are given in consequence
of °orae remarkable incident, or habit of
their life. Thus, Camealmait , chief of
the Shoshones, means “ one who never
walks.” The same chief is also called
Tooele cone, or “ black gun.”
Such being the nature of their govern
ment, and such the number of their tribes,
living near each other, it often happens that
jealousies arise between them, and bloody
wars en°ue, in which the victorious party
take as prisoners their enemies who survive
the battle, and make them slaves. In some
cases, when a mart of one tribe has killed or
murdered a member of another tribe,a rela
tive of the dead, will go alone, disguised
and armed, to the tribe, where the homi
cide belong o , and return contented, if by
any artifice he can obtain the scalp of the
murderer, or that of some near relative.
Such success will satisfy bis revenge, and
wipe away all tears for the loss of a father
or brother. Should the secret attempt fail,
tbe blood of revenge boils in his heart.
He comes home and talks with his tribe, i
All are interested for him; for all are
brethren. He gets an assembly. The
chief, willing to go to war, smoke.* the na
tional pipe, and passes it round to others,
and all who take a whiff give in this way a
sacred pledge that they will join the war
and revenge the injury. After this decla-1
ration of war, the chief will sometimes ha j
rangue the warriours. He utters what his 1
feelings dictate, willwwt art, and without J
rule. The language on such occasions is
peculiarly forcible and impressive, (hear*!
gmnents few and pointed; and when the!
speaker means to persuade as weil as con-1
vince, he takes the shortest way to reach
the heart. On the eve of going to war,
he will say no more perhaps than this: i
“Be men aod not women ; let no grass
grow on the war path.” After battle, to i
call the victors men, means as much and is 1
full as short as the “ veni , vidi, vici” of
Caesar. ,
They become strongly attached to white J
men, where they are convinced of their i
friendly intentions. They seldom begin a ,
quarrel. When treated ill, they are always
ready for a bold and manly defence, if cir
cumstances will allow. If the balance of
power is evidently against them, they will
swallow their anger, as they say, and watch
for the advantage ol occasion to redress the
wrong. Their usual time of secret attack
is at break of day; for then say they is the
time when men sleep soundest.
In warm weather they frequently go al
most naked. They paint their faces and
bodies a variety of colours, though vermil
ion is their favourite colour. This custom
gives them a hideous aspect. Their winter
dress is mostly made of the skins of furred
animals. They sometimes also wear a
woollen dress, which Vancouver supposes
they make of dog’s hair or fur. Their
food is the flesh of wild game and fish,
which last they preserve in several ways.
Those who have obtained no metal kettles
from foreigners, boil their food in wooden
vessels, and sometimes in baskets very in
geniously made of grass so as to hold wa
ter. The water is kept boiling by throw
ing in heated stones.
Their great cure for almost all diseases
is sweating. For this purpose they have a
kiln constructed with one small aparture,
through which the patient creeps, and is
there furnished with hot stones and water,
with which he dashes the stones. The
steam soon produces a violent perspiration.
To complete the cure, the patient when he
comes out, often jumps into a snow bank,
or a pond of cold water.
Their trade with foreigners is carried on
entirely by way f barter. There is a
kind of bead held in high estimation
among the natives, which answers imper
fectly the purposes of a circulating medium
among themselves. This article is obtain
ed along the shores, and exchanged with
the natives of tbe interiour for furs, twenty
beads being the eqmvaleut for a beaver’s
skin.
Several tribes along the Columbia, and
in other parts of this territory, form their
heads into a artificial shape, by the constant
application of a case for several months to
the heads of infants. This instrument is
made of two pieces of board united at one
end so as to form an angle of about °ixty
degrees. One part of it is applied to the
back part of the head, (he other to the fore
head; so that from the eyi-brows to the
natural crown, tbe head is in a straight
slope, and is shaped like a blunt wedge.
Many of the tribes perforate the cartilage
of the nose. Some attach ornaments of
copper or brass to it; others insert a wood
en ppg several inches long, from which
they suspend various ornaments. To strike
this peg with easy violence, will produce a
very sensitive effect upon some of the nasal
organs, which sometimes reaches the iras
cible and ocular nerves, and provokes at
the same time both tears and anger.
These Indians usually scalp their ene
mies ; though some tribes also decapitate,
as was the case at the massacre of the ship
Boston’s crew at Nootka Sound in 1803.
The cruel murder of twenty-five men, (all
the crew but two) was perpetrated under
the direction ofMaquinna, king of tbe Noot
kians, ostensibly at tbe time, in conse
quence of an insult Capt. Salter had offered
him, but chiefly, as ho asterwards informed
Jewett, one of (be survivers, on account
of the unjustifiable conduct of some masters
of vessels, who had before robbed him, and
without provocation killed a number of his
people.
• *** ~ i ~ti i ■in—in——hi m i iinn n—i——um—m.
Date Missionary Intelligence.
EGYPT.
Extract of a letter from, the Rev. Pliny Fisk,
American Missionary at Palestine, on his
return from Egypt to Malta, —to the Edi
tor of the Boston Recorder.
(Continued from our last.)
We left Alexandria just at evening. The
country adjacent is never overflowed, and
is consequently barren. The next day we
passed by ihe fields which were annually
enriched with the waters of the Nile, and
are in consequence pxtremely fertile. Just
at evening we entered the river of Egypt.
At this season of the year it appears to be
about as wide as the Connecticut, opposite
Greenfield, or Brattle borough. The ori
gin and of course the. lengh of tin- river is
still a question of doubt. From the origin
of the eastern branch at Gee-eh, in Abys
sinia, its course measures 2000 or 2500
miles. But if, as is now supposed, the Niger
is in fact the western branch of Ihe Nile,
from iho origin of this branch, its course
must be near twice the above distance.
Considering the advantages which Egypt
derives from the Nile, it i° riot strange that
it should have been among ilie objects of an
cient worship, and !h it sacrifices should have !
been offered to its source. It is not iruej
that there i< no min in Egypt, We Jjad!
Price, j F
’ ( $3,00 in advance, v
several rainy days while I was at Alexan
dria. There was also rain while I was at
Cairo. But there is so little rain in Egypt,
that without the Nile the country would be
totally unproductive and uninhabitable.
The rise of the Nile, cau°ed no doubt by
heavy rains in the country where it rises,
commences in June and continues till Au
gust or September, and then gradually de
clines till the following May. The com
mon rise at Cairo, is 23 or 24 feet. Ham
ilton, who was therein 1801, says it rose
that year to 18 mbits, (27 feet.) Travel
lers say it is very interesting to ascend the
Nile when it is at its height and return six
months alter. The change in the appear
ance of the country is surprising. I found
it pleasarit when sailing up the Nile in a
bright moonlight evening, to sit on tbe top
of my little cabin, survey the adjacent coun
try and listen to the responsive songs of the
Arab boatmen. On tbe evening of the
fourth day we passed the branch of the Nile
which goes to Damietta. Os the 7 branch
es by which the Nile used to discharge its
waters, 5 are either dried up or lost in
lakes. None now remain but those, of Ito
zetta and Damietta. Between these branch
es is the island which the Greeks called the
Delta. Its shape is that of a capital Delta.
It is a triangle, about ICO miles on a °ide.
In it there are said to be 3G6 villages. In
the language of this country however, a
collection of miserable mud huts with half a
dozen families in them, constitutes a village.
I visited one of these villages in the neigh
bourhood of Alexandria called Retnleh. It
i° situated ea a t of the town, between the
°ea and the lake Mareoti® and beyond the
field o! battle where Sii Ralph Anibercrom
hie fell March 21. 1801. The whole vil
lage is one building of mud, containing 12 or
15 apartments. The doors are from three
lu fi’ e feet high. I judged the whol - num
ber of inhabitants might be 30 or 40.
There was a yard belonging to the building
m which their cattle are stabled, and where
we saw a number of children at play. You
can easily conceive their appearance. We
saw many villages as we ascended the Nile,
most of them larger than this, with larger
houses; but the appearance of the inhabi
tants was about tbe same: men, women and
children half naked and sometimes entirely
so. How far this state of poverty and mis
ery may be owing to their own indolence,
and how far to the government under which
they live, I w ill not under'ake to say.
On the morning of the fifth day, 1 awoke
in sight of Cairo and the pyramids. The
i city is about 1 1-2 miles east of (he Nile,
i We landed at Boulac, which if it were not
1 near so large a city', would itself be called
a laige town. I was struck at seeing im
mense quantities of wheat and beans piied
np in heaps that seemed like little mount
ains and exposed to the weather. It i° col
lected to be seni to Alexandria for exporta
tion, and all belongs to the Pasha. ‘Flic
boat whic h I had hired, also belonged to the
Pasha, and when I paid the Reis he urged
me very much to say at the custom-house
that I gave only $4. His object, I suppose,
was to save the other four for himself.
From Boulac to Cairo, there is an excellent
wide road, which was built by the French.
■ l was quite astonished to see huge heaps of
! dirt around the city two or three times as
high as the houses. On inquiry I was told
that when a house decays, the stonps are
i employed to build again, and the dirt, the
i mortar, the broken bricks and all (be rub
bish are carried off together, and thus these
I heaps have gradually accumulated. Cairo
1 is an immense city. The houses very much
resemble those of Alexandria. Some of the
streets are wide enough for a carriage to
pass, but many of them are not above 6 or
8 feet wide. The wide streets where are
the markets and shops, are generally full of
people. It is with difficulty yon can make
your way through the crowd. In the nar
row streets you seldom meet any person.
The citadel, where is the Pasha’s palace,
is in the south part of the city on the point
of Mount Mokattans. This mountain or ra
ther sand hill, runs from Cairo toward the
Red Sea. Wilhin the citadel they show
you the ruins of Joseph’s palace, and Jo
seph’s well. When we speak of the palace
and well of Joseph in the capital of Egypt,
the mind naturally reverts to Joseph the son
of Jacob. But the Joseph who built this
castle and dug this well, was one of the
Mussulman caliphs. When Niebhur visit
ed them, he was told by the superiutemk nt,
that it was Saladin, whose proper name was
Joseph, and who enlarged and embellished
the city, in the 12th century. The walls
of the palace are notv much decayed; a
number of fine, large granite pillars are*
standing. The well is indeed an object i
curiosity. It was dug in a solid rock, and
is, as my guide told me, 200 feet deep.
Some writers make it 280. The water
which the well furnishes is brackish and un
fit for drinking; but it answers a valuable
purpose for washing. The water is raised
by Iwo wheels with buckets. The upper
wheel turned by an ox, above ground, rais
es it from a depth of 150 feet. Af this
depth, there is a second wheel turned by
an ox, which raises Ihe water from the foun
tain. There is a road cut in the rock, and
winding around the well by which the ox is
taken down to the place df Ins labour. By
lbi J nvenue I descended and xuw tbe o* at